WO1994028743A1

WO1994028743A1 - FOOD PRODUCTS CONTAINING β-GLUCAN ENRICHED FIBER

Info

Publication number: WO1994028743A1
Application number: PCT/FI1994/000246
Authority: WO
Inventors: Timo Pullinen; Ilkka Lehtomäki
Original assignee: Alko Ltd.
Priority date: 1993-06-14
Filing date: 1994-06-08
Publication date: 1994-12-22
Also published as: AU6847294A

Abstract

This invention relates to food products having longer shelf life, better organoleptic properties, better consistency, texture and/or lower amounts of fats and also better health contributing properties. These properties are obtained by using natural grain fiber preparations containing high amounts of soluble fiber, especially β-glucan.

Description

Food products containing 3-glucan enriched fiber

The Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to food products and methods for their preparation. These food products have longer shelf-life, better organoleptic properties, consistency and texture, bet¬ ter health contributing properties. They also require a lower amount of fats than traditional products. The good properties of the food products of the present invention are obtained by using natural, grain fiber preparations containing a high amount of soluble fiber, especially 3-glucan.

The Background fo the Invention

Recently, researchers have concluded that dietary fibers - both soluble and insoluble - are important in the prevention of certain large-intestine diseases, including cancer of the colon and diverticulitis. Furthermore, soluble fibers, espe¬ cially oat 3-glucan have been shown to reduce blood choles¬ terol, and therefore soluble fiber is believed to play an important role in the prevention of coronary heart diseases.

A great number of consumer food products containing fiber material from oats or other sources have been developed and are offered to consumers. However, the levels of soluble fiber and 3-glucan are often too low in these products to provide health benefits for human beings, as demonstrated by several researchers. This is because consumers prefer good quality food products and high amounts of traditional fiber often impairs on the quality and mouth-feel of the product. U. S. Pat. No. 4, 996, 063 describes an oat fiber product obtai¬ ned by enzymatic hydrolysis from oat bran and oat flour. The process is quite complicated and the 3-gluσan concentration of the obtained fiber product is not expressed.

U. S. Patents No. 5, 106, 640 and No. 5, 183, 677 disclose a 3- glucan enriched grain fiber and a process for preparing the same. According to these publications an especially advantageous grain fiber product, preferably an oat or barley fiber product, contains 15 - 40 % (w/w) 3-glucan. This kind of fiber fraction has healthful effects and it can be used as a raw material or additive in food industry. In this publication neither formulations nor recipes of food products containing the 3-glucan enriched grain fiber preparation is disclosed. No specific effects of this preparation to the food products is described either.

Carper. J. describes in his publication "Barley, Oats and the Vegetarian Secret" in "The Food Pharmacy" a Bantham Book, To¬ ronto (1988) the use of oat bran cereals for the preparation of healthier foodstuffs. The oat bran cereals are not frac¬ tionated according to the method disclosed in U. S. Patents No. 5, 106, 640 and No. 5, 183, 677. As a consequence Carper' s preparations contain large amounts of starch. Thus, the food¬ stuffs described by Carper lack the prerequisite for the ad¬ ditional beneficial properties of the products of the present invention, i. e. the anti-oxidative properties and the long shelf-life of the soluble 3-glucan-containing fibers used in the present invention.

Uusitupa M. et al. have examined the effect of 3-glucan on serum lipids in hypercholesterolemic subjects, see, The Jour¬ nal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 11, No. 6, 651 - 659 (1992). The authors noticed that an oat bran product enriched with 3-glucan resulted in an additional reduction of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in serum. Further 3-glucan is well known in the art and subject to many other publications.

