Protein component derived from the seeds of the Macauba fruit

Abstract

The present invention relates to a protein ingredient and oil preparation derived from the seeds of the Macauba fruit, as well as a method for preparing the same. The protein preparation has a protein content of more than 15% by weight, preferably more than 30% by weight, and a fat content of less than 60% by weight, preferably less than 25% by weight. Protein ingredients with bright color and good technical functionality can be produced. The attractive organoleptic properties of the protein ingredient allow for a wide range of applications in food, pet food, and cosmetics.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a functional protein ingredient from the seeds of the Macauba fruit for use in foods, cosmetics and pet foods, a method for preparing said ingredient, and oil-based formulations obtained from said seeds. [Background technology]

[0002] As agricultural land and resources become increasingly scarce, the importance of plant-based protein ingredients for feeding people and for use in pet food and cosmetics is correspondingly increasing. The growing demand for high-quality food products is creating a need for protein ingredients that are nutritionally and technologically optimized, can be provided easily and cheaply, and do not require excessive resource consumption for their production.

[0003] Inexpensive preparations can be obtained, for example, from the residues of vegetable oil production, such as sunflower oil, linseed oil, or rapeseed oil production. However, the press cakes produced in these processes have significant organoleptic defects in terms of color, taste, composition, and odor. Press cakes can also be nutritionally deficient due to the high concentrations of phytochemicals, including phenolic acids, glucosinolates, or cyanides, that they contain. This significantly limits their use in human food.

[0004] In addition to other oil plants, the fat-rich kernels of little-known fruits are emerging as new sustainable sources for obtaining edible oils. For the purposes of this patent application, these are the seeds of the macauba fruit.

[0005] The macauba fruit consists of several distinct parts: the exocarp (skin), mesocarp (flesh), endocarp (inner shell), and the fat-rich kernel (endosperm) covered by a thin, dark skin (outer skin). Oil has sometimes been extracted from the endosperm, which has a protein content of 14.0% to 30.1%, by pressing, as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 5,629,493. This document also describes a method for producing animal feed based on by-products of the macauba fruit, but does not describe the use of press cake for high-quality applications in food, pet food, or cosmetics. Residues previously obtained by pressing the seeds of the aforementioned fruits are brown to black in color, which has limited their attractiveness for use in food, pet food, or cosmetics. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Brazilian Patent Application Publication No. 102012029493 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The present invention aims to provide functional plant protein-containing ingredients and oil-based formulations that are organoleptically attractive and describe a simple and inexpensive method for their production. In an advantageous form, the ingredients have as light a color as possible and good technical functionality, such as oil or water binding properties. The ingredients also advantageously have attractive organoleptic properties, such as a neutral odor and taste, that allow for the widest possible use in food products. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] This purpose Please request In the section The protein composition described in minutesAdvantageous variants of the protein components and methods are the subject of the dependent claims or will be apparent from the following description and embodiments.

[0009] In the context of the present invention, it has been found that the residue from the recovery of oil from the kernels of the macauba fruit, despite the kernels being very dark in color, even black, can be used as a protein-containing and / or technologically functional ingredient for the production, in particular industrial production, of food, pet food or cosmetics, said ingredient having the properties according to the invention that can be maintained by the described method of production and the corresponding process variants.

[0010] For the purposes of the present invention, the kernel of the macauba fruit is understood to be the endosperm with a dark outer skin (testa).

[0011] The protein-containing components of the Macauba fruit have the following properties according to the present invention: In order to avoid caking when added in metered amounts to food products, the fat content is less than 60% by weight, preferably less than 25% by weight, advantageously less than 5% by weight, in particular less than 3% by weight, and particularly advantageously less than 2% by weight. In particular, a fat content of less than 2% by weight largely avoids the formation of aroma-active products due to lipid degradation, thereby providing good storage stability for the ingredient. The protein content is greater than 15% by weight, advantageously greater than 30% by weight, preferably greater than 35% by weight and greater than 50% by weight, particularly advantageously greater than 70% by weight, 80% by weight or 90% by weight.

