Composite flour, method of manufacture, and food products made therefrom

A method of manufacturing a composite flour, comprising:

• forming a wall material slurry comprised of water, a first portion of native plant flour, protein, and at least one of an emulsifier or co-emulsifier, wherein:
• the native plant flour is selected from the group consisting of gluten flour, gluten-free flour, low carbohydrate seed, nut, or vegetable flour, and combinations thereof;
• the protein is selected from the group consisting of pea protein, hemp protein, pumpkin seed protein, rice protein, soy protein, sunflower seed protein, sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis) protein, chia protein, quinoa protein, whey protein, casein, egg protein, beef protein, chicken protein, fish protein, collagen, and combinations thereof;
• the emulsifier, when included, is selected from the group consisting of gum Arabic, acacia fiber, xanthan gum, guar gum, gellan gum, carrageenan, locust bean gum, pectin, starch, soy lecithin, egg lecithin, agar-agar, dextrin, monoglyceride, diglyceride, and combinations thereof, and
• the co-emulsifier, when included, is selected from the group consisting of calcium stearoyl lactylate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, cetearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, calcium stearate, magnesium stearate, phosphates, polyglycerol esters, polysorbate, sorbitan monostearate, sucrose fatty acid ester, and combinations thereof;
• combining MCT and/or other nutritional oil with the wall material slurry to form a heterogeneous mixture;
• subjecting the heterogeneous mixture to shearing to form an emulsion comprised of MCT and/or other nutritional oil droplets or particles at least partially encapsulated by wall material, wherein shearing of the heterogeneous mixture causes the first portion of native plant flour to release polysaccharide and form modified plant flour depleted in polysaccharide;
• forming the emulsion into micro-sized and/or nano-sized composite micelles comprising wall material that at least partially encapsulates MCT and/or other nutritional oil droplets or particles;
• and
• spray-drying the composite micelles with heated air to remove water by evaporation and form partially dried intermediate composite flour;
• and
• mixing the intermediate composite flour with a second portion of native plant flour to form a final composite flour, wherein at least some of the second portion of native plant flour forms agglomerates with at least some of the intermediate composite flour,
• wherein the final composite flour comprises unmodified plant flour, modified plant flour depleted in polysaccharide, and complexed MCT and/or other nutritional oil droplets or particles encapsulated by a wall structure comprised of the polysaccharide released from the first portion of native plant flour, the protein, and at least one of the emulsifier or co-emulsifier.

A method of manufacturing a composite flour, comprising:

• forming a wall material slurry comprised of water, a first portion of wheat flour, pea protein, gum Arabic, and at least one of calcium stearoyl lactylate or sodium stearoyl lactylate;
• combining MCT oil, and optionally another nutritional oil, with the wall material slurry to form a heterogeneous mixture;
• subjecting the heterogeneous mixture to shearing to form an emulsion comprised of MCT oil droplets or particles at least partially encapsulated by wall material, wherein shearing of the heterogeneous mixture causes the first portion of wheat flour to release polysaccharide and form modified wheat flour depleted in polysaccharide;
• forming the emulsion into micro-sized and/or nano-sized composite micelles comprising wall material that at least partially encapsulates MCT oil droplets or particles;
• spray-drying the composite micelles with heated air to remove water by evaporation and form partially dried intermediate composite flour;
• and
• mixing the intermediate composite flour with a second portion of wheat flour to form a final composite flour, wherein at least some of the second portion of wheat flour forms agglomerates with at least some of the intermediate composite flour,
• wherein the final composite flour comprises unmodified wheat flour, modified wheat flour depleted in polysaccharide, and complexed MCT oil droplets or particles encapsulated by a wall structure comprised of the polysaccharide released from the first portion of wheat flour, the pea protein, the gum Arabic, and at least one of calcium stearoyl lactylate or sodium stearoyl lactylate.