Reduced calorie beverage or food product and process and apparatus for making same

Abstract

The invention relates to a process for preparing a reduced calorie beverage or food product employing fermentation of a plant-derived juice or liquid and removing the ethanol therefrom. This invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the process for preparing a reduced calorie beverage or food product and to the reduced calorie juices and juice products created using this process and apparatus.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE[0001]This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 16 / 163,232, filed Oct. 17, 2018, which is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 14 / 398,728, filed Nov. 3, 2014, which is a United States National Phase Application of International Application Serial No. PCT / CA2013 / 000659, filed Jul. 23, 2013, which claims the benefit of Canadian Application Serial No. 2,783,847, filed Jul. 24, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]This invention generally relates to a process and apparatus for preparing a reduced calorie beverage or food product, and a reduced calorie beverage or food product produced by that apparatus and / or process. More particularly, this invention relates to a process and apparatus for converting at least some of the sugar in a plant-derived juice or liquid to ethanol by fermentation and subsequently removing at least some of the ethanol therefrom, to produ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]The fermentation step may be accelerated by performing the fermentation in two sub-steps, such that a first fraction of juice is fermented and then a second fraction of juice is added to the fermented fraction. The fermentation step may be further accelerated, and production of ethanol and unfavourable fermentation side products may be reduced, by adding oxygen-containing gas to the fermentation mixture. Further acceleration may be achieved by optimizing fermentation conditions, including temperature, pressure and yeast strain. Such optimization of the fermentation conditions will result in a fermentation product which is lower in ethanol and in fermentation by-products which might affect the flavour of the reduced-calorie beverage or food product produced by the process.

[0012]The ethanol removal step may be performed, for example, by a falling film evaporator, under conditions of reduced pressure, to reduce the temperatures to which the fermentation product is exposed, thereby reducing degradation of antioxidants. The ethanol removal step may also be performed by a spinning cone column, a Centritherm™, a Thermally Accelerated Short Time Evaporator (T.A.S.T.E.™), a rising film evaporator, a plate evaporator, or by any evaporator or any device that is capable of applying moderate temperature and low pressure. Volatile aromatic compounds removed at this step may be captured and reintroduced to the product after the ethanol is removed. Further, a sweetener may be added to the product after the ethanol is removed, in order to enhance the flavour of the reduced-calorie beverage or food product.

[0018]The apparatus may also comprise pressure-reducing means, such as a vacuum means, in communication with the alcohol-removal unit to reduce pressure in the alcohol-removal unit, thereby reducing the temperature required for successful removal of the ethanol. The alcohol-removal unit may be a falling film evaporator.

Problems solved by technology

As is well known, ethanol has certain potentially negative effects on consumers, including, among other things, its depressant effects on the central nervous system, its incompatibility with certain religious practises, and its calorie content.

As such, the process taught by Bärwald et al. will not produce a beverage that is suitable for consumption by all consumers, for at least the reason that some consumers will demand an alcohol-free, or calorie-free, product.

This process, aside from being cumbersome and complex, involves heating the juice to temperatures of at least 55 degrees Celsius one or two times. These heating steps will inherently result in at least some degradation of antioxidants in the juice, thereby reducing the final concentration of useful antioxidants in the beverage produced by the process taught by Strobel and Tarr.

Furthermore, the second step, whereby an ethanol-containing mixture is sprayed into a fine mist and heated, will result in highly explosive, and potentially hazardous, conditions.

This dangerous step, therefore, results in a further substantial drawback to the process disclosed by Strobel and Tarr.

Because most of the components of the juice used to produce these beverages are removed, the beverages of Teodoro et al. will necessarily lack many of the nutritional benefits, including antioxidant properties, and have a dramatically different flavour profile, when compared with traditionally prepared plant-derived beverages.

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