INJECTION MOLDING OF MEAT-LIKE FOOD PRODUCTS

Abstract

The technology disclosed herein concerns a process and system for producing a multi- sectional food product having an external shape and a plurality of internal sections.

Claims

1-106. (canceled)

107. A process for producing a multi-sectional food product having an external shape and a plurality of internal sections, the process comprising simultaneously or sequentially injecting into a shaping tool having a plurality of cavities, a plurality of food components, such that each of the plurality of food components occupies a different cavity within the tool.

108. The process according to claim 107, wherein the shaping tool assembly comprises a muscle die and a fat die, wherein the muscle die shapes the internal sections of the food product, and wherein the fat die directs fat to the side faces of the product and to cavities formed between the various internal sections.

109. The process according to claim 107, wherein the extrusion is high or low moisture extrusion.

110. The process according to claim 107, the process comprising: injecting at least one food component into a shaping tool having a plurality of spaced apart cavities within an external perimeter of the shaping tool; and injecting at least one other food component into a space defined by a distance between the spaced apart cavities and onto the external perimeter of the cavities; to thereby obtain the product.

111. The process according to claim 107, wherein the process comprising: injecting at least one food component into a shaping tool comprising two or more mold structures, each being arranged along a flow path of the at least one food component to fill cavities within a region defined by a shape and size of the meat-like product.

112. The process according to claim 107, the process comprising: injecting at least one other food component into a space defined by a distance between the cavities and onto the external perimeter of the cavities filled up with the at least one food components.

113. The process according to claim 107, wherein the shaping tool comprises a plurality of material input ports, wherein each port is configured and operable to deliver into the two or more mold structures same or different food components.

114. The process according to claim 113, wherein one or more of the material input ports are positioned to allow perpendicular delivery of a food component into the mold structure.

115. The process according to claim 114, wherein one or more of the material input ports are positioned to allow peripheral delivery of a food component into the mold structure.

116. The process according to claim 107, wherein a high-moisture extruder is utilized for injection of a protein component to form aligned fibers.

117. The process according to claim 107, wherein a powder heater extruder is utilized for injection of a protein component to form aligned fibers.

118. The process according to claim 107, the process comprising: providing a shaping tool or a system comprising same, the tool having a plurality of spaced apart cavities within an external perimeter thereof and provided with one or more muscle-like material input ports and one or more fat input ports, and optionally one or more bone cement input ports; flowing via one or more of the muscle-like material input ports a melt mixture of protein and fat to thereby fill said cavities with the melt mixture; flowing via one or more of the fat input ports fat to thereby fill spaces defined by distances between the cavities and onto an external perimeter of the cavities; to thereby obtain the meat-like boneless product.

119. A system for manufacturing a meat-like product, the system comprising: a single or twin-screw extruder configured to operate at a low or high moisture, and/or low or high temperature and extrude at least one food component into a shaping tool; a chamber configured to receive the at least one food component from said extruder and deliver same into the shaping tool; and a shaping tool in a form of a die or a mold or an assembly thereof.

120. The system according to claim 119, wherein the shaping tool comprises two or more mold structures or dies arranged along a path of a material flow, wherein one of the mold structures defining an external shape and size of the product and another of the mold structures having cavities within a region defined by the shape of the product.

121. The system according to claim 119, wherein the shaping tool is provided with one or more material input ports.

122. The system according to claim 119, further comprising at least one pump.

123. The system according to claim 122, wherein the at least one pump is pneumatic, a peristaltic, a positive-displacement, a centrifugal, or an axial-flow pump.

124. A method of producing a multi-sectional food product having an external shape and a plurality of internal sections, the method comprising providing an external mold having a cavity; the external mold having at least one mold structure positioned in its internal perimeter; injecting at least one food component into a space defined by internal walls of the at least one mold structure; injecting at least one other food component into a space defined by the internal perimeter of the external mold and an external perimeter of the at least one mold structure; to thereby obtain the food product.

125. A system for injection molding at least one food product, the system comprising two or more stations positioned over and in proximity of a belt system configured to move, carry and transport molds for forming the food products, the belt system being optionally temperature controlled; wherein each of the two or more stations is provided with an extruder configured to inject a food component into a preset section of the mold, at least one of the two or more stations is provided with a high-moisture extruder enabling injection of a food component to forms aligned fibers.

126. A proteoleogel comprising at least one gelling agent, at least one oil, a protein and water.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0083] In order to better understand the subject matter that is disclosed herein and to exemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0084] FIG. 1 shows a computer-aided design (CAD) of a beef entrecote steak, showing assembled multiple muscle segment, fat, and ribeye bone.

[0085] FIG. 2 shows a muscle mold CAD design.

[0086] FIG. 3 shows a flexible material (AGILUS30) which was used to 3D print the mold.

[0087] FIG. 4 shows a CAD design of beef entrecote ribeye bone.

[0088] FIG. 5 shows a plurality of 3D printed ribeye bones formed of biocompatible ceramic materials.

