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US-12616230-B2 - Hemp seed extract

US12616230B2US 12616230 B2US12616230 B2US 12616230B2US-12616230-B2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process for preparing a hemp seed extract that is useful as a flavoring composition in food and beverages. The method does not involve the use of re-agents that would impair the taste of the resulting extract, in particular organic solvents. The invention also relates to a hemp seed extract that can be prepared by use of the process of the invention. The invention also relates to the use of the hemp seed extract of the invention as a flavoring composition, in particular in food and beverages. Finally, the invention also relates to foods or beverages comprising a hemp seed extract of the invention.

Inventors

  • DOMINIK SPICKERMANN
  • CATHARINA KLEIST
  • Loi Gia Tu
  • Mathilde van Rheenen

Assignees

  • OHLY GMBH

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20200218
Priority Date
20190221

Claims (19)

  1. 1 . A method for preparing a hemp seed extract suitable for use in a food or beverage product, said method comprising: (a) providing a mechanically disintegrated hemp seed material having a fat content of at least 15% (w/w); (b) incubating the hemp seed material at a temperature of ≥80° C. and a pH of ≤5.0, for at least two hours to release proteins; (c) incubating the hemp seed material with one or more proteases to decompose the released proteins; and (d) reducing the fat content of the hemp seed material obtained from step (c) to obtain a hemp seed extract, wherein the method does not involve the incubation of the hemp seed material with an organic solvent.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a dry matter content of the mixture in step (c) is adjusted to about 4-20%.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the hemp seed material has been disintegrated by milling or grinding.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the material is incubated at a temperature of ≥80° C. prior to mechanical disintegration.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein step (c) comprises incubation with one or more endoproteases and/or one or more exoproteases.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) is carried out at a temperature of 95° C.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) is carried out at a pH of ≤5.0 for 3 hours or more.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the material in step (c) is incubated for at least 1 hour.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the fat content of the material is reduced by separators in step (d).
  10. 10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the hemp seed extract obtained in step (d) is dried.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) is carried out at a pH of ≤4.5.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the hemp seed extract obtained at step (d) comprises a protein concentration of at least 50% (w/w) of the total hemp seed extract.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the hemp seed extract obtained at step (d) comprises a concentration of free glutamate of 0.1 to 10.0% (w/w) of the total hemp seed extract.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the hemp seed extract obtained at step (d) comprises a reducing sugar concentration lower than 20% (w/w) of the total hemp seed extract.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , comprising adding the hemp seed extract as an additive to a food product.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein reducing the fat content of the hemp seed material obtained from step (c) comprises reducing the fat content of the hemp seed extract to below 8%.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the fat content of the hemp seed extract is reduced below 8% at pH≤5.0.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the hemp seed extract is reduced to pH≤5.0 using citric acid.
  19. 19 . A method for preparing a hemp seed extract suitable for use in a food or beverage product, said method comprising: (a) providing a mechanically disintegrated hemp seed material having a fat content of at least 15% (w/w); (b) incubating the hemp seed material at a temperature of ≥80° C. and a pH of ≤5.0, for at least two hours to release proteins, wherein the hemp seed material is reduced to the pH≤5.0 using citric acid; (c) incubating the released proteins with one or more proteases to decompose the released proteins; and (d) reducing the fat content of the hemp seed material obtained from step (c) to obtain a hemp seed extract, wherein the method does not involve the incubation of the hemp seed material with an organic solvent.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is the U.S. National Stage of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2020/054153, filed Feb. 18, 2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, and which claims priority to European Patent Application No. 19158698.1, filed Feb. 21, 2019. The present invention relates to a process for preparing a hemp seed extract that is useful as a flavoring composition in food and beverages. The method does not involve the use of re-agents that would impair the taste of the resulting extract, in particular organic solvents. The invention also relates to a hemp seed extract prepared by use of the process of the invention. The invention also relates to the use of the hemp seed extract of the invention as a flavoring composition, in particular in food and beverages. Finally, the invention also relates to foods or beverages comprising a hemp seed extract of the invention. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of flavor improvers in foods is well known in the art. The food industry uses a number of compounds in order to intensify the meaty or savory flavor of food products. In recent years, however, some consumers tend to avoid the use of substances like glutamic acid, inosine monophosphate and hexanedioic acid in their food, because these compounds are considered as artificial additives. Efforts have been made by the food industry to replace commonly used flavor improvers by more natural compounds, e.g. from vegetable sources. In particular, hydrolyzed vegetable proteins (HVPs) have been found to confer flavor to foods and at the same time meet the consumer's demand for recognizable additives. Most of the HVPs currently available on the market are derived from plant raw materials, such as soy, wheat, pea, rapeseed, maize or rice. HVPs are commonly prepared by hydrolyzing protein concentrates of the plant material chemically under acidic conditions. This results in a high amount of free amino acids in the extracts, which are the main contributors to taste improvement. On the other hand, HVPs are commonly prepared by using organic solvents which are a burden for the environment and also confer unpleasant bitter off-tastes to the final products. Despite the progress that has been made in this particular field, there is still a need for additional flavor improving preparations from vegetable sources that could be used in foods and beverages. The present invention fulfills this need and provides a novel and improved process for preparing a hemp seed extract which is highly useful as a flavoring component. Compared to commonly used HVP preparation processes, the new process is less expensive, less time-consuming and more environmentally acceptable. Importantly, the new process does not involve the use of organic solvents which are commonly used during the preparation of HVPs. The process of the invention has been optimized to omit organic solvents, such as hexane or ethanol, so as to retain the full flavoring taste of the resulting extract. Owing to its natural flavoring characteristics, the hemp seed extract prepared in accordance with the method of the invention is particularly useful as an additive in foods or beverages. At the same time, the use of solvents which are potentially harmful to the environment is significantly reduced by the new process. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It has been found that hemp seeds can provide an excellent basis for the preparation of natural flavoring compounds. Hemp seeds contain a high amount of protein that can be proteoytically digested to result in an extract with excellent organoleptic and flavoring characteristics. Further, as the invention provides a novel method for preparing extracts from hemp seeds that omits the use of organic solvents which are normally used for preparing HVPs from fat-rich materials, the generation of bitter off-tastes can be completely avoided which leads to a significant improvement of the taste and flavoring characteristics. Thus, in a first aspect, the present invention provides for a new process for preparing a hemp seed extract, said method comprising (a) providing a mechanically disintegrated hemp seed material;(b) incubating the hemp seed material at a temperature of ≥80° C. for at least 1 hour to release proteins;(c) incubating the hemp seed material with one or more proteases to decompose proteins;(d) reducing the fat content of the hemp seed material obtained from step (c); and(e) obtaining the hemp seed extract,wherein the method does not involve the incubation of the hemp seed material with an organic solvent. In the first step of the above method, a mechanically disintegrated hemp seed material is provided. In principle, any type of hemp seed material can be used as starting material. For example, the process can be carried out with commercially available disintegrated hemp seeds. Disintegrated hemp seed material suitable for use in the method of the invention also includes protein concentrates f