FI20205632A1

FI20205632A1 - Method of producing seed chips from berries and seed chips

Info

Publication number: FI20205632A1
Application number: FI20205632A
Authority: FI
Inventors: Susanna Muurinen
Original assignee: Minby Oy
Priority date: 2020-06-16
Filing date: 2020-06-16
Publication date: 2021-12-17
Also published as: FI129838B

Abstract

A method for producing seed chips from a berry pulp, and a seed chips manufactured by the method. In the method, a berry pulp is dried and ground, and the seed chips are manufactured by cold pressing a powder of the dried berry pulp.

Description

METHOD OF PRODUCING SEED CHIPS FROM BERRIES AND SEED

CHIPS Field of the invention The invention relates to a method of producing seed chips from berries according to the enclosed independent claim, and seed chips produced by the method. Background of the invention Juices from berries can be produced in different ways, but one of the most common method is pressing of the berries. During juice manufacture the berries are crushed and pressed, where after the juice is separated for further use. Pectinolytic enzymes are currently used in industrial berry processing to facilitate juice extraction. With these enzymes, the cell wall network is disrupted and consequently the juice yield is enhanced. Juices can be pressed from the berries with or without enzyme treatment. Typically, the pressing of the berries is a cold pressing method carried out with a hydraulic press. Irrespective of the pressing method, a part of the berries remains unused in industrial juice production as a so-called a juice press residue or a berry press cake. Typically, a juice press residue from juice manufacture is a waste material which is composted. However, a part of the berry juice, and also seeds of the berries and other nutrients leave in the juice press residue and S hence it is also interesting to find ways to utilize a juice press residue in other N products. Especially, seeds contain seed oil, which contains several fatty O acids that are important to humans. O 30 I Summary of the invention a & It is an object of the present invention to present a method for producing S seed chips from a berry pulp comprising crushed berries, berry seeds and a I 35 — juice from the berries.

An object of the present invention is specially to present a method for utilizing and reprocessing a juice press residue from the production of the berry juices. An object of the invention is to reduce the amount of the waste produced in the processing of the berry juices.

Further, an object of the present invention is to provide an edible product, which comprises nutrients from seeds of the berries, such as extracted seed oil.

In order to achieve among others the objects presented above, the invention is characterized by what is presented in the characterizing parts of the enclosed independent claims.

The embodiments and advantages mentioned in this text relate, where applicable, both to the method, the as well as to the uses according to the invention, even though it is not always specifically mentioned.

A typical method of producing seed chips from berries, which seed chips comprise seed oil, comprises at least the following steps —- obtaining a berry pulp comprising crushed berries, berry seeds and a berry juice and having a juice concentration of 40 — 70 weight-% from the total weight of the berry pulp, - drying the berry pulp, - grinding the dried berry pulp to form a powder having a particle size of less than 1.5mm, and - cold pressing the obtained powder, preferably pressing by an oil press, to S form seed chips comprising crushed seeds and seed oil.

N O A berry pulp comprising crushed berries, berry seeds and a berry juice from O 30 the berries, used in the present method can be obtained in different ways. In I one preferred embodiment, a berry pulp used in a method according to the = present invention comprises a juice press residue from juice pressing of the & berries since high amounts of residues are formed in both enzymatic and S non-enzymatic juice processing of the berries. A juice press residue from S 35 juice pressing is preferred since in cold pressing of the berries all nutrients of the berries are remained mainly unchanged in the residue berry mass. Hence, the seed chips produced by the method according to the present invention comprises mainly all nutrients of the berries.

In addition, by the method according to the present invention most of the berry seeds are crushed, wherein a seed oil from the seeds is also a part of the seed chips.

A method according to the present invention comprises a cold pressing step of the chips, and hence the temperature does not elevate in the method of the present invention to the ranges which might affect detrimental to the nutrients.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method comprises at least the following steps - obtaining a juice press residue from juice pressing of the berries having a juice concentration of 40 — 70 weight-% from the total weight of the berry mass, - drying the juice press residue, - grinding the dried juice press residue to form a powder having a particle size of less than 1.5 mm, and - cold pressing the obtained powder by an oil press to form seed chips comprising crushed seeds and seed oil.

