Heat gellable protein isolate
AssigneeGeneral Foods Corporation
InventorsJennifer M. Grealy, Terrence J. Maurice
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Starch is used to enhance the gel hardness of heat set protein gels. The protein gels are formed from dispersions of a protein micellar mass manipulated with respect to pH and ionic strength to a pH up to about 6.0 and an ionic strength of greater than 0.2 M.
Claims27
An aqueous protein dispersion suitable for heat gelation to a gel, which comprises a composition dispersed in an aqueous phase having an ionic strength of about 0.3 to about 0.75 molar and a pH of about 4.5 to about 5.5, said composition comprising at least 70% by weight of a substantially undenatured vegetable protein isolate and up to about 30% by weight of a starch, said vegetable protein isolate being one formed by settling an aqueous dispersion of protein micelles consisting of homogenous amphiphilic protein moieties.
A method of improving the heat gelation properties of a substantially undenatured vegetable protein isolate containing at least about 90% by weight of vegetable protein (as determined by Kjeldahl nitrogen.times.6.25), which comprises:
- (a) settling an aqueous dispersion of protein micelles consisting of amphiphilic protein moieties and formed from at least one vegetable protein source material to provide an amorphous protein mass containing said substantially undenatured protein isolate, said isolate having substantially no lipid content, substantially no lysinoalanine content and substantially the same lysine content as the storage protein in the source material,
- (b) mixing said vegetable protein isolate with a starch to form a composition comprising up to about 30% by weight of said starch, and
- (c) subsequently treating said composition both with at least one food grade salt and at least one food grade acidifying agent to incorporate in a heat gellable dispersion of said composition sufficient food grade salt to provide an ionic strength of said dispersion of at least about 0.2 and sufficient food grade acidifying agent to provide a pH of said dispersion of up to about 6.0.
A method of improving the heat gelation properties of a substantially undenatured vegetable protein isolate containing at least about 90% by weight of vegetable protein (as determined by Kjeldahl nitrogen.times.6.25), which comprises:
- (a) settling an aqueous dispersion of protein micelles consisting of amphiphilic protein moieties and formed from at least one vegetable protein source material to provide an amorphous protein mass containing said substantially undenatured protein isolate, said isolate having substantially no lipid content, substantially no lysinoalanine content and substantially the same lysine content as the storage protein in the source material,
- (b) providing said amorphous protein mass in admixture with a starch in an amount, on a dry basis, of up to about 30% by weight of starch, and
- (c) incorporating in a heat gellable dispersion of said admixture both (i) sufficient food grade salt to provide an ionic strength of said dispersion of at least about 0.3 molar and (ii) sufficient food grade acidifying agent to provide a pH of said dispersion of less than about 5.5.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.