Claims:WE CLAIM:
1. A gluten-free food product comprising:
80% of gluten-free grains;
20% of natural sweetener, wherein the natural sweetener is the nectar of the stem of the gluten-free grain plant;
wherein the gluten-free food product is prepared of whole gluten-free grain plant with nutritional benefits and a shelf-life of up to 9 months.

2. The gluten-free food product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gluten-free grains are Jowar (Sorghum) grains.

3. The gluten-free food product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the natural sweetener is the binding agent.

4. The gluten-free food product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the natural sweetener is Jowar nectar.

5. The gluten-free food product as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bowl-life is at least 12 minutes in milk of temperature of 33 degree celcius.

6. A method 100 of preparation of a gluten-free food product comprising:

sorting, the gluten-free grains;
grading, the gluten-free grains for removing unwanted particles;
pre-washing and soaking, the gluten-free grains,
cooking, the gluten-free grains wherein cooking comprises boiling the gluten-free grains in water and oil and, further steaming the gluten-free grains in industrial cooker;
threading, the gluten-free grains with using roller press;
adding, a natural sweetener, wherein the natural sweetener is the nectar of the stem of the gluten-free grain plant;
moulding, the mixture with a press method;
baking, the mixture to form the gluten-free food product;
wherein the gluten-free food product is prepared of whole gluten-free grain plant with nutritional benefits and a shelf-life of up to 9 months.

7. The method 100 as claimed in claim 6, wherein 1 kg of gluten-free grains are cooked in 2kg of water and 2g of sunflower oil.

8. The method 100 as claimed in claim 6, wherein 0.25kg of gluten-free grain plant’s stem’s nectar is added.

9. The method 100 as claimed in claim 6, wherein the gluten-free grains is boiled in water and oil for 15 minutes and, further steaming the gluten-free grains for 1 hour and 15 minutes in industrial cooker.

Dated this 06th day of December 2019
, Description:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
A GLUTEN-FREE FOOD PRODUCT AND A METHOD OF PREPARATION THEREOF

APPLICANT
HW WELLNESS SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED
An Indian entity, having address as
246/6, Phase 2 Road, Next to KTA Spindle, Hinjawadi, Pune- 411057, Maharashtra, India

The following specification describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY
The present application does not claim priority from any other patent application.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to a food product such as bricks. More specifically, the present subject matter relates to a gluten-free food product and a method of preparation thereof.

BACKGROUND
Millets and grains can be used for making various food products. Grains such as oats, rice and wheat are popular for being used in making breakfast products. The breakfast products comprise bricks, noodles, puffed flakes etc. But the limitation of these grains is that they cannot be consumed by celiac patients. Moreover these grains are glutinous, thus are difficult to digest. Various types of these grains may cause unhealthy spikes in blood sugar, making them unsuitable for diabetics.
According to WGO (World Gastroenterology Organization Global Guidelines, Celiac Disease, February, 2017), prevalence of Celiac is increasing with modernization, risk of high risk patients (immediate relatives of patient having Celiac disease) is in range of 1.2 %-55 % and with low risk patients (secondary relatives of patient having Celiac disease) is 0.14% - 5.7% in developing world. The rate is now increasing in countries like North Africa, The Middle East, India and Pakistan due to various factors.
Gluten-free millets and grains are in a demand today due to drawbacks of glutinous millets and grains. Various food recipes for lunch and dinner are made of such gluten-free millets and grains. But there are very few breakfast or snack products made from gluten-free millets and grains.
Thus, there is a long standing need of a gluten-free food product and a method of preparation thereof, wherein the product is a snack product and which can be consumed by all the people including celiac and diabetic people.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the Figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the Figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer like features and components.

Figure 1 illustrates a method 100 of preparation for a gluten-free food product, in accordance with an embodiment of a present subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference throughout the specification to “various embodiments,” “some embodiments,” “one embodiment,” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in one embodiment,” or “in an embodiment” in places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising,” “having," "containing," and "including,” and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

No or terminology in this application should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential or critical. The use of any and all examples, or example language (e.g., "such as") provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate example embodiments and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the claims appended hereto unless otherwise claimed.

Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. Where a specific range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range, is included therein. All smaller sub ranges are also included. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges are also included therein, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. For example, a range of "about 0.1% to about 5%" or "about 0.1% to 5%" may be interpreted to include not just about 0.1% to about 5%, but also the individual values (e.g., 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%) and the sub-ranges (e.g., 0.1% to 0.5%, 1.1% to 2.2%, 3.3% to 4.4%) within the indicated range.

