Protein foods and food ingredients and processes for producing them from defatted and undefatted oilseeds

A method of making a true oilseed protein curd from an oilseed material, wherein inherent enzymes contained in said material have been inactivated, said material containing water-dispersible components detrimental to such a curd and having molecular weights less than about 50,000 daltons and proteins having molecular weights greater than said components and capable of forming said curds, which comprises:

• (a) separating an aqueous dispersion of said components from said proteins;
• (b) heating said proteins in an aqueous medium to a temperature, and for a time, and with a quantity of a coagulant, sufficient to coaggulate said proteins as a true curd which does not disintegrate in boiling water;
• and
• (c) separating said curd from said aqueous medium.

A method of making a true oilseed protein curd from an oilseed material, wherein inherent enzymes contained in said material have been inactivated, said material containing water-dispersible proteins greater than about 50,000 daltons and water-dispersible detrimental components having molecular weights less than about 50,000 daltons, which comprises:

• (a) separating said proteins from said components;
• (b) heating said proteins dispersed in an aqueous medium to a temperature greater than about 80.degree. C. and for a time, and in the presence of a quantity of coagulant, sufficient to coagulate said proteins as a true curd which does not disintegrate in boiling water;
• and
• (c) separating said curd from said aqueous medium.

A method of making a true soybean protein curd from undefatted soybeans containing water-dispersible components, including lipoxygenase, detrimental to such a curd and having molecular weights less than about 50,000 daltons, and proteins having molecular weights greater than said detrimental components which comprises:

• (a) grinding said soybeans in water at a temperature high enough to deactivate said lipoxygenase but not so high as to denature said proteins and at a water/bean weight ratio between about 1:1 and 10:1 to form an aqueous dispersion containing said detrimental components, oil and said proteins;
• (b) adding water, as necessary, to said dispersion to adjust the water/bean weight ratio to between about 12:1 and about 40:1, while maintaining the temperature of said dispersion sufficient to deactivate said lipoxygenase;
• (c) separating said dispersion from undispersed components of said beans;
• (d) passing the resulting dispersion through an ultrafilter having a molecular weight cut off value between about 50,000 and 100,000 to pass said detrimental components as a permeate and to retain said oil and proteins as a retentate;
• (e) heating said retentate to a temperature, and for a time, and with a quantity of coagulant, sufficient to coagulate said retentate as a true curd which does not disintegrate in boiling water and which contains said oil;
• and
• (f) separating said true curd from the remaining retentate.

A method of making a true soybean protein curd from defatted soybean material containing components detrimental to such a curd and having molecular weights less than about 50,000 daltons, and also containing proteins having molecular weights greater than said detrimental components, which comprises:

• (a) dispersing said material in an aqueous medium at a water/material weight ratio between about 10/1 and about 40/1;
• (b) separating the resulting dispersion from any undispersed components;
• (c) ultrafiltering the separated dispersion at a molecular weight cut off value between about 50,000 and 100,000 to form a permeate containing said detrimental components and a retentate containing said proteins;
• (d) heating said retentate under conditions of time and temperature and in the presence of a coagulant to form a true curd which does not disintegrate in boiling water;
• and
• (e) separating said true curd from the remaining portions of said retentate.

A method of making a true curd oilseed protein curd from a defatted, glandless cottonseed material wherein said material includes storage proteins (SP) and nonstorage proteins (NSP), which comprises:

• (a) mixing said material with a first aqueous medium having a pH of about 7 to solubilize said NSP;
• (b) separating nonsolubilized components, including said SP, of said material from said solubilized NSP;
• (c) extracting said nonsolubilized components with a second aqueous medium having a pH between about 9 and about 10 solubilize said SP in said second aqueous medium;
• (d) separating remaining nonsolubilized components from said second aqueous medium containing said solubilized SP;
• and
• (e) heating the separated said second aqueous medium at a temperature, and for a time, and in the presence of a quantity of coagulant, sufficient to coagulate said solubilized SP as a true curd.