Process for the production of a nest-shaped food product comprising strips of a dried vegetable and associated product

Abstract

A process for the production of a nest-shaped food product containing strips of a dried vegetable, preferably a garden vegetable, storable at room temperature for at least 7 days is disclosed. The process involves providing at least one fresh vegetable which has been previously washed, cutting the vegetable into strips, feeding the vegetable strips in metered amounts into a perforated mold, subjecting the strips to a stabilization heat treatment by means of saturated steam, drying the thermally stabilized strips by means of a flow of hot air so as to obtain a nest containing dried strips of vegetable with a moisture content of between 8% and 16% by weight of their total weight. The invention also concerns a nest-shaped food product which is obtained by means of the process and which may optionally contain strips of durum wheat semolina pasta.

Claims

1. A process for the production of a nest-shaped food product comprising strips of a dried vegetable, which comprises the steps of: a) providing a fresh vegetable; b) cutting into strips said fresh vegetable, previously washed and optionally peeled; c) feeding said strips of fresh vegetable in metered amounts into a perforated mold thereby obtaining a nest-shaped distribution of said strips with a plurality of interstices between said strips; d) subjecting said nest-shaped distribution of said strips of vegetable to a stabilization heat treatment by means of saturated steam at a temperature of between 100° C. and 105° C., for a time of between 1 minute and 3 minutes to inactivate enzyme activity in said strips while avoiding organoleptic deterioration of said strips of said vegetable; and e) drying said thermally stabilized strips of vegetable in said nest-shaped distribution and contained in said perforated mold by means of a flow of hot air at a temperature of between 65° C. and 90° C. thereby obtaining said nest-shaped food product comprising dried strips of vegetable with a moisture content of between 8% and 16% by weight of their total weight; wherein said plurality of interstices between said strips of vegetable facilitates uniform steaming and drying of said strips of vegetable.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein said fresh vegetable is a portion of a plant belonging to a family of the group consisting of Cucurbitacee, Brassicacee, and Liliacee and/or belonging to a species selected from the group consisting of Daucus carota, Beta vulgaris, Brassica rapa and Raphanus sativus.

3. The process according to claim 2, wherein said fresh vegetable is a portion of plant of a garden vegetable selected from the group consisting of orange carrot, purple carrot, yellow carrot, beetroot, white turnip, daikon, broccoli stems, pumpkin, zucchini and onion.

4. The process according to claim 1, wherein in said cutting step b) said fresh vegetable is cut into strips having an average length more than 15 times the width of said strips.

5. The process according to claim 1, wherein during said cutting step b) said fresh vegetable is cut into strips having an average width of between 0.2 cm and 0.5 cm.

6. The process according to claim 1, wherein in said feeding step c) said strips of vegetable are placed in said perforated mold in a quantity of between 60 g and 80 g.

7. The process according to claim 1, wherein in said feeding step c) said perforated mold has a cylindrical shape.

8. The process according to claim 7, wherein in said feeding step c) said perforated mold has a diameter of between 7 cm and 12 cm, and a depth of between 1.5 cm and 4 cm.

9. The process according to claim 1, wherein in said feeding step c) said perforated mold has holes with an average size of between 1 mm and 2 mm.

10. The process according to claim 1, wherein after said cutting step b) said vegetable strips are soaked in an aqueous solution comprising an ingredient for maintaining or enhancing the organoleptic properties of said vegetable, said aqueous solution being a slightly acid solution, a salt solution or a sugar solution.

11. The process according to claim 1, wherein after said thermal stabilization step d) said vegetable strips are soaked in an aqueous solution comprising an ingredient for maintaining or enhancing the organoleptic properties of said vegetable, said aqueous solution being a slightly acid solution, a salt solution or a sugar solution.

12. The process according to claim 1, wherein in said drying step e) said strips of vegetable are struck by a flow of hot air having a speed of between 20 m/s and 30 m/s, at a temperature of between 75° C. and 85° C. and for a time of between 40 minutes and 80 minutes.

13. The process according to claim 1, wherein in said drying step e) said strips of vegetable are struck by a flow of hot air having a speed of between 1.2 m/s and 1.8 m/s at a temperature of between 70° C. and 90° C. and for a time of between 10 hours and 18 hours.

14. The process according to claim 1, wherein in said drying step e) said strips of vegetable are dried until they have a moisture content of between 11% and 14% by weight of their total weight.

15. The process according to claim 1, wherein after said thermal stabilization step d) and before said drying step e) strips of fresh durum wheat semolina pasta are fed in metered amounts into said perforated mold, mixing them with said strips of vegetable, said strips of fresh durum wheat semolina pasta having a shape and size completely similar to those of said strips of vegetable.

