US-20260123650-A1 - PLANT-BASED POULTRY PRODUCTS, AND METHODS OF PRODUCING THE SAME

US20260123650A1US 20260123650 A1US20260123650 A1US 20260123650A1US-20260123650-A1

Abstract

Embodiments described herein relate to methods of forming fibrous food products. In some aspects, a method can include mixing a composition with a solvent to form a first solution, the first solution including between about 5 wt % and about 20 wt % of the composition, the composition including a plant protein and a polysaccharide. The method further includes rotating the first solution to cause ejection of a second solution in a jet, collecting the jet of the second solution in a precipitation bath, such that a collection of fibers forms, drying the collection of fibers, and forming the collection of fibers into a fillet shape. In some embodiments, the method can further include heating or refrigerating the second solution to a temperature between about 0° C. and about 100° C. during the mixing and/or the rotating.

Inventors

Ethan MILLER
Priya GANDHI
Jade Elizabeth ZHU
Luke MACQUEEN
John Andrew GETSY, IV
Mary Feyrer
Hung Pham
Maya REESE
Gemma COTTON
Matthew Skinner
Richard COLWELL
Clémence Jehl DE MÉNORVAL
Avinash SHRIKANTIA

Assignees

Tender Food, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20250613

Claims (20)

1 - 20 . (canceled)
21 - 51 . (canceled)
52 . A method, comprising: mixing a composition with a solvent to form a first solution, the first solution including between about 10 wt % and about 40 wt % of the composition and between about 0 wt % and about 15 wt % of an oil, the composition including a plant protein and a polysaccharide; rotating the first solution to cause ejection of a second solution in a jet; collecting the jet of the second solution in a precipitation bath, such that a collection of fibers forms; drying the collection of fibers; and forming the collection of fibers into a fillet shape.
53 . The method of claim 52 , wherein the forming is via placement of the collection of fibers in a mold.
54 . The method of claim 52 , further comprising: during the mixing and/or the rotating, heating or refrigerating the second solution to a temperature between about 0 C. and about 100 C.
55 . The method of claim 52 , wherein the oil includes at least one of coconut oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil, avocado oil, cocoa butter, or sunflower oil.
56 . The method of claim 52 , further comprising: adding biological cells to the collection of fibers, the biological cells including at least one of muscle myoblasts, fibroblasts, adipocytes, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, keratinocytes, or stem cells.
57 . The method of claim 52 , further comprising: after the drying, heating the collection of fibers to a temperature of at least about 165 C. for a duration of at least about 20 minutes.
58 . The method of claim 52 , further comprising: adding at least one of a salt, a thiol, or mercaptoethanol to the collection of fibers to cleave disulphide bonds in the fibers.
59 . The method of claim 52 , wherein the solvent includes ethanol and water such that the collection of fibers forms in the precipitation bath via water-ethanol exchange.
60 . The method of claim 52 , further comprising: adding a stabilizing liquid to the fibrous food product and stabilizing the fibrous food product via at least one of ionic gelation or thermal gelation.
61 . The method of claim 60 , wherein: the polysaccharide is a first polysaccharide; the stabilizing liquid includes a second polysaccharide; and the first or the second polysaccharide includes at least one of sodium alginate, beta-glucans, carrageenan, methylcellulose, alginate, chitosan, glucans, pectin, konjac, pullulan, curdlan, gellan gum, or trehalose.
62 . The method of claim 60 , wherein: the plant protein is a first plant protein; the stabilizing liquid includes a second plant protein; and the first or the second plant protein includes at least one of rice, peas, soy, barley, rice, barley rice, beans, fava beans, seitan, tempeh, edamame, lentils, chickpeas, nutritional yeast, spelt, teff, yeast protein, seeds, hemp seeds, amaranth, quinoa, spirulina, green peas, oats, Ezekiel bread, wild rice, nuts, chia seeds, or mycoprotein.
63 . The method of claim 60 , wherein the stabilizing liquid includes at least one of biological cells or a fermented product.
64 . The method of claim 60 , further comprising: compressing the fibrous food product after adding the stabilizing liquid.
65 . The method of claim 64 , further comprising: applying at least one of heat or a gelling inducer to the fibrous food product during the compressing and/or after the compressing.
66 . The method of claim 52 , wherein the ejection of the second solution is via at least one of electrospinning, blow spinning, wet spinning, jet spinning, rotary jet spinning, or centrifugal spinning.
67 . The method of claim 52 , further comprising: applying an ionically and/or thermally gelling mixture topically to the fibrous food product.
68 . A method, comprising: mixing a composition with a solvent to form a first solution, the composition including a plant protein and a polysaccharide; adding an acid to the first solution such that the first solution includes no more than about 5 wt. % of the acid; rotating the first solution to cause ejection of a second solution in a jet; collecting the jet of the second solution in a precipitation bath, such that a collection of fibers forms; drying the collection of fibers; and forming the collection of fibers into a fillet shape.
