HK1170385B - Edible composition - Google Patents

Description

Edible composition

The present invention relates to an edible composition, in particular to an edible composition for use as a barrier to the flow of foodstuff components such as fat.

In complex food products, such as complex confectionery products, it is desirable to be able to prevent migration of components from one part into another. For example, for confectionery products comprising a core (if a core) having a relatively high soft fat content and a coating (such as chocolate), it is desirable to prevent fat migration from the core into the coating. In the case of a chocolate coating, migration of fat into the coating can result in the formation of fat bloom on the surface of the coating; although this fat cream is not harmful, it is aesthetically undesirable. Fat migration also adversely affects the texture of the confectionery product; for example, chocolate into which fat migrates may soften.

It has been proposed, for example in EP- ｃA-0547551, to provide moisture ingress barrier in the form of ｃA starch film. While such a film may be effective as a barrier, it is a solid layer inside the food product and is perceptible when the food product is consumed, thereby adversely affecting the taste and texture characteristics of the food product.

Accordingly, it has been desired to provide barrier compositions for use in food products that have little or no effect on the sensory characteristics of the food product and are effective in preventing the migration of certain components from one substrate of the food product to another.

According to the present invention there is provided a barrier composition for use in food products comprising from 1% to 40% by weight of a starch having a degree of polymerisation of no more than 90 and from 40% to 90% by weight of a plasticizer for the starch, the ratio of starch to plasticizer being no more than 1: 1.5.

The type of starch used is not considered to be particularly important; for example, the amylase/amylopectin ratio of starch is not considered important. It is preferred that the Degree of Polymerization (DP) of the starch is not less than 5, more preferably not less than 10, but starches having a lower DP value may also be used. The starch may be a modified starch.

The preferred plasticizer is glycerol. Other preferred plasticizers include glycols such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol. Preferably, the ratio of starch to plasticizer is no greater than 1:3, preferably no greater than 1:4, more preferably no greater than 1:6, more preferably no greater than 1: 8. Preferably, the ratio is not less than 1:20, more preferably not less than 1:12, more preferably not less than 1: 10.

The barrier composition preferably comprises up to 40% by weight of a bulking agent which imparts a desired flavour to the composition. The preferred bulking agent is fructose. Other preferred bulking agents include other monosaccharides and disaccharides. Other edible components that do not significantly affect the viscosity of the composition may also be used as bulking agents.

The barrier composition may comprise up to 10% by weight of water. The water content affects the viscosity of the release composition and can be used to control viscosity.

The barrier composition of the present invention is a liquid when it is applied to a food product, so that conventional confectionery manufacturing techniques such as dipping or so-called triple projection casting (tripleshot deposition) techniques can be used to apply them. Preferably, the viscosity of the barrier composition of the invention is from 5Pa · s to 600Pa · s, preferably from 100Pa · s to 400Pa · s, at the time of application. Viscosity measurements were performed on an advanced rheometer ar100 parallel plate rheometer at 25 ℃ with a 40mm flat (0 °) steel probe and a 1mm gap at a constant shear rate of 1000 Pa.

The present invention also provides a composite food product comprising first and second food substrates having different fat compositions and/or levels from each other and a barrier composition of the present invention disposed therebetween. The substrate may contain different fats, different amounts of fats, or both. Preferably, the first substrate is a core and the second food substrate is a coating around the core; more preferably, the core has a higher liquid fat content than the coating.

Preferably, the first substrate is a soft fat based core, such as a confectionery cream (not necessarily a dairy cream). Common confectionery creams have the following composition:

at least 25% soft fat, which contains at least 20% liquid fat at 20 ℃ (i.e., fat with a higher proportion and softer than cocoa butter in chocolate);

emulsifiers such as lecithin or PGPR; and

other bulking ingredients such as sugars or other mono-and disaccharides, polyols, skim milk powder or other food ingredients.

Preferably, the second food substrate is a fat-based coating such as a chocolate coating, a chocolate compound (not conforming to chocolate-flavored foodstuffs as commonly defined for chocolate, typically containing less or no cocoa butter than chocolate) or a chocolate equivalent (containing material that is less or no chocolate but has a similar taste and texture). In a particularly preferred food product, the coating is chocolate.

