Novel Food Product and Method of Use

Abstract

The invention includes a composition when used for the subsequent preparation of an egg white foam, characterised in that the composition includes an amount of egg white material and at least one thickener. The amount of thickener(s) is at least about 2.0% w/w in the composition and the composition has been heat treated at or above about 40° C. prior to preparing the egg white foam. The invention also encompasses method of use, novel food products, cooked or uncooked, and methods of manufacture.

Claims

1. A composition when used for the subsequent preparation of an egg white foam, wherein the composition includes a) an amount of an egg white material; b) at least one thickener, wherein the amount of the at least one thickener is at least about 2.0% w/w in the composition; and wherein the composition has been heat treated at or above about 40° C. prior to preparing the egg white foam.

2. The composition of claim 1, wherein the the at least one thickener is alginin, guar gum, locust bean gum, gum arabic, xanthan gum, or any combination or derivative thereof.

3. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition has been heat-treated between 15° C. to 75° C.

4. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition has been heat-treated between 50° C. to 70° C.

5. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition has been heat-treated at about 63° C.

6. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition has been heat-treated for between 10 seconds to 10 minutes.

7. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition has been heat-treated for about 2 minutes.

8. (canceled)

9. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition includes between 5% w/w to 20% w/w protein.

10. (canceled)

11. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition includes sugar in the range of 1-30% w/v.

12. The composition of claim 1, wherein the composition has a pH of between 6-10.

13. (canceled)

14. A food product including an egg white foam prepared with a composition according to claim 1.

15. An egg white foam comprising a) an amount of an egg white material, b) at least one thickener, wherein the amount of the at least one thickener is at least about 2% w/w of the egg white foam, and wherein the amount of the egg white material and the at least one thickener have been heat treated together above at least 40° C. prior to forming the egg white foam.

16. A method of preparing a composition according to claim 1 or an egg white foam, wherein the method includes the step of aerating the composition to produce the egg white foam.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of aerating is performed via gas sparging.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the egg white foam is not cooked.

19. (canceled)

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the egg white foam is partially or fully cooked.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the method of cooking is microwaving, frying, baking, deep-frying, extrusion cooking, and/or poaching.

22. A method for preparing a food product selected from the group consisting of an omelette, pavlova, meringue, tofu replacement, a thickshake, a dairy free mousse, a yogurt style snack, and a sorbet.

23. A method of preparing a cooked food product comprising an egg white foam as an ingredient, which comprises a) inserting an amount of an egg white material into a substantially sealable container; b) pressurizing the container by incorporating a gas; c) releasing at least a portion of the egg white material through an aperture in the container to produce the egg white foam; and d) cooking or partially cooking the egg white foam.

24-28. (canceled)

29. A device for producing an egg white foam, which comprises an aerosol container having an aperture, and a composition according to claim 1, whereby when purged through the aperature, the egg white foam is produced.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0140] Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0141] FIG. 1 Effect of whipping time on foamability of egg white liquid prepared using a standard mixer;

[0142] FIG. 2 Stability of (A) foam volume and (B) foam liquid from foams produced by whipping method at different times,

[0143] FIG. 3 The volume of foams produced by a gas sparging method (whipped cream dispenser) after shaking EWP solution for different times

[0144] FIG. 4 Stability of EWP foams produced by a gas sparging method after shaking for different times (0-50 times); (A) foam volume stability and (B) foam liquid stability

[0145] FIG. 5 Changes to stability of foam volume (A, B, C and D) and foam liquid (E, F, G and H) over time after foam preparation. Foams were prepared by gas sparging in a whipped cream dispenser after shaking different volumes of EWP solution, for different times (10-50 times).

[0146] FIG. 6a Appearance of foams prepared from (A) 50 ml of egg white liquid (EWL) and (B) 50 ml of egg white powder (EWP) solution by gas sparging using a whipped cream dispenser after shaking for 20 times.

[0147] FIG. 6b Foamability of EWL and EWP solutions produced by gas sparging using whipped cream dispenser.

[0148] FIG. 7 Stability of foams prepared with EWL and EWP solutions after shaking for 20 times with 50 ml solution; (A) foam volume stability and (B) foam liquid stability.

[0149] FIG. 8 Effects of concentrations of sucrose and protein on (A) foamability, (B) foam volume stability and (C) foam liquid stability of foams produced from 100 ml of egg white powder (EWP) solutions after shaking 20 times.

[0150] FIG. 9 Foamability of EWP solutions (10% protein; 4 and 20° C.) prepared from EWP with three different types of thickeners at different concentrations.

