IT201800010305A1 - PROCEDURE FOR THE PREPARATION OF WHEAT-BASED FOODS INTENDED FOR CELIACS OR SUBJECTS WITH GLUTEN SENSITIVITY - Google Patents

Description

PROCEDURE FOR THE PREPARATION OF FLOUR BASED FOODS

OF WHEAT INTENDED FOR COELIACS OR SUBJECTS WITH GLUTEN

SENSITIVITY

Description

Field of application

The present invention is generally applicable to the field of food processing and preparation and particularly relates to a new process for the preparation of semi-finished food products based on common flours, intended for subjects suffering from overt celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.

State of the art

It is known that gluten is a component present in most of the food flours, and in particular in those of greater diffusion such as wheat flours, which, upon digestion, is processed by various enzymes that allow correct hydrolysis. . In the intestine there is an enzyme, trans-glutaminase (Tg-asi) which is combined with gluten proteins making them, in particular conditions, antigenic. In particular, in people with celiac disease, the presence of gliadin, one of the proteins that make up gluten, causes a pathological and inflammatory reaction due to the onset of the consequent immune reaction. However, some non-celiac subjects, following the prolonged and / or abundant ingestion of gluten, may develop symptoms largely overlapping with those of celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome (swelling, sleepiness, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, headache, depression, etc.) although it does not present the clinical picture of the disease (atrophy of the intestinal villi, autoimmune response of the organism).

For these reasons, the food industry has tried to develop a series of food products specially designed for celiac subjects and which were therefore gluten-free.

In particular, various products have been formulated that provide for the replacement of gluten-containing flours with other vegetable flours, such as corn, rice, buckwheat and similar flours (quinoa, millet, teff, etc ...), devoid of the genes encoding the proteins of the gluten, i.e. such that they can be considered gluten-free.

Other solutions, on the other hand, provide for the formulation of products starting from bio-engineered wheat flours in order to prevent the expression of gluten proteins.

This meant that for the production of gluten-free foods, special precautions were required in the design phase of the production sites, of the procurement methods, of the manufacturing processes.

In addition, the use of swallowed or gluten-free flours at the origin causes obvious quality defects that can be found in the finished product. In fact, the finished product, classifiable as gluten-free, has a mediocre appearance and an equally poor taste, compromising the quality of life of people with celiac disease.

The production of swallowed flours, starting from genetically modified organisms so as not to express the gene pool, responsible for the synthesis of gliadins and glutenins (main components of gluten), is extremely expensive and laborious.

The need to eliminate the gluten normally present in standard flours also requires special precautions that require appropriate modifications of the production plants, both in the design phase and in the construction, in order to avoid contamination. Last but not least, the absence of gluten and the consequent elimination of the gluten mesh, which gives the dough the right elasticity, degrades the rheological and workability properties of the product and requires complex processing steps from a technical point of view.

It follows that the finished products, in addition to being poor from an organoleptic point of view and of poor taste, are also relatively expensive.

Finally, gluten-free products, due to the abundance of starchy flours, have obvious disadvantages due to their extremely high glycemic index. This results, for the celiac, in a clinical picture of constant hyperglycemia.

To overcome these drawbacks, some solutions have been proposed in which it has been tried to neutralize gluten using microbial trans-glutaminase (mT-ase), together with a laboratory enzymatic cofactor based on the amino acid lysine (K), with the in order to neutralize the antigenic sites of gluten proteins, and precisely the QXP sequences responsible for the activation of the immune response in case of celiac disease. In particular, the use of the chemical reagent called lysine-methyl-ester (K-Me) is known, a synthetic product with a rather high cost, which has made it possible to obtain acceptable but economically unfavorable results.

The use of mTG-ase is also known, without the lysine (K) cofactor, in the food field, in combination with gluten-based flours, for the production of doughs, in order to improve the rheological and technological characteristics, as well as the overall degree of organolepticity. Examples of such solutions are described for example in EP0963704, EP0938845, US2010316764, US2002061344, US 5279839, EP 2548443.

