BE1027921B1 - Flavor creation process to neutralize/mask the unpleasant notes of functional ingredients - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to the development of a flavor creation process to neutralize/mask the unpleasant tones of functional ingredients. In this method of preparation, the ingredients with "off-notes", which contribute to the unpleasant taste and smell, are selected separately, neutralizing/masking them and keeping the ingredients with positive taste properties authentically. Thus, the amount of additives with regard to taste is greatly reduced. In this way a premix is created with an authentic and pleasant smell, taste and mouthfeel without off-notes with a minimum of additives. This premix can be further processed in the preparation of functional foods, nutraceuticals and food supplements such as powders, syrups, drinks, gels, gummies, bars, tablets, capsules, chewing gum, and all kinds of functional food preparations.

Description

TASTE CREATI ON PROCESS TO NEUTRALIZE/MASK THE UNSAFE TONES OF FUNCTIONAL INGREDIENTS In recent years, convenience, health and well-being have been key factors in the development of new foods and beverages.

Meal replacement shakes, energy bars and sports drinks are well known to most consumers.

Convenience food is also increasingly being given a healthy touch. “Convenience” literally means the easy way in which one does something with minimal effort and effort.

Consumers are becoming more and more aware of the possible health values of specific nutrients. Numerous products are being reformulated to provide better nutritional value with healthy ingredients, fewer calories, more fiber, less fat, lower carbohydrates and more protein. And it is imperative that they meet the specific requirements for general flavor profiles and end products.

This is how we arrive at the concept of 'functional foods'. Functional foods or functional foods, also used in Dutch, are expressions for foodstuffs that, in addition to nutrients, also contain other potentially health-promoting ingredients.

The term covers whole foods as well as fortified foods (foods with an additional additive) and food supplements.

In addition to functional food, where an ingredient has been added or removed to improve the health value of that product, performance-enhancing ingredients are also added to functional sports nutrition, such as caffeine, creatine, beta-alanine, etc...

A nutraceutical is a functional food with a health claim.

Valid claims and the respective ingredients: EU Register of nutrition and health claims made on foods: ls et. europe eu/food/Satetv/labellino Auliition/caimetrecisler/publio/Tevents In addition to functional food, there are also nutritional supplements. In addition to a normal diet, nutritional supplements are being developed, which are concentrated sources of nutrients (or other substances) with a nutritional or physiological effect. Such dietary supplements may be marketed in "dose" form, such as pills, tablets, capsules, gummies, instant powders, gels, liquids in measured doses, syrups, etc. These products are covered by the EU Directive 2002/46/EC. This trend creates new challenges for making products that meet the requirements in terms of taste experience and composition. In its current formulation, taste is no longer an afterthought. It is second only to the unique composition of the product. Context Often the addition of functional components creates unpleasant tastes.

Unpleasant tones (= off notes) such as excessively salty, sour, bitter, astringent, metallic, etc. - require delicate adjustments.

One of the biggest challenges in flavoring functional foods, nutraceuticals and supplements is finding solutions that maintain a product's natural, clean-label positioning.

Natural, organic solutions are hard to come by compared to hassle-free, artificial flavor options.

A consumer's taste experience is not only based on the actual taste of the product; it also concerns the smell and texture of the product. A combination of all three factors determines the consumer experience.

Today there are various masking agents on the market, but there is no "one-fits-all" masking agent. Often synthetic masking agents are so strong that they destroy the natural taste, as it were. Today's consumers want to be able to taste the inherent ingredients to some extent. Otherwise, they will simply consider the product not authentic.

To keep up with consumer demand for health, convenience and good taste, a multidimensional approach is necessary.

So it's important to find the right balance and identify specific natural flavor components that serve as a tool to blend and enhance the core of flavor profiles, while neutralizing the off-notes and reducing or reducing the lingering aftertaste. even completely eliminated.

Flavor components are ingredients that have little or no taste or smell of their own, but complement, enhance or otherwise alter the taste of another food product.

