WO2025080355A1

WO2025080355A1 - Vegan lo-carbohydrate gluten replacer and food compositions and products containing the same

Info

Publication number: WO2025080355A1
Application number: PCT/US2024/045272
Authority: WO
Inventors: David Z. Ovadia
Original assignee: Moat Consultancy
Current assignee: Moat Consultancy
Priority date: 2023-10-09
Filing date: 2024-09-05
Publication date: 2025-04-17
Anticipated expiration: 2026-04-09

Abstract

Functional replacements for gluten in baked products like bread, pizza, pita, and tortilla, and fried Asian products, such as egg rolls. They are based on shredded components of fruits and vegetables. They are gluten free (GF) and therefore suitable for those suffering from gluten allergy and Celiac's disease. These shreds are low in digestible carbohydrate content (lo-carb), sometimes also described as, "low in net carbs," desired by those seeking to lose weight. They are vegan, facilitating the manufacture of vegan GF baked items such as calzones and burritos, which could not, hitherto, be made to a high level of gastronomical quality.

Description

VEGAN LO-CARBOHYDRATE GLUTEN REPLACERAND FOOD COMPOSITIONS AND PRODUCTS CONTAINING THE SAME

Background

[01] Bread and like products, leavened and unleavened, such as tinned breads, hearth breads, flatbreads, to include pita, lavash, naan, pizza and tortilla, some used to make food products with inclusions such as calzones, stromboli, wraps, burritos, taquitos, but also including other foods with fillings initially encased in raw dough, such as pirozhki, pierogi, kolach, egg rolls, spring rolls, strudel, Danish pastry, empanadas, samosas, Cornish pasties, and dumplings that are subsequently baked, fried, or steamed.

[02] Gluten is a storage-protein in the endosperm of grains of wheat, designed by nature to help the grain sprout and grow before it has put out roots to draw nutrients from the soil and leaves for photosynthesis to create glucose from water and carbon dioxide. Its initial growth is also helped by energy-providing starch and other nutrients located in the wheat berry. Gluten possesses nutritional value as a protein consumed by millions of people around the world in bread, pizza, pita, pasta, and wheat-based Asian foods, such as egg rolls, spring rolls, lumpia, samosas, noodles, gyoza, wontons, and dumplings. Gluten is sometimes added to special diets of athletes and the elderly to help increase muscle mass.

[03] Gluten also plays a key functional role in making bread and other foods. Dough making involves what bakery scientists call, “gluten development,” which makes the dough stronger when mixed and sheeted. Therefore, gluten provides tensile strength and flexibility when wheat flour is mixed into a dough, kneaded, sheeted, and folded, sometimes re-sheeted and re-folded several times. In dough for both yeast-leavened bread and unleavened dough, such as egg rolls casings (skins), gluten helps create a microscopic three-dimensional network that possesses this tensile strength and flexibility. It is usually absent or of much poorer quality in gluten free (GF), lo-carb, and vegan dough-based foods. [04] For yeast-leavened breads and like products, the gluten network wraps itself around and contains microscopic wheat starch granules, as well as microscopic bubbles of air, introduced into the dough when it is mixed. When the dough is proofed, carbon dioxide from yeast fermentation expands the gas cells. Gluten forms the continuous phase of these thin gas cell walls as they expand like tiny balloons. Flexible gas cell walls in bread can be compared to bricks and mortar of a residential building. Continuous gluten sheets (“mortar”) surround and encase within them spherical wheat starch granules (“bricks”). Therefore, these “bricks” are surrounded by a continuous phase of “mortar”. Bricks and mortar of residential buildings are very rigid, and gas cell walls in bread are flexible. However, the analogy still holds true in the sense that: (1) bricks and mortar become more rigid after the mortar sets; and (2) fragile leavened dough forbread and like products, which collapses readily when jolted, becomes much firmer and more rigid after baking and cooling. Further expansion occurs when the dough is baked. Leavening can be enhanced during baking by chemical leavening agents, such as baking powder or baking soda. These often include sodium or potassium bicarbonate that release carbon dioxide during baking. Expanded gas cells create a finely divided network of bubbles in many different types of bread. They also create unique, appealing textures. The nut-brown outer crust of bread is often crispy and crunchy, and the internal texture, known to food scientists as, “the crumb,” is delightfully chewy, fluffy, spongy, and elastic.

[05] Bread types include hearth bread, sandwich bread, artisan bread, sourdough bread, whole grain, and multi grain bread. Breads with a filling that are facilitated by the functional role of gluten include pirozhki, pierogi and kolach. There are also numerous types of flat bread that date back thousands of years to early human civilization in the Middle East. Today’s flat breads around the globe include: Italian pizza; Middle Eastern pita and khubz tannour; North American maize-based and wheat flour tortilla; Indian naan and tandoori roti; Egyptian aish baladi and tanoor; and Iranian sangak, barbari, taftoon, and lavash. [06] Some of these flat breads are used to wrap around encased fillings, such as calzones and stromboli made from pizza crust dough, wraps made from lavash, and burritos made from tortillas. Pita is sometimes cut open like a purse or a pocket and filled with food, such as shawarma roasted meat or falafel fried vegetable balls and chopped vegetables, sometimes called “pocket bread” and popular in the Middle East. Cornish pasties, Indian samosas, Mexican empanadas, Chinese egg rolls, spring rolls, wontons, and dumplings are made by wrapping sometimes thinly sheeted dough around a filling before baking, frying, or steaming. Many of these serve as convenient, portable, handheld meals. Some have been consumed for decades, some for centuries, others perhaps even for millennia. In ancient times, flat breads were made from flour milled from ancient varieties of wheat such as teff, einkom, emmer, globe, mauri, and kamut. More on the history of breads can be found in, A History of Pizza, by David Ovadia, 2008, Chapter 8, pages 441-423, in Bubbles in Food 2, G.M. Campbell, M.G. Scanlon, & D.L. Pyle, Eagen Press, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA).

[07] Gluten also plays a key functional role in the process of making bread, whether at home, in small bakeries, or in large industrial production lines. This functionality starts when wheat-based dough is mixed, until it is sheeted and molded, sometimes rolled into a cylindrical log shape and placed in a baking pan, then proofed and baked, or, when sheeted thin and cut into squares, circles, or triangles to make flat breads and then baked. Mixing, sheeting, molding, and proofing serve to develop the dough’s gluten network, to make it elastic, but also to give it tensile strength, both when made at home and on industrial production lines. “Artisan” appearance is often a critical selling factor. US Patent No. 9,999,231 discloses techniques to make pizza crusts look more irregular and “artisan,” more “home-made,” but the essential process of making breads at home, in small bakeries, or on industrial production lines is the same.

[08] A similar dough sheeting process is also applied to make thin (0.7-1.0 mm) outer casings (skins) for filled Asian products, such as egg rolls, spring rolls, dumplings, potstickers, and crab Rangoon. Their folding, filling, and ability to contain dense, often high-moisture fillings is enabled in large part by gluten. The flexibility and tensile strength of such thinly sheeted dough is provided by the gluten network. This enables sheeted dough pieces to have a filling placed in them and then be sealed. In these Asian products, the dough is not leavened, except when fried. Gas cells are formed by the expansion of trapped steam created inside the dough. The gluten network is, once again, developed during dough mixing and sheeting. A similar process is used to make Mexican empanadas and Indian samosas. Some filled flatbread products are made after the flatbread has been baked. This is so for tortilla-based products, such as burritos, taquitos, chimichangas, and enchiladas.

[09] Breadmaking functionality of the gluten network in dough made from wheat flour in many food items is important for the nutrition and satiety of millions of people around the world. Gluten helps create food textures that people enjoy, i.e., food that tastes good. “Taste is king,” is the mantra of many food technologists. Food items must taste good if they are to be purchased by customers. Part of that enjoyment is not just flavor and aroma but also texture. Aeration of leavened breads creates soft, springy, fluffy internal textures and crispy crusts of French baguette bread, for example. They also create the desirably chewy or crispy outer casings of convenient hand-held filled items, sometimes known as, “finger foods” (held in the fingers), such as Italian calzones, Cornish pasties, Indian Samosas, Mexican burritos, and Chinese egg rolls.

[10] The structural and textural functionality of gluten and gastronomical appeal of gluten- enabled foods can be difficult to replace when gluten is removed, for example, when GF wheat-flour-substitutes are used. Such functional replacement, eliminating gluten, has been commercialized to provide GF products for those whose digestive systems cannot tolerate gluten: (1) those with Celiac’s disease or (2) those who are allergic to gluten (these are two separate maladies). The sensory, gastronomical quality is often very poor. Also, such products are usually more costly than gluten-containing equivalents they try to mimic. However, sales of such products as GF bread, for example, indicates that poor quality and higher prices are often tolerated by some. They are sometimes considered better than no bread at all, but sales of such products are likely to increase with enhanced quality and lower cost.

