GB2031938A - Monoglyceride compositions - Google Patents

Abstract

A water-dispersible powder for use in pasta and potato products to overcome problems such as stickiness in the cooked products comprises (a) from 85 to 95% by weight of a saturated monoglyceride prepared by reaction of glycerol and a saturated fatty acid containing 8 to 22 carbon atoms, and (b) from 5 to 15% by weight of an unsaturated monoglyceride prepared by reaction of glycerol and an unsaturated fatty acid containing 8 to 22 carbon atoms, the percentages being based on the total monoglyceride content of the powder.

Description

SPECIFICATION Pasta or potato product additive This invention relates to alimentary pasta and potato products.

Alimentary pasta products, such as, for example, spaghetti, macaroni, noodles and various other items, are prepared by forming a pasta of flour and water, sometimes with eggs (as in noodles), extrud ing the pasta or dough under very high pressure into the desired product shape and then carefully drying under controlled humidity conditions. Generally the flour used in forming the pasta is a high quality mil led durum wheat known as semolina. Occasionally the flour may also comprise less costly farina. The invention is also useful in potato products, i.e. dehydrated potatoes in the form of flakes or granules which can be reconstituted with water to make mashed potatoes.

United States Patent Specification No. 3,113,869 relates to alimentary pasta products and to a process for preparing those products in which a saturated monoglyceride is added to the flour to overcome the problems of stickiness when such products are cooked. For example, if saturated monoglyceride is not used in spaghetti, the spaghetti becomes pasty, sticky or slimy after being cooked in boiling water. In the process of this U.S. Specification, the saturated monoglycerides may be added to the pasta when the products are formed, such as by extrusion. However, the saturated monoglycerides do not disperse well in the pasta products, and will often appear in streaks along them.

The present invention overcomes the problem of poor dispersibility of saturated monoglycerides in pasta (or potato) products, and can reduce the problem of stickiness, pastiness and sliminess after cooking.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a powder dispersible in water for use in pasta and potato products, comprising: (a) from 85 to 95% by weight of a saturated mono glyceride prepared by reaction of glycerol and a saturated fatty acid containing 8 to 22 carbon atoms, and (b) from 5 to 15% by weight of an unsaturated monoglyceride prepared by reaction of glycerol and an unsaturated fatty acid contain ing 8 to 22 carbon atoms, the percentages being based on the total monoglyceride content of the powder.

The powder is readily dispersible in pasta or potato products. It can be considered to be a complexing agent for starch that keeps the starch from swelling by absorbing water. Swelling of the starch can result in a viscosity increase of the pasta or potato products to an undesirably high level. The powder can also be considered to be a solid solution of the saturated and unsaturated monoglycerides.

The solid solution is a homogeneous crystalline powder containing the saturated and unsaturated monoglycerides in variable proportions as defined.

The water dispersible powder or conditioning additive according to this invention comprises from 85 to 95% monoglycerides prepared from saturated vegetable oil and from 15 to 5% monoglycerides prepared from unsaturated vegetable oil. Preferably, the powder of this invention comprises from 89 to 91% monoglycerides prepared from saturated soybean oil and from 9 to 11% monoglycerides prepared from unsaturated cottonseed oil. The percentages are by weight, based on the total weight of the saturated and unsaturated monoglycerides.

At least 5% of unsaturated monoglycerides must be presentto obtain adequate dispersibility. Up to 15% of unsaturated monoglycerides may be present without any significant impairment of the advantageous properties of the powder of the invention.

The saturated monoglycerides used in this invention are the fatty acid monoesters of glycerol wherein the fatty acids that are used to prepare the monoesters are chemically saturated and contain from 8 to 22 carbon atoms. The unsaturated monoglycerides that are used in this invention are the monoesters that are prepared by reaction of glycerol and unsaturated fatty acids containing 8 to 22 carbon atoms.

The solid solution preferably contains at least 80-90% of the monoglycerides. In practice, however, diglycerides, triglycerides, unreacted material and other substances may be present in the composition.

