Description:TECHNICAL FIELD

[1] The present disclosure generally relates to high moisture texturized protein (HMTP). Particularly, the present disclosure relates to slicing and rolling HMTP sheets with primarily unidirectional fiber orientation in such a manner that force required to roll the sheets is reduced and the need for adhesion is also reduced, while maintaining the integrity of the rolled product.

BACKGROUND

[2] The industrial manufacture of meat analogue products from protein-rich precursor materials is nowadays a well-established practice. The meat analogues are designed to mimic the texture and taste of real meat. Textured protein, which is often derived from vegetable sources, is commonly used as a cost-effective ingredient in various meat products. It is also utilized in vegetarian/vegan products as a meat alternative or in texturized protein products that have a chewy and distinct texture, different from typical vegetarian food.

[3] In the past decade, there is reduced meat consumption for several reasons. People’s preferences are changing, and there is a shift towards more health-focused diets. Additionally, environmental concerns, ethical considerations, and animal welfare issues have contributed to this trend. However, one of the challenges in reducing meat consumption is the limited acceptance of vegetable protein products as viable replacements for meat. Although there are many different vegetable protein products available, such as soybean protein, they often lack the fibrous texture and characteristics of meat, which can hinder their acceptance as meat replacements. This means that despite the availability of various alternatives, they may not fully replicate the sensory experience and satisfaction associated with consuming meat.

[4] WO2012158023 discloses a process of preparation of meat analogue textured by subjecting the dough to heating above denaturation temperature which is then subjected to shear forces and pressure in extruder and fibrous protein thus formed is taken out through the extruder die. The major drawback of the above said process is that the products comes out of the extruder at the temperature exceeding boiling point of water, which result in a highly porous and open structure. Moreover, the processes known in the literature generally includes low moisture extrusion process wherein protein is texturized and products are produced at moisture content of between 10% and 40%, however such process have a drawback of resulting into sponge-like textured proteins that require reconstitution prior to consumption. These products are commonly used as minced meat substitutes or extensions (extensors) in meat products, but hardly mimic fibrous whole muscle meats.

[5] WO03007729Al discloses a method and apparatus for the continuous preparation of a retexturized food product using a twin screw extruder. The document indicates that during kneading and extrusion, the mixture expands due to the presence of water vapor contained in the mixture and this makes it impossible to obtain a product having uniformly oriented fibers. To address this problem, it is known to cool the food product locally after it leaves the die to obtain a homogenous fibrous product. The extruding machine disclosed performs the following steps: supply and transport of ingredients, mixing and cooking steps, an intense kneading and plasticizing step to obtain a homogenous viscous, fluid mass; the flow rate of the mass is regulated at the outlet of the extruding machine; the mixture is transferred to an extrusion die; and the mixture is cooled gradually during the passage thereof into the extrusion die to a temperature below 120°C to obtain a retextured food product having a controlled and determined fibrous appearance. The extruded material with die temperatures below 100°C has a laminar structure with top cross section as shown in Fig. 1.

[6] US 20050196502A1 discloses methods of cutting ribbon or cylindrical shaped extrudate so as to expose the largest surface with natural fibrous appearance. For ribbon shaped extrudate, slicing along the thickness is provided as an example to produce a large surface with fibrous structure along the cut surface, to produce natural looking diced products (as shown in fig. 1b and 1c), but it does not discuss that the fibers along the thickness become unidirectional and easy to roll.

[7] However, there exists a demand for a solution to bend and roll High Moisture Textured Protein (HMTP) sheets for the production of products such as roulade or Indian ethnic items like soya chaap. Such process poses challenges due to the significant force required to fold and adhere the sheets in order to retain the rolled form. The density of the HMTP sheets, coupled with their distinct fiber structure, imparts high elasticity, causing the sheets to strive to return to their original shape when folded. The substantial folding force can potentially lead to detrimental effects on the product's integrity. Additionally, maintaining the folded structure of a rigid product necessitates increased application of adhesive, thereby increasing the risk of the folded product opening during subsequent processing, such as cooking.

SUMMARY
[8] One or more shortcomings discussed above are overcome, and additional advantages are provided by the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the disclosure.

