The Method of Qualitative Distribution of Sugar Beet Dry Matter, Products Obtained by the Mentioned Method and Food Containing Such Product

Abstract

A method for the qualitative distribution of sugar beet dry matter to products usable in food production, which includes the steps: (a) grinding of sugar beet material with a dry matter content of at least 85% by weight of grist, until at least 1% by weight of the grist attains a particle size of 1 μm to 1000 μm, (b) dividing the grist into fractions based on particle size and/or particle density, to create at least one fraction with a particle size below 500 μm and in the case of at least one fraction with a particle size above 500 μm, (c) or possibly subsequent subjection of the fraction with a particle size exceeding 500 μm to steps (a) and (b) until the desired quantity of the fraction with a particle size below 500 μm has been attained, preferably 1 to 20 times. The present teaching also relates to product produced in this way.

Claims

1. A method for the qualitative distribution of sugar beet dry matter onto the products usable in food production, comprising: (a) grinding of sugar beet material with a dry matter content of at least 85% by weight onto the grist, until at least 1% by weight of the grist has a particle size of 1 μm to 1000 μm, as measured on sieves, (b) dividing the grist into fractions based on particle size and/or particle density, resulting in at least one fraction having a particle size up to 500 μm, (c) optionally subsequent submission of the fraction having a particle size above 500 μm to (a) and (b) until the desired quantity of the fraction having a particle size up to 500 μm has been achieved.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fractions having a particle size of up to 500 μm are: fractions with a particle size up to 250 μm.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the grinding is carried out by applying forces acting on the particles of the dried sugar beet material in shear and/or in skid, and/or in pressure and/or by sonication during extraction in liquid.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the material/grist is ground by two or more rollers and/or surfaces, between which there is a grinding gap for the grist to fall through, and/or by the collision of the grinding parts with the sugar beet material, where the grinding part can be a sharp or blunt edge or a surface.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the first cycle the material is ground between the grooved rollers and/or smooth-surfaced rollers, and in the second cycle the fraction is ground on the smooth-surfaced rollers.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein (b) is performed on sieves with mesh openings from 1000 μm to 25 μm, and/or (b) is performed by fluid fractionation according to the particle air drift threshold, at a gas flow rate of 0.01 m.Math.s.sup.−1 to 7.5 m.Math.s.sup.−1.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein gas flow rates in the fluid fractionation are: 0.2 m.Math.s.sup.−1, 0.7 m.Math.s.sup.−1, 1.2 m.Math.s.sup.−1, 1.8 m.Math.s.sup.−1, 2.5 m.Math.s.sup.−1, 3.5 m.Math.s.sup.−1, 4.8 m.Math.s.sup.−1 to 7.5 m.Math.s.sup.−1.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein a gas used in the fluid fractionation process is atmospheric air.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fraction having a particle size up to 500 μm is subjected to (a) and/or (b).

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein in order to reduce the content of non-polar substances, in particular fats and/or phytosterols, the sugar beet material is, before (a), or between (a) and (b), or after (b), processed in the following manner: (i) mixing of the material, grist or fraction with an organic substance, or a mixture of organic substances, the chemical polarity of which is equal to or lower than the chemical polarity of the solution of ethanol and water having concentration of 50% by volume at a temperature of 20° C., in a ratio of 2:1 to 1:10, at temperatures at which the used organic solvent or a mixture of organic substances are in liquid or gaseous state, (ii) mixing of the mixture for a period of 0 to 600 minutes, (iii) separation of the mixture to a liquid and solid phase, (iv) separate drying of the liquid and solid phases to form a product having a dry matter content of at least 85% by weight or more.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the solid phase with reduced fat and/or phytosterol content is submitted to (a) and/or (b), and where (a) and/or (b) is repeated 1 to 20 times on any obtained fraction.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the created organic vapours are captured, regenerated, and concentrated for further use during the drying of the solid and/or liquid phase.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the organic solvent is a solution of ethanol and water or ethanol.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the material, gist, or fraction prior to, during or after the method has a dry matter content of 85% by weight or more.

15. The method according to any one of claim 1, wherein the volumetric mass of the grist's fractions obtained from the sugar beet grist in (b) is from 400 kg.Math.m.sup.−3 to 900 kg.Math.m.sup.−3.

16. A product produced by the method according to claim 1, which contains in dry matter more than 80% weight of monosaccharides and/or disaccharides from sugar beet.

17. A product produced by the method according to claim 1, which contains in dry matter a total of more than 30% by weight of fibre, especially in the representation of pectins, hemicelluloses, celluloses and their subunits from sugar beet.