Although compositions containing as little as about 40% of the monoglycerides have some effectiveness, much better results are obtained with compositions of higher purity.

The monoglycerides used in this invention can be made in accordance with well-known procedures.

One such procedure is the direct esterification of one or more vegetable oils containing the fatty acids with glycerol, followed preferably by distillation to obtain a high purity product containing one or more monoesters. The monoglycerides usually contain monoesters at a concentration of at least about 90% by weight. Although the preferred manner of preparing the monoglycerides is by esterifying saturated and unsaturated vegetable oils separately with glycerol, followed by melt blending of the monoesters, the esterification can be carried out by esterifying a mixture of saturated and unsaturated vegetable oils with glycerol.

The preferred saturated monoglyceride is prepared from saturated soybean oil, but palm oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil and sesame oil, which have been fully hydrogenated, can be used. Commercially available saturated monoglycerides include Myverol 18-00, 18-04, 18-06 and 18-07 distilled monoglycerides, which are products of Eastman Chemical Products, Inc.

A preferred unsaturated monoglyceride is a distilled monoester product made from cottonseed oil.

Other useful unsaturated monoglycerides include the distilled monoesters made from palm oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, corn oil and sesame seed oil.

Commercially available unsaturated monoglycerides include Myverol 18-30, 18-35, 18-40, 18-50K, 18-85 and 18-98 distilled monoglycerides, which are products of Eastman Chemical Products, Inc.

By "saturated" monoglyceride, or monoglyceride prepared from "saturated" vegetable oil, is meant a monoglyceride prepared from a vegetable oil which has been substantially fully hydrogenated, i.e. to an iodine value of less than 5, and preferably less than 1. Vegetable oils exist naturally in an unsaturated state, and depending upon the content of particular fatty acids, may have an iodine value of between about 25 and about 140.

By the term "unsaturated", or monoglyceride prepared from "unsaturated" vegetable oil, is meant monoglyceride prepared from vegetable oil which has not been subjected to hydrogenation, but which is naturally unsaturated. Typical vegetable oils include cottonseed oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, palm oil and sesame oil.

The powder of this invention can be described as a blend of saturated and unsaturated monoglycerides.

It should be understood that physically melt blending with subsequent cooling and powdering is the preferred procedure for producing the powder.

However, direct esterification of a blend of saturated and unsaturated vegetable oils in appropriate proportions can also be used.

Preservatives such as antioxidants (for example, propyl gallate, butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxy anisole) and metal complexing agents (for example, glycine and phosphoric acid) can be present in these powders. Concentrations are generally less than 1% by weight of the monoglycerides.

The powder according to this invention can be prepared by melt blending the ingredients until a homogeneous mass is obtained and then forming a powder from the mass. Melt blending may be accomplished by individually maintaining or raising the temperatures of the compounds to a point above their respective melting temperatures so each is a molten mass and then thoroughly blending, or by mixing the ingredients at room temperature and then raising the temperature of the mixture at least to the melting pointfollowed by thoroughly blending to form a homogeneous mass. Preferably, melt blending is accomplished at a temperature of 80"C.

to 120"C. Powdering can be accomplished by spray chilling, freezing and pulverizing. The quality of product produced on a small scale by powdering in a blender using solid carbon dioxide is quite satisfactory. Such powdering is accomplished by first heating a mixture of the selected ingredients until a molten or liquified mass is formed, and then rapidly stirring until the mass is homogenized. For example, 100 grams of molten mixture in a 250 ml. beaker can be stirred until the mixture is homogeneous. The mixture can then be poured out and cooled until solidified, usually in 3 to 4 hours at room temperature.

The solid can then be powdered in a high speed stirring device such as a Waring Blendor, using solid carbon dioxide which is subsequently evaporated.

The powder residue is sieved to an approximate size of 50-300 microns.

The total concentration of monoglycerides in an alimentary pasta or potato product containing a powder in accordance with this invention will be in a range from 0.3 to 2% by weight of the product. A concentration less than 0.3 weight % will usually be insignificant, and a concentration greater than 2 weight% will usually be impractical due to the increased difficulty in extruding the alimentary pasta or potato product. Usually the concentration is in a range from 0.5 to 2% by weight.