The present invention also provides a process for preparing the barrier composition of the present invention comprising: the starch is dissolved in the plasticizer and the solution is heated, preferably between 120 ℃ and 160 ℃. If water is to be added, it is added with the plasticizer. The swelling agent is preferably added after the starch has dissolved.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 shows a cross-section of a confectionery product of the present invention;

fig. 2 schematically shows a first apparatus for producing the confectionery product of fig. 1; and is

Fig. 3 schematically shows a second apparatus for producing the confectionery product of fig. 1.

The invention will be described in part with reference to the manufacture of chocolate coated pralines having a soft fat based core. It will be readily appreciated that the invention is applicable to other food products where a barrier to liquid fat is required, particularly to the migration of liquid fat from a high liquid fat content substrate of the food product.

The chocolate coated praline 10 of the present invention shown in fig. 1 comprises a nut core 12 as a first substrate and a chocolate coating 14 as a second substrate. Since the liquid fat content of the nut core is higher than that of the chocolate coating, in conventional chocolate coated pralines fat always migrates from the core to the coating, resulting in the formation of undesirable fat bloom on the coating surface and softening of the coating. In the chocolate coated pralines of the present invention, a layer 16 of the barrier composition of the present invention is disposed between the nut core 12 and the chocolate coating 14. The barrier layer 16 prevents fat from migrating from the core 12 to the coating 16 so that the chocolate coated praline 10 can be stored without frost formation on the coating.

The barrier composition of the present invention may be prepared by:

the starch component is dissolved in the plasticizer by: they are heated together at 120 ℃ to 160 ℃ in a jacketed vessel with a low shear paddle mixer until the solution is clear (usually up to 10 minutes is required depending on the amount and vessel). The water content, if any, may be reduced by heating. Any expanding agent used is added to the heated solution. The solution was then cooled to room temperature. Low shear mixing is preferred over high shear mixing to avoid reducing the degree of polymerization of the starch.

Table 1 shows exemplary release compositions of the present invention. In this table:

HPS is diluted hydroxypropyl starch;

GLY is glycerol;

SUC is sucrose;

FRU is fructose.

CRY is Crystal-Tex626 (trade Mark), a tapioca dextrin product supplied by national starch & Chemical; and is

GLU13 is Glucidex12 (trade mark), a corn maltodextrin product supplied by roquettefres, having 12DE (dextrose equivalents) corresponding to about 16DP (degree of polymerization).

TABLE 1

The barrier composition of the present invention is a relatively viscous liquid when prepared. They are applied to food substrates and any method of coating a liquid within the interior of a substrate in the preparation of a food product may be used. Preferred methods include dip-coating and triple shot casting.

By way of example, with reference to the preparation of chocolate coated pralines, for example, of the type having a generally spherical core of thin chocolate coated pralines as shown in figure 1, the use of the barrier composition of the present invention will be further described. It will be appreciated that the barrier composition may be applied to other food substrates and using other application techniques.

Example 1: dipping and hanging method

The praline cores were prepared by mixing 27.5% by weight of powdered sugar and 22.5% by weight of skimmed milk powder in a Hobart mixer. 24.8% by weight of molten soft fat was added with slow stirring at 30 ℃ to form a dry paste. This dry friable paste was refined in a roll refiner until the particle size was reduced to no more than about 14 μm. An additional 24.7% by weight of molten soft fat was added to the paste with stirring to produce a homogeneous liquid paste. The paste was refrigerated until use.

The outer coating used in the preparation of the coated praline was a traditional milk chocolate made with the following composition:

the chocolate was refined to a particle size below 14 μm.

Is prepared by using a dipping and hanging technology in the following wayObtaining a barrier composition for use in the preparation of coated pralines: diluting hydroxypropyl starch (C) at 11.3% by weight^*AraSet75701 (trade mark), supplied by Cargillplc) was added to 59.3% by weight glycerol and heated to 150 ℃ to dissolve the starch. 29.4% by weight of fructose was added to the solution which was then cooled to 30 ℃. The release composition had a viscosity of 145Pa · s at 25 ℃ measured as described above.

