Plant based frozen composition Field of Invention

The present invention relates to plant based soft serve and frozen composition compositions and to the process for producing said compositions.

Background of the invention

Recent years have seen a huge growth in demand for plant based (non-dairy) alternative products. Plant based dairy alternatives are largely manufactured using either whole ingredients or protein isolates which require large amounts of water and chemicals to purify the protein from the raw plant flour.

US20200178556A1 describes the creation of a plant based frozen confection using whole Navy Beans as a source of plant protein. The problem with using whole Navy beans in the preparation of a frozen confection is that it brings high viscosity, and it is difficult to achieve sufficient freezing point depression. Inadequate freezing point depression leads to an unappealing gritty sandy ice cream texture due to the formation of large ice crystals.

In order to avoid this negative effect of plant products made from whole beans, the food industry typically uses purified plant proteins such as protein isolates. The problem with protein isolates is that they consume large amounts of water and energy in their manufacture, and the resulting proteins are aggregated and have poor solubility.

Plant based dairy alternatives are also well known to have a brown or grey colour which negatively affects consumer appeal due to a lack of similarity to milk whiteness.

There is a clear need to develop new process and recipe solutions that deliver tasty & affordable plant based dairy alternatives with an appealing colour.

Specifically, the current invention addresses the issues of off-notes, powdery mouthfeel and loss of creaminess in plant-based ice cream.

The following documents focus on using rice to prepare frozen confectionery, but they do not achieve the same balance of texture and flavour: JP2018148866 (rice oil), JPH06141780 (saccharified rice), JPH1169946 (fermented rice), and CN112075528 (rice powder).

Protein has functionality in ice cream which includes emulsion stability, helping build the desirable fat structure to aid whipping and freezing, and, lastly, protein in serum helps build the serum viscosity, which is said to help with preventing melted water (formed during heat- shock) from forming large ice crystals and impacting texture. Milk protein also contributes to the creaminess of the ice cream. The existing solutions weigh too much on the protein functionality and, thus, try to replace milk proteins with alternate proteins from plants and these proteins are not “creamy”, have an inherent flavour associated with them and are also not as functional as the milk protein. One needs to think “outside the box” on what other plant-based ingredients are available and how one can maximise their functionality in ice cream. Plant proteins are not as functional as dairy proteins and, thus, it alternate solutions to provide these functionalities in ice cream is desired. Specifically, it is mainly the creaminess coming from the use of milk protein that needs to be addressed in plant-based ice cream recipes and rice cream as made in this invention overcomes this problem and provides creaminess to the ice cream. In addition, the rice cream also contributes to mix viscosity and also positively impacts the ice cream stability relative to other plant-based alternatives.

Summary of the invention

The inventors have developed a method which solves the above-mentioned problems and leads to a superior plant-based frozen composition.

In a first aspect provided is a method of making a plant-based frozen composition, said method comprising: a. Washing raw rice grains, wherein washing the raw rice grains optionally comprises soaking the raw rice grains in water; b. Combining the raw rice grains in a weight ratio of at least 2.5:1 waterraw rice; c. Cooking the raw rice grains until a weight gain of the raw rice is at least 200%; d. Once cooked, adding additional water in a weight ratio of at least 0.5:1 watercooked rice to prepare a mixture; e. Blending the mixture to form a slurry; f. Adding fat to the slurry to form an emulsion; g. Adding other ingredients to the emulsion to form a frozen composition mix formulation; and h. Freezing the formulation to form a frozen composition.

In a second aspect, the invention relates to a plant based frozen composition made by a method as described herein.

In a third aspect, the invention relates to a rice cream composition preferably used as an ingredient for preparing a plant-based frozen composition.

Detailed Description of the Invention

Method of making a plant-based liquid ora frozen composition

The invention relates in general to a method of making a plant-based frozen composition, said method comprising: a. Washing raw rice grains, wherein washing the raw rice grains optionally comprises soaking the raw rice grains in water; b. Combining the raw rice grains in a weight ratio of at least 2.0:1 waterraw rice; c. Cooking the raw rice grains until a weight gain of the raw rice is at least 200%; d. Once cooked, adding additional water in a weight ratio of at least 0.3:1 watercooked rice to prepare a mixture; e. Blending the mixture to form a slurry; f. Adding fat to the slurry to form an emulsion; g. Adding other ingredients to the emulsion to form a frozen composition mix formulation; and h. Freezing the formulation to form a frozen composition.

