COMPOSITION, METHOD, USE AND PRODUCT

Abstract

A fat- and/or oil-based dispersion comprising crystalline, semi-crystalline or amorphous particles or a mixture thereof, which can be used for coatings, fillings, nut products, printing media and decoration purposes.

Claims

1. A dispersion comprising crystalline, semi-crystalline or amorphous particles or a mixture thereof, which particles have a size range of 0.1 to 1 μm and are present in an amount of up to 50 wt. % based on the total weight of the dispersion, and wherein the dispersion is based on a fat or an oil or a mixture thereof.

2. The dispersion as claimed in claim 1, wherein the particles have a particle size distribution of more than 90 vol. % within a size range of 0.1 to 1 μm.

3. The dispersion as claimed in claim 1, wherein the particles have a particle size distribution of more than 50 vol. % within a size range of 0.1 to 0.3 μm.

4. The dispersion as claimed in claim 1, which comprises an emulsifier or a mixture of emulsifiers.

5. The dispersion as claimed in claim 1, wherein the particles comprise a carbohydrate, carbohydrate derivative, sweetener, salt, anhydride, chocolate ingredient, or a mixture of any of these.

6. The dispersion as claimed in claim 5, wherein the chocolate ingredient comprises cocoa powder or milk powder.

7. A method of producing a dispersion based on a fat or an oil or a mixture thereof, which comprises the steps of: a) combining crystalline, semi-crystalline or amorphous particles or a mixture thereof with the oil, melted fat or mixture thereof; b) refining dispersion (a); c) admixing an emulsifier or a mixture of emulsifiers to (b); and d) milling of (c).

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the dispersion is refined to a D50 value of 4 to 10 μm.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the dispersion is milled to a D50 value of less than 0.3 μm.

10. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the increase in yield value of the milled dispersion is by a factor of 2 to 20 compared to the pre-milled dispersion based on the oil, melted fat or mixture thereof.

11. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the dispersion has a plastic viscosity which remains constant or increases at a lower rate than the increase in yield value.

12. Use of the dispersion as claimed in claim 1 for a filling, coating, nut product, printing medium, or spread or texturing agent for a savoury or dessert food product.

13. The use as claimed in claim 12, wherein the dispersion is spray-coated and the dessert food product is an ice confection.

14. The use as claimed in claim 12, wherein the printing medium is a chocolate or a compound.

15. The use as claimed in claim 12, wherein the savory or dessert food product decorated with chocolate or a compound.

16. A savory or dessert food product comprising the dispersion as claimed in claim 1.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0045] FIG. 1: Gun-spraying technology vs. Spinning-disc spraying technology

[0046] FIG. 2: Cumulative particle size distribution of dispersions without Submicron Ground Particles (D0) and dispersions with increasing amounts of Submicron Ground Particles (D1 to D3).

[0047] FIG. 3: Spray coating recipes 1B (left) and 1I (right) applied at the inside of a wafer cone before filling with ice cream.

[0048] FIG. 4: Test results on chocolate printing application obtained with coating recipes 2A (top), 2B (middle) and 2C (bottom).

[0049] FIG. 5: Formation of dark chocolate callets from tempered chocolate recipes 3A (left) and 3E (right).

[0050] FIG. 6: Decoration of a milk chocolate enrobed centre with dark chocolate lines: dark chocolate recipes 3A (left) versus 3E (right).

EXAMPLE 1. AN OIL-BASED DISPERSION USED FOR SPRAY COATING OF A WAFER CONE

[0051] Starting from a composition for spray coating with 45 wt. % oil, ingredients were added to a final composition with approx. 51 wt. % oil. The composition comprises coconut oil and sunflower oil, as well as 0.55 wt. % soy lecithin as emulsifier. Table 1 shows different final recipes including the corresponding rheological data at a temperature of 40° C., all based on the same oil composition. In order to change rheological properties, the following parameters are varied: level of lecithin, type of lecithin, amount of Submicron Ground Particles (SMGP). The SMGP were added via a separately prepared dispersion of 50 wt. % Submicron Ground (SMG) sucrose in sunflower oil.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Plastic Casson viscosity Casson yield wt. % wt. % wt. %.sup.+ at high shear viscosity value Recipe oil.sup.+ lecithin.sup.+ SMGP.sup.+ rate (mPa .Math. s) (mPa .Math. s) (Pa) 1A 50.91 0.55 0 122 91 0.42 1B 51.21 1.17 0 122 87 0.56 1C 51.69 2.15 0 116 84 0.61 1D 50.91 0.55* 0 201 131 1.28 1E 51.21 1.17* 0 190 121 1.65 1F 51.69 2.03* 0 186 117 1.90 1G 51.19 1.18 2.95 163 104 1.66 1H 51.20 1.18 5.15 144 88 2.07 1I 51.19 1.17 7.90 191 118 4.72 .sup.+based on total weight of the final composition *phosphatidylcholine-enriched lecithin

