Confectionery composition comprising bran-like material

Abstract

There is described an confectionery composition comprising edible particulate material comprising from 80% to 100% by weight based on total weight of the material of a processable, microbially released, flavour acceptable bran-like material, characterized by the following parameters: (i) mean particle size by volume (Vol. MPS) of from 5 to 100 microns; (ii) volume particle size distribution (Vol. PSD) characterized by the parameters: D90.3 less than or equal to 350 microns, and D50.3 less than or equal to 50 microns, and optionally D10.3 less than or equal to 15 microns, (iii) mean particle sphericity as measured by a Smean of greater than or equal to 0.75; (iv) where processable means has oil holding capacity (OHC) of from 0.7 to 1.5; (v) where microbially released means material has common microbes below given limits (preferably free of common microbes) (vi) where flavour acceptable denotes a lipase activity (LA) and a peroxidase activity (PA) both less than or equal to 2 U/g and optionally a low degree of roasted flavour notes as defined herein. The bran-like material used in the confectionery compositions may added as a bulk ingredient to replace sugar and/or to provide confectionery fillings and/or coatings having improved hiding ability when used as layers in multilayer confectionery products.

Claims

1. A method of obtaining a confectionery composition comprising from 0.5% to 30% by weight based on the total weight of the confectionery composition of a bran-like material that is edible, processable, microbially released, and flavor acceptable, wherein (i) the bran-like material has a mean particle size by volume (Vol. MPS) of from 5 to 100 microns, (ii) the bran-like material has a volume particle size distribution (Vol. PSD) having D.sub.90.3 less than or equal to 350 microns and D.sub.50.3 less than or equal to 50 microns, and (iii) the bran-like material has a mean particle sphericity as measured by a S.sub.mean of greater than or equal to 0.75, (iv) being processable denotes the bran-like material has an oil holding capacity (OHC) of from 0.7 to 1.5; (v) being microbially released denotes that the bran-like material satisfies the criteria that Salmonella is not detected in a 25 g sample of the bran-like material, and (vi) being flavor acceptable denotes that the bran-like material has: a lipase activity (LA) of less than or equal to 2 U/g, a peroxidase activity (PA) of less than or equal to 2 U/g and wherein the confectionery composition is suitable for preparing a confectionery product and/or sugar confections, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a precursor bran-like material which has an unacceptable microbial load thereon that does not satisfy the criteria set out in feature (v); (b) treating the precursor bran-like material from step (a) to form treated material that is both microbially released and flavor acceptable; (c) milling the precursor bran-like material from step (a) and/or the treated material from step (b) to obtain microbially released, processable particles of bran-like material having all the properties (i) to (vi); and (d) incorporating the bran-like material from step (c) in the confectionery composition.

2. The method of claim 1 where the treatment step (b) comprises thermally heating and/or microwaving the precursor bran-like material.

3. The method of claim 1 where the treatment step (b) comprises heating the precursor bran-like material at a temperature from 95 to 160° C. for a temperature from 1 to 10 minutes and/or microwaving the precursor bran-like material at a power from 100 W to 990 W for a period from 1 to 10 minutes.

4. The method of claim 1, where the treatment step (b) reduces the moisture content of the precursor bran-like material by at least 50% by weight of the total moisture in the precursor bran-like material before treatment step (b).

Description

FIGURES

(1) The present invention is further illustrated by the following non limiting figures FIG. 1 to 3 as follows:

(2) FIGS. 1 to 3 are photographs that allow one to make a visual assessment of the rheological behavior of various cream fillings, one without bran and two low fat cream fillings in which different bran types are used as a partial fat replacers one of which uses a micro-bran of the present invention.

(3) FIG. 1 is a photograph of a reference filling (Comp B) without any bran, showing continuous flow from a spoon.

(4) FIG. 2 is a photograph of a reference filling (Comp C) comprising 20.88% by weight of the filling of un-milled (i.e. ‘virgin’) bran and 29% by weight fat, showing that the flow from a spoon is discontinuous, appearing lumpy and dropping from the ladle instead.