The long shelf-life is one among the multitude of desirable and important properties of food products. Recent studies have shown that the soluble 3-glucan containing alimentary fibers described in U. S. Patents No. 5, 106, 640 and No. 5, 183, 677 are especially suitable for the production of such foodstuffs. To obtain such a long shelf-life for food products a great number of artificial preservations, antioxidants and other stabili¬ sing agents etc. are used at present. For example, because it is desirable that bakery products keep their softness long enough, artificial additives and anti-staling agents are used. Fat-containing food products, for instance, because extruded products and some confectionaries turn rancid easily without the use of antioxidants, many other artificial additives are also included into the food stuffs. This is done not only to achieve longer shelf-life but also for other reasons, to ob¬ tain other desired properties. Typical exemples of food pro¬ ducts containing different artificial additives are for in¬ stance bakery and cereal products, processed meat, ready food, dairy and some beverage products, confectioneries etc.

Freezing of finished or semifinished food products have been used to increase shelf-life of various products. Good examples are frozen dough or bakery products, prepared foods etc. One problem in frozen products is that the quality deteriorates during freeze period or upon thawing. This is caused by water movement and subsequent crystallisation inside the product.

Consumers have began to take a more and more critical attitude towards the artificial additives in all kinds of food products. One reason for this may be the discussions of the in¬ fluences of the artificial additives on the increasing extent of allergic reactions. The increasing interest of consumers in more healthy food and health food products has also lead to the development of more natural food products. As described above, it is well known that different fiber products have very good health contri¬ buting properties. The problem has been, how to get them into the food products so that they do not impair the properties of food. On the other hand, there is a great need for finding methods for processing better and still more "natural" food products without any artificial additives.

Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide food products having natural additives instead of artificial additives.

A second object of the present invention is to provide food products having longer shelf-life.

One object more of the present invention is to provide food products having better freeze-thaw properties.

Still another object of the invention is to provide food pro¬ ducts having acceptable eating quality, i. e. good organoleptic properties and desirable consistency and texture.

There is one further object of the present invention to pro¬ vide food products containing healthy raw materials and food products having health maintaining or health contributing properties per se or together with other products.

One further object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing food products having the above men¬ tioned desirable properties.

Still an object of the invention is to produce food products according to the invention in a more economical way. One further objective is to make the addition of the grain fiber to the food stuff more easy to handle by using precook- ing processes or by using undried products, i. e. by using wet grain fiber products.

The Summary of the Invention

The grain fiber preparations, more preferably the oat or bar¬ ley fiber preparations containing high amounts of soluble fiber, especially 3-glucan, have, as known in the art, very good health maintaining and even health contributing proper¬ ties. However, it has now been noticed, very surprisingly, that with fiber products containing high amounts of soluble fiber, especially 3-gluσan, i. e. fiber containing 8 - 60 % by weight of 3-glucan, it is possible to get a longer shelf-life, better freeze-thaw properties and better consistency and tex¬ ture for different food products without impairing the organo¬ leptic properties like taste and odor. All this is achieved in a very healthy and still in an economical way. It is in fact, highly surprising that the as such known healthy fiber product could provide also such additional, desirable proper¬ ties to the food products.

The present invention is thus related to a food product with longer shelf-life, better organoleptic properties, better consistency, texture and good health maintaining or health contributing properties, which food product comprises 0,25 70 % (w/w) of a natural, soluble, grain fiber preparation. The food product comprises a grain fiber preparation, which preferably is an oat or barley fiber preparation, most pre¬ ferably an oat fiber preparation.

The food product of the present invention can be a bakery product containing 0,5 - 20 % (w/w), preferably 1 - 15 % (w/w) of said natural, soluble grain fiber preparation or a proces¬ sed meat or ready meat product containing 0, 5 - 6 % (w/w) of said grain fiber preparation. Other alternatives of the food product is an extruded product containing 10 - 60 % (w/w) of said grain fiber preparation. Said extruded product is se¬ lected from a group comprising snacks or breakfast cereals. The food product can also be a dairy product, a dairy product substitute or a beverage type product, which contains 0, 5 - 10 % by weight, preferably 1 - 5 % (w/w) of said grain fiber preparation.

The grain fiber preparation used in the food product comprises 8 - 60 % (w/w) of 3-glucan. The grain fiber preparation can be used in dry or wet form, when added to the food product.

