Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Basic ingredient is starch based batter – dough product – etc.
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-24
2001-12-04
Tran, Lien (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Basic ingredient is starch based batter, dough product, etc.
C426S451000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06326049
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not Applicable
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
Not Applicable
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not Applicable
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a pasta that has a reduced residual lipase activity. This pasta may be manufactured by preparing a mixture comprising a cereal flour or semolina, water, and lipase; kneading the mixture into a dough; and forming the dough into a pasta, with the steps being conducted to provide a residual lipase activity of the pasta which is lower than about 100 LU/kg pasta.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,702 to Menzi discloses a method of making dried pasta from semolina and water, which comprises adding to either the semolina or the water a small amount of enzymatic substance, such as pancreatin, glucose-oxidase, catalase, proteinase, amylase, or wheat germ lipase, preparing a paste from semolina and water, kneading, extruding and drying, the pasta thus obtained being highly resistant to cooking so that, once cooked, it has a very good elasticity and is not sticky.
Japanese Patent No. JP-09-070269A to Nisshin Flour Milling Co. discloses a process for manufacturing noodles, which comprises adding water, salt, oil, and lipase to wheat flour or other cereal grain flour, kneading to form a dough, allowing the dough to rest at room temperature to mature it, and using the dough for making noodles in fresh, semi-dried, or dried form.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a pasta having a residual lipase activity after manufacture of less than about 100 LU/kg pasta, and to a process for making such pasta. The process includes the steps of: preparing a mixture comprising a cereal flour or semolina, water, and lipase; kneading the mixture into a dough; and forming the dough into a pasta, such that the residual lipase activity of the pasta ends up being less than about 100 LU/kg pasta, preferably less than about 50 LU/kg pasta. Advantageously, the process can further include conducting a heat treatment step to assist in achieving the residual lipase activity.
In one embodiment, the pasta is formed by extrusion. In a preferred embodiment, the heat treatment may be conducted after forming the pasta. This heat treatment may optionally include drying the pasta, preferably at a temperature from about 84° C. to about 100° C. and preferably for a period of time from about 200 to about 700 minutes. Alternatively, the pasta can be at least partially dried.
In another preferred embodiment, the heat treatment may be conducted after the extrusion step by one or more of blanching or cooking, preferably by blanching. Preferably, the blanching can be conducted at about 85° C. to about 100° C. for about 1 minute to about 10 minutes, while steaming with steam at about 98° C. to about 100° C. and spraying water at about 85° C. to about 98° C.
Advantageously, CO
2
in gaseous form may be introduced into the mixture, advantageously before the kneading step, to help preserve the color of the pasta.
The pasta itself can be processed from a dough comprising cereal flour or semolina, water, and lipase, for example, by a process such as listed above. This pasta has a reduced lipase activity lower than about 100 LU/kg pasta, and preferably lower than about 50 LU/kg pasta. Advantageously, the pasta may possess no noticeable rancidity after at least one year of storage, preferably after at least two years of storage. Optionally, the residual lipase activity of the pasta can be lowered by subjecting the pasta to heat treatment. Additionally, the pasta may be formed by extrusion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
Not Applicable
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Throughout the present description and claims the expression “lipase activity left in the pasta” means “lipase activity within the pasta as measured immediately after its manufacture.”
One aspect of the present invention is to provide a pasta that has a reduction in the residual lipase activity, and preferably so that practically no lipase activity is left in the pasta. Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a pasta which has a long shelf life, namely in which practically no rancidity may be noticed after one to two years storage from about 15° C. to about 30° C. in a traditional cellophane package. Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide a pasta in which its original yellow color is preserved.
To this end, the present pasta may be manufactured by a process consisting of preparing a mixture comprising a cereal flour or semolina, water, and lipase, kneading the mixture into a dough, and forming the dough into a pasta shape, such that the residual lipase activity left in the pasta is lower than about 100 LU/kg pasta, preferably lower than about 50 LU/kg pasta. If desired, the reduced lipase activity can be achieved by conducting a heat treatment on the dough that is used to make the pasta. It has surprisingly been found that it is possible in this way to obtain the known advantages of pasta made by a process aided by the use of lipase. Such pasta has an improved texture, especially an improved firmness, and is not sticky, while reducing the activity of lipase in the finished product to levels sufficient to avoid rancidity in the pasta product, especially after one to two years storage.
To implement the present process for manufacturing pasta, a mixture of cereal flour or semolina, water, and lipase may be prepared, for example, having a water content from about 25% to about 40%. The cereal flour or semolina may be Durum or hard wheat semolina, the quality of which need not be premium, or even soft wheat flour, for example. The mixture may contain lipase in an amount from about 500 to about 50,000 Lipase Units (LU) per kg of cereal flour or semolina, for example. The lipase may be any food grade lipase available on the market, for example, such as the enzyme sold under the name Lipopan 50 BG by the Danish company NOVO NORDISK or the enzyme sold under the name GRINDAMYL EXEL 16 by the Danish company DANISCO. The mixture may further include additives, for example, such as egg material, sodium chloride, spices, antioxidants, and/or emulsifiers.
Egg material in the form of whole egg powder, egg white powder or liquid whole egg may be added to the mixture in order to further increase the firmness of the pasta, a main contribution to such an increase being indeed already obtained by using lipase, for example. The mixture may be prepared in the form of a premix of dry or powdery ingredients to which water is added, for example. Lipase may be incorporated into the premix or into a portion of the water, for example. In this regard, it has surprisingly been found that an effective preservation of the color may be obtained if CO
2
in gaseous form is injected into the mixture, for example, during kneading.
The mixture may be prepared, kneaded, and formed in any known pasta making way, especially using equipment, such as a paddle mixer, a twin screw kneader and a single screw extruder, a twin screw mixer-kneader and a single screw extruder, a twin screw mixer-kneader-extruder, or a twin screw mixer-kneader assisted by a gear pump for the extrusion, for example. Care should be taken to ensure that the temperature of the mixture during mixing, kneading, or extrusion remains below 55° C.
An extruded pasta may be cut into long pasta goods such as long spaghetti, or into short pasta goods such as short spaghetti, linguine, eliche, or macaroni, for example.
In a first preferred embodiment of the present process, where the pasta is dried after extrusion, the lipase activity may be reduced by a heat treatment that is conducted during drying at a temperature from about 84° C. to about 95° C. for about 200 to about 700 minutes. It has surprisingly been found that such a heat treatment permits reduction in the residual lipase activity of the pasta to lower than about 100 LU/kg pasta, or even lower than about 50 LU/kg pasta.
In another preferred embodiment of the present
Halden Jonas Peter
Hansen Carl Erik
Juillerat Marcel Alexandre
Realini Annabella
Nestec S.A.
Tran Lien
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