WO2011086217A1 - Food product based on fish and glucomannan, procedure for obtainment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a food product the basic composition whereof comprises muscle from at least one aquatic animal species and glucomannan, and a procedure for the obtainment of said food product.

Description

 FISH AND GLUCOMANANE FOOD PRODUCT. AND OBTAINING PROCEDURE

The present invention relates to a food product whose base composition comprises muscle of at least one animal and glucomannan aquatic species, and its method of obtaining.

STATE OF THE PREVIOUS TECHNIQUE The food sector is one of those that produces a greater industrial product, this food industry has a large number of companies dedicated to food technology, that is, dedicated to different studies of the chain and food processing The author Kawano, in US6146684 describes the production of products from fish muscle and glucomannan, and takes as a premise the fact that the product has no added salt. This patent, although not specified in the claims, forms the gel with a so-called alkali which is calcium hydroxide. The purpose is, preferably, the elaboration of typical products of Japan such as "chikuwa" or types of fish gels similar to "kamaboko", in variants of more or less elasticity and hardness.

On the other hand, Musson and Prest in US4894250 discloses a method for making a thermo-reversible gel from a combination of xanthan gum and glucomannan at pH preferably between 6.5 and 8. The purpose, following the examples, would be to produce products Meat or applesauce.

In a third patent US5028445, whose authors, Wu and Suzuki, describe a method of making crustacean meat from surimi, gelling it, and adding konjac flour ("konnyaku") as another additive to reinforce the gel formed by surimi.

Finally, in US4427704, Cheney et al. They describe a method for the preparation of gels and, based on them, similar meat products, among other protein products of animal and / or vegetable origin, mixing glucomannan, from various sources, with carrageenan so that there is gelation at pH below 9. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a food product whose base composition comprises muscle of at least one aquatic animal species and glucomannan, in turn, the present invention also provides a method of obtaining said food product.

A first aspect of the present invention relates to a food product comprising:

 to. An aqueous phase of glucomannan, and

 b. muscle of at least one aquatic animal species.

 In a preferred embodiment, the animal aquatic species muscle comes from the fishing and / or aquaculture industry.

The relationship between the aqueous phase and the muscle of the aquatic animal species is preferably between 10:90 and 90:10, and this ratio will depend on the richness of the muscle.

Glucomannan is preferably obtained from the konjac (Amorphophallus Konyac), which is a plant whose root contains a fiber called glucomannan, which is used in diets for weight loss due to its satiating appetite capacity. In the case of using konjac flour, it is preferably found with a glucomannan richness of 90%.

This glucomannan is in a preferred embodiment in a percentage in the aqueous solution of 0.5 to 7% by weight.

The aqueous glucomannan phase (a) also in another preferred embodiment includes up to 10% by weight of at least one food additive. Said food additive is in a more preferred embodiment selected from the family of emulsifiers, stabilizers, thickeners, gelling agents and any combination thereof. In a more preferred embodiment, said food additive is selected from the list comprising: starch, xanthan gum, kappacarrageenan, iota-carrageenan and any combination thereof. In the case of adding xanthan gum in an even more preferred embodiment, it is in a percentage between 0.3 and 3% by weight. And if carrageenan is used as an additive in an even more preferred embodiment, it is in a percentage between 0.5 and 2% by weight.

The muscle of the animal aquatic species preferably comes from a fish by-product, since the purpose of the present invention is the use of fish muscle, of any fishing species, regardless of the composition of said muscle.

Said animal aquatic species muscle has preferably been subjected to treatments that are selected from a heat treatment, smoked, salted or marinated.

In addition, this muscle preferably further comprises salt (NaCl), a functional protein, food additives or any combination thereof. The salt content being more preferably less than 15% by weight. Food additives are more preferably selected from starch, non-muscle proteins, flavoring substances, dyes or any of your combinations Such food additives being found even more preferably in a percentage less than 10% by weight. These food additives in the case of non-muscle proteins are even more preferably selected from soybeans, egg whites, milk proteins or any combination thereof.

A second aspect of the present invention relates to a method of obtaining the food product as described above comprising the steps:

 to. homogenization of glucomannan in water,

 b. addition to the mixture obtained in (a) of the muscle of at least one aquatic animal species (b),

 C. addition to the mixture obtained in step (b) of an alkaline solution, up to pH between 9 and 12,

 d. formed of the food product obtained in (c),

 and. gelation of the product obtained in (d),

 F. neutralization of the product obtained in (e) up to pH between 6.5 and 7, g. washing of the product obtained in (f) with water. In a preferred embodiment, the product obtained in step (g) is also subjected to a treatment that is selected from refrigeration, freezing, marinating, smoked, battered, breaded or any combination thereof. In this way to constitute products themselves or can also be included in pre-cooked prepared dishes.