(5) FIG. 3 is a photograph of a filling of the invention (Example 1) comprising 20% by weight of the filling of micro-bran (i.e. fine bran milled with a cell mill) and 29% by weight fat, showing continuous flow from a spoon.

(6) FIGS. 4 to 6 are photographs taken under the microscope at ten times magnification of various fillings.

(7) FIG. 4 is of a reference filling Comp B (a filling without any bran).

(8) FIG. 5 is of the reference filling Comp C (with 20.88% by weight of virgin unmilled bran),

(9) FIG. 6 is of the filling of the invention (Example 4) which comprises 23.49% by weight of micronized bran milled by a jet mill.

(10) FIG. 7 is a plot of different filling compositions where the ordinate is the layer weight required of each filling (in grams) to obtain a homogenous layer (i.e. layer without any visual blemishes, discontinuities or holes over the same flat area to which each the filling was applied.

(11) Comp B is reference composition without bran as above.

(12) Comp D is cream with 15% virgin bran by weight

(13) Comp E is a cream with 20% virgin bran by weight

(14) Example 8 is a cream with 5% by weight of fine bran milled by cell mill at 15%

(15) Example 9 is a cream 20% by weight of fine bran milled by cell mill at 15%

(16) FIG. 8 is a sensory profile of a reference conventional laminated wafer confectionery coated with chocolate (Comp I) compared to the similar laminated wafer confectionery product (Example 10) as Comp I where the filling between the wafer layers were replaced by the same coat weight of a filling of the invention comprising 5% by weight of the micronized bran of the invention (Example 10).

(17) FIGS. 9 to 11 relate to variations of a standard Lion® bar (REF, SAM 0 to SAM 4) prepared as described herein.

(18) FIG. 9 is a photograph taken from above of samples REF, SAM 0, SAM 1, SAM 2, SAM 3 and SAM 4 shown from above

(19) FIG. 10 is a photograph taken of a cross section of samples REF, SAM 0, SAM 1, SAM 2, SAM 3 and SAM 4

(20) FIG. 11 show a plot of the respective sensory attributes of samples REF, SAM 0 to SAM 4 as reported by a trained sensory panel. Reference character 95 represents a significant difference at a 95% of confidence interval. Reference character 90 represents a significant difference at a 90% of confidence interval.

(21) FIGS. 12 and 13 show particle size distribution (PSD) of multiple samples of two different brans measured using a Malvern Mastersizer 2000.

(22) FIG. 12 is the PSD of three samples of the virgin (unmilled) bran (Comp N).

(23) FIG. 13 is the PSD of four samples of the same bran of the invention (Example 15) milled by a cell mill.

(24) FIG. 14 shows the flow curves (viscosity versus shear rate) of fillings comprising non heated treated virgin bran (Comp O) and heat treated brans (steam treated bran in Example 14 and microwaved bran in Example 16).

(25) FIG. 15 shows off-flavour (rancid, sour milk and cheesy) perception measured after 20 hours as a result of esterase activity by a sensorial sniffing test. (Comps P, R, S, T and Exs 17 to 21).

(26) FIG. 16 shows off-flavour (rancid, sour milk and cheesy) perception measured after 20 hours as a result of lipase activity by a sensorial sniffing test for different samples that were steam treated and not steam treated. (Comps V and W, Ex 22 to 23, Comp X and Ex 24 to 28)

(27) FIG. 17 shows the moisture content of microwaved bran (Ex 29) versus non-treated bran (Comp Y)

(28) FIG. 18 shows the moisture content of steam treated bran (Ex 30) vs non-treated bran (Comp Z)

(29) It should be noted that embodiments and features described in the context of one of the aspects or embodiments of the present invention also apply to the other aspects of the invention. Although embodiments have been disclosed in the description with reference to specific examples, it will be recognized that the invention is not limited to those embodiments. Various modifications may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and may be acquired from practice of the invention and such variations are contemplated within the broad scope of the present invention. It will be understood that the materials used and the chemical details may be slightly different or modified from the descriptions without departing from the methods and compositions disclosed and taught by the present invention.

