Method for producing a pumpable paste from seeds of nuts or drupes

Abstract

To provide a method for producing a pumpable batch composition of ground stone fruit seeds or nut fruit seeds.SOLUTION: There is provided a method for preparing a pumpable batch composition of stone fruit and / or nut fruit seeds, in particular nuts, almonds or nut and almond mixtures, the method including the steps of: firstly cracking stone fruit or nut seeds, from which the stone or shell has already been removed, by pre-grinding; secondly exposing the composition resulting from the pre-grinding to hot air and / or vacuum for the purpose of breaking for opening cells of the composition; and subsequently subjecting the composition resulting from the pre-grinding and the exposure to hot air or vacuum to further milling, typically in one stage and optionally in multiple stages, thereby forming a pumpable batch composition.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method according to the generic part of claim 1.

Background Art

[0002] Almond-containing products, especially almond-containing confectionery products including tarts, cakes, chocolates, puffs, ice creams, marzipans, almond-containing biscuits, etc., have traditionally been extremely popular. In this case, whole almonds or sliced almonds are usually used only for decoration purposes. In such products, almond paste is used much more frequently.

[0003] Furthermore, almond-containing products have also been used for a long time in the cosmetic field, not only almond oil for skin care or almond meal for skin cleansing, but also as finely ground almond paste for skin care.

[0004] The demand for almond-containing products has increased rapidly in the past few years, along with the great boom of veganism and the increase in the number of diagnoses of lactose intolerance and milk protein allergy. This is especially due to the fact that with extremely finely ground almond paste and the proteins and fats contained therein, an emulsion can be produced by adding water, and the emulsion is visually, sensorially, and gustatorily reminiscent of milk, and thus sells even better as a substitute for milk.

[0005] Almond milk is "parve" (neutral, i.e., containing neither milk nor meat), so it has a certain degree of relevance to kashrut, i.e., Jewish food regulations.

[0006] What is commonly referred to as "almond" in everyday language is the seed of the almond fruit that forms the so-called stone fruit. In the latter, the seed is surrounded by a wooden pit, the so-called almond core.

[0007] However, in the fields of use described so far, not only stone fruits such as almond fruits and their almonds, but also, to a similar extent, nuts (nut fruits), i.e., those in which the seeds are surrounded by a hard woody outer shell, are used.

[0008] Regarding the above-mentioned circumstances, products obtained from the seeds of stone fruits and nuts are in particular demand from industrial food production as finely ground pumpable intermediate products (referred to as batch compositions).

[0009] All cases of the above-mentioned types of pumpable (finished) intermediate products can be easily manufactured if they contain water or oil derived from other sources added to improve fluidity and, in some cases, further contain an emulsifier that is not specific to stone fruits or nuts, provided there is no problem.

[0010] However, for reasons of flavor and / or being more acceptable to consumers, it is desirable to use as few additives as possible that are not derived from the achene or its seeds for each intermediate product. Also, adding water to improve fluidity is not without problems. This is because there is a risk of pathogen contamination every time water is added. Even if there is no contamination by pathogens via water, a higher water content promotes the growth of pathogens that may be present in the intermediate product for other reasons.

[0011] Therefore, in the past, methods for processing almonds or nuts have been established. In these methods, the almonds or nuts are roasted and then ground. In this case, the natural water content is reduced by roasting. The roasting heat breaks and opens the cell walls, thereby releasing the fat accumulated inside each cell. As a result, a pumpable composition that is easier to further process can be obtained immediately after roasting.

[0012] However, in roasting, there is almost always a significant color change to brown, more or less. Such a color change is a problem, especially in the production of milk alternative products that desirably have as much as possible the white color familiar to dairy products.

[0013] Furthermore, the roasting of almonds or nuts almost inevitably involves more or less a significant Maillard reaction, i.e., a complex totality of reactions that occur successively and / or sequentially with each other, which results in a plurality of reaction products and affects the flavor or is rejected by consumers. This is because it is known that mutagenic or carcinogenic reaction products may be included in these reaction products (in the case of a suboptimal process).

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0014] Symmetrically, the problem of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a pumpable batch composition consisting of ground stone fruit or nut seeds without adding components of non-stone fruit seeds or non-nut seeds and without or substantially without affecting the flavor of the batch composition.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0015] The solution according to the present invention is a method for preparing a pumpable batch composition consisting of stone fruit and / or nut seeds, particularly nuts, almonds, or a mixture of nuts and almonds, comprising first cracking the stone fruit or nut seeds already removed of the core or shell by pre-grinding, then exposing the composition resulting from the pre-grinding to hot air and / or vacuum for the purpose of breaking and opening the cells of the composition, and subsequently performing further grinding, usually in one step, sometimes in multiple steps, on the composition resulting from the pre-grinding and the exposure to hot air or vacuum, thereby forming a pumpable batch composition.