However, it is known that the use of TG-asi in the absence of a source of lysine does not allow to obtain the gluten neutralization effect and, therefore, the solutions mentioned above are not suitable for making foods suitable for people with celiac disease or other disorders or diseases related to gluten intake.

From WO99056698, on the other hand, a method for the treatment of celiac disease is known which provides for the use of lysine, or its derivative or other simple amines such as methylamine, ethylamine, putrescine, spermidine and spermine, as co-substrates of mTG-ase, for a molecular sequestration of specific portions of both gliadins and glutenins, for the deamidation of a glutamine residue within their sequences.

In this document it is believed that it is only the deamidation of specific glutamines that triggers the immune response of celiac subjects.

However, to date it is not known whether the antigenic response to gluten can be mediated, in addition to the sequences known as certainly celiacogenic, also by other sequences present within the gliadin, so that this solution does not allow to inactivate all the sequences of the QXP type. present in gliadin, to eliminate any risk associated with the ingestion of gluten, but concentrates exclusively on known sequences that are certainly celiacogenic.

Last but not least, the process described (WO99056698) is carried out by acting directly on the flours and not on production intermediates, that is, on the doughs, with a consequent impact in terms of higher costs for the final product.

WO2008053310 describes, in turn, a method of treating food flours, for their use by celiac subjects, which provides for the use of Tg-asi as a means of masking gluten, also in this case acting directly on the flours but through transamidation.

The gluten masking substrate is a derivative of lysine, namely an ester of this amino acid with a primary alcohol with one, two, three or four carbon atoms or, possibly, a peptide derivative of lysine or another primary amine and therefore always through relatively complex chemical treatments, consequently reporting the technological and cost problems already indicated above.

Also in this case, then, the process is always applied to a flour and not directly on the intermediate semi-finished product.

Presentation of the invention

The purpose of the invention is to overcome the drawbacks encountered above by providing a process for the preparation of semifinished food products based on wheat flour that is particularly efficient and relatively cheap.

A particular purpose is to provide a process for the preparation of semifinished food products based on wheat flour which allows to obtain products with a low gluten content or classifiable as gluten-free starting from any vegetable flour containing gluten and without that it is necessary to use bio-engineered flours in order not to express gluten.

A particular purpose is to provide a process for the preparation of semifinished food products based on wheat flour which allows to obtain products with a low gluten content or classifiable as gluten-free, acting directly in the mixing phase of the raw materials and without the need to use special flours.

A further object is to provide a process for the preparation of semifinished food products based on wheat flour which allows to obtain products with a low gluten content or classifiable as gluten-free, using natural components and normally usable within bakery products.

Still another particular object is to provide a process for the preparation of semifinished food products based on wheat flour which allows to obtain products with a low gluten content or classifiable as gluten-free, which are aimed at satisfying not only the requirements of subjects with celiac disease, but also of those who have symptoms related to gluten ingestion (eg gluten sensitivity).

Still another particular object is to provide a process for the preparation of semifinished food products based on wheat flour which allows to obtain products with a low gluten content or classifiable as gluten-free, which allows to have products comparable to traditional products. both for the organoleptic and rheological characteristics, and for taste and quality.

Not the least object of the invention is to provide a process for the preparation of semi-finished food products based on wheat flour, which allows to obtain products with a low gluten content or classifiable as gluten-free, which can be implemented in plants traditional industrial types without the need to make substantial changes to them, but which only provides for the insertion of auxiliary equipment that is simple to make and easy to use.

These purposes, as well as others that will become clearer later, are achieved thanks to a process for the preparation of semifinished food products based on wheat flour which, according to claim 1, comprises:

a) a step of preparing a predetermined quantity of one or more vegetable flours containing gluten;

b) mixing said vegetable flour with any other natural ingredient rich in lysine to obtain a mixture;

c) the addition and mixing of an additional ingredient with transglutaminase activity (mTG-ase)

d) the addition of water, to make a semi-finished mixture based on this mixture, to activate the neutralizing action of the gluten QXP antigenic sites.

in which said mixing steps b) and c) can be carried out dry or in aqueous phase by pre-mixing the ingredients in water, as well as, in which said source of lysine is selected from the following groups:

a) a biological or cellular lysate obtained by mechanical or physical treatments of natural products and added directly to said semi-finished mixture.

b) a vegetable flour rich in lysine ab origins, such as soy flour, legume flour, buckwheat flour, quinoa flour, nut flour; c) a lysine-rich protein substance derived from food and milk and egg by-products.