(30) Further aspects of the invention and preferred features thereof are given in the claims herein.

EXAMPLES

(31) The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the following non limiting examples which are by way of illustration only.

Bran (Examples 1, 2 and Comp A)

Cell Mill Powders—Examples 1 and 2

(32) Particle size and through put of powders from a cell mill now described which obtain brans having the properties as claimed herein. Table 1 shows the properties of the particles of brans of the invention compared with unmilled virgin bran (Comp A)

(33) Example 1 is a bran obtained from a soft wheat bran which has not been heat treated and mill by a cell mill under the conditions given in Table 2

(34) Example 2 is a soft wheat bran (the same as used in Example 1) which was heat treated at 102° C. by microwaving for full powder at 100 W for 7 mins before being milled by cell mill under the conditions given in Table 2.

(35) Comp A is a soft wheat bran as used in Example 1 which has not been heat treated or milled and is also referred to herein as Virgin Bran.

(36) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 1 Particle parameters Ex 1 Ex 2 Comp A (I) D(4.3) 40.901 23.725 NM (I) D(3.2) 77.801 6.845 NM (II) D(90.3) 94.025 49.585 286 (II) D(50.3) 22.671 15.906 509 (II) D(10.3) 5.457 5.323 NM (III) S(50) 0.830 0.830 0.730 NM denotes not measured

(37) TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 2 (Mill properties) Ex 1 Ex2 Mill speed (rpm) 4144 4144 Classifier speed (rpm) 1308 1440 Throughput (kg/h) 84 128

Cream Fillings (Examples 3 and 4 and Comp B and C)

(38) Cream fillings reference examples Comp B, Comp C and Examples 3 and 4 (prepared from bran of the invention) were prepared analogous to as described herein.

(39) Comp B is a reference filling without any bran.

(40) Comp C is a reference filling with 20.88% by weight of virgin bran, Comp C having 40% by weight less sugar compared to the cream of Comp B.

(41) Example 3 is filling comprising a bran of the invention having 45% by weight less sugar than Comp B.

(42) Example 4 is filling comprising bran of the invention with 23.49% by weight of a micronized bran prepared by a jet mill.

(43) Microscopy photos at 10× magnification were taken of Comp B, Comp C and Example 4 as shown in respective FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 herein.

(44) Results

(45) As can been seen from FIG. 4 reference filling Comp B shows a well dispersed suspension with equally sized particles.

(46) FIG. 5 shows the reference filling Comp C made from virgin, unmilled, bran forms a suspension of bran particles with a wide range of sizes and large highly irregular shapes. The particles tend to lump together in agglomerates as seen by the lengthy, fibrous structure indicated by the white arrow in FIG. 5.

Creams (Comp D and Comp E and Examples 5 to 7)

(47) TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 3 Reference cream recipe Comp D % Amount (kg) Sugar White 0.45-0.65 mm Coarse 52.2 1.04 Cocoa Powder Alkalized 10-12% Fat 6.0 0.12 Lecithin Sunflower Fluid 0.25 0.01 Oil Palm Olein 31.1 0.62 Milk Skimmed Powder Medium Heat 1.0 0.02 Wafer Sheets 9.40 0.19 Total 100.0 2.00 Particle Size in μm 120.0 Total Fat Content % 32.2 Total Cereal Equivalent % 9.4 Total Lecithin % 0.253

(48) Heat treated virgin bran, heat treated fine cell mill powder were applied at different concentration of sugar replacement according to Table below. The reference recipe Comp D is given above.

