Methods and systems for forming concentrated consumable extracts

Abstract

Typical known methods for producing large quantities of concentrated extracts from solid raw materials such as ground, roasted coffee are not ideally suited to producing high quality coffee extracts that are rich in flavor and fragrance, and which maintain the varietal characteristics of the roasted coffee from which they are produced. The current invention provides filtration methods e.g. reverse osmosis or nanofiltration for producing such high quality concentrated extracts from more dilute extracts via solvent removal. The invention provides methods that have sufficient flexibility and scalability to be used for a wide variety of applications, including for producing industrial—scale quantities of extracts for the food and beverage industry. The invention provides methods and apparatus that can produce highly concentrated, “gourmet quality” extracts for use as flavoring agents, beverage concentrates, and fragrances. The solvent—reduced, concentrated extracts produced according to the inventive solvent removal methods can be advantageously used for applications where high quality coffee extracts, with a high concentration of soluble coffee solids, for example of at least 6 wt. %-40 wt. %, and a high level of retention of varietal flavor and fragrance characteristics are desired.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT / US00 / 29651 filed 27 Oct. 2000, which was published under PCT Article 21(2) in English. This International application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 161,981, filed Oct. 28, 1999.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to methods and systems for producing a consumable aqueous extract from a solid raw material, and, more specifically, to methods and systems for concentrating such consumable extracts through the use of filtration. Specific embodiments of the invention involve methods for forming concentrated aqueous extracts of roasted coffee useful in food, fragrance, and beverage products.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]A variety of solid raw materials are commonly extracted with aqueous solvents, such as hot water, to form consumable aqueous extracts for use in foods, fragrances, or...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides improved methods and apparatuses for producing highly concentrated or less highly concentrated consumable extracts with excellent and desirable sweetness, flavor, and fragrance qualities from solid raw materials. The methods involve using filtration methods, such as reverse osmosis and / or nanofiltration, to remove excess solvent from the extracts to produce more concentrated extracts with minimal loss of desirable flavor and fragrance characteristics. The invention also provides a method for increasing the concentration of a consumable material in a consumable extract by supplying the extract to a filter and passing at least a portion of the solvent component of the extract through a filtration medium to form a solvent-reduced consumable extract, which is more concentrated in the consumable material and collected from the retentate side of the filter. The invention also includes a method for producing a blended coffee extract by extraction of a quantity of roasted coffee with a quantity of aqueous solvent to form two separate coffee extracts with different concentrations of dissolved coffee solids, which are then mixed together to form a blended extract with the desired concentration. The aqueous coffee extract obtained by this method contains at least about 15% wt. dissolved coffee solids and retains an effective amount of the varietal flavor and fragrance components characterizing the chosen variety of roasted coffee from other varieties of roasted coffee.

Problems solved by technology

To this end, typical prior art large-scale coffee extractors are designed for the exhaustive extraction and hydrolysis of typically low-grade ground coffee and not for production of a high quality, flavorful, fragrant extract or for the production of various grades of extract from a given quantity of ground, roasted coffee.

While such systems and methods are useful for exhaustive extraction with hydrolysis, they are not ideally suited for producing high quality coffee extracts with desirable sweetness and flavor characteristics or for production of various grades of extracts from a given choice of ground, roasted coffee.

The relatively long extraction times (for example greater than 1 hour), high water temperatures, and levels of dilution used in certain prior art extraction processes can result in extracts having poor flavor or fragrance characteristics, which are often passed on to the dried instant coffee products produced from such extracts.

Furthermore, the process of de-watering the extracts by typical prior art methods, such as spray drying or freeze drying, in forming the instant coffee products can result in the loss or degradation of desirable varietal flavor and fragrance components of the ground, roasted coffee.

In addition, because of the continuous addition of water used to drive the flow of extract through the bed, the beverages produced can contain flavor and / or fragrance undesirable quantities of certain bitter components, which may be undesirable for certain applications.

Also, because these prior art methods brew in the presence of oxygen, the flavor and fragrance of the resulting extract can be degraded by undesirable oxidation.

A lack of control over these variables can lead to a poor or inconsistent quality of extract.

Also, since hot water is typically used to force extract from the bed of ground coffee during the entire extraction process, a level of extraction that is undesirable for certain applications may still occur, yielding an extract which may be too dilute for certain applications, and may not be ideally suited for use as a food or flavor additive.

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