Advantageously, the microorganisms or other sources of lysine can be subjected, at discretion, to a cold sonication treatment or other mechanical treatments, such as centrifugation or homogenization that do not require the modification of the systems but only the addition of simple auxiliary equipment. and easy to use, so as not to contribute significantly to the increase in overhead costs. Furthermore, the use of mechanical treatments such as centrifugation or homogenization will make it possible to at least partially supply the element with trans-glutaminase activity, also being able to avoid the predisposition during the mixing phase of a further source of mTG-ase of bacterial origin. Advantageous embodiments of the method are obtained in accordance with the dependent claims.

Thanks to this combination of characteristics, the supply of lysine necessary to activate the action of the mTG-ase will be performed directly in the mixing phase of the raw materials and without the need to resort to bio-engineered flours. Consequently, it will be possible to use raw materials that are easily available and therefore cheaper and that will keep the rheological characteristics unaltered, in order to allow the workability of the product.

In fact, the gluten mesh of the flour will not be altered and therefore the dough obtained from the processing of the semi-finished product will have optimal elasticity and resistance to allow it to be processed in traditional plants.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the process according to the invention will become more evident in the light of the detailed description of some of their preferred but not exclusive embodiments of a process according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example with the aid of the accompanying tables drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the method;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a second preferred embodiment of the method.

Detailed description of some preferred embodiments With reference to the aforementioned figures, a process for the preparation of semifinished food products based on flour is illustrated, which can be suitably processed in one or more further successive steps in order to obtain baked goods or other food products such as pasta or similar, dedicated to the nutrition of individuals suffering from celiac disease or various conditions linked to the ingestion of gluten (eg gluten-sensitivity). The stages of final treatment of the semi-finished product, such as portioning, storage, cooking, packaging, freezing and all the steps necessary to have a product suitable for consumption are not described as they do not limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

Fig. 1 illustrates a first method of carrying out the invention which essentially comprises a step a) of preparing a predetermined quantity of a vegetable flour containing gluten or a mixture of vegetable flours, at least one of which containing gluten, in proportions and variable quantities according to the recipe.

Further ingredients and in particular one or more solid and / or liquid phases are subsequently added to the flour or mixture of flours (phase a0) in order to obtain a semi-finished dough (phase b).

Also in this case, of course, the choice of the other components may be highly variable depending on the product to be obtained.

An element with trans-glutaminase activity will then be added to the dough (phase c), which can be added directly to the dough or introduced together with the other ingredients. The element with trans-glutaminase activity may be of bacterial origin.

The semi-finished product is then added (phase d) with at least one source of lysine suitable to cooperate with the element having trans-glutaminase activity to neutralize the antigenic QXP sites of gluten by trans-amidation and obtain a product suitable for consumption by subjects suffering from celiac disease or other diseases or discomforts related to the consumption of gluten.

The source of lysine, or one or more of the provided lysine sources, may be:

a) a biological or cellular lysate obtained from the treatment, with mechanical or physical methods, of an organism containing lysine, such as microorganisms of fungal or chlorophytic origin (green microalgae), with specific reference to strains not considered pathogenic for humans, even producing nisin, (by way of example but NOT exhaustively: Saccharomyces spp., Schizosaccharomyces spp., Saccharomycopsis spp., Lactobacillus spp., Leuconostoc spp., Pediococcus spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Ruminocacteren sppomon spp. Chlamydomonas spp., Chlorella spp., Chlorobium spp., Chlorococcum spp., Spirulina spp., Volvox spp., Spyrogyra spp., Cytophaga spp., Rhodobacter spp., Rhodopseudomonas spp., Rhodospirillum spp., Rhodomicrobium spp. ., Flavobacterium spp., Desulfuromonas spp., Thiobacillus spp., Paracoccus spp., Sorangium spp., Rhizobium spp., Agrobacterium spp.); this extract or lysate can be added as it is or as a supernatant or as a dry residue.