[0012] In a preferred variant, the protein component has good technical functionality, in particular the following properties: Emulsifying activity index (calculated by turbidity measurement) is 30m 2 / g component, advantageously 50m 2 / g of component, particularly advantageously 100m 2 / g of ingredients, a protein solubility at pH 7.0 and 0.1 mol / l NaCl of more than 10%, advantageously more than 15%, preferably more than 20%; a protein solubility at pH 7.0 and 0.5 mol / l NaCl of more than 30%, advantageously more than 40%, particularly advantageously more than 50%, preferably more than 60%; water binding (water remaining in the component after adding excess water, centrifuging, and decanting the excess water) of more than 1 ml / g component, preferably more than 2.0 ml / g component, and particularly preferably more than 4.0 ml / g component; an oil binding (oil remaining in the component after adding excess oil, centrifuging, and decanting the excess oil) of greater than 1.0 ml / g component, preferably greater than 1.5 ml / g component, and particularly preferably greater than 2.0 ml / g component; a minimum gelling concentration of less than 10.0%, preferably less than 8.0%, particularly advantageously less than 6.0%; CIE-L * a * b * L obtained according to the colorimetric method * a light colour with a value of more than 50, advantageously more than 70, preferably more than 80 and particularly advantageously more than 90 (whereby by corresponding treatment the preparation becomes lighter in colour, thus widening the range of its possible applications in higher quality and colour-sensitive applications, such as for example beverages or fermented products such as yoghurt or cheese, It has one or more of the following.

[0013] Surprisingly, it has been found that this ingredient has a very neutral taste, good organoleptic properties, and good functionality in food and pet food, despite the simple and inexpensive manufacturing process described below. As a result, despite the low manufacturing cost, the availability of various attractive ingredients for manufacturing food as well as pet food or cosmetics is expanded.

[0014] Description of the method according to the invention: 1) Mechanically separating the macauba kernel from the individual fruit parts, i.e., the exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp. In addition to this separation, it may be advantageous to carry out heat treatment and / or wetting or drying to make the mechanical separation of the kernel easier. It is optional and advantageous to partially or completely separate the dark husk from the kernel before the subsequent extraction of oil. Alternatively, kernels without or with partially or completely removed husks may be provided at this earlier stage. If the husks are not separated, subsequent steps 2) and 3) yield a dark gray product, while partial separation produces an off-white product (with a brightness value L greater than 70). Subsequent steps 2) and 4) yield a light gray-white product (with a brightness value L usually greater than 80, sometimes greater than 90), with or without at least partial separation of the husks.

[0015] 2) To partially separate the fat, the kernels are mechanically pressed, advantageously in a continuous press, particularly advantageously in a screw press (optionally after a prior coarse comminution step, such as crushing, grinding or flaking), to obtain a residual fat content of less than 30% by weight, advantageously less than 25% by weight, preferably less than 20% by weight, particularly advantageously less than 15% by weight, 10% by weight or less than 8% by weight. Typical values ​​are in the range of 7% to 25% by weight.

[0016] 3) The residue is ground into a powder, particles or dust that can be dispensed in metered amounts and has a D90 volumetric particle size (i.e., 90% of the sample volume is made up of particles with a particle size smaller than this value) of less than 2 mm, preferably less than 1 mm, advantageously less than 500 μm, even more advantageously less than 250 μm, and particularly advantageously less than 100 μm. Alternatively, the residue can be flaked into flakes with a thickness of less than 2 mm, preferably less than 1 mm, advantageously less than 500 μm, and particularly advantageously less than 350 μm.

[0017] 4) Alternatively, or following step 3), residual fat is removed from the residue using a solvent (organic solvent, e.g., hexane, ethanol, etc., or supercritical CO2) to a value of less than 5% by weight, preferably less than 3% by weight, and particularly preferably less than 2% by weight, and / or the deoiled or fat-containing residue is treated with a mixture of water and alcohol, preferably water and ethanol or water and propanol. Typical values ​​for the fat content after solvent treatment range from 0.1% to 5% by weight. The defatted residue is then ground to a D90 volume particle size of less than 2000 μm, preferably less than 1000 μm, advantageously less than 500 μm, more preferably less than 250 μm, and particularly preferably less than 100 μm. Alternatively, the defatted residue is also flaked here to obtain flake thicknesses similar to those in step 3). In this way, a highly storage-stable and very neutral-odor ingredient can be obtained. This ingredient can be applied directly to food products after grinding or flaking.

[0018] 5) Optionally and advantageously, the dark outer skin of the kernel is partially or completely separated from the white endosperm by peeling or grinding the kernel before pressing or by cutting off the outer part of the endosperm, thereby reducing the brown or black outer skin portion of the endosperm by more than 10%, preferably more than 25%, preferably more than 50%, even more preferably more than 75%, advantageously more than 90%, and particularly advantageously more than 99%. The percentage refers to the ratio of the area on the surface of the kernel to the kernel still covered by the outer skin. This separation serves to lighten the color of the powder, granules or flour and flakes accordingly.

