Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Plant material is basic ingredient other than extract,...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-22
2004-05-11
Hendricks, Keith (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Plant material is basic ingredient other than extract,...
C426S634000, C426S653000, C426S555000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06733815
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ingredient that adds vegetable protein and/or phytochemicals to leavened and unleavened food products.
Soy products are known to have constituents of high nutritional value. One constituent is protein. The Food and Drug Administration, FDA, has recently proposed that food products containing 6.25 grams of soy protein per Reference Amount Customarily Consumed (RACC), that are low in fat and low in cholesterol as well, may carry a health claim. FDA has proposed that 4 servings of 6.25 grams of soy protein per day (25 grams total) as a part of a low fat, low cholesterol diet may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
Soy also contains phytochemicals such as isoflavones, also referred to as phytoestrogens that have been associated with many positive health benefits. These health benefits include preventing hormone-dependent cancers and substantially eliminating symptoms such as hot flashes in peri- and post-menopausal women as well as reducing the risk of osteoporosis. Soy flour has been reported to have isoflavone concentrations ranging from about 1 mg/g to about 3 mg/g of soy flour. Isoflavone levels in soy flour generally exceed those in other soy products, such as soy protein concentrates and isolates. Soy flour is also a good source of dietary fiber, minerals and B vitamins.
Despite their nutritional benefits, soy products have had only limited use in foods typically consumed in the United States because incorporation of soy products has produced deleterious effects on the organoleptic and textural properties of many types of foods. For example, soy-fortified bread, containing a high concentration of soy protein, typically exhibits undesirable characteristics such as diminished loaf volume, poor crumb grain, an uneven, “bumpy” crust and a flavor that is bitter or “beany”. A soy-fortified unleavened food typically has a dough that is sticky and that has a poor machinability. A soy-fortified dried dough, such as pasta is also soft and mealy in texture when cooked. These undesirable food properties have occurred with the use of soy flour, soy isolates and soy concentrates.
Patents such as the Mehltretter et al. patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,093, which issued Apr. 6, 1976, describe an incorporation of additives into a bread dough prior to baking in order to render the dough more amenable to receiving a higher protein concentration. In particular, the Mehltretter et al. patent describes adding to a dough, an ester of a fatty acid containing twelve to eighteen carbon atoms and polyoxyethylene ether of a propylene glycol glycoside containing one to two moles of combined fatty acid per mole and 5 to 20 moles of combined ethylene oxide per mole.
Foods that have a structure which is based upon components of wheat flour rely, in some manner, on the action of gluten, which is a component of the wheat flour. Gluten is a mixture of proteins present in wheat and in other cereal grains. Gluten is naturally occurring in wheat flour and is advantageous in making leavened products such as bread because it has an elastic, cohesive nature which permits it to retain carbon dioxide bubbles generated by leavening agents, and therefore to form a uniform air cell structure that defines the bread.
Wheat flour has historically contained about 10% to 12% protein by weight of the flour. More recently, gluten levels in some wheat grown in the United States have dropped to a concentration that does not support acceptable air cell formation in yeast leavened dough. As a consequence, some wheat flour produced in the United States is supplemented with wheat gluten that is added to wheat flour in order to elevate the gluten to levels of about 10% to 12%. Gluten represents about 90% of the protein content of wheat flour. The protein composition of wheat gluten comprises gliadin in a concentration of about 39.1% by weight; glutenin in a concentration of about 35.1% by weight; and globulin in a concentration of about 6.75% by weight.
Attempts have been made to prepare baked products such as bread with soy flour and soy milk. These attempts have included an addition of gluten in a soy-based dough in a proportion that is equivalent to the proportion of gluten in wheat flour, referred to herein as a “natural ratio.” Breads produced with the proportion of gluten to soy were very dense and had a more coarse texture and had a non-uniform air cell network.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
In one product aspect, the present invention includes a food ingredient comprising soy grits and gluten. The food ingredient is effective to make a food product having a structure substantially the same as a soy-free product made with wheat flour.
Another product embodiment of the present invention includes a dry mix. The dry mix comprises gluten, soy grits and soy flour.
One other product embodiment of the present invention includes a kit for making a food product. The kit comprises a package enclosing gluten and a package enclosing soy grits. The kit also comprises printed indicia. The printed indicia provides instructions for blending the gluten and soy grits so that a weight percent ratio of at least about 1:1.5 gluten to soy grits is produced.
Another product embodiment of the present invention includes a baked leavened product with a substantially uniform air cell structure. The baked leavened product comprises a soy protein comprising soy grits, and gluten in a concentration effective to make a baked leavened product having a structure substantially the same as a corresponding soy-free product made with wheat flour.
One other product embodiment includes a baked unleavened product comprising soy protein and gluten. The soy protein comprises soy grits. The concentration of grits and gluten are effective to produce a structure in the baked unleavened product that is substantially the same as a corresponding soy-free product made with wheat flour.
In one method aspect, the present invention includes a method for increasing soy protein content in bread without increasing, density, or fragility of the bread. The method comprises providing soy grits, soy germ or other soy-based materials which do not require substantial hydration, or mixtures of these materials, and providing gluten. A dough is prepared comprising soy grits, soy germ, or other soy-based materials which do not require substantial hydration, or mixtures of these materials, and gluten and wheat flour. The dough is baked to make a baked bread product.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In its product aspect, one embodiment of the present invention includes a food ingredient comprising an added vital wheat gluten ingredient, soy protein comprising soy grits and soy flour, and, for some embodiments, starch and L-cysteine. The food ingredient is used to make a high protein bread dough and baked bread comprising wheat flour. The baked bread has structural, textural, and organoleptic attributes of a wheat bread that is substantially free of soy protein. The added wheat gluten and soy protein in the food ingredient impart to the dough and baked bread, a protein concentration heretofore unknown for a wheat dough or bread, while also imparting a structure capable of a gas retention and a symmetry that is substantially the same as the symmetry of a wheat bread made with wheat flour that is substantially free of soy flour. The starch imparts to the bread dough a resistance to tearing during handling, proofing and baking. An addition of soy grits, at concentrations within a range of about 20% to 80% of soy protein concentration, reduces water adsorption of the dough, stickiness of the dough, and tearing during processing. Thus, more soy protein can be added to make a bread without negatively impacting physical and organoleptic properties of the bread. The addition of soy grits and starch to the bread dough also reduces moisture and browning in a finished baked bread product.
That an addition of soy protein comprising soy grits and soy flour increases the concentration of protein in the bread without negatively impacting other bread features is surp
Gilbertson Dennis B.
Stark Ann M.
Cargill Incorporated
Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.
Hendricks Keith
LandOfFree
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