Furthermore, one of the sources of lysine provided may include the addition of:

a) a vegetable flour rich in lysine abigine (by way of example but NOT exhaustive: soy flour, legume flour, buckwheat flour, quinoa flour, nut flour, etc…);

b) a protein substance rich in lysine (eg extract, or fraction) derived from foods and by-products of milk and eggs.

c) Nisin (E234), both exogenous and naturally produced by non-pathogenic bacterial strains (eg Lactobacillus spp.)

In the example of Fig. 1, the suitably predisposed microorganism (phase e0) is subjected to a cold sonication treatment (phase e) aimed at carrying out the lysis of the cell wall for the generation of the cell lysate, which will guarantee the supply of lysine necessary for the functioning of mTG-ase in its masking action of the QXP antigenic sites of gluten.

Lysate preparation process

The lysate is obtained by the action of physical or mechanical methods for a variable time on the culture of microorganisms immersed in a basin of cold water, which has the function of cooling the medium.

The sonication phase e) is followed by a centrifugation phase f) necessary to separate (phase g) the supernatant from the solid sediment which can be collected separately (phase h) and possibly removed (phase i), while the supernatant or the same residue will be introduced into the dough (phase d).

The set of steps of mechanical treatment of the microorganisms can be performed at the same time as the preparation of the mixture or before it.

In the latter case it will be advisable to provide for a cooling phase of the lysate at a temperature below 0ºC, preferably close to -20ºC, to prevent hydrolysis reactions, and the lysate will be kept cooled until it is added to the semi-finished product or mixture.

Before inserting the source of lysine into the dough, it can be added (step j) by means of additional adjuvants such as a source of papain purified and crystallized as a single enzyme or as a recombined enzyme in order to exploit its transamidase capacity through the variation of the pH of the medium, in the range of values between 5.7 and 7.5 and in particular its ability to hydrolyze the proteins of the supernatant derived from the mechanical treatment and favor its reaction with the transglutaminase contained in the sediment.

A further additive may consist of a source of at least one of the 1,3beta-glucanase enzyme, and the enzyme chitinase of class II and III, for example fresh papaya juice or any nature or species based on papaya, al in order to release the transglutaminase activity (PNG-asi) of the centrifuged fraction of the cell wall of the microorganism, following the degradation of the cell wall promoted by these enzymes.

Further additives for the lysate may be non-toxic reducing agents selected from the group comprising sorbic acid, benzoic acid, sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, calcium metabisulfite, ascorbic acid, citric acid, tartaric acid, L-cysteine, L-cysteine hydrochloride, L- cysteine hydrochloride monohydrate, and similar agents designed to reactivate the PNG-asic activity of the cell wall of the microorganism.

The mixture thus obtained will be subjected to one or more subsequent accessory phases, such as a phase k) of rest for a predetermined time, for example 60 minutes, a phase l) of re-kneading with the possible addition of yeast (phase l0), a possible leavening phase m) in the event that the semi-finished product is intended for the production of bakery products, a portion n) phase, and further cooking phases o) or other preservation process aimed at obtaining the product P ready for consumption and / or to the sale.

Fig. 2 illustrates a second method of carrying out the process which differs from the one described above essentially in that step e) of sonication of the lysine source is replaced by a mechanical centrifugation treatment, for example by means of a mechanical homogenizer piston, in order to release the lysine useful for the enzymatic reaction and also to supply the component of the wall with trans-glutaminase activity, in place of the external supplementation of trans-glutaminase of bacterial origin, or in partial addition of the share of transglutaminase external itself.

The treatment of the supernatant with papain has the task of hydrolyzing the proteins of the supernatant making them more easily available to the reaction of the mTG-ase contained, instead, in the sediment which, therefore, will also be suitably introduced into the mixture. From the foregoing it is clear that the process according to the invention achieves the intended purposes.

The process described above is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations. All the details can be replaced by other technically equivalent elements, and the materials can be different according to the needs, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Although the process has been described with particular reference to the attached figures, the reference numbers used in the description and in the claims are used to improve the intelligence of the invention and do not constitute any limitation to the scope of protection claimed.