(49) TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 3 Amount of bran Sugar reduction in cream by Example Description versus Comp D weight of cream Comp D Reference cream 0% (reference)    0% Ex 5 Fine cell milled bran 30% 15.66% Ex 6 Fine cell milled bran 45% 23.49% Ex 7 Fine cell milled bran 60% 31.32% Comp E Virgin bran 45% 23.49%

(50) Layering of Cream

(51) Table 3 shows the layer weight that is required to obtain a complete layer with the different bran fillings. Compared to the reference cream Comp D without bran, when virgin bran is added to the cream (Comp E) significantly more cream (11%) is required to obtain a complete layer. This is obviously not favourable in a manufacturing environment as it would make it more challenging to achieve the target layer weight without impact on the layer integrity. The fillings (Examples 3 to 5) which used the fine cell milled bran of the invention (such as Example 1 and 2) behave similar to the reference cream Comp D.

(52) Hiding Powder

Examples 8 and 9 Compared to Comp F, G and H

(53) FIG. 7 shows that compositions of the invention (Examples 8 and 9) have an improved hiding power compared to the prior art compositions (Comps F, G and H).

(54) FIG. 7 is a plot of different filling compositions where the ordinate is the layer weight required of each filling (in grams) to obtain a homogenous layer (i.e. layer without any visual blemishes, discontinuities or holes over the same flat area to which each the filling was applied.

(55) Comp F is reference composition without bran as above.

(56) Comp G is cream with 15% virgin bran by weight

(57) Comp H is a cream with 20% virgin bran by weight

(58) Example 8 is a cream with 5% by weight of fine bran milled by cell mill at 15%

(59) Example 9 is a cream 20% by weight of fine bran milled by cell mill at 15%

(60) Sensory Data

Example 10 and Comp I

(61) FIG. 8 shows the sensory data of a laminated wafer product of the invention (Example 10) prepared using a cream with micronized bran of the invention compared to a reference laminated wafer product prepared from a cream without such a bran. The sensory properties of both wafer products (Example 10 and Comp I) were rated by a trained sensory panel based on the sensory attributes as describe herein the results plotted on FIG. 8. It can be seen that the trained sensory panel found no discernible difference between the two confectionery products.

(62) Products

(63) Lion® Bar Products REF and SAM 0 to SAM 4

(64) Component creams and caramels used to prepare the following products are given below in Tables 4 and 5.

(65) TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 4 COMP J = Low saturated fat coating (reduced fat chocolate compound) Ingredient % by weight Akopol NH53* (Low SFA fat) 29.69 Sugar White Standard Refined Bulk 44.37 Cocoa Cake Nat 10-12% Fat GerkensNA55Bulk 6.37 Whey Powder Demin 50% Low Prot Small BB 19.27 Lecithin 0.25 Milk flavour 0.05 Total 100

(66) AKOPOL™ NH 53 is a trade mark that denotes the vegetable fat that comprises non-hydrogenated, mixture of saturated fatty acids (SFA) available commercially from AAK under the aforementioned trade mark. AKOPOL™ NH 53 is a low SFA fat stated (in March 2013) by AAK to comprise the following components (in g per 100 g of AKOPOL™ NH 53): 64 g saturated fatty acids; 26 g cis-mono unsaturated fatty acids; 5 g cis-poly unsaturated fatty acids and <1 g trans fatty acids.

(67) Recipes of Praline Creams Used to Prepare the Products REF and SAM 0 to SAM 4

(68) Referring to Table 5 below:

(69) Comp K is a standard praline cream without any bran used to make standard Lion® (REF).

(70) Example 11 is a praline cream of the invention comprising 17% by weight of micronized wheat bran of the invention prepared analogously to the Examples described herein.