[9] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of producing high moisture texturized protein (HMTP) roll with a unilateral fiber orientation is disclosed. The method comprises extruding and cooling the HMTP to form sheet with a laminar fibrous structure; horizontally slicing the HMTP sheet in a plurality of slices by cutting at center across thickness; longitudinally cutting the plurality of HMTP slices in a plurality of HMTP strips, by cutting at center across width and optionally cutting these further across the width;rolling each HMTP strip perpendicular to the fiber orientation such that force required to maintain the rolled form is reduced; applying an adhesive to each of the rolled strip to hold in place, wherein the unidirectional fiber orientation and reduced force required for rolling decrease the need for adhesive application.

[10] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the horizontal slicing step is performed before or after the longitudinal cutting step.

[11] In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the steps of slicing and rolling are performed while HMTP is warm after extrusion to take advantage of incomplete fiber formation and increased flexibility and plastic structure.

[12] In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the rolling step occurs perpendicular to the fiber orientation to reduce the force required to roll the HMTP sheets due to the unidirectional fiber orientation.
[13] In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the reduced force required for rolling and the unidirectional fiber orientation decreases a need for adhesive application.

[14] In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the HMTP comprises plant-based protein sources selected from the group consisting of soy, wheat, pea, rice, and moong or other plant based protein sources such as legumes

[15] In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, a high moisture texturized protein (HMTP) slice produced by the method, characterized by a unidirectional fiber structure, improved texture, and reduced need for adhesive application, is disclosed.

[16] In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, a food product comprising the HMTP slice is disclosed. The food product is a meat analogue, vegetarian/vegan product, or textured protein product.

[17] In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the HMTP slice provides a meat-like texture and appearance.

[18] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[19] Further aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will be readily understood from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. Same Reference numerals have been used to refer to identical or functionally similar elements. The figures together with a detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate the embodiments and explain various principles and advantages, in accordance with the present disclosure wherein:

[20] Figure 1 illustrates a laminar structure with top cross section according to prior art.

[21] Figure 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method of producing high moisture texturized protein (HMTP) rolls with a unilateral fiber orientation in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[22] Figures 3-5 illustrate the slicing and rolling of HMTP strip in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[23] Figures 6a-6d illustrate another example of slicing and rolling of HMTP strip in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure.
[24] Figure 7 illustrates Table 1 depicts effect of innovative slicing method on structural integrity of rolled product in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[25] It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of the illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present disclosure. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flowcharts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[26] In the present document, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment or implementation of the present disclosure described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

[27] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular form disclosed, but to the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and the scope of the disclosure.

[28] The terms “comprise(s)”, “comprising”, “include(s)”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device, apparatus, system, or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or apparatus or system or method. In other words, one or more elements in a device or system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the device or system or apparatus.

[29] The terms like “at least one” and “one or more” may be used interchangeably throughout the description. The terms like “a plurality of” and “multiple” may be used interchangeably throughout the description.

[30] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration of specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. In the following description, well known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the description with unnecessary detail.

[31] Embodiments of the present disclosure comprises techniques for addressing the limitations of existing methods for slicing and rolling high moisture texturized protein (HMTP) sheets by introducing a novel approach that enhances the texture and quality of the resulting product. The techniques involve a series of steps performed soon after extrusion, taking advantage of the warm and plastic properties of the HMTP material. The disclosed techniques includes cutting internal fiber structure to be more unilateral and rolling or bending perpendicular to the fiber direction, which results in reduced force, less gluing, and better product quality.

[32] Fig. 2 illustrates a method 200 for producing high moisture texturized protein (HMTP) slices with a unilateral fiber orientation in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the HMTP may be plant-based protein sources selected from the group consisting of soy, wheat, pea, rice, and moong, but not limited thereto. At step 202, the method 200 describes that a high moisture texturized protein material is extruded to form sheets with a laminar fibrous structure. The extrusion process may impart specific textural characteristics to the HMTP material, which results in a desirable fibrous texture resembling whole muscle meats. The obtained sheets are used for the subsequent slicing and rolling processes.