Seed chips according to the present invention are produced by the method according to the present invention.

Seed chips according to the present invention are dry chips or flakes which comprise crushed berry seeds and a seed oil.

A dry matter of the chips originates mainly from the dried berry juice and crushed seeds comprising fibers.

Seed chips of the present invention comprises seed oil, fibers and nutrients from the berries.

S Seed chips of the invention is used as edible products, especially for the N human consumption.

Seed chips are edible as such, or they can be used as O a raw material in baking and/or cooking.

O 30 I Description of the drawings a & The invention will be described in more detail with reference to appended S drawings, in which S 35 Figure 1 shows a flow chart of the method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and

Figure 2 — shows typical seed chips obtained by the method according to the present invention. Detailed description of the invention A raw material used in the method according to the present invention for producing seed chips can be any suitable berry pulp, which comprises crushed berries, berry seeds and a berry juice, wherein a juice concentration of the berry pulp is about 40 — 70 weight-% from the total weight of the berry pulp. In an embodiment according to the present invention, the juice concentration of the berry pulp is in the range of 40 — 60 weight-% from the total weight of the berry pulp. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a berry pulp comprises a juice press residue from juice pressing of the berries. In the present description, a juice press residue means a berry press cake from juice pressing of the berries. The terms a juice press residue and a berry press cake refer to the same berry pulp from juice pressing of the berries and can be used interchangeably. A juice press residue is a preferred raw material since substantially all nutrients of the berries are remain in the residue. A juice press residue can be used as such as a raw material in the method according to the present invention. In an embodiment according to the present invention, a juice press residue is obtained from cold pressing of the berries by a hydraulic press or the like. Typically, a juice press residue from the cold pressing of the berries comprises a juice, seeds of the berries and peels of the berries. From juice pressing with enzyme treatment, the amount S of the peels is lower since enzymes are broken down them.

O

N O A berry pulp or a juice press residue may comprise any suitable berries. A O 30 berry pulp or a juice press residue may comprise single berry species or it I may be a mixture of two or more different berry species and/or varieties. In = an embodiment according to the present invention, a juice press residue may & be originated from pressing of single berry species or it may be a mixture of S two or more different berry species and/or varieties. A method according to S 35 the present invention is suitable for a berry pulp or a juice press residue comprising hard-shelled berries and/or soft-shelled berries.

According to an embodiment of the present invention a berry pulp or a juice press residue may be originated from currants (Ribes), strawberries, wild strawberries, lingonberries, crowberries, bilberries, Northern bilberries, cloudberries, raspberries, arctic raspberries, cranberries, chokeberries and 5 any combination thereof.

In an exemplary embodiment, a berry pulp or a juice press residue originates from soft-shelled berries, such as strawberries.

In another exemplary embodiment, a berry pulp or a juice press residue originates from hard-shelled berries, such as currants (Ribes). Above- mentioned berry species are mentioned as an example and a method according to the present invention is also suitable for other berries.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a berry pulp originates from currants (Ribes). A berry pulp may originate from one species or variety of the currants or it may be a mixture of two or more different species and/or varieties.

In an embodiment according to the present invention, a berry mass comprises a juice press residue obtained from the juice pressing of currants (Ribes). The genus Ribes comprises the edible currants: blackcurrant, —redcurrant and white currant, as well as the gooseberry and several hybrid varieties.

According to an embodiment of the present invention a juice press residue is obtained from the juice pressing of blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum), redcurrant (Ribes rubrum), white currant, or any mixture of them.

Currants are particularly preferred, especially due to their richness in vitamin C and bioactive compounds, such as phenolics, that are linked with potential health-promoting properties.

Moreover, they are usually consumed in S processed forms such as juices and hence a juice press residue is available N as a raw material.

Further, currant seeds in particular contain oil, which O contains several fatty acids that are important to humans.

