Abstract:In order to investigate the fermentation properties of Enterococcus faecium R2 for tofu whey, the contents and constituents of oligosaccharides, organic acids and soybean isoflavones in fermented tofu whey(FTW) were measured by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC), the activities and locations of α-galactosidase and β-glucosidase were detected, and as well as the DPPH radical scavenging activities. The results showed that all the sugars including stachyose, raffinose, glucose, fructose and sucrose in the tofu whey were utilized during the fermentation process, especially for the glucose, stachyose and fructose. The total organic acids increased largely and the pH dropped to 3.58 after 36 h fermentation, especially for the lactic acid and acetic acid. Besides, isoflavone glucoside could be transformed into isoflavone aglucone during the fermentation with Enterococcus faecium R2, and resulted in the significantly (P<0.05) increase of the DPPH radical scavenging activities. In addition, the activities of α-galactosidase and β-glucosidase were detected in Enterococcus faecium R2, and both of α-galactosidase and β-glucosidase were intracellular, and most of which were insoluble.