[0016] As a result of pre - grinding, the free surface of the stone fruit or nut seeds (so - called pre - ground material) that are subsequently exposed to vacuum and / or hot air increases many times. Thereby, by applying vacuum and / or hot air, it is possible to open the cell walls of the cells of the pre - ground material, most of which remain intact. In this way, the fat or oil components accumulated in the intact cells are released. The fat or oil components greatly increase the viscosity of the pre - ground material and are thus mobilized so that the pre - ground material can be pumped.

[0017] The "batch composition" is understood to mean the composition by natural products described herein, which are brought to consumers as commercial products, properly packaged, optionally stored, mixed with further components (preferably using a metering pump) as required, and further processed together with these further components to form a final product, such as a pastry, ice cream, or care product. The main purpose of the batch composition may be to impart the characteristic flavor of the raw materials constituting the batch composition to the final product.

[0018] Exposure to hot air or vacuum preferably reduces the residual moisture of the pre - ground material to less than 2.1%, preferably less than 1.85% by controlling through the exposure time. The pre - grinding carried out as an introduction to this method or prior to this method also greatly contributes to achieving this purpose. Because under the influence of vacuum or hot air, as a result of the opening of the cell walls facilitated by the pre - grinding, in addition to the fat and oil components, the moisture accumulated in the cells is also released and can be easily removed. The reduction of the water content greatly contributes to the improvement of the stability of the finished batch composition. Because a composition with as low a water content as possible is unsuitable as a breeding ground for spores and pathogens. According to the present invention, since the desired pumpability is caused by the mobilization of the fat and oil components that were previously confined within the cells, further removal of water does not prevent the achievement of the desired pumpability.

[0019] The air temperature of the hot air used for drying is in the range exceeding 60°C, and ideally in the range exceeding 75°C. Only at these temperatures can the splitting of the cell wall be ensured to be sufficiently rapid and with a substantially reasonable process time.

[0020] Particularly preferably, the air temperature of the hot air used for drying is in the range less than 100°C, and ideally in the range less than 90°C. Therefore, the process temperature is lower than or significantly lower than the threshold at which the Maillard reaction starts, i.e., the threshold of about 140°C at which the "roasting process" occurs. Thus, the discoloration and roasting aroma that are typical of roasting and would surely be desirable in other contexts different from this case do not occur in the process of applying hot air.

[0021] It should be particularly noted that the hot air used for drying flows through the drying area so that when it absorbs a certain amount of moisture according to measurement or experience, it is carried away from the drying area even if the drying process is still in progress.

[0022] In this regard, when applying a vacuum instead of or in addition to the hot air to achieve or enhance the opening of the cells and / or to reduce the residual moisture, a vacuum in the range of preferably less than 0.25 bar absolute pressure, and ideally in the range of 0.1 bar, is applied.

[0023] With the possible exceptions excluded, in principle, during pre-grinding and also during further grinding, no water, oil, or other substances that are foreign to the seeds of drupes or nuts are added. This precisely reflects the advantage of the method according to the present invention. Due to the exposure to hot air or vacuum and the accompanying release of the fats and oils accumulated inside the cells, the pre-ground material already becomes pumpable. Therefore, the pre-ground material can be pumped through a stirred bead mill without further additives, especially without the addition of water and / or oil. This enables extremely effective and precisely adjusted further grinding with respect to the components forming the batch composition, and in many cases, the pumpability of the batch composition is further enhanced accordingly.

[0024] Hot air or vacuum is particularly preferably applied in a horizontal drum mixer that continuously moves the pitted fruit or nut to be pre-crushed. Thereby, a composition containing the seeds of the pre-crushed pitted fruit or nut is in particularly intensive contact with the hot air or vacuum even when it already shows a tendency to form lumps under the influence of the release of fat, oil, or water from the cells. This is particularly true when the composition has already been broken down by pre-crushing into particles that are much smaller than, for example, mere slices of nuts or almonds.