In some applications, the dry grain fiber preparation is not dissolved rapidly enough. Thus, a wet preparation would be preferred. There are essentially two ways to prepare the wet 3-glucan preparation, one is to omit the drying stage, the other is to submit the preparation to a pre-cooking procedure.

The wet grain fiber comprises about 20 - 40 % (w/w), prefe¬ rably 30 % (w/w) dry-matter. The man skilled in the art can easily modify the recipes using dry preparation to recipes using wet preparations.

The food product of the present invention has a prolonged shelf-life, which is achieved without significant amounts of artificial preservation agents, antioxidants and stabilising agents. This means that no or smaller amounts of preservati- vation agents, antioxidants and stabilising agents can be used than the amounts previously used in conventional food stuffs.

The method for preparing a food product according to the pre¬ sent invention includes the addition of a natural, soluble, grain fiber preparation in wet or dry form to said food pro¬ duct during the manufacturation in an amount of 0, 25 - 70 % (w/w) to obtain the food product of the present invention. The food products and the method of producing the same accor¬ ding to the invention are stated in more detail in the claims.

The detailed Description of the Invention

The long shelf-life of food products containing beta-glucan enriched soluble grain fiber is based partly on the prevention of starch degradation, when water is glued in the structure of 3-glucan. This unique property is achieved when the method described in U. S. Patents No. 5, 106, 640 and No. 5, 183, 677 is used. These patents disclose an easy and elegant method to separate the 3-glucan containing fibers from starch. Partly, the pheneomenom is based on the high water holding capacity of the 3-glucan enriched fiber. When more water is glued in the structure of a product, it remains softer. Partly, it is based on the phenomenon that in some food products 3-glucan enriched fiber has antioxidative effect (e. g. deep fried products).

The conventional dried, especially the drum-dried 3-glucan pre¬ paration is useful in many application, but in some applica¬ tion a wet form is preferred. In some application the problem is that the grain fiber does not become wet rapidly enough. This is due to the industrial process, in which the drum-dry¬ ing is performed in high temperatures and the product starts to boil before it is dried. During the boiling the cell walls of the product are disruptured and the remaining starch is gelatinised.

In some applications, such as the preparation of meat balls, which are prepared in extremely cold conditions, the dry grain fiber is not dissolved rapidly enough. Thus, the use of a wet preparation would be preferred.

There are essentially two ways to prepare the wet 3-glucan preparation, one is to omit the drying stage, the other is to submit the preparation to a precooking procedure. This pre¬ cooking procedure is especially important, when it is desi¬ rable, that the grain fiber preparation dissolves instantly.

The wet grain preparation is also desirable in baking. The dried grain fiber preparation is subjected to precooking and is weighed and packaged in suitable batches and delivered to the bakeries for immediate use.

The wet grain fiber comprises about 20 - 40 % (w/w), prefe¬ rably 30 % (w/w) dry-matter. The man skilled in the art can modify, calculate and convert the amount of water and grain fiber needed in the recipes, which use wet grain fiber pre¬ parations so that the amounts correspond to those disclosed in the recipes described below.

In bakery products, for instance in bread, 3-glucan enriched fiber slows down the staling process, which for the most part is caused by starch retrogradation. Breads can be kept soft and they taste fresh without any artificial additives or anti- staling agents. This applies also to other flour based pro¬ ducts, which have tendency to harden when time passes.

An other example relates to extruded products such as snacks and breakfast cereals. Snacks etc. contain more or less fat, which can very easily turn rancid without any artificial an¬ tioxidants. By using 3-glucan enriched soluble grain fiber preparations, most preferably soluble oat fiber preparations, in extruded products as an additive or as the sole raw mate¬ rial, the rancidity can be avoided without any artificial additives. 8-glucan enriched fibers act here as an antioxidant forming - as is assumed - a shielding layer around the fatty molecules preventing them from turning rancid. Of course the antioxidative effect is not limited only to extruded products mentioned here. The antioxidative effect is the same in all fat containing food products. A third example of the area of the present invention is pro¬ cessed meat, ready food products and dairy products. These products can be prepared by using 3-glucan enriched soluble grain fiber to obtain products having better consistency and texture and longer shelf-life. In dairy products the charac- teristical high viscosity of 3-glucan enriched fiber can be used to provide texture and outhfeel in low fat products. The grain fiber product can successfully substitute some other less healthy or more expensive components in the above men¬ tioned products.

