WO2013087729A1

WO2013087729A1 - Dairy dessert composition

Info

Publication number: WO2013087729A1
Application number: PCT/EP2012/075299
Authority: WO
Inventors: Theodora PANAGIOTOU; Emmanuelle FLORENTIN; Jean-Emmanuel Serre
Original assignee: Nestec S.A.
Priority date: 2011-12-14
Filing date: 2012-12-12
Publication date: 2013-06-20

Abstract

The invention relates to a non oven-cooked dairy dessert composition, which is devoid of eggs and comprises a stabilizing composition containing caseinate, a cellulose component and at least one hydrocolloid, and to a process for preparing it.

Description

DAIRY DESSERT COMPOSITION

The invention relates to a stable non oven-cooked dairy dessert composition which is devoid of eggs a nd com prises a stabilizing com position containi ng casei nate, a cell ulose component and at least one hydrocolloid.

Oven-cooked m i l k food com positions co nta i ni ng eggs, such as, for i nsta nce egg entremets or milk desserts, which may be flavoured, are generally based on whole eggs and cream. Texture may be improved by adding thickening and /or gelling agents. The optimum shelf life of this type of product is of 30 days at chilled conditions (<6°C).

The egg content of the com position plays a n i m porta nt pa rt i n textu re, whi le it necessarily implies cooking at high temperature, above 75°C, for at least 20 minutes in order to obta i n the desired texture. From an economica l viewpoint, oven-cooki ng involves a high consumption of energy and a subsequent significant cooling treatment if the container to be filled with the cooked milk food composition cannot stand high temperature, such as plastic containers. Such therma l treatment also i nvolves using specific pieces of equipment a nd fulfilling hygiene requirements for this equipment.

U p to now, efforts have been made with respect to decreasing the egg content or increasing the content in texturing agents, which does not avoid the oven-cooking step.

EP 2 010 007 discloses a cooked milk food composition with a reduced egg content and comprising pectin. The addition of pectin in combination with a thermal treatment (cooking at a temperature above 70 °C) allows significantly decreasing the egg content while maintaining the desired texture at the end of the cooking.

However, the addition of pectin does not avoid cooking, nor does it avoid using eggs, though in lower amount.

EP 2 181 603 relates to a shelf stable hot-aerated dairy product containing a stabilizer system comprising at least two gums, where one gum is gelatine, or at least three gums, where one gum is either gelatine and the other is carrageenan and the remaining gums are different. Gelatine or a gelatine-like substance is required to maintain the aerated structure at high temperatures and to separate the air cells trapped within the matrix as the product cools, in order to avoid that the structure collapses. The preparation process also includes an acidifying step at a pH of 3.7 to 4.6. There is thus a need for a dairy dessert composition which, though devoid of eggs, may provide the desired texture and organoleptic properties without oven-cooking (similar to those of a chilled oven-cooked cream dessert).

It would be advantageous to provide a non oven-cooked dairy dessert composition with texture and organoleptic properties similar to those of a conventional oven-cooked cream dessert, and that may be stored and remain stable at ambient temperature, namely without any phase separation or undesired softening of the texture.

It has now been found that the use of a stabilizing composition containing caseinate, a cellulose component and at least one hydrocolloid in a dairy dessert composition allows both avoiding the presence of eggs and the need for oven-cooking, while maintaining the texture usually obtained when using oven- cooking: same gel force and dynamic viscosity.

The invention thus relates to a stable non oven-cooked dairy dessert composition which is devoid of eggs and comprises a stabilizing composition containing caseinate, a cellulose component and at least one hydrocolloid.

Advantageously a dairy dessert composition according to the invention can be stored at ambient temperature (up to 30°C) for at least 3 months without any destabilization of the firmness or of the creamy and homogeneous texture, nor of the taste, while ensuring microbiological safety. Alternatively the dairy dessert composition according to the invention can be stored at chilled temperature (e.g. a temperature from 2°C to 10°C, e.g. from 4°C to 8°C) for 1-12 months. In particular, the dairy dessert composition is not frozen.

The dairy dessert composition according to the invention is ready-to-eat, without need of an oven-cooking step, neither during industrial production, nor by the consumer.

