CONCENTRATE

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a food concentrate comprising a bouillon matrix and a gel; in particular, the invention relates to a food concentrate with gel particles embedded in the bouillon matrix. The invention further relates to a method for preparing such compositions, and to use of the compositions.

Background of the invention

High-salt concentrate food compositions which after dilution in water or a dish result in a bouillon, a soup, a sauce, a gravy or a seasoned dish have been described in the art. This class of products is known to the consumer as well as to the skilled person for many decades. They are known for example in the form of dry bouillon cubes or soup cubes or seasoning cubes. Concentrated products can be dry (e.g. dehydrated), liquid, semi-liquid or paste-like products which, after the addition to water according to the instructions for use, yield ready to eat preparations.

Savoury concentrate food compositions in the form of a semi-solid gel are also known in the art and are considered to have a fresher appearance. Consumers like that a product "sets back" once pressed, showing elasticity, like a gel. This is often associated with fresh food of high quality (e.g. fresh fish, liver, meat), whereas a hard or pasty texture may be associated with non-fresh products that might have dried out.

To achieve a gel structure using gelling agents that show sensitivity to high-salt conditions, the easiest solution would be to increase the gelling agent concentration. However, as a consequence of an increased gelling agent concentration other issues may appear. For some gelling agents, increasing their concentration to allow incorporation of creamy ingredients would cause processing problems due to a too high viscosity during processing. Also, when the price of the gelling raw material is high, an increase of gelling agent concentration to sufficient level to counteract high- salt sensitivity or to incorporate creamy ingredients may lead to unaffordable recipe costs. However, there the dosage of solid taste ingredients, especially salt, leaves to be desired.

WO2014/095196 discloses a solid or semi solid food concentrate comprising edible fat and salt, comprising pores, wherein the pores are coated with a dried hydrocolloid; and a process for making the same. However, the water activity of such a product is too low for easy dissolution of the concentrate; and the fresh appearance is lost due to extensive drying. Hybrid concentrates comprising a gel and a solid matrix have been disclosed in the art, for instance in WO2016/066383 relates to a food concentrate comprising a solid phase and a gel phase; in particular the invention relates to a food concentrate with gel particles embedded in the solid matrix, wherein food concentrate is provided that combines the benefits of solid food concentrates and gelled, pasty or liquid

concentrates or stock products. It discloses gel particles are embedded in a solid matrix provides a good strength of the concentrate, a fresh appearance due to the gel particles and fast dissolution. However, although it has been found that the use of gel particles in a solid or pasty matrix is a suitable means to create a hybrid cube, such gel particles using only water as a carrier, dry out on storage and dissolve quite slowly. A faster dissolving gel particle that dries out less fast remains to be desired.

Other hybrid concentrates comprising a solid phase and a gel-like phase are known in the art such as WO2004/004485, which discloses an energy bar, made of two distinct based matrices made up of combinations of carbohydrates, fat and protein. This type of matrices does not dissolve well and is not suitable for containing high amounts of salt either, which remains to be desired.

WO2010/096145 relates to animal feed and discloses gel matrices comprising from about 70% to about 90% of one or more syrups, from about 3% to about 6% of one or more polyols, and from about 1 % to about 6% of one or more gelling agents and gel food compositions comprising from about 10% to about 90% of a gel matrix of the invention and from about 90 to about 10% of one or more comestible ingredients suitable for consumption by animals. Despite the claims in the description, these products are not transparent, and very sticky, solid gel products that can be varied in content and supplemental nutrients. However these compositions do not dissolve well, which remains to be desired. Yet another hybrid is disclosed in WO2000/10525, which discloses a pasty cube with spray dried particles; in particular a particulate composition comprising one or more physiologically active substances and a fish gelatinous protective colloid containing at least 50 % by weight of fish gelatine, wherein the fish gelatine is at least partly composed of fish gelatine having a bloom strength of above 100, and wherein the composition is obtainable by a particle forming spray congelation method or a double emulsifying method. However, although this is essentially a suitable way for creating a hybrid composition, glycerol which is mentioned as a plasticizer is generally not suitable for spray drying, having very low solidifying temperature/glass transition temperature 160K-180K. While it is theoretically possible, the operating process is found to be very unstable. Therefore it remains to be desired to provide a hybrid food concentrate structure that can be obtained reliably in a conventional food product production process.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a traditional bouillon cube, or food concentrate, giving faster dissolution and having the taste and flavour benefits of jelly cubes.

