Protein concentrates and isolates, and processes for the production thereof

A process for the production of a protein concentrate from an oilseed meal comprising:

• i) mixing the oilseed meal with a first blending solvent to form a mixture;
• ii) optionally treating the mixture with phytase at a temperature and a pH suitable for phytase activity;
• iii) optionally adjusting the pH of the mixture to a pH between 6.0 and 10.0;
• iv) subjecting the mixture to a g-force sufficient to separate the mixture to form
• a) a fiber fraction, and
• b) protein fractions comprising an insoluble protein fraction and a soluble protein fraction;
• v) optionally separating the fiber fraction from the protein fractions and mixing the fiber fraction with a second blending solvent and repeating step iv);
• vi) optionally adjusting the pH of the protein fraction to a pH between 4.0 and 6.0;
• vii) optionally heating the protein fraction to a temperature between 80° C. and 100° C. to precipitate the proteins;
• and
• viii) separating the precipitated proteins from the protein fraction to form the protein concentrate.

A process for the production of a protein concentrate from an oilseed meal comprising:

• i) mixing the oilseed meal with a first blending solvent to form a mixture;
• ii) optionally treating the mixture with phytase at a temperature and a pH suitable for phytase activity;
• iii) optionally adjusting the pH of the mixture to a pH between 6.0 and 10.0;
• iv) subjecting the mixture to a g-force sufficient to separate the mixture to form
• a) a fiber fraction, and
• b) protein fractions comprising an insoluble protein fraction and a soluble protein fraction;
• v) optionally separating the fiber fraction from the protein fractions and mixing the fiber fraction with a second blending solvent and repeating step iv);
• vi) optionally adjusting the pH of the protein fraction to a pH between 4.0 and 6.0;
• vii) mixing the protein fraction with a mixing solvent to form a protein slurry and precipitate the proteins;
• viii) separating the precipitated proteins from the protein slurry to form the protein concentrate;
• and
• ix) optionally repeating steps vii) and viii) with the precipitated proteins.

A process for the production of a protein isolate from an oilseed meal comprising:

• i) mixing the oilseed meal with a first blending solvent to form a mixture;
• ii) optionally treating the mixture with phytase at a temperature and a pH suitable for phytase activity;
• iii) optionally adjusting the pH of the mixture to a pH between 6.0 and 10.0;
• iv) subjecting the mixture to a g-force sufficient to separate the mixture to form
• a) a fiber fraction, and
• b) protein fractions comprising an insoluble protein fraction and a soluble protein fraction;
• v) optionally separating the fiber fraction from the protein fractions and mixing the fiber fraction with a second blending solvent and repeating step iv);
• vi) separating the insoluble protein fraction from the soluble protein fraction to recover therefrom an insoluble protein concentrate and a soluble protein extract;
• and
• vii) subjecting the soluble protein extract to filtration to recover therefrom the protein isolate.