Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for producing a puree for a smoothie. The present invention also relates to a method for producing a smoothie, as well as to a method and apparatus for distributing such smoothie.

Background

Smoothies have gained popularity during the last years as they can be produced as a fast and healthy meal using fresh fruit as base ingredient. When producing the smoothie fresh fruits are mixed, optionally together with additional ingredients such as juices, ice, milk, yogurt etc. Due to hygienic reasons the final smoothie has a very limited shelf life; therefore the majority of smoothies are produced on demand immediately before consumption.

Industrial production of smoothies however requires an extended shelf life; the smoothie must stay fresh during storage and transportation. So far no smoothie has been produced in an industrial process whereby the characteristics in terms of ingredients, flavor, texture, and color are comparable with freshly made smoothies. A trade-off has in fact been required; in order to avoid preservatives and other artificial additives high temperature treatment is necessary leading to deterioration in terms of flavor, color and nutritional content. Further, high temperature treatment of the final smoothie is incompatible with yogurt content as the high temperature will kill the yogurt culture.

Therefore, in order to provide a smoothie having a long shelf life there is a need for an improved industrial production method resulting in a smoothie having no preservatives and wherein the flavor, color, and texture of the final smoothie is comparable with freshly made smoothies.

Summary

The inventors have realized that the object of solving the above-mentioned drawbacks may be achieved by a novel method for producing a puree showing superior characteristics in terms of keeping qualities as well as flavor, color, and texture. A smoothie including such puree will be indistinguishable from a freshly made smoothie to a consumer. In order to produce the final smoothie the puree may be blended with a base ingredient, such as yogurt, oat-based liquid, or similar. The shelf life of the final smoothie will in such cases be limited by the shelf life of the base ingredient, since the base ingredient most likely has a shelf life being less than the shelf life of the puree. According to a first aspect an in-line method of producing an additive-free puree for a smoothie is provided. The method comprises processing a solid raw material into a blend of solid and liquid content; separating at least a part of the solid content from the blend such that the remaining solid content of the blend has a particle size within a predetermined size interval; and killing living microorganisms present in the separated blend in order to provide a puree having undissolved particles and having an increased shelf life.

In an embodiment, killing living microorganisms is performed such that the particle size of the final puree is preserved.

Killing living microorganisms may be performed by exposing the separated blend to indirect heating.

In an embodiment, exposing the separated blend to indirect heating is performed by heating the separated blend to a temperature below the boiling

temperature of the separated blend, and by keeping that temperature for a predetermined period of time, such as at least 30 seconds.

Exposing the separated blend to indirect heating may be performed by heating the separated blend to 80-98°C, and by keeping that temperature for 1 - 15 minutes.

In an embodiment, processing the solid raw material into the blend of solid and liquid content is performed by a crushing process or by a cutting process.

The method may further comprise adding additional ingredients prior to killing living microorganisms. Such additional ingredients are e.g. fruit juice, puree, honey, fruit extract, syrups, and/or protein powder.

In an embodiment, killing living microorganisms is performed by pumping said separated blend through a heat exchanger.

The method may further comprise cooling the final puree to 1 -5°C. For such embodiment, the method may also comprise storing the chilled puree in individual aseptic packages.

In another embodiment, the method comprises storing the hot puree in individual aseptic packages.

According to a second aspect, a puree is provided. The puree is produced by a method according to the first aspect.

The shelf life of the puree is preferably more than 100 days when stored between 4-8°C.

According to a third aspect, a method for producing a smoothie is provided. The method comprises providing a first volume of a puree, providing a second volume of a base ingredient, and mixing said first and second volumes to form a smoothie. Providing a first volume of a puree is preferably performed by the method according to the first aspect.

The base ingredient may be yogurt and/or an oat product.

The method may further comprise adding food additives prior to, or during mixing said first and second volumes. Such food additives are e.g. lactobacillus, protein powder, and/or honey.

In an embodiment the method further comprises storing said smoothie in a package having means for dispensing a certain volume of smoothie, or storing said smoothie in individual disposable packages.

According to a fourth aspect, a smoothie produced by the method according to the third aspect is provided.

According to a fifth aspect, a method for distributing a smoothie is provided. The method comprises selecting one of at least two available smoothie flavors, and dispensing a predetermined volume of a smoothie having a flavor in accordance with the selected choice.

