In the production of ingredients for brewing or food products, a wort fluid can be produced having the required properties and the wort fluid is then evaporated to form a dark colour liquid which is then dried to form a dark coloured powder. The wort fluid can be formed from roasted unmalted cereal, coloured or roasted malted cereal or roasted seeds, pulses or blends immersed in a hot liquor. The hot liquor is usually water and the temperature of liquor is arranged to give a desired amount of extraction. The wort fluid produced in the usual process yields a dark coloured powder which is high in flavour and can be a malt extract or a syrup dependant on the cereal, seed or pulse used in the process.

The present applicants have realised that if the wort fluid produced using the conventional process indicated above is ultra filtered, both the permeate and concentrate formed can be utilised as ingredients, the concentrate being a low flavour dark coloured powder (after evaporation and drying) and the permeate as a flavour/texture enhancing and/or modifying product.

Thus and in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention therefore there is provided a method of providing a flavour/texture enhancing and/or modifying product comprising the steps of : forming a wort fluid from a cereal, seed or pulse immersed in a hot liquor at a preselected temperature; forming a dark colour powder from at least a part of the wort fluid by evaporation and drying; forming a concentrate and permeate by ultrafiltration of another part of said wort fluid; forming a flavour/texture enhancing and/or modifying powder by evaporation and drying of the permeate.

With this method it is possible to produce a flavour/texture enhancing and/or modifying product in a particularly simple and convenient manner.

Preferably the concentrate is also evaporated and dried to form a darker colour powder of lower flavour to that produced prior to ultrafiltration.

Colour of an ingredient produced this way is determined by its hue, chroma and darkness which are measured in conventional manner using a colour comparator or spectrophotometer.

Preferably ultrafiltration is carried out across a spiral wound membrane.

Alternatively ultrafiltration can take place in any other suitable manner as desired or as appropriate. The ultrafiltration membrane may have a pore size which allows passage of particles of less than 30,000 nominal molecular weight to pass through the filter.

Preferably the preselected temperature of the hot liquor lies in the range 10° to 130°C. The selected temperature is dependant on the cereal, seed or pulse used and the desired properties of the finished product.

Preferably the cereal, seed or pulse used is roasted and/or malted.

According to a second aspect of the present invention therefore there is provided the use of a permeate formed in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention as a flavour/texture enhancing and/or modifying product.

The invention will now be described further by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawing, the single figure of which shows a flow chart illustrating the method of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing, it can be seen that the first stage of the method of the invention is the formation of a bright dark wort.

The bright dark wort is formed by mixing a cereal, seed or pulse with hot liquor at a preselected temperature. The cereal, seed or pulse can be roasted and/or malted dependant on the desired flavour of the product to be produced. The hot liquor is usually hot water and the temperature of the hot liquor is selected to give the desired degree of extraction. The temperature of the liquor usually falls in the range 10°-130°C and may be dependant on the cereal, seed or pulse chosen and its particle size. The mixing of the cereal, seed or pulse with hot liquor is carried out in a mash tun of conventional form.

The mixture of cereal, seed or pulse and hot liquor is allowed to stand for a period of time and then the wort liquor is run off the tun in a conventional manner. The wort is also passed through a coarse filter and can also be centrifugally separated and the bright dark wort is thus formed. At this point in the process, at least a part of the bright, dark wort can be taken and the wort can be concentrated by evaporation to remove surplus water and dried to give a dark coloured product in powder form. The dark coloured powder is either malt extract if the cereal, seed or pulse is malted or if they are only roasted then it is referred to as a syrup.

The remainder of the bright dark wort then passes to the next stage in the process.

The remainder of the wort is passed through an ultrafiltration membrane. Various types of ultrafiltration membrane are known, however, the most effective for the purposes of the invention has been found to be a spiral wound cross-flow membrane. The preferred pore size of the membrane is such that only particles with a nominal molecular weight of less than 30,000 can pass through the membrane.

Upon ultrafiltration at the membrane, a concentrate (which does not pass through the membrane) and a permeate (which does pass through the membrane) are formed. The concentrate can be evaporated and dried in conventional manner to form a darker enhanced colour product in powdered form. This darker enhanced colour powder is of lower flavour and higher colour than the dark coloured powder produced without ultrafiltration.

The permeate can also be evaporated and dried to produce a powdered product and it has been found that this powder has a flavour/texture enhancing or modifying effect.

The powder produces this effect in sweet systems, e. g. coffee, chocolate, toppings and desserts, and in savoury systems, e. g. soups and meat dishes. Furthermore, the powder also enhances the texture of foodstuffs when added to render them significantly more palatable and pleasing to the mouth.

A significant advantage of the formation of the flavour/texture enhancing and/or modifying powder using the method of the invention is that the method involves no chemical additives or chemical separation process and therefore the powder formed is a so-called"natural product". This fact renders the produce acceptable to various ethnic/religious groups who are unable to use fermented products and also the fact that no chemical separation of additives have been used renders the product more widely acceptable.

It is of course to be understood that the invention is not intended to be restricted to the details of the above embodiment which are described by way of example only.

Thus, for example, all of the products produced can be provided in liquid form and in this case there is no need for the drying stage mentioned above.