[0052] By using Submicron Ground Particles, a higher yield value can be obtained compared to the use of lecithin. Without SMGP, an increase of lecithin content up to >2 wt. % leads to a yield value of 0.61 Pa (native lecithin) and 1.90 Pa (phosphatidylcholine-enriched lecithin), respectively. Based on the same oil (51.2 wt. %) and lecithin content (1.2 wt. %), yield value of the final composition increases from 0.56 Pa (without SMGP) to 4.72 Pa (7.9 wt. % SMGP). It can be observed that the yield value increases at a higher rate than the plastic viscosity when moving from recipe 1B over recipes 1G and 1H to recipe 1I.

[0053] The recipes of Example 1 are used to coat the interior of an ice cone wafer. Aiming for the same weight of applied coating (6 g per cone), spraying tests are performed with recipes 1B (low yield value) and 1I (high yield value). FIG. 3 shows the interior of the wafers after spray coating. Applying recipe 1B, the barrier is not perfect, and a significant amount of the coating composition has run off, down into the cone tip (see FIG. 3, left). Recipe 1I allows a more homogeneous coating over the applied surface, and the cone tip is not filled with coating dispersion (see FIG. 3, right).

EXAMPLE 2. AN OIL-BASED DISPERSION USED FOR PRINTING APPLICATIONS

[0054] A printing process requires a medium sufficiently low in plastic viscosity for being sprayed and sufficiently high in yield value for a satisfactory printing resolution. Taking white chocolate as basis, a fat and/or an emulsifier and/or Submicron Ground Particles are added in order to create compositions of different rheological properties. A dispersion of SMG sucrose in cocoa butter is used as SMGP source. Recipes and corresponding rheological data which are measured at 40° C. are shown in Table 2A.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2A Plastic Casson viscosity at Casson yield wt. % wt. % wt. % high shear rate viscosity value Recipe fat.sup.+ lecithin.sup.+ SMGP.sup.+ (mPa .Math. s) (mPa .Math. s) (Pa) 2A 51.8 0.05 0 266 196 0.7 2B 51.0 1.50 0 257 179 1.4 2C 51.0 1.46 8.0 333 225 5.4 .sup.+based on total weight of the final composition

[0055] By using other types of chocolate as basis and adding a fat and/or an emulsifier and/or Submicron Ground Particles, the resulting compositions finally contain 50 wt. % fat. Recipes and corresponding rheological data which are measured at 40° C. are shown in Table 2B.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 2B Plastic viscosity at Casson Recipe - high Casson yield type of wt. % wt. % wt. % shear rate viscosity value chocolate fat.sup.+ lecithin.sup.+ SMGP.sup.+ (mPa .Math. s) (mPa .Math. s) (Pa) 2D - dark 50 0.56 0 292 189 3.0 2E - dark 50 0.56 6.4 318 194 7.2 2F - dark 50 0.70 8.0 321 200 8.7 2G - dark 50 0.98 0 293 178 4.5 2H - dark 50 0.98 11.2 313 177 12.1 2I - milk 50 0.98 0 308 219 2.9 2J - milk 50 0.98 11.2 336 208 10.0 2K - white 50 0.98 0 305 222 1.9 2L - white 50 0.98 11.2 293 186 8.6 .sup.+based on total weight of the final composition

[0056] According to the results as shown in Tables 2A and 2B, the yield value of the chocolate-based printing medium is significantly increased by SMGP.