[11] For example, cut dough pieces of thinly sheeted GF dough often split, crack, or fall apart when folded. They may be cut into circles (approximately 7” (18 mm) - 14” [36 mm]) or squares (approximately of side 7” [18 mm] - 14” [36 mm]) to make products with fillings such as egg rolls or burritos. However, this splitting, cracking, or falling apart occurs, for example, either before frying in the case of egg rolls, or after baking in the case of tortillas for burritos. This renders them useless or poor quality for the reasonable containment of fillings and their commercial sale as acceptable quality foods.

[12] Conversely, the inclusion of fillings inside dough pieces of similar size and shape, made from gluten-containing wheat-flour-based, thinly sheeted dough can be and are manufactured successfully either: (1) before heat treatment in the preparation of egg rolls, spring rolls, kolach, pierogi, pirozhki, Cornish pasties, and empanadas, for example; or (2) after heat treatment, e.g., baking, in the case of tortillas and other flatbreads. Baked flatbreads can be wrapped around fillings to seal fillings inside to make, for example, burritos, enchiladas, chimichangas, and taquitos. In many cases, the convenience and appeal of all such encased fillings is that they can be eaten without a plate, knife, fork, or spoon. Many such foods are sometimes known as “hand-held” or “finger food.” They are held in the fingers. But their utility requires that they do not split or fall apart. If they do, gravy, sauces, and food particulates can fall out onto hands, clothing, and the floor, creating stains and an unwanted mess.

[13] Therefore, if a GF gluten-replacer was less expensive and more effective functionally (performing more like gluten), many desiring superior gastronomical quality and a less expensive GF bread, for example, would probably prefer to buy it. The market potential of products made from such an ingredient would be promising. Likewise, folded products that contain fillings, too, cannot be made, or they are low quality and expensive, when made from current GF flour replacements. A less expensive, more functional GF gluten-replacer would hold out promising market potential for these filled products, too.

[14] Therefore, some people cannot tolerate gluten in their diets, the gluten that is found in wheat, barley, and rye, and foods made from them. Since the mid to late 1990’s, a significant sector of the food manufacturing industry has focused upon replacing gluten in breads and other products, such as pizza and tortillas. However, currently available GF replacements incompletely meet customer desires and needs because of very poor gastronomical quality and high prices.

[15] An additional or alternative dietary concern for many consumers is the caloric content, meaning, the digestible carbohydrate content of foods that is converted into energy in the body or stored as fatty tissue. The human body must generate energy to keep warm, walk, and work. Starchy foods, such as bread, rice, millet, potatoes, and tortillas made from corn or wheat flour have provided the energy needs of the whole human race for thousands of years. Such foods, rich in high levels of starch, are usually called “high carbohydrate,” or, “hi-carb.” In many countries, people do not have enough of this essential nourishment. In industrialized countries of North America, Europe, and Australasia, for example, there is a reverse problem. People eat too much food and become obese. In turn, obesity can lead to illnesses, such as heart attack, diabetes, and bone spurs from excessive body weight on feet and ankles.

[16] In such countries, food is plentiful and relatively inexpensive, as a percentage of income required to buy food, compared to other expenditures. Many people eat too much food, including starchy foods, as well as foods with high levels of oil and fat. Examples of popular “hi-carb” foods rich in starch and fat that cause obesity, if eaten to excess, include hamburgers, doughnuts, pizza, French fries, and fried chicken. Therefore, a comparatively high standard of living and inexpensive food leads many to overeat. This is because life is always fraught with difficulties, even in affluent countries, and food is mollifying, comforting, hence the term, “comfort foods.” In the USA in 2023, 42% of adults and 20% of children are obese (CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

program s/fur idi ngopp/2023/h op . h tm I ). Many in America and other countries have become aware of the dangers of overeating. This can be addressed and mitigated by eating less and more exercise.

[17] Therefore, eating less food and exercising more can help combat overweight and obesity. A third parallel approach is to consume more “low carbohydrate,” or, “lo- carb” foods and less “high carbohydrate,” or, “hi-carb” foods. Lo-carb foods are low in digestible carbohydrates, created by the reduction of: (1) sugars found in pop (carbonated beverages containing sugar), beer, candies, ice cream, fruits, cakes, cookies; and (2) starch, found in bread, pizza, tortillas, potatoes, rice, pasta, cakes, doughnuts, and cookies. In curbing obesity, it is also recommended to reduce the consumption of foods rich in fats, such as: French fries; pizza; butter, margarine and oil used to garnish foods; hamburgers; potato chips; and all fried foods such as fried chicken, French fries, doughnuts, and egg rolls.

[18] If the body consumes more carbohydrates, fats, and proteins than it needs, the body converts them into a starch-like storage polymer, glycogen. This creates much of the excess “fat” in animals and human beings. The bodies of hibernating animals, such as polar bears, eat as much as they can in the summer so their bodies will intentionally store large amounts of glycogen. This provides fuel for body heat, so their hibernating bodies can survive the winter. However, when lo-carb foods are consumed, less glycogen is created. This can help people to lose weight.

[19] Lo-carb foods include vegetables low in carbohydrates and high in fiber such as cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, carbonated beverages without sugar, and high fiber breads and breakfast cereals. The body cannot digest fiber. Therefore, a feeling of satiety can be provided by a lo-carb diet: it makes the stomach feel full, satisfying the appetite, the craving for food. Most fruits and vegetables contain pectin, a “soluble fiber,” which is lo-carb and generally regarded as good for digestion. Grains contain pectin-like soluble fiber, known as beta-glucan, pentosans, xylans, or arabinoxlyans. A grain with a high level of beta-glucan is oats. It is one of several reasons why oatmeal is popular as a health-promoting food. The beta glucan content and that of other fibers, such as wheat and oat bran, also promote gut health. Therefore, if on a regular basis over weeks and months, a full stomach contains a high proportion of lo- carb foods, often high in fiber, this can help reduce body weight.

[20] Hi-carb starchy foods are usually derived from: (1) grains, such as wheat, rice, corn, millet, rye and barley; also, (2) legumes, such as soybeans, chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, Lima beans, Fava beans, navy beans and Pinto beans; also, (3) tubers such as potatoes, yam, oca, cassava; and (4) others, such as sago palm. These are regarded as hi-carb ingredients. A numerical measure of the digestible carbohydrate (net carbs) content of foods is often represented as “calories” of energy. This energy provides (1) heat for body warmth; and (2) the mechanical energy needed to walk, climb, swim, chop wood, or lift and move heavy objects. These calories are the energy provided when carbohydrates are digested, converted to glucose in our blood stream, and metabolized to provide energy.

[21] This measure of “calories” is a common misnomer. More correctly and accurately, it is usually a measure of kilo-calories (1 kCal = 1000 calories). Fairly common, also, in the literature is to refer to the “calories” in a food product per serving or per 100 g. Frequent reference, therefore, is to “calories” when it really means, “kCal.” In the following, reference will be made to kCal per 100 grams (100 g) of a food item or an ingredient, although it is to be understood that many popular publications and vernacular refer to the same measure as “calories.” Another popular term often used is “net carbs.” Total carbs (A) can be divided into: (B) indigestible fiber; and (C) digestible starch and sugars, or, net carbs, so that A = B + C. For example, a food might contain 20% fiber and 80% net carbs. As alluded to previously, fiber can either be soluble (e.g., pectin and beta glucan) or insoluble (e.g., bran from wheat and other grains). The term, “net carbs,” is defined more thoroughly in the following two paragraphs. [22] Examples of the caloric value of hi-carb and lo-carb foods and ingredients follow. White wheat flour provides 360 kCal per 100g. This is a hi-carb ingredient. Bread made from wheat contains approximately 270 kCal per 100 g. It is also hi-carb, as are corn tortillas, wheat tortillas, and cooked rice. In contrast, cabbage and other members of the cruciferous botanical family, such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, turnip, and radish, are low in digestible carbohydrates. They are lo-carb. For example, cabbage contains 23 kCal per 100 g, only 8.5% that of white bread and 6.3% that of white wheat flour. This lo-carb% is caused, in part, by the high moisture content of these vegetables. For example, cauliflower contains 92%, cabbage 93%, and broccoli 95% moisture.

