Reduced calorie beverage or food product and process and apparatus for making same
AssigneeSquare Son Intellectual Property, LP
InventorLuc HOBSON
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a process for preparing a reduced calorie beverage or food product employing fermentation of a plant-derived juice or liquid and removing the ethanol therefrom. This invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the process for preparing a reduced calorie beverage or food product and to the reduced calorie juices and juice products created using this process and apparatus.
Claims39
A process for preparing a reduced calorie beverage or food product, the process comprising:
- (a) fermenting, under aerobic conditions, a plant-derived juice or liquid with yeast to produce a fermentation product containing ethanol;
- and
- (b) removing at least some of the ethanol from the fermentation product while maintaining the fermentation product at a temperature of less than 78° C. to produce the reduced calorie beverage or food product.
A process for preparing a reduced calorie beverage, the process comprising:
- (a) (i) fermenting a first fraction of a plant-derived juice or liquid with yeast to produce a first fermentation product containing ethanol;
- (ii) subsequently adding further plant-derived juice or liquid to a fermented first fraction to produce a second fermentation product containing ethanol;
- (iii) displacing a portion of the first fermentation product away from a remaining portion of the second fermentation product;
- and
- (b) removing at least some of the ethanol from a displaced portion while maintaining the second fermentation product at a temperature of less than 78° C. to produce the reduced calorie beverage or food product.
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An apparatus for producing a reduced calorie beverage or food product, the apparatus comprising:
- a fermentation unit or fermentation tank comprising a container or storage tank for containing unfermented and/or fermented plant-derived juice or liquid and yeast;
- at least one of a bubble diffuser or another gas-injecting means for introducing oxygen-containing gas to the fermentation unit or fermentation tank;
- and an alcohol-removal unit in communication with the fermentation unit or fermentation tank for removing alcohol from the fermented plant-derived juice or liquid, to produce the reduced calorie beverage or food product.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.