[0151] FIG. 10 Stability of foam volume and foam liquid of egg white foams prepared, at two different temperatures, from solutions of egg white powder mixed with thickeners at different concentrations.

[0152] FIG. 11 Pictures of egg white liquid (EWL) containing 10% protein after heat treatment at different temperatures; (A) 58° C. for 3.5 min, (B) 60° C. for 2 min and (C) 63° C. for 2 min.

[0153] FIG. 12 Foamability and foam stability of foams produced from EWL solutions after heat treatment at 20, 58, 60 and 63° C. which were shaken for 20 times; (A) foamability, (B) foam volume stability and (C) foam liquid stability.

[0154] FIG. 13 Images of EWL samples taken 1 hr after heat treatment at 58° C. for 3.5 min (A and D), 60° C. for 2 min (B and E) and 63° C. for 2 min (C and F) In the absence (A, B and C) and presence of ingredient mixture (sucrose, thickener, citric acid) (D, E and F).

[0155] FIG. 14 Effect of heat-treatment of EWL containing ingredients (sucrose, thickener, citric acid) at different temperatures (20, 58, 60 and 63° C.) on (A) foamability, (B) foam volume stability and (C) foam liquid stability.

[0156] FIG. 15 Foam stability of egg whites with and without added ingredients. The egg white solutions mixed with ingredients were heat-treated at different temperatures (20, 58, 60 and 63° C.) prior to foaming. Foam volume stability (A, B, C and D) and foam liquid stability (E, F, G and H).

[0157] FIG. 16 Effect of microwave cooking on the foam volume of egg white foam produced from EWL as a function of cooking times (10, 20, 30 and 40 s).

[0158] FIG. 17 Effect of microwave cooking on the foam stability of egg white foam produced from EWL as a function of cooking times (10, 20, 30 and 40 s); (A) foam volume stability and (B) foam liquid stability.

[0159] FIG. 18 Effect of heat treatment of EWL solution at 20, 58, 60 and 63° C., prior to making foam on the foam volume (A), foam volume stability (B) and foam liquid stability (C) of foams after cooking in the microwave for 30 s.

[0160] FIG. 19 Pictures of foams prepared from EWP solutions mixed with three different types of thickeners at different combinations and concentrations.

[0161] FIG. 20 Foam appearance after cooking in the microwave oven for different times (10, 20, 30 and 40 s). Egg white foams prepared from EWP solutions containing 10% protein (A, B, C and D) and 20% protein (E, F, G and H).

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Example 1: Analysis of Foamability and Foam Stability of Pure Egg White Foam—Using Whipping Method

Methodology:

[0162] Frozen pasteurised egg white liquid (EWL) (10% w/v protein), and egg white powder (EWP) (99.4% protein in dry base) were purchased from Eggcel (Eggcel, New Zealand) and used for all experiments herein unless stated otherwise.

[0163] Egg white foam was prepared using a standard kitchen mix beater, which was a standard mixer with two stainless steel beaters (5 speed control) (Breville Wizz Mix EM3, New Zealand).

Results and Discussion:

[0164] i) Foamability

[0165] As shown in FIG. 1, foamability results varied widely depending on the whipping time, illustrating the inconsistencies seen with this method. At best, foamability was recorded at about 730% (5 minutes whipping time).

[0166] ii) Foam Stability

[0167] As shown in FIG. 2 foam stability shows overall fairly good results, although the results vary significantly with the whipping time, again leading to problematic inconsistencies with this method. Although longer whipping times led to increased foam volume stability, foam liquid stability was dramatically lost with higher whipping times—this is again problematic. At best, foam volume showed about 50% reduction after about 300 minutes (whipping time of 9 minutes). Similarly, at best there was a 50% loss of foam liquid after about 120 minutes (whipping time of 5 minutes). Despite the inconsistencies and inconvenience of the whipping method, the overall stability results are the reason why the whipping method has been the mainstay of producing egg white foam.

Example 2: Analysis of Foamability and Foam Stability of Pure Egg White Foam—Using Gas Sparging Method

Methodology:

[0168] In this study, egg white foams were prepared from EWL or EWP solutions using a whipped cream dispenser (0.5 litres size) with a nitrous oxide (NO.sub.2) gas charger (8 g pure NO2 per charger) (Mosa cream whipper, Mosa Industrial Corp., Yunlin, Taiwan). According to the manufacturer's guidelines, one charger can whips up to 0.5 litre of solution (e.g. whipping cream, desserts, mousses, sauces, etc).