According to an O 30 embodiment of the present invention, the seed chips are currant seed chips, I such as blackcurrant seed chips produced by the method of the present - invention. 3 S In an embodiment of the present invention, the juice concentration of the S 35 berry pulp or the juice press residue is adjusted to the range of 40 — 70 % weight-%, preferably 40 — 60 weight-% from the total weight of the berry pulp/juice press residue by adding a juice or a mixture comprising juice and water to the berry pulp/juice press residue.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pressed juice from the juice pressing is added into the juice press residue for obtaining the juice press residue having a juice concentration in the range of 40 — 70 weight-%, calculated from the total weight of the juice press residue. In an embodiment according to the present invention, a juice concentration of the juice press residue obtained from the juice pressing is or it has been adjusted in the range of 40 — 70 weight-% or 40 — 60 weight-% from the total weight of the juice press residue. In some embodiments of the present invention, the juice concentration of the juice press residue obtained from the juice pressing is or it has been adjusted in the range of 40 — 50 weight-% or 50 — 60 weight-%, calculated from the total weight of the juice press residue. The range may be altered depending on the species and/or variety of the berries, and also depending on the pressing method. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a juice press residue may be obtained from juice pressing with or without enzyme treatment. Pectinolytic enzymes are currently used in industrial berry processing to enhance the yield of the juice from the berry mass. In a typically embodiment, juice yield is about 40-60 % from juice pressing of the berries, so there is still juice left in the juice press residue. Some of the berries may even be unbreakable. In the pressing of enzymatically treated berry pulp, about 70 - 80% of the juice is recovered and the berries are typically completely decomposed. Hence, the need for the addition of the juice or a mixture of the juice and water into the juice press residue is dependent on the pressing method. In an embodiment according S to the present invention, a juice press residue from the pressing of the N enzymatically treated berry pulp may require the addition of 30 - 40 % of the O juice or a mixture of the juice and water into the juice press residue before O 30 the drying step. If the juice concentration of the berry pulp or the juice press I residue is > 70 weight-%, the berry pulp is too wet for further drying steps, = since the juice will not be absorbed whole to the berry pulp and hence & hampers the drying step and also requires unnecessary drying. If the juice S concentration of the berry pulp or the juice press residue is < 40 weight-%, S 35 the dry matter is not obtained enough from the juice in the drying step, which dry matter is reguired for forming chips when the dried berry pulp powder is cold pressed in the method according to the present invention.

In a method according to the present invention, a berry pulp or a juice press residue is firstly dried. In an embodiment according to the present invention, a berry pulp or a juice press residue is dried at a temperature of less than 50 °C or less than 45 °C. In an embodiment according to the present invention, aberry pulp or a juice press residue is dried in the temperature of about 30 — 50 °C, preferably 35 — 45 °C, wherein the berry pulp or the juice press residue can be dried but the burning of it can be avoided. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the drying of the berry pulp or the juice press residue is carried out while a percentage of moisture of the dried berry — pulp/juice press residue is <15 %, preferably < 13 %, In some embodiments, a percentage of moisture of the dried berry pulp/juice press residue is 12 — 13 %. After drying step, the dried berry pulp or juice press residue is ground to form a powder having a particle size of less than 1.5 mm. In an embodiment according to the present invention, the dried berry pulp or juice press residue is ground to form a powder having a particle size of less than 1 mm, preferably having a particle size in the range of 0.1 — 1 mm. In an embodiment according to the present invention, the dried berry pulp or juice press residue is ground and sieved to form a powder having a particle size of less than 1.5 mm, preferably to form a powder having a particle size of less than 1 mm. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the dried berry pulp or juice press residue may be ground twice using a grinding mill. Any suitable grinding mill can be used. At a first step according to an embodiment of the present invention, the dried berry pulp or juice press residue may be ground coarsely, and at second step it is ground so that it S pass a sieve of 1.5 mm, or preferably a sieve of 1 mm. In some N embodiments, the dried berry pulp or juice press residue may be ground two O or more times and it may be sieved between the grinding steps. The obtained O 30 powder comprises seeds of the berries, which are mainly unbroken after the I grinding step. a & According to an embodiment of the present invention the powder obtained by S grinding the dried berry pulp or juice press residue in sieved to obtain a S 35 powder having a particle size in the range of 0.1 — 1.5 mm, preferably 0.1 —

1.0 mm. In an embodiment according to the present invention, after sieving with a sieve of 1 mm, a powder passed the sieve can be further sieved with a sieve of about 0.1 mm for removing the finest fraction from the powder.