In a preferred embodiment, the rice grains are preferably white rice. In a preferred embodiment, the rice grains may be long grain, short grain or sticky rice and mixtures thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the weight ratio in step b is between 2.5:1 and 5:1, preferably between 2.75:1 and 4.0:1. The amount of water used in this embodiment assists in ensuring an acceptable texture in the final product. Additionally, the use of such a water ratio and with the cooking step assists in removing any off notes of rice and thus the flavours in the final product.

In a preferred embodiment, the weight gain in step c is between 200% and 450% based on the weight of the raw rice, more preferably between 250% and 400%. In the interests of certainty, a 200% increase in weight relates to a 3x increase in weight. As above, by using this amount of water, an acceptable texture is arrived at.

In a preferred embodiment, additional water is added in a weight ratio of between 0.4:1 and 2:1 watercooked rice, preferably between 0.5:1 and 1:1 and more preferably between 0.6:1 and 0.8:1. The use of additional water in this step of the process of the present invention aids the production of a smooth slurry, which contributes to the final texture of the end product.

In a preferred embodiment, the fat is added at an amount of between 5.0wt% and 50.0wt% of the emulsion, preferably between 10.0wt% and 40.0wt%.

In a preferred embodiment, wherein the cooking step c is carried out for a period of at least 15 minutes, preferably at least 20 minutes and more preferably at least 25 minutes. In a preferred embodiment, the cooking step is for less than 60 minutes, preferably less than 50 minutes and preferably less than 45 minutes. A preferred embodiment of the present invention utilises a cooking step of between 15 minutes and 60 minutes, most preferably between 25 minutes and 45 minutes. The use of the cooking step of such durations assists in providing the acceptable texture of the present invention and removing any off flavours in the final product. In a preferred embodiment, the cooking step is at a temperature of between 90 and 120°C, preferably about 100°C, i.e. between 95 and 105°C or 98 and 102°C.

In preferred embodiments, the fat comprises a blend of fat and an emulsifier, preferably a monoglyceride.

In some embodiments, the emulsifier is a secondary small molecule emulsifier, for example a monoglyceride, a lecithin, or a synthetic surfactant, such as lactem, citrem, or datem.

In some embodiments, the fat source is coconut or cocoa butter, palm, palm fractions, liquid oils, such as preferably sunflower or canola, and combinations thereof

In embodiments, the liquid oil may be selected from sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, olive oil, soybean oil, linseed oil, safflower oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, grape seed oil, nut oils such as hazelnut oil, walnut oil, macadamia nut oil, or other nut oil, peanut oil, rice bran oil, sesame oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, and emerging seed oil crops such as 25 high oleic sunflower oil, high oleic rapeseed, high oleic palm, high oleic soybean oils & high stearin sunflower or combinations thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the fat is palm, coconut, or a mixture of both. In a preferred embodiment, the emulsifier is monoglyceride with a melting point between 40-70°C.

In a preferred embodiment, the emulsion (a rice cream composition) comprises fat in an amount of between 5.0wt% and 40.0wt% by weight of the emulsion, preferably between 10.0wt% and 35.0wt% and most preferably between 15.0wt% and 30.0wt%.

In a preferred embodiment, the emulsion (a rice cream composition) comprises water in an amount of between 35.0wt% and 80.0wt% by weight of the emulsion, preferably between 45.0wt% and 75.0wt% and most preferably between 50.0wt% and 70.0wt%. The water is added water, i.e. is free water and not water present in the other ingredients.

In a preferred embodiment, the emulsion (a rice cream composition) comprises the cooked rice in an amount of between 2.0wt% and 25.0wt% by weight of the emulsion, preferably between 5.0wt% and 20.0wt% and most preferably between 7.5wt% and 15.0wt%.

As noted above in the process of the invention, the cooked rice has been blended into a slurry, i.e. does not comprise grains of rice. The slurry is blended to the size of particles present in a typical ice cream.

