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US 2025/0176590 A1Published application
Protein-based meat analogs and methods of manufacture thereof
AssigneeChunk Foods Inc.
InventorAmos GOLAN
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Abstract
Fermented meat analogs and methods of producing such meat analogs, the meat analogs comprising protein-containing strands, and a mycelium of a fermenting microorganism, wherein the protein-containing strands are held together or bound together by the mycelium to form the fermented meat analog.
Claims20
A method of manufacturing a fermented protein-based food item, the method comprising:
- a. obtaining protein strands of a low-moisture extruded vegetable protein containing at least 25% protein, by weight, on a dry basis, wherein said protein strands have a dimensionless aspect ratio ASP defined by:
- ASP
- =
- L
- 2
- /
- Ax
- wherein:
- L is the average length of the long dimension said protein strands;
- and
- Ax is the average cross-sectional area of the strand dimensions transverse to said long dimension;
- and wherein ASP is at least 100;
- b. inoculating the protein strands with an inoculum including a fermenting microorganism;
- c. bundling the protein strands to produce a bundle of strands, the bundle of strands having a bulk density within a range of 0.35 to 0.85 g/cm3;
- d. following steps b and c, enveloping the bundle of strands in a fermentation housing;
- e. subjecting the inoculated bundle of strands to fermentation to produce a fermented structure, wherein, at the time of the subjecting to fermentation, the colony forming unit (CFU) count of the fermenting microorganism in the inoculum on at least one of the protein strands, with respect to the cumulative surface area of the at least one of the protein strands, is 50-3000 CFU/cm2;
- and
- f. treating the fermented structure to produce the fermented protein-based food item.
15 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.