Lentil-Derived Foaming Agent Defatting for Stable Food Foam
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high production costs and associated waste streams of vegetable protein isolates limit their effectiveness as foaming agents in food products, despite their potential for forming stable foams.
Innovation Solution
A lentil-derived foaming agent is produced by removing most triglycerides from lentil flour, resulting in a composition primarily consisting of proteins and starch, which forms high-overrun and stable aqueous foams with a low triglyceride content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If vegetable protein isolates are used as foaming agents, then foam stability is improved, but production costs increase and waste streams are generated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes triglycerides from lentil flour through solvent extraction, isolating the foaming-active components (proteins and starch) while discarding the harmful fats. This extraction process creates a defatted lentil flour that maintains excellent foam stability without requiring complex protein isolation procedures, thereby reducing production costs and waste streams associated with conventional vegetable protein isolate manufacturing.
2Stability of the object's composition
If vegetable protein isolates are used as foaming agents, then foam stability is improved, but production complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a straightforward solvent extraction process to remove triglycerides from lentil flour, avoiding the complex multi-step procedures required for conventional protein isolate production. This simple extraction approach maintains foam stability while significantly reducing process complexity and manufacturing difficulty.
3Stability of the object's composition
If triglycerides are removed from lentil flour, then foam stability is improved, but production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses solvent extraction to remove triglycerides from lentil flour, a process that improves foam stability by eliminating foam-degrading fats. The extracted material can then be used as a cost-effective foaming agent in food products, offering better foam performance than conventional protein isolates at lower production costs.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The lentil-derived foaming agent achieves high foam stability and overrun with reduced production costs, offering a cost-effective alternative for foaming applications in food products.
Implementation Method 1
Foams, such as produced by egg whites, are an important ingredient in many food products... These foams are essentially colloidal systems in which tiny air bubbles are dispersed in an aqueous continuous phase.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention provides an aqueous food product that is capable of forming a foam and that consists of:. 0.001-0.8 wt.% of lentil albumin;. 0.01-5 wt.% of lentil starch;. 0-0.02 wt.% of triglycerides; • 80-99 wt.% water; and • 2-19 wt.% of other ingredients. The inventors have discovered that an excellent foaming agent can be obtained if most of the triglycerides naturally present in lentil flour are removed therefrom. The defatted foaming agent so obtained largely consists of lentil albumin and starch, and can form aqueous foams with high foam overrun and considerable foam stability. The invention also pertains to a dry composition that can be reconstituted with water to produce the aforementioned foamable aqueous food product and a method to produce said foamable aqueous food product. Preferably, said foamable aqueous food product is a soup or sauce or a topping, mousse, filling.