Method for the production of protein-containing foods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12150463-B2
Application number	US-202017636572-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 20, 2020
Priority date	Aug 20, 2019
Publication date	Nov 26, 2024
Grant date	Nov 26, 2024

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for producing protein-containing foamed food products, comprising the steps: metering raw materials into an extruder, wherein at least one raw material is a protein, mixing the raw materials into the extruder to produce a mixture, extruding the mixture to produce an extrudate, and leading the extrudate out of the extruder through a cooling die with cooling of the extrudate to a temperature of less than 100° C., wherein pores are formed in a controlled manner in the extruder, by providing a gas, by introducing the gas into the extruder or by forming the gas based on a reaction of a gas-forming compound added as a raw material with a gas-releasing compound added as a raw material.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for the production of protein-containing foamed food products, comprising:
a) metering raw materials into an extruder, wherein at least one raw material is a protein, wherein a protein content in the raw materials, based on dry weight thereof, is greater than 50%, and a starch content in the raw materials, based on dry weight thereof, is not more than 50%, and the raw materials comprise at least one component which has a fiber content,
b) mixing the raw materials in the extruder to produce a mixture,
c) extruding the mixture to produce an extrudate, wherein the solids content of the extrudate is in the range from 20% to 60%; and
d) leading the extrudate out of the extruder through a cooling die while cooling the extrudate to a temperature of less than 100° C.,

wherein a controlled pore formation is performed in the extruder by providing a gas, so as to provide after step d) a foamed product having a protein content in the range from 15-30 wt.-%, and a liquid content of 45-70 wt.-%.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the gas is provided in the extruder by introducing this gas into the extruder.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the gas is selected from the group consisting of CO 2 , N 2 , N 2 O or SO 2 .

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the gas is introduced into the extruder in an amount from 0.01 to 5% by weight, based on the total weight of the raw materials metered in step a).

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a specific mechanical energy input introduced by the extruder is in the range from 10 Wh/kg to 120 Wh/kg.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a temperature in the extruder is set in the range from 80° C. to 180° C.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein oil is injected into at least one of the distribution body of the extruder and the cooling die itself.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the foamed product has distributed pores having a diameter of approximately 0.1-1 mm with a narrow size distribution and distributed closed cavities.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the foamed product has a maximum force in the range from 10-50 N in longitudinal direction (F L ) and in the range from 10-90 N in transversal direction (F T ).

10. A protein-containing foamed food product, obtainable according to the method according to claim 1 , wherein the foamed food product has a protein content in the range from 15-30 wt.-% and a liquid content of 45-70 wt.-%.

11. The protein-containing foamed food product according to claim 10 , wherein said product is an alternative meat product.

12. The protein-containing foamed food product according to claim 11 , wherein the L* value of the foamed food product deviates from the L* value of a meat product by no more than 20%.

13. The protein-containing foamed food product according to claim 12 , wherein said product has a fibrillar, porous, longitudinally oriented and cross-linked structure.

14. The protein-containing foamed food product according to claim 13 , wherein said product exhibits a maximum force in the range from 10-50 N in longitudinal direction (F L ) and in the range from 10-90 N in transversal direction (F T ).

15. The protein-containing foamed food product according to claim 10 , wherein said product has a porous structure with distributed pores having a diameter of approximately 0.1-1 mm with a narrow size distribution, and with distributed closed and interconnected cavities.

16. The protein-containing foamed food product according to claim 10 , wherein said product is a food product which comprises at least one vegetable protein, insect protein, cell protein, or a mixture of different proteins.

Assignees

• Buehler Ag

Inventors

• Weinberger Michael
• Stirnemann Erich
• Windhab Erich
• Mitra Bhaskar

Classifications

• A23J3/227 Primary

  Meat-like textured foods (meat extenders A23L13/00) · CPC title

• A23J3/20 Primary

  Proteins from microorganisms or unicellular algae · CPC title

• A23J3/14

  Vegetable proteins · CPC title

• A23P30/40

  Foaming or whipping · CPC title

• A23P30/25

  Co-extrusion of different foodstuffs · CPC title