Aspects of the present disclosure relate to compositions including rice bran extract, method of making rice bran extract and method of using same.

Nutritional products, uses thereof, methods for the manufacture and methods for improving the cohesiveness of the nutritional products are disclosed. The nutritional products have improved cohesiveness for promoting safer swallowing of food boluses for individuals having swallowing difficulties such as dysphagia.

A method for obtaining one or more fiber rich and one or more protein rich fractions from spent grain, SG, the method comprising: dehydrating (S1) wet spent grain, WSG, into dehydrated spent grain, DSG, by arranging the WSG on at least one dehydration surface, wherein the dehydration surface comprises a net with apertures arranged to allow air to penetrate without the spent grain falling through, and wherein a conditioned air movement system is arranged to move air over, under the dehydration surface as well as through the apertures, and comminuting (S2) the DSG by a comminution reactor comprising a spinnable shaft and two or more processing chambers, separated by segmented divider plates, wherein each processing chamber comprises one rotor disc attached to the shaft and one or more vortex generators placed at respective apex corners of stationary side walls of the processing chambers, wherein the DSG is fed into the comminution reactor and fiber-rich and protein-rich fractions are liberated from the DSG by means of a non-linear vortex flow of DSG and liberated products generated in the processing chambers.

A thickener is disclosed, as well as a nutritional product including the thickener, uses thereof, methods for the manufacture thereof, methods for improving the cohesiveness of a nutritional product, and related systems. The nutritional products have improved cohesiveness for promoting safer and more efficient swallowing of food boluses for individuals having swallowing difficulties such as dysphagia. In a preferred embodiment, the nutritional product includes a thickener comprising a beta-glucan and an additive. Preferably, the nutritional product has a relaxation time, determined by a Capillary Breakup Extensional Rheometry (CaBER) experiment, of from 10 ms to 2000 ms at a temperature of 20° C.

A nutrient dense non-dairy food product includes water, a highly dispersible whole grain ingredient, a protein, a fiber, and a fat such that the product is free of exogenous stabilizers. The food product may also contain a fermentation agent.

A harmful-to-health substance removing agent includes a plant-derived porous carbon material having a mesopore volume of 0.10 cm.sup.3/g or greater.

A method for stabilizing rice bran with complex enzyme involving enzymatic hydrolysis combined with thermal processing to stabilize rice bran, includes compounding at least one of glycosyl hydrolases such as cellulase, hemicellulase and alpha amylase into a complex enzyme solution, and performing enzymatic hydrolysis on the rice bran with the complex enzyme solution, and after enzymatic hydrolysis, performing thermal processing and inactivating enzyme treatment on rice bran using the moist-heat method, microwave method and/or extrusion expansion method, to prepare the stabilized rice bran. From the perspective of reducing bound lipase from rice bran, the glycosyl hydrolase is used to catalyze conversion of bound lipase in rice bran into free lipase, thereby effectively improving inactivation efficiency of rice bran lipase. The rice bran prepared using the method has characteristics of low residual activity of lipase and long shelf life, and may be directly applied to industries such as food and cosmetics.

A process for using bacterial or fungal metalloprotease and trypsin to solve problems associated with conventional protease extraction techniques by dramatically reducing temperature, incubation time and proteolysis during protease extraction. The present disclosure relates to a protease treatment for increasing yield from plant or other material by extracting nutrients from the fibrous waste portion of milled plant material while preserving the nutritional and functional qualities of the extracted material for use as a food product. The process preserves the quality of the extracted material, including beta glucan and protein, by utilizing low temperatures and minimal protease activity and digestion time during extraction.

The texture and flavor of bran and germ for the production of whole wheat flour and for the production of baked goods containing whole wheat flour is improved by treating bran and germ with water and an enzyme composition comprising xylanase, pentosanase, or mixtures thereof to hydrate the bran and germ and to enzymatically convert insoluble fiber of the bran and germ into soluble fiber and sugars. The enzymatic conversion is conducted so as to decrease the water holding capacity of the bran and germ and provides a bran and germ product having reduced grittiness and a reduced whole wheat flavor, while avoiding adverse effects on baking functionality. The enzymatic treatment with the xylanase and/or pentosanase may be initiated upon whole wheat berries or grains during tempering, or it may be initiated upon a separated bran and germ fraction obtained after grinding or milling of whole wheat berries or grains.

A method is described for treating bran to improve sensory attributes in food products made with the treated bran. The method includes acidifying a bran to a pH of less than 5 for a period of time sufficient to achieve an increase in soluble protein, then increasing the pH to at least 5.5. Also described are compositions including a treated bran, and methods of using a treated bran to increase bran content in foods or to improve organoleptic qualities in foods containing bran.