(71) Example 12 is a praline cream of the invention comprising 23% by weight of micronized wheat bran of the invention prepared analogously to the Examples described herein. Comp L is a reference praline cream comprising 5% w/w conventional unmilled wheat bran (the bran available commercially from Lubela mills in Poland)

(72) TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 5 Ingredient Comp K Ex 11 Ex 12 Comp L Sugar 25.82%   11.82%   5.82%.sup.  23.82%    Oil Palm Filling 25 kg 36% 36% 36% 36%  Milk skimmed powder  4%  4%  4% 4% Whey Sweet Powder 14% 14% 14% 14%  10% Protein Lecithin sunflower fluid  1%  1%  1% 1% Maltodextrin potato  3%  0%  0% 0% starch low DE Rework filling from 17% 17% 17% 17%  LION ® Micronised wheat bran 17% 23% — — Conventional wheat bran — — — 5% Flavour (vanilla) 0.18%.sup.  0.18%.sup.  0.18%.sup.  0.18%   Total 100%  100%  100%  100% 

(73) Caramel Compositions (Ex 13 and Comp M)

(74) Example 13 and Comp M are caramel compositions used to enrobe the bars REF and SAM 0 to SAM 4

(75) Example 13 comprises 5% by weight of micronized wheat bran of the invention prepared analogously to the Examples described herein. Example 13 is a caramel slurry recipe used to enrobe the laminated wafer centre in an amount such that only 5% of bran is present in final caramel. The recipe is shown in Table 6.

(76) TABLE-US-00010 TABLE 6 (Ex 13) Ingredient name Weight in kg per 1000 kg Glucose fructose syrup DE 81 590.0 Vacuum evaporated salt 12.3 Rework LION ® 108.3 Rework filling LION ® 108.3 Water 50.0 Wheat bran 131.3 Batch 1000

(77) Comp M is the recipe of the standard caramel recipe used to enrobe a standard Lion® bar.

(78) TABLE-US-00011 TABLE 7 (Comp M) Ingredient name Weight in kg per 1000 kg Glucose fructose syrup DE 81 342 Sweetened condensed milk 342 Filling fats 74 Sample solution 479 Batch 1237 Yield 1000

(79) Table 8 indicates the physical outputs of the process that produce the stated creams, in which:

(80) Column W is the fat quantity added at 1st mixing (kg)

(81) Column X is the mixing speed (Hz)

(82) Column Y is the mixing time (minutes)

(83) Column Z is the temperature of cream after mixing (° C.)

(84) TABLE-US-00012 TABLE 8 Praline W X Y Z Comp K - Std LION ® cream 65 100 3 NA Ex 11 cream 17% micronized bran 70 100 3 42.4 Ex 12 cream 23% micronized bran (batch1) 80 100 7 42.5 Ex 12 cream 23% micronixed bran (½ batch) 35 100 3 40.5 Comp L cream 5% virgin (unmilled) bran 70 100 3 44

(85) The conventional unmilled virgin bran used to prepare Comp L was a standard unmilled soft wheat bran such as that available commercially from Lubela mills in Poland.

(86) Products

(87) Reference product (REF) is a conventional enrobed laminated wafer sandwich count line sold by the applicant under the registered trade mark ‘Lion’® (size 42 g) (referred to herein as Lion® bar). The Lion® bar comprises wafer layers sandwiched between layers of standard filling cream (praline—Comp K) and standard caramel (Comp M) which together form the laminated product centre which is then enrobed with an outer coating of chocolate compound. The products below are identical to the recipes used in a conventional Lion® bar and were prepared identically except as indicated and the components normally used therein are referred to as ‘standard’ components. The modified LION® bars were as follows:

(88) SAM 0 Coating=Coated with Low SFA Coat (Comp J—see above) Centre=Conventional (bran free) centre as for standard Lion® (standard praline Comp K and standard caramel Comp M)

(89) SAM 1 Coating=Low SFA Coat (Comp J) Praline=Ex 11 comprising 17% w/w of micronized bran of the invention Caramel=Ex 13 comprising 5% w/w of micronized bran of the invention

(90) SAM 2 Coating=Low SFA Coat (Comp J) Praline=Ex 11 comprising 23% w/w of micronized bran of the invention Caramel=Standard caramel (Comp M)

