Methods of separating fat from non-soy plant materials and compositions produced therefrom

Abstract

Disclosed are methods for separating non-soy plant materials to produce a fat-enriched fraction, a reduced-fat plant extract, reduced-fat plant protein compositions, a crude oil, plant gums, a degummed oil and a protein-fat sediment. Also disclosed are food products containing or prepared from the reduced-fat extracts, fat-enriched fraction, gums, oils, protein-fat sediments and reduced-fat protein compositions.

1 . A method of processing a non-soy plant material, comprising:
 a) aqueously extracting the non-soy plant material to produce an extract; and   b) centrifugally separating the extract into a fat-enriched fraction and a reduced-fat plant extract.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method is continuous or semi-continuous. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the extraction and separation steps are performed substantially concurrently. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the aqueous extraction comprises adding a solution comprising water to the non-soy plant material. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the aqueous solution has an ionic strength of about 0.10 N or less. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the aqueous solution is substantially free of demulsifiers. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the extract has a pH in the range of about 6.0 to about 10.5. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the pH is about 7.0 or more. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the pH is about 9.0 or less. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the extract is prepared by extracting at a temperature in the range of about 32° F. to about 200° F. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the temperature is between about 80° F. and about 150° F. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the temperature is between about 100° F. and about 140° F. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the non-soy plant material is a substantially full fat material. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the non-soy plant material is a partially defatted plant material. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the non-soy plant material is partially defatted by a hot press. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the non-soy plant material is partially defatted by a cold press. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein non-soy plant material is partially defatted by a high pressure liquid extraction. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the non-soy plant material is milled prior to aqueous extraction. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the non-soy plant material is selected from the group consisting of canola (rapeseed), castor bean, cottonseed, flaxseed, palm kernel, linseed, candlenut, sesame seed, peanut, coconut, corn, corn germ, sunflower, safflower, oats, chia, kukui, pumpkin, walnut, grape, primrose, rice bran, almond, olive, avocado, beech, brazil, pecan, pistachio, hickory, filbert, macadamia, cashew, neem, hemp, lupin, coffee, poppy, red pepper, mustard seed, wheat and wheat germ. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the non-soy plant material comprises canola. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the non-soy plant material comprises hemp. 
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the extract comprises fat capable of being centrifugally separated from the extract without requiring the addition of demulsifiers. 
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the reduced-fat extract has a protein to fat ratio of at least about 4 to 1. 
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (b) is performed using a three phase separator. 
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the extract comprises an insoluble fiber, further comprising centrifugally separating at least a portion of the insoluble fiber from the extract of step (a) prior to step (b) to form an insoluble fiber fraction. 
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein step (b) is performed using a three phase separator to produce the fat-enriched fraction, the reduced-fat extract and a protein-fat sediment. 
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising processing the fat-enriched fraction to produce a crude oil. 
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising processing the crude oil to produce non-soy plant gum and a degummed oil. 
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising drying the reduced-fat extract. 
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein drying comprises at least one of evaporating or spray drying. 
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising concentrating the reduced-fat extract and separating the reduced-fat extract to produce a first reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition and an aqueous fraction. 
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein concentrating and separating comprise:
 adding acid to the reduced-fat extract to produce a first curd and a whey; and   separating the first curd from the whey to produce a first reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition.   
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 32 , further comprising:
 washing the first reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition to produce a second reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition.   
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein concentrating and separating comprise:
 filtering the reduced-fat extract to produce a first reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition.   
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 subjecting the first reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition to microfiltration, ultrafiltration or diafiltration.   
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 31 , further comprising washing the first reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition to produce a second reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition. 
   
   
       37 . A reduced-fat non-soy plant extract produced according to the method of  claim 1 . 
   
   
       38 . The reduced-fat non-soy plant extract of  claim 37 , wherein the extract comprises at least about 45% dry weight protein. 
   
   
       39 . The reduced-fat non-soy plant extract of  claim 37 , wherein the extract comprises about 15% or less dry weight fat. 
   
   
       40 . The reduced-fat non-soy plant extract of  claim 37 , wherein the extract comprises a protein to fat ratio of at least 4 to 1. 
   
   
       41 . The reduced-fat non-soy plant extract of  claim 37 , wherein the non-soy plant material comprises a substantially full fat plant material. 
   
   
       42 . A food product containing the reduced-fat non-soy plant extract of  claim 37 . 
   
   
       43 . The food product of  claim 42 , wherein the food product is a confectionary product, a bakery product, an injection meat product, an emulsified meat product, a ground meat product, a meat analog product, a cereal, a bar, a dairy analog product, a beverage, a non-soy plant milk, a liquid or powdered dietetic formula, a texturized plant product, a pasta, a health nutrition supplement, or a nutrition bar. 
   
   
       44 . A reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition comprising at least 65% dry weight protein produced according to the method of  claim 31 . 
   
   
       45 . The reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition of  claim 44 , wherein the composition comprises at least about 85% dry weight protein. 
   
   
       46 . The reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition of  claim 44 , wherein the composition comprises about 15% dry weight fat or less. 
   
   
       47 . The reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition of  claim 44 , wherein the composition comprises a protein to fat ratio of at least 5 to 1. 
   
   
       48 . The reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition of  claim 44 , wherein the composition comprises a protein to fat ratio of at least 8 to 1. 
   
   
       49 . The reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition of  claim 44 , wherein the plant material comprises a substantially full fat non-soy plant material. 
   
   
       50 . A food product containing the reduced-fat non-soy plant protein composition of  claim 44 . 
   
   
       51 . The food product of  claim 50 , wherein the food product is a confectionary product, a bakery product, an injection meat product, an emulsified meat product, a ground meat product, a meat analog product, a cereal, a bar, a dairy analog product, a beverage, a non-soy plant milk, a liquid or powdered dietetic formula, a texturized plant product, a pasta, a health nutrition supplement, or a nutrition bar. 
   
   
       52 . The fat-enriched fraction produced according to the method of  claim 1 . 
   
   
       53 . The fat-enriched fraction of  claim 52 , wherein the non-soy plant material is a substantially full fat plant material. 
   
   
       54 . The plant gums produced according to the method of  claim 28 . 
   
   
       55 . The plant gums of  claim 54 , wherein the non-soy plant material is a substantially full fat plant material. 
   
   
       56 . The protein-fat sediment produced according to the method of  claim 26 . 
   
   
       57 . The crude oil produced according to the method of  claim 27 . 
   
   
       58 . The degummed oil produced according to the method of  claim 28 .