[23] Total carbohydrates (“carbs”), designated herein by “A”, is often divided into the sum of: “B” digestible carbohydrates (“net carbs”); and “C”, indigestible carbohydrates, mainly fiber. Therefore, Total carbs (A) = B (net carbs) + C (fiber/indigestible carbs). Interest is usually in B, “net carbs.” With the help of chemical tests, it is relatively easy to quantify A and C. Hence the calculation, “net carbs = B = A - C” is frequently applied. Using the same items in the previous paragraph to review net carbs: white wheat flour contains total carbs (Al) of 76.3 g per 100 g flour, 2.7g is fiber (Cl), that the human body cannot digest, yielding 73.6 g net carbs (Al - Cl). In contrast, cabbage contains 5.5 g total carbohydrates (A2) per 100 g cabbage. However, 1.9 g are from fiber (C2) that the body cannot digest, yielding net carbs (B2) that are 3.6 g (A2 - C2) per 100 g of cabbage, only about 5.3% of the net carbs of white wheat. The two best known and most prominent sources of net carbs are simple carbohydrate sugars and complex carbohydrate starches.

[24] The energy available also depends on which type of carbohydrate is digested. Simple carbohydrates, such as sugars (fructose, sucrose, glucose, etc.), are sometimes single monomer units, like glucose, or dimers, two monomer units joined together, like sucrose and fructose. They differ from complex carbohydrates such as starch, when converted to energy by digestion and absorption into our bodies. All digestible carbohydrates are converted into the simple monomeric sugar, glucose, which enters the blood stream. Common granular sugar, sucrose, yields 390 kCal per 100 g, and starch 340 kCal per 100 g. Simple sugars release energy into our bodies more quickly than starches. Their chemical makeup is simpler, making them easier to digest and metabolize. They can also contribute greatly to obesity from foods and drinks.

[25] Starches are polymeric in structure, comprised of about 300 - 1000 glucose monomers. There are many different types of starch, such as potato starch, wheat starch, rice starch, starches in legumes and tubers, etc. Multiple starch polymers aggregate together in nature in grains and legumes, for example, to form small, semi-crystalline starch granules, about 1 - 20 pm (micrometers, or, millionths of a meter) in diameter. The human body cannot digest them unless they are cooked, which is one reason humans cook rice, potatoes, and bake bread. These are “complex carbohydrates,” being more chemically complex than simple sugars.

[26] Starches take longer to digest. This is often an advantage, because they yield energy more slowly and gradually into the body during the day than the sudden release of energy from sugars. However, simple sugars are sometimes consumed by athletes as fruit or drinks, when their athletic activity renders their blood low in glucose. It provides a quick influx of energy. They can also be consumed by diabetics, also when their blood glucose level falls too low. Whether net carbs are complex or simple carbohydrates, consuming more than the body needs can lead to obesity by forming body fat in the form of glycogen, another polymer comprised of glucose monomers. Therefore, many consumers who are fighting obesity are constantly seeking more cost effective and gastronomically superior dietary options, such as low carb foods, to reduce body weight.

[27] Consumer demand for reduced calorie foods has been a driver for some decades. It was a driver in part for the invention of US Patent No. 9,491,957, describing a process that simulates the frying of egg rolls with impingement airflow, but without frying oil, to reduce its fat content. It applies a principle now popularly applied by American consumers in recent years for the same purpose. Small residential “air fryers” in the home can simulate the desired gastronomical flavors and textures of frying, but without frying in oil, or with much less oil, and by application of impingement airflow. For more on impingement applied to food, see US Patent No. 6,320,165 and Impingement in Food Processing, Ovadia, D.Z, and Walker, C.E., Food Technology, April 1998, Vol. 52, No.4, pages 46-50, Institute of Food Technologists, Chicago, IL 60607. Therefore, air frying is another example of how consumers are actively seeking calorie-reduced foods that, nonetheless, taste good. It also shows the desire for foods that are as gastronomically similar as possible to their higher fat and higher carb originals. The same is true for better tasting GF, lo-carb, and vegan foods that attempt to be as close as possible in gastronomic quality as the higher quality gluten- containing, hi-carb, and non-vegan originals they try to copy. A suitable lo-carb, GF, vegan, inexpensive gluten replacer may go at least some of the way to accomplishing that goal.

[28] A key attribute in lo-carb food product formulation can often be high levels of water content. The net carb content of a food item can be reduced by increasing water content. If water content increases and other factors remain the same, the net carb content decreases. This can be accomplished in doughs by adding water-absorbing ingredients. One example is an Oat Fiber product, VITACEL® HF 200 (J Rettenmaier USA LP, Schoolcraft, MI 49087). It absorbs above 600% of its own weight in water. This has been used in lo-carb doughs of bread and related products.

[29] A significant market also exists for lo-carb products that contain gluten. Even if they are not GF, there is still significant consumer demand for lo-carb gluten-containing products. Many consumers are neither allergic to gluten nor suffer from Celiac’s disease. Therefore, for the vast majority, gluten is a nutritious protein that facilitates making many of the world’s most popular foods, such as bread, pizza, pasta, hamburger buns, hotdog rolls, egg rolls, noodles, tortillas, burritos, and so forth. When more water is incorporated into such products by using VITACEL® HF 200, for example, its starch (net carbs) and its gluten will be diluted to help make lo-carb foods. However, more vital wheat gluten, as a separate ingredient (extracted from wheat flour), usually needs to be added to increase the dough’s structural integrity. This further dilutes net carbs, but also increases cost, because vital wheat gluten is a costly ingredient. Vital wheat gluten also requires more water than other dough ingredients. This has the advantage of diluting the net carbs yet further by increasing the percent water content yet higher. This approach of adding more water and vital wheat gluten to a bread dough is known to work in commercial reality, supplying a consumer niche demand, but not if the same product is required to be GF and low cost.

[30] There are at least four quality and cost limitations to current lo-carb GF food products available in stores, some noted above. First (1), the texture and flavor of GF products are usually inferior to gluten-containing originals, yielding poor gastronomical quality. Second (2), the cost of these products is significantly higher, in large part because of costlier ingredients, such as xanthan gum, specialized starches, and sometimes eggs or cheese used in the formula. Thirdly (3), reliance on a high level of digestible carbohydrates (hi-carb) in replacements, primarily starch types, prevents the products from being both GF and low in digestible carbohydrates (lo-carb). Fourthly (4), manufacture of filled products, such as calzones, egg rolls and burritos, is greatly hampered by the structural failure of gluten-replacements that do not possess enough strength and flexibility. They often crack, break and fall apart when folded.

Summary

[31] The inventor of the present disclosure has recognized a need to address one or more of the above-mentioned problems.

[32] Some aspects of the present disclosure are directed to functional replacements for gluten, providing at least the following seven commercial advantages, (1) - (7). They are (1) gluten free (GF), (2) low in digestible carbohydrates (lo-carb), and (3) vegan. They are also (4) higher in gastronomic quality and (5) less expensive than current GF, lo-carb, and vegan products. They are derived, in some examples, from fruit and vegetable parts discarded as trash, in contrast to current more expensive GF alternatives. Certain usually discarded fruit and vegetable parts, such as the hard, fibrous inner cores and lower stems and leaves of broccoli, Brussel sprouts, pineapple, and cauliflower, are shredded to form Julienne shreds. Shred diameter is approximately 0.2 mm - 2.0 mm and length approximately 1.0 mm - 5.0 mm in some embodiments. Some processes of the present disclosure provide a dough that incorporates approximately 10% - 50% of these shreds (with their original moisture included) to make a broad variety of breads. Examples include tinned breads, hearth breads, and flatbreads, such as pita, pizza, naan, tortilla, lavash, taftan (taftoon), sangak, barbari, aish baladi, tanoor, tandoori roti, and paratha. These can be folded to contain fillings to make, for example, wraps, calzones, burritos, and taquitos that usually crack, split, and fall apart, spilling the contents, when current GF doughs are used. Additionally, (6) immature legumes and grains, harvested early, can also be used to make the desired shreds, incorporated into flour for dough from their mature counterparts for label simplification. For example, regular chickpea flour mixed with shreds from green, immature chickpea pods can make flexible “chickpea only dough.” Shreds can also be derived (7) from a very broad spectrum of whole fruits and vegetables that might be available at low cost, for example, when there is a glut.

Detailed Description

[33] Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to vegan, lo-carb shred compositions useful as a replacement for gluten, or as a gluten enhancer, in doughs (and the like) and corresponding food products. Other aspects of the present disclosure are directed to doughs and food products incorporating the shred compositions. Some non-limiting examples of doughs and corresponding food products of the present disclosure include any known dough composition and resultant food product that conventionally includes wheat flour (or other source of gluten) as an ingredient, including bread, bread-like products, other baked products, etc., where the wheat flour (or other source of gluten, such as vital wheat gluten (VWG) extracted from low-grade wheat flour milling streams that are otherwise worthless for making bread and like products) is replaced by the shred compositions of the present disclosure.

