Spoonable Smoothie Texture via High-Pressure Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Maintaining the desired flavor, texture, and nutritional properties of smoothies with fruits and berries over a refrigerated shelf life is challenging due to oxidation, UV light exposure, and the addition of vitamins and minerals, which can lead to degradation and undesirable effects on organoleptic properties.
Innovation Solution
A spoonable smoothie composition with a high concentration of fruit and vegetable sources, combined with a protein source like whey protein isolate or acid whey, and a mineral source, processed using high-pressure or thermal processing to achieve a fibrous, non-gritty texture, and packaged with light-blocking barriers to minimize UV exposure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If fresh fruits and berries are used to provide desirable flavor profiles, then the smoothie has excellent taste and natural ingredients, but the flavor degrades rapidly over time due to oxidation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs nitrogen atmosphere during processing and packaging to create an inert environment that prevents oxidation of fresh fruits and berries. This allows the smoothie to maintain its natural flavor and composition stability over extended refrigerated shelf life without using artificial preservatives.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional thermal pasteurization and chemical preservatives with high-pressure processing (HPP) technology. This mechanical processing method achieves microbial safety and extends shelf life while preserving the natural flavor, color, and nutritional properties of fresh fruits and berries.
2Reliability
If high-pressure processing is used to extend shelf life without preservatives, then the smoothie maintains natural ingredients and flavor, but achieving acceptable texture with proteinaceous ingredients becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes multiple parameters including protein source selection (whey protein isolate or acid whey), pH levels, and processing conditions to achieve the desired texture. By carefully controlling these parameters, the smoothie maintains a smooth, non-chalky texture while benefiting from the extended shelf life provided by high-pressure processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite formulations combining specific fruit and vegetable purees with selected protein sources and stabilizers. This composite approach allows the smoothie to achieve both the texture quality needed for consumer acceptance and the shelf life stability required for distribution, without relying on artificial preservatives.
3Quantity of substance
If vitamins and minerals are added to enhance nutritional properties, then the smoothie has improved nutritional value, but undesirable effects on organoleptic properties occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent carefully controls the form, concentration, and timing of vitamin and mineral additions to minimize their impact on organoleptic properties. By optimizing these parameters, the smoothie achieves enhanced nutritional value while maintaining desirable flavor, color, and texture characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses fruit and vegetable purees as intermediary carriers for vitamins and minerals. This approach allows nutritional fortification while the natural matrix of the purees masks any potential negative effects on flavor, color, or texture that direct addition of isolated vitamins and minerals might cause.
4Ease of operation
If the smoothie is exposed to UV light during shelf life, then the product is available for retail display, but deleterious effects on color and stability occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent packages the smoothie in nitrogen-flushed containers that provide both oxygen barrier protection against oxidation and reduced UV light transmission. This allows the product to be displayed at retail while maintaining color stability and preventing degradation from light exposure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs packaging films and containers with UV-blocking properties that are flexible enough for practical retail handling and display. These packaging solutions protect the smoothie from deleterious UV effects while maintaining the product's appeal and accessibility in retail environments.
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 solution maintains the smoothie's texture, flavor, and nutritional stability for an extended refrigerated shelf life, preventing protein coagulation and oxidation, while ensuring the product remains attractive and retains its natural ingredients.
Implementation Method 1
The smoothie may be produced via high-pressure processing or thermal processing
Implementation Method 2
The method may include heating the final mixture in a first heat exchanger, then cooling the final mixture in a second heat exchanger
Implementation Method 3
exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light over the course of a product's shelf life can have deleterious effects on certain properties, e.g., color and stability
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a spoonable smoothie with fibrous, non-chalky, non-gritty texture. The spoonable smoothie has more than 34% by weight of a combination of fruit and vegetable sources, a texturant, a protein source, a vitamin source, and a mineral source. In some embodiments, the spoonable smoothie may be produced via high-pressure processing or thermal processing. In some embodiments in which high-pressure processing is employed, acid whey may be used to help obtain the non-chalky, non-gritty texture. In other embodiments in which thermal processing is employed, order of ingredients may be used to help obtain the non-chalky, non-gritty texture. In those thermally processed embodiments, the texturant and the protein source may be separately hydrated to control the competition for water absorption between the texturant and the protein source.