This finest fraction typically comprises ground peel of the berries.

By removing the finest fraction, the structure of the chips may be improved, i.e. the chips are not so weak.

The obtained ground and sieved powder comprises seeds of the berries and at least a part of the dried juice.

In the method of the present invention, a powder obtained from the grinding, and optionally sieving step(s), is cold pressed by an oil press to form seed chips comprising crushed seeds and seed oil.

In the present invention, cold pressing means that a powder is pressed by an oil press without separate heating.

An oil press means any suitable pressing device or method, in which seeds are crushed.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, temperatures do not exceed about 60 °C during the pressing.

In the cold pressing by an oil press, the berry seeds are pressed to extract oil.

In cold pressing according to an embodiment of the present invention, a berry pulp is pressed through a press head (also called as a front cap) of the oil press.

Typically, a press head of the oil press heats up when the berry pulp is squeezed through the narrow opening of the press head.

In the method according to the present invention, the seed are crushed when pressing through the press head of an oil press and an extracted seed oil mixes with the dry matter of powder during the pressing, wherein dry solid seed chips.

A combination of the extracted seed oil from the crushed seeds and an elevated temperature of the press head during pressing step brings out the forming of the seed chips.

A dry matter of the powder also comprises pectin which achieve the formation of the chips by slightly elevated temperature.

An amount of the extracted oil from seeds is substantially low and it absorbs to S the dry matter simultaneously when extracted from seeds in an oil press.

N Further, cold pressing is advantageous since helps keep the vital O polyphenols, vitamins, nutrients and aromas intact.

O 30 I Seed chips according to the present invention are chips obtained by cold = pressing a powder formed of the dried berry pulp and the seed chips & comprises an extracted seed oil.

The seed ships according to an S embodiment of the present invention are dry flakes having moisture content I 35 of about7 —8 %.

According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, seed chips do not contain any preservatives and they have been observed to have a good shelf life at room temperature for six months.

Seed chips of the present invention comprises an extracted seed oil, which may deteriorate during storage period over six months and hence affect taste of the chips.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a preserving agent may be used in the manufacturing of the seed chips for improving the shelf life.

In Figure 1 is shown a flow chart of the method according to an embodiment of the present invention, where a juice press residue is used as a raw material.

The method steps are described more detailed above.

In the method according to an embodiment of the invention, a juice concentration of the juice press residue can be analyzed prior to the drying step and the juice of a mixture of a juice and a water can be added to the juice press residue for obtaining the desired juice concentration.

Seed chips can be manufactured from a berry pulp or a juice press residue without any additives by the method according to the present invention.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the seed chips do not contain any additives, but all raw material originates from the berry pulp or juice press residue.

However, in an embodiment according to the present invention, seed chips may also comprise additives, such as vitamins, micronutrients, sweeteners, or the like.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, seed chips produced by the method are present in many sizes and shapes.

In an exemplary S embodiment, a mean size of the dry seed chips may be about 10 — 20 mm x N 20 — 50 mm. 3 © 30 Application example: Seed chips from a juice press residue of blackcurrants = = In this application a juice press residue of 5 kg from pressing of blackcurrants & without enzyme treatment and a juice press residue of about 2 kg from S pressing of blackcurrants with enzyme treatment were used as a raw material I 35 for seed chips.