[34] Vegan, lo-carb shred compositions of the present disclosure generally include shreds of one or more types of plant-based items (e.g., portions or an entirety of one or more vegetables and/or fruits in shredded form). In some embodiments, the shreds are low in digestible carbohydrate content (lo-carb), sometimes also described as, “low in net carbs,” desired by those seeking to lose weight. They are vegan, facilitating the manufacture of vegan GF baked items such as calzones and burritos that could not, hitherto, be made to a high level of gastronomical quality. In some embodiments, the shred compositions of the present disclosure consist of shreds of one or more types of plant-based items. In other embodiments, the shred compositions of the present disclosure are or include a mixture of shreds of one or more types of plant-based items (i.e., one or more shredded components) and a separator material selected to separate the shreds from one another (e.g., a dry powder such as gluten-free flour) as described below. An analogy used previously of "bricks and mortar" describes microscopic wheat starch granules ("bricks") embedded in the continuous "mortar" of microscopic gluten sheets. The gas cell walls of leavened bread and like products are "constructed" of this allegorical "bricks and mortar" combination. Therefore, the gluten-replacing "mortar" of the present disclosure is the network of shreds, described in greater detail below. The "bricks" are non-wheat starch granules, for example, starch granules of rice, corn (maize), garbanzo beans, soybeans, lima beans, potato, or other ingredient options.

Shred Raw Materials

[35] A wide variety of types of plant-based items or raw materials can be utilized as the basis for the shred component of the shred compositions of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, raw materials for the shred compositions of the present disclosure include members of the Brassica family, in particular broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussel sprouts, also fruits, such as pineapple. In these instances, a desirable part for gluten replacement, for the purposes of the present disclosure, is that which is discarded, such as: the core of cabbage and pineapple, and the outer “skin” zones of the pineapple usually discarded; the outer lower leaves, particularly the thick lower stems of leaves, and the core of the cauliflower; and the stems of broccoli that are often discarded. In the case of Brussel sprouts, the plant looks like a miniature tree or shrub 24” (60 cm) - 47” (120 cm) tall, about 0.5” (13 mm) - 1.0” (25 mm) in diameter. The Brussel sprouts grow in a helical pattern up and down the long stalk. They are harvested off this miniature “tree trunk,” its long stalk. The stalk is then discarded. However, this long stalk can be used as a raw material for some of the shred compositions or gluten replacements of the present disclosure.

[36] From the above descriptions, in some non-limiting examples, raw materials for the vegan, lo-carb shred compositions of the present disclosure can be discarded fruit and vegetable parts such as the hard, fibrous cores and stems of broccoli, Brussel sprouts, pineapple, and cauliflower. Some useful raw materials for fruit and/or vegetable shreds of the present disclosure, noted above, provided by growers, are often discarded by the fruit and vegetable processing industry or by customers in private homes. Many such parts are left in the field or otherwise discarded by the growers when the fruit or vegetable is harvested. This is because, currently, their customers have no need for them. Therefore, such discarded parts could be harvested and put to profitable use by way of the present disclosure. Such fruit and vegetable parts are also rich in vitamin C, which has two potential benefits. One is enhanced nutrition. The other is improvement of dough making, as is well known to those versed in the art of dough making. Therefore, using raw materials that are usually discarded, these shreds provide an inexpensive option. Most gluten-replacers are significantly more costly, using special starches, gums, and, sometimes, the inclusion of cheese or egg, which are also relatively expensive and not desired by those on lo-carb or vegan diets.

[37] Some of the raw materials useful with or as the shred compositions of the present disclosure may be regarded, usually, as too tough or fibrous. However, when shredded into fine, small shreds and incorporated into the dough (or other food composition of the present disclosure), they are often not even noticed. They also contribute desirably to the fiber content of the dough (or other food composition) and products made from it, enhancing yet further its nutritional benefit and reducing their net carb content. In many cases, the firmness of these fibers is greatly softened by cooking or baking. This is well known, for example, when cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussel sprouts are cooked in water, steamed, or fried. They become extremely soft, moist, and palatable. After cooking in such a fashion, initially hard and tough parts of the vegetable (those parts which are not discarded) are often served, for example, with salt, butter, or different spices, sauces, or gravies. In like fashion, many of the discarded parts also become much softer upon cooking and lose much of their hard texture, particularly when shredded into thin, tiny, short shreds.

[38] In yet other embodiments, the shred compositions of the present disclosure utilize or include shreds made from additional fruits and vegetables, to include, also, those parts of fruits and vegetables that are usually not discarded. This includes, for example, those parts of broccoli and cauliflower that are not thrown away but eaten. It includes, in another example, the whole pineapple, those parts of the fruit usually eaten, as well as the inner core, for example, often regarded as too tough, fibrous, and not palatable. The advantage of these embodiments is that, in industrial manufacture of the shreds in the future, it would not be necessary to separate out the two parts: those parts usually eaten from those usually not eaten. If the demand for the products of the present disclosure becomes great enough, the whole fruit or vegetable can be processed without the need for above-noted separations. This would simplify the process and make it more economic. Whole fruits or vegetables, used to make the shreds, would possibly be less expensive if purchased in large bulk quantities, as is often the case for large-volume purchases.

[39] Additional vegetables, in shredded form, can also be used to apply the benefits of the present disclosure, provided they can form at least a proportion of about 10%-90% of the shred composition. They can include, for example, carrots, turnips, bok choy, radishes, tomatoes, green and red peppers, celery stalks and roots, beetroot, parsley, cilantro, greens (a popular vegetable emanating from the southern United States), sugar beet, sugar cane, asparagus, green beans, aubergines (egg plant), Zucchini (summer squash, courgette), pumpkin, French beans, pea pods, runner beans (butter beans, lima beans), jicama, potatoes, the bran of grains such as wheat (if GF is not required), corn (maize), barley, rye, rice, sorghum, millet, sweet potatoes, yam, and corn.

[40] In other embodiments, additional types of fruit, in shredded form, can be used as or with the shred compositions of the present disclosure such as mangoes, apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and citrus fruit such as oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit. An advantage of incorporating these various fruits and vegetables can occur when there is a glut, an excess, supplied by growers. Supply may exceed consumer demand for fresh produce, as well as the demand for industrial production of various items, such as frozen or canned products. Therefore, growers may seek alternative outlets. This may be concurrent with lowering the prices of such fruits and vegetables, making it a significant economic opportunity.

[41] In yet other embodiments of the present disclosure, a broad selection of grains and legumes can be harvested earlier and then shredded for use with or as the shred compositions of the present disclosure. In some cases, the grains or legumes can still be green and immature. Being green and relatively tender, they are then shredded with relative ease in accordance with the descriptions below.

[42] In yet other embodiments, soy or chickpea flour from normally harvested soy beans or chickpeas can be mixed with shreds of early-harvested green soy (edamame) beans or chickpeas, still in their immature green hulls for use with or as the shred compositions of the present disclosure. With their green hulls, they are then shredded into vitamin-C-containing shreds. [43] In some embodiments, any one of the plant-based items described above can serve as the sole shredded component of a shred composition of the present disclosure. In other embodiments, two (or more) of the items described above can be shredded and combined for use as, or with, a shred composition of the present disclosure.

Shred Formats and Methods of Manufacture

[44] Regardless of which of the raw material item or type above is employed, the selected raw material is shredded into shreds that can assume various forms or formats (e.g., size and/or shape). In some embodiments, the shreds are a well-known thin type of shred called, “Julienne.” It is well known to cooks, chefs, food technologists, and many who prepare food at home. Regardless of an exact format, in some embodiments dimensions of the shreds of the present disclosure (e.g., Julienne shreds) are approximately 0.5-2.0 mm in diameter and approximately 1.0 - 5.0 mm long. In some embodiments, at least 75% of the shreds of the shred composition have a diameter of in the range of 0.5-2.0 mm and a length of 1.0 - 5.0 mm; alternatively at least 80%; alternatively at least 95%. In some embodiments, the shreds and the shred compositions of the present disclosure are distinguishable or different from a puree format. With a puree form, a raw material item is grinded, milled and/or mashed into fine particles or bits that are not visually distinguishable from one another; in contrast, the shreds of the present disclosure are substantively larger than puree particles orbits, and individually ones of the shreds are visually perceptible.

[45] Various techniques can be used to shred the raw material(s) into shreds (e.g., Julienne shreds) useful with the shred compositions of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, a Julienne-type shredder can be employed. Julienne shredders can be manual or mechanical. One example of a manual shredder is the Oneida USA Stainless Steel Box Style Grater Shredder Slicer Cheese Citrus Zester, Oneida Limited, Sherrill, New York. It is 10” (25.4 cm) tall, 4-sided, 4” (10.2 cm) long, 3” (7.6 cm) wide, with four grating/slicing/shredding sides. One of these is four sides is used for Julienne shredding and is useful for preparing shreds of the present disclosure. The Oneida Julienne shredding side is comprised of multiple slanted orifices, 2 mm in diameter, 6 mm long, slanted at approximately 30° to the perpendicular.

