Semi-finished powdery food product based on vegetable food and a process for production thereof

Abstract

Disclosed is a powder and dehydrated product essentially including, or consisting of, a food of plant origin with a lipid content of at least 30% by weight, and a water-soluble bulking agent. Also disclosed is a process for preparing this powder product.

Claims

1. A food product P in powder form, said product P having a moisture content equal to or lower than 10% by weight, said product P consisting of the following components: (a) a vegetable food (a) selected from cashew nuts, peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts or a mixture thereof, (b) a vegetable bulking agent, which is at least 70% by weight water-soluble, said vegetable bulking agent being selected from starches and starch derivatives; and (c) a further component in an amount from 0 to 10% by weight with respect to a total weight of the food product P, said further component is other than said components (a) and (b), said components (a) and (b) being in a ratio (by weight) varying from 1:1 to 1:7.

2. The product P according to claim 1, wherein the components (a) and (b) are present in the following amounts (percentages by weight): from 13 to 45% of component (a), and from 55 to 87% of component (b).

3. The product P according to claim 1, wherein the component (b) is a maltodextrin.

4. The product P according to claim 3, wherein the almonds are sweet or bitter almonds or a mixture thereof.

5. The product P according to claim 1 having a lipid content of between 2.5 and 20% by weight.

6. The product P according to claim 1, having a grain size of the powder of between 80 and 250 m.

7. The product of claim 1, wherein the components (a) and (b) are in the ratio (by weight) varying from 1:1.2 to 1:7.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Example 1

(1) Preparation of the mixture M based on sweet almonds A mixture M is prepared using an almond paste containing only sweet almonds of the Tuono variety from Val di Noto; this paste is produced by the company Di Bartolo S.r.l. Said paste has the following properties: lipid content of 55.3% by weight, moisture content of 1.60%.

(2) Said mixture M is prepared starting from (parts by weight): parts of said sweet almond paste, and 75 parts of maltodextrins in white powder form.

(3) The maltodextrins used have the following properties: dextrose equivalent content of between 18 and 20, apparent density (poured bulk density) of around 500 g/l, particle size: larger than 250 m in an amount no greater than 10%, and smaller than 40 m in an amount below 50%.

(4) This mixture is produced in a mixer. The mixing process is performed at a temperature of 25 C., mixing at constant speed.

(5) This mixture is in paste form, having a viscosity of below 200 cps. The mixture has a pH of between 5 and 6.

(6) Spray-Drying Process

(7) Subsequently, this mixture M is subjected to a spray drying process, i.e., it is first atomized in a rotary atomizer and then dehydrated in a dehydration chamber.

(8) The droplets thus formed are washed by a counterflow of hot air at a temperature ranging from 175 to 185 C.

(9) At the end of the process, dehydrated fine powder having a grain size ranging from 140 to 180 m is formed.

(10) The product P obtained is a powder, having a moisture content of 4.68%.

(11) This powder is white in color and has a very delicate flavor.

(12) Said fine powder thus obtained is rehydrated in proportions of 100 grams of powder with 500 grams of water, following mixing at room temperature, with the formation of a milky liquid.

(13) The production of both ice cream and of puddings took place without difficulty using this milky liquid formed with the product P thus obtained in place of cow's milk, as did the production of bakery products directly using the product P in powder form.

(14) Organoleptic test: end products in the form of a cream and bakery products were tasted by a panel of tasters, who did not detect any unpleasant odors and flavors.