The Nisshin Oil Mills, Ltd.

Chiyoda Corporation

Yuzo Ikuta

Sachio Asaoka

Takeshi Minami

Haruto Kobayashi

Tadasu Fujita

Satoshi Tashiro

Taiji Teraguchi

Koji Tsuchikawa

Noboru Andoh

Yoshiyuki Hatano

A material consisting mainly of protein and water is supplied into an extruder through a supply port, mixed by screws and extruded from an extrusion port. The extrusion port is provided with a die including a plate having a plurality of holes. A mixture extruded from the extrusion port is provided with a fibrous orientation. The die has a cooling mechanism for cooling the mixture extruded from the extruder. The obtained protein material is heated and compression-molded by a pressing machine, and a protein food having a meat-like texture and mouth feeling is produced. Thus, a high-protein, low-calorie protein food having a meat-like complex texture and mouth feeling can be produced by a simple process.

Method of producing meat-like protein foods

Transesterification involving a fat, or a fat and fatty acid, or a phospholipid is carried out with a lipase or phospholipase immobilized on a polymer carrier. The transesterification is preferably carried out in a system containing a very small amount of water such as 50 to 2,000 ppm. The phospholipase can be phospholipase A.sub.2. In a first embodiment, lipase from a microorganism of the genus Rhizopus, Mucor, Alcaligenes or Candida is immobilized on the surface of a hydrophobic, insoluble organic polymer carrier having pores of an average diameter of 10 nm or larger and having on the surface epoxy groups capable of covalently binding lipase. The immobilized lipase is dried under reduced pressure. In a second embodiment, lipase is immobilized on the surface of a polymer carrier such as a hydrophobic, insoluble organic polymer carrier having a pore diameter of 5 to 1,000 nm and having on the surface a functional group capable of binding lipase and an anion-exchange group. Preferably, the functional group is an epoxy group and the anion-exchange group is a tertiary amino group. The lipase may be obtained from the same microorganism as in the first embodiment or from another lipase-producing microorganism. Iramobilization can be carried out as in the first embodiment. It is preferred to contact a solution of lipase with the polymer carrier in the presence of a fatty acid or derivative thereof for 10 minutes to 10 hours to covalently bond the lipase to the polymer carrier.

Transesterification with lipase immobilized on a polymer containing

An immobilized lipase is prepared for transesterification of oils, fats or phospholipids in a reaction system containing a very small amount of water such as 50 to 2,000 ppm. The lipase may be a phospholipase such as phospholipase A.sub.2. In a first embodiment, lipase from a microorganism of the genus Rhizopus, Mucor, Alcaligenes or Candida is immobilized on the surface of a hydrophobic, insoluble organic polymer carrier having pores of an average diameter of 10 nm or larger. A solution of lipase is contacted with the polymer carrier for 10 minutes to 40 hours to covalently bond the lipase to the carrier. The immobilized lipase is dried under reduced pressure to a water content of 0.5 to 30 wt %. In a second embodiment, lipase is immobilized on the surface of a polymer carrier such as a hydrophobic, insoluble organic polymer carrier having a pore diameter of 5 to 1,000 nm and having a functional group capable of binding lipase in a aqueous solution and an anion-exchange group on the surface. Preferably, the functional group is an epoxy group and the anion-exchange group is a tertiary amino group. The lipase may be obtained from the same microorganism as in the first embodiment or from another lipase-producing microorganism. Immobilization can be carried out as in the first embodiment. It is preferred to contact a solution of lipase with the polymer carrier in the presence of a fatty acid or derivative thereof for 10 minutes to 10 hours to covalently bond the lipase to the polymer carrier.

Immobilization of lipase on a polymer carrier containing epoxy and

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Yokosuka, Japan

Yuzo Ikuta