[0169] Briefly, an aliquot amount of EWL or EWP solutions (50 g unless otherwise stated) was poured into the whipped cream canister. The canister was tightly closed with a top head which had a metal nozzle part (attachable with a decorator tip), a lever arm and a metal holder (to be attached with a gas charger cylinder holder).

[0170] After inserting the NO.sub.2 gas charger into its cylinder holder, the cylinder holder was attached to the metal holder on the canister head and twisted clockwise until it was locked into position. Upon placed into a lock position, the NO.sub.2 gas was released into the canister containing the egg white solution. The canister was then shaken up for 20 times (unless otherwise stated) to enhance the sparged gas to be uniformly transferred into and absorbed by the egg white solution, thus generating gas pressure inside the canister. The dispenser was hold upside down pointing the nozzle tip down and triggered to release the foam from the canister into a glass beaker (250 ml) by pressing the lever. This methodology for gas sparging was used for all gas sparging trials below, unless stated otherwise.

[0171] The resulting foams were then analysed immediately for foamability and foam stability.

Results and Discussion:

[0172] i) Foamability

[0173] As shown in FIG. 3, foamability results were fairly consistent, despite varying the number of initial shakes (simply to help mix the gas within the canister). It is clear that shaking has no real effect on the results. Foamability was consistently at about 300%, so quite a bit less than the foamability seen with the whipping method.

[0174] ii) Foam stability

[0175] As shown in FIG. 4, foam stability was poor. Foam volume decreased to about 30% within 15 minutes. Foam liquid decreased to about 5% or less within the same 15 minutes. This Illustrates why gas sparging has not been a popular method compared to whipping, despite the initial advantages of convenience, consistency and speed.

Example 3: Effect of Volume of EWL with Gas Sparging

Methodology:

[0176] Different amounts of EWL were added to the canister to see if volume to gas ratio made a difference to the foam characteristics.

Results and Discussion:

[0177] i) Foamability

[0178] As shown in Table 1 below, foamability increased marginally with greater volumes of EWL as expected.

TABLE-US-00001 EWP volume Number of Shakes (ml) 10 20 30 40 50 50 293 ± 23.sup.c 301 ± 20.sup.b 290 ± 27.sup.b 289 ± 17.sup.c 347 ± 31.sup.a 100 337 ± 6.sup.b 327 ± 6.sup.b 322 ± 13.sup.b 323 ± 13.sup.b 325 ± 22.sup.a 200 355 ± 9.sup.ab 326 ± 25.sup.b 278 ± 26.sup.b 257 ± 3.sup.d 307 ± 8.sup.a 400 371 ± 4.sup.a 399 ± 13.sup.a 413 ± 10.sup.a 420 ± 13.sup.a 368 ± 46.sup.a p <0.05 0.001 <0.05 <0.05 0.148 Results are expressed as the mean ± SD for three replications .sup.a-dMeans followed by the same letter within a column are not significantly different (p < 0.05), p values indicate the significant variance between samples with no significant difference at p < 0.05. [0179] Altalhi., 2013—unpublished embargoed Masters thesis

[0180] ii) Foam Stability

[0181] As shown in FIG. 5, foam volume stability was consistently poor regardless of the amount of EWL added. Interestingly, foam liquid stability increased considerably if 200 ml EWL was used in combination with increased amounts of shaking. However, this result was not seen with 400 ml EWL.

Example 4: Effect of Using EWP Vs EWL with Gas Sparging

Methodology:

[0182] In this experiment, a 50 ml of EWL and EWP solutions both containing 10% wt proteins at 20° C. were used, and both were shaken 20 times for the gas sparging method.

Results and Discussion:

[0183] i) Foamability

[0184] As shown in FIG. 6a, the appearance of the foam between the EWL and EWP were very different. The EWL produced a thick and creamy foam, whereas the EWP solution produced a liquid-like foam. As shown in FIG. 6B, the actual foamability between the two samples were very similar (about 300%).

[0185] ii) Foam Stability

[0186] As shown in FIG. 7, booth the EWP and EWL were very unstable, both in terms of foam volume and foam liquid stability.

Example 5: Effect of Sucrose/Protein with Gas Sparging

Methodology:

[0187] The addition of different concentrations of sucrose and protein was tested. In order to adapt the concentration of protein, EWP was added to an EWP solution as necessary.

Results and Discussion:

[0188] i) Foamability

[0189] As shown in FIG. 8a, foamability was not overly affected by sugar and/or protein. This is interesting, as foamability was severely affected by sugar in the whipping method (not shown). In the gas sparging method, sugar advantageously improves the overall texture of the foam to be more smooth and creamy. It also is beneficial for flavouring.