To the praline prepared as described above, 5% by weight of sunflower oil and 10% by weight of cracker inclusions (wafer inclusion) were added, based on the weight of the praline, before being used to make the coated praline.

The coated pralines of the present invention may be prepared by an enrobing apparatus 20 of the type illustrated in fig. 2. The praline paste is directed from the paste hopper 22 sequentially into a plurality of molds 24 (4 of which are schematically shown in fig. 2) on the surface of a mold rotating drum 26 rotating in the direction of the arrows in fig. 2 to form a core of praline. The core paste is introduced into the mold 24 when the mold 24 is at the highest point; the filled molds are carried by the drum to its lowest point, at which point the molded cores are released onto a continuous belt 28 (only the upper run of which is shown in fig. 2). The core 30 is conveyed on a conveyor belt 28 onto a first continuous mesh belt 32 (only the upper run of which is shown in fig. 2) which conveys the core through a curtain of barrier composition of about 30 ℃ to about 50 ℃ released from a barrier hopper 34 above the mesh belt 32 to coat the core with the barrier composition. The drums 26 are cooled so that their surfaces are at about-10 c as the cores 30 pass through the curtain of barrier composition. The thickness of the release composition coating is reduced to about 0.5mm in any manner, for example, using air knives 36 operating at up to about 5 bar. At this stage, the temperature of the spacer-coated core is about-5 ℃, and the spacer composition is sufficiently cured on the core to allow the spacer-coated core to be transferred to the next stage of the manufacturing process while maintaining a uniform, continuous spacer coating.

The barrier-coated core is carried by a first wire belt 32 to a second continuous wire belt 38 (only the upper run of which is shown in fig. 2), which conveys the core through liquid tempered milk chocolate at about 28 ℃ released from a chocolate hopper 40 to provide an outer chocolate coating. The thickness of the chocolate coating was reduced to about 6mm by using a blower 42 operating at maximum 2 bar. The surface of the coated praline is at about 15 c at this stage. These pralines are carried by the second mesh belt 38 to another continuous belt 44 (only the upper run of which is shown in fig. 2) into a cooling zone 46 where their temperature is reduced to about 10 ℃, after which the pralines are removed from the belt for packaging and storage. The process is carried out such that the ratio of core to chocolate in the finished coated product is about 3: 2.

After storage at 20 ℃ for 32 weeks, there was no significant fat bloom on the surface of the coated praline and the chocolate coating did not soften. The cracker inclusions remain brittle.

Example 2; triple projection casting method:

a barrier composition is prepared by: hydroxypropyl starch (C) diluted 12.8% by weight^*AraSet75701 (trade mark), supplied by Cargillplc) was added to a solution of 54.5% by weight glycerol in 4.8% by weight water and the mixture was heated to 150 ℃ to dissolve the starch in the glycerol solution. Fructose was added at 27.9% by weight and the mixture was cooled to 30 ℃.

The coated praline was produced using a Winkler & Dunnebier Su β -waxmamschinen GmbHWDS163.02 casting machine. A triple-shot casting machine 50 is schematically shown in fig. 3. The praline, the barrier composition and the liquid tempered chocolate are fed to 3 separate hoppers 52a, b, c respectively. The praline and chocolate coating had the same composition as those of example 1. From said hopper the praline, the barrier composition and the liquid tempered chocolate are led to three coaxial pouring nozzles in the machine manifold, respectively, through respective pipes 54a, b, c: an inner portion 56a, a middle portion 56b and an outer portion 56c and cast into a die 58 that passes continuously over a belt 60 below the nozzles 56a, b, c to form a coated praline having a praline core, a barrier coating and an outer chocolate coating. The flow of each component is halted and timed so that when the material enters the die 58 to form the coated praline 62, the kernel core is coated with the barrier composition and the barrier composition is coated with chocolate. The mould may be cooled to speed up the fixing of the chocolate coating. The coated praline is removed from the mould for packaging and storage.

In this embodiment, the temperature of the material in the hoppers 52a, b, c and in the nozzles 56a, b, c is maintained between 27 ℃ and 31 ℃. The flow to the nozzle was adjusted to produce a chocolate coated praline comprising 33% by weight praline, 50% by weight chocolate and 17% by weight barrier composition.