For microparticulates (e.g. particularly particles of 1 micron or greater, and preferably 1 to 1000 microns), particle size distribution is preferably measured by laser light diffraction, e.g. using a Mastersizer 3000, Malvern Instruments Ltd, Malvern UK with Fraunhoffer theory or Mie theory (absorption index 0.01, Rl sucrose 1.538) in a "wet system" using a Hydro SM attachment and AAK Akomed R MCT oil dispersant Rl 1.45. In a "wet system", the sample is placed in the MCT oil and sonicated for 2 minutes with an ultrasonic probe before being run in the Malvern 3000 with a Hydro SM wet dispersion unit, in duplicate. In a "dry system", the sample is placed into the Aero S automatic dry dispersion unit before being run in the Malvern 3000, in duplicate. The particle sizes obtained using the above methods were not significantly different for the present invention. However, preferably, the wet system above is used.

The term Dx means that x% of the particles (based on volume) has a diameter of or below a specified D value. Thus, by way of example, a D90 of 700 pm means that 90% of the particles, by volume, have a diameter of or below 700 pm, and a D50 of 400 pm means that 50% of the particles, by volume, have a diameter of or below 400 pm.

In a preferred embodiment, the slurry has a particle size D90 of about 10 pm to about 150 pm, about 20 pm to about 140 pm, about 30 pm to about 130 pm, about 40 pm to about 120 pm, or about 45 pm to about 100 pm. These particle sizes are straightforward to achieve by a variety of blending means.

In a preferred embodiment, the emulsion (a rice cream composition) comprises the emulsifier, preferably monoglyceride, in an amount of between 0.05wt% and 2.0wt% by weight of the emulsion, preferably between 0.1wt% and 1.0wt% and most preferably between 0.15wt% and 0.5wt%.

In a preferred embodiment, the emulsion (a rice cream composition) comprises fat in an amount of between 5.0wt% and 40.0wt% by weight of the emulsion, water in an amount of between 35.0wt% and 80.0wt% by weight of the emulsion, cooked rice in an amount of between 2.0wt% and 25.0wt% by weight of the emulsion, and an emulsifier, preferably a monoglyceride, in an amount of between 0.05wt% and 2.0wt% by weight of the emulsion.

In a preferred embodiment, the emulsion (a rice cream composition) comprises between 75.0wt% and 100.0wt% of the water, cooked rice, fat and an emulsifier, preferably a monoglyceride, preferably between 85.0wt% and 100.0wt%, preferably between 95.0wt% and 100.0wt%.

In a preferred embodiment, the additional ingredients in step g are selected from the group comprising sweetener, hydrocolloid, water, and emulsifier and mixtures thereof.

In preferred embodiments, the sweetener is sugar, preferably is sucrose, or glucose syrup, or a mixture thereof.

Preferably, the frozen composition mix formulation comprises up to 45.0wt% sweetener, preferably up to 40.0wt% sweetener and preferably up to 35.0wt% sweetener based on the weight of formulation. In a preferred embodiment, the sweetener is present in an amount of between 10.0wt% and 45.0wt%, more preferably between 15.0wt% and 40.0wt% and most preferably between 20.0wt% and 35.0wt%.

In some embodiments, the frozen composition mix formulation comprises between 5.0 and 20.0wt% sucrose, or between 6.0 and 10.0wt% sucrose, and between 5.0wt% and 40.0wt% glucose syrup, or between 14.0wt% and 29.0wt% glucose syrup. In preferred embodiments, the hydrocolloid is carrageenan, gellan gum, guar gum, gum Arabic, gum tragacanth, agar-agar, Konjac gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, pectin, propylene glycol alginate, sodium alginate, methyl cellulose or cellulose gum (carboxymethyl cellulose) and mixtures thereof, preferably carrageenan, guar gum, locust bean gum, and mixtures thereof.

In preferred embodiments, the emulsion is present in an amount of between 10wt% and 80wt% of the mix formulation, preferably between 20wt% and 70wt%, more preferably between 20wt% and 60wt% and most preferably between 25wt% and 55wt%.

In preferred embodiments, additional water is added in an amount of between 10wt% and 70wt% of the mix formulation, preferably between 15wt% and 60wt%, more preferably between 20wt% and 50wt% and most preferably between 25wt% and 45wt%. This additional water is preferably in addition to any presence in the rice emulsion.