According to a sixth aspect an apparatus configured to distribute a smoothie in accordance with the fifth aspect is provided. Preferably the apparatus comprises a housing enclosing a cooled partition storing one or more hygienic packages of pre- manufactured smoothie.

Throughout this specification a plurality of terms are used, some of which are defined in accordance with the following definitions.

Raw material: Raw material exclusively includes unprocessed raw plant foods such as fruits, berries, nuts, vegetables, etc. Raw material contains no preservatives.

Puree: Puree is a food paste or thick liquid food containing undissolved particles formed by a blended plant food content, such as vegetables or fruits.

Pasteurization: Pasteurization is a process for achieving partial sterilization of a substance, such as a puree, e.g. by exposing the substance to an elevated temperature for a period of exposure such that living organisms are destroyed without major chemical alteration of the substance.

Smoothie: Smoothie is a liquid food product comprising blended plant food content, such as vegetables or fruits, and a base of dairy products or equivalent non- dairy products.

Indirect heating: Indirect heating is a heating process in which a partition is separating the substance to be heated from a heating medium. Hence heat is transferred from the heating medium through the partition into the substance.

Brief Description of Drawings Embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following, reference being made to the appended drawings, wherein,

Fig. 1 shows a method for producing a puree according to an embodiment;

Fig. 2a shows a method for producing a smoothie according to an embodiment;

Fig. 2b shows a method for producing a smoothie according to another embodiment;

Fig. 3 shows a method for distributing a smoothie according to an embodiment; and

Fig. 4 is a front view of an apparatus for distributing a smoothie according to an embodiment.

Detailed Description

In the following, in-line methods for producing a puree will be described. The puree is extremely well-suited for smoothie manufacturing.

Starting in Fig. 1 , a method 100 is schematically shown. Solid raw material, i.e. solid pieces of unprocessed raw plant food, is supplied in 102. The raw material may e.g. be fresh, frozen, or semi-frozen fruits, berries, etc. In 104 the solid raw material is processed, e.g. by a cutting or crushing process, resulting in a blend of liquid and solid raw material. 104 is preferably performed such that the particle size of the solid content is within a predetermined interval; as this may be difficult to control during cutting or crushing separation 106 may be necessary. Separation may e.g. be performed by feeding the raw material blend through a mesh or a sieve, whereby particles having a size being bigger than the size of the meshes will be prevented to flow through. Optionally, the large-size particles not being allowed to pass separation 106 may be collected and fed back to 104 through a recirculation conduit.

After 104 the raw material blend has a liquid content and a solid content, wherein the particle size of the solid content is within a predetermined interval; the predetermined interval may e.g. be 0-5 mm.

In 108 additional ingredients may be added to the raw material blend. The additional ingredients may e.g. be pre-produced fruit juice, puree, honey, fruit extract, syrups, and/or protein powder. However, no preservatives or artificial additives are accepted, but only natural ingredients for providing taste and/or nutritional content improvements of the final puree.

The raw material blend, optionally with added ingredients, is thereafter exposed to a treatment 1 10 in which at least a part of living microorganism are killed. The treatment 1 10 may be performed in various ways, such as by heat exposure, by UV radiation, etc. In case of heat treatment boiling should be avoided. In accordance with one embodiment, treatment 1 10 is performed by heating 1 12 the raw material blend to a specific temperature (being below the boiling temperature of the raw material blend), and thereafter keeping 1 14 that temperature for a specific time. Heating 1 12 is preferably performed by indirect heating, e.g. by pumping the raw material blend through a heat exchanger. The temperature of the heating medium should be set depending on the characteristics and content of the raw material blend, but tests have shown that a temperature of 80-95°C may be suitable. The holding time, i.e. the time during which the raw material blend is exposed to the increased temperature, may e.g. be 1 -15 minutes depending on the characteristics and content of the raw material blend.

The puree, now being at least partly pasteurized, may thereafter be stored in aseptic or at least hygienic packages. According to one embodiment the puree is first cooled down 1 16, e.g. to 2-8°C, before it is stored 1 18 in bags, boxes, or similar.

According to another embodiment the puree is frozen after it is stored in 1 18.

According to another embodiment the hot puree is filled in the packages.