They can - improve the overall taste, - change the character of off-flavors,

- enhance the desired taste, - or inhibit the effect of undesired flavours.

There are many flavor ingredients and combinations for flavor components.

However, it is important to understand that there is no single universal ingredient that can solve all taste problems.

There is no single magical ingredient that can solve everything.

The taste components for the different off notes - described as excessively salty, sour, bitter, astringent, metallic, etc. - are different.

On the contrary, the solution for neutralizing undesirable taste tones in food and beverage systems is based on the right combination of different flavor ingredients/components on the one hand and on the respective production process and/or preparation method on the other.

Flavor components work in different ways depending on what they neutralize and the food application.

Most commercial flavor components are complex mixtures of modification.

This can work in several ways such as, for example - a combination of inhibitors and enhancers that target an undesirable taste characteristic by providing different sensations (taste modifying), - or by competing with specific receptors (taste suppression). - or by enhancing other flavors (flavor enhancers). Taste is both psychological and physiological and of all times.

It is important to remember that taste receptors are also partly a self-defense mechanism against potential dangers.

They are nature's way of telling you not to eat poisonous foods, as rotten foods, poisonous plants, and taxi chemicals often taste bitter or sour.

Masking taste is embedded in our culture.

For example, sweeteners have been used for centuries to mask any bitterness or sourness.

Just think of sugar or honey in tea or coffee.

Another example is the low-fat craze at the end of the last century.

Most fat-free salad dressings were particularly sweet because the oil in traditional salad dressings softens the sour taste of vinegar; When the oil was removed, the formulators often disguised the sour taste of vinegar with sweeteners.

Specific foods become mainstream Ingredients and technologies that enhance the taste of food have always played an important role in food formulation.

With the increasing consumer demand for diet products, ready meals, natural ingredients, functional, sports and wellness foods, there is a great pressure on food manufacturers to make the above-mentioned contemporary offerings tasty and delicious.

In the past, nutraceuticals were mainly offered in professional centers for athletes, fitness centers, slimming and wellness centers. This market segment is expanding to the ordinary consumer, who is paying more and more attention to anti-aging, physical and mental health.

The consumers for nutraceuticals can be divided into different groups: - Bodybuilders and professional athletes, - Recreational athletes, - The 'life-style' consumer, i.e. the consumer who pays attention to physical and mental health. Regardless of group, age or social class, sensory qualities are essential for successful market penetration in everyone. Background of the Invention Taste is always a challenging piece of the formulation puzzle. Functional foods, nutritional supplements and nutraceuticals contain a variety of functional ingredients that can impart off flavors and textures such as over-acid, off-taste, bitterness, chalky, astringent and metallic notes.

Finding a solution for different tastes is also a challenge because taste is subjective. For example, bitter taste is a positive characteristic for some consumers regardless of the product, while others find it attractive only in specific products such as coffee or dark chocolate. Some find any bitterness completely unappealing.

There is no single magical ingredient that can solve everything. Flavoring therefore requires a multidimensional approach in several steps.

This invention relates to the development of an effective method of preparation of functional foods, nutraceuticals and nutritional supplements in which the ingredients with “off-notes” that contribute to the unpleasant taste and odor are selected and neutralized/masked separately and in which the ingredients with positive taste properties are authentically preserved. In this way, a premix is created that is subsequently further processed in the preparation of functional foods, nutraceuticals and food supplements such as powders, syrups, drinks, gels, gummies, bars, tablets, capsules, chewing gum, and all kinds of functional food preparations. One of the key challenges a formulator faces is understanding what exactly needs to be masked while preserving authenticity while maintaining a product's natural, clean-label positioning. Disclosure of the Invention The invention for the taste enhancement system is specific for use in the manufacturing process of functional foods, nutraceuticals and nutritional supplements. The invention involves the creation of a premix in which the ingredients with “off-notes”, which contribute to the unpleasant taste and smell, are separately selected to be neutralized / masked (in terms of taste and smell) and in which the ingredients with positive taste properties are authentically preserved.

