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US-20260123646-A1 - SUSPENSIONS OF MICRONIZED EDIBLE SOLIDS IN LIPIDS, HAVING HIGH SOLID CONTENT

US20260123646A1US 20260123646 A1US20260123646 A1US 20260123646A1US-20260123646-A1

Abstract

Suspensions including at least 30 wt % micronized edible particles suspended in liquid lipids (e.g., oil) and their production methods are provided. Suspensions may include sugar, salt and/or spices as edible solids, as well as fine tahini pastes made of raw tahini or from seeds and/or finely-ground coffee suspension in oil. Preparation methods include mixing the edible particles in liquid lipids or paste, reducing the particle sizes in a first coarse shearing step involving size-reducing mechanical interactions between the edible particles and a shearing device, and micronizing the size-reduced edible particles suspended in the liquid lipids or paste in a second fine milling step involving size-reducing mechanical interactions among the edible particles and/or between the edible particles and a milling device. Processing aids may be added to reduce the viscosity of the suspension. Seasoned fried food products may be prepared in a single step to yield a fine and uniform coating.

Inventors

  • Alisa Dunkel
  • Ilana ROITMAN
  • Shachar ASULIN
  • Guy Ben-Zvi
  • Nitzan WEINSTEIN

Assignees

  • Omega 3 Galilee Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251231

Claims (19)