18. A product produced by the method according to claim 10, produced by drying the liquid phase after separation, which contains in the dry matter at least 0.50% by weight of phenolic compounds with antioxidant activity and at least 1.0% of fats and/or phytosterols from sugar beet.

19. A product produced by the method under claim 1, which comprises a combination of two or more fractions.

20. A food containing the product according to claim 16.

Description

EXAMPLES OF EMBODIMENTS

Example 1

[0079] Dried sugar beet with a moisture content of 1.5% by weight was ground on a homogenising mill. The particles of the dried material were in the form of slices with a cross section of 3.0×4.0 mm and a length of 30 to 120 mm. This material was ground in a manner where the blades of the homogenising mill cut and later collided with the particles of dried material at a speed of 3500 rpm. Grinding took 3 minutes in a closed container (period of holding the material in the grinding space) and created the grist. The grist was then fractionated on a system of sieves ranked in the order with a mesh size of 500 μm, 400 μm, 200 μm, 100 μm and 50 μm. The grist was brought to the top sieve with mesh size of 500 μm and sieved through sieves which moved in a circular oscillating motion. The fractionation time on the sieves was 30 minutes. After this time, the sieves produced individual fractions. An overview of the parameters and quantities of fractions obtained after the first grinding of the dried material is given in Table 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Overview of parameters after the first fractionation of the dried material Relative share of Mono- and minerals content Percentage of disaccharide in fraction to grist fraction content their content Faction (average) (% by weight) in grist in 1 g above 500 μm 24% 66 96% above 400 μm 10.5%.sup.  64 90% above 200 μm 26% 59 86% above 100 μm  5% 62 84% above 50 μm 31% 78 82% below 50 μm  4% 84 79%

[0080] The fibre content in the individual fractions was negatively correlated with the content of mono- and disaccharides, where the fractions with a high content of mono- and disaccharides contained less fibre (fibre represented mainly by cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin substances and their subunits) and vice versa. The content of total fibre in the fraction above 50 μm was about 15.5% by weight. The individual fractions had different properties. The colour of the finer fractions was paler, the water binding was highest in the fraction above 400 μm, the water solubility was the best in the fraction below 50 μm.

Example 2

[0081] As in Example 1, the dried sugar beet material was processed into fractions. After obtaining the fractions, the fraction of a size of 50 μm, 200 μm, 400 μm and 500 μm were reprocessed by a grinding and fractionation step. Grinding was performed on rollers with the grinding gap set at 450 μm where the rollers had a grooved surface. The second fraction were thus formed from each fraction all the smaller fractions designated as fractions F2 (in total 17 fractions). The F2 fractions again had a different composition, the sugar content (mono- and disaccharides) was lower in the case of the obtained F2 fractions than that in the fraction from the first fractionation F1. Fractions F2 above 400 μm and 500 μm had a comparable sugar content with the same fractions F1. The properties of the obtained fractions were in principle similar to the properties of fractions F1, but the colour of the whole spectrum of the fraction F2 was a shade darker than the same fractions F1, the water binding was higher by 4% to 12%. These trends were observed with deviations even when the grinding setting was changed, where fractions were obtained at a higher grinding intensity, when the roller pressure during grinding was higher and the roller gap was only below 100 μm. Under such settings, fractions F2 were formed from the fraction F1, which had a more balanced sugar content in the entire size spectrum. The grist M2 obtained from the fraction after the first fractionation was alternatively ground under the same conditions on a set of smooth rollers. It was found that when smooth rollers were used, fractions below 100 μm contained a higher proportion of monosaccharides and disaccharides than equally obtained fractions ground on grooved rollers, with fractions from 100 μm to 400 μm containing more fibre (in this case, the fibre increase was highest in the fraction from 100 μm to 250 μm).

Example 3

[0082] As in Example 1, the dried sugar beet was ground and fractionated, with the difference that the fractionation was done using the fluid method. After grinding into particles with a size of up to 1000 μm, the grist was fractionated so that it was transferred over to an 800 μm sieve, falling through the sieve and under the sieve the grist was mixed with air flow of a rate of 4.0 m.Math.s.sup.−1, whose intensity decreased down to 0.1 m.Math.s.sup.−1 at the end of the fluid tunnel. In this way, fractions F1 were obtained in a fluid method, the composition and quantitative distribution of which differed significantly from the fractions F1 obtained in Examples 1 and 2. The quantitative distribution of the fractions (yield of individual fractions) was significantly different, with an increase in fractions below 100 μm and a decrease in fractions above 400 μm. The content of mono- and disaccharides in fractions below 100 μm was on average slightly higher. Fractions from 100 μm to 400 μm contained more fibre (28% to 38%) but proportionally less mono- and disaccharides. The properties of the individual fractions were similar to the properties of the fraction F1 in Example 1, except for the properties of the fraction of 100 μm to 400 μm, and for which a significant increase in water binding was observed.