The perceived taste of a food or drink results from the combined perception of aroma, taste and mouthfeel due to the stimulation of receptors in the oral and nasal cavities (Ney, 1988; Taylor et al, 2003).

From the point of view of taste experience, aroma, taste and mouthfeel are defined as follows: * Aroma or smell is the feeling that arises from the interaction of volatile components with receptors in the nose. To reach the receptors in the nose, aroma compounds must be volatile.

« Taste is the feeling created by the interaction of components with receptors in the mouth or by blocking components with off notes so that there is no perception of a bad taste.

« Mouthfeel covers the tactile sensations, the sensations that can be perceived by touch, such as texture and temperature. Unlike taste, which is the result of interactions with components, mouthfeel is the result of physical interactions.

The Invention This invention relates to the flavor creation process of functional foods, nutraceuticals and nutritional supplements. Smell, taste and mouthfeel are important here.

Explanation of the drawing.

1) Recipe: collect all ingredients and their respective quantities. Recipe = In = (total of ingredients=11+12+13..) 2) Separating: Each ingredient is tasted separately by a sensory panel. Perform a threshold test and odor test for each ingredient. The selection and training of a sensory panel for difference testing and descriptive sensory testing is described in ISO standards 8586-1:1993 and 8586-2:2008.

3) Breaking down the ingredients/functional components with off-notes.

4) Breaking down the ingredients/functional components without any off-notes.

5) Sampling: preparing samples for analysis for each individual ingredient.

6) Analysis: of each sample by mass spectrometry. This analyzes and identifies the different flavor and volatile compounds.

7) Identification: of the molecules responsible for the off-notes.

8) Neutralization: aromatic masking of the respective molecule with off-notes. (Using data and flavor mapping.) 9) Blending: Of all ingredients with off-notes and their neutralizing aromatic masking. This is done with a powder mixer under controlled conditions where temperature, humidity and relative pressure are regulated. This will be mix A.

10) Screening: The resulting mixture (mix A) in step 9 is screened. A vibrating sieve is used for this. (varying from 0.2-3.3 to 10 mm) 11) Mixing: Mix A goes into a mixer (type not important) again after sieving until the mixture is homogeneous.

12) Fixing: Mix A goes into airtight containers to allow flavor and aroma to mix and set. The duration of this maturing process depends on the components used and varies between 4 hours and 72 hours.

13) Sieving: Mix A is re-sieved after the fixation/maturation process. (To ensure that the quality of the mix is not compromised by secondary agglomeration or oversized particles).

14) Mixing: all ingredients without off-notes are mixed until a homogeneous mixture (= Mix B) 15) Sifting: The resulting mixture (mix B) is sieved. A vibrating sieve is used for this. (ranging from 0.2-3.3 to 10mm)

16) Mixing: Mix A and Mix B are mixed to a homogeneous mixture (premix). 17)QC: HACCP and cGMP quality control.

Testing and analysis: chemical, microbiological, nutritional values, … 18) Tasting: The premix is tasted by the sensory panel (identical to step 2). 19) If the taste test of step 18 is found to be positive, the premix is packaged. 20) The premix is now ready for further use in functional food. 21) The taste test of step 18 is found negative. 22)The premix goes back to research and development so that it can be the subject of further research and improvement.

Claims (3)

Conclusion of the invention A method for preparing functional foods, nutraceuticals and food supplements, wherein these contain ingredients with an unpleasant taste and/or odor, the method comprising: - creating a premix; - selecting the ingredients in the premix that contribute to the unpleasant taste and smell, and - neutralizing/masking the taste and/or smell of these ingredients, whereby the taste and/or smell of the ingredients with positive taste properties becomes authentic preserve. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the premix is subsequently processed in the preparation of functional foods, nutraceuticals and food supplements. A method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the functional food, nutraceuticals and nutritional supplements are selected from the group of powders, syrups, drinks, gels, gummies, bars, tablets, capsules and chewing gum.