[33] At step 204, the method describes horizontally slicing of the extruded HMTP sheet in a plurality of slices by cutting the HMTP sheet at center across thickness, as shown in fig. 3. This step reduces the thickness of the sheet by half, thereby facilitating further processing and manipulation. In an embodiment, the horizontal slicing may be performed either before or after longitudinal cutting, depending on the specific requirements. At step 206, longitudinal cutting of the HMTP slices is performed. The each slice is cut along its center across width to ensure that the fibers are primarily oriented in the same direction, as shown in fig. 4. These pieces cut across the center of thickness and center of width (longitudinally) can be cut further as required, since it doesn't change the unidirectional fiber orientation any further. This unidirectional fiber orientation is crucial for achieving the desired texture and quality in the final product. In an embodiment, additional longitudinal cuts may be made to obtain slices with a unidirectional fiber orientation. By careful manipulation of the HMTP sheet during cutting may ensure that the fibers maintain their alignment, and result in improved texture and appearance.

[34] Further, the method 200, at step 210 , describes rolling the each of HMTP strip, as shown in fig. 5. Each strip is rolled perpendicular to the fiber structure against fiber orientation formed due to laminar flow in the cooling die, which reduces the force required to maintain the rolled form. The rolling of the sheets in this manner requires significantly less force than if rolling in any other orientation due to reduced stretching or compaction of unidirectional fibers. The rolling process may be performed soon after extrusion while the material is still warm and plastic, to take advantage of the flexibility of the fibers and their incomplete formation due to minimal cooling . This warm and plastic state of the material makes it easier to stretch the fibers and mold them into the desired shape.

[35] In an embodiment, the present invention provides a high moisture texturized protein (HMTP) slice, said high moisture texturized protein (HMTP) slice comprising: an HMTP sheet with a laminar fibrous structure obtained from extruding and cooling of the HMTP, wherein said HMTP sheet is horizontally sliced in a plurality of slices by cutting at center across thickness; wherein said plurality of HMTP slices are longitudinally cut in a plurality of HMTP strips, by cutting at center across width; wherein each HMTP strip is rolled with unidirectional fiber orientation; and an adhesive applied to each of the rolled strip to hold in each of the rolled strip place.

[36] In an embodiment, the above-described steps may be performed soon after extrusion while the HMTP material is still warm and more plastic, preferably above 30°C. This temperature range allows for better fiber stretching and alignment. By slicing and rolling at this stage, when the fibers have not completely formed due to minimal cooling, the method maximizes the efficiency of the process and enhances the resulting product's quality.

[37] At step 208 as commented in drawing section , the method describes applying adhesive to the rolled strips to maintain their form. In an embodiment, a suitable adhesive may be applied to the sliced and rolled sheets to ensure the structural integrity. The adhesive may comprise a mix of starches, proteins, or other gelling and gluing agents such as gums, methylcellulose, and other hydrocolloids. Due to the unidirectional fiber orientation and the reduced force resulting from rolling primarily perpendicular to the fiber orientation, less adhesive is required to hold the rolled form together. This not only simplifies the gluing process but also contributes to cost savings and improves the overall efficiency of the method.

[38] In this manner, the method described herein offers a novel approach to slicing and rolling high moisture texturized protein sheets, resulting in a more efficient and high-quality product. By extruding the HMTP material with a laminar fibrous structure and subsequently performing horizontal slicing, longitudinal cutting, rolling, and gluing while the material is still warm and plastic, the method enhances the texture, appearance, and overall quality of the final product. The resulting rolled high moisture texturized protein (HMTP) product exhibits several notable characteristics. Firstly, the rolled HMTP product possesses multiple layers, providing a visually appealing appearance. Unlike the croissant-shaped rolled products available in the market, such as soya chaap, the rolled HMTP product obtained through the present method has a uniform thickness, ensuring consistent quality, uniform cooking and texture throughout.