A puree being manufactured according to the above-described method 100 has proven to have superior characteristics in terms of flavor, color, nutritional content, and texture. Further, tests have shown that the shelf life of such puree, when stored in a chilled environment, is above 120 days.

As stated above a smoothie may be produced in an industrial process from a puree produced according to the method 100 above.

Now turning to Figs. 2a and 2b methods 200, 300 for producing a smoothie will be described. Common for all smoothies is that it comprises a puree, preferably manufactured in accordance with the method 100 described above, and a base of dairy products or equivalent non-dairy products such as yogurt, oat-based liquid, etc.

Starting with Fig. 2a a method 200 is schematically shown. In 202 a puree is provided, for example by performing the method 100 of Fig. 1 . A base ingredient, such as yogurt or an oat product is also provided in 204. In order to obtain a relatively long shelf life of the final smoothie the base ingredient should be selected from base ingredients having such long shelf life; yogurt, other dairy liquid food products, and non-dairy equivalents, such as oat-based food products, may be particularly suitable. Other alternatives may include soy- or almond based liquid food products.

In 206 the puree is mixed with the base ingredient in order to form a smoothie. The ratio between puree and base ingredient may e.g. be 50/50 in vol%. Prior to, or during mixing of the puree and the base ingredient food additives may be added 208 to the smoothie. Such food additives may e.g. be lactobacillus, protein powder, and/or honey. However, no preservatives or artificial additives are normally accepted, but only natural ingredients for providing taste and/or nutritional content improvements of the final smoothie.

Packaging of the smoothie is thereafter performed in 210. For reasons described further below with respect to the apparatus of Fig. 4, the package may have means for dispensing a certain volume of smoothie. For example, the package may be a hygienic bag with an outlet.

For other applications, the final smoothie may be stored in individual disposable packages such as glass or plastic bottles, carton-based packages, a container, etc.

In Fig. 2b another embodiment of a method 300 for producing a smoothie is schematically shown. The method 300 is based on the method 100 for producing a puree, and therefore includes: providing, in 102, solid raw material; processing, in 104, the solid raw material to a blend of solid and liquid content; separating, in 106, oversized particles from the blend; killing, in 1 10, living microorganisms from the blend; and packaging in 304.

However, before packaging of the puree the base ingredient 302 is supplied and mixed directly with the puree just prior to packaging 304. Hence packaging in 304 may be performed similar to what has been described with reference to Fig. 2a, i.e. the package may be a hygienic bag with an outlet or an individual disposable package.

In one embodiment the base ingredient is added just prior to, or during killing living microorganisms in 1 10 instead of after as is indicated by the dashed line in Fig. 2b.

The final smoothie, stored in hygienic, or even aseptic multi-liters packages having an outlet, may preferably be used together with smoothie dispensing apparatuses. Such apparatus may be capable of storing one or more smoothie packages having an outlet, a user interface allowing a consumer to select a smoothie type, and a controller configured to discharge a volume of the selected smoothie to the consumer.

In view of this, Fig. 3 shows a method 400 for discharging, or dispensing, a smoothie. In 402 a smoothie supply is provided; the supply is preferably one or more hygienic packages, such as bags, filled with the same or different types of smoothie. In 404 a consumer selects a desired smoothie type, and in 406 a volume of smoothie is automatically discharged to the consumer in response to the selection being made.

An apparatus 500 for distributing a smoothie is shown in Fig. 4. The apparatus 500 includes a housing 502, or cabinet, which is accessible for a consumer. The housing 502 encloses a cooled partition 504 storing one or more hygienic packages 506a-c of pre-manufactured smoothie. Preferably, the smoothie is produced in accordance with the methods 200, 300 described above. Each package 506a-c is connected with a dispenser, or outlet 508 via a pipe or conduit 510. The volume of each package may e.g. be in the range of 3-6 liters, although other volumes are of course possible.

A controller 512, including a display 514 for displaying information to the consumer, as well as being configured to receive commands from the consumer, is configured to control the distribution via a computer 516. When a consumer is requesting a smoothie to the discharger, the controller 512 controls the dispenser 508 to discharge a predetermined volume of smoothie to the consumer. Preferably, the smoothie may be discharged into a disposable cup or similar, whereby the consumer may enjoy a smoothie as fresh and healthy as if it was just recently made.

The invention has mainly been described with reference to a few embodiments.

However, as is readily understood by a person skilled in the art, other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.