AU604260B2 - Process for the preparation of a drink based on alimentary vegetable extracts and drink so obtained - Google Patents

Description

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N li 1 FORM COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 195 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

S F Ref: 39613 4263 FOR OFFICE USE: Class Int Class Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: wt,. rrL -rJ.

II,. 4~ Priority:

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f- *I C a S.*1 C Vr' Related Art: Name and Address of Applicant: Achille Musetti Via Abbondanz 32 Placenza

ITALY

Address for Service: Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia Ii It Complete Specification for the invention entitled: a Process for the Preparation of a Drink E Vegetable Extracts and Drink so Obtained ased on Alimentary tvs invention, including the The following statement Is a best method of performing it full des.ription of known to me/us 5845/3 13 It 6e 0 6r t i1 O

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6£ t 64 ccI V 44 4 4 4 0 Ii r rGAc S 4 pr Ocf s); The present invention ha-t-tee jt a ew process .C.getting a drink based on alimentary vegetable extracts and the drink gat by means of such a proccss.

The vegetable products that can be treated according to the process of the invention can be as various as possible, starting from coffee, tea, cocoa, which are those more in use at present, to other vegetables, which, even in lower extent, are also utilized rather frequently, such as roasted barley seeds, ch.cory, dried figs, as well as aromatic and officinal herbs and seeds, and finally Java jute (karkad6) and mate.

The process according to the invention allows to extract the aromatic components from each of these products, simulataneously getting a liquid, which, among the various advantages, possesses a steady taste and ameliorated organoleptic characteristics.

The above mentioned liquid can be utilized exacly the same or mixed with another liquid, which can be defined as lacing liquid. In the particular case of coffee a possible lacing is that consisting in the addition of milk or similar products such as products based on milk proteins as specified hereinafter.

Beoause of the great number of vegetable products that can be treated by rmeans of the process according to the invention, in the presert description reference will be solely made, and only for illystrative aim, to the typical case of coffee and more particularly to the prepartion of "cappuccino".

The above mentioned drink is well-known as a hot drink based on coffee generally strong, with a little milk.

It is known that the above mentioned drink at present does not show constant organoleptic characteristics, either when it is supplied by an automatic distributor machine. In fact in the former case the "cappuccino" is extemporaneously prepared by the personnel, who confines himself to adding to coffee a little quantity if hot milk, without

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i X 1-11 i i iiil~i- lar WM 2 0 mixing up again the obtained mixture. It is evident that the ratio between the amount of coffee and that of milk cannot always be the same and the ways by which milk is added to coffee are also variable.

Therefore the obtained drink changes as to the taste and the organoleptic characteristics according to circumstances and frequently the consumer does not find a constant and always satisfying taste.

In the above mentioned latter case of supplying by automatic distribution machines, there are the same disadvantages above complained of. In fact, it must first of all be taken into consideration that in euch machines the liquid milk has been substituted by milk reformed from milk powder just at the moment when the drink is prepared or by a 4ooo o suspension, always prepared extemporaneously, of formulations based on S.milk proteins with different sugars and lipids. Therefore also in this case the preparation of "cappuccino", and more precisely that of milk, happens extemporaneously with possibility of variations in the supplied doses, so that the supplied drink can show changeable organoleptic i Ccharacteristics and taste, rejulting often unwanted to the consumer.

A further disadvantage of the traditional technique is due to the fact that the grinding of roasted coffee beans causes an inevitable increase of temperature, anyhow this grinding is made, e.g. roller grinding, e« hammer grinding, millstone grinding and likewise. The increase of b t htemperature can induce a change in the components of coffee, accompanied t by the production of compunds tbht negatively and unpleasantly affect the taste and aroma of the powders obtained through grinding. This aspect will be precisely defined hereinafter.

A further disadvantage that must be prenisely defined is the fact that the drink obtained through the traditional methods shows the formation of sediments of undissolvable particles, which make unpleasant its assumption.

I -714 3 It is the object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantages.

