Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Gels or gelable composition
Patent
1991-12-19
1994-05-03
Hunter, Jeanette
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Gels or gelable composition
426578, 426579, 426661, A23L 10522, A23L 105
Patent
active
053086368
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to the thickening and gelation of aqueous systems characterized by unexpectedly high viscosity development and resultant sols and gels which exhibit improved cling, gel strength and gel stability at elevated temperature. More particularly the invention relates to the enhancement at elevated temperature of the rheological properties of starch-based systems including gellable food products and other gellable systems.
Increasing the viscosity of many aqueous, starch based systems (for example foods such as soups) especially when hot, is desirable but not readily achieved with starch alone or with starch and other hydrocolloids without changing organoleptlic and other properties of the system. Moreover, merely increasing the concentration of starch will not necessarily maintain or improve the cohesiveness of the system to a surface ("cling"), a desirable property when the starch-based system is intended as a coating for a smooth surface, such as batter or glaze coatings for vegetables, fish or poultry. It is also desirable that the increased viscosity and cling be maintained at elevated temperatures and that once gelled, the gel strength will be heat stable, that is, will be maintained at elevated temperature.
In accordance with the present invention the cling, gel strength and gel stability at elevated temperature of starch based aqueous systems can be enhanced along with dramatic and synergistic improvements in viscosity by admixing with the starch a glucomannan hydrocolloid such as konjac. Although konjac is known to increase the viscosity of aqueous systems even at elevated temperature, the enhancement of viscosity in the presence of starch is far in excess of the increase which can be produced using other hydrocolloids or starch alone. Furthermore, it has now been found that a glucomannan such as konjac has the ability to form heat stable gels, and this property can be used to impart unique thermal stability to starch systems alone or in the presence of other gums and stabilizers such as polysacharides sulfated or otherwise. Moreover, the glucomannan/starch systems with or without other stabilizers, can form thermally reversible gels with enhanced gel strength and texture.
These properties vastly increase food and industrial uses for starch based systems. For example, by combining starch with amounts of glucomannan effective for synergistic increase in viscosity, films can be formed which are stable at elevated temperature and therefore can be used in batter and cooking applications under a wide range of conditions.
In summary, by adding a glucomannan to a starch based aqueous system in amounts requisite for synergistic increases in viscosity, the improved viscosity is maintained under both hot and cold conditions. The resultant composition exhibits improved cling, texture, gel strength and gel stability at elevated temperatures. Unique films therefore can be prepared from the compositions. The increased tensile strength and reduced density of the compositions renders them suitable for forming (as by extrusion) into a variety of products, both food (for example, macaroni and formed snack items) and non-foods (for example, dentifrices, air freshener gels and films).
The appended drawings (FIGS. 2-8) are plots illustrative of the invention, and are further referenced below.
FIG. 1 is a comparative example of one embodiment of the invention while
FIG. 2 describes the synergistic viscosity improvement over a wide temperature range for combinations of konjac and different starches.
FIG. 3 shows synergism in viscosity at a relatively cold temperature (25.degree. C.) after prior heat treatment of the materials.
FIG. 4 shows that various starches enhance gel strength attributable to konjac.
FIG. 5 shows that konjac improves cling and reduces flow of aqueous starch compositions.
FIG. 6 shows that konjac imparts higher gel strength to hot gels than to cold gels.
FIG. 7 is a viscosity/concentration plot comparing viscosity of konjac sols and sols of other hydrocolloids.
FIG. 8 represents the s
REFERENCES:
patent: 4859484 (1989-08-01), Bielskis
patent: 5049401 (1991-09-01), Harada et al.
Bullens Charles W.
Llanto Marylou G.
Tye Richard J.
Anderson Robert L.
Elden Richrd E.
FMC Corporation
Greenfield Mark A.
Hunter Jeanette
LandOfFree
Thickened and gelled systems based on starch and glucomannan does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Thickened and gelled systems based on starch and glucomannan, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Thickened and gelled systems based on starch and glucomannan will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2113382