[39] In an embodiment, the layers of the rolled HMTP product may be securely held together through the use of suitable gluing agents. Unlike conventional methods that depend on rawness of the dough to maintain gluing and may utilize external supports such as ice cream sticks, compression in plastic sheets or other external supports to hold the shape of pliable uncooked dough, the present disclosure relies on a cooked textured product with a much more firmer structure that requires the application of just some gluing agents without requiring any additional supports to ensure the structural integrity of the rolled HMTP product. During the rolling process, specific pressures and forces may be applied to achieve the desired rolled structure. For example with a specific HMTP sheet made with soya proteins and gluten, When working with a 10mm thick HMTP sheet, a force of 16N may be applied for rolling the sheet, which results in a pressure of 4.56 KPa. Additionally, a force of 19.6N may be applied to hold the rolled sheet, corresponding to a pressure of 3.92 KPa. In the case of a 5mm thick HMTP sheet, an external force of 4N may be applied for rolling, exerting a pressure of 1.14 KPa. The force required to hold the rolled product may be 9.8N, with a corresponding pressure of 3.27 KPa. These pressures and forces may be carefully controlled to ensure the proper formation and integrity of the rolled HMTP product. The rolling of 5mm thick sheet makes the rolling process smoother by reducing the required force and pressure as mentioned above. Also, the slicing of the HMTP sheet in half thickness leads to the intact fibre structure and product texture on rolling the sheet. The rolled product remains intact even when exposed to different temperature. The 5mm sheet may be rolled with intact structure without any fibre breakage. The structure of the rolled product remains intact after being stored at -20? for 24h.

[40] In an exemplary embodiment, the rolling method employed in the present disclosure may be as follows: wet HMTP may be produced using a high moisture extrusion facility, utilizing raw materials with a high protein content. Post extrusion, the resulting wet HMTP sheet may have a thickness of 10mm, as shown in fig. 6a. To facilitate the rolling process, the 10mm sheet may be cut longitudinally across the width as shown in fig. 6b, followed by horizontal slicing across the thickness into 5mm thick rectangular sheets as shown in fig. 6c., where the inner surface of each strip may be coated with a gluing agent. The strips may be rolled into a cylindrical shape by following the opposite direction of laminar flow, resulting in the desired rolled HMTP product., as shown in fig. 6d.

[41] In an embodiment, the rolling process for the 10mm thick HMTP sheet requires more effort and encounters resistance and tension due to dissimilar orientation of fibers inside the product (as shown in Fig1, Fig3 & Fig4 , which can disrupt and crack the fibrous structure and surface texture of the wet HMTP. Additionally, rolling the 10mm sheet will take longer and will require more than twice the force compared to the 5mm sheet due to non-uniform fiber direction. The external force may be applied to the surface of the rolled HMTP to secure the sheets and maintain the integrity of the roll.

[42] Overall, the present invention provides an improved method for rolling high moisture texturized protein slices, resulting in a visually appealing and structurally sound rolled product. The precise application of pressures, forces, and gluing agents ensures the uniformity, quality, and stability of the rolled HMTP product. The method described herein significantly decreases the force necessary to roll HMTP sheets, thereby enhancing process efficiency and reducing gluing requirement resulting in cost-effectiveness. Further, by promptly initiating the rolling process immediately after extrusion, the method takes full advantage of the warm plastic properties exhibited by the material, effectively facilitating the rolling procedure. Additionally, the present invention offers an innovative approach to slicing and rolling high moisture texturized protein sheets, resulting in a more efficient and high-quality product. Furthermore, the unidirectional fiber orientation results in improved rolled or bent structure and subsequently better product quality and reduced need for gluing.

[43] In an embodiment, a food product may comprise the HMTP roll/slice defined above and the food product may be a meat analogue, vegetarian/vegan product, or textured protein product.

[44] In an embodiment, HMTPs possesses multiple layered structure with aligned fibers and strong cross links between layers of aligned fibers which results from the thermo-mechanical forces present in extrusion process. Further, the preparation of existing product in the market includes uncooked dough being rolled manually around a stick producing a product of irregular thickness and the product is subsequently cooked but produces unevenness in cooking and presence of raw starch inside the product, due to large variations in thickness. Whereas, the HMTPs sheet as disclosed in the present disclosure is a uniformly cooked product produced inside the extruder which is then subsequently rolled into uniform thickness with maintained fibers’ structure, which gives the rolled product uniform bite and chewiness and no notes of uncooked starch.