[46] Similar Julienne shredders can be used that make larger quantities of shred more quickly than the Oneida manual shredder. These use “shredder discs,” rotated by an electrical motor, are available in residential food processors marketed by Sharkninja Operating LLC, Needham, MA 02494, and Hamilton Beech Brands Holding Company, Glen Allen, VA 23059. However, some do not offer Julienne shredders, usually only larger-sized shreds. Julienne shredders can sometimes be ordered separately, e.g., from Hamilton Beach

ih.^b.:b)#U35100). A larger disc shredder for institutional kitchens is Robot Coupe’s R101P Plus Combination Processor w Julienne Disk

(Robot Coupe USA, Ridgeland, MS 391 7), that also offers a Julienne shredding disc #27610. Larger scale Julienne shredders are also offered Robot Coupe and by Hobart, Troy, Ohio 45373. Suitable industrial scale equipment is available from John Bean Technologies Corporation (JBT) Lakeland, Florida 33801.

[47] Many of the raw material items or types mentioned above (or segments thereof) are quite amenable to shredding in their normal or natural form due to an inherent hardness or stiffness (e.g., members of the Brassica family, in particular broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussel sprouts; the outer skin of a pineapple, etc.). Others of these fruits and vegetables are initially hard, compared to softness when they are ripe and ready for human consumption. They soften with ripening and with cooking, so that an unwanted firmness of the shreds is absent after frying, steaming, or baking, per the methods of dough mixing, sheeting, and heat-processing (e.g., baking) of this invention. This hardness can be applied to advantage. It can facilitate the shredding process. Firm shreds provide structure to the dough that replaces the structure provided by gluten. [48] Furthermore, it may be more difficult, but not impossible in some cases, to create firm Julienne shreds, for example, from soft, ripe, tomatoes, peaches, pears, mangoes, tomatoes, and apricots, etc. Shredding these can be enabled when they are frozen and tempered, as for meat that is frozen at, for example, 30°F (-1°C), but not deep frozen at, for example at 10°F (-12°C). Tempering of meat in this way can allow it to be cut more easily than when completely thawed. This process is well known to those versed in the art of meat processing as, “tempering.” Similar tempering might, in some cases, be applied to shred certain ripe fruits and vegetables, if it would provide sufficient commercial advantage. For example, a very large excess of ripe fruits or vegetables may be available that must otherwise be discarded for lack of an alternative commercial outlet for profitable sale or processing.

Separator Materials and Methods of Mixing

[49] The Julienne shreds of fruits and vegetables (or other plant-based items), noted above, can be an important ingredient of the shred compositions of the present disclosure. They can be used, for example, to replace gluten in wheat flour dough for bread and other related products, such as tortillas, pizza, and the outer casings of fried egg rolls or steamed and filled dumplings. However, the fruit and vegetable shreds, directly after shredding, may not be sufficient by themselves to make such products. Also, can be important processing steps, as with most dough-based products, required to make these and other products. The first step is separation of shreds. Therefore, with some shred compositions of the present disclosure, a powdered dry material, for example, GF flour, can be employed. Initially, the separator material serves to separate the shreds. Then, when water is added, this flour is mixed with the separated shreds to form a desirable dough or other food composition. Other separator materials are also envisioned. For example, a powered dry material exhibiting a high water-holding capacity, for example an Oat Fiber product, VITACEL® HF 200 (J Rettenmaier USA LP, Schoolcraft, MI 49087), can be used to replace some or all of the GF flour, providing a shred composition useful in preparing lo-carb food compositions and food products. [50] This separation of shreds on a small scale can be accomplished manually by rubbing the shreds in the GF or other flour (or other separator material) between the fingers until the shreds are separated and surrounded by flour and are no longer adhering to other shreds, as best can be accomplished. On an industrial scale, such separation can be enabled by thorough mixing in a ribbon blender for example, well known to those versed in the art of preparing dry blends for the food industry. If moisture needs to be removed from the resultant shred composition before packing, storing, and shipping, this may be accomplished by one of several drying technologies practiced in the food industry. Alternatively, the shred composition (e.g., mixture of GF or other flour and the moist shreds) could be packaged, frozen, stored, sold and transported as a frozen ingredient. This increases the weight and cost of shipping, compared to dried shreds, but promises to retain the valuable vitamin C of many types of shred, noted above.

Food Compositions and Food Products

[51] A plethora of different food compositions incorporating the shreds described above are provided by the present disclosure. As a point of reference, a “food composition” in in reference to a mixture or recipe of various ingredients that can be converted into a “food product” with further processing (e.g., sheeting, cutting, baking, drying, etc.).

[52] Food compositions of the present disclosure are doughs that include the shred composition as described above, and one or more additional ingredients such as water and other conventional ingredients implicated by the particular food composition/food product desired. In some embodiments, the doughs, and resultant food products, are gluten free. In some embodiments, the food compositions and food products of the present disclosure are of a known format and conventionally include wheat flour (or other source of gluten), except that the wheat flour (or other source of gluten) is replaced by a shred composition as described above. Gluten-free food products according to embodiments of the present disclosure contain less than 20 ppm gluten, preferably less than 10 ppm gluten and, more particularly, 0% by weight of gluten. For purposes of the present disclosure, gluten content can be determined by the gliadin content. In some embodiments, food compositions and food products of the present disclosure are gluten free, vegan, and lo-carb. In other embodiments, food compositions and food products of the present disclosure need not necessarily be gluten free, but exhibit one or more attributes including vegan, lo-carb, gluten enhanced, and/or vitamin C enhanced. Regardless, the food compositions and food products of the present disclosure contain 10%-50% by weight of the plant-based shreds as described above, with the original moisture of the fruit or vegetable included.

[53] Some food compositions and food products incorporate the functional gluten replacements of the present disclosure include baked products like bread, pizza, pita, and tortilla, and fried Asian products, such as egg rolls. They are based on shredded components of fruits and vegetables. They are gluten free (GF) and therefore suitable for those suffering from gluten allergy and Celiac’s disease. These shreds are low in digestible carbohydrate content (lo-carb), sometimes also described as, “low in net carbs,” desired by those seeking to lose weight. They are vegan, facilitating the manufacture of vegan GF baked items such as calzones and burritos, which could not, hitherto, be made to a high level of gastronomical quality.

[54] This higher level of gastronomic quality refers particularly to the tensile strength, and the springy, flexible texture of such flat breads as pita, naan, tortillas and pizza crusts, and thin sheets (skins) of egg roll casing dough. Many current GF alternatives of such doughs and their end products are usually brittle and cannot be folded conveniently without cracking, breaking, falling apart, or failing in some such fashion. This can prevent the manufacture, for example, of acceptable GF calzones, burritos, and egg rolls. With the food compositions and food products of the present disclosure, superior elasticity and tensile strength of dough and food products made from it are accomplished by inclusion of the fruit and vegetable shreds in dough at levels of approximately 10% - 50%. Such dough can be used to make bread, pizza, naan, lavash, tortillas, egg rolls, dumplings, strudel, Danish pastry, wontons, spring rolls, calzones, burritos, Cornish pasties, and many other like products. The shreds serve as a functional replacement for gluten that is (1) gluten free (GF), (2) low in digestible carbohydrates (lo-carb), (3) vegan, and (4) relatively inexpensive, compared to alternative ingredients currently used to make such products.

[551 As a point of reference, with embodiments in which the food composition includes the shreds as described above mixed with a separator material (e.g., gluten free flour), when water is added, this flour is mixed with the separated shreds to form a desirable dough. From this dough, after sheeting, high quality products can be made, for example, bread, tortillas, pita, Calzones, Cornish pasties, kolach, burritos, taquitos, dumplings, wontons, egg rolls, spring rolls, and many others.

[56] For the formation of dough-based products made from wheat flour, sheeting can be an important step. Sheeting provides additional structure to dough because it stretches and aligns the dough in a structural fashion. It creates a tension within the sheeted dough that allows it to rise in tinned sandwich bread, for example, but also in hearth bread, where there are no baking tins and loaves are baked on a completely flat baking surface in the oven. If a proofed dough piece for hearth bread is roughly hemispherical in shape, then, after proofing, the baked loaf of bread will also be roughly hemispherical in shape. Hearth bread can and often does rise to a loaf height of about 3” (8 mm) - 5” (13 mm), depending on the size and type of the dough. For dough to rise in the way, and rise further when baked, it must possess tensile strength and flexibility usually provided by gluten. It does not happen, for example, with cake batter, which requires a container, such as a cake tin, or it spreads and flattens like pancake batter. In the GF doughs of some examples of the present disclosure, the inventor of the present disclosure has surmised that the dough development mechanism may be similar in principle to the process of structural alignment within the dough during the sheeting of wheat flour dough that contains gluten.