[0019] 6) Optionally and advantageously, after pressing and / or solvent deoiling and grinding, more than 10% by weight, preferably more than 50% by weight, particularly preferably more than 90% by weight of the dark particles are selected and separated from the powder / particles / flour or flakes. In this context, separation of the dark component is understood to mean the separation of particles containing dark skin fractions from particles not containing dark skin fractions.

[0020] 7) Optionally and advantageously, the resulting macauba protein fraction produced by the described method can be subjected to further protein concentration and fractionation. In such cases, it may be ideal to use an aqueous extraction process to separate the water-soluble proteins from the insoluble components. This extraction is advantageously carried out after mechanical or solvent-based deoiling. For this purpose, the protein powder or flakes (the deoiled powdery or flaky residue) are preferably dispersed in water or in water or an aqueous NaCl solution (concentration 0.01 mol / L to 0.5 mol / L) at a pH value of 7 to 9, preferably 8.0. The solid residue is then separated from the extract. The dissolved proteins are separated from the extract using a precipitation and / or filtration process. Advantageously, precipitation is carried out by adjusting the pH to a value in the range of 3.0 to 5.0, preferably 3.5. The supernatant is separated from the precipitated proteins by centrifugation and / or filtration. Advantageously, the protein fraction thus obtained is dried. In this way, protein isolates are obtained which may have a protein content of more than 70%, more than 80% or even more than 90% by weight.

[0021] 8) Optionally and advantageously, after solvent de-oiling and milling, the residue obtained is in the form of a "protein flour" which can be treated using sieving or air classification processes to dry separate protein-rich fractions from protein-poor fractions, or to separate highly soluble protein-containing fractions from less soluble protein-containing fractions.

[0022] The dry separation process described above separates the protein powder into at least two distinct fractions: one with a higher protein content and one with a lower protein content. When using a sieving process, it is preferable to operate with openings between 2 mm and 50 μm. The sieves can also be arranged side by side.

[0023] Air classification can be carried out using various classification methods, such as gravity separation in countercurrent or crossflow or centrifugation in countercurrent or crossflow. As a result, the increase in protein content according to the invention can be equal to more than 25%, preferably more than 35%, particularly advantageously more than 50%, and even more than 60%, based on the protein content in the protein flour, by dry mass. This protein concentration improves the functional and organoleptic properties compared to the unconcentrated protein flour, making the enriched fraction more suitable for use as an ingredient in food, pet food, and cosmetics. The dark outer skin of the kernel can also be separated from the white endosperm by the difference in density using the techniques described, such as sorting or classification.

[0024] The following is a brief description of the measurement methods used to quantitatively characterize the produced protein components.

[0025] Protein Content: The protein content is defined as the content calculated by measuring the nitrogen in the sample and multiplying this measurement by a factor of 6.25. In this patent application, the protein content is expressed as a percentage of the dry mass (TS).

[0026] color: Perceived color is CIE-L * a * b * It is defined using colorimetry (see DIN 6417). In this context, L * The axis indicates the lightness, where black has a value of 0 and white has a value of 100, and * The axis represents the green or red component, and the b * The axis represents the blue or yellow component.

[0027] Protein solubility: Protein solubility is determined using the method described by Morr et al. in 1985. See the following journal article: Morr CV, German, B., Kinsella, JE, Regenstein, JM, Van Buren, JP, Kilara, A., Lewis, BA, Mangino, ME, "A Collaborative Study to Develop a Standardized Food Protein Solubility Procedure. Journal of Food Science", Volume 50 (1985) pages 1715-1718).

[0028] The emulsifying activity index is determined as described in Pearce, KN, Kinsella, JE, Emulsifying properties of proteins: evaluation of a turbudimetric technique. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, v. 26, pp. 716-723, 1978.

[0029] Fat content: Fat content is determined gravimetrically by the Soxhlet method, in which sample material is repeatedly exposed to an organic solvent (hexane or petroleum ether) for at least 6 hours. The extracted oil is measured after the solvent has evaporated.

[0030] Minimum gelling concentration: Determined by preparing suspensions of various protein components in 0.1 mol / L sodium phosphate buffer in test tubes at concentrations of 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%, 12%, 14%, 16%, 18%, and 20% (all by weight). The suspensions are heated to 95°C in a water bath for 1 hour, then rapidly cooled and stored at 4°C for 2 hours. The minimum gelling concentration is determined by the concentration at which the sample does not flow when the test tube is inverted.

