Method of processing food product

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of processing a food product, the method comprising a method of processing a meat raw material of a four-leg livestock and a plant-type food raw material into a food product, the method comprising the steps of: providing a degummed meat raw material of a four-leg livestock with bones; providing plant type food raw materials; chopping the meat raw material of the gutted four-legged livestock with a meat grinder having a particle size of at most 5 mm to provide a chopped four-legged livestock mass; adding the plant-type food raw material to the shredded four-legged livestock mass to provide a mixture of the shredded four-legged livestock mass and the plant-type food raw material; wet-extruding the mixture of the shredded four-legged livestock mass and the plant-type food raw material to provide an extruded product; and grinding the extrudate with a colloid mill to obtain a ground extrudate as a food.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for processing food. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for processing four-legged livestock including undervalued parts of the livestock into food by extrusion and colloid milling. Background Art

[0002] Extrusion is widely used in the manufacture of various food products. In general, extrusion is a continuous process that uses an extruder with one or two screws. Extruders provide conveying, compression, mixing, cooking, shearing, heating, cooling and shaping of raw materials into the final product.

[0003] Sustainable food processing requires the use of methods that fully and efficiently utilize food ingredients. In meat processing, this means that undervalued parts of animals, such as bones and tendons, are used in food processing. The use of undervalued parts of poultry in various food processes is discussed in the literature.

[0004] US 5853790 discloses a method for commercially preparing poultry meat for human consumption by using extrusion. The method effectively maximizes the use of poultry meat in the whole poultry carcass and increases the value of all meat in the poultry carcass. In the method, the meat portion of the whole poultry has been deboned. Summary of the invention

[0005] It has now been found that a food for human consumption having satisfactory organoleptic properties, such as an attractive flavor and a good mouthfeel, comprising meat raw materials of four-legged livestock and plant-based food raw materials, can be processed from undervalued portions of meat raw materials of four-legged livestock containing bones, and optionally additional portions, such as hard tissue, tendons, skin, blood, plasma and / or cartilage. Four-legged livestock meat from the entire four-legged livestock carcass can be effectively used and converted into a valuable food having organoleptic properties acceptable to consumers. By grinding and extruding a food raw material containing meat raw materials of four-legged livestock and plant-based food raw materials using a colloid mill, a food having satisfactory organoleptic properties is provided.

[0006] In one aspect, the present invention provides a method for processing meat materials and plant-based food materials from four-legged livestock into food. The method effectively utilizes all meat from the livestock carcass, including bones, and optionally hard tissues, tendons, skin, blood, plasma and / or cartilage.

[0007] The term "four-legged livestock" and "livestock" are used interchangeably. In the present invention, "four-legged livestock" include pigs, cattle, sheep, goats and horses, but are not limited thereto. In one implementation, the livestock is a pig.

[0008] Thus, the present invention provides a sustainable method in which livestock can be efficiently used to produce ready-to-eat food for human consumption, thereby bringing environmental benefits. In addition, the food can be used as an ingredient or filler and combined with other food ingredients to process a variety of food compositions.

[0009] The food processed by the method of the present invention is also suitable as animal feed.

[0010] The present invention also provides a method wherein undervalued parts of livestock or parts of low sanitary quality can be used, thereby providing an economic benefit as the food can be processed at a lower cost.

[0011] The present invention also provides a method of processing a food product having increased nutritional value.

[0012] Furthermore, the present invention provides a method of processing food that can reduce global meat production, thereby providing environmental benefits.

[0013] The present invention also provides a method for processing a food product having high microbiological quality and substantially free of Salmonella bacteria.

[0014] In another aspect, the present invention provides a food composition comprising a food processed by the method of the present invention.

[0015] In one aspect, the present invention provides a use of a food processed by the method of the present invention in a food composition.