There is disclosed herein a process for preparing a drink from extracts of a dried or roasted vegetable product, comprising the steps of: micronizing said vegetable product through crushing of the same in consequence of the disaggregation of the structure of tissues, into a powder of a particle size of the order of 1 to 10 microns; air classifying said powder into a high specific gravity fraction and a low specific gravity fraction; dispersing id high specific gravity fraction containing aromatic compounds in an alimentary solvent to thereby form a dispersion and cause extraction of the aromatic compounds into the solvent; o: centrifuging said dispersion for obtaining a liquid extract fraction S: containing the aromatic compounds and an exhausted powder fraction to be To 5 discarded; S mixing the liquid extract fraction with a lacing liquid; 0 and sterilizing the liquid extract fraction and lacing liquid mixture to produce said drink.

The total yield of the preparation of the drink may also increase, as the starting vegetable product is subdivided into particles of particularly 0. "O thin size with an average diameter of some microns. This allows to obtain Oo" 0 the same drinks of the customary processes, still with the abovementioned advantages, employing a smaller quantity of those substances, even lower than that normally used in the traditional extraction processes.

The drink prepared according to the process of the invention may also be sterilized, consequently becoming a long lasting and long preservation ooo..' drink which keeps unchanged its own characteristics also at room 0o temperature.

The fact that the drink may result to be of the type of long preservation is accompanied by the further advantage that it does not present any phenomena of sediment of Insoluble particles, especially Sbecause, during the preparation of the drink, the exhausted particles, i.e.

those from which the aromatic principles have been completely extracted, are rapidly separated from the got liquid, which has completely absorbed such principles.

KLN/25341 -4- The above mentioned characteristics and the other ones which will be later evidenced, will more clearly appear from the following detailed description of a non-limiting embodiment of the process according to the invention, which shows how a "cappuccino" is prepared.

It is however evident that the same process with similar modalities can be applied to other vegetable products dried and roasted for obtaining other drinks.

A preferred form of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a photograph taken by an electronic scanning microscope of the micronized coffee according to the first operating step of the process 0i according to the invention; o Flg. 2 is a photograph taken like Fig. 1 of coffee powder obtained 00 through traditional grinding; t5 Figs. from 3 to 5 are photographs likewise taken by an electronic 0o 0 microscope of :offee micronized according to the invention, having 0 Oa decreasing granulometry from Fig. 3 to Flg. *t 1 t1 8 1* f t j KLN/25341 FIGURES 3a, 4a and 5a represent the chromatographic diagrams of the carbonylic short-chain compounds drawn from liquid coffee at 370°C obtained from the coffee powder represented in Fis. from 3 to respectively; FIGURE 6 is a photograph taken by the electronic microscope of coffee powder obtained through traditional grinding; FIGURE 6a represents the chromatographic diagram of the carbonylic short-chain compounds drawn from liquid coffee at 370°C obtained from the coffee powder represented in Fig. 6.

The Figures have been taken with an enlargement (30 times) larger than that of the photographs from 3 to 6. In particular, the enlargement of o °the photographs 1 and 2 has a value of 1800, while that of other S* photographs is equal to 600.

The process according to the invention provides a first operating step 15 during which the traditional grinding of roasted coffee is relaced by its micronization, through which a crushing of the beans into more $p elementary particles of much thinner granulometry) is obtained.

LI «Indeed, it can be seen from the examination of Figures 1 and 2, which respectively represent micronized coffee according to the invention and 20 coffee ground according to the traditional technique, that in the micronized coffee the structure of the roasted bean is completely demolished into very thin elementary particles having a size from about 1 to about 10 microns.

Through the traditional grinding process said structure can still be notably seen in the obtained powder.

SThe coffee ground timely powdered by means of a micronization process allows to obtain the following remarkable advantages.

6 Firstly the micronized coffee presents in comparison with the ground coffee a larger contact surface with the solvent water) and therefore allows to obtain a better estraction of the aromatic principles.

Furthermore, grinding by means of micronization does not cause any raising in the temperature, as it happens in the case of the traditional grinding, and therefore controls the transformation of the compounds of coffee forming compounds with active sulphidrilic groups, which have an unpleasant influence on the taste and on the aroma of the got powder and therefore of the final drink. From this point of view, when the

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9 operating phases for obtaining liquid coffee will be dccr-ibed it will If be useful to have reference to the chromatographic diagrams contained in St t 11 i Figures from 3a to 6a.