[0031] Example method 1: 1000 g of intact, dark-hulled macauba kernels were coarsely ground in a crusher to an edge length of less than 5 mm and then pressed in a hydraulic press at room temperature. Oil was collected during the process. The remaining press cake had a residual oil content of 30 wt. % and a protein content of 25 wt. After grinding the press cake to a particle size of less than 1000 μm, the macauba flour was added to a chocolate sponge cake at 3 wt. %, resulting in a protein-rich cake with minimal adverse sensory effects.

[0032] Example method 2: Surface treatment of 1000 g of macauba fruit kernels with intact dark skin using a peeler resulted in the absence of dark skin on almost all surfaces of the kernels after treatment. The kernels were then coarsely ground to an edge length of less than 3 mm, heated to 50°C, and pressed in a screw press. Oil was extracted during the process. The press cake from the screw press had a residual oil content of 23 wt% and a protein content of 29 wt%. The press cake was flaked to a flake thickness of less than 500 μm, and the flakes were deoiled using hexane, resulting in a protein content of 33 wt%. This was then milled to a thickness of less than 250 μm. This white powder was processed to produce a moist meat substitute. The meat substitute had very good sensory properties and an unusually light color.

[0033] Example method 3: 100 g of the white flour obtained in Example 2 was added to 1000 ml of a water-alcohol solution (50% by weight - 50% by weight) to dissolve the sugars, other alcohol-soluble carbohydrates, and phytochemicals from the flour. After decanting the supernatant, the residue was dried and re-pulverized. The white flour was mixed with eggs to form a mayonnaise. The presence of vegetable protein could not be detected sensorily in the finished mayonnaise.

[0034] Example method 4: One kilogram of the white powder prepared as in Example 2 was added to 10 liters of a pH 8 aqueous NaCl solution (0.25 mol / l) and stirred for 1 hour. During this process, part of the protein was transferred from the powder to the aqueous phase. The raffinate was removed from the protein solution by centrifugation. To concentrate the protein, the solution was treated by ultrafiltration, and the protein in the retentate was recovered and then diafiltered. The concentrated protein was then dried. The isolate thus obtained had a protein content of 85% by dry mass, good emulsifying ability, and could be used as a substitute for dairy protein in making ice cream.

[0035] [Table 1]

Claims

1. Produced from the seeds of the macauba fruit, a protein content of more than 15% by weight; a fat content of less than 60% by weight; and A protein component having a light color with an L* value of greater than 80 as determined according to the CIE-L*a*b* colorimetry method.

2. 2. The protein ingredient of claim 1, which can be dispensed in metered amounts and is in the form of a powder, particles or dust having a D90 volume particle size of less than 2000 μm, or in the form of flakes having a thickness of less than 2000 μm.

3. 2. The protein ingredient of claim 1, which can be dispensed in metered amounts and is in the form of a powder, particles or dust having a D90 volume particle size of less than 250 μm, or in the form of flakes having a thickness of less than 350 μm.

4. CIE-L ＊ a ＊ b ＊ L obtained according to the colorimetric method ＊ 4. The protein component according to claim 1, having a light colour with a value of more than 90.

5. The following characteristics: The emulsification activity index calculated by turbidity measurement is 30 m ２ / g protein content, Protein solubility at pH 7.0 and 0.1 mol / l NaCl is greater than 10%; water binding greater than 1 ml / g protein component; wherein the water binding refers to the amount of water per gram of protein component remaining in the protein component after adding excess water, centrifuging, and decanting the excess water; oil binding greater than 1.0 ml / g protein component; wherein the oil binding indicates the amount of oil per gram of protein component remaining in the protein component after adding excess oil, centrifuging, and decanting the excess oil; and a minimum gelling concentration of less than 10.0%; The protein component according to any one of claims 1 to 4, having one or more of the following:

6. having a protein content of more than 30% by weight and ＊ a ＊ b ＊ L obtained according to the colorimetric method ＊ 6. The protein component according to any one of claims 1 to 5, having a light colour with a value of more than 90.

7. 7. The protein ingredient according to any one of claims 1 to 6, having a protein content of more than 35% by weight.

8. 8. The protein ingredient according to any one of claims 1 to 7, having a fat content of less than 5% by weight.

9. 100m ２ 9. The protein ingredient according to any one of claims 1 to 8, having an emulsifying activity index of more than 1 / g protein ingredient.

10. 10. The protein component according to any one of claims 1 to 9, having a water binding of more than 4.0 ml / g protein component and / or an oil binding of more than 2.0 ml / g protein component.

11. 11. The protein component according to any one of claims 1 to 10, having a minimum gelling concentration of less than 6.0%.

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