Currently, there are gluten containing multigrain brick or snack products available in market. These products even contain various binding agents and added vitamins and minerals. The present food product comprises of a single non-glutinous grain. The present subject matter discloses utilization of a whole plant comprising grain and stem both, for preparing the food product without any addition of artificial additives for processed sugars, vitamins and minerals.
A gluten-free food product wherein the product is preferably a snack product such as a brick is described. The product has 80% grain by weight and 20% stem of the grain by weight. This leads to a whole edible plant. The plant is Sorghum which is also known as Jowar. Jowar nectar is used as a natural sweetener, wherein the Jowar nectar is concentrated juice of Jowar stem. In one embodiment, the Jowar nectar is used as a binding agent wherein the percentage of Jowar nectar is 20% by weight of the whole product. No other additive is used in the final product. Thus, the product is a whole plant product which comprises gluten-free grains such as Jowar (Sorghum) grain in 80% by weight of the total product and a natural sweetener such as concentrated Jowar nectar prepared from the stem of Jowar (Sorghum) in 20% weight of the total product.
As Jowar nectar is a natural sweetener, the gluten-free food product is consumable by celiac and diabetic patients also. Use of natural sweetener reduces fermentation of the product which is more when the product comprises artificial sweetener or sugar. Thus, increases shelf life of the product. In one embodiment, as the product is 100% made of a whole grain, the efficacy of the product is increased as there is no added preservative or any other ingredient.
The Jowar Nectar i.e. Sorghum Nectar is prepared by initially harvesting the Jowar plant. Further removal of panicle, peduncle and root from a stalk of jowar may be performed. Further, the main stalk is cleaned by removing flag leaf, nodes, leaf sheath, and stem branch. The stalk is then crushed and its juice is extracted in a heavy duty juice machine. The juice is then collected in thick container. The extracted juice is boiled at 70 to 100 degree celsius. Once the juice starts boiling, coagulant or flocking agent is added to prevent formation of flock on surface. The mixture is boiled until its brix is reached 70 to 75 degree brix. The mixture is the cooled and packed in airtight container. Thus, the jowar nectar is obtained. Such jowar nectar is readily available in the market. The boiling temperature of the jowar nectar is 70 to 100 celcius, acidity of jowar nectar is 0.73%, brix content is 76 to 82 degree brix and sweetness of the jowar nectar is 65.94% that of the normal sugar.
Figure 1 illustrates a method 100 of preparation of a gluten-free food product, in accordance with the embodiment of the present subject matter.
In one embodiment, the raw materials may be packed in oven bag with plastic liner to maintain grain quality and prevent deterioration. The raw material may be unloaded on pallet and stacked for cleaning. Moisture of the gluten-free grains such as Jowar (Sorghum) used for preparing the gluten-free food product is less than 10%, preferably, 7-8% moisture. The moisture of the grains is analysed mechanically with Infrared Halogen Moisture Analyser.
At step 101, the gluten-free grains are sorted mechanically with a Vibrio Sifter to obtain the best quality grains for use.
At step 102, the gluten-free grains are graded. A 10 mesh size sieve is used for removing unwanted particles from the grain thereby providing equal graded grains. In one embodiment, destoning of the grains is performed manually by human hands as Jowar has some impurities which are exact same as that of Jowar grain.
At step 103, the grains are pre-washed and soaked. In one embodiment, the gluten-free grains are washed with water jet sprays to clean pericarp layer of grain. In one embodiment, the grains are soaked to moist the grains for better cooking.
At step 104, the gluten-free grains are cooked. In one embodiment, the Jowar grains are cooked along with sunflower oil to maintain the grain identity while cooking for good quality of flakes. In a preferred embodiment, Jowar grains are used in 80% by weight of the total product. In a preferred embodiment 1kg of Jowar grains are boiled in 2kg of water and 2g of sunflower oil for 15 minutes. Further, the Jowar grains are steamed in an industrial cooker for 1 hour 15 minutes.
At step 105, the cooked grains are threaded. In one embodiment, threading is carried out by using threading machine at moisture ranging between 35% - 42%, temperature ranging between 40-50 Degree Celsius, machine rotation of 39-41 rpm and external humidity ranging from 60-70%.
At step 106, addition of sweetener may be performed. In one embodiment, sweetener is the binding agent. In one embodiment, the binding agent such as Jowar nectar in 20% by weight of the total product is added at room temperature of about 30-35 Degree Celsius. In other words if 1 kg of Jowar grains are used then 0.25kg of Jowar nectar is used to form a whole product of 100%.
At step 107, the mixture is moulded. In a preferred embodiment, moulding is carried with press method with specifications of 50g per mould at pressure 45-55kg/cm2.
At step 108, the mixture is baked. In a preferred embodiment, the mixture is baked at 100 Degree Celsius.
At step 109, the baked product is cooled. In a preferred embodiment, the cooling is achieved by keeping it at room temperature for 1 to 1.5 hours to get moisture content below 10%. In one embodiment, refrigeration is strictly avoided.
Further, the cooled product which is a gluten-free food product, preferably a brick, is packed in suitable packages and transported for delivery.