[45] The present invention discloses the texturised protein based product which is high in protein content and independent of incorporating high starchy ingredient like maida to get the desired texture, since the crosslinking in extrusion process depends primarily on protein linking. Thermo-mechanical process involved in the present invention leads to breakdown of large complex molecules into smaller forms which improves the functional properties of the raw ingredients like increasing water absorption, solubility, protein dispersibility, and enhanced intermolecular interaction giving the desired texturization to the product. The present invention discloses the high moisture texturised protein substrate having oriented fibers which can be used as meat analogues as well as other high protein products like soya chaap. The present disclosure proposes the technique which is automated and monitored to be operated under fixed optimized parameters which produces the similar product in each batch with very less chances of error, and also standardizes the procedure and maintains the overall product quality. The Table 1 provided the effect of innovative slicing method on structural integrity of rolled product as shown in Fig. 7. The table-2 provided below summarizes the technical advantages of the disclosed HMTP sheet.

Rolled HMTPs Soya Chaap
Dietary Fiber 5g 3g
Protein 19g 13g
Uncooked portion* 0% due to complete cooking during extrusion ~36%*
Texture Uniform fibration throughout formed in extrusion Non-uniform fibration due to manual rolling process

[46] To obtain above-mentioned results, cooking test was done by cooking the HMPTs sheet of roughly 15mm diameter in boiling water for 2 minutes, and sensory evaluation was done afterwards at different points from the outer surface. For soya chaap, it was determined that complete cooking was done at a depth of around 3mm from the outer surface and raw dough notes were detected inside, resulting in a 36% uncooked product.

[47] Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based here on. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present disclosure are intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the appended claims. , Claims:1. A method of producing high moisture texturized protein (HMTP) rolls with a unilateral fiber orientation, comprising:
extruding and cooling the HMTP to form sheet with a laminar fibrous structure;
horizontally slicing the HMTP sheet in a plurality of slices by cutting at center across thickness;
longitudinally cutting the plurality of HMTP slices in a plurality of HMTP strips, by cutting at center across width;
rolling each HMTP strip with unidirectional fiber orientation after previous cutting steps perpendicular to the fiber orientation,such that force required to maintain the rolled form is reduced;
applying an adhesive to each of the rolled strip to hold in place, wherein the unidirectional fiber orientation and reduced force required for rolling decrease the need for adhesive application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the horizontal slicing step is performed before or after the longitudinal cutting step.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of slicing and rolling are performed while HMTP is warm after extrusion to take advantage of incomplete fiber formation and increased flexibility and plastic structure.

4. The method of claim 1, where pieces cut across the center of thickness and center of width (longitudinally) can be cut further as required as unidirectional fiber orientation obtained in the original cut pieces remains unchanged.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the rolling step occurs perpendicular to the fiber orientation to reduce the force required to roll the HMTP sheets due to the unidirectional fiber structure.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the reduced force required for rolling and the unidirectional fiber orientation decreases a need for adhesive application.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the HMTP roll comprises multiple layered structure with aligned fibers and strong cross links between layers of the aligned fibers resulting from the thermo-mechanical forces present in extrusion process,
wherein the HMPT roll comprises enhanced intermolecular interaction in order to give a desired texturization to the HMPT roll.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the HMTP roll is high in protein content and independent of incorporating high starchy ingredient.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the HMTP comprises plant-based protein sources selected from the group consisting of soy, wheat, pea, rice, and moong or other plant-based protein sources such as legumes.

9. A high moisture texturized protein (HMTP) slice, said high moisture texturized protein (HMTP) slice comprising:
an HMTP sheet with a laminar fibrous structure obtained from extruding and cooling of the HMTP, wherein said HMTP sheet is horizontally sliced in a plurality of slices by cutting at center across thickness;
wherein said plurality of HMTP slices are longitudinally cut in a plurality of HMTP strips, by cutting at center across width;
wherein each HMTP strip is rolled with unidirectional fiber orientation; and
an adhesive applied to each of the rolled strip to hold in each of the rolled strip place.

10. A food product comprising the HMTP slice of claim 9, wherein the food product is a meat analogue, vegetarian/vegan product, or textured protein product, wherein the HMTP slice provides a meat-like texture.