It is a further object to provide such a food concentrate having a composition that can be readily and reliably produced in a conventional production method.

We have surprisingly found that inclusion of waterglycerol based jelly in a conventional matrix enables faster dissolution due to disintegration of the cube when the jelly swells on contact with water and allows for formulation of fresh and semi dried ingredients into the cube.

Summary of the invention

Accordingly, in one aspect, the invention provides a food concentrate in the form of a pasty bouillon matrix comprising inclusions of jelly material; wherein the matrix comprises 4-50% by weight of fat or oil; 10-70% by weight of crystal filler; 0-20% by weight of soft filler 0.5-60% by weight of taste imparting components; and water; and the jelly material comprises: 20-80% a liquid carrier; 0.1 -10%w (based on water) of a gelling agent; 3-30%w (based on water) of salt; and 0.5-60% taste imparting

components; and wherein the concentrate comprises 5-50%w by volume of the inclusions; and wherein the size of the inclusion is between 100 micro meter and 5 mm; and wherein the liquid carrier comprises water and 40-95% of glycerol.

In a second aspect, the invention provides a process for preparing the concentrate according to claim 1 , comprising the steps of: preparing a conventional soft/party bouillon mass, preparing a hydro colloid gel, by mixing and heating the ingredients of the jelly material and letting the heated material cool down and jellify to obtain a jelly; converting the jelly obtained in step (b) into piece of 100 micrometre - 5 mm; mixing the jelly pieces into the bouillon mass; extruding the resulting mixed mass: and shaping the mass and packaging the shaped mass.

For the avoidance of doubt, by pasty bouillon matrix is meant a bouillon matrix that is not a hard compressed mass, but an extrudable paste. Typically, the pasty matrix is shape stable, having a hardness of at least 50kPa, wherein the hardness is defined as the compressive pressure, exerted on a food concentrate, which is required to break the structure of the concentrate.

These and other aspects, features and advantages will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from a reading of the following detailed description and the appended claims. For the avoidance of doubt, any feature of one aspect of the present invention may be utilised in any other aspect of the invention. The word "comprising" is intended to mean "including" but not necessarily "consisting of" or "composed of." In other words, the listed steps or options need not be exhaustive. It is noted that the examples given in the description below are intended to clarify the invention and are not intended to limit the invention to those examples per se. Similarly, all percentages are weight/weight percentages (%w) unless otherwise indicated. Except in the operating and comparative examples, or where otherwise explicitly indicated, all numbers in this description indicating amounts of material or conditions of reaction, physical properties of materials and/or use are to be understood as modified by the word "about". Numerical ranges expressed in the format "from x to y" are understood to include x and y. When for a specific feature multiple preferred ranges are described in the format "from x to y", it is understood that all ranges combining the different endpoints are also contemplated.

Detailed description of the invention

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a food concentrate in the form of a pasty bouillon matrix comprising inclusions of jelly material.

Bouillon matrix

The bouillon matrix of the present invention is a pasty bouillon matrix as defined above, and it comprises fat or oil, crystal filler, soft binder, taste imparting components and optionally water.

Fat or oil

The fat or oil may be any conventional fat or oil suitable for savoury food concentrates, like bouillon cubes. The matrix comprises 4-50%w, by weight of the matrix, fat or oil. more preferable 6 - 30%w of fat or oil, still more preferably 15-15%w of fat or oil, most preferably 10 - 25%w of fat or oil.