[0057] A Foodjet printer (De Grood Innovations, Nijmegen, NL) is used to print tempered chocolate according to a predefined pattern. Droplets of varying size and lines are printed in order to assess the printing resolution. Droplet size and line thickness are measured with a micrometre. Applying recipe 2A the resolution obtained is not satisfactory. The diameter of the smallest droplets is measured to be 3.2 mm. The lines of 4 mm thickness flow into each other (see FIG. 4, top). The composition of recipe 2B has an intermediate yield value achieved by adding lecithin, so that an improved resolution is obtained with droplets of 2.9 mm in diameter. However, the printed lines have a thickness of about 4 mm and are not clearly separated (see FIG. 4, middle). Based on recipe 2C the best resolution with droplets of 2.1 mm in diameter and lines separated from each other is obtained (see FIG. 4, bottom). Under comparative conditions, for recipe 2C a plastic viscosity at high shear rate of 280 mPa.Math.s and a Casson yield value of 8.0 Pa are measured. The resulting droplets are of 1.8 to 2.2 mm in diameter, accompanied by a further improved printing resolution. These resolution values were obtained by a Foodjet printer using nozzles of 0.6 mm size. Follow-up tests demonstrated that resolution can be further improved down to 1.0 mm droplet size when 0.4 mm nozzles were used. Printing media sufficiently low in plastic viscosity for being sprayed through low-diameter nozzles and sufficiently high in yield value for a satisfactory printing resolution are provided by those recipes in Tables 2A and 2B which comprise SMGP.

EXAMPLE 3. AN OIL-BASED DISPERSION USED FOR CHOCOLATE DECORATIONS

[0058] Dark chocolate compositions are prepared from a low-fat dark chocolate basis. The following ingredients are used to create different recipes which all have the same final fat content (35.4 wt. %): cocoa butter, lecithin, Submicron Ground Particles. The SMGP are added via a separately prepared dispersion of 40% SMG sucrose in melted cocoa butter. Table 3 shows the recipe details and flow rheological data, obtained at 40° C.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 3 Plastic Casson viscosity Casson yield wt. % wt. % wt. % at high shear viscosity value Recipe fat.sup.+ lecithin.sup.+ SMGP.sup.+ rate (mPa .Math. s) (mPa .Math. s) (Pa) 3A 35.4 0.70 0 1550 959 10.6 3B 35.4 0.94 1.78 1550 840 22.3 3C 35.4 1.22 3.59 1570 809 31.5 3D 35.4 1.49 5.30 1630 756 43.8 3E 35.4 1.78 7.11 1810 735 59.2 3F 35.4 1.22 0 1610 896 21.0 3G 35.4 1.78 0 1910 1070 26.8 .sup.+based on the total weight of the final composition

[0059] Use of SMGP leads to a substantial increase in yield value, accompanied by practically constant viscosities. An SMGP content of 3.59 wt. % in recipe 3C, e.g., results in a yield value of 31.5 Pa, whereas corresponding recipe 3F without SMGP and same lecithin content has a yield value of only 21 Pa. Another example is recipe 3E with 7.11 wt. % SMGP and a yield value of 59.2 Pa, compared to recipe 3G without SMGP and same lecithin content, wherein yield value decreases to 26.8 Pa. Dark chocolate is tempered before being shaped into callets. Applying recipe 3A, callets of a conventional flat rounded shape are formed (see FIG. 5, left). The dispersion of recipe 3E, however, makes it possible to produce higher shaped callets with smaller diameter (see FIG. 5, right).

[0060] The tempered dark chocolate is also used to decorate freshly enrobed chocolate products right after a confectionery centre was enrobed with milk chocolate. With the enrobed chocolate still being present on the vibrating belt of a chocolate enrobing machine, liquid or semi-liquid milk chocolate is decorated with fine lines of dark chocolate on top. In case of recipe 3A, the dark chocolate submerges into the milk chocolate enrobing as a result of vibrations on the belt (see FIG. 6, left). By applying recipe 3E, however, it is possible to keep the 3D structured dark chocolate decorations on top of the milk chocolate enrobed centre (see FIG. 6, right).

[0061] This invention demonstrates several advantages over hitherto known fat- or oil-based dispersions. Thus, the dispersions of this invention [0062] show increased shape retention even at elevated temperature (above 60° C.); [0063] provide the development of fillings and compound coatings with reduced content of saturated fatty acids and free of palm oil; [0064] structure triglycerides in confectionery fillings and nut products in order to reduce oiling off and oil migration, e.g. from a nut-based centre, to surrounding chocolate layers; [0065] provide the development of chocolate and compound products which are less sensitive and susceptible to fat bloom in multi-layer confections; [0066] provide chocolate or compound products with enhanced gloss and/or hardness and/or snap; [0067] provide chocolate products with facilitated tempering by the presence of non-fat seed particles; [0068] provide compositions, compounds or formulations for spray coating of wafer cones which improve adhesion and barrier properties against moisture transfer and prevent or strongly reduce coating substance accumulating in the cone tip; [0069] improve printing applications of confectionery due to increased resolution; [0070] enable novel shapes and 3D structures for decoration purposes; [0071] can be economically produced on an industrial scale and provide a broad range of applicability.