Still a further example of the present invention relates to pizza doughs. When 3-glucan enriched grain fiber is used in pizza doughs the freeze-thaw stability of pizzas are surpri¬ singly improved.

In addition, to the improved consistency the 3-glucan fiber preparation gives to some products, it can of course also act as an antioxidant or as a water holding component.

Different amounts of the soluble 3-glucan enriched grain fiber preparation, which contain 8 - 60 % by weight of 3-glucan, can be used in food products. The amount can vary in wide ranges depending on the food product and on the main purpose of the preparation in food products. The amounts of 0, 25 - 70 %, preferably 0, 5 - 60 %, most preferably 1, 0 - 50 % by weight of the total weight of the ingredients of the food product are possible. When the fiber is acting as an additive, smaller amounts can be used. When the fiber preparation is used as the sole or main raw material it is possible to use higher amounts.

For instance, in bakery products with only 0, 5 % by weight content of 8-glucan enriched fiber, it is possible to obtain bakery products having longer shelf-life. Amounts of about 0, 5 - 20 % by weight are very suitable and acceptable, amounts of about 1 - 15 % by weight being more preferable in bakery pro- ducts, such as bread, cookies etc. In pizzas only 1 % 8-glucan enriched fiber improves product performance and provides ex¬ cellent freeze-thaw properties. Prepared foods e. g. blood pancakes and small pancakes containing 0, 5 - 6 % by weight of 3-glucan enriched soluble grain fiber have better texture and taste than the reference in fresh products and also after 14 days the same properties were better than in the pancakes without any 3-glucan enriched fiber. As an example of proces¬ sed meat products liver sausage can be mentioned, in which a 2 % content of said grain fiber preparation improves the taste and makes it possible to use cheaper ingredients. Another example is minced meat patties where a 6 % content improves the yield of the patties. Extruded products, for instance multi-grain chips can contain up to 60 % by weight 3-glucan enriched grain fiber preparation. These products, which con¬ tain such high amounts of the fiber preparation have excellent eating quality, they are easy to handle during processing and they have reduced fat absorption during frying. The healthy 3-glucan enriched soluble grain fiber increases distinctly the shelf-life of the multi-grain chip, which was found to have a very good overall sensory quality after 4 months.

In the following examples, the invention is described in more detail. The purpose of these examples is not to limit the scope of the protection but to illustrate the invention in depth.

Example 1

Bakery products and dough preparation and baking

Four bread doughs (a reference and three tests according to the invention) were prepared using following ingredients: Tabl e 1

Ingredients of bread doughs

Ref /w-% of Tests /w-% of flour flour

Wheat flour 100 90, 94 or 98

Fiber product 0 2, 6 or 10

Water * *

Compressed yeast 3 3

Sugar 2 2

Salt 1.5 1,5

Margarine 2 2

Emulsifier

(Panadon 10) 0, 3 0, 3

* as needed for constant consistency

The dough absorption for constant consistency of doughs (500 BU) was determined by the Brabender Farinograph with a 300 g bowl. The fiber product was added at dough mixing either as dry powder or after pre-soaking with water as a 10 % suspen¬ sion for 14 hours at 30 "C with constant gentle mixing.