[57] Other examples of food compositions and food products of the present disclosure include food products intended to be wrapped onto themselves and/or filled food products. With these and similar products, the inventor of the present disclosure has surmised that the shredded fibers become aligned, a little like fibers of cloth material, and create a tensile strength and an elastic flexibility that, for example, allow encased, filled products, such as calzones, burritos, egg rolls, strudel, Danish pastries, empanadas, samosas, and dumplings to be made. These products are made by thinly sheeting dough to about 1 mm thickness that must possess tensile strength so as not to fall apart.

[58] Another category of food compositions and food products of the present disclosure include tortillas. In the context of the present disclosure, it can be useful to clarify and emphasize the difference between wheat flour and com (maize) tortillas, often abbreviated as, “flour tortillas” and, “corn tortillas”. There are two main types of commonly available tortilla made from: (1) wheat flour, popular in the United States, Europe, and around the world; and (2) corn (maize) base called nixtamal, popular in Mexico and Latin America. Com tortillas are made from a base called nixtamal, made from cooking corn in an alkali solution. Masa (or, masa di maiz) is a dough made from ground nixtamalized com. It can be dried and is sold as “corn masa flour,” or, “masa harina,” in many stores in the United States. Corn tortillas are readily available in the United States, Europe, and worldwide, but are generally less popular than wheat flour tortillas. By contrast, in Mexico and Central America, 98% of the tortillas are made from corn. The term “corn” today, usually means “maize,” but in old English and in the Bible, “com” is a general term meaning, “grain,” such as wheat and barley. Maize was unknown to the Middle East in Biblical times. Therefore, reference to “corn” as meaning, “maize,” needs to be emphasized in the context of the present disclosure. In towns in the UK today, cities still have buildings called, “the com exchange,” meaning, “the grain exchange” for exchanging grains in years past that did not include maize. In the following, “corn tortillas” will be used to mean tortillas made from maize.

[59] With the above in mind, there are important differences between wheat and corn tortillas. Wheat flour tortillas are flexible, can be folded and made into many filled products, such as burritos, chimichangas, taquitos, enchiladas, and other foods of this general type. However, such foods are not GF. By contrast, corn tortillas are indeed GF, but they tend to be fragile, brittle, and fall apart easily when handled. They are often used to make tacos, after being folded into a “U” shape, often baked into that shape as a dry, crispy form, like a large simple “U” shaped tortilla chip, into which fillings are placed. However, they are not usually used to make burritos, for example, because they split, crack, and fall apart too readily when folded. However, the shred compositions of the present disclosure can be used as an inexpensive GF gluten replacer, providing the tensile strength and flexibility of wheat flour tortillas. With these and similar food composition and food product of the present disclosure, the commercial potential of making corn-based burritos and like products would be great.

[60] Other food compositions and food products of the present disclosure include corn tortillas. Com tortillas are GF, but they usually fall apart when folded to make burritos and other similar products with a moist filling. Wheat flour tortillas are not GF, but they are flexible and possess tensile strength. They can be used to make burritos and such products without splitting, cracking, or falling apart. Therefore, in another aspect of the present disclosure, there are at least two options to create flexible corn tortillas that can be used to make burritos and other like products: (1) the masa dough formula can include a certain percentage, approximately 10% - 50%, of the shreds of the present disclosure, made from health-promoting cauliflower or other health-promoting shreds of the present disclosure; or (2) additional shreds of the present disclosure can be made from corn itself and included in the formula, the advantage of the second approach being that the important label declaration of ingredients on the packaging of commercially available products. It is important in the eyes of customers. It does not need to be changed, because “corn” is being replaced by “corn”, even if it is a slightly different form of corn. Again, these corn shreds can be included in the tortilla dough formula at levels approximately between 10% - 50%. In addition to burritos and like products, this dough could be used to make egg rolls, samosas, calzones, and other such products. These can be novel, new-to-the-world products creating commercial opportunities among consumers who love to try out new products, e.g., burritos made from com masa with its unique flavors and colors.

[61] Therefore, creating com shreds according to embodiments of the present disclosure can enable the making of flexible GF corn tortillas and GF burritos, for example, without splitting, cracking, and falling apart. It can be accomplished, for example, in at least two methods, in both instances starting from whole kernels of corn that have not been nixtamalized, based on two commonly available forms of corn kernel. The first method uses dried corn kernels, readily available for animal feed and many other purposes, and it is relatively inexpensive. To create the dough enhancing shreds of this invention, the kernels can first be hydrated to swell with water, perhaps by soaking in water overnight or another method, such as steaming. They can then be passed through a Julienne-type shredder or other device that yields dough-enhancing corn shreds of the present disclosure. The second method takes corn that is ripe but not yet dried, as used to make corn on the cob at home by cooking, baking or grilling on the BBQ, or in the food industry for making cans of whole kernel corn or frozen corn kernels. In this case too, the com kernels can be passed through a Julienne-type shredder or other suitable device to produce the dough-enhancing shreds of this invention. The second method can shred com from: directly from the cob; kernels freshly separated from the cob, as for cans of whole kernel corn; as corn kernels that have been frozen and thawed or partially thawed; from canned corn kernels; or by other means yet to be developed to yield the shreds of the present disclosure.

[62] Food compositions and food products of the present disclosure are not gluten free in some embodiments. With these and related embodiments, the value of the dough (or other food compositions) of the present disclosure and its component shreds are not confined to GF products, even if these are considered promising commercially. The shreds as prepared and used to make a dough provide structure, tensile strength, and flexibility to GF dough that, without the shreds of the present disclosure, lack these attributes. However, if there are gluten-containing wheat flour doughs that are partially lacking in these attributes, the shreds of the present disclosure and their application, described above, can serve to “strengthen” or enhance the gluten of an otherwise “weak” dough. The use of terms such as “a strong dough” and “a weak dough” are commonly used by those versed in the art of baking. A weak dough may possess an insufficient degree of gluten functionality. This means it does not provide sufficient tensile strength and elastic flexibility required for the product being made from it. Therefore, the dough must be fortified in some way in practice, often by adding expensive vital wheat gluten.

[63] These shortcomings in making bread, for example, from “weak” wheat flour dough occurs, for example, when: (1) the gluten is of a poor quality, irrespective of percent gluten in the wheat; (2) the gluten in the wheat of a lower percentage than desired, irrespective of gluten quality; and (3) the dough contains dough-weakening ingredients, in particular wheat bran, for example, in “whole wheat bread.” Bran in breads is appealing to many customers as nutritionally preferable. However, it tends to cut and otherwise disrupt the fragile, microscopic, strength-providing gluten matrix and the thin walls of gas cells in leavened bread and innumerable other products using a similar dough base. In all three examples (1), (2) and (3), above, and additional scenarios, the solution is often to add vital wheat gluten as a separate ingredient, which is expensive. The fruit and vegetable shreds of the present disclosure promise to be cheaper, being made from products usually discarded as trash in some non-limiting examples. Also, as “health giving cauliflower,” for example, the inclusion of these shreds can enhance the “healthy,” “good for you” appeal of the product to the buying public.

[64] Some food compositions and food products of the present disclosure are characterized by an enhanced level of vitamin C. In addition to novel and comparatively inexpensive strengthening wheat-based doughs, noted above, addition of broccoli or cauliflower shreds, for example, offers four more commercial advantages to wheat-based doughs and breads: (1) more fiber is added to the finished product, as desired by many health conscious consumers; (2) cauliflower and other fruits and vegetables, irrespective of fiber, are generally perceived as health promoting ingredients, with many GF, lo-carb pizza crusts advertising, for example, “contains cauliflower”; (3) broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and other members of the Brassica botanical family are also rich in healthpromoting vitamin C. Cauliflower, for example, contains around 52 mg vitamin C per 100 grams, close to the same as for oranges; and (4) vitamin C is well known to those versed in the art of dough making to contribute significantly to improving yet further the development of a strong wheat-flour-based dough. Vitamin C as a separate ingredient added to dough to make it stronger is costly, but it is as an integral part of the above noted inexpensive shreds of the present disclosure. They can be made from, for example, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, pineapple, and additional shreds types that can include mango, parsley, cilantro, citrus fruit, all of which are inherently rich in vitamin C. They do not have to be extracted from the parts we usually eat, but also, in many cases, can also be extracted from those parts usually discarded as trash or left to rot the field. In some examples of the present disclosure, these discarded or unwanted parts may often serve as the most valuable components.