In the following examples, a fine white powder corn starch was used. All runs were made with a concentration of 40 grams of starch per 450 grams of water and 2% or less (based on weight of starch) of the additive.

Beginning at 30 C., the mixture was heated at the rate of 1 .5 C. per minute to 92.5 C. Mixtures were held at 67"C. for 10 minutes during the cooking cycle.

Each sample mixture was held at 92.5 C. for 15 minutes. After the 15 minute hold period at 92.5 C.

the samples were cooled to 30"C. at a rate of 1 .5 C.

per minute.

A direct relationship exists between the viscosity of the pasta or potato product and its condition of stickiness, pastiness or sliminess. That is, the higher the viscosity, the less desirable will be the product with respect to these conditions, and vice versa. Viscosity readings were recorded at the peak temperature and at the end of the cooling cycle to provide the data for the following Table. The viscosity is given in Brabender Units (B.U.), a conventional viscosity measurement. Preferably, the viscosity does not increase significantly upon cooling. In the examples, a comparison of the viscosities at 92.5"C. and at 30"C.

was made to determine effectiveness. While the fully hydrogenated compositions of Examples 2,3 and 5 had good viscosity results, dispersion of the monoglycerides in the pasta or potato product was poor, as was shown by the presence of streaks.

Viscosity measurements were made using a VISCOlamylo/GRAPH, a product of C. W. Brabender Instruments Inc., South Hackensack, New Jersey, U.S.A. This instrument measures and records apparent viscosity at fixed or constant varying temperatures. Viscosity determination was made by means of a suspended sensing element immersed in the material under test.

TABLE Hold During Heat Cycle Temp., B.U*at B.U.* at Example Additive % "C. Time 92.5"C. 30"C.

1 (Control) none - 67 10 600 1480 2 (Control) monoglyceride powder prepared 2 67 10 300 380 from blend of fully hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils 3 (Control) monoglyceride powder prepared 2 67 10 480 680 from fully hydrogenated palm oil 4 monoglyceride powder prepared 2 67 10 270 310 from fully hydrogenated soybean oil and partially hydrogenated soybean oil in a 9:1 ratio 5 (Control) monoglyceride powder prepared 2 67 10 400 430 from fully hydrogenated cotton seed oil 6 monoglyceride powder prepared 2 67 10 350 380 from fully hydrogenated soy bean oil and monoglyceride prepared from refined cotton seed oil in 9:1 ratio 7 monoglyceride powder prepared 2 65 10 360 370 from fully hydrogenated soy bean oil and monoglyceride prepared from refined cotton seed oil in 9:1 ratio * B.U. = BrabenderUnits.

Claims (8)

1. A powder dispersible in water for use in pasta and potato products, comprising: (a) from 85 to 95% by weight of a saturated mono glyceride prepared by reaction of glycerol and a saturated fatty acid containing 8 to 22 carbon atoms, and (b) from 5 to 15% by weight of an unsaturated monoglyceride prepared by reaction of glycerol and an unsaturated fatty acid contain ing 8 to 22 carbon atoms, the percentages being based on the total monoglyceride content of the powder.

2. A powder as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the saturated monoglyceride is present in an amount of 89% to 91% by weight and the unsaturated monoglyceride is present in an amount of 11% to 9% by weight.

3. A powder as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the saturated monoglyceride is prepared from saturated soybean oil and the unsaturated monoglyceride is prepared from unsaturated cottonseed oil.

4. A powder as claimed in Claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described.

5. An alimentary pasta or potato product comprising from 0.3% to 2% by weight of a powder as claimed in Claim 1.

6. An alimentary pasta or potato product comprising from 0.3 to 2% by weight of a powder as claimed in Claim 2.

7. An alimentary pasta or potato product comprising from 0.3% to 2% by weight of a powder as claimed in Claim 3.

8. An alimentary pasta or potato product as claimed in any one of Claims 5,6 or 7, wherein the amount of the powder is from 0.5 to 2% by weight.