As used herein "caseinate" relates to a salt of casein protein with a base. Salts with alkali metals (such as, for example, sodium or potassium) or alkaline-earth metals (such as calcium) are suitable to the invention. "Casein protein" means all members of the milk fraction designated caseins, comprising alpha-, beta-, gamma- kappa- and lambda-caseins, and their mixtures, either synthetic or natural, in particular originating from milk cow. Sodium caseinate is preferred.

The cellulose component may contain for example methylcellulose, hydroxymethylcellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, cellulose gum, or any mixture thereof. Preferably the cellulose component may be selected from carboxymethylcellulose, cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, cellulose gum, or any mixture thereof. In a preferred embodiment the cellulose component is microcrystalline cellulose.

The hydrocolloid used in the stabilizing composition can be selected, for example, from ca rrageenan, guar gum, locust bean gum, a lginates, pectins, xa ntha n gum, starch and their mixtures.

Starch may be native or modified, and may be selected from wheat starch, potato starch, corn starch, sweet potato starch, tapioca starch, cassava starch, sago starch and rice starch.

U nless otherwise stated, "wt%" is understood with respect to the tota l weight of ingredients.

Preferably, the stabilizing composition amounts to 1 to 6 wt%, preferably 1 to 3 wt% with respect to the tota l weight of ingredients. I n pa rticula r, the sta bilizing com position comprises

- 1 to 3 wt% of caseinate

- 0.2 to 2 wt% of hydrocolloid, and

- 0.1 to 2.0 wt% of cellulose component,

with respect to the total weight of ingredients.

A preferred hydrocolloid is carrageenan, or carrageenan and starch.

A preferred cellulose component contains cellulose gum and cellulose.

The composition according to the invention preferably comprises approximately 50 to

80 wt% of a milk-based component.

By "milk-based component" is meant at least one component selected from whole milk, skimmed milk or partially skimmed milk, optionally reconstituted from milk powder, and cream.

Preferably, the total fat content of the composition according to the invention is lower than 20wt%, more preferably not more than 15 wt%, for instance from about 5wt% to about 15wt% based on the weight of the dairy composition.

The composition according to the invention may also contain usual ingredients of dairy dessert com positions such as ca rbohyd rates, in pa rticula r sucrose or fructose, vegeta l ingredients, such as cocoa, vegetable fat (cocoa butter, palm oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, ra peseed oil), natura l or a rtificial colouring agents, natura l or a rtificial flavouring agents, sweeteners, inclusions such as dried or candied fruit pieces, citrus peels, nut pieces, etc. The composition may a lso contain one or more food additives, such as thickeni ng and/or gelling agents, such as, for example, gelatine. Suitable food additives are disclosed, for example, in EP 2 010 007.

The invention also relates to a process for obtaining a stable non oven-cooked dairy dessert composition as disclosed above.

- prepa ri ng a m ixtu re conta i ni ng a m i l k-based com ponent a nd a sta bi lizi ng com position containing at least one hydrocolloid, caseinate and cellulose component,

- adjusting the pH within the range of 6.0 to 8.0

- submitting said mixture to homogenization at a temperature of 70°C to 95°C under pressure, for example at 100 bars, and

- sterilizing the mixture, for example at 140°C for at least 10s.

Filling can then be performed, preferably aseptically, after cooling to a temperature of, for instance, 60°C to 90 °C.

pH adjustment is performed by addition of a basis, such as, for exa m ple, sodi um hydroxide. Preferably, the final pH of the composition is of 6.0 to 8.0, preferably 6.5 to 7.5.

Advantageously, in comparison to a sta nda rd ove n-cooked milk food compositions containing eggs, no pasteurization step is needed. In a standard composition containing eggs a pasteurization step is required after the addition of the egg. Whereas, in the process of the invention all of the ingredients are simply homogenized at elevated temperature (e.g. 70°C to 95°C) and pressure, followed by sterilization (e.g. for 10-60 seconds, e.g. around 30 seconds). The simplification of the process and avoidance of the oven-cooking step thus provide clear advantages in terms of reduction of production costs, as does the avoidance of egg ingredient.

The examples below illustrate the invention, without limiting it. Example 1

The following composition (Table 1) was prepared for making a chocolate non-oven cooked cream dessert: Table 1

The following process is used:

All ingredients are mixed at 50°C-60°C, and pH is adjusted to approximately 6.8-7.5 by sodium hydroxide. The mixture is stored under stirring and then heated at a temperature of 75°C to 95°C under a pressure of 100 bars.