Doughs were mixed with a Diosna mixer; the floor time was 20 min. at 28 " C. Doughs were weighed to give pieces of 300 g of flour and proofed to optimum at 36 ^*C and 85 % RH. The breads were baked for 30 min. at 220 ^* C. Table 2

Baking res ults of breads with di fferent amounts of β -glucan enriched fiber

8 -glucan Ref. 2 w % 6 w % 10 w % enri ched of flour of flour of flour of flour

Test fiber

Proofing time (min) 40.0 45.0 45.0 45.0

Loaf weight (g) 432.0 441.0 451.0 461.0

Baking loss (%) 13.1 13.0 13.1 14.2

Loaf volume (ml) 1660.0 1770.0 1770.0 1720.0

Spec. vol. (ml/g) 3.83 3.87 3.93 3.73

Loaf height (mm) 73.0 67.0 67.0 68.0

Loaf diameter (mm) 180.0 179.0 182.0 181.0

Form ratio (%) 40.7 37.5 36.7 37.4

Crumb 1st day 42.2 43.1 45.5 moisture 3rd day 40.7 42.5 44.4 44.9

Crump 2 hours 0.16 0.13 0.16 0.15 firm¬ 1st day 0.30 0.24 0.29 0.25 ness 3rd day 0.49 0.43 0.34 0.38

Bread loaves were weighed; the volume was determined by rape- seed displacement (standard deviation 15 ml) and the appea¬ rance and crumb properties were evaluated by an experienced baker. Bread loaves for crumb measurements were stored at 20' C. Before measurement, loaves were cut into 15 mm slices with a slicer. The crumb properties were measured by a Texture Analyzer TA: XT2 using 40 % compression and a 20 mm cylinder moving at a speed of 1,7 mm/s and working in TPA mode. Crumb properties were measured 2 h, 1 day and 3 days after baking. The results presented are the average of at least 8 measure¬ ments of each loaf of every baking (standard deviation 0,01 - 0,04). The crumb moisture was determined by oven drying (1 h at 130 ^*C) of the ground crumb.

All tests of the example 1 were made by VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland, Biotechnology and Food Research, Research Report BEL 515/94.

Example 2

Bakery products

Oatmeal cookies were prepared using following ingredients:

The ingredients were mixed together in an usual way and baked. The final cookie was rated good in quality, i. e. the taste and odor were pleasant and the texture was good.

Tabl e 3

Ingredients of oatmeal cookie

w/w-^s

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil 21, 33

Granulated sugar 17,26

Cookie flour, unbleached 15, 11

Brown sugar 13,28

Rolled oats 11, 90

3-glucan enriched fiber 11,15

Whole liquid eggs 8, 57

Vanilla extract (single strength) 0, 86

Salt 0,21

Baking soda 0, 11

Baking powder, double acting 0, 11

Non-fat dry milk 0, 11

Example 3

Baked goods - pizza

Two pizza doughs (a reference and one test according to the invention) were prepared using the following ingredients:

Tabl e 4

Ingredients of pizza doughs

Ref. / w/w % Test / w/w %

English Bakers Flour 60, 60 59, 60 Finely divided 3-glucan enriched oat fiber 0 1,0

Water 36,36 33,36

Fresh Yeast 1, 51 1, 51

Salt 1, 10 1, 10

Lard 0,42 0,42

Ascorbic Acid 0,01 0,01

Table 5.

Topping

Same for reference and test

w/w %

Chopped Tomato 59, 76

Cheese-Grated Cheddar 39, 84

Mixed Herbs 0, 40

All dry ingredients were placed into the Morton mixer and mixed for 100 s. on slow. The water was added and mixed for a further 30 s. Then the mixture was mixed on high gear for the equivalent 18 kwatt hours. The dough was weighed into 460 g lots and kneaded into ball and proved for 50 minutes at 30 " C. The dough was remoulded into shape and then rolled out. Pizza bases were baked in pizza oven at 225 'C for 6 min. and after that allowed to cool. Bases were covered with topping and packed and freezed at -18 ' C. The test pizza containing 3-glucan enriched oat fiber had improved product performance in comparison with the reference and it had excellent freeze-thaw properties.

Example 4

Processed meat - minced meat patties

Minced meat patties (ref. and test) were prepared in pilot scale using following ingredients:

Table 6.

