United States of America, as Represented by the Secretary of Agriculture

Other

Pop Oats LLC

University of California

The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of

Del Monte Foods, Inc.

Regrained, Inc.

Tara H McHugh

Zhongli Pan

Donald A Olson

Charles C Huxsoll

Marc Pfeiffer

Rodger Morris

Matthew D De Bord

Carl W Olsen

John M Krochta

Josephine Musco

Roberto D Avena Bustillos

Daniel J Kurzrock

Jordan L Schwartz

Roberto Avena-Bustillos

James B Valenti-Jordan

Carlos H Masareje

A crisp and hard whole kernel oat snack product made by fully hydrating whole oat kernels (i.e. oat groats), and then gelatinizing the starch in the whole oat kernels using an infrared process. The gelatinized oats are then roasted in a hot air dryer. The resulting food product is measurably harder and crisper than other whole oat products currently available.

Crisp and hard whole oat kernel snack

The system for processing brewery spent grains (BSG) includes a specific intermittent infrared (IR) heating and stirring protocol designed to produce a unique dried BSG product that can be used whole or ground up and used as a quality flour suitable for human consumption.

Intermittent infrared drying for brewery-spent grain

This invention relates to food processing and, in particular, blanching and dehydration of foods. Conventional blanching and dehydration requires use of steam and forced hot air. This invention is the first to effectively use infrared radiation energy to perform simultaneous blanching and dehydration of fruits and vegetables. Since this technology does not involve the addition of steam or water in the process of blanching, it has been named 'infrared dry-blanching' (IDB) technology. IDB is intended to be a replacement for current steam, water and/or microwave blanching methods. It can be used to produce many kinds of value-added dried, refrigerated, frozen and dehydrofrozen foods such as fruit and vegetable products. In general, the advantages of IDB include (1) uniform heating which enhances energy efficiency and limits damage from over-heating, (2) capability of zone heating to address differential density, (3) ability to treat large or small lots with the same piece of equipment, (4) portability, since equipment can be built on wheels, and (5) a safe, non-toxic process with no harmful side-effects to humans or the environment.

Infrared dry blanching, infrared blanching and infrared drying technologies for food processing

The present invention provides methods of producing high quality olive leaf powders using infrared dry blanching, drying, and milling. Also provided are powders prepared by the methods of the invention. The powders can be included in various food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and antimicrobial compositions.

Olive leaf powder

A method and apparatus for infrared peeling of fruits and vegetables is disclosed herein.

Infrared based peeling of fruits and vegetables

The present invention is directed to monolayer, bilayer, and multilayer films made from fruit, vegetable or a combination thereof, which films have the thinness, strength, flexibility, and crispness to serve as alternates or substitutes for seaweed-based films such as nori, while providing the nutrition and flavor of fruits and vegetables. The films are useful for wrapping around a multiplicity of foods, and can be used to provide wrapped foods, including for example fruit and vegetable wrapped sushi and onigiri.

Fruit and vegetable films and uses thereof

The invention relates to intermediate-moisture formed food products made from a mixture of partially dehydrated fruit or vegetable pieces and a gelled matrix such that the water activity in the matrix is substantially equivalent to the water activity of the fruit or vegetable pieces in the mixture. The product may be made from one type of fruit or vegetable alone, a mixture of different fruits, a mixture of different vegetables, or a mixture of various fruit and vegetable pieces.

Intermediate-moisture formed food products made from partially dehydrated fruit and/or vegetables and novel methods of packing thereof

Value-added, restructured fruit and vegetable products made from bulk-processed ingredients are taught. The restructured fruit and vegetable products are to be eaten out-of-hand as confectionery items or incorporated into baked, canned and/or frozen foods, such as cereals, cookies, cakes, fruit cocktails and ice creams. Processing methods involving twin-screw extrusion used to obtain the restructured fruit and vegetable products are also taught.

Restructured fruit and vegetable products and processing methods

This invention describes new water-insoluble protein-based edible coatings and films having improved barrier and mechanical properties, and methods for their preparation from water-soluble proteins. In the invention, aqueous protein solutions are denatured with heat, chemicals and/or enzymes to induce thiol-disulfide interchange and thiol oxidation reactions, thereby forming new intermolecular and intramolecular disulfide crosslinkages. The formation of covalent intermolecular crosslinkages in protein-based edible films and coatings results in films having improved barrier and mechanical properties which are insoluble in water. Water-insoluble emulsion film systems can be formed by incorporating lipids into the denatured aqueous protein matrix.

Growing community of inventors

Albany, CA, United States of America

Tara H McHugh