Soymilk is a plant-based milk alternative protein beverage made from soybean that substitutes for cow milk, celebrated for its nutritional advantages and growing worldwide popularity. However, the soymilk has not been used to address protein-energy deficiency and malnutrition problems in lactating mothers and children in South Ethiopia. Thus, this study focused on exploring the potential of soymilk as a valuable alternative to cow’s milk. Soybean seeds previously produced by ARIT-FID project at Arba Minch University were used to prepare soymilk at laboratory scale. Proximate, mineral, phytochemical composition and sensory attributes of the prepared soymilk were examined and compared with cow milk obtained in Arba Minch town. The proximate analysis revealed a significantly higher (p 0.05), which are nutritionally vital components. Briefly, soymilk contains equivocal or better protein, microelements, phytochemicals and sensory profiles compared to cow’s milk. Therefore, soymilk can substitute cow’s milk, where nutritional foods are hardly obtained particularly for lactating mothers and children in developing countries like South Ethiopia.
Dalo et al. (2026) studied this question.