METHOD FOR INCREASING THE OUTPUT OF PLANT PRODUCTS

Claims

1. A method comprising: wet milling in an aqueous medium of plant raw material to obtain a suspension of raw material; sifting the raw material suspension to obtain primary milk and fibrous suspension; crushing of fibrous suspension; treating the fiber suspension with a protease selected from the group consisting of a metalloendoprotease and a trypsin selected from the group consisting of a bacterial trypsin and a fungal trypsin; treating the fiber suspension with a protease at a suboptimal temperature for protease activity to obtain a treated fiber suspension; and sifting the processed fiber suspension to obtain secondary milk and clean fiber.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plant raw material is at least one of oat grain and barley grain.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the suboptimal activity temperature is below 10°C and the incubation period for protease treatment is less than 30 minutes.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the fiber suspension is treated with a protease at a suboptimal pH activity to obtain a treated fiber suspension.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the viscosity of the treated fiber suspension is at least 35% lower than the viscosity of the fiber suspension when the incubation period of the protease treatment is less than 10 minutes.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the relative increase in the amount of peptides having a molecular weight of less than 25 kDa is less than 5%.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the relative increase in the amount of peptides having a molecular weight of less than 25 kDa is less than 2%.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the degree of protein hydrolysis is insignificant.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising combining the secondary milk with the primary milk to obtain combined milk.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the concentration of beta-glucan in the secondary milk is at least twice the concentration of beta-glucan in the primary milk, calculated on a dry matter basis.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the combined milk contains at least half of all the beta-glucans contained in the plant raw material, calculated on a dry matter basis.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the protease is selected from the group consisting of Neutrase®, neutral protease L™, a metalloendoprotease derived from Bacillus subtilis, and a metalloendoprotease derived from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein significant growth of microorganisms is prevented during the production of plant-based milk from plant-based raw material.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the incubation period for treating the fibrous suspension with protease is less than 20 minutes.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the fiber suspension is rapidly heated to prevent significant protein hydrolysis during heat inactivation.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising treating the secondary milk at a high temperature sufficient to extend shelf life or aseptic packaging, without adding an additional liquefaction enzyme, and wherein the protease is a metalloendoprotease.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the protease is a metalloendoprotease, and wherein the fiber suspension is rapidly heated by direct steaming or indirect steaming to heat-inactivate the metalloendoprotease and prevent substantial protein hydrolysis during heat inactivation, resulting in secondary milk having at least one superior organoleptic property and increased ease of sifting compared to trypsin-treated secondary milk and treated secondary milk obtained by a slower heat inactivation method.

18. A method comprising: wet milling in an aqueous medium of unprocessed cereal grain containing beta-glucan to obtain a suspension of raw material; sifting the raw material suspension to obtain primary milk and fibrous suspension; crushing of fibrous suspension; treating the fiber suspension with a protease selected from the group consisting of a metalloendoprotease and a trypsin selected from the group consisting of a bacterial trypsin and a fungal trypsin; treating the fiber suspension with a protease at a temperature below 5°C for an incubation period of less than 30 minutes to obtain a treated fiber suspension; and sifting the treated fiber suspension to obtain secondary milk and clean fiber.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising treating the secondary milk at a high temperature sufficient to extend shelf life or aseptic packaging, without adding an additional enzyme for liquefaction, and wherein the protease is a metalloendoprotease.

20. A method comprising: wet milling in an aqueous medium of raw material containing beta-glucan to obtain a suspension of raw material; sifting the raw material suspension to obtain the primary liquid and fibrous suspension; crushing of fibrous suspension; treating the fiber suspension with a protease selected from the group consisting of a metalloendoprotease and a trypsin selected from the group consisting of a bacterial trypsin and a fungal trypsin to obtain a treated fiber suspension, and incubating at a suboptimal temperature for protease activity for an incubation period of less than 60 minutes; And wherein the viscosity of the treated fiber suspension is at least 30% lower than the viscosity of the fiber suspension.

21. A method comprising: wet milling in an aqueous medium of unprocessed material to obtain a suspension of raw material; sifting the raw material suspension to obtain the primary liquid and fibrous suspension; crushing of fibrous suspension; treatment of fibrous suspension with an enzyme; treating the fiber suspension with an enzyme at a suboptimal temperature of enzyme activity to obtain a treated fiber suspension; and sifting the processed fiber suspension to obtain secondary milk and clean fiber.

22. A method comprising: wet milling in an aqueous medium of unprocessed cereal grain containing beta-glucan to obtain a suspension of raw material; sifting the raw material suspension to obtain primary milk and fibrous suspension; crushing of fibrous suspension; treatment of fibrous suspension with an enzyme; treating the fiber suspension with an enzyme at a temperature below 5°C for an incubation period of less than 30 minutes to obtain a treated fiber suspension; and sifting the processed fiber suspension to obtain secondary milk and clean fiber.

23. A method comprising: wet milling in an aqueous medium of unprocessed cereal grain containing beta-glucan to obtain a suspension of raw material; sifting the raw material suspension to obtain the primary liquid and fibrous suspension; crushing of fibrous suspension; treating the fiber suspension with an enzyme to obtain a treated fiber suspension, and incubating at a suboptimal temperature for protease activity for an incubation period of less than 60 minutes; and wherein the viscosity of the treated fiber suspension is at least 30% lower than the viscosity of the fiber suspension.