The micronization or powdering step (as the turbomilling) is 15 coupled to an air classification step.

In this way it is possible to obtain the disaggregation of the structure of the vegetable tissues of coffee bean, From that very thin particles I result, of the size of a few microns, with dif'erent physical characteristic~ according to the type of component which characterizes j 20 them. It is so possible, according to the characteristics to be given to Sthe powder designed for the subsequent steps, to separate fractions *r having different physical characUtristics and, obviously, to eliminate the unwanted ones. In this case, the.cellulosic fractions are separated.

It is furthermore to be noted that, also in the air classification step, no increase in the temperature happens.

The coffee powder obtained by means of micronization and treated through air classification is then submitted to the following operation step of the process according to the invention, through which the aromatic principles of coffee are extracted from the micrc'ized powder.

-7- Such an extraction is carried out under pressure in autoclave at temperatures higher than 100 0 C, e. g. at a pressure from 1 to 1.7 atm and a temperature from 110 0 C to 1500C, preferably at a temperature from 1150 to 1200 and a pressure of 1 Atm. for 4 min. The solvent used in this case will be water, considering that the final drink we want to obtain is cappuccino. However, for other drinks the solvent could be any alimentary solvent.

In this operating step the combined action of pressure and temperature, together with the fact that the contact surface with the solvent is increased (micronization of coffee bean), allows to obtain a highly St pleasant coffee taste with a more than sufficient intensity level 0o C employing of a quantity of powder equal or lower than half that usually G S e t a t 1 employed in the traditional extraction systems by filtration or by means 06 4 t of express coffee machine or others.

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15 The suspension obtained at the end of the preceding step, formed by liquid coffee where the exhausted elementary partioles are in disperrfion, that is those from which the aromatic principles have been [I o extracted, is submitted to the following step of the process according to the invention, by which the liquid coffee is completely separated from the said exhausted particles.

SThe above mentioned aim is reached by submitting to centrifugation said suspension. The operating speed of this step can even be not high, e.g.

a few thousands rpm. and can vary depending from the used apparatus.

Preferably a centrifugal acceleration from 6000 G to 8000 G and more preferably from 7500 G to 8000 G must be reached, and maintained for 3 min.

'he exhausted particles of micronized coffee, for their itself very thin granulonetry, become compact during centrifugation allowing the separation of the coffee drink from said particles. This result is

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-8 achieved as the cellulosic fractions, having a lower specific gravity, have been separated from the others and removed in one of the preceding steps of the process, and particularly through the air classification.

The separation of the exhausted coffee powder from liquid coffee is therefore carried out at the end of the centrifugation by means of a mere decantation, eliminating all the filtering operations, which are necessary when coffee powder is subdivided in coarser particles, as it happens with the traditional grinding.

From the above it is evident that separation of coffee from the micronized powders bu means of centrifugation turns out extremely j advantageous because the obtained liquid is fully free from phenomena of 8tC deposits of undissolvable particles and therefore the obtained coffee 1 It Cpresent& itself, from this point of view, agreable for use. Moreover, the elimination of the undissolvable particles favours the subsequent 15 operations of the process as well as the mixing with milk or other liquid formulations.

jThe liquid coffee obtained by centrifugation, as above explained, can t t obviously be used as it is and, thanks to the absence of the dregs body it can be packaged into suitable containers after submission to a 20 sterilizing treatment. In this way it becomes a long-preservation or S long lasting drink, which shows steady taste and aroma owing to the tabsence of secundary extracting phenomena on any substances present in the dregs body, which during time undergo phenomena of lithic and oxidative nature.

i 25 Moreover, if the size of the particles of micronized coffee is particularly thin, eg. with diameter of less than some microns, it is possible to get an extract, which can in its turn be lyophilised, so being fit for preparing instantaneously soluble coffee powder.