[0016] In another aspect, the invention provides an apparatus comprising means for implementing the method of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 A process flow diagram generally shows a specific embodiment of the method of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 A specific embodiment of the device of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] In one aspect, the present invention provides a method for processing food, the food comprising meat material of four-legged livestock and plant-based food material, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

[0020] - provide a bone-in, eviscerated meat material of four-legged livestock,

[0021] -Provide a plant-based food raw material,

[0022] - mincing the eviscerated four-legged animal meat material using a meat grinder having a particle size of at most 5 mm to provide minced four-legged animal masses,

[0023] - adding the vegetable-based food material to the chopped four-legged livestock mass to provide a mixture of the chopped four-legged livestock mass and the vegetable-based food material,

[0024] - wet extruding the mixture of said chopped four-legged livestock mass and said vegetable-based food material to provide an extrudate,

[0025] - chopping the extrudate using a colloid mill to provide a ground extrudate as a food product.

[0026] Figure 1 A specific implementation of the method of the present invention is shown. The dotted line represents an optional method step. The method may also include other optional method steps not shown in the figure.

[0027] The eviscerated livestock meat material includes bones. The content of bones in the eviscerated livestock meat material can vary in the range of about 10% to about 60% by weight. Using more bones in the eviscerated livestock meat material beneficially leads to an increase in the calcium content of the final food product.

[0028] In one embodiment, the eviscerated livestock meat material also contains hard tissue, tendons, skin, blood, plasma and / or cartilage, and may be provided from the legs, neck, skin and / or head of the livestock.

[0029] The eviscerated animal meat material is ground to crush bones and other hard tissues and provide a ground animal mass in a suitable form for feeding to wet extrusion. The mincing is performed using a meat grinder having a hole size of up to 5 mm. In a specific embodiment, the hole size of the meat grinder ranges from about 2 mm to a maximum of 5 mm. If the eviscerated animal meat material contains large bones, a bone crusher is required to crush the large bones into smaller pieces before mincing.

[0030] In one embodiment, the ground livestock mass is subjected to a colloid mill to further pulverize the bone particles into smaller fragments. Typically, a "colloid mill" is a machine with a high-speed rotor and stator that provides ultrafine grinding results while simultaneously emulsifying, homogenizing and dispersing. The rotor pushes the material into a small gap between the rotor and the stator, resulting in intense mechanical shear. In the present invention, the colloid mill provides uniform, ultrafine bone particles of the bone-containing livestock mass and beneficially enhances the softening of the bone particles in subsequent wet extrusion. In one embodiment, the colloid mill that grinds the livestock mass provides bone particles with an average particle size of up to 500 μm.

[0031] In one embodiment, the method of the present invention comprises two colloid milling steps, namely colloid milling of chopped four-legged livestock masses and colloid milling of the extrudate.

[0032] After being chopped with a meat grinder, and optionally further ground with a colloid mill, the chopped livestock mass obtained is mixed with a plant-based food material. Any food-grade plant-based food material is suitable for adding to the chopped livestock mass. Plant-based food materials include but are not limited to food materials rich in protein, carbohydrates and / or fiber. In a specific embodiment, the plant-based food material includes soy protein, pea protein, cereal protein, broad bean protein, zein, potato starch, corn starch or any mixture thereof. In a specific embodiment, the plant-based food material is provided in the form of finely ground powder. In a specific embodiment, the plant-based food material is fully mixed with the chopped livestock mass to provide a uniform mixture of chopped four-legged livestock mass and the plant-based food material.

[0033] The plant-based food material is added to the chopped livestock mass in an amount to provide a food product containing about 5 wt% to about 50 wt% plant-based food material. In a specific embodiment, the food product contains about 10 wt% to about 30 wt% plant-based food material.

[0034] In one embodiment, the food product contains about 50 wt% to about 95 wt% of said eviscerated livestock meat material. In another embodiment, the food product contains about 70 wt% to about 90 wt% of said eviscerated livestock meat material.

[0035] In one embodiment, the mixture of the chopped four-legged livestock mass and the plant-based food material is cooled to a temperature of about -25°C to about 6°C. Cooling the mixture before feeding the mixture to the extrusion process can improve the microbiological quality of the mixture.