Ingredients of minced meat patties

Ref. / w/w % Test / w/w %

β-glucan enriched oat fib. 0,0 6,0

Beef 80 26, 0 23, 0

Pork 50 26, 9 23, 9

Water 32,4 35,4

Mix 11,7 11,7

Isolated soya 1,0 0,0

Texturated soya 2,0 0, 0

Beef 80 = 80 % lean beef trimmings with max. 20 % visable fat Pork 50 = 50 % lean pork trimmings with max. 50 % visable fat Mix = breadcrumbs, potato grain, glucose, ilkprotein, onion, garlic, salt, spices (mustard, coriander etc. ), hydrolysated protein and sodium glutamate (E 621).

Preparation

Beef and pork were ground with a 3 mm plate. Dry ingredients were blended througly. Water was added and mixed. Mixture was laid down for 30 min. Beef and pork were added and mixed. Mass was laid down for 20 min. Mass was formed into patties. Pat¬ ties were fried in oil.

Organoleptic properties (taste and odor) of test patties were as good as the same of the reference. The yield of test minced meat patties was instead better and with the fiber preparation it is possible to substitute some more expensive raw materials and additives.

Table 7

Weight loss of patties

Ref. Test

Weight loss / % 25, 6 23, 1

Example 5

Processed meat - liver sausage

Liver sausages (reference and test) were prepared in pilot scale using following ingredients: Table 8

Ingredients of liver sausages

Ref. / w/w % Test / w/w %

8-glucan enriched oat fib. 0, 0 2, 0

Liver, pork 18, 0 18, 0

Pork 45 43, 0 45, 0

Pork 90 18, 7 9,7

Cooking water 15, 0 20, 0

Blend 4,0 4,0

Salt 1, 3 1,3

Sodium solution (10 %) 1,2 ml /kg 1,2 ml/kg

Pork 45 = 45 % lean pork trimmings with max 55 % visible fat Pork 90 = 90 % lean pork trimmings with max 10 % visible fat Blend = Sugar, phosphate (E450 and E451), spices (mustard, pepper etc. ) hydrolysated protein, milk protein, dried onion GdL, ascorbic acid (E300), salt, sodium glutamate (E621), natural flavors.

Preparation

Liver and pork were precooked and chopped to emulsion while adding blend, salt sodium solution, cooking water and fiber preparation. Mass was filled in casings. Sausages were steam- cooked at 76 "C until internal temperature 72 ^*C was reached.

Organoleptic properties (taste, odor, color and structure) were in test sausages as good as in reference sausages. By using 3-glucan enriched oat fiber in sausages it is possible to use cheaper ingredients, see the content of pork 90. Exampl e 6

Prepared foods - blood pancake

Blood pancakes were prepared with different amounts of 3-glu- can enriched oat fiber in pilot scale using following ingre¬ dients:

Table 9

Ingredients of blood pancakes

Ref. / Testl Test2 Test3 Test4 Test5 w/w- p, ' "δ w/w -% w/w-% w/w -% w/w -% w/w-%

β-glucan enrich, fib. 0 1 2 4 2 5

Blood 40 40 40 40 40 40

Water 30 30 30 30 34 35

Margarine 5 5 5 5 5 5

Flour 9 8 8 7 6 4

Rye flour 15 15 14 13 12 10

Spice mix 1 1 1 1 1 1

Tabl e 10

Organoleptic properties of blood pancakes

Organoleptic Refa / Testl Test2 Test3 Test4 Test5 properties

Appearence* 3, 0 3, 0 3, 0 3,0 3, 0 3,0

Texture** 3, 5 3, 5 3, 0 3,5 4,0 2,5

Taste*** 4, 5 4,4 4,5 4,5 5, 0 4,0

TOTAL**** 11, 0 11, 0 10, 5 11, 0 12, 0 9,5

* 3 = good, range 0 - 3 ** 4 = good, range 0 - 5 *** 5 = good, range 0 - 7 **** Acceptable product has a total score of 11 or more

Test 4 gives the best results in all properties with 2 % fiber preparation content. The fiber preparation allows for reduc¬ tion of flour.