[0190] ii) Foam Stability

[0191] As shown in FIGS. 8b and 8c, foam stability was affected reduced when sucrose concentration was increased. However, if protein concentration was increased concurrently, foam stability was restored slightly. However, in all cases, foam stability was depleted to almost 0% within 30 minutes.

Example 6: Effect of Thickeners with Gas Sparging

Methodology:

[0192] Different types, concentrations and combinations of thickeners (xanthan gum—XG, guar gum—GG and gum Arabic—GA) were trialed as shown in Table 2 (Table 4.2). The amounts were dissolved into EWP solution (10% protein) before testing foam characteristics using the gas sparging method.

TABLE-US-00002 XG GG EWP Total (w/w (w/w GA solution.sup.a volume Protein Sample code %) %) (w/w %) (g) (ml) (%) Control 0 0 0 100 100 10 X2/G2/GA 0.02 0.02 2 99 100 9.9 X2/G4/GA 0.02 0.04 2 99 100 9.9 X4/G2/GA 0.04 0.02 2 99 100 9.9 X4/G4/GA 0.04 0.04 2 99 100 9.9 .sup.aEWP solution containing 10 w/v % protein Abbreviations, XG, GG and GA, represent xanthan gum, guar gum and gum arabic, respectively [0193] Altalhi., 2013—unpublished embargoed Masters thesis

Results and Discussion:

[0194] i) Foamability

[0195] As shown in FIG. 9, foamability was not overly affected by adding different amounts/types/combinations of thickeners compared to the control, regardless of whether the temperature of the gas sparged EWP solution was at 20° C. or 4° C. The thickeners did have a good effect, however, on overall creaminess of the foams (not shown).

[0196] ii) Foam Stability

[0197] As shown in FIG. 10, the thickeners did have a positive effect on foam stability, particularly in the short term. However, by the 30 minute time point all samples showed close to baseline (0%) foam volume and foam liquid.

Example 7; Effect of Heat Treatment of EWL

Methodology:

[0198] Pre-heating the EWL was tested to determine the effect on foam characteristics. Samples were heated to various temperatures shown in the results, and then once reached, the samples were placed in a ice water bath to cool down.

Results and Discussion:

[0199] i) Protein Denaturation

[0200] As shown in FIG. 11, protein denaturation began to occur as shown by the relative turbidly of the samples.

[0201] ii) Foamability

[0202] As shown in FIG. 12, foamability was not affected by the pre-heat temperature.

[0203] iii) Foam Stability

[0204] As also shown FIG. 12, foam stability remained poor and dropped to a baseline of close to 0% within about 30 minutes in all samples.

Example 8: Effect of Heat Treatment of Composition Containing EWL and Thickener(s)

Methodology:

[0205] As shown in Table 3 below, EWL was mixed with a number of ingredients as shown below, most notably the addition of a combination of thickeners. It should be appreciated that the protein concentration will have reduced slightly below 10% as a result of adding these ingredients. After mixing, the sample was split up into aliquots, and heat treated at 20, 58, 60 and 63° C. before applying the gas sparging method.

TABLE-US-00003 Ingredients Percentage (w/v %) Sugar 20 Citric acid 0.05 Xanthan gum 0.04 Guar gum 0.04 Locust bean gum 0.04 Gum arabic 2 [0206] Altalhi., 2013—unpublished embargoed Masters thesis

Results and Discussion:

[0207] i) Protein Denaturation

[0208] As shown in FIG. 13, the presence of thickeners dramatically improved stability of the protein, and reduced protein denaturation at the upper temperatures.

[0209] ii) Foamability

[0210] As shown in FIG. 14, the foamability was not overly affected, and remained at about 300% in all samples.

[0211] iii) Foam Stability

[0212] As shown also in FIG. 14, the foam stability was remarkably improved as the pre-heat step was raised to higher temperatures. Both foam volume and foam liquid improved substantially. At the 30 minute time point, foam volume remained at about 70%, and foam liquid remained at about 50%. This was a substantial and unexpected improvement compared to other trials, which all showed close to 0% at this 30 minute time point. Even at 45 minutes (at the end of the experiment), foam volume and foam liquid showed beneficial results.

[0213] FIG. 15 also illustrates the same point comparing each pre-heat condition with or without added thickeners. Where no thickeners are present, the pre-heat step has poor outcomes. As soon as the combination is made (thickener+pre-heat), a synergistic effect is observed. One can expect that in the case of using HHP in combination with pre-heat, albeit at lower temperatures (as can be used for pasteurization), the same beneficial results would be observed.