Example 4

[0083] As in Example 1, the light white-green dried sugar beet was divided into fractions. All fractions were then separately extracted with ethanol at a temperature of 35° C. for 10 minutes under constant stirring so that each of the fractions was mixed with ethanol at a concentration of 90% by volume in a ratio of 1:1, and in a parallel experiment in a ratio of 1:2 (material:ethanol). Subsequently, the mixture was separated at the filtration interface into liquid and solid phases. The solid phase was dried in a fluid bed drier to a dry matter content of 98% by weight. The liquid phase was distilled to form ethanol with a concentration of 90% by volume, with the creation of a distillation residue. Subsequently, the material of the distillation residue was heated to 115° C. for 30 minutes, thus significantly reducing the proportion of negative odours in the material. The material from the distillation residue contained a total of 3.5% of phytosterols and 1.2% of phenolics.

[0084] Following its drying (moisture content below 2.5% by weight), the solid phase from each of the fractions was repeatedly ground using a homogenising mill and fractionated on the sieves with the same arrangement and interface as in Example 1. This created fractions where significantly more material passed to the fraction below 400 μm, most to the fraction below 50 μm and above 50 μm, which together represented more than 40% by weight the proportion from the input material with a significant increase in the content of mono- and disaccharides from sugar beet, but with a decrease in the total content of minerals in comparison with the same fractions obtained without treatment with ethanol. The fraction below 50 μm contained, after repeated grinding and fractionation F2, up to 96% weight of mono- and disaccharides, especially sucrose, which is a high-purity sucrose with a minor content of total minerals and water-insoluble fibre from sugar beet. Conversely, fractions above 100 μm to 200 μm contained a high proportion of fibre, with a decrease in the content of mono- and disaccharides to a level between 50% by weight up to 58% by weight with an increase in minerals after fractionation F3. The smallest fractionation gradient occurred when comparing fractions above 400 μm (with and without ethanol treatment). The colour of the fractions was lighter, light beige, and the sensory properties of the fractions treated with ethanol were significantly better. Subsequently, fractions above 400 μm were selectively ground, similarly giving rise to a whole spectrum of fractions. Grinding was performed on smooth rollers. The material ground in this manner was fractionated on sieves in combination with fluid fractionation at an air flow rate of 0.5 m.Math.s.sup.−1 to 6.5 m.Math.s.sup.−1, in steps of 0.55 m.Math.s.sup.−1. Six fractions were obtained. At the end of the repeated separation, it was possible in this way to separate the fractions with a high sucrose content exceeding 90% and the fractions with a high fibre content from 35% to 70% by weight in dry matter. These products were suitable for use in foodstuffs without introducing negative odours from sugar beet into the foods, while in addition to sugar they also contained a high content of other nutritionally important substances from sugar beet. Specialised properties were achieved by mixing the individual fractions based on a combination of the properties of the individual fractions and their parameters for use in the production of certain types of foods. For use in the production of jams, fractions with a size below 100 μm were used instead of sugar and fractions with a fibre content above 40% by weight with granulation above 200 μm as a gelling component with higher water binding property. Fraction F3 was used for the production of bakery products, obtained on sieves ranging from 100 μm to 200 μm, with a total fibre content of more than 45% by weight, which significantly improved the shelf life and texture of the bakery products.

[0085] In repeated experiments, the same fractionation trends were obtained, but the numerical values of the fractionation interface, the fractionation gradient, as well as the substance composition of the fractions were different depending on the quality of the input raw material and the moisture parameters of the raw material.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0086] The method under the present teaching is suitable for the preparation of sugar beet materials for use in the production of food and nutritional supplements. In this way, it is possible to divide the dried material of sugar beet into fractions rich in caloric sugars (sucrose, glucose, fructose) and minerals, as well as into fractions rich in soluble fibre containing as a major part pectin, hemicellulose containing minerals, and into water-insoluble fibre containing cellulose as its major part. Concurrently, by applying the preferable method it is possible to obtain a concentrated proportion of substances containing phenol in the molecule together with fats and phytosterols, as a separate extract. All fractions produced under the above-mentioned method retain a high portion of nutrients originating from sugar beet. This method is energy-efficient and, when applying the preferable methods of the method, it provides individual fractions with high sensory quality, in light colours in shades of white to beige that is fully free of negative tastes and odours of sugar beet.

[0087] The individual fractions are applicable as ingredients in food production or as alternative sweeteners or fortifiers and nutritional supplements.