Blood pancakes were prepared also in factory scale with 0, 1 and 1, 5 % (w/w) of 3-glucan enriched oat fiber. The higher the amount of the fiber the more water and the less flour was used.

^"All the blood pancakes were made in the same way. Batter was made and pumped into a vessel. In production line the batter was dosed, baked for 5 minutes and cooled immediately. In the test, which contained 1, 5 % oat fiber preparation, the dosage of the batter had to be reduced, otherwise the pancakes were too thick. Organoleptic properties were evaluated as fresh and after 14 days. The test with 1,5 % oat fiber gave best results after 14 days and so improved the shelf life of pancakes.

Example 7

Prepared foods - small pancakes

Small pancakes were prepared in factory scale with 3-glucan enriched fiber content of 0, 1 and 1, 5 % by weight. The higher the amount of the fiber preparation the more water and less flour was used.

All pancakes were made in the same way. The batter was made according to the recipe and pumped into a vessel. In the pro¬ duction line the batter was dosed, baked for 5 minutes and cooled immediately. In the test, which contained 1,5 % fiber preparation the dosage of the batter had to be reduced; other¬ wise the pancakes were thicker than the 0-reference.

Tabl e 1 1.

Organoleptic properties and moisture content of small pancakes

The 3-glucan enriched oat fiber improved distinctly the yield of small pancakes. Small pancakes with 1,5 % fiber content were best in organoleptic evaluation fresh and also after 14 days. The moisture content increased in small pancakes with fiber preparation.

FRESH Ref. 1 w/w-% 1, 5 w/w-%

Appearance* 2,5 2, 5 3, 0

Texture** 4,0 3,5 4,0

Taste*** 5, 0 5, 0 5, 0

Total**** 11,5 11,5 12,0

Moisture (%) 55,5 60, 1 63,3

AFTER 14 DAYS Ref. 1 w/w-% 1,5 w/w-%

Appearance* 3,0 3, 0 3, 0

Texture** 3,5 3, 5 4,0

Taste*** 5,0 5, 0 5, 0

Total**** 11, 5 11, 5 12, 0

-. _t **_/ * * *_f **** same as in example 6. Example 8

Extruded products - multi -grain chip

Multi -grain chips were prepared with di fferent 8 -glucan en¬ ri ched oat fiber contents using following ingredients :

Table 12

Ingredients of multi-grain chips

MGC2/w/w-% MGC3/w/w-% MGC5/w/w-%

3-glucan enrich, fib 20, 23 30, 23 50, 23

Corn flour 45, 70 40, 70 30, 70

Rice flour 14, 36 12, 00 7, 00

Whole wheat flour 9, 96 7, 32 2, 32

Wheat bran 3, 00 3, 00 3, 00

Sugar 6, 00 6, 00 6, 00

Myvaplex 0, 75 0, 75 0, 75

All the ingredients were mixed for 15 minutes. The extruder was brought up to temperature and stabilized using ordinary durum flour and Myvaplex. The product was cooled and deep fat fried in soybean oil (230 "C) and lightly salted.

The overall sensory quality of the products were estimated after 4 months.

MGC 2 overall rate 11 MGC 3 overall rate 11

MGC 5 overall rate 6.

The range was; 4 = good, 12 = bad

The fiber preparation gave to the product excellent eating quality and good handling during processing and reduced fat absorption during frying. Healthy 3-glucan enriched soluble grain fiber preparation ingreased distinctly the shelf-life of the multigrain chip.