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r m~-~LI 9 The organoleptic characteristics of the liquid coffee obtained according to the invention show the above mentioned advantages, deriving in particular from the thinness of the particles of coffee powder and from the quick removal of the dregs body at the end of the centrifugation step. Therefore it apperars in the obtained coffee a different composition of the short-chain carbonylic compunds evidenced by the examination of their chromatographic diagrams reported in Figures from 3a to 6a with reference also to Figures from 3 to 6.

The chromatographic spectra reported in Figures from 3a to 6a appear in fact to be different one from another and will be briefly commented upon s ee hereinafter.

ooO, The data given by such diagrams are anyway confirmed by the opinion on i o the organoleptic characteristics of some types of coffee obtained in the Q e traditional way and through the process according to the invention, stated by a group of tasters, who have expressed a clear preference for coffee obtained according to the invention, which corresponds to Figures from 3 to 5, and a clearly lower appreciation for coffe obtained in the traditional way, which corresponds to the coffee powder represen'ed in S« Figure 6. More particularly, the appreciation index for coffee according to the invention was increasing with the increase of the thinness of coffeee powders, so that the greatest appreciation was expressed for coffee obtained from coffee powder corresponding to the representation of Figure 5, that is to that will the greatest degree of micrQnization.

Considering now Figures from 3a to 6a, it As to be stated beforehand that they are chromatographic diagrams of the short-chain carbonylic compounds taken with the "head space" technique from liquid coffee at 37°C.

The gas-chromatographic examination of the "head-space" has been carried out for all diagrams of Figures from 3a to 6a by means of DANI equipment (mod.6800)./ 10 g of coffee extract, after addition of 5 g NaCI, have been thermostated at 370C and kept at this temperature for 60 minutes.

A column with the diameter of 2 mm and a length of 2 m, filled with silanized (60-80) mesh Q Poropack, has been employed; the nitrogen stream has been kept at 30 ml/min at a programmed temperature of 100 to 180° 0 with a gradient of 6°C/min.

The detector temperature (FID) and that of the injector have been kept at 200C.

In the diagrams the points or peaks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, respectively means the elution positions of methylie alcohol, acetaldehyde, ethylic at t I alcohol, acetone and propionaldehyde, diacetyl, All these compounds are oot t* present in coffee aroma, which is given, however, by a mixture of 363 o 0o compounds, 131 of which are acyclic, 73 are isocyclic (16 of which eo °0 having a non-aromatic ring ond 57 having an aromatic ring) and 159 15 heterocyclic.

The above mentioned elution peaks correspond to acyclic compounds and

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4 Pparticularly to alcohols, aldehydes and ketones having short chain, a 0o0 which may be not well separated from each other in the elution conditions.

20 Practically the peaks may also represent the mixture of many compounds, S as e.g. the peak No. 4 corresponding as regards the elution speed both S to acetone and to propionaldehyde, Even if it is not easy to give a complete description of the composition of the compounds determining the aroma of coffee of the different types of powder obtained through micronization or grinding, chiefly owing to their high number, as above specified, the limitations of the enclosed diagrams are not large and in any case they are such as to not prevent from seeing that in the case of micronized coffee (Figs. from 3a to there is a larger extraction of the compounds having a comparatively long chain, as the peaka from 1 to 4 are not so prevailing as in the 11 case of coffee powder obtained through grinding with the traditional systems (Fig. 6a). A further confirmation of this interpretation comes from the progressive relative raising of the peak signed with X, while considering more thinly ground powders.

In the last analysis it may be concluded that the traditional grinding system has a negative influence upon the aromatic characteristics of the drink, so confirming the opinion of the above mentioned tasters' panel.

It may thus be inferred that, only considering the example of coffee, it is possible to obtain through the process according to the invention a B 4, 10 wide range of drinks, all having organoleptic characteristics as to 0 O, 0result pleasant to consumer. Such characteristics can also be modified, 0 o ao varying for instance, the type and the concentration of the alimentary 0 00 o *4 0. solvent used in the step of extraction of the aromatic principles.

It is evident, however, that what has been above described fo- the case 0 a of coffee may be extended also to other vegetable products, as above specified, from which it is possible to obtain the same variety of drinks by means of the process according to the invention.