69 . The method of claim 68 , further comprising: ejecting the first solution to the precipitation bath, the precipitation bath including a basic solution, such that the collection of fibers in the precipitation bath are formed via acid/base exchange.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/US 2023/076739, filed Oct. 12, 2023, and titled “Plant-Based Poultry Products, And Methods Of Producing The Same,” which claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Ser. No. 63/387,792, filed Dec. 16, 2022, and titled “Plant-Based Poultry Products, and Methods of Producing the Same,” the disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH This invention was made with government support under Grant No. 2112169 awarded by th Nationa Science Foundation. The government has certain rights in the invention. TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments described herein relate to plant-based poultry-like products and methods of producing the same. BACKGROUND Chicken breast products are featured in cuisines throughout the world. Fried or baked chicken are prominent examples. Grilling and deep-frying are processes employed to denature the proteins in chicken breast and make fibrillar structure of the muscle tissues more pronounced. The majority of the composition of chicken breast contains bundles of cells called muscle fibers that are long and thin. Cooking chicken also neutralizes harmful bacteria, such as salmonella. Animal-free alternatives to chicken breast have often employed plants with inherent fiber-like textures (e.g., jackfruit) to recreate the fiber-like texture of muscle tissues. A few specific fibrous plant sources limit the variety of protein sources that can be incorporated into chicken breast products. SUMMARY Embodiments described herein relate to methods of forming fibrous food products. In some aspects, a method can include mixing a substance with a solvent to form a first solution, the first solution including between about 10 wt % and about 40 wt % of the substance, the substance including a plant protein and a polysaccharide. The method further includes rotating the first solution to cause ejection of a second solution in a jet, collecting the jet of the second solution in a precipitation bath, such that a collection of fibers forms, drying the collection of fibers, and forming the collection of fibers into a fillet shape. In some embodiments, the method can further include heating the second solution to a temperature between about 0° C. and about 100° C. during the mixing and/or the rotating. In some embodiments, the method can further include adding an acid to the first solution, such that the first solution includes less than about 5 wt % of the acid. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Optional items in all figures shown in dashed lines. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a method of producing a plant-based shredded meat product, according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a fibrous food product, according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is an illustration of a fibrous food product, according to an embodiment. FIGS. 4A-4C are images of a plant-based chicken substitute, and components thereof. FIGS. 5A-5B are images of a plant-based chicken substitute, with various levels of fiber cohesion. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments described herein relate to plant-based poultry-like products and methods of producing the same. In some embodiments, the plant-based products can be formulated to resemble various poultry products, including chicken, turkey, quail, goose, pheasant, duck, or any other avian meats. To recreate the fiber-like texture of muscle tissues, animal-free alternatives to chicken breast employ plants with fiber-like textures (e.g., jackfruit) or other texturizing technologies. When specific plants are used for texture, they also bring unwanted organoleptic properties that make them distinguishable from animal-based meat products. To overcome the limitations of fibrous plant supply, methods described herein combine a large variety of non-animal proteins into nutritious fiber-forming material blends that can be extruded, aligned, bundled, and packed together into fibrillar meat substitutes with realistic texture. Alternatively, texturizing technologies can be applied to plant-based protein blends to produce a fibrous texture similar to that of shredded meats. Texturing technologies include high moisture extrusion. High moisture extrusion is a continuous process and can include mixing solutions in a barrel that are then fed to a twin-screw extruder. The twin-screw extruder can operate in the temperature range of about 100° C. to about 175° C. with residence times in the twin-screw extruder between about 2 minutes and about 5 minutes. Such processes can result in a mostly layered structure. Wet texturization has become common, as twin-screw extrusion in combination with chemical and physical processes (thermomechanical cooking and die fibration) to produce a more fibrous structure and meat-like texture of resulting products. Texturizing technologies aim to broaden available protein precursors but suffer