[65] Some food compositions and food products of the present disclosure are characterized as lo-carb that may or may not be gluten free. In related embodiments, some food compositions and food products of the present disclosure that otherwise incorporate or include some examples of the shred compositions are baked, fried, or steamed items that are GF, lo-carb, vegan, and high in fiber. With these and related embodiments, the shreds of the shred composition can be prepared from a raw material high in moisture content, such as fruits and/or vegetables, for example a moisture content in the range of approximately 85% - 95%. The separator material used with the corresponding shred composition can be dry powdered material with a high water-holding capacity, such, but not limited to, the VITACEL® HF 200 oat fiber product mentioned above (available from J Rettenmaier USA LP, of Schoolcraft, MI) and other commercially available high-fiber, lo-carb ingredients with low to zero net carbs that absorb high levels of water and have been used to manufacture lo-carb baked products.. These and similar products are formulated to absorb a substantive amount of water (e.g., above 600% of its own weight in water), and have been used in lo-carb doughs of bread and related products. The high water-holding capacity dry powder material can be added to replace some or all the GF flour in doughs (or other food compositions) of the present disclosure and described elsewhere except it is lo-carb. The level of water in the dough formula can be adjusted as desired. This will depend on the level of absorption of water by the fiber, percent inclusion of the water-absorbing fiber, how much GF flour is replaced, and additional formula tweaks as may be necessary to make good, tasty baked products. Therefore, by using HF 200 and other high-fiber, high- water-absorbing ingredients in some doughs or other food compositions of the present disclosure, baked products can be made that are lo-carb and high fiber, and optionally GF and vegan. Moreover, vitamin C content of the baked product from shredded fiber of fruits and vegetables of some examples of the present disclosure may be significant.

[66] As mentioned above, some shred materials of the present disclosure comprise shreds formed from grains and/or legumes. In this regard, a broad selection of grains and legumes can be harvested earlier and then shredded according to the present disclosure. In some cases, the grains or legumes can still be green and immature. At this early stage of their development, they may also contain high levels of vitamin C. Being green and relatively tender, they are then shredded with relative ease into the Julienne shreds of the present disclosure. Afterwards, they can be applied to dry flour made from the same crop grown to maturity and milled into flour as usual. This flour and the shreds are then mixed, as described above, separating the shreds in the shred composition. The mixture can then be made into dough, sheeted, and made, for example tortillas. By the inclusion of the shreds of the present disclosure from the same but immature crop, the tortillas, for example, are flexible and possess tensile strength. This being so, such tortillas can also be used to make, for example, burritos and like products. This approach can be applied to a very broad spectrum of grains and legumes. [67] For example, soy or chickpea flour from normally harvested soy beans or chickpeas can be mixed with shreds of early-harvested green soy (edamame) beans or chickpeas, still in their immature green hulls. With their green hulls, they are then shredded into vitamin-C -containing Julienne shreds. The shreds and the normal soy or chickpea flour are then combined in ways described above. They can then be mixed with water and other ingredients, as necessary, to make dough. From that dough can be made, for example, flexible tortillas, naan, pita, or lavash flatbread. A commercial advantage of such an approach, in addition to enabling the making of flexible tortillas and burritos, for example, from GF grains and legumes alternative to wheat flour, is to keep product labels simpler. This is preferred by the buying public. Both fresh and matured and dried corn, made into masa, are both “corn” on the product label. The same would be true for fresh and immature soy, chickpeas, beans of various types, and grains normally harvested later. Combined with shreds from immature grains and legumes, flexible tortillas and burritos, for example, could be made from flour made in the current fashion from soy, chickpeas, sorghum, millet, rye, and rice, and others, all of which cannot usually be used to make, for example, flexible tortillas and burritos.

EXAMPLES AND COMPARATIVE EXAMPLES

[68] Selected embodiments of the present disclosure are more particularly described in the following examples. The examples are presented for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the present disclosure to any particular embodiment. Numerous modifications and variations within the scope of the present disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Unless otherwise noted, all parts, percentages and ratios reported in the following examples are on a weight basis.

[69] Example Dough: Dough #1. Shreds were prepared by processing thick bases of cauliflower leaves by a Julienne-type shredder from Oneida USA Stainless Steel Box Style Grater Shredder Slicer Cheese Citrus Zester, Oneida Limited, Sherrill, New York. Excluded were the white florets of cauliflower usually cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The shredder was 10” (25.4 cm) tall, 4-sided, 4” (10.2 cm) long, 3” (7.6 cm) wide, with four grating/ slicing/ shredding sides. The Oneida Julienne shredding side was comprised of multiple slanted orifices, 2 mm in diameter, 6 mm long, slanted at approximately 30° to the perpendicular. The so-formed shreds were mixed with a separator material in the form of a commercially available GF flour under the trade designation Gluten Free All Purpose Flour made by Divided Sunset, Chicago, IL 60647. Ingredients of the GF flour: rice flour; tapioca starch; potato starch, xanthan gum, and salt. The resultant shred composition was then mixed with other ingredients to form a dough (“Dough #1”) by: 41.0% of the GF flour; 30.0% water, 5.0% soybean oil, and 24.0% shredded thick bases of cauliflower leaves usually discarded, and lower central core of cauliflower usually discarded. As a point of reference, the shreds (as with other vegetables) with high moisture content (e.g., around 92% moisture), high moisture liquid, mostly water, was partially exuded from them and this makes them stick together. Therefore, the 24.0% shreds were mixed with 41.0% GF flour in a way that thoroughly separates the shreds with the help of mixing. When the 30.0% water was added to the shred composition and the dough subsequently mixed, the shreds were thoroughly and uniformly separated within the dough.

[70] Comparative Example Dough: Dough #2. A comparative example dough (“Dough #2”) was prepared similar to Dough #1, except that the shreds of Dough #1 were not included. As a point of reference, cauliflower is comprised of 92% moisture and 8% dry solids. Therefore, in the formula of Dough #2, moisture of the cauliflower (22% of the formula) was replaced as 22% more water. The 8% cauliflower solids were replaced with GF flour, adding 2% more GF flour to the formula. The formula for Dough #2 was, therefore: 43.0% GF flour; 52% water; and 5% soybean oil.

[71] Example Food Product. Burritos weighing on average 124 g (4.37 oz) were made from 26.2 cm (10.3") diameter tortillas weighing, on average, 64.0 g (2.26 oz) and filled with 60 g (2.12 oz) of Rosarita™ Traditional Refried Beans (Conagra Brands, Chicago, IL60654, USA). To make the tortillas, 150 g (5.29 oz) portions of Dough #1 were rounded manually, covered in a bowl to prevent drying and left to rest for 20 minutes. They were then sheeted in a mechanical sheeter (Model CDR 100, Somerset Industries, Lowell, MA 01852). An inverted circular pan was used to cut out a circular sheeted dough piece 27.9 cm (11 .0") in diameter that weighed on average 71 g (2.50 oz). When baked, the tortillas shrank on average to 26.2 cm (10.3 inch) diameter and weighed on average 64 g (2.26 oz). The filling of 60 g (2.12 oz) Rosarita™ Traditional Refried Beans was placed in the center of the tortillas. Burritos were then made by folding and rolling the tortillas in traditional fashion. They were cylindrical in shape, on average 11.5 cm (4.53 inch) long. Their cross section was elliptical, on average 4.81 cm (1.99 inch) wide and 2.92 cm (1.15 inch) high. The tortilla was flexible and did not crack, split or break apart when the burrito was made.

[72] Comparative Example Food Product. Attempts were made to prepare the tortillas of the Example Food Product above using Dough #2. The tortillas were brittle and broke apart when, after the filling of 60 g (2.12 oz) of Rosarita™ Traditional Refried Beans was placed in the middle of them, attempts were made to fold and roll them in traditional fashion, as for the tortillas of Dough #1. Therefore, tortillas made from Dough #2 could not be used to make burritos.

[73] The shreds, shred compositions, food compositions, and food products of the present disclosure provide a marked improvement over previous designs. The effective vegan gluten replacement ingredients of the present disclosure can supply the consumer demands for foods that are (1) lo-carb, (2) GF, and (3) vegan, (4) at lower cost, and (5) pertaining to a higher standard of gastronomical quality, given that the current quality of such products is often very poor. Even when dieting with lo-carb foods, or eating GF or vegan foods, people still want to enjoy eating. Therefore, better tasting lo-carb, GF, or vegan foods of the present disclosure, which often possess very poor gastronomic quality, addresses a widespread consumer need. Therefore, improved textural quality when eaten, improving what food scientists call “mouthfeel,” promises to supply a ready and growing market. [74] By way of comparison, several GF inventions have replaced gluten in wheat-flourbased products, in some cases specifically for GF pizza crusts (US Publication No. 2016/0150798 Al, US Publication No. 2019/0008191 Al) and in other cases to replace a broader range of wheat-flour, dough-based foods (GB Publication No. 2,447978 A). Products so made may also address the consumer demand for a GF pizza with a “health halo,” or, the assumed healthy attributes, made to include such ingredients as cauliflower (US 2019/0008191). The Caulipower® company (Encino, CA 91436) and Milton’s® Craft Bakers (Milton’s Baking Company, Carlsbad, CA 92008) both market GF frozen pizza containing cauliflower as the primary ingredient in the crust. Both emphasize on their packaging that these are, “Cauliflower Crusts.” In both instances, the crusts also contain xanthan gum, non-vegan egg, hi-carb rice flour, and hi-carb tapioca starch. Two more GF frozen pizza types, one marketed by Banza® LLC (New York, New York 10159) and the other by Daiya Foods Inc (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada), contain chickpea flour, also perceived by many consumers as, “good for you,” or, possessing a “health halo.” Such products are available at approximately 4,700 Wai Mart stores and many other competing supermarket chains around the United States, a clear indication of the significant mass-market appeal of “good for you” GF pizza. In this light, cauliflower and chickpea are perceived by many consumers as health promoting.

