Highly refined cellulosic materials combined with hydrocolloids

Abstract

The present invention comprises an improved method for refining cellulose that produces a highly refined cellulosic material in combination with a hydrocolloid. The method comprises soaking raw material from primarily parenchymal cell wall structures in an aqueous solution which need not contain an agent to modify the fiber (e.g., a mild alkalizing or alkaline agent and/or solution) using reduced temperatures and pressures, and refining the material with a plate refiner so that a waste water stream is reduced in volume. The mass is dried to produce the HRC fiber. The HRC fiber displays a water retention capacity of about 25 to at least about 56 g H 2 O/g dry HRC and retains moisture under conditions that are ordinarily used to remove moisture from materials. The highly refined fiber product can also provide excellent thickening properties and can be used in a wide variety of materials, including edible materials.

1 ) A process of forming a highly refined cellulose additive product consisting essentially of co-drying or dry blending a hydrocolloid with a highly refined cellulose fiber product having at least 10% by total weight of insoluble fiber  
     
     
         2 . A high parenchymal refined cellulose fiber additive product comprising a high parenchymal content fiber reagent that has organic fiber plant mass comprising at least 30% by weight of all fiber mass as parenchymal fiber mass and a hydrocolloid bonded to or admixed with the fiber mass to form the high parenchymal fiber product having at least 10% by total weight of insoluble fiber.  
     
     
         3 ) A citrus fiber product comprising substantially (less than 50% of the fiber and/or colored content of the fiber) unbleached citrus fiber co-dried with at least 0.5% by weight hydrocolloid and comprising at least 10% by weight of insoluble citrus fiber.  
     
     
         4 ) The citrus fiber product of  claim 3  wherein chemical activity is provided within the citrus fiber product by at least some ingredients of the original fiber.  
     
     
         5 ) The high parenchymal fiber additive of  claim 2  comprising a primary cell wall or parenchymal fiber product comprising less than 50% of the fiber or colored content of the fiber as unbleached primary cell wall fiber or parenchymal fiber co-dried with at least 0.5% by weight of the parenchymal additive as hydrocolloid and the parenchymal fiber additive comprising at least 10% by weight of insoluble citrus fiber.  
     
     
         6 ) A process for improving the water retention of a bakery product comprising adding a highly refined cellulose fiber comprising at least 10% by weight insoluble fiber to a dry unbaked bakery mix to increase the water retentivity of the dry bakery mix to 5X the dry weight of the mix.  
     
     
         7 ) The process of  claim 6  wherein the highly refined cellulose fiber comprises a fiber mass, and a hydrocolloid through co-processing or dry blending to the hydrocolloid with the fiber mass to form the fiber product having at least 10% by total weight of insoluble fiber.  
     
     
         8 ) The process of  claim 7  wherein the microcellulose fiber is added to the dry unbaked bakery mix with a water retentivity of at least 3× so that the dry unbaked bakery mix retains its free flowing characteristics in the presence of at least 2% by weight of the dry weight of the microcellulose expanded fiber.  
     
     
         9 ) The process of  claim 7  wherein the microcellulose expanded fiber is added to the dry unbaked bakery mix with a water retentivity of at least 3X while the dry unbaked bakery mix retains its baked sensory properties after baking in the presence of at least 2% by weight of the dry weight of the microcellulose fiber.  
     
     
         10 . The product of  claim 2  wherein the organic fiber mass comprises highly refined cellulose microfibers derived from organic fiber plant mass comprising at least 30% by weight of all fiber mass as parenchymal fiber mass, the highly refined cellulose product having a water retention capacity of at least about 20 g H 2 O/g dry highly refined cellulose product.  
     
     
         11 . The product of  claim 10  wherein the highly refined cellulose microfibers have a water retention capacity of at least 50 g H 2 0/g dry highly refined cellulose product.  
     
     
         12 . The product of  claim 11  wherein the organic fiber mass comprises at least 50% by weight of fiber mass from organic products selected from the group consisting of sugar beets, citrus fruit, carrots, grapes, tomatoes, chicory, potatoes, pineapple, apples and cranberries.  
     
     
         13 . The product of  claim 10  wherein at least 80% of the organic fiber mass is derived from fruit and root cell mass.  
     
     
         14 . The product of  claim 13  wherein the organic fiber mass comprises at least 50% by weight of fiber mass from organic products selected from the group consisting of sugar beets, citrus fruit and grapes.  
     
     
         15 . A highly refined cellulose product comprising microfibers derived from organic fiber plant mass comprising at least 30% by weight of all fiber plant mass as parenchymal fiber mass physically bound or dry blended to at least one hydrocolloid present in a weight ration of at least 1: 10, hydrocolloid/microfiber, the highly refined cellulose product displaying a viscosity at a 1% by weight concentration in water at 1 revolution per minute of at least 20,000 centipoise at 20° C.  
     
     
         16 . The product of  claim 15  wherein the organic fiber plant mass comprises at least 50% by weight of fiber mass from organic products selected from the first group consisting of sugar beets, citrus fruit, carrots, grapes, tomatoes, chicory, potatoes, pineapple, apples and cranberries and wherein at least 80% of the organic mass is derived from fruit and root cell mass of the first group.  
     
     
         17 . A food product or food additive comprising at least 0.05 percent by weight solids in the food product or food additive of the highly refined cellulose product of  claim 15 .  
     
     
         18 . A food product or food additive comprising at least 0.05 percent by weight solids in the food product or food additive of the highly refined cellulose product of  claim 16 .  
     
     
         19 . A food product or food additive comprising at least 0.05 percent by weight solids in the food product or food additive of the highly refined cellulose product of  claim 2 .  
     
     
         20 . A method for refining cellulosic material from comprising: 
 soaking raw material from organic fiber plant mass comprising at least 50% by weight of all fiber mass as parenchymal fiber mass in an aqueous solution with less than 1% NaOH;    draining the raw material and allowing the raw material to sit for sufficient time to enable cells in the raw material to open cells and expand the raw material, the soaking producing soaked raw materials; and    refining the soaked raw material to produce refined material; and    drying the soaked raw material in the presence of at least 10% by weight of hydrocolloid with respect to the organic fiber plant mass.    
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20  further comprising draining and washing the soaked raw material in wash water to produce washed material; 
 bleaching the washed material to produce a bleached material; and    washing and filtering the bleached material to produce a filtered material.    
     
     
         22 . A method of drying an expanded fiber material according to  claim 20  using room temperature or higher air temperatures that dries the expanded fiber product and maintains its functionalities of at least two properties of surface area, water holding capacity and viscosity.  
     
     
         23 . A method of producing a co-processed fiber product using an inline shearing device comprising co-processing by directly mixing a dry hydrocolloid ingredient into a highly refined cellulose fiber stream before or during inline shearing to form a coprocessed product comprising physically adhered hydrocolloid and highly refined cellulose fiber.  
     
     
         24 . The high parenchymal fiber additive of  claim 2  wherein the hydrocolloid is bonded to the fiber mass.  
     
     
         25 . The high parenchymal fiber additive of  claim 2  wherein the hydrocolloid is admixed with the fiber mass.