The homogenization of step (a) is carried out in water preferably in a temperature range between 5 and 80 ° C, and for times preferably between 30 min and 2 hours, said homogenization in a preferred embodiment is carried out in a homogenizer or mixer.

One of the advantages of the present invention consists in being able to take advantage of any type of leftover muscle in a process, with protein without any type of functionality and, to be able to elaborate structures that try to imitate or not, based on the ability to gel in a thermostable form of glucomannan and, to include in the network formed by the gel, the particles of fish conveniently particulate.

Preferably the muscle of the aquatic animal species is chopped. In the case of hot dissolution, it will be done more quickly although it will be necessary to cool it later, especially if you want, that in the resulting product, the fish should have the aroma and color of raw fish. With the solution of glucomannan or konjac flour, a translucent and continuous product, free of lumps or milky-colored portions, should be obtained.

The alkaline solution that can be used in step (c) can be any alkaline substance for food use that is capable of raising the pH to values between 9 and 12. The alkaline solution used in step (c) is preferably NaOH or KOH . And more preferably the alkaline solution is in a total concentration by weight of between 5 and 20%. At this stage, food additives can be added as described above, in the proportions indicated by the manufacturers.

In a preferred embodiment the forming of step (d) is performed by extrusion or molding, to form fibers or portions of width less than 3 cm.

Once the mass of the food product is structured with the definitive form that it is to be granted, in another preferred embodiment, the gelation of step (e) is carried out at a temperature range between 5 and 80 ° C, so that it gels It is left at this temperature for times between 1 to 6 hours. It gels by heating when it does not matter that the final product has cooked fish color and aroma, while it does not exceed 30 ° C you want to get a product with raw fish appearance and aroma. Once the product with the desired texture is gelled, according to the product to be prepared, it is neutralized, a buffer solution is preferably used, in said buffer solution the food product is included by inclusion, the food being more preferably phosphate buffer solution. And more preferably the neutralization time is between 2 and 24 hours. The product-buffer ratio used is approximately 1: 10 and the temperature at which it is carried out is preferably between 2 and 20 ° C. Given the high capacity to bind water by glucomannan, products of up to 90% of them are processed, which could be considered dietary products.

Once washed the product is drained and conveniently packaged by techniques known to any person skilled in the art. The elaborated product can be subjected to refrigeration, freezing or any other technological treatment such as marinating and smoking. In any case, the flavors corresponding to these technological treatments can also be introduced in step (c), incorporating the corresponding aromas, as described above.

Throughout the description and the claims the word "comprises" and its variants are not intended to exclude other technical characteristics, additives, components or steps. For those skilled in the art, other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be derived partly from the description and partly from the practice of the invention. The following examples are provided by way of illustration, and are not intended to be limiting of the present invention. EXAMPLES

The invention will now be illustrated by tests carried out by the inventors, which demonstrates the specificity and effectiveness of a method of obtaining a food product based on muscle of animal and gluconaman aquatic species.

Example 1 Preparation of a fish fillet from "fish sawdust"

Konjac flour is taken and dissolved in water, in a proportion of 3%, adding 3% of potato starch and, it is introduced into a vacuum cutter type homogenizer that has the possibility of heating. The homogenization is done at 80 ° C for 30 min, at medium speed, in which the glucomannan dispersion will be translucent and without lumps. Subsequently, this mass is cooled to 5 ° C and, mixed with fish muscle from the sawing of frozen blocks (fish sawdust), whose protein is fully added and, therefore, its gelation capacity is minimal. The two masses, of glucomannan and starch in water, and of fish, are homogenized for 1 minute with a 0.8 N NaOH solution, in a proportion of 10% with respect to the total mass. Immediately, the dough is distributed in 0.6 cm thick paralleloped molds. These completely covered molds, to avoid surface drying, are set for 1 hour at 30 ° C and then just 4 hours at 5-10 ° C. Once the product has gelled, it is immersed in pH 5 phosphate buffer, 10 times its volume, and it has 12 hours at 5 ° C. After this time the product will reach a pH around 6.8. The sheets are demoulded and joined in parallel, pouring between them an aqueous suspension containing 0.5% calcium carbonate and 1% microbial transglutaminase. Finally, this "sandwich" is cut into slices transversely, which resemble fish fillets with myotomes and myosepts. Example 2