16. The process according to claim 15, wherein said strips of fresh durum wheat semolina pasta are pre-cooked and are obtained by subjecting strips of durum wheat semolina pasta to a parboiling treatment by means of saturated steam at a temperature of between 95° C. and 105° C., for a time of between 6 minutes and 10 minutes.

17. The process according to claim 1, wherein said food product has a water activity value (Aw) less than or equal to 0.4.

18. The process according to claim 17, wherein said food product has a water activity value (Aw) between 0.3 and 0.4.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.

(2) FIG. 1 shows strips of a vegetable placed in a perforated mold, as required by the feeding step c) of the process according to the present invention.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a nest-shaped food product comprising strips of a first type of vegetable, prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a nest-shaped food product comprising strips of a second type of vegetable, prepared in accordance with the process according to the present invention.

(5) FIG. 4 shows the nest-shaped food product obtained according to the process of the present invention comprising strips of a vegetable and strips of durum wheat semolina pasta.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(6) As mentioned above, the process according to the present invention has proved to be particularly effective in the production of a nest-shaped food product comprising strips of at least one vegetable storable at room temperature for at least 7 days, in particular it was possible to obtain nest-shaped food products storable for 210 days.

(7) As will be seen from the examples below, the process according to the present invention was successfully carried out using different vegetable raw materials, in particular garden vegetables, obtaining in all cases a final product which is excellent from the point of view of stability at room temperature, as well as its organoleptic characteristics.

Example 1

(8) First of all, about 500 g of fresh red turnips or beetroot were procured, where the rough and residual parts of the stem, i.e. all portions of the garden vegetable which were generally not edible, had previously been removed.

(9) The fresh garden vegetable portions were carefully washed under a jet of water with a suitable pressure at room temperature.

(10) The outer cuticle and residual growths were then removed from the thus washed garden vegetable portions.

(11) The vegetable portions thus prepared were cut into strips, using an automatic spiral cutter, Streamer Compact/Compact Spiralizer model, supplied by the company Turatti, obtaining strips of vegetable with an average length of about 20 cm, a width of 0.4 cm and a thickness of 0.2 cm.

(12) Thereafter, about 70 g of beetroot strips prepared in this way were automatically fed in metered amounts, placing them in a cylindrical perforated mold with a flat bottom and a diameter of about 10 cm and a depth of about 3.5 cm.

(13) FIG. 1 shows beetroot strips arranged inside the aforementioned mold after the feeding step.

(14) Subsequently, a stabilization heat treatment was carried out inside a UNOX CHEF TOP 10 oven, this operation being performed in a chamber saturated with steam at a temperature of 100° C. for 2 minutes.

(15) The beetroot strips thus stabilized were dried inside a conveyor drier, model ECP-TO (year of manufacture: 1996), produced by the company FEN—New Food Engineering S.p.A., using an impingement drying process based on the following specifications: 2 meters length of drying surface; 5 cm distance between hot air emission nozzle and product; temperature=70° C.; speed=25 m/s; drying time=45 minutes.

(16) With reference to FIG. 2, a nest comprising strips of beetroot and weighing 8 g, with an average diameter of about 8 cm and a thickness of 1.5 mm, was obtained. As can be seen, the strips of vegetable thus dried had a bright, naturally purplish-red color, very similar to the color of the fresh vegetable.

(17) The nest-shaped food product thus obtained had a relative moisture content of 12% and a water activity value (Aw) of 0.43.

(18) The nest comprising beetroot strips was then rehydrated in boiling water for 3 minutes.

(19) The beetroot strips thus rehydrated retained the color of the original finished product and had a naturally puffy appearance. In addition, the ready-to-eat product thus obtained has a crunchy and naturally fibrous consistency, typical of the original fresh garden vegetable.

Example 2

(20) First of all, about 300 g of fresh carrots with an average ripening period of 85-90 days were procured; the ends of each root, which are normally not edible, were removed.

(21) Each portion of the garden vegetable was carefully washed under a jet of water with a suitable pressure at room temperature.

(22) The outer cuticle was then removed from the washed carrots.

(23) The portions of fresh carrots thus obtained were cut by the cutting action of a blade, specifically using a manual cutter, i.e. the spiral vegetable slicer produced by the company Salter, model BW04294, in order to obtain strips of carrots with a spiral-shaped form.

(24) The central part of the taproot, having a whitish color and a harder consistency, was discarded.