[0036] The mixture of the chopped four-legged livestock mass and the plant-based food raw material is wet extruded to provide an extrudate. In the context of the present invention, the term "wet extrusion" refers to a mixture of the chopped four-legged livestock mass and the plant-based food raw material to be extruded having a moisture content of at least 30%. In a specific embodiment, the moisture content of the mixture of the chopped four-legged livestock mass and the plant-based food raw material is in the range of 30% to about 70%. If the moisture content is lower than 30%, it may be difficult to carry out the extrusion process because the mixture in the extruder is dry. On the other hand, if the moisture content is higher than 70%, the liquid will undesirably separate from the dry matter of the mixture.

[0037] The wet extruder can be a single screw extruder or a twin screw extruder. During the extrusion step, shearing and tearing combined with moisture cause the hard tissues of the livestock to soften and provide a unique structure to the final food product.

[0038] In one embodiment, the wet extrusion is carried out at a temperature of about 100°C to about 400°C, depending on the extruder used in the method, and the extruder must contain at least one heating section with a temperature of at least 100°C. In addition, there may be other heating sections in which the extruder can be operated below 100°C, for example at 70°C. In one embodiment of the present invention, an extruder is used, which includes multiple heating sections, each operating at a different temperature. In one embodiment, the temperature of the heating section increases as the material moves forward in the extruder.

[0039] The duration of the wet pressing depends on the construction and setup of the equipment.

[0040] In one embodiment, the wet extrusion is carried out at a speed of about 100 rpm to about 1000 rpm. In another embodiment, the wet extrusion is carried out at a speed of about 170 rpm to about 600 rpm. In one embodiment, the wet extrusion is carried out at a speed of about 170 rpm.

[0041] In one embodiment, wet extrusion of the chopped livestock mass provides an extrudate having a temperature of at least 100°C.

[0042] In one embodiment, the extrudate is cooled to a temperature of about +60°C to about -30°C. In one embodiment, the base material is cooled in the extruder before the extrudate is discharged from the extruder. Cooling is conveniently performed in a cooling die in the extruder. When the extrudate is cooled in the extruder, the temperature of the material discharged from the extruder may be in the range of about 1°C to about 80°C. In one embodiment, the temperature of the extrudate is in the range of about 30°C to about 60°C.

[0043] The extrudate is then ground using a colloid mill to improve the sensory properties of the resulting food. The colloid mill at this stage may be the same as or different from the colloid mill used to grind the livestock mass. In one embodiment, water and / or oil is added to the extrudate prior to the colloid mill to improve the performance of the colloid mill. The extrudate is ground using a colloid mill to obtain a bone-containing food having an average particle size of about 1 μm to about 200 μm. The colloid milled food has a smooth mouthfeel and no visible bone particles are present.

[0044] Colloid milling of the extrudate provides a food grade product that can be consumed directly.

[0045] The extrusion process reduces the microbial load of livestock carcasses, allowing the use of livestock with lower hygienic quality. In this process, the microbial load is reduced by about 1000-10 9 times.

[0046] The extruded food processed by the method of the present invention can imitate the texture, flavor and mouthfeel of meat.

[0047] The method of the present invention provides a food with increased nutritional value. By using the calcium-containing parts of livestock, i.e. bones, and optional hard tissues, tendons and / or cartilage, the calcium content of the food processed by the method is increased compared to typical livestock meat products. In one embodiment, the calcium content of the food is about 0.2% w / w to about 0.7% w / w. In another embodiment, the calcium content of the food is about 0.2% w / w to about 0.5% w / w, such as about 0.52% w / w. In another embodiment, the calcium content of the food is about 0.5% w / w to about 0.7% w / w, such as about 0.52% w / w.