[0025] In this context, hot air or vacuum is particularly preferably applied in a coating device having at least an essentially closed coating container and, within that coating container, a usually multi-arm coating tool that preferably rotates on a horizontal shaft. The coating device is known in chocolate production. The coating device can also ventilate a composition that is initially still sticky / doughy due to its very high free fat content and thus not yet pumpable and interact with the hot air or vacuum.

[0026] Pre-crushing is preferably carried out by a pre-crushing device in the form of a grinder, particularly a conical grinder. The conical grinder preferably has a grinding cone that rotates inside a fixed grinding ring together with a vertically arranged shaft, thereby forming a grinding gap. In this case, each surface that forms the grinding gap between itself typically has a profile that forms a drive. This profile functions to place the seeds of the pitted fruit or nut to be crushed into the grinding gap and ensures that the seeds of the pitted fruit or nut are "jammed" in shape-tight contact within the grinding gap and are then crushed when the grinding cone continues to rotate. Due to the fact that the grinding gap is used and there is no contact between the grinding cone and the grinding ring, in no case will pre-crushing be carried out to the extent that the grinding gap becomes clogged. Furthermore, by changing the distance between the grinding cones from each other, the fineness of the particles resulting from the pre-crushing can be well adjusted.

[0027] Advantageously, the hot air or vacuum is applied in a coating apparatus having at least an essentially closed coating vessel and, within the coating vessel, a generally multi-arm coating tool that preferably rotates on a horizontal shaft.

[0028] After the composition obtained by pre-grinding and application of hot air or vacuum has become pumpable, fine grinding is carried out using a stirred bead mill, and at this stage, the composition can be pumped through the stirred bead mill. Fine grinding using a stirred bead mill results in extremely uniform and fine grinding, which can be well controlled and effectively carried out.

[0029] Irrespective of the claims of such a method, protection of an apparatus for carrying out the method according to any one of the preceding claims is also claimed. This apparatus is characterized by comprising a pre-grinder, a hot air or vacuum applicator, and a fine grinding device.

[0030] The pre-grinder is equipped and adjusted so as to pre-grind the seeds of drupes or nuts to be processed into a pumpable composition with the aid of a hot air and / or vacuum applicator without heating the composition to the extent that a Maillard reaction occurs. Thereafter, this composition can be pumped through a stirred bead mill without further additives for enhancing fluidity.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0031]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0032] Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, where hazelnuts and / or cashew nuts and almonds are taken as examples. However, this description is also appropriately applicable to other nut seeds or stone fruit seeds.

[0033] Nuts or almonds are sent onto the pre-crusher 2 in a whole or sliced state via a conveyor 1, usually a screw conveyor or a vibrating conveyor. As the pre-crusher 2, for example, a device commercially available under the name Mastercream (registered trademark) from Netzsch can be used.

[0034] This pre-crusher is ideally configured as a conical grinder (pulverizer) 3 as shown in FIG. 2, for example. Materials are supplied to this conical grinder 3 vertically from above. The nuts and almonds to be pre-crushed fall onto a crushing core 4 tapered upward. The crushing core 4 preferably has a spiral profile. This spiral profile captures the introduced nuts and draws them into the crushing gap 5. This crushing gap is formed by the crushing cone 4 together with a fixed crushing ring 6, and the crushing core 4 rotates inside it. This rotation occurs together with a vertical shaft. Thereby, the nuts or almonds to be pre-crushed are crushed into pieces within the crushing gap. From there, the crushed nuts or almonds fall into the second part of the grinder. This second part is formed by a cylindrical crushing disk 7 adjacent to the lower edge of the crushing core. The cylindrical crushing disk 7 also has a profile that assists in crushing.

[0035] The grinding process is typically carried out such that the temperature of the nuts or almonds to be pre - ground is maintained below 110° throughout the pre - grinding process. This can avoid affecting the flavor and forming roasting aroma. In most cases, water cooling of the pre - grinder and its grinder is not necessary. Instead, by appropriately adjusting the gap width of the grinder and / or its shaft speed, excessive heating can be prevented.

[0036] The pre - grinder 2 is preferably operated at a shaft speed of about 3000 - 4200 revs / min (rpm). The grinding cone 4 rotates at a corresponding speed.

[0037] Inside the pre - grinder, a viscous composition is formed by the nut or almond paste. Most of the particles contained in the composition have an average particle size in the range of 30 / 100 mm to about 4 / 100 mm.

[0038] Some of the oils and fats accumulated inside the cells have already been mobilized in the composition, but this composition is not pumpable. If the inner diameter of the connecting line is not selected to be too small and is installed short, the completed pre - ground composition can fall under the influence of gravity into the horizontally arranged mixer located below without further assistance.