Crystals

The crystal filler, may be any conventional crystal filler suitable for use in a savoury food concentrate. Such crystal fillers may be selected from, salt (NaCI), glutamates, including monosodium glutamate (MSG), sugars, including sucrose, fructose and glucose, 5'-ribonucleotides including inosinate and guanylate, acids, including citric acid, lactic acid; or combinations thereof. More preferably, the crystal filler is selected from salt, MSG, or a combination thereof. The matrix comprises 4-70%w, by weight of the matrix, of the crystal filler, more preferably15-65%w, still more preferably 25-60%w most preferably 35-50%w. Binder

The matrix may further comprise a soft binder. If a soft binder is present it is present in the matrix in a concentration of not more than 25%w, preferably 1 to 20 % by weight of the matrix, most preferably 2 to 15 % by weight of the matrix.

The binder typically improves the texture and/or shape of the food concentrate. A binder is especially preferred when the food concentrate is in the form of a cube or tablet. Preferably, the binder comprises one selected from the group consisting of polysaccharides. Polysaccharide preferably comprises starch, gums or mixtures thereof; most preferably starch, maltodextrin or a combination thereof.

Taste imparting ingredients

The matrix further comprises 0.5 - 60%w, by weight of the matrix, of taste imparting components

Jelly material

The jelly material comprises a liquid carrier, a gelling agent, salt and taste imparting components Liquid carrier

The jelly material comprises 20 to 80%w, by weight of the jelly material, of a liquid carrier. T

The liquid carried comprises water and 40-95%w, by weight of the liquid carrier, of glycerol, preferably at least 50%, more preferably at least 60%w of glycerol, but typically not more than 90%w of glycerol.

Gelling agent

The jelly material comprises 0.1-20% by weight based on water in the jelly material, of a gelling agent, more preferably 0.5-18% by weight, most preferably 1 -15% by weight.

The gelling agent is preferably selected from carrageenan, xanthan gum, locust been gum, agar, konjac mannan, starch, gellan, cassia, gelatin, and combinations thereof; more preferably carrageenan, xanthan gum, locust been gum, agar and combinations thereof.

Salt

The jelly material comprises 3 to 30% by weight based on water of salt. Preferably the jelly material comprises 4 to 28 %, by weight based on water of the jelly material, of salt, more preferably the jelly material comprises 5 to 25 %, by weight based on water of the jelly material, of salt. Taste imparting components in the jelly material

The jelly material comprises 0.5-60% by weight of the jelly material, of taste imparting components more preferably 0.5-30% by weight of the jelly material; these may be any conventional taste imparting component used in bouillon cubes, stock cube or instant soups and sauces.

Inclusion

The food concentrate is in the form of a pasty bouillon matrix comprising inclusions of jelly material. The concentrate comprises 5 to 50% by volume of the inclusion; preferably at least 10%, or even at least 15%, but generally not more than 40% or even not more than 35% by volume; and typically 10 to 20%.

The size of the inclusion is typically between 100 micro meter and 5 mm, preferably at least 200 micrometre, or even more than 500 micrometre, but generally not less than 4 mm, or even not less than 3mm.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a process for preparing the concentrate according to the invention.

The process comprises the steps of:

Preparing a conventional soft/pasty bouillon mass; Preparing a hydro colloid gel, by mixing and heating the ingredients of the jelly material and letting the heated material cool down and jellify to obtain a jelly Converting the jelly obtained in step (b) into piece of 100 micrometre - 5 mm; Mixing the jelly pieces into the bouillon mass;

- Extruding the resulting mixed mass; and

Shaping the mass and packaging the shaped mass.

The embodiments described for the first aspect apply mutatis mutandis to the embodiments of the second aspect of the present invention.