[0048] In one embodiment, the extruded and colloidally ground food product is heat treated at a temperature of about 110° C. to about 400° C. to further improve the organoleptic properties and mouthfeel of the product. The heat treatment can be performed, for example, by cooking in oil, for example at 150-300° C., grilling, pan frying, heat drying, for example at 200-400° C., freeze drying at below -70° C., microwave or infrared radiation.

[0049] The sensory properties of the food can be further improved by adding ingredients commonly used in food manufacturing, such as flavoring agents, spices, salt, stabilizers, emulsifiers, carbohydrates, fibers, oils and fats, etc., to the food processed by the method of the present invention.

[0050] The food can be combined with other food materials to provide a variety of food compositions with different appearances, tastes and structures. Therefore, in one aspect, the invention provides the purposes of the food processed by the method of the present invention as the ingredients or fillers in the preparation of food compositions. For example, the food can be combined with plant-based food materials or livestock meat materials without bones, hard tissues, tendons, skin, blood, blood plasma and / or cartilage. The food processed by the method of the present invention can be included in the food composition with an amount up to about 50% w / w, without any negative impact on the organoleptic properties of the food composition.

[0051] In another aspect, the present invention provides a food composition comprising a food processed by the method of the present invention.

[0052] In another aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus comprising means for implementing the method of the present invention. A specific embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention is Figure 2 As shown in the figure, the dotted lines represent optional units. The device may also include other optional units not shown in the figure.

[0053] The following examples are provided to further illustrate the present invention but not to limit the present invention.

[0054] The calcium content of foods is measured according to standard SFS-EN ISO 11885, 2009.

[0055] The level of aerobic microorganisms was measured according to standard NMKL 86:2013.

[0056] The amount of Salmonella was measured according to ISO / DIS 20976-2.

[0057] Example 1

[0058] 70 kg of pork carcasses (containing bones, fat and muscle) are crushed into fragments with a diameter of up to 0.5 cm using a bone crusher. The obtained pork pieces are then minced using a meat grinder with a pore size of 2 mm. The minced pork pieces are then ground into fine fragments with bone particles of about 100 μm in diameter using a colloid mill. The ground material is appropriately mixed with 30 kg of soy concentrate powder (protein content of 66 wt.%). The resulting mixture is maintained at about 4°C and then loaded into a silo connected to a conveying screw connected to a hopper of about 30 liters in volume. The mixture is introduced from the hopper into an extruder in a controlled manner at about 30 kg / h using an auger and screw.

[0059] The mixture of chopped pork chunks and soy concentrate powder was introduced into an extruder having a cooling die integrated therewith. The water content of the mixture was about 55% w / w and the mixture was extruded at 170 rpm. The heating zones of the extruder were adjusted to temperatures of 60°C, 70°C, 80°C, 100°C, 120°C, 150°C and 170°C, the first zone of the cooling die was set to 60°C and the last zone was set to 40°C, and the extrusion process took about 90 seconds.

[0060] The extrudate leaves the cooled die at a temperature below 100°C, releasing only a small amount of steam in the process. Solid matter and some separated oil are discharged from the end of the cooled die.

[0061] The aerobic microbial content of the solid material obtained from wet extrusion and the aerobic microbial content of the mixture of chopped pork chunks and soy concentrate powder fed to wet extrusion, i.e. the "raw material", was measured at 30°C / 72 hours, and the solid material showed <100 pmy / g, while the raw material showed >30 000 000 pmy / g. The aerobic microbial counts measured indicated that a food grade product for human consumption was obtained.

[0062] The food product, ie the solid substance, has a calcium content of 0.52% w / w.

[0063] The solid material showed a 7-log reduction in Salmonella, indicating complete elimination of Salmonella bacteria.

[0064] The solid matter was chopped using a meat grinder with a pore size of 2 mm. Sunflower oil and water were both added to the ground matter in a ratio of 2:10 (w / w) and absorbed by the matter at 4°C for 60 minutes. The matter was then ground using a colloid mill. The colloid mill provided a ready-to-eat food product.

