Washington, Feb 5 : Vegetarians may soon be able to get a taste of chicken. Scientists are in the process of creating a low-cost soy substitute for chicken.

Fu-Hung Hsieh, Missouri University (MU) professor of biological engineering and food science, is heading the project and his research has led to a process that does more than just add colour and flavour to soy. Hsieh has developed a process that makes the soy product simulate the fibrous qualities of a chicken breast.

"Early tests provided some of the fibrous texture to the final product, but it tasted more like turkey," Hsieh said.

"In order to produce a more realistic product, we had to tweak the process and add extra fiber to give the soy a stringy feeling that tears into irregular, coarse fibers similar to chicken," he said.

To create the soy chicken, Hsieh starts with a soy protein extracted from soy flour. The soy then goes through an extrusion cooking process that uses water, heat and pressure while pushing the mixture through a cylinder with two augers.

"This particular soy substitute is different because we are working with a higher moisture content, which is up to 75 percent," Hsieh said.

"The high moisture content is what gives the soy a very similar texture to chicken -- in addition to the appearance," he said.

Hsieh's soy chicken provides health benefits too. Soy foods also are a good source of essential fatty acids and contain no cholesterol, an MU release said.

Hsieh's research has been published in the Journal of Food and Agricultural Chemistry, Journal of Food Science and Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society.(IANS)