In one embodiment, the gluten-free food product is easy for digestion with maximum vitamins and minerals. It is a ready-to eat product. The sweetener used in the product is Jowar nectar which is a natural sweetener, thus the product can be consumed by diabetic and celiac patients. The product can be consumed with cold or warm milk. The gluten-free food product is a singular or limited ingredient breakfast and snacks made of millets.

In one embodiment, the bowl life of the existing products in the market is low. Bowl life is referred as time taken by breakfast cereal to loose its crunchy texture. The bowl life of the gluten-free food product is more.
A table 1 is a table of illustration of bowl life of other grain bix or bricks available in market, wherein the temperature of milk in a bowl inside which the bricks is dipped is 33 degree celcius:
Minutes Barley Waxy grain Wheat Non Waxy grain Barley Non- Waxy grain
0 Crisp, crunchy crisp crunchy
1 Crisp, crunchy Soft, crisp Soft, crunchy
2 Soft, crunchy soft Soft, crunchy
3 Soft, crunchy Mushy soft
4 Soft, crunchy Mushy soft
5 Soft, crunchy Mushy mushy
6 soft Mushy mushy
7 soft Mushy mushy
8 mushy Mushy mushy

Table 1

A table 2 is an illustration of bowl life of the gluten-free food product:
Time in minutes Texture of product with liquid Temperature of milk (in degree celcius)
1 Crispy, Crunchy 33
2 Crispy, Crunchy 33
3 Crispy, Crunchy 33
4 Crispy, Crunchy 33
5 Crispy, Crunchy 33
6 Crispy, Crunchy 33
7 Crispy, Crunchy 33
8 Crispy, Crunchy 33
9 Crunchy 33
10 Crunchy 33
11 Crunchy 33
12 Crunchy 33

Table 2

Thus, it is evident that the bowl life of the gluten-free product is at least 12 minutes when in milk of 33 degree Celsius.

In one embodiment, the shelf life of the gluten-free product is also enhanced. Normally, the shelf life of Jowar grains is 6 months. The heat treatment on the grains reduce interactions between grain molecules and increase its shelf life by 8 months. This is disclosed in m.S. Meera et. Al., 2011, Effect of Heat treatment of sorghum grains on storage stability of Flour.
In one embodiment, the shelf life of the gluten-free food product is upto 9-12 months. Preferably, the shelf life of the gluten-free food product is 9 months. This shelf life is achieved due to binding agent as Jowar nectar.

Tables 3 and 4 illustrates the shelf life analysis of the gluten-free food product:

The description of sample: Grain Bix made of whole Jowar, flaked and bounded together in circular shape, packed in aluminium foil.
The packing date of one or more samples is 5/12/2018

Parameters to be analysed Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5
Date of Opening 5/1/2019 5/2/2019 5/3/2019 5/4/2019 6/5/2019
Packaging condition Good Good Good Good Good
Visual Appearance Circular and firm Circular and firm Circular and firm Circular and firm Circular and firm
Smell after opening Good Good Good Good Good
Nitrogen intact/Seal intact Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Rancidity No No No No No
Texture Changes No No No No No
Moisture loss No No No No No
Moisture gain No No No No No
Staling No No No No No
Flavour loss No No No No No
Light induced changes No No No No No
Feedback Crunchy and sweet in taste Crunchy and sweet in taste Crunchy and sweet in taste Crunchy and sweet in taste Crunchy and sweet in taste
Table 3

Parameters to be analysed Sample 6 Sample 7 Sample 8 Sample 9 Sample 10
Date of Opening 5/6/2019 5/7/2019 5/8/2019 5/9/2019 5/10/2019
Packaging condition Good Good Good Good Good
Visual Appearance Circular and firm Circular and firm Circular and firm Circular and firm Circular and firm
Smell after opening Good Good Good Good Good
Nitrogen intact/Seal intact Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Rancidity No No No No No
Texture Changes No No No No Yes
Moisture loss No No No No No
Moisture gain No No No No Yes
Staling No No No No Slightly
Flavour loss No No No No No
Light induced changes No No No No No
Feedback Crunchy and sweet in taste Crunchy and sweet in taste Crunchy and sweet in taste Crunchy and sweet in taste Bix tend to lose its shape in next few days

Table 4

The embodiments, examples and alternatives of the preceding paragraphs or the description and drawings, including any of their various aspects or respective individual features, may be taken independently or in any combination. Features described in connection with one embodiment are applicable to all embodiments, unless such features are incompatible.

Although implementations for the computer implemented a gluten-free food product and a method 100 of preparation thereof have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as examples of implementations for the gluten-free food product and a method of preparation thereof.