(91) SAM 3 Coating=Low SFA Coat (Comp J) Praline=Ex 11-23% w/w of micronized bran of the invention Caramel=Ex 10-5% w/w of micronized bran of the invention

(92) SAM 4 Coating=Low SFA Coat (Comp J) Praline=Comp L with 5% w/w of conventional unmilled (virgin) bran Caramel=Standard caramel (Comp M)

(93) Products SAM 0 and SAM 4 are not of the present invention and were prepared as comparison products which together with Lion® itself were used to compare sensory properties with Products SAM 1, SAM 2 and SAM 3 of the invention.

(94) SAM 0 is a low fat version of Lion® (with a low fat coating than conventional compound) and SAM 4 is a reduced sugar version of Lion® with conventional bran used as sugar replacer.

(95) Products SAM 1, SAM 2 and SAM 3 were made according to the invention and show sugar reduction compared to Lion® but also better sensory properties compared to the comparison products (SAM 0 and SAM 4). Thus very surprisingly the taste and other properties of the (reduced sugar) products containing micronized bran were comparable to those for standard Lion®.

(96) Results

(97) Photographs of the respective product samples REF, SAM 0 to SAM 4 were taken and are shown from above in FIG. 9 and as a cross-section in FIG. 10.

(98) The samples REF, SAM 0 to SAM 4 were tasted by a trained sensory panel and the attributes assessed as described previously. These results are plotted in FIG. 11.

(99) The samples with wheat bran in the praline or praline and caramel (SAM 1 to 3) have a darker centre than the Reference (REF) and SAM 4 with Comp L (unmilled bran in the praline). Also, the crispiness of SAM 1 and 3 are more apparent than the in the other samples with Low SFA coat (SAM 0, SAM 2 and SAM 4).

(100) Further Particle Size Information

(101) Particle Size Comparisons of Brans (Comp N and Ex 14 and FIGS. 12 and 13)

(102) Various particle properties of the cell mill bran of the invention (Example 14) and virgin (unmilled) bran (Comp N) were determined by a Malvern Mastersize 2000 (operated conventionally) and the data are given in the following table, Table 9

(103) TABLE-US-00013 Comp N Ex 14 Properties (Virgin bran) (Cell milled bran) Specific surface area (m.sup.2/g) 0.0183 0.887 Surface weighted mean D(3.2) (μm) 358.049 6.761 Volume weighted mean D(4.3) (μm) 655.399 25.622 Particle size [d (0.1)] (μm) 237.454 4.853 Particle size [d (0.5)] (μm) 599.307 20.239 Particle size [d (0.9)] (μm) 1166.649 54.640

(104) These data was taken as the average of the measurement of multiple samples (four for the cell milled bran and three for the virgin bran). The particle size distribution (PSD) of the tested samples Comp N and Example 14 is shown as overlaying plots in respective FIG. 12 (virgin bran) and FIG. 13 (cell milled bran)

(105) Viscosity of Bran (Comp O and Example 15, 16 and FIG. 14)

(106) The applicant has found that though heat treated bran may impact the handling properties of fillings to which they are added they do not do so to a great extent and can still be used on an industrial scale.

(107) This can be seen from flow curves of viscosity of fillings containing these brans at given shear rates as shown in FIG. 14. Otherwise conventional and identical (apart from the bran) fillings were prepared on a kitchen scale (Comp O, Ex 15 and Ex 16), each filling comprising 23.5% of wheat bran where:

(108) Comp O is a reference filling where the bran is not heated, the flow data for which is plotted by filled diamonds (bottom data series in FIG. 14);

(109) Example 15 is the same filling where the bran is heat treated with steam, the flow data for which is plotted by crosses formed from two diagonal lines (middle data series in FIG. 14); and

(110) Example 16 is the same filling where the bran is heat treated by microwaving, the flow data for which is plotted by crosses formed from a horizontal and vertical line (top data series in FIG. 14).