The mixture is then su bmitted to steri lization at 140°C for 30 s. After cooling, the mixture is filled into cups under hot conditions (70-90°C)

An homogeneous non oven cooked chocolate dessert was obtained with the following characteristics:

- dry matter content (wt%): 34%

- fat content (wt%): 10%

- pH: 6.5-7.5

- water activity (Aw): approx. 0.98

- protein content (wt%): 4,7%

- texture and consistency: the product is considered smooth, with a thick and sticky texture and a thick fat coating layer.

Texture characteristics of a commercial oven cooked dessert and of the composition of exa m ple 1 were determi ned by penetrometry a nd dynamic viscosity measurements. For penetrometry measurements, a Texture Analyser, TAXT2I is used. For the dynamic viscosity measurements, the rheometer Anton Paar was used at a speed of 100s ¹ with two plates of a geometry 50mm.

The results are shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2

The results show that at 8°C, the composition of exam ple 2 has a gel force which is comparable to that of the commercial product.

At 25 °C, the gel force is slightly lower than that of the commercial product, while the dynamic viscosity is similar.

Example 2

The following composition (Table 3) was prepared according to the process of example 1 for making a non oven cooked milk cream dessert.

Table 3

Ingredients Example 2 (wt%)

Fresh full fat milk 69.000

Crystal sugar 13.000

Carrageenan 0.5

Starch 1.5000

Milk cream 10.000

Sodium caseinate 1.000

microcrystalline cellulose 1.000

Skimmed milk powder 4.000

TOTAL 100.00 An homogeneous non oven cooked milk cream dessert was obtained with the following characteristics:

- dry matter content (wt%): 33%

- fat content (wt%): 6.5%

- pH: 6.5-7.5

- water activity (Aw): approx. 0.98

- protein content (wt%): 4.8%

- texture and consistency: the product is considered smooth, with a thick and sticky texture and an thick fat coating.

Claims

1. A non oven-cooked dairy dessert composition, which is devoid of eggs and comprises a stabilizing composition containing caseinate, a cellulose component and at least one hydrocolloid.

2. The composition according to claim 1, characterized in that the hydrocolloid is selected from carrageenan, guar gum, locust bean gum, alginates, pectins , xanthan gum, starch or a mixture thereof.

3. The composition according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the cellulose component is selected from carboxymethylcellulose, cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, cellulose gum, or a mixture thereof.

4. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the stabilizing composition amounts to 1 to 6 wt%, preferably 1 to 3 wt% with respect to the total weight of ingredients.

5. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the stabilizing composition comprises 1 to 3 % of caseinate, 0.2 to 2% of hydrocolloid, and 0.1 to 2

% of cellulose component, with respect to the total weight of ingredients.

6. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the hydrocolloid is carrageenan, or carrageenan and starch.

7. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the cellulose component contains cellulose gum and cellulose.

8. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 7 characterized in that it contains approximately 50 to 80 wt% of a milk-based component.

9. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 8 characterized in that it has a total fat content lower than 20wt%, preferably lower than 15wt%.

10. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 9 characterized in that it has final pH of 6.0 to 8.0, preferably of 6.5 to 7.5.

11. A process for obtaining a shelf stable non oven-cooked dairy dessert composition according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising

- preparing a mixture containing a milk-based component and a stabilizing composition containing caseinate, a cellulose component and at least one hydrocolloid.

- adjusting the pH within the range of 6.0 to 8.0

- submitting said mixture to homogenization at a temperature of 70°C to 95°C under pressure,

- and, sterilizing the mixture.

12. The process according to claim 11, characterized in that the hydrocolloid is selected from carrageenan, guar gum, locust bean gum, alginates, pectins , xanthan gum, starch or a mixture thereof.

13. The process according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the cellulose component is selected from carboxymethylcellulose, cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose , cellulose gum, and their mixtures.

14. The process according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that the stabilizing composition amounts to 1 to 6 wt%, preferably 1 to 3 wt% with respect to the total weight of ingredients.

15. The process according to any one of 11 to 14, characterized in that the stabilizing composition comprises 1 to 3 % of caseinate, 0.2 to 2% of hydrocolloid, and 0.3 to 1 % of cellulose component, with respect to the total weight of ingredients.

16. The process according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that after sterilization, filling is performed, preferably aseptically, at a temperature of 60 to 90°C.