The conventional soft/pasty matrix as used herein is a pasty bouillon matrix as defined above, and it comprises fat or oil, crystal filler, soft binder, taste imparting components and optionally water. Preferably, 4-50% by weight, of fat or oil; 10-70% by weight, of crystal filler; 0-20% by weight, of soft filler, 0.5-60% by weight, of taste imparting components, and 0 -10% by weight, of water, by weight of the bouillon mass, are mixed to prepare the bouillon mass. Typically, 20-80% by weight of the total jelly material, of a liquid carrier, 0.1-10%w (by weight of water of the jelly material) of a gelling agent, 3-30%w (by weight of based on water in the jelly material) of salt and 0.5-60% by weight of the total jelly material taste imparting components are mixed to prepare the hydrocolloid gel. The food concentrate is typically packaged in individual portions of 3 to 25g each. They are typically sold either individually or in boxes or bags containing 2 to 30 cubes;

preferably 4 to 20 cubes.

Examples

The invention will now be illustrated by means of the following non-limiting examples. Example 1

A set of bouillon paste with gel inclusions was prepared by combining a conventional paste matrix and a slurry of gel beads. The production of these separate blends was described below:

The gel particles slurry was prepared by dissolving biopolymers and salt into water or into the water/glycerol mixture at a temperature of 90°C. The solution was then cast into slabs with a thickness of approximately 8 cm and stored refrigerated to set. The resulting gels were cut into large chunks and cut into pieces by passing through an Urschel cutting device for two times. The cutter was operated with a 3.2 mm x 3.2 mm setting of the blades. The gel particles were stored until further use. The recipes of the two gels are given in table 1.

Table 1 : Formulations of gels

Table 2: Formulations of cube pastes

Formulation Formulation B Formulation C

A

Ingredient Wt% Wt% Wt%

SALT 37.8 35.7 36.9

GLUTAMATE 12 12 12

DRY MIX (Beef) 1 1.5 1 1.5 1 1 .5

Fat 25.2 18.3 19.1

Starch - - -

Xanthan 4.5 4.5 4.5 Gel A 9 - -

Gel B - 18 -

Gel C - - 18

The pastes were produced by adding dry ingredients (listed in table paste formulation) into a 50I Plough shear mixer (Lodige, Germany). This dry mix was then mixed for two minutes. In the next step, the fats were added in molten form at a temperature between 65 and 70°C and mixed for another 2 minutes. Finally, the gel pieces were added and mixed for one minute. The resulting paste was collected in a container and left to cool down.

The Paste was transferred to a Corazza FD220 type of Extruder and was extruded into cubes and packaged into wrapper foil. One week after preparation, the cubes were inspected visually and manually and the hardness, dissolution time, and water activity were measured. Moreover, the cubes were stored for 3 months under warm & dry conditions (40°C, 33% RH) and the water loss was determined. The results are collected in table 3. Table 3: analysis data for the products in example 1

The results indicate that the formulation with glycerol-based gel pieces has the lowest dissolution time. Moreover, the weight loss upon dry storage is significantly reduced. The hardness of the cubes is somewhat increased but still within relevant ranges of cube hardness. The water activity finally is decreased by the glycerol addition, which in general is beneficial for shelf-life. Example 2

A set of bouillon paste with gel inclusions was prepared by combining a conventional paste matrix and a slurry of gel beads. The production of these separate blends was described below.

The gel particles slurry was prepared by dissolving biopolymers and salt into water or into the water/glycerol mixture at a temperature of 90°C. The solution was then cast into slabs with a thickness of approximately 8 cm and stored refrigerated to set. The resulting gels were cut into large chunks and cut into pieces by passing through an Urschel cutting device for two times. The cutter was operated with a 3.2 mm x 3.2 mm setting of the blades. The gel particles were stored until further use. The recipes of the two gels are given in table 4

Table 4: Formulations of gels

Table 5: Formulations of cube pastes

Formulation A Formulation B

Ingredient Wt% Wt%

SALT 38 42.82

GLUTAMATE 12 15

DRY MIX (Beef) 1 1.5 1 1.7

Fat 25 17

Xanthan 4.5 4.5

Gel A 9 -

Gel B - 9 The pastes were produced by adding dry ingredients (listed in table paste formulation) into a 50I Plough shear mixer (Lodige, Germany). This dry mix was then mixed for two minutes. In the next step, the fats were added in molten form at a temperature between 65 and 70°C and mixed for another 2 minutes. Finally, the gel pieces were added and mixed for one minute. The resulting paste was collected in a container and left to cool down.