[0039] As the horizontal mixer, ideally, a conching device 8 known in chocolate production is used.

[0040] Such a conching device 8 can be designed in the same way as, for example, the conching device described in German Patent No. 102017001784 of the applicant. Therefore, the disclosure of this German patent is incorporated by reference as part of the subject matter of the present specification.

[0041] The coating device is characterized by a coating container 9. Inside the coating device, a horizontal shaft rotates. Usually, a multi-arm coating tool 10 is attached to the shaft. These arms literally dig up the dough-like composition produced by pre-grinding every time they rotate. As a result, the composition is extremely evenly exposed to the vacuum or hot air inside the coating container, and the vacuum or hot air is applied inside the coating device.

[0042] The coating container is usually connected to a vacuum pump. The vacuum pump partially vacuums the coating container. That is, the vacuum pump makes the inside of the coating container have a negative pressure. This is preferably done so that the inside of the coating container has a negative pressure less than 25% of the ambient pressure, ideally in the range of 0.1 bar of absolute pressure.

[0043] The coating device operates in a charge operation. The coating device is supplied by a pre-grinder until it reaches the nominal load. As a result, the process of the pre-grinder stops. At this point, the coating process device starts operating.

[0044] When using vacuum, it has been found desirable to preheat the coating device using hot water that is conveyed in other channels and thus does not contact the product to be coated. The preferred water temperature is in the range of 60° + / - 15°C, more preferably in the range of 90° + / - 10°C. Usually, a coating container time of 60 to 120 minutes is selected. In this case, the coating tool preferably rotates at a speed of less than 20 revolutions per minute.

[0045] After this period of time, the residual moisture of the coating material with the parameters of pre-grinding and coating correctly adjusted is preferably in the range of 0.5% + / - 20%.

[0046] Under the influence of vacuum, such coating or mixing causes the composition to move from the pre-crusher and the intact cell walls of the composition to break open. As a result, the oils and fats that were still accumulated intracellularly and thus not mobilized are released. At the same time, the residual moisture decreases. This is because the cell water is also mobilized. However, unlike the mobilized oils and fats, this directly transfers to the gas phase.

[0047] As a result, the viscosity of the composition is significantly reduced. The dough-like and viscous composition until then becomes significantly more fluid, and accordingly the pumpability is enhanced. According to the findings of the present inventors, the cause of this effect is not only the vacuum. Rather, the combination of vacuum and continuous and long-term stirring (usually over 45 minutes) of the composition by a mixer or coating device is assumed to be the cause of this decisive effect.

[0048] After the coating is completed, a composition that is fluid enough to be pumped into the storage container using a thick material pump is obtained. In this case, although a piston pump can certainly be used, it is far from the ideal choice. The use of an eccentric screw pump, for example, the Nemo series of Netzsch, has proven to be ideal. In any case, the composition produced by mixing or coating under vacuum and, in some cases, the application of appropriate heat, has improved pumpability at this stage and can be sent to the stirred bead mill 11.

[0049] In this case, ideally, a stirred bead mill of the Masterrefiner (registered trademark) type commercially available from Netzsch is used. In this stirred bead mill or other stirred bead mills, it has been proven that grinding balls with a diameter in the range of 2 mm to 8 mm are most suitable. The residence time of the composition in the stirred bead mill is reasonably in the range of 2 hours to 4 hours and is usually passed through the stirred bead mill repeatedly.

[0050] In this way, within the stirring bead mill, it is possible to realize a product, i.e., a batch composition, with an average particle size mainly in the range of 1.5 / 100 mm to 10 / 100 mm. In this case, the last remaining oil and fat that had been accumulated until then are mobilized. Thereby, an easily pumpable batch composition is obtained. Its viscosity, which can be measured with a rotational viscometer, is preferably in the range of 1.00E+2 cP to 1.00E+4 cP (without the addition of foreign substances). Such a batch composition can be further processed more easily by using a standard metering pump in the food industry and can be accurately metered and supplied for the final product.

[0051] What should be noted here is that the storage container 12 described above is not necessarily required. However, it is advantageous to have a storage container. This is because the stirring bead mill 11 can be operated for a longer time compared to the short time when the next charge is taken out from the coating device 8.