The performance of the chocolate coated pralines of the invention prepared by triple projection casting was compared to that of a control chocolate coated praline of similar composition but without a barrier layer; the ratio of core to chocolate coating was the same in both samples. The hardness of the chocolate coating of the pralines of the invention continued to increase after 32 weeks (at 18 ℃ during their study), while the hardness of the chocolate coating of the control pralines decreased significantly after three weeks and then remained stable. This indicates that fat has migrated from the core of the control praline to the chocolate coating, softening it, which also indicates that this phenomenon has not occurred in the coated pralines of the present invention.

The hardness of the chocolate coating was determined as follows:

the product stored at 18 ℃ was placed in a cabinet at 20 ℃ for at least 2 hours before the tenacity was measured. Chocolate shell hardness was measured using a texture analyser (stablemicrosystems ltdtta 2XTi) with a 45 ° steel cone. The probe detection rate was set to 1 mm/s. The force at which the probe penetrates the chocolate coating by 1mm was recorded.

The results are as follows:

it is clear from the results that the chocolate coating of the control praline is slightly reduced after 32 weeks storage, as expected, due to the effect of the migration of the liquid fat from the core into the coating. It can also be seen that the chocolate coating of the praline of the invention hardened after the same time, indicating that no fat had migrated from the core into the candy.

It is also noted that the chocolate coating of the coated pralines of the present invention has better stability than the control praline. The thermal stability ratio was performed 15 and 32 weeks after manufacture. The praline of the present invention was stable at 35 ℃ while the control praline collapsed at this temperature.

It can be seen that the present invention provides a barrier composition for a food product which has little or no effect on the organoleptic characteristics of the food product and which is effective in preventing the migration of certain components from one substrate of the food product to another, and also provides food products incorporating such barrier compositions and methods for preparing such barrier compositions.

Claims (19)

1. A liquid barrier composition for preventing fat migration in food products comprising:

1% to 40% by weight of starch having a degree of polymerisation of no more than 90;

40% to 90% by weight of a plasticizer for starch, the ratio of starch content to plasticizer content by weight being no more than 1: 1.5; and

up to 10% by weight of water;

wherein the viscosity of the liquid release composition is from 5 Pa-s to 600 Pa-s at the time of application.

2. The liquid release composition of claim 1, wherein the plasticizer is glycerol.

3. A liquid barrier composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ratio of starch to plasticizer is not more than 1: 3.

4. A liquid barrier composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ratio of starch to plasticizer is not more than 1: 4.

5. A liquid barrier composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ratio of starch to plasticizer is not more than 1: 6.

6. A liquid barrier composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ratio of starch to plasticizer is not more than 1: 8.

7. The liquid release composition of claim 1 or 2, wherein the ratio of starch to plasticizer is not less than 1: 20.

8. A liquid barrier composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ratio of starch to plasticizer is not less than 1: 12.

9. A liquid barrier composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ratio of starch to plasticizer is not less than 1: 10.

10. A liquid barrier composition according to claim 1 or 2, comprising up to 40% by weight of a swelling agent.

11. The liquid barrier composition of claim 10, said bulking agent being fructose.

12. A composite food product comprising first and second food substrates having different fat compositions and/or levels from each other, and a liquid barrier composition preventing fat migration according to any one of claims 1 to 11 interposed therebetween.

13. The composite food product according to claim 12, wherein the second food substrate is a coating around the core of the first food substrate.

14. A composite food product according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the first food substrate is a soft fat based confectionery cream.

15. A composite food product according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the second food substrate is a fat-based coating.

16. A composite food product according to claim 15, wherein the fat-based coating is a chocolate coating, a chocolate compound or a chocolate equivalent.

17. A method of preparing the fat migration prevention liquid barrier composition of claim 1 comprising: the starch is dissolved in the plasticizer by heating the starch and plasticizer at a temperature between 120 ℃ and 160 ℃.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising adding additional water prior to heating the mixture.

19. The method of claim 17 or 18, further comprising adding an expansion agent to the heated solution.