[0089] FIGS. 6A-B show explosive view of an exemplary shaping tool assembly: a top view is shown in FIG. 6A. From bottom to top: bottom mold, edible ceramic-based bone, protein injection mold and fat mold. FIG. 6B shows a side-view of the shaping tool components.

[0090] FIGS. 7A-B provide an assembled view of the shaping tool components.

[0091] FIG. 8 provides a photo of a prepared steak according to the invention.

[0092] FIG. 9 provides a schematic design of an automated production line according to some embodiments of the invention.

[0093] FIG. 10 provides a schematic depiction of a system according to the invention for the continuous production of meat-like products.

[0094] FIGS. 11A-C are schematics of mold structures. FIG. 11A presents a mold structure with the various cavities defining material regions in the final meat-like product. FIG. 11B presents a schematic of an actual mold. FIG. 11C shows an assembly of material ports through which a material is injected into the mold of FIG. 11B. FIG. 11D shows a schematic of another mold structure defining shape and size of the product to be produced.

[0095] FIG. 12 shows a depiction of an assembled shaping tool.

[0096] FIGS. 13A-B show: (A) Consistency and color of animal fat (beef and lamb) compared to oleogel and different proteoleogels comprising of different plant proteins (B) Shape and consistency of oleogel (left) compared to proteoleogel (right) grilled at temperatures above 230-260° C.

[0097] FIG. 14 shows Left: Grilled injection molded steak composed of soybean protein and soybean protein canola oil-based proteoleogel. Right: Cross section of grilled steak showing Intramuscular (green arrows), intermuscular (white arrows) plant-based fat and the injected plant-based meat (blue arrows)

[0098] FIGS. 15A-B show (A) Rheometer used to investigate shear rheology, shear moduli and yielding behavior of standard oleogel, proteoleogels and animal raw fats (B) Rheological properties of edible pre-cooked oleogels with different protein compositions (proteoleogel) compared to standard oleogel and raw animal fat showing 2-3-fold increase in storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G″) of proteoleogel compared to standard oleogel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0099] Assembly starts on a temperature-controlled surface (e.g. stainless steel). In products that include bone, like ribeye or T-bone steak, a ceramic bone is either placed on the surface or injected into a bone mold using bone cement.

[0100] In the next step a muscle mold comes down on the surface and protein is injected through multiple ports (in a single or multiple stations); at least one port for each muscle segment. The injected material can comprise of a plant protein (e.g. soy, pea, and wheat), fungi protein (e.g. mushroom protein, mold protein) or cell-based protein (e.g. animal protein or cultured animal cells). To create a fibrous structure that is aligned vertically, the protein mixture can be injected through an extruder (e.g. high moisture extruder, power heater) perpendicular to the surface. Injected protein would be stabilized by controlling the surface temperature. The mold would then lift, and the conveyor belt moved to the next step.

[0101] In the next stage, a fat mold descends on the product and fat is injected into the holes, cracks, spaces between the protein sections. The injected fat can be plant-based fat that is solid at room temperature (e.g. palm oil, coconut oil), oleogel composed of fatty acids and gelling agents such as methyl cellulose, in some embodiments, in combination with a protein (i.e. proteoleogel), or cell-based fat (e.g. rendered animal fat or cultured animal cells). Injected fat can be stabilized by controlling the surface temperature. The mold would then lift, and the conveyor belt moved to the next step.

[0102] In the next step, the injected molds are cooled in a cooling station where the product is removed from its mold and cooled before packing and shipment.

[0103] A computer-aided design (CAD) of a beef entrecote steak, showing assembled multiple muscle segment, fat, and ribeye bone is shown in FIG. 1. The design was created using CAD software (SolidWorks®, USA) as a requirement of the 3DP process. 3D printing was later performed either by Polyjet or ColorJet 3D printing method.

[0104] A muscle mold CAD design is shown in FIG. 2. Following the design process, the muscle mold CAD file was exported as sldprt format. The 3DP method used to print the mold was Polyjet printing technique.

[0105] FIG. 3 shows a flexible material (AGILUS30) which was used to 3D print the mold. AGILUS30 were loaded into Polyjet 3D printer (CONNEX3 OBJET260). The flexibility was set at 30% shore hardness. In a process of the invention, the 3D printed mold is positioned on the surface and then injected with a protein mixture through multiple ports forming muscle segment, as explained herein.

[0106] FIG. 4 shows a CAD design of beef entrecote ribeye bone.

[0107] Following the design process, the bones were exported as STL (surface tessellation language, stereolithography), which is the file format allowing to define 3D models using just triangle meshes. The 3DP method considered is a powder-based ink-jet printing technique. This technology is useful for printing bone because a variety of powders including ceramic.

[0108] A plurality of 3D printed ribeye bones formed of biocompatible ceramic materials is shown in FIG. 5.

[0109] Powder-based 3D printing is characterized by using a powder bed to provide raw material, and binding powders together by polymer glue or other thermal fusion methods. Calcium carbonate powders were loaded into Powder ColorJet (CJP) 3D printer (Projet 160, 3D Systems, USA). CSHH and 2-pyrrolidone (water-based binder) were the main consumables of the 3DP process. 3D printing was conducted at constant binder saturation at 90% and layer thickness of 0.1 mm. At the end of the printing process, the bones were removed from the building platform at ambient temperature. Next, bones were sintered and baked at 80° C. in an oven. The bones were then ready to be fused by sintering and to be sprayed by biocompatible glue.

