It has long been tried to derive molecules or products which can be substituted for coffee in the preparation of beverages or confectionery or other food products.

Numerous patents describe such surrogates. The US patent No. 1565736 discloses a surrogate for coffee based on chicory, roasted barley, soybeans and a coffee aroma. Also, GB 2 046 076 describes a process for the preparation of a product based on soybeans, in which the cotyledons are grilled then reduced to a powder which can be used as a replacement of cocoa, coffee and/or caramel in aromatized food products.

Patent WO 86/03943 describes a process for the preparation of a coffee aroma based on soya flour which undergoes an enzymatic hydrolysis then an extraction after heating.

Patent EP 0585 632 describes a food product based on soybeans and the process for obtaining it in which the beans are coated with a glucidic component, then roasted.

All these processes involve steps such as roasting, hydrolysis or other complex steps so that making use of them is cumbersome.

Soybeans are one of the components which may be used for the preparation of coffee surrogates, but they may also be used for other"aromas"such as, for example, to imitate the taste of meat. It is also known that isolates of soya, thermally treated, undergo a thermolysis or a carbonization, which makes them unusable for the preparation of coffee surrogates.

The present invention aims to provide a simple process for preparing a coffee surrogate.

It has been surprisingly found that de-fatted soya flour, treated appropriately, develops a Maillard-type reaction which confers to the obtained product, the bitter taste similar to that of coffee.

Accordingly, in the process according to the invention, a mixture of de- fatted soya flour and water is heated under pressure, and the heating is prolonged so as to obtain a fluid coffee surrogate.

To realize the present invention, a mixture of de-fatted soya flour and water is made in order to obtain a soya flour paste which may have between about 35 and about 50% of dry matter. The soya may be used in the form of de-fatted flour, containing preferably between about 5 and about 10% of dry matter.

The soya flour paste is then heated under pressure, preferably in a twin- screw extruder, at a temperature of about 130 to about 180°C, during about 20-60 seconds. The pressure may be of about 10 to about 40 MPa, for example.

The extruded soya paste is then maintained at a high temperature so as to obtain a fluid coffee surrogate. This treatment may consist in placing it in a retention vat, kept at a temperature preferably of about 150 to about 180°C and at a pressure of about 25 to 40 MPa, during about 20 to 80 minutes.

In order to have a continuous process, the twin-screw extruder may directly supply the thermostatted retention vat.

The fluid coffee surrogate obtained is mostly soluble, it can then be cooled down on a tubular heat exchanger to a temperature of less than 100°C, for example. It may then be dehydrated to powder form with a moisture content of 3 to 5%, for example on a dispersion dryer.

The cooled fluid coffee surrogate may also be mixed with different additives in a mixer, such as for example, potassium hydroxide KOH at 0.5 to 2.5% to increase its solubility, while bringing it to a pH of about 6 to 8.

The coffee surrogate obtained has a bitter taste, similar to that of coffee. It can be used in numerous applications. It allows the realization of compositions for beverages or for use in confectionery, in the latter case these compositions may then be extruded in the form of pastilles, then dried if necessary.

To prepare such products, preferably 10 to 60% of coffee surrogate is mixed with: -sweeteners at 20 to 50% or, -maltodextrins at 10 to 90% or, -a cereal hydrolysate at 10 to 90% (for confectionery applications for example) or, -a soya milk powder at 10 to 50%.

The following examples are given by way of illustration only and in no way should be construed as limiting the subject matter of the present application.

Percentages and parts are given by weight unless otherwise indicated.

Example 1 In a twin-screw extruder, a mixture is made of 40 kg of de-fatted soya flour and 60 1 of water. The mixture is heated in the extruder at about 160°C during 20 s under a pressure of 10 MPa. The extruder supplies a thermostatted retention vat where the mixture is thermally treated at 160°C during 60 min under a pressure of about 25 MPa.

The product obtained is a fluid coffee surrogate, it is cooled on a tubular heat exchanger down to a temperature of about 96°C.

To increase the solubility, the coffee surrogate can be neutralized with potassium hydroxide to a pH of 6.7 (approximately 2% of KOH by dry matter) in batch or continuously.

Example 2

The fluid coffee surrogate obtained by the process described in example 1 is dried on a dispersion dryer up to a moisture content of 2%.

This gives the coffee surrogate in the form of a soluble powder for the preparation of beverages with a coffee taste.

To prepare one of these beverages, 2.4 g of this powder is mixed with 150 ml of water. A sugared beverage can also be obtained by mixing 1.57 g of this powder and 1.57 g of sugar with 150 ml of water.

The drink obtained has an agreeable bitter taste which is similar to that of coffee.

Example 3 A mixture is made of 18 g of fluid coffee surrogate obtained according to example 1 and 82 g of enzymatically hydrolyzed cereal. The resulting mixture contains approximately 90% of dry matter, it is extruded in the form of pastilles. These pastilles are then dried for approximately 10 mins at a temperature of 100°C.

These chewing pastilles have the typical bitter taste of coffee and are stable at ambient temperature. In addition they have the quality of leaving no residues in the mouth because they are 100% edible.

Example 4 12g of coffee surrogate powder as obtained by the process described in example 1 are added to aromatize a soya milk comprising 44 g of powdered soya extract and 44 g of sugar. This powder mixture gives an instant beverage of soya aromatized with coffee taste when 10 g of the mixture is dispersed in 90 ml of water.