Substitute for octopus tentacle slices from "head" or other by-products from cooked octopus

Glucomannan from konjac is taken, in a percentage of 3% in aqueous solution, to which 2% of potato starch is added and homogenized for 10 minutes at 80 ° C in a vacuum cutter type homogenizer. On the other hand, cooked octopus heads are taken, separated from the tentacles and, which constitute a byproduct in this type of processing, are minced in meat grinder with a hole size of about 0.5 cm. This chopped muscle is washed with water and drained in a screw press. Subsequently, an aroma of octopus and 1% titanium oxide is added to bleach it. A part of this muscle, well chopped in the "cutter" homogenizer, is mixed with another part of the aqueous glucomannan dispersion and the two masses are homogenized together in vacuo for 3 minutes. Next, approximately 10% of 1 N aqueous solution of KOH is added, controlling that the pH reaches a value around 10 and homogenized in vacuo for 1 min. The product is included in cylindrical molds of about 3 cm in diameter and allowed to settle for 3 hours at 30 ° C and then 2 hours at 5 ° C. After this time, the gelled mass is extracted from the cylinder and cut into thin slices of about 3 mm. Said slices are immersed in pH 5 phosphate buffer, 10 times their volume, for 12 hours until the product reaches a pH around 6.5.

Example 3

Crab meat from minced fish, from cuts of hake fillet processing, and glucomannan dispersion

Konjac glucomannan is taken, in a percentage of 3% in aqueous solution, to which 1% of potato starch is added and homogenized for 20 years. minutes at 80 ° C in a vacuum cutter homogenizer. On the other hand, frozen minced fish, of low functional capacity, is taken and its volume of water is washed 4 times at 3 ° C with stirring for 15 minutes. The fish is passed through a screw press, to remove excess water and leave it with a humidity below 80%. The chopped, washed and drained fish, with 2% added starch and enough crab aroma, is mixed in a vacuum cutter with the glucomannan solution in a 5: 1 ratio for 1 minute. The quantity of 1 N NaOH sufficient to bring the dough to pH 10.5 is added. The dough is introduced into an extruder-forming machine, with a multi-hole nozzle, to make fibers, and with a wrap that covers them. The resulting product is a cylinder of approximately 1 cm in diameter, filled with parallel fibers. Small 1.5 cm long fragments are introduced into a pH 6 phosphate buffer solution and kept in said solution for 5 hours. The product is washed with cold water, drained and packaged to be subsequently pasteurized.

Example 4

Squid ring from squid surimi of low functional quality and dispersion of konjac flour

It starts from a solution of konjac flour in water, in a proportion of 4% to which 1% of potato starch is added and subsequently, giant squid surimi {Dosidicus gigas) in a proportion of two parts of the solution of flour and starch for one of surimi. They are mixed in a homogenizer "cutter" under vacuum for 3 minutes. Then, enough 0.8 N KOH solution is added, to raise the pH of the dough to 10.8, stirring for 1 minute. Rings are then obtained using a squid ring former, which will be kept at 30 ° C for 2 hours followed by 3 hours at 5 ° C for complete gelation. Once gelled, said rings are placed in a phosphate buffer bath of pH 6 for 12 hours. Finally, the rings are coated, and can be frozen or not, and packed.

Example 5

Analogous to smoked salmon fillets from muscle by-products from scrapes or cuts of salmon fillets v / or trout.

Glucomannan from konjac flour is taken and dissolved in water in a proportion of 2%, adding 2% of potato starch and introduced into a vacuum cutter type homogenizer that has the possibility of heating. The homogenization is done at 80 ° C for 20 min, at medium speed, obtaining a dispersion of translucent glucomannan without lumps. Subsequently, this mass is cooled to 5-10 ° C and, mixed in a 1: 1 ratio with chopped fish muscle, extracted from scrapes or cuts of salmon fillets and / or trout whose content of myofibrillar proteins is insufficient for that gelation of the product occurs on its own. This minced fish is homogenized with salt (2-6%) and aroma of smoke, or smoked salmon, in the proportion recommended by the manufacturer. The two masses, of glucomannan and starch in water, and of fish with salt and aroma, are homogenized for 1 minute with a solution of 1.0 N NaOH, in a proportion of 10% with respect to the total mass, obtaining a pH between 12 and 13. Immediately afterwards, the dough is distributed in 0.6 cm thick paralleloped molds. These completely covered molds, to avoid surface drying, are set for 1 hour at 30-40 ° C and then 4 hours at 3-10 ° C. Once the product is gelled, it is immersed in pH 5-6 phosphate buffer (10 times its volume) for 12 hours at 5 ° C. After this time, the product will reach an approximate pH of 6.8. The sheets are then demoulded and joined in parallel by pouring between them, an aqueous suspension containing 0.5% calcium carbonate and 1% microbial transglutaminase. Then, this "sandwich" is cut transversely into slices that will resemble fillets of fish with its myotomes and myosepts. This product will have the advantage for certain populations, with respect to real smoked salmon, to be able to contain lower proportions of salt and a lower amount of fat, which will also produce less sensory fatigue. On the other hand, the product may have the desired shape depending on the mold used in the gelation, which may be useful, for example, in the case that the preparation is for making sandwiches with certain sizes of bread.