(111) As can be seen the filling with microwaved bran (Ex 16) had a little more of an impact on the viscosity compared to the filling with steam treated bran (Ex 15) and a filling with non heat treated bran (Comp O). Without wishing to be bound by any theory higher viscosities at lower shear rates could be explained by an increase in the formation of particle agglomerates perhaps due to different moisture content of the brans inducing different rates of agglomeration of sugar particles. Fillings with large viscosities would be difficult to process on a production line, causing issues with pumping, handling or layering and it might have been expected the heat treating the bran would cause more issues.

(112) The data in FIG. 14 surprisingly shows that fillings with heat treated brans have at least comparable flow curves to fillings with non heated brans. Thus the applicant has found that contrary to what might have been expected that heat treated brans can conveniently be added to fillings to improve shelf life and microbial stability without significant adverse effects on how the filling can be processed on an industrial scale. This also opens up the possibility to add heat treated bran to industrial scale compositions in much larger amounts than known before.

Examples 17 to 20 and Comparisons Comp P to U

(113) To determine the significant difference between the enzymatic lipid esterase activity (LA) and the peroxidase activity (PA) in the wheat brans, an ANOVA test was done (where letters A to E for example in FIGS. 15 and 16 herein show the error bars in the data and indicate significant difference between groups). In FIGS. 15 and 16 the data labels for the three data sets for the off-flavours assessed were labelled as follows: Rancid=blue (left); Sour milk=orange (middle); Cheesy=green (right).

(114) FIG. 15

(115) The abscissa of FIG. 15 shows the samples tested for each of the three off flavour, the samples being from left to right:

(116) Comp P=Fresh wheat bran (WB) as a reference

(117) Comp R=Fine WB no heat treatment (NHT)

(118) Comp S=Virgin WB NHT

(119) Comp T=Fine WB Oven

(120) Ex 17=Fine WB microwave

(121) Ex 18=Coarse WB Extruded

(122) Ex 19=Fine WB Steam

(123) Ex 20=Coarse WB Steam

(124) Comp U=Virgin WB Steam

(125) In FIG. 15

(126) WB denotes wheat bran, NHT not heat treated

(127) ‘Fresh’ denotes wheat bran that was not heat treated and tested immediately after preparation and was not kept and thus has not had time to develop off flavours due to the action of enzymes.

(128) ‘Virgin’ denotes wheat bran that was not milled and has a very different much larger particle size (70% of the particles having a size above 425 microns). Virgin bran has a size distribution that does not overlap with the milled particles of the invention as shown for example by comparing FIGS. 12 and 13.

(129) ‘Fine’ denotes bran fine milled to have substantially spherical particles of a particle size characterised by a D.sub.90=180 microns.

(130) ‘Coarse’ denotes bran coarse milled to have substantially spherical particles of a particle size characterised by a D.sub.90=360 microns.

(131) ‘Oven’ denotes bran that had been heated in an oven at 100° C. for 3 minutes

(132) ‘Extruded’ denotes bran that had been extruded in a conventional screw extruder at 100° C. at a rate such that the residence time of the material in the extruder was 5 minutes.

(133) ‘Steam’ denotes bran that has been heated using 15% by volume of steam at a temperature of 95° C. for 3 minutes.

(134) Other than the fresh sample (Comp P) the other bran samples were kept for 3 months before testing to allow time for off flavours to develop should any active enzymes (e.g. LA or PA) be present.

(135) As seen in FIG. 15, for the non-heat treated milled samples (Comp R and Comp S) and the oven heated sample (Comp T) strong off-flavours were perceived compared to the fresh reference of virgin bran (Comp P). This shows that oven treatment alone is not sufficient to deactive the enzyme and prevent the generation of off flavours.

