GB673641A - Improvements in or relating to the production of edible nut meats, such as peanut butter - Google Patents

Abstract

A stable nut meat which also possesses marked resistance to deterioration is prepared by incorporating therein a monoalkyl or monoalkylene ester of citric acid, e.g. .002-1 per cent, or a dialkyl or dialkylene ester of citric acid, e.g. .5-5 per cent, the alkyl and alkylene groups in the diester having at least 8 carbon atoms and any number in the monoester though advantageously they contain the same number of carbon atoms as the dialkyl or dialkylene ester. The esters may be incorporated in the whole nut meat or in a part thereof by roasting the nut meat in an oil containing the esters, or incorporated in a finely divided mixture of the particles derived from the whole or degerminated nut meat. The mono and diesters may be produced simultaneously by reacting the required amount of anhydrous citric acid or citric acid monohydrate with an alkyl or alkylene alcohol or mixtures thereof. To facilitate uniform dispersion of the esters in the oil a solubilizing agent may be employed in which the ester is dissolved and the resulting solution mixed into the oil and nut meat. Examples of the solubilizing agents are the monoglycerides of fatty acids having at least 10 carbon atoms, unsubstituted aliphatic monohydric alcohols having at least 6 carbon atoms, fatty acids having at least 10 carbon atoms, dialkyl or dialkylene esters of citric acid in which the alkyl or alkylene group has at least 8 carbon atoms and trialkyl or trialkylene esters of citric acid, e.g. trialkyl or alkylene citrates in which the alkyl or alkylene group has at least 8 carbon atoms. In an example a mixture of 15-20 per cent monostearyl citrate, 50 per cent distearyl citrate and 35-30 per cent tristearyl citrate is added to peanut oil so that the peanut butter to which the oil is added will contain about 2 per cent by weight of the mixture of citrates. Specification 625,683 is referred to.