Claims

1. Food product comprising:  to. An aqueous phase of glucomannan, and  b. muscle of at least one aquatic animal species. Food product according to claim 1, wherein the animal aquatic species muscle is derived from the fishing and / or aquaculture industry. Food product according to any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the ratio between the aqueous phase and the animal aquatic muscle is between 10:90 and 90:10. Food product according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the glucomannan is derived from the konjac. Food product according to claim 4, wherein glucomannan is found as konjac flour in a wealth greater than 90%. Food product according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein glucomannan is in a percentage in the aqueous solution of 0.5 to 7% by weight. 7. Food product according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the aqueous phase of gluconamano (a) further includes up to 10% by weight of at least one food additive. 8. Food product according to claim 7, wherein the food additive is from the family of emulsifiers, stabilizers, thickeners, gelling agents and any combination thereof. 9. Food product according to claim 8, wherein the food additive is selected from the list comprising: starch, xanthan gum, kappa-carrageenan, iota-carrageenan and any combination thereof. 10. Food product according to claim 9, wherein the xanthan gum is in a percentage between 0.3 and 3% by weight. eleven . Food product according to claim 9, wherein the carrageenan is in a percentage between 0.5 and 2% by weight. 12. Food product according to any of claims 1 to 1 1, wherein the muscle (b) is derived from a fish by-product. 13. Food product according to any of claims 1 to 12, wherein the muscle (b) has been subjected to treatments that are selected from a heat treatment, smoked, salted or marinated. 14. Food product according to any of claims 1 to 13, wherein the muscle (b) further comprises salt (NaCI), a functional protein, food additives or any combination thereof. 15. Food product according to claim 14, wherein the salt content is less than 15% by weight. 16. Food product according to claim 15, wherein the food additives are selected from starch, non-muscle proteins, flavoring substances, colorants or any combination thereof. 17. Food product according to claim 16, wherein the food additives are in a percentage less than 10% by weight. 18. Food product according to any of claims 16 or 17, wherein the non-muscle proteins are selected from soy, egg white, whey or any combination thereof. 19. Method of obtaining the food product according to any of claims 1 to 18, comprising the steps:  to. homogenization of glucomannan in water,  b. addition to the mixture obtained in (a) of the muscle of at least one aquatic animal species (b),  C. addition to the mixture obtained in step (b),  d. formed of the food product obtained in (c),  and. gelation of the product obtained in (d) at temperatures between 5 and 80 ° C,  F. neutralization of the product obtained in (e) up to pH between 6.5 and 7, g. washing of the product obtained in (f) with water. 20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the product obtained in step (g) is also subjected to a treatment that is selected from refrigeration, freezing, marinating, smoked, battered or any combination thereof. twenty-one . Method according to any of claims 19 or 20, wherein the muscle (b) is crushed. 22. Process according to any of claims 20 to 21, wherein the alkaline solution of step (c) is NaOH or KOH. 23. Method according to claim 22, wherein the alkaline solution is in a total concentration by weight of between 5 and 20%. 24. Method according to any of claims 19 to 23, wherein the forming of step (d) is performed by extrusion or molding. 25. Method according to any of claims 19 to 24, wherein the gelation of step (e) is carried out at a temperature range of between 5 and 80 ° C. 26. The method according to any of claims 19 to 25, wherein the neutralization of step (f) is carried out by inclusion in a buffer solution. 27. Method according to claim 26, wherein the buffer solution is phosphate. 28. Method according to claim 26 or 27, wherein the neutralization time is between 2 and 24 hours.