[0110] Explosive view of the system components is shown in FIG. 6A. From bottom to top: bottom mold, edible ceramic-based bone, protein injection mold and top mold. FIG. 6B shows a side-view of the injection molding system.

[0111] Assembled view of the shaping tool components is shown in FIG. 7A. The mold is placed down on the bottom lid and the bone is placed on the bottom mold. Protein is injected through multiple ports to form muscle segments. The mold is then lifted, the next step is to inject the fat towards the cracks, forming fat between the muscle segments by the same thickness. The mold is then lifted and the steak is cooled. 3D printed mold is shown in FIG. 7B and in FIG. 8.

[0112] A schematic design of a concept automated production line is shown in FIG. 9. Assembly line conveyor belt starts with a ceramic bone assembly space, followed by a protein injection station fed through high moisture extruder. Fat injection takes place in a third station on the line, at which point the product is either frozen or cooked. Such a production line is theoretically capable of producing up to 5,000 kg/day of plant-based steaks.

[0113] FIG. 10 depicts another system according to some embodiments of the invention. The system 100 comprises a meat feed port 110, an extruder 120, a barrel 130 optionally fitted with heating or cooling elements 140, a shaping tool 150 and a cutting tool 160.

[0114] A protein and fat mixture added into the meat food port 110 is extruded and delivered via the extruder barrel 130 in the direction of the shaping tool 150. The shaping tool 150 depicted also in in FIG. 12 comprises two or more molds or dies 170A and 170B arranged along the path of the material (melt) flow. One of the molds or dies 170A is positioned proximal to a barrel 130 containing the melt to be injected and another of the molds or dies 170B is situated distal or further away from the barrel 130. The proximal mold 170A defines an input mold and the distal mold 170B defines an output mold from which the final product exists. Additional molds or dies may be positioned between the proximal and distal molds. The shaping tool 150 is assembled such that the proximal mold 170A is shaped to define some or all of the internal sections of the meat-like product, as depicted in FIGS. 11A and 11B, and distal mold is shaped to define the size and shape of the final product, as depicted in FIG. 11D.

[0115] The melt exiting the barrel 130 is injected into the proximal mold 170A via a meat input port 180. Fat is injected into the distal mold 170B via one or more fat input ports 190.

[0116] A cutting apparatus or element 160 positioned above the shaping tool is configured to slice the molded meat-like product exiting the shaping tool into a final meat-like product 200.

Rheological and Texture Measurements of Plant-Based Fats

[0117] Standard oleogel was prepared by mixing methylcellulose (3% w/w) and canola oil (30% w/w) in water. The oleogel did not have the right mechanical adhesive property to hold the extruded meat segments together. In order to improve the adhesiveness and stiffness of oleogel, different combinations of protein-based oleogel (protoleogles) were prepared by mixing (3% w/w) of methylcellulose, canola oil (30% w/w) and protein (3% w/w): chickpea, soybean, pea, mung bean, lentil, potato and rice in water, creating proteoleogels with different texture and stiffness (FIG. 13A). Heating of the different fat and fat-like materials showed that consistency and structural stability of the pre-cooked (85-90° C.) chickpea, soybean, pea, mung bean, and lentil based-protoleogles was higher viscoelastic than standard oleogel. Additional heating of the materials showed that the texture and structural stability of the cooked (230-260° C.) protoleogles was firmer and more consistent than the standard oleogel (FIG. 13B). Examination of the different materials in connecting extruded meat segments showed that only proteoleogels from chickpea, soybean, pea, mung bean, and lentil were consistent enough to hold the extruded meat segments together. Furthermore, these protoleogles and extruded meat segments, molded into a steak-like shape formed an interconnected structure with plant-based meat fibers interconnected by the intramuscular protoleogles fat, and adhered meat segments by intermuscular protoleogles fat enabling a strong adhesive to hold the bone parts together pre and after cooking (FIG. 14).

[0118] The mechanical properties needed to hold the extruded meat segments together were quantified using a HAAKE™ MARS™ one Rheometer. In this rheological experiment, shear rheology, shear moduli and yielding behavior of oleogel, protoleogles and animal raw fats was measured (FIG. 15A). Analysis has shown that chickpea, soybean, pea, mung bean, and lentil based-protoleogles increases the shear moduli and gel hardness of the plant-based fat by 2-3-fold compared to the commonly used oleogels in the pre-cooking status, while potato and rice protein did not increase the storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G″) (FIG. 15B). Furthermore, a minimal complex viscosity (η) was identified as the minimal complex viscosity threshold needed to hold the extruded meat segments together at 500 Pa. Mung bean showed the best rheology properties, but proteoleogels composed of chickpea, soybean, pea, and lentil proteins were similarly able of binding segments of meat analog together.