[75] US Publication No. 2019/0008191, describes a “gluten-free cauliflower-based pizza dough” and method of making. Its ingredients include pureed cauliflower, egg whites, and several types of cheese. These can provide some limited measure of dough and crust tensile strength and flexibility, usually provided more effectively by gluten. Thickening agents include potato flour, chickpea flour, and brown rice flour, but they do not include the shredded fruits and vegetables of this invention that provide strength in place of gluten. GB Publication No. 2,447,978 and US Publication No. 2016/0150798 Al both use egg whites to form a stable crust. The former creates dough and batter made from foamed egg white. The latter makes dough containing 45%-55% dried egg whites. In both cases the structure, strength, and other attributes, usually provided by gluten in wheat flour, are largely replaced by egg whites. While GF, they do not address the needs of lo-carb and vegan consumers. These gluten replacers are also significantly more costly than wheat flour they attempt to replace. The vegan option is not possible with US Publication No. 2016/0150798, US Publication No. 2019/00088191, and GB Publication No. 2,447,978 A that each use egg and dairy ingredients. The shreds, shred compositions, food compositions and food products of some embodiments of the present disclosure overcome these (and other deficiencies).

[76] By way of further comparison, another area of art describes fruit-and-vegetable-based films made from fruit and vegetable purees, described in US Patent No. 8,715,763. The films can be used to wrap fillings, as for sushi products. Some embodiments of the present disclosure employ fruits and vegetables as raw materials and, also, flexible end products can be used to wrap and encase sushi type food fillings. The films of US Patent No. 8,715,763 (“the ‘763 Patent”) have been commercialized by the NewGemFoods® (Allyn, WA 98524 - to create thin films

0.1 - 0.18 mm thick, known commercially as “Gem Wraps™”. They are recommended for making sushi and similar foods instead of using seaweed as the outer wrap. The thickness of the bread and like products of the present disclosure varies greatly from raw sheeted egg roll skins about 1 mm thick, to flatbreads about 3 - 7 mm thick, to loaves of bread about 8 cm (3 inch) to 13 cm (5 inch) thick/tall. The films of the ‘763 Patent are typically used in many cases as a replacement for the seaweedbased “nori” wrap in making oriental wrapped foods such as sushi and onigiri. This replacement can serve, in some cases, those who dislike the fishy flavor and aroma of seaweed, traditionally used to wrap sushi products.

[77] The wraps, the thin sheets of the ‘763 Patent, are destroyed by the heat of cooking. They are not intended for cooking. They may contain cooked and cooled rice, and other typical sushi fillings, but are not designed to be cooked themselves. Flatbread or egg rolls, for example, made by way of the present disclosure, are created by the heat of baking, frying, or steaming. They are often purchased as frozen items that are reheated in a regular oven, toaster oven, air fryer, or microwave oven. In contrast, the strength and flexibility of sheeted dough and flatbreads of some embodiments of the present disclosure are created by the inclusion of Julienne shredded fibers, approximately 0.2 mm - 2 mm in diameter and 1 mm - 5 mm long. The fruit and vegetables of the ‘763 Patent are made from puree, in contrast to the shreds of the present disclosure. The Gem Wraps™ sheets are usually sold like thin sheets of paper to be used for cold foods and based upon the ‘763 Patent. They comprise at least 75% - 100% fruit or vegetable puree. In contrast, some embodiments of the present disclosure create a bread-like dough, with typically 10% - 50% fruit or vegetable shreds in the dough formulation. Once mixed with the 50% - 90% of other ingredients, the dough is then sheeted into a multiplicity of shapes and forms. They are sometimes topped, as for pizza, or filled, as for burritos, sometimes filled and then baked, fried, or steamed to deliver finished products for consumption.

[78] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

Claims:

1. A shred composition for use with food compositions and food products comprising: shreds of at least one plant-based item.

2. The shred composition of claim 1, wherein the shred composition is a functional replacement for gluten in food compositions and food products.

3. The shred composition of claim 1, wherein at least 75% of the shreds of the shred composition are Julienne-type shreds.

4. The shred composition of claim 3, wherein at least 95% of the shreds of the shred composition are Julienne-type shreds.

5. The shred composition of claim 1, wherein at least 75% of the shreds of the shred composition have a diameter in the range of 0.2 - 2.0 mm.

6. The shred composition of claim 5, wherein at least 95% of the shreds of the shred composition have a diameter in the range of 0.2 - 2.0 mm.

7. The shred composition of claim 1, wherein at least 75% of the shreds of the shred composition have a length in the range of 1.0 - 5.0 mm.

8. The shred composition of claim 7, wherein at least 95% of the shreds of the shred composition have a length in the range of 1.0 - 5.0 mm.

9. The shred composition of claim 1, wherein at least 75% of the shreds of the shred composition have a diameter in the range of 0.2 - 2.0 mm and a length in the range of 1.0 - 5.0 mm.

10. The shred composition of claim 9, wherein at least 95% of the shreds of the shred composition have a diameter in the range of 0.2 - 2.0 mm and a length in the range of 1 .0 - 5.0 mm.

11. The shred composition of claim 1, further comprising: a separator material mixed with the shreds.

12. The shred composition of claim 11, wherein the separator material is configured to separate the shreds from one another.

13. The shred composition of claim 11, wherein the separator material is a dry powder.

14. The shred composition of claim 13, wherein the separator material is flour.

15. The shred composition of claim 14, wherein the flour is a gluten free flour.

16. The shred composition of claim 13, wherein the dry powder exhibits high water-holding capacity.

17. The shred composition of claim 16, wherein the dry powder absorbs over 600% of its own weight in water.

18. The shred composition of claim 11, wherein the plant-based item is immature green chickpea plant and the separator material is flour milled from matured, dried chickpea.

19. The shred composition of claim 11, wherein the plant-based item is immature green soy plan (edamame) and the separator material is flour milled from matured, dried soybean.

20. The shred composition of claim 11, wherein the plant-based item is moist kernels of corn (mature or immature) and the separator material is flour milled from mature dried com kernels.

21. The shred composition of claim 11, wherein the plant-based item is moist kernels of corn (mature or immature) and the separator material is com mesa flour (masa harina).

22. The shred composition of claim 11, wherein the plant-based item includes suitable parts of a variety of a green plant in an immature stage and the separator material is flour milled from the variety of the green plant in a mature stage.

23. The shred composition of claim 1, wherein the plant-based item is one of a fruit and a vegetable.

24. The shred composition of claim 23, wherein the plant-based item is selected from the group consisting of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, and pineapple.

25. The shred composition of claim 24, wherein the shreds are formed by shredding at least one of broccoli stems, cabbage cores, pineapple cores, pineapple outer skins, cauliflower leaf stems, cauliflower cores, and Brussel sprout stalks.

26. A food composition comprising: the shred composition of claim 1; and water.

27. The food composition of claim 26, wherein the food composition is a dough.

28. The food composition of claim 27, wherein the food composition is gluten free.

29. The food composition of claim 27, wherein the food composition is lo-carb.

30. The food composition of claim 27, wherein the food composition is vegan.

31. The food composition of claim 27, wherein the food composition is gluten free, lo-carb, and vegan.

32. A food product prepared from the food composition of claim 26.

33. The food product of claim 32, wherein the food product is selected from the group consisting of bread, flat bread, hearth bread, pizza, pita, tortilla, naan, lavash, taftan, sangak, barbari, aish baladi, tanoor, tandoori roti, paratha, pirozhki, pierogi, kolach, egg roll, spring roll, strudel, Danish pastry, empanada, samosa, Cornish pasty, and dumpling.

34. The food product of claim 33, wherein the food product is gluten free.

35. The food product of claim 33, wherein the food product is lo-carb.

36. The food product of claim 33, wherein the food product is vegan.

37. The food composition of claim 33, wherein the food product is gluten free, lo- carb, and vegan.