(136) Weakest off-flavours (not significantly different from the virgin bran (Comp P) were perceived in the extruded (Ex 18) and steam heat-treated wheat brans (Ex 19, and 20). Comp U is a virgin bran which whilst being heat treated does not have the other particulate properties of brans of the invention as described herein.

(137) The results after 20 hours matches the peroxidase results and the sniffing test was used to validate PA and LA to show that enzymatic activity can be used as an indicator of the presence of off-flavours.

(138) The abscissa of FIG. 16 shows the samples tested from left to right:

(139) Comp V=Fresh wheat bran as a reference not heat treated;

(140) Comp W=Wheat bran treated with 5% by volume of steam at 120° C. for 4 minutes;

(141) Ex 21=Wheat bran treated with 10% by volume of steam at 120° C. for 4 minutes;

(142) Ex 22=Wheat bran treated with 15% by volume of steam at 120° C. for 4 minutes;

(143) Comp X=Wheat bran treated with 5% by volume of steam at 140° C. for 4 minutes;

(144) Ex 23=Wheat bran treated with 10% by volume of steam at 140° C. for 4 minutes;

(145) Ex 24=Wheat bran treated with 15% by volume of steam at 140° C. for 4 minutes;

(146) Ex 25=Wheat bran treated with 5% by volume of steam at 160° C. for 4 minutes;

(147) Ex 26=Wheat bran treated with 10% by volume of steam at 160° C. for 4 minutes;

(148) Ex 27=Wheat bran treated with 15% by volume of steam at 160° C. for 4 minutes;

(149) Off flavour is caused by the action of the enzyme lipid esterase and peroxidase, the more active this enzyme the more off flavour that is generated.

(150) To denature and inactivate the enzymes, sufficient heat is required and the use of higher temperatures (140 and 160° C.) and higher steam quantities (15%), increasing the heat transfer, results in more enzyme denaturation. Therefore, the wheat brans heated to higher temperatures and higher steam quantities result in no significant stronger off-flavour perception, compared to reference materials. With regards to the microbial deactivation any of the conditions tested in the experimental design could be selected for the official heat treatment validation. However it was noticed that the formation of undesirable roasted flavour was increased with the increase of the temperature after too much heat treatment the level was unacceptable. Therefore, a temperature as low as possible is preferred for example so the roasting notes were rated 2 or less in a sniff test as described herein and/or have pyrazine compounds within the ranges described herein.

Examples 28 and 29 and Comp Y and Z

(151) Moisture Content of Bran

(152) Moisture content was evaluated for the untreated brans (Comp Y and Comp Z) versus the bran after respective microwave (Ex 29) and steam (Ex 30) treatments. The results can be found in FIGS. 18 and 19 where FIG. 18 shows Moisture content of microwaved bran versus non treated bran and FIG. 19 shows Moisture content of steam treated bran versus non treated bran

(153) In FIG. 18

(154) Ordinate is moisture content in weight percent by weight of total bran

(155) Abscissa is sample tested where

(156) Comp Y is a non heat treated wheat bran milled to have the particulate properties of the bran described herein as features (i) to (iii);

(157) Ex 28 is the sample wheat bran of Comp Y after microwaving at 100 W for 7 minutes to reach a temperature of 102° C.

(158) In FIG. 19

(159) Ordinate is moisture content in weight percent by weight of total bran

(160) Abscissa is sample tested where

(161) Comp Z is a non heat treated wheat bran milled to have the particulate properties of the bran described herein as features (i) to (iii);

(162) Ex 29 is the sample wheat bran of Comp Z after steam treatment at 160° C. at 15% by volume of steam for 15 minutes.

(163) The results showed that the moisture content of steam treated wheat bran is 4.39% moisture compared to 10.12% moisture in the same bran before treatment (which is a 56% reduction in amount of moisture in the bran due to this treatment). This compares with a moisture content of 9.12% after microwaving bran versus 11.97% moisture in the bran before microwaving (which is a 24% reduction in amount of moisture in the bran due to this treatment).