Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Preparation of product which is dry in final form
Patent
1989-05-01
1991-06-25
Cintins, Marianne
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Preparation of product which is dry in final form
426588, 426580, 426599, 426614, 426639, 426640, A23B 403, A23C 114, A23L 132
Patent
active
050265660
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to the protection of food against denaturing on being dried at elevated temperatures.
Foodstuffs containing proteins o protein-related materials derived from cell walls, are difficult to preserve by drying at above ambient temperatures while retaining their original quality For example, whole milk contains a range of proteins including acid precipitatable phospho proteins/caseins, immunoglobulins, lactoglobulins and albumin. These proteins tend to be denatured when fresh milk is heated, for example giving rise to the characteristic skin formed on hot milk. Spray drying of milk concentrates degrades these proteins, providing a powdered product which, when reconstituted, does not closely resemble fresh milk. Instead, it has an inferior flavor, it loses its ability to clot with rennin and tends to coagulate in the presence of very hot water.
In the spray drying of milk, concentrates sweetened with sucrose are known to cause even more difficulties as the extra viscosity and "stickiness" causes the concentrate to adhere to the surfaces of the dryer.
Similarly, eggs, especially whole egg, contain a range of lipids and lipoproteins which become denatured on heating. One of the main problems caused by denaturinq of egg protein is that the reconstituted egg loses the ability to be whipped into a stable foam. In addition, breakdown of the protein structure also breaks the natural emulsion and fat separates as discrete droplets. Dried egg cannot thus be reconstituted with water to produce a genuinely egg-like substance. Various additives have been proposed in order to maintain the whipping power of reconstituted egg, typically polyphosphates and surfactants. It is also been proposed to add sucrose or a dextrose source such as corn syrup or corn syrup solids (U.S. Pat. No. 3162540). Sucrose is added at the surprisinqly high level of 10% which provides an extremely sweet substance. This is acceptable if the egg is to be used in the manufacture of cakes and confectionery but would be completely unacceptable in other uses.
A further problem of degradation occurs in the production of instant coffee, where ground coffee solids are extracted at high temperatures (e.g. 120.degree. C.) with water to produce an extract having typically, 30 to 60% solids which is then spray dried to form a powder. The protein content of the final powder is about 14%. The high temperature extraction and subsequent spray drying inevitably lead to a product which has harsh bitter flavors as compared with fresh ground coffee extracted at below 100.degree. C. These harsh flavors are particularly noticeable if the coffee is consumed black.
Another problem of drying involves pastes and purees of fruit and vegetable material having a characteristic cellular structure for example tomato puree. If tomato puree is dried at elevated temperatures, the cellular structure is broken down and the product can only be reconstituted as a paste lacking the characteristic tomato texture. In addition, the drying renders the tomato solids discolored and caramelized.
Fruit juices are also difficult to dry effectively, often losing their characteristic freshness and flavor. "Instant" dried orange juice, for example, is generally regarded, as inferior to fresh or carton juice.
We have now discovered that one particular sugar can be incorporated in proteinaceous foodstuffs before they are heat treated and dried with the result that the protein is largely protected from denaturation so that the reconstituted product much more closely resembles the original. Similarly this sugar can be incorporated in fruit and vegetable purees and juices and the like, with retention of the freshness and structure of the original. In this respect the added sugar is considerably more efficient than sucrose or glucose, without rendering the product particularly sweet.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of drying a water-containing foodstuff or beverage at a temperature above ambient, by incorporating trehalose into the foodstuff or beve
REFERENCES:
patent: 1925441 (1927-01-01), Finley
patent: 3170804 (1965-02-01), Kline et al.
patent: 4891319 (1990-01-01), Roser
Peterson et al., 1985, Encyclopedia of Food Science, Avi Publishing Co., Westport, Conn., pp. 303-305.
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1985, Merriam-Webster, Publishers, Springfield, Mass., p. 480.
Cintins Marianne
Coleman Henry D.
Pratt Helen
Quadrant Bioresources Limited
Sudol R. Neil
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