Biomass Extracts with Protein and Nutritional Value

Abstract

Biomass extracts with high protein and nutritional value and methods for making the same are disclosed. Such extracts may include cakes with low residual oil and high levels of desirable constituents and oils that require little to no downstream processing upon extraction from the biomass. Also includes methods of extracting desirable products from an oil bearing biomass.

1 . A defatted biomass product having less than 6% residual oil and a PDI of greater than 60%, the defatted biomass product being produced by a process comprising:
 a. feeding a raw biomass product to a compression zone of a screw press extraction unit;   b. compressing the raw biomass in the screw press to form a cake plug that is essentially impermeable to fluids;   c. relieving the pressure on the cake plug to make it permeable to fluids;   d. injecting solvent into the extraction unit at a point where the pressure on the cake plug has been relieved, creating a mixture of solvent and biomass; and   e. compressing the mixture to form a second cake plug and to push solvent and oil from the biomass.   
   
   
       2 . The defatted biomass product of  claim 1 , wherein the residual oil is less than 5%. 
   
   
       3 . The defatted biomass product of  claim 2 , wherein the PDI is greater than 70%. 
   
   
       4 . The defatted biomass product of  claim 2 , wherein the PDI is greater than 80%. 
   
   
       5 . The defatted biomass product of  claim 1 , wherein the process further comprises the steps of:
 a. relieving the pressure on the second cake plug to make it permeable to fluids;   b. injecting solvent into the extraction unit at a point where the pressure on the second cake plug has been relieved, creating a second mixture of solvent and biomass;   c. compressing the second mixture to form a third cake plug and to push solvent and oil from the biomass.   
   
   
       6 . The defatted biomass product of  claim 1 , wherein the solvent partially vaporizes within the mixture. 
   
   
       7 . The defatted biomass product of  claim 1 , wherein the solvent is organic. 
   
   
       8 . The defatted biomass product of  claim 6 , wherein the solvent is carbon dioxide. 
   
   
       9 . The defatted biomass product of  claim 1 , wherein the oil removed from the raw biomass has an average phospholipid content of less than 25 ppm. 
   
   
       10 . The defatted biomass product of  claim 3 , wherein the oil removed from the raw biomass has an average phospholipid content of less than 50 ppm. 
   
   
       11 . The defatted biomass product of  claim 3 , wherein the oil removed from the raw biomass has an average phospholipid content of less than 25 ppm. 
   
   
       12 . A product comprising:
 a. an unrefined organic oil extracted from soybeans, wherein the oil has an average of less than 100 ppm phospholipids, and wherein the defatted soybean cake from which the oil was extracted has a residual oil content of less than 5%.   
   
   
       13 . The product of  claim 12 , wherein the oil has an average of less than 50 ppm phospholipids. 
   
   
       14 . The product of  claim 12 , wherein the oil has an average of less than 25 ppm phospholipids. 
   
   
       15 . The product of  claim 12 , wherein the oil has an average of less than 25 ppm phospholipids and the cake from which the oil was extracted has a residual oil content of less than 4%. 
   
   
       16 . A method of producing a defatted cake and an oil, the method comprising;
 a. feeding an oil bearing biomass to a continuous screw press extractor;   b. feeding an organic solvent to the extractor;   c. extracting oil from the biomass to create a defatted biomass having a residual oil content of less than 6%; and   d. separating the extracted oil from the defatted biomass to recover an extracted oil having an average of less than 50 parts per million phosphorous.   
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the temperature within the extractor is maintained below 260° F. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the temperature within the extractor is maintained below 220° F. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the extracted oil has less than 35 parts per million phosphorous. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the extracted oil has less than 20 parts per million phosphorous.