Example 9

Dairy products

Low fat set yogurt ( ref. and test) were prepared using fol¬ lowing ingredients:

Table 13

Ingredients of low fat set yogurt

Ref. / w/w-% Test / w/w-%

Skimmed milk (0, 1 % fat) 91, 00 88, 5

Sugar 6, 00 6, 00

Skimmed milk powder 1, 50 1, 50

Dairy-Lo* 1, 50 1, 50

3-glucan enriched fib. 0 2,5

Flavours/Culture as required as required

* Pfizer (0304 615507): Whey protein concentrate

Preparation Dry ingredients were dispersed into milk. The dispersion was heated to 85 ^* C, holded 3 minutes in that temperature and cooled to 50 ^* C. After that it was inoculated, flavours were added and filled. The yogurt was incubated at 44 " C until requided pH was reached and cooled.

β-glucan enriched fiber preparation gave good textural and sensoral properties to the yogurt. The yogurt containing fiber preparation had also good flavour release and good mouthfeel.

Claims

Cl aims :

1. A food product with longer shelf-life, better organoleptic properties, better consistency, texture and good health main¬ taining or health contributing properties, which food product comprises 0, 25 - 70 % (w/w) of a natural, soluble, grain fiber preparation.

2. The food product of claim 1, wherein said grain fiber pre¬ paration is preferably an oat or barley fiber preparation, most preferably an oat fiber preparation.

3. The food product of claim 1, wherein the food product is a bakery product containing 0, 5 - 20 % (w/w), preferably 1 - 15 % (w/w) of said natural, soluble grain fiber preparation.

4. The food product of claim 1, wherein the food product is a processed meat or ready meat product containing 0, 5 - 6 % (w/w) of said grain fiber preparation.

5. The food product of claim 1, wherein the food stuff is an extruded product containing 10 - 60 % (w/w) of said grain fiber preparation.

6. The food product of claim 5, wherein the extruded product is selected from a group comprising snacks or breakfast ce¬ reals.

7. The food product of claim 1, wherein the food product is a dairy product, a dairy product substitute or a beverage type product, which contains 0, 5 - 10 % by weight, preferably 1 - 5 % (w/w) of said grain fiber preparation.

8. The food product of claim 1, wherein the grain fiber pre¬ paration comprises 3-glucan 8 - 60 % (w/w).

9. The food product of claim 1, wherein the grain fiber pre¬ paration is in dry form, preferably drum-dried form.

10. The food product of- claim 1, wherein the grain fiber pre¬ paration is in a wet form, containing 20 - 40 % (w/w) prefe¬ rably 30 % (w/w) of dry matter.

11. The food product of claim 1, wherein the prolonged shelf- life is achieved without significant amounts of artificial preservation agents, antioxidants and stabilising agents.

12. A method for preparing a food product in which process a natural, soluble, grain fiber preparation is added to said food product during the manufacturing in an amount of 0, 25 - 70 % (w/w) to obtain a food product, which has a longer shelf- life and better organoleptic properties, better consistency, texture and contains lower amounts of fats and has better health contributing properties.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the grain fiber preparation is preferably oat or barley fiber preparation, most preferably oat fiber preparation.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the grain fiber preparation is added to a dough for making a bakery product 0, 5 - 20 % by weight, preferably 1 - 15 % (w/w).

15. The method of 12, wherein said grain fiber preparation is added to a processed meat product or a ready meat product in an amount of 0, 5 - 6 % (w/w) during processing.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein said grain fiber prepa¬ ration is added during processing to an extruded product in an amount of 10 - 60 % (w/w).

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the extruded product is selected from a group comprising snacks and breakfast cereals.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein said grain fiber prepa¬ ration is added to a dairy product, a dairy product substitute or a beverage type products in amount of 0, 5 - 10, preferably 1 - 5 % (w/w).

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the grain fiber preparation is a grain preparation containing 8 - 60 % (w/w) of 3-glucan.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the grain fiber preparation is added in dry form, preferably in drum-dried .

21. The method of claim 12, wherein the grain fiber preparation is added in wet form, either as an undried or precooked preparation containiny 20 -40 % (w/w), preferably 30 % (w/w) of dry matter.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein the prolonged shelf-life is achieved without adding significant amounts of artificial preservation agents, antioxidants and stabilising agents.

RECTIFIED SHEET (RULE 91) (ISA/SE)