(25) The strips of carrot thus obtained had the following dimensions: length=22 cm; width=0.2 cm; thickness=0.2 cm.

(26) Specifically, the strips of carrot thus obtained ranged in length from 3 cm to 25 cm.

(27) Thereafter about 70 g of carrot strips thus prepared were supplied and were then weighed and placed in a flat-bottomed cylindrical perforated mold with a diameter of about 9 cm and a depth of about 3 cm.

(28) Subsequently, a stabilization heat treatment was carried out inside a UNOX CHEF TOP 10 oven, performing this operation in a chamber saturated with steam at a temperature of 105° C. for 2 minutes.

(29) The strips of carrots thus stabilized were dried in a conveyor drier, model ECP-TO (year of manufacture: 1996), produced by the company FEN—New Food Engineering S.p.A., using an impingement drying process based on the following specifications: 2 meters length of drying surface; 8 cm distance between the hot air emission nozzle and product; temperature=75° C.; speed=25 m/s; drying time=50 minutes.

(30) With reference to FIG. 3, a nest of carrot strips with a dry weight of 8 g, an average diameter of about 8 cm and a thickness of 2.5 mm was obtained. A reduction in weight of about 88% was calculated compared to the weight of the starting raw material. The strips of carrots thus dried had a bright orange color, which was completely natural and similar to that of the original vegetable.

(31) The nest-shaped food product thus obtained had a relative moisture content of 11.5% and a water activity value (Aw) of 0.42.

(32) The nest of carrot strips was then rehydrated in boiling water for 3 minutes.

(33) The rehydrated carrot strips retained the color of the original finished product and had a naturally puffy appearance. In addition, the carrot strips thus obtained had a full-bodied consistency.

Example 3

(34) In exactly the same way as in Example 2, strips of carrots were obtained in accordance with steps a), b), c) and d) of the process according to this invention.

(35) At the same time, using only water and durum wheat semolina, a dough of durum wheat semolina was prepared and was then extruded to obtain strips of dough with the following dimensions: length=25 cm; width=0.2 cm; thickness=0.1 cm.

(36) To facilitate the subsequent operations and correctly set the subsequent parboiling treatment, the strips of dough thus obtained were placed in a nest arrangement on a metal tray.

(37) In order to ensure the same drying time for both food ingredients (strips of fresh durum wheat semolina pasta and strips of carrots), the strips of dough thus obtained and arranged on a metal baking tray were subjected to a steam pre-cooking treatment using a ventilated steam oven UNOX CHEFTOP having a chamber saturated with steam, set to the temperature of 105° C. for a duration of 8 minutes, obtaining strips of fresh, pre-cooked, durum wheat semolina pasta arranged on a perforated baking tray during the treatment.

(38) Then, 40 g of carrot strips, obtained as described above, and 40 g of fresh pasta in the form of strips were placed inside a cylindrical perforated mold with a diameter of 10 cm and a depth of 3 cm. The two ingredients were mixed together in such a way as to distribute them evenly in the mold and shape the assembly of pasta and carrot strips into a form of a nest.

(39) Thereafter, this assembly of pasta and carrot strips inside the mold was dried inside a conveyor drier, model ECP-TO (year of manufacture: 1996), produced by the company FEN—New Food Engineering S.p.A., by means of an impingement drying process based on the following specifications: 2 meters length of drying surface; 5 cm distance between hot air emission nozzle and product; temperature=70° C.; speed=25 m/s; drying time=60 minutes.

(40) In particular, at halfway through the required drying time, the semi-rigid product was turned over to ensure uniform drying.

(41) With reference to FIG. 4, a nest-shaped food product comprising strips of carrots and strips of durum wheat semolina pasta, with a weight of 34 g, was obtained.

(42) The moisture content of both the pasta component and the vegetable component of the nest thus obtained was about 12.5% by weight of the total weight of the product.

(43) The strips of carrots included in the nest thus obtained had a completely natural bright orange color, similar to the color of the original vegetable.

(44) The carrot and pasta nest was then rehydrated in boiling water for 3 minutes.

(45) The strips of carrots thus rehydrated retained the color of the original finished product and had a naturally puffy appearance. At the same time, the rehydrated strips of carrot had an extended form lengthwise, while remaining slightly wavy.

(46) The consistency of the ready-to-eat product thus obtained was very pleasant, owing to the slight contrast in consistency, during tasting, between the crunchier strips of carrot and the softer strips of pasta. The taste of the ready-to-eat product was equally pleasant and balanced; in particular, the taste of the strips of carrot was not stronger than that of the strips of pasta and vice versa.