Protein concentrates and isolates, and processes for the production thereof

A process for the production of a protein concentrate and protein isolate from seed meals selected from the group consisting of canola seed meal and rape seed meal, said meal comprising fiber, soluble protein and insoluble protein, said process providing the fiber, soluble protein and insoluble protein as three discrete fractions comprising:

• i) mixing the seed meal with a solvent consisting essentially of water to form a mixture;
• ii) treating the mixture with phytase at a temperature and a pH suitable for phytase activity;
• iii) adjusting the pH of the mixture to a pH between 6.0 and 10.0;
• iv) subjecting the mixture to centrifugal forces with to a g-force selected to separate the mixture into two fractions, comprising:
• a) a fiber fraction containing substantially all of the fiber in said oil seed meal, and
• b) a protein fraction substantially free of fiber, the protein fraction comprising substantially all of the insoluble and soluble protein;
• v) separating the fiber fraction from the protein fraction and optionally mixing the fiber fraction with a solvent consisting essentially of water and repeating step iv) so as to separate additional protein from the fiber fraction, to provide the fiber fraction substantially free of protein;
• vi) 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 insoluble proteins;
• and
• viii) separating the insoluble proteins from the soluble protein so as to provide an insoluble protein fraction and a soluble protein fraction, the insoluble protein fraction constituting the protein concentrate and the soluble protein fraction constituting the isolate.

A process for the production of a protein concentrate from a seed meal, said seed meal selected from the group consisting of canola seed meal and rape seed meal, said seed meal comprising fiber, soluble protein and insoluble protein, said process providing the fiber, soluble protein and insoluble protein as three discrete fractions comprising:

• i) mixing the seed meal with a solvent consisting essentially of water to form a mixture;
• ii) 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 selected to separate the mixture into two fractions comprising
• a) a fiber fraction containing substantially all of the fiber in said oil seed meal, and
• b) a protein fraction comprising substantially all of the insoluble protein and soluble protein;
• v) separating the fiber fraction from the protein fraction and mixing the fiber fraction with a solvent consisting essentially of water and repeating step iv) so as to separate an additional protein fraction from the fiber fraction;
• vi) optionally adjusting the pH of the protein fraction to a pH between 4.0 and 6.0;
• vii) mixing the protein fraction and the additional protein fraction with a solvent consisting essentially of water to form a protein slurry and to precipitate the insoluble proteins so as to provide an insoluble protein fraction and a soluble protein fraction;
• viii) separating the precipitated proteins from the protein slurry said precipitated protein comprising the insoluble protein fraction constituting 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 a seed meal selected from the group consisting of canola seed meal and rape seed meal, said seed meal comprising fiber, soluble protein and insoluble protein said process providing the fiber, soluble protein and insoluble protein as three discrete fractions comprising:

• i) mixing the seed meal with a solvent consisting essentially of water to form a mixture;
• ii) treating the mixture with phytase at a temperature and a pH suitable for phytase activity;
• iii) adjusting the pH of the mixture to a pH between 6.0 and 10.0;
• iv) subjecting the mixture to a g-force selected to separate the mixture into two fractions, namely
• a) a fiber fraction, and
• b) a protein fraction comprising the insoluble protein and the soluble protein;
• v) separating the fiber fraction from the protein fraction and mixing the fiber fraction with a solvent consisting essentially of water and repeating step iv) so as to separate an additional protein fraction from the fiber fraction;
• vi) separating the insoluble protein from the soluble protein to recover therefrom the insoluble protein and the soluble protein so as to provide an insoluble protein fraction and a soluble protein fraction;
• and
• vii) subjecting the soluble protein fraction to filtration to recover therefrom a filtrate containing the soluble protein, said filtrate comprising the protein isolate.