A juice press residue from the pressing berry pulp without enzyme treatment has a juice concentration of about 55 %. The juice press residue comprises also unbroken blackcurrants. The juice press residue was dried in the fan- assisted oven at 30 — 45 °C. The juice press residue was dried until it was completely dried, i.e. a percentage of moisture of the dried berry pulp was 12 — 13 %. The dried juice press residue was ground twice with a stone mill. First the dried juice press residue was ground roughly and second time so that the ground powder passes through a 1 mm sieve. After 1 mm sieving, the finest material is removed with a sieve of about 0.1 mm. The blackcurrant seed remains in the obtained powder. A juice press residue from the pressing berry pulp treated with enzymes has a juice concentration of about 20 %. The juice press residue was frozen after the pressing. The frozen juice press residue was taken to thaw and when it was still half-iced, the juice obtained from the cold pressing of said blackcurrants was added among the juice press residue. The juice was half- iced. The mixture of juice and the juice press residue was melted together, and it was mixed occasionally in order that the juice was absorbed evenly into the juice press residue. At this stage, also unwanted material, such as branches and cluster of berries was removed from berry pulp. After adding juice, the juice concentration was about 60 %. The juice press residue was dried in the fan-assisted oven at 30 - 45 °C. The juice press residue was dried until it was completely dried, i.e. a percentage of moisture of the dried berry pulp was 12 — 13 %. The dried juice press residue was ground twice with a stone mill so that it passes through a 1mm sieve. There is no need for separating the finest material out from the obtained powder since the enzyme S treated juice press residue was almost free of the peels of blackcurrants.

O

N O The obtained powders from the above-mentioned juice press residues was O 30 cold pressed by using an oil press (Sana oil Extractor EUJ-702 with the I regulating ring II). A regulating ring II used in the Sana oil Extractor is = commonly intended to use for extracting the oil from walnuts, cashews and/or & pecans. Now, it has been observed to be suitable for forming seed chips S according to the present invention. Too small regulating ring will be blocked S 35 when pressing the dry grounded berry pulp. The seeds were broken in the pressing and seed oil mixed with the powder. The press head of the extractor heats up during the pressing and the heat causes that all the substances to dry and form into the seed chips having hard surfaces. Typical seed chips from a juice press residue originating from blackcurrants obtained by the method according to the present invention are shown in Figure 2.

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Claims

Claims

1. A method of producing seed chips from berries, which chips comprise seed oil, wherein the method comprises - obtaining a berry pulp comprising crushed berries, berry seeds and a juice and having a juice concentration of 40 — 70 weight-% from the total weight of the berry pulp, - drying the berry pulp, - grinding the dried berry pulp to form a powder having a particle size of less than 1.5mm, and - cold pressing the obtained powder by an oil press to form seed chips comprising crushed seeds and seed oil.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the juice concentration of the berry pulp is adjusted to the range of 40 — 70 weight-% from the total weight of the berry mass by adding a juice or a mixture of juice and water to the juice press residue.

3. The method according to claim 1 and 2, characterized in that the juice concentration of the berry pulp is in the range of 40 — 60 weight-% from the total weight of the berry pulp.

4. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the berry pulp is dried in the temperature of about 30 — 50 °C, preferably 35-45°C. S 5. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in N that a percentage of moisture of the dried berry pulp is <15 26, preferably < O 13 %. O 30 I 6. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in = that the dried berry pulp is ground to form a powder having a particle size of & less than 1 mm. 5 S 35 7. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the powder obtained by grinding the dried berry pulp in sieved to obtain a powder having a particle size in the range of 0.1 — 1.5 mm, preferably 0.1 —

1.0 mm.

8. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the berry pulp comprises a juice press residue from juice pressing of the berries.

9. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the berry pulp is originated from currants, strawberries, wild strawberries, lingonberries, crowberries, bilberries, Northern bilberries, cloudberries, raspberries, arctic raspberries, cranberries, chokeberries and any combination thereof.

10. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that a berry pulp comprises a juice press residue obtained from the juice pressing of currants (Ribes).

11. Seed chip, which comprises crushed berry seeds and seed oil, characterized in that the chip is produced by the method according to any of the preceding claim 1 — 10.

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