[0065] The substance may also be used as an ingredient of a food composition, and its content may be up to 50% by weight of the total weight of the food composition.

[0066] Example 2

[0067] The extrudate of the colloid mill was prepared as described in Example 1 and the extrudate was torn into granules with a particle size of about 1-5 mm. Freshly ground chicken was added to the granules in a ratio of 65:35 (w / w). Beef fat was added to the obtained mixture in a ratio of 1:10 (w / w) and then ground through a meat grinder with a 5 mm screen to obtain chunks.

[0068] 2.0 wt% salt and spices including black pepper, chili powder, cumin powder, garlic powder, onion powder and chili pepper were added to the mass. The mass was kneaded for about 20 minutes until a smooth mass was obtained. The mass was wrapped in oiled aluminum foil and baked in an oven at 125°C until the internal temperature of the kebab-like mass reached 80°C.

[0069] The product was cooled to +4°C and vacuum packed.

[0070] The resulting kebab-like food exhibits an appealing taste and texture.

[0071] It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways.The invention and its embodiments are not limited to the examples described above but may vary within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for processing food, wherein the food comprises meat raw materials of four-legged livestock and plant-based food raw materials, characterized in that: The method comprises the following steps: - Provide bone-in, eviscerated meat from four-legged animals, -Provide plant-based food ingredients, - mincing the eviscerated four-legged animal meat material using a meat grinder having a particle size of at most 5 mm to provide minced four-legged animal masses, - adding the plant-based food material to the chopped four-legged livestock mass to provide a mixture of chopped four-legged livestock mass and the plant-based food material, - wet extruding the mixture of chopped four-legged livestock chunks and vegetable-based food material to provide an extrudate, - Grinding the extrudate using a colloid mill to provide a ground extrudate as a food product.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The eviscerated four-legged livestock include pigs, cattle, sheep, goats and horses.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The eviscerated meat material of four-legged livestock may contain bones in an amount of about 10 wt % to about 60 wt % based on the weight of the eviscerated meat material of four-legged livestock.

4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The eviscerated four-legged livestock meat material further comprises at least one of hard tissue, tendon, skin, blood, plasma and cartilage.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The meat grinder has a hole size ranging from about 2 mm up to 5 mm.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The chopped four-legged livestock mass was further ground using a colloid mill.

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The plant-based food raw material comprises soy protein, pea protein, cereal protein, broad bean protein, corn protein or any mixture thereof.

8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The plant-based food raw material is added in an amount to provide a food containing about 5 wt % to about 50 wt %, specifically about 10 wt % to about 30 wt % of the plant-based food raw material.

9. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The food product contains about 50 wt % to about 95 wt %, specifically about 70 wt % to about 90 wt % of the eviscerated four-legged livestock meat material.

10. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The wet extrusion is performed at a temperature of about 100°C to about 400°C.

11. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The wet extrusion was carried out at about 170 rpm.

12. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The mixture of the chopped four-legged livestock chunks and the plant-based food material has a moisture content of about 30 wt % to about 70 wt %.

13. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: At least one of water and oil is added to the extrudate prior to milling using a colloid mill.

14. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The average bone particle size of the ground extrudate is about 1 μm to about 200 μm.

15. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The food has a calcium content of about 0.2% w / w to about 0.7% w / w, specifically about 0.2% w / w to about 0.5% w / w, more specifically about 0.5% w / w to about 0.7% w / w.

16. A food composition, characterized in that The food composition comprises the food processed by the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. A food composition according to claim 16, wherein The food product may comprise up to about 50% w / w of the food composition.

18. Use of the food processed by the method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 in a food composition.

19. An apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method of any one of claims 1 to 15.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein: The device comprises: - a meat grinder for mincing eviscerated meat raw material of four-legged livestock to provide chopped four-legged livestock masses, - an extruder connected to said meat grinder and configured to receive said chopped four-legged livestock mass to provide an extrudate, - a colloid mill connected to the extruder and configured to receive the extrudate to provide a food product.

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