The Paste was transferred to a Corazza FD220 type of Extruder and was extruded into cubes and packaged into wrapper foil. One week after preparation, the cubes were inspected and the dissolution time was measured.

Table 6: analysis data for the products in example 2

The results indicate that the formulation with glycerol-based gel pieces has the lowest dissolution time. This indicates the efficacy of the use of glycerol in the gel pieces to maintain a fast dissolution even in the presence of gums in the bouillon paste.

Comparative Example 3:

As a comparative example to WO2010/096145A1 , where polyols such as glycerol, and gelling agents such as agar were claimed as required ingredients, a solid gel food matrix with particle inclusions was produced based on that piece of prior art, with glycerol as the polyol ingredient. We note here that this structure described in the prior art is already different from our system, since a water based matrix is the continuous phase, whereas in our current invention a fat-based paste is the continuous phase. Firstly, the gel matrix was produced according to WO2010/096145A1 , as listed in the left side of table 7 (below) and by using process involving a Thermomix (Vorwerk, Germany) as described in table 8 (below), steps 1-4. In the next step, this gel matrix is combined with the comestible ingredients according to the right side of table 7 and steps 5-1 and 5-2 in table 8. This results in a gel composite comestible with a total glycerol content of 6%. This product was cut into portions of 10 g, as the mass was too sticky to mould into tablets.

Table 7: Formulations of comparative example 3

Table 8: Process steps used in example 3

1 : Premix LBG and xanthan (1 min, 90rpm, high Thermomix, Mark 3, 1 min shear mixer)

2: further mix 3min, 400rpm Thermomix, Mark 5, 3-7 min

3: mix water, citric acid, sodium propionate , then

added to 2 (Thermomix, Mark 5, 2-

4: add glycerol (400rpm, 2min), 5min)

5-1 : into mould (with comestible ingredients) Add seeds

5-2: heat to form a comestible gel (with comestible Oven 120C, 30min ingrediemts)

Analysis:

The resulting comestible composite was analysed one week after production for water activity, Dissolution time and appearance.

Table 9: Analysis data of products of example 3

We conclude that a composite material based on our invention is more suitable to bring about a flavour enhancing concentrate with acceptable dissolution properties and water activity.

Comparative example 4:

As a comparative example to WO00/10525A2, spray-dried particles of fish gelatin that may contain glycerol as plasticizer was tested on the dissolution time of pasty cube. The formulation of this example is given in table 6 and the spray dried gel particles were produced by dissolving Fish gelatin and glycerol into demi-water at 65°C and Storing the solution over night to remove trapped air bubbles. In parallel, the fat was heated to 65°C, and added to the aqueous phase under slow agitation and then vigorously agitating for 40min at 65°C. Finally, the emulsion was diluted to have a viscosity of 172cP, oil droplets size of 0.29 micron).

An attempt to spray dry the emulsion was made at a suspension temperature > 30°C to 95°C, viscosity 50 to 600 mPas. The atomizing nozzle or atomizing wheel into a spray drying chamber having temperature ranging from 0°C to 40°C. The spray drying process was not successful for this particular formulation containing glycerol. This may indicate that glycerol is not an optimal plasticizer for this particular application or that a special spray drying conditions would be needed, which are not directly available for the generally skilled person in the art of spray drying.

We conclude that this route to obtain suitable gel particles is not feasible for our objective to formulate a well-dissolving food concentrate using gel particles containing glycerol. Table 10: Formulation for comparative example 4

original 3kg batch [g] %

ore-emulsion

fish gelatin 270 16.25 bloom 2438 487.6

glycerol 2976 595.2 19.83 demi water 5000 1000 33.32

F&O (P058) 2140 428 14.26 dilution

demiwater 2450 490 16.33 sprav dried

Total [g] 15004 3000.8 100.0