[0052] When the throughput is larger, the method described above is modified so that two or more horizontal mixers or coating devices 8 are operated in parallel. In this case, by using a correspondingly large storage container 12, it can be ensured that the device for fine grinding, i.e., the stirring bead mill 11 or Masterrefiner, can be continuously supplied. This is because by constantly supplying one of the two horizontal mixers or one of the two coating devices alternately while operating the other in parallel, more product can be utilized in a short time and the additional product can be supplied to the stirring bead mill.

[0053] A further embodiment of the present invention is configured substantially in the same manner as the above-described embodiment.

[0054] This further embodiment differs in that no vacuum is applied in the coating apparatus. Instead, hot air is supplied to the coating vessel. The hot air ideally has a sub-Maillard temperature of about 90 °C. This hot air comes into direct contact with the composition. Thus, the hot air not only serves to indirectly heat the coating vessel.

[0055] In this case, the residence time in the coating vessel is slightly longer compared to when a vacuum is applied. That is, in many cases, the residence time is about 90 to 180 minutes.

Explanation of Signs

[0056] 1 Conveyor 2 Pre-crusher 3 Conical crusher 4 Crushing cone 5 Crushing gap 6 Crushing ring 7 Crushing disk 8 Horizontal mixer or coating apparatus 9 Coating vessel 10 Coating tool 11 Stirring bead mill 12 Storage container

Claims

1. A method for preparing a pumpable batch composition consisting of drupe and / or nut seeds, comprising: - First, a step of cracking the seeds of the drupe or nut from which the stone or shell has already been removed by pre-grinding; - Next, a step of subjecting the composition resulting from the pre-grinding to exposure to hot air and / or vacuum for the purpose of destroying and opening the cells of the composition; - Subsequently, a step of further grinding the composition resulting from the pre-grinding and the exposure to hot air or vacuum, thereby forming a pumpable batch composition. The method is characterized in that the exposure to hot air or vacuum is controlled through the exposure time to reduce the residual moisture to less than 2.1%. A method for reducing the residual moisture to less than 2.1% by controlling the exposure to hot air or vacuum within the range of 90°C ± 10°C through the exposure time.

2. A method for preparing a pumpable composition consisting of the drupe or nut seeds according to Claim 1, wherein the pre-grinding is a pre-ground that results in a pre-ground material having an average particle size in the range of 4 / 100 mm to 30 / 100 mm.

3. A method for preparing a pumpable composition consisting of the drupe or nut seeds according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the exposure to hot air or vacuum is controlled through the exposure time to reduce the residual moisture to 0.5% ± 0.2%.

4. A method for preparing a pumpable composition consisting of the drupe or nut seeds according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the air temperature of the hot air used for drying is in the range exceeding 60°C.

5. A method for preparing a pumpable composition consisting of the drupe or nut seeds according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the air temperature of the hot air used for drying is in the range less than 100°C.

6. A method for preparing a pumpable composition consisting of the drupe or nut seeds according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the hot air used for drying flows through the drying area so that it is carried away from the drying area even when the drying process is still in progress when the hot air has absorbed a certain amount of moisture according to measurement or experience.

7. A method for preparing a pumpable composition consisting of the drupe or nut seeds according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a vacuum with an absolute pressure of less than 0.25 bar is applied for drying.

8. A method for preparing a pumpable composition comprising nuts and almonds according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that during pre-crushing and also during said further crushing, no water, oil, or other substances foreign to the drupe or nut seeds are added.

9. A method for preparing a pumpable composition comprising drupe or nut seeds according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that hot air or vacuum is applied in a horizontal drum mixer that continuously moves the drupe or nut seeds to be pre-crushed.

10. A method for preparing a pumpable composition comprising drupe or nut seeds according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that pre-crushing is carried out by a pre-crushing device which has a crushing cone rotating inside a fixed crushing ring together with a shaft, thereby forming a crushing gap, and each surface forming the crushing gap between themselves is provided with a profile forming a driving part for putting the drupe or nut seeds to be crushed into the crushing gap.

11. A method for preparing a pumpable composition comprising drupe or nut seeds according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that hot air or vacuum is applied in a coating device having at least a closed coating container and a multi-arm coating tool inside the coating container.

12. A method for preparing a pumpable composition comprising nuts and almonds according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that fine crushing is carried out using a stirred bead mill that produces a final crushed material, and the final crushed material has an average particle size in the range of 15 / 1000 mm to 10 / 1000 mm in the solid phase.

13. An apparatus for implementing the method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a pre-crusher, a hot air or vacuum applicator, and a fine-crushing device.

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