In preferred embodiments, the hydrocolloid is present in an amount of between 0.05wt% and 5.0wt% by weight of the mix formulation, preferably between 0.1wt% and 2.0wt% and most preferably between 0.15wt% and 1.0wt%.

In preferred embodiments, the additional emulsifier is present in an amount of between 0.05wt% and 3.0wt% by weight of the mix formulation, preferably between 0.1 wt% and 2.0wt% and most preferably between 0.15wt% and 1.0wt%. This additional emulsifier is preferably in addition to any presence in the rice emulsion.

In a preferred embodiment, the mix formulation comprises: rice emulsion between 10wt% and 80wt% of the mix formulation, water between 10wt% and 70wt% of the mix formulation, hydrocolloid between 0.05wt% and 5.0wt% of the mix formulation, emulsifier between 0.05wt% and 3.0wt% of the mix formulation, and sweetener between 10.0wt% and 45.0wt% of the mix formulation.

In a preferred embodiment, the mix formulation comprises: rice emulsion between 20wt% and 60wt% of the mix formulation, water between 15wt% and 60wt% of the mix formulation, hydrocolloid between 0.1wt% and 2.0wt% of the mix formulation, emulsifier between 0.1wt% and 2.0wt% of the mix formulation, and sweetener between 15.0wt% and 40.0wt% of the mix formulation. In preferred embodiments, the rice emulsion, water, hydrocolloid, emulsifier, and sweetener constitute between 75.0wt% and 100.0wt% of the mix formulation, preferably between 85.0wt% and 100.0wt%, preferably between 95.0wt% and 100.0wt%.

In a preferred embodiment of the mix formulation, the emulsion (a rice cream composition) comprises fat in an amount of between 5.0wt% and 40.0wt% by weight of the emulsion, water in an amount of between 35.0wt% and 80.0wt% by weight of the emulsion, cooked rice in an amount of between 2.0wt% and 25.0wt% by weight of the emulsion, and an emulsifier, preferably a monoglyceride, in an amount of between 0.05wt% and 2.0wt% by weight of the emulsion.

The above percentages also relate to the frozen composition as the production of the frozen composition from the mix formulation does not significantly alter the composition.

In highly preferred embodiments, the plant based frozen composition is devoid of animal products.

In some embodiments, the frozen composition is an ice cream or a soft serve dessert.

In some embodiments, the frozen composition comprises greater than 0.5wt% fat.

In some embodiments, the frozen composition comprises between 0.5 to 32wt% fat, preferably, the frozen composition comprises between 5 and 15wt% fat.

Plant based frozen composition

The invention also relates to a plant-based frozen composition made by a method as described herein.

In highly preferred embodiments, the frozen composition is devoid of animal products. Such products are typically termed “vegan”. The term “plant-based” is preferably understood to exclude compositions containing animal products or animal derived-products. The term is well known in the art.

In some embodiments, the frozen composition is manufactured in a soft serve ice cream machine to form a soft serve ice cream.

In some embodiments, the frozen composition is packaged and stored at a temperature of less than 4°C, for example between -18°C and -30°C.

The freezing step may be carried out using any known applicable freezing methods used for commercially available ice cream.

As discussed above, the frozen composition has a composition within the ranges set out for the mix formulation. Definitions and Excluded Ingredients

When a composition is described herein in terms of wt%, this means wt% of the total recipe, unless indicated otherwise.

As used herein, “about” is understood to refer to numbers in a range of numerals, for example the range of -30% to +30% of the referenced number, or -20% to +20% of the referenced number, or -10% to +10% of the referenced number, or -5% to +5% of the referenced number, or -1% to +1% of the referenced number. All numerical ranges herein should be understood to include all integers, whole or fractions, within the range. Moreover, these numerical ranges should be construed as providing support for a claim directed to any number or subset of numbers in that range. For example, a disclosure of from 45 to 55 should be construed as supporting a range of from 46 to 54, from 48 to 52, from 49 to 51, from 49.5 to 50.5, and so forth.

The term “vegan” refers to an edible composition which is entirely devoid of animal products, or animal derived products.