Claims (1)

Claims 1. A process for the preparation of flour-based semi-finished food products, comprising the following steps: a) preparation of a predetermined quantity of one or more vegetable flours, of which at least one flour containing gluten; b) making a mixture based on said vegetable flour together with an element with transglutaminase activity and a source of lysine of bacterial, fungal, vegetable and / or animal origin, in which said mixture is in the solid or liquid phase; c) composition of a mixture by adding water; 2. Process according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the element containing lysine is a lysate obtained by physical or mechanical methods or a natural component to be mixed into powder. 3. Process according to claim 2, characterized in that said microorganism is selected from the group comprising Saccharomyces spp .; Schizosaccharomyces spp .; Saccharomycopsis spp .; Lactobacillus spp .; Leuconostoc spp .; Pediococcus spp; Bifidobacterium spp .; Ruminococcus spp .; Selenomonas spp .; Glucobacter spp .; Chlamydomonas spp .; Chlorella spp .; Chlorobium spp .; Chlorococcum spp .; Spirulina spp .; Volvox spp .; Spyrogyra spp .; Cytophaga spp .; Rhodobacter spp .; Rhodopseudomonas spp .; Rhodospirillum spp .; Rhodomicrobium spp .; Desulfovibrium spp .; Flavobacterium spp .; Desulfuromonas spp .; Thiobacillus spp .; Paracoccus spp .; Sorangium spp .; Rhizobium spp .; Agrobacterium spp. 4. Process according to claim 2, characterized in that said powder component is selected from: a) a vegetable flour rich in lysine ab origins, such as soy flour, legume flour, buckwheat flour, quinoa flour, nut meal and the like; b) a protein substance rich in lysine, possibly in the form of an extract, derived from food and milk and egg by-products; c) Nisin (E234), both exogenous and naturally produced by non-pathogenic bacterial strains, such as Lactobacillus spp. 5. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said source of lysine is chosen from: a) compounds and elements containing and / or producing nisin, such as non-pathogenic strains of Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Ruminococcus spp, Bacillus spp., Carnobacterium spp., Halobacterium spp., Actinoplanes spp., Kluyveromycon spp. . and Lactobacillus spp. b) a vegetable flour rich in lysine ab origins, such as soy flour, legume flour, buckwheat flour, quinoa flour, nut flour and the like; c) a protein substance rich in lysine, possibly in the form of an extract, derived from foods and by-products of milk and eggs. d) Nisin (E234), both exogenous and naturally produced by non-pathogenic bacterial strains, such as Lactobacillus spp. 6. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said microorganism is subjected to a physical or mechanical treatment suitable for carrying out the lysis of the cell for the generation of a cellular lysate, also carried out by means of a cooling step of the lysate to a temperature below 0ºC, preferably close to -20ºC to prevent hydrolysis reactions, said phase being carried out until the addition of the lysate in the semi-finished product. 7. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that said source of lysine is subjected to a mechanical centrifugation or homogenization treatment, capable of providing at least partially said element with trans-glutaminase activity, or used as such in the solid phase or liquid. 8. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said element with trans-glutaminase activity is at least partially of bacterial origin. 9. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact of providing a step of adding a source of papain purified and crystallized as a single enzyme, suitable for hydrolyzing the proteins of the supernatant derived from the mechanical treatment, favoring its reaction with the transglutaminase contained in the sediment and / or a step of adding a source of at least one of the enzyme 1,3-beta-glucanase, and the enzyme chitinase of class II and III, to release the transglutaminase activity of the centrifuged fraction of the cell wall of said fungal microorganism, in the form of fresh juice or of any papaya-based nature or species. 10. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a step for adding to the lysate of non-toxic reducing agents selected from the group comprising sorbic acid, benzoic acid, sodium metabisulfite, potassium metabisulfite, calcium metabisulfite, ascorbic acid, citric acid , tartaric acid, L-cysteine, L-cysteine hydrochloride, L-cysteine hydrochloride monohydrate, and similar agents designed to reactivate the PNG-asic activity of the cell wall of the microorganism.