The invention relates to process for converting berry and/or fruit materials to fractions comprising bioactive compounds, said process comprising the steps, where at least one berry material or fruit material selected from berries, fruits, by-products, side streams and waste materials originating from berries or fruits, and any combinations thereof is sieved whereby a seed fraction is separated from a skin fraction, the seed fraction is subjected to sanding and a seed coat fraction comprising surface layer of the seeds and a sanded seed fraction comprising the sanded seeds are obtained.

Provided herein are methods and compositions for the production of cheese replicas. Generally the cheese replicas are produced by inducing the enzymatic curdling of non-dairy milks.

The invention relates to a method for producing a solid transformation product of a substrate comprising the following steps: preparing a substrate of biomass comprising carbohydrates and proteinaceous matter that originates from soya bean, rape seed, or mixtures thereof, optionally in further mixture with carbohydrates and proteinaceous matter originating from fava beans, peas, sunflower seeds, lupine, cereals, and/or grasses, mixing said substrate with a live microorganism or a combination of live microorganisms, which live microorganism or mixture of live microorganisms is not live yeast, and adding water in an amount which provides an initial incubation mixture having a water content from 30 to 70% by weight, and a ratio of wet bulk density to dry bulk density from 0.60 to 1.45 in the resulting mixture; incubating said initial incubation mixture for 1-240 hours at a temperature of 15-70 C.; and thereafter recovering wet solid transformation product from the incubation mixture; further comprising that the incubating step is performed as a continuous plug-flow process in a vertical, non-agitated incubation tank with inlet means for said mixture and additives and outlet means for said solid transformation product.

This invention relates generally to methods and compositions to achieve and maintain a desirable in vivo phenotype during fermentation and processing of food products for human or animal consumption. The methods and compositions of this invention require an activator that acts as a metabolic trigger for Mammalian Milk Oligosaccharide (MMO) consumption phenotype without necessarily requiring oligosaccharides (i.e a sugar polymer of 3 or more monosaccharides) within the fermentation medium. Compositions containing a non-oligosaccharide activator (e.g. monomers and dimers, and combinations thereof) may be used in fermentation processes of this invention. Turning on MMO-related genes without the use of oligosaccharides is one method of preparing activated commensal bacteria. Embodiments of this invention relate to a composition and a method for preparing a stable, activated and dormant form of commensal bacteria such as: bifidobacteria, lactobacilli or pediococci; for consumption by animals or humans, who are nursing or otherwise receiving MMOs as part of their diet.

The invention relates to a dry compositions for lactic acid bacteria and in particular to a dry composition comprising from 10.sup.9 to 10.sup.13 cfu/g of the composition of lactic acid bacteria cells, wherein the composition is characterized by that it also comprises following amounts of protective agents (all amounts of protective agents below are given relative to 1 g of lactic acid bacteria cells in the composition): from 6 to 9 g of trehalose, from 0.1 to 1 g of inulin and from 0.5 to 3 g of hydrolyzed casein, and by that it does not comprise a salt of alginic acid. The composition has an improved storage stability of the cell of interest. Comparison experiments have been made between compositions with and without alginate and it has been found that there is substantially no difference between compositions with or without alginate with regard to stability. Further, the invention relates to a method for preparing a dry lactic acid bacteria composition.

The present teachings disclose a process for producing a safe and preserved food. The process includes: (i) introducing a non-live-bacteria preparation on or in a food to produce an activated food, and the non-live-bacteria preparation results from fermentation of fermented bacteria, but the non-live-bacteria preparation is substantially depleted of the fermented bacteria, and the fermented bacteria are bacteria that are living; and (ii) incubating the activated food in presence of the non-live-bacteria preparation to kill and/or inhibit growth of pathogens and/or spoilage microorganisms on and/or in the activated food and thereby producing the safe and preserved food; and wherein the fermented bacteria is anti-pathogen bacteria and/or anti-spoilage bacteria.

A method for producing a fermented food composition by fermenting a food having a class-2 food allergen, includes: adding lactic acid bacteria having leucine aminopeptidase activity of 75 or more and 720 or less units, to a food having a class-2 food allergen, and fermenting the food while adjusting a pH of a mixture including the food to 4.0 or more and less than 8.5; and enzymatically treating the resulting mixture with a metalloprotease.

The invention relates to process for converting berry and/or fruit materials to fractions comprising bioactive compounds, said process comprising the steps, where at least one berry material or fruit material selected from berries, fruits, by-products, side streams and waste materials originating from berries or fruits, and any combinations thereof is sieved whereby a seed fraction is separated from a skin fraction, the seed fraction is subjected to sanding and a seed coat fraction comprising surface layer of the seeds and a sanded seed fraction comprising the sanded seeds are obtained.

The invention provides a method and composition for ameliorating or reducing the symptoms, signs, and markers and for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease or gastritis in a mammal in need thereof, said method comprising administering effective amounts of a pharmaceutically acceptable composition containing at least one probiotic microorganism strain comprising Pediococcus for a time sufficient to ameliorate, reduce or treat at least one symptom, sign, or marker of irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease or gastritis.

The invention provides a method and composition for ameliorating or reducing the symptoms, signs, and markers and for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease or gastritis in a mammal in need thereof, said method comprising administering effective amounts of a pharmaceutically acceptable composition containing at least one probiotic microorganism strain comprising Pediococcus for a time sufficient to ameliorate, reduce or treat at least one symptom, sign, or marker of irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease or gastritis.