0 o* As above described, the liquid coffee obtained from roasted micronized 0 °i coffee, separated from the exhausted powder by means of centrifugation, 0 o is submitted to a sterilizing step which makes it long preservable, 9 0 This latter step can be also carried out afterwards, after adding to 4 o liquid coffee some milk, which can be natural milk or powdered milk reformed in order to obtain a "cappuccino" or, finally, can be mixed with a dispersion of a formulation based on milk proteins in order to obtain a drink similar to cnppuccino but with different characteristics, as it is specified hereinafter, The above mentioned formulation can be composed of sodium caseinato, lipids, sugars and thickening or suspending substances, as e.g.

alginates. This formulation allows to lace the taste of coffee in a completely similar way as it is by using natural or reformed milk.

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12- The formulation based on sodium caseinate presents better characteristics than milk in order to overcome the thermic tretment of sterilization. In fact it does not contain any serum proteins rich in aminoacids with sulphydryl groups, which cause to milk the taste of "cooked" when it is submitted to the thermic treatment.

Moreover, sodium caseinate does not cause the phenomena of undissolvability given by serum proteins.

Finally it is to be noted that in the said formulation, unlike in milk, no calcium phosphates are containUd, which become undissolvable during the thermic treatment, as e.g. tricalcic phosphate, and cause deposits in the plants and in the containers.

S* The variety of drinks which can be obtained according to the invention is widened by the possibility of enriching the above described formulation with nourishing principles, as e.g. non-thermolabile 15 proteins, or can be changed in its lipid or sugar compostion. Through these variations a dietetic drink is consequently obtained.

From what is above described the advantages of the process according to J the invention appear evident as it follows to otabi a large range of drinks as a consequence both of the starting vege "u:tt and of the solvents or of the lacing substances employed, Further advantages come from the constancy of 4, Q rganoleptic characteristics of the different drinks, which mak) them particula*Iy agreable to consumer.

It is finally cjear that variations and/or changes can be introduced in the process according to the invention without departing from the scop, of the invention.

Claims (8)

1. Process for preparing a drink from extracts of a dried or roasted vegetable product, comprising the steps of: micronizing said vegetable product through crushing of the same in consequence of the disaggregation of the structure of tissues, into a powder of a particle size of the order of 1 to 10 microns; air classifying said powder into a high specific gravity fraction and a low specific gravity fraction; dispersing said high specific gravity fraction containi.ig aromatic compounds in an alimentary solvent to thereby form a dispersion and cause extraction of the aromatic compounds into the solvent; centrifuging said dispersion for obtaining a liquid extract fraction containing the aromatic compounds and an exhausted powder fraction to be discarded; mixing the liquid extract fraction with a lacing liquid; oo- and sterilizing the liquid extract fraction and lacing liquid mixture a '.ta to produce said drink.

2. Process according to claim 1, wherein the vegetable product is micronized by impact shattering.

3. Process according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein cellulosic f o fractions of the low specific gravity fractions are separated and discarded. o o4. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein centrifugation is carried out until reaching a centrifugal acceleration o o from 6000 G to 8000 G. Process according to any one of the preceding claimswherein the liquid obtained from centrifigatlon separates from the dregs body composed of the exhausted eleinehtary particles of the starting product.

6. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein t the extraction of the aromatic principles is effected in an autoclave at a temperature above 100 0 C.

7. Process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein 1{ ,the lacing liquid is a natural or powdered an reformed milk. 1

8. Process according to claim 7, wherein coffee in mixed with a formulation based on milk proteins.

9. Process according to claim 8, wherein the formulation based on milk proteins is a formulation composed of sodium caseinate, lipids, sugars, hlickening or suspending substances, Process according to claim 8, wherein the formulation contains 4e,, nonthermolabile proteins. S 341' CL' 14 11 A process for preparing a drink from extract5 of a dried or roasted vegetable product, the prcess being substantially, as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. A drink produced by the process of any one of the preceding claims. DATED this TWENTY-EIGHTH day of AUGUST 1990 Achille Musetti Patent Attorneys for the Appli cant SPRUSON FERGUSON C t CC It a$ I' t 9@t4 U QOOU 0*00 a *0 0O 4 o 0 0 o at a C taUt ft 1£ C qI KLN/25341