Example 9: Effect of Subsequent Cooking of Foams

Methodology:

[0214] To exemplify a further advantage of the invention, microwave cooking was trialed on the egg white foams.

[0215] Egg white foams were produced using the whipped cream dispenser as described previously. Foams produced were cooked immediately using a microwave oven (Menumaster commercial microwave, RMS510D, UK) with 1000 watt and 25.5 litre capacity. Egg white solutions used for this experiment were EWL and EWP solutions. The initial volume of egg white solutions used for the foam preparation with the whipped cream dispenser was 100 g and the shaking time applied was 20 times. After shaking, foam was dispensed into a glass beaker (700 ml) and then cooked in the microwave oven for different cooking times ranging from 5 s to 40 s to determine its influence on the foam properties.

[0216] Various combinations of thickeners (XG, GG, LBG, GA) were added to the EWL/EWP, as shown in Table 4 below. Sample 1 can be seen as the control sample without any thickener added.

[0217] In some trials, discussed below, the compositions were pre-heat treated to determine the effect on the subsequent cooked foams.

TABLE-US-00004 Sample Ingredient EWL Total Ingredient Protein code Ingredients (g) (g) (g) (%) (%) 1 Citric acid 0.05 0.04 Sugar 20 100 120.05 16.7 8.33 Citric acid 0.05 0.04 2 Xanthan 0.04 99 99.16 0.03 9.98 gum Guar gum 0.04 0.03 3 Xanthan 0.04 0.03 gum Locust Bean 0.04 0.03 gum 4 Sugar 20 99 119 16.8 8.32 Xanthan 0.04 0.03 gum Guar gum 0.04 0.03 5 Sugar 20 99 119 16.8 8.32 Xanthan 0.04 0.03 gum Locust bean 0.04 0.03 gum 6 Sugar 20 99 119 16.5 8.32 Citric acid 0.05 0.04 Gum arabic 2 1.65 7 Sugar 20 100 122.17 16.4 8.19 Citric acid 0.05 0.04 Xanthan 0.04 0.03 gum Guar gum 0.04 0.03 Locust bean 0.04 0.03 Gum Gum arabic 2 1.64 [0218] Altalhi., 2013—unpublished embargoed Masters thesis

Results and Discussion:

[0219] i) Foamability (without Pre-Heating)

[0220] As shown in FIG. 16, microwaving increased the foam volume dramatically, particularly for samples microwaved for between 20-40 seconds.

[0221] ii) Foam Stability (without Pre-Heating)

[0222] As shown in FIG. 17, the cooked products showed about 50% loss of foam volume within 5 minutes. Foam liquid dropped sharply to about 0% in samples only microwaved for 10-20 seconds. Yet, in samples microwaved for 30-40 seconds, foam liquid stayed at virtually 100% without any sign of reduction.

[0223] iii) Foamability (with Pre-Heating)

[0224] As shown in FIG. 18 (FIG. 5.11), foam volume was considerably higher for the EWL that was pre-heat treated at 58, 60 and 63° C., even more-so than seen without pre-heating.

[0225] iv) Foam Stability (with Pre-Heating)

[0226] As also shown in FIG. 18, foam volume was roughly consistent regardless of the pre-heat temperature. Yet, it begins to plateau out by about 5 minutes, where foam volume is at about 40%. However, remembering that the initial foaming volume had dramatically increased by at least 3-fold, a 60% reduction still represents over 100% relative foamability at this six minute time point. Foam liquid was also shown to be retained at about 90% or above with pre-heating above 58° C., and plateaued at this level at 5 minutes. The sample pre-heated to 20° C. only showed 80% foam liquid at 5 minutes.

Example 10 Foam Appearances

[0227] FIG. 19 illustrates the appearance of some foams according to the present invention that are uncooked. The appearance may be altered based on amounts and types of thickeners used, and pre-heat temperatures applied.

[0228] FIG. 20 illustrates the appearance of some foams according to the present invention that are subsequently cooked by microwave.

[0229] The entire disclosures of all applications, patents and publications cited above and below, if any, are herein incorporated by reference.

[0230] Reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that that prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour in any country in the world.

[0231] The invention may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, in any or all combinations of two or more of said parts, elements or features.

[0232] Where in the foregoing description reference has been made to integers or components having known equivalents thereof, those integers are herein incorporated as if Individually set forth.

[0233] It should be noted that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages, it is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be included within the present invention.

[0234] Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.