The present invention preferably does not utilize the ingredients below:

• Rice oil in high amounts (less than 1.0wt%, preferably less than 0.5wt% and preferably less than 0.3wt%, for example, between 0.0wt% and 0.3wt% based on the weight of the mix recipe used to make frozen dessert.

• Sugar/sugar alcohol during cooking of the rice (there is no saccharification of the rice during cooking).

• Fermented rice products (fermentation of the rice leads to unacceptable flavour aspects).

• The use of rice powder (e.g. rice flour) (the use of rice powder leads to a powdery texture and unacceptable off flavour). In a preferred embodiment, excluded are both uncooked and cooked rice powder. Preferably, cooking is defined per the times and temperatures mentioned above.

• Dairy products.

Pasteurization heat treatment can be within a range from 60°C - 100°C for 1 second to 300 seconds. In the present invention, for example, the rice slurry is heat treated by cooking at 90 C for 30 seconds and the ice cream mix is pasteurized between 82-86 C for 30 sec.

By way of example and not limitation, the following examples are illustrative of various embodiments of the present invention.

MATERIAL S. METHODS Example 1

300g of raw short grain, white rice was placed in the vessel of the rice cooker, and the rice was washed three times with water. To it a total of 900 g of water was added. After cooking in the rice cooker, (25-30 min), 1100 g of cooked rice was taken in a blender, to that was added 680 g water and then blended to make a slurry. The slurry is smooth and not grainy. To the rice slurry, add 562 g of fat, containing monoglyceride at 0.2% of the whole emulsion. A coconut fat with a monoglyceride with a melting point of 64 deg. C was used.

Table 1. Final composition of the rice cream Plant based ice cream was made using the rice cream in the mix; all other ingredients were also plant based, the formulation of the ice cream mix is given in Table 2.

Table 2. Ice Cream Mix Formulation Mix making and freezing of the Ice cream Mix was done using conventional procedures. An overrun of 45% was achieved and further trials were carried out to produce 60, 80 and 100% overrun.

Sensory testing was done using an internal technical tasting panel. The consensus from the technical panel was that the ice cream made from rice cream was creamy and had a clean note with no off flavour. Samples were also distributed to non-technical tasting experts and received similar feedback.

The above experiment was scaled up to make a larger 100 kg mix batch. Rice was cooked in a Stephan mixer equipped with a steam jacket. Ice cream mix was made in conventional HTST line, followed by freezing using a continuous freezer Different overruns, 40, 60, 80 and 100%, were achieved.

The sensory test again showed all products to be neutral in taste and also were described as creamy.

The example was repeated with long grain and sticky rice and the same results were obtained. Comparative Example 1 : Preparation of ice cream from rice powder

The following recipe, Table 3 was used to prepare an ice cream mix from rice powder.

Table 3. Ice cream Mix using Rice Flour/powder

Conventional method for mix making and freezing was followed. Overrun achieved was 45%. Sensory tasting showed that there was a powdery note and lingering taste of rice and it was rejected, as it had neither the clean taste nor a creamy texture.

Comparative Example 2 - Preparation of ice cream from cooked rice powder

The below formula was used to make the emulsion from cooked rice powder. Rice powder was blended well into the water using a Thermomixer. The slurry was then cooked to 105°C with mixing for 5 minutes to form a smooth slurry. The slurry was cooled to 50°C and fat blend containing emulsifier was then slowly added to the slurry with mixing. This emulsified blend from rice powder was then used to make ice cream, the ice cream mix formula was similar to the one in Table 2. Table 4. Rice cream from Rice flour

Sensory tests showed that the product was not powdery however it did retain the rice taste. While the cooking step addressed the powdery note, the inherent taste coming from rice flour was still present; the product was not found to be acceptable mainly due to the rice note and was not perceived as being neutral/clean in flavour.

Comparative Examples 3 and 4 - Preparation of ice cream from rice powder and fermented rice (Amazake).

Comparative Example 2 was repeated with uncooked rice powder and it was found that this leads to a product with a far powderier texture and still provided the unacceptable off flavour. Example 1 was repeated using fermented rice. This leads to a highly unacceptable off flavour and strong non-“ice cream” taste profile.