  1. 1 . A method of refining cocoa mass, the method comprising milling the cocoa mass to reduce a median particles size (D50 percentile) and break cells to release the cells content to the cocoa mass.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising reducing bitterness and sourness, and enhancing smoothness and taste by the milling.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , comprising melting the cocoa mass while milling.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cocoa mass does not include carrier oil.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding at least one emulsifier to the cocoa mass.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding edible solid particles to the cocoa mass prior to the milling.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the edible solid particles comprise sugar.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the median particles size (D50 percentile) is reduced below 6 μm.
  9. 9 . Refined cocoa mass prepared by the method of claim 8 , having a median particles size (D50 percentile) below 6 μm.
  10. 10 . A suspension including micronized edible particles suspended in lipids, the suspension comprising at least 30 wt % micronized edible particles in the suspension, wherein the edible particles comprise any of: cocoa powder, white crystalline sugar, Demerara crystalline sugar, crystalline salt, spice particles, corn fibers, chicory root fibers, other fibers, rice flour, proteins, crystalline salt (NaCl), MSG (monosodium glutamate), oregano or other spices, coriander seeds, vanilla and cocoa.
  11. 11 . The suspension of claim 10 , wherein the micronized edible particles comprise at least 5 wt % sugar
  12. 12 . The suspension of claim 10 , wherein the lipids comprise at least one of: Cocoa butter, MCT oil, Ghee butter, palm oil, high olein palm oil, hazelnut paste, milk butter, milk fat, refined coconut oil, sunflower oil, canola oil and soy oil in liquid form or animal fats in molten liquid form.
  13. 13 . The suspension of claim 10 , further comprising at least one emulsifier.
  14. 14 . A method of preparing a suspension of at least 30 wt % micronized edible particles suspended in lipids, the method comprising: mixing edible particles in liquid lipids, reducing particle sizes in a first coarse shearing step involving size-reducing mechanical interactions between the edible particles and a shearing device, and micronizing the size-reduced edible particles suspended in the liquid lipids in a second fine milling step involving size-reducing mechanical interactions among the edible particles and/or between the edible particles and a milling device, wherein the edible particles comprise any of cocoa powder, white crystalline sugar, Demerara crystalline sugar, crystalline salt, spice particles, corn fibers, chicory root fibers or any other fibers, rice flour, proteins, crystalline salt (NaCl), MSG, oregano or other spices, coriander seeds, vanilla and cocoa, wherein the edible particles are optionally associated with fat, and wherein the liquid lipids comprise at least one of Cocoa butter, MCT oil, Ghee butter, palm oil, high olein palm oil, hazelnut paste, milk butter, refined coconut oil, sunflower oil, canola oil and soy oil—in liquid form or animal fats like tallow, lard, duck fat, chicken fat etc. in their molten liquid form.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the micronized edible particles comprise at least 5 wt % sugar.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising adding at least one processing aid to the suspension to lower the viscosity and/or to improve stability and homogeneity at the second fine milling step.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising adding at least one emulsifier.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the edible particles are optionally associated with fat.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the animal fat is selected from the group consisting of tallow, lard, duck fat, chicken fat etc. in their molten liquid form.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Continuation Application of PCT Application No. PCT/IL2025/050837, International Filing Date Sep. 18, 2025, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Applications Nos. 63/699,153, filed Sep. 25, 2024; 63/707,447, filed Oct. 15, 2024; 63/714,249, filed Oct. 31, 2025; 63/714,383, filed Oct. 31, 2024 and 63/770,449, filed Mar. 12, 2025, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties; BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field The present invention relates to the field of food technology, and more particularly, to suspensions of micronized edible solids in lipids such as various oils and fats, to improving quality of seed pastes such as tahini, grape seed paste, sunflower seed paste etc., by fine milling, and to improving coffee quality by fine milling. 2. Discussion of Related Art Food products are characterized by various organoleptic characteristics, such as taste, flavors, aroma, smell, texture, appearance, color, which determine the acceptability and quality of the food product. U.S. Pat. No. 11,832,631, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses taste-enhanced liquid, semi-solid and/or solid oil-based suspensions, which consist of a carrier oil and edible solid particles (e.g., crystalline salt and/or sugar, and optionally spices) having median diameter of less than 15 m. The particles are reduced in size in the suspension, allowing enhancement of their organoleptic effects while reducing their amount to meet nutritional demands. Tahini, for example, is an oily sesame-based paste, made of milled roasted sesame seeds, and used to prepare various spreads (e.g., hummus), sauces, dips, dressings and condiments (e.g., halva) and may be mixed with various ingredients. Tahini often presents significant storage challenges, such as oil separation, sedimentation and rancidity. Other seeds and nuts may also be used to prepare pastes (similar to the preparation of tahini from sesame seeds), such as sunflower seeds, grape, pumpkin, chia, flaxseed and hemp seeds, peanuts, nuts such as almonds, cashew, hazelnuts, pistachio and other spreads which suffer from the same drawbacks of separation, sedimentation, poor taste and structure loss. Prior art fried food products are prepared generally in a two-step process, the first step including the frying of the food products by various methods, and the second steps including salting and seasoning the fried food products by various methods. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The following is a simplified summary providing an initial understanding of the invention. The summary does not necessarily identify key elements nor limit the scope of the invention, but merely serves as an introduction to the following description. One aspect of the present invention provides a suspension including micronized edible particles suspended in lipids, the suspension comprising at least 30 wt % micronized edible particles in the suspension. One aspect of the present invention provides a method of preparing a suspension of at least 30 wt % micronized edible particles suspended in liquid lipids, the method comprising: mixing edible particles in oil, reducing particle sizes in a first coarse shearing step involving size-reducing mechanical interactions between the edible particles and a shearing device, and micronizing the size-reduced edible particles suspended in the liquid lipids in a second fine milling step involving size-reducing mechanical interactions among the edible particles and/or between the edible particles and a milling device. One aspect of the present invention provides a fine seed paste made of raw seeds by one or more milling steps that reduce particle sizes and improve organoleptic characteristics of the seeds, wherein the fine seed paste has a D50 percentile of particle sizes under 15 μm or under 10 μm. One aspect of the present invention provides a fine seed paste made of seeds by at least three milling steps comprising: a first step of reducing particles sizes from the seeds to between 150-1000 μm with optional filtering up to 500 um, a second step of reducing particles sizes from the first step to between 15-150 μm, and a third step of reducing particles sizes from the second step to around or under 15 μm or around or under 10 μm. One aspect of the present invention provides a method of improving a quality of raw seed paste to yield fine tahini paste, the method comprising milling the raw seed paste to reduce particle sizes to reach a D50 percentile of particle diameters under 15 μm or under 10 μm. One aspect of the present invention provides a method of preparing fine seed paste from seeds, the method comprising at least three milling steps including: a first step of reducing particles sizes from the seeds to between 150-1000 μm with optional filtering up to 500 um, a second step of reducing particles sizes from the first step to between 15-150 μm, and a third