Claims:I/We claim the following:
We claim:
1. A method for making a spreadable soy cheese like product without using dairy ingredients comprising of fermented soy milk with a lactic acid-forming starter culture to form a curd, with about 3.0-3.5 % ( by weight) of an edible oil based on the weight of the dry solids in said soy cheese, 1.5-2.0% okara powder, 5-10% sugar for strengthening and viability of probiotics; a cheese with a ripening salt and a sufficient quantity of water to provide a content thereof in said product of about 70 to 75 weight %, based on the total weight of said product; fermentation at two temperature of around 370 and 550 C for about 5 h and 1 h, respectively and vigorously agitating the resulting mixture with sufficient mechanical shearing force to form the ingredients thereof into a spreadable soy cheese like product having a paste-like consistency.
2. A method according to claim 1 including further mixing of okara as prebiotics with said soy cheese to accelerate the microbial viability and decrease the rate of drop of pH.
3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said agitating step is carried out at a temperature of about 55° C.
4. A method according to claim 1 including adding a probiotic starters based on L. casei spp to said soy milk for initiation of fermentation and to accelerate precipitation of soy globulin contained in said soy cheese during aging.
5. A process according to claim 4, in which the amount of starter-culture is in the range of about 5% to 10% of the weight of the soymilk.
6. The method of claim 1 where the blend is fermented at a temperature of about 370 C for about 5 hours, and at about 55°C for 1 hour.
7. A method according to claim 1 wherein the amount of said salt is within the range of about 1 to about 3weight %, based on the total weight of said soy cheese spread.
, Description:This invention relates to a probiotic soy cheese spread and a process for making same. The recent development in the use of cheese spread bread as a main meal or a meal supplement into countries where such a food has not been customarily used (particularly the Asian countries), the need for such spreadable products has increased accordingly. Most cheese products are made with dairy products derived from milk (primarily cow milk). Such dairy products are presently in short supply in many of these countries. It is well known that soybeans have very high and good quality protein content and represent a much more productive source of protein than dairy animals. Along with a tendency to lower cholesterol levels, soybeans have recently been suggested as having a possible role in, inhibiting cancerous or tumor cells. Additionally, soy protein contains an amino acid profile that is among the most complete of all vegetable protein sources, and resembles, with the exception of the sulfur-containing amino acids, the pattern derived from high-quality animal protein sources. Thus, efforts have been made to incorporate soy into a wide variety of foods.
Probiotics are live microorganisms that confer a beneficial effect on the host when administered in proper amounts. Nowadays there is an increasing consumer demand for non-dairy-based probiotic products and these organisms are being incorporated into non-dairy food products. Therefore, considerable effort has been directed toward making an acceptable spreadable cheese-like product having probiotic characteristics using soybean derived products as a primary raw material. Soy cheese spread like product can compete with milk cheese in various organoleptic, microbiological, biochemical and technological aspects.
Examples of prior art attempts to produce such a spreadable product are disclosed by S. J. Circle and D. W. Johnson, "Edible Isolated Soybean Protein and Processed Plant Protein Foodstuffs," Academic Press, New York (1958) and in Japanese Patent Open Publication No. 11,973/1972. In the process described in the former publication, a spreadable, creamy cheesy like product is made by blending a soy proteinate (an alkali metal salt of soy protein), a hydrogenated vegetable oil, water and salt. Since this soy cheese product is not fermented, it does not have particularly acceptable spreading and oral melting properties and lacks flavor taste characteristics normally associated with cheese spreads made from dairy products.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,025 (Sep. 21, 1976) provides a method for the production of a spreadable soy cheese product. An aged soy cheese (prepared by fermenting soy milk with a lactic acid cheese starter culture) is mixed with an edible oil (about 45 to about 60 weight percent based on the weight of dry solids in the soy cheese), emulsifying salts, and water under high shear and high temperature conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,080,477 (Mar. 21, 1978) relates to the production of a processed cheese-like product containing soy cheese. A casein-containing material (e.g., caseinates, dairy cheese, dairy cheese curd, whole milk solids, skim milk solids, and mixtures thereof) and an emulsifying salt are added to soy cheese curd under relatively high shear conditions while heating to about 50-85° C.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,691 (Dec. 1, 1981) provides a proteinaceous food product simulating cheese comprising a blend of soy protein (e.g., soy isolate, cold insoluble soy fraction, or mixtures thereof), gelatin, hydrocolloid gum, fat, and water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,676 (Jul. 7, 1987) provides a method of producing a cheese-like emulsified food by blending tofu, an oil or fat, a heat coagulable protein (e.g., whey protein concentrate), and a stabilizer and then heating the blend to gel the protein component.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,449 (Jan. 12, 1999) provides an isoflavone-enriched soy protein product which can be incorporated into, for example, imitation processed cheese spreads. Such spreads were produced by first preparing a dry blend of rennet casein, soy protein product, and whey.
The inclusion of an edible oil or fat as part of the starting mixture, along with the soy cheese, a melting salt and water, improves the spreadability and oral melting characteristics of the final product. Although various animal and/or vegetable fats or oils can be used, it is preferred that such an oil or fat have melting point approximating or lower than human body temperature. The amount of melting salt used in the starting mixture preferably is about 1 to about 4 weight % based on the total weight of the soy cheese.
To the best of our knowledge, a probiotic soy cheese spread like product not containing dairy product ingredients and having acceptable spread ability, oral melting and flavor characteristics is not available. The difficulty in successfully producing an acceptable spread from soybeans at least is partially due to the peculiar characteristics of soy globulin which has a much higher water binding capacity (water-holding property) than casein and tends to gel upon being heated, resulting in poor spreadability and oral melting properties in the processed products. Products made from soybeans also tend to have an undesirable beany taste. Furthermore, the texture of spreads made from soybean sources usually have a grainy texture in comparison to the smooth, uniform texture normally associated with spreads made from dairy cheeses.