Fruit and Vegetable Snacks

Abstract

The present invention discloses formulations for vacuum baked fruit and vegetable snack pieces that have a crispy, crunchy texture similar to potato chip, corn based wafers, and other popular snack items. A fruit or vegetable base is combined with other ingredients and water to make a slurry, which is sheeted and dried in a vacuum belt dryer, and separated into snack sized pieces. In one embodiment, substantial amounts of solid inclusions are combined with the slurry before drying.

1 . A slurry comprising by weight:
 about 20% to about 55% fruit base or vegetable base;   about 5% to about 23% yogurt powder;   about 0.5 to about 5% whey protein powder; and   about 5% to about 60% added water.   
     
     
         2 . The slurry of  claim 1  wherein said fruit base comprises at least one of fruit puree concentrate and fruit powder. 
     
     
         3 . The slurry of  claim 1  wherein said vegetable base comprises at least one of vegetable puree concentrate and vegetable powder. 
     
     
         4 . The slurry of  claim 1  further comprising about 1% to about 50% flour. 
     
     
         5 . The slurry of  claim 1  further comprising a total moisture content between about 25% and about 70%. 
     
     
         6 . The slurry of  claim 1  further comprising a Bostwick viscosity value measured at a slurry temperature of about 75° F. of between about 2.5 centimeters in 30 seconds and about 13 centimeters in 30 seconds. 
     
     
         7 . The slurry of  claim 1  further comprising by weight:
 about 20% to about 30% apple puree concentrate; 
 about 20% to about 30% blueberry puree concentrate; 
 about 20% to about 30% whole grain flour; 
 about 10% to about 15% said yogurt powder; 
 about 0.70% to about 1.25% said whey protein powder; 
 about 6% to about 10% said added water; and 
 a Bostwick viscosity value measured at about 75° F. between about 6.5 centimeters in 30 seconds and about 7.5 centimeters in 30 seconds. 
 
     
     
         8 . The slurry of  claim 1  further comprising by weight:
 about 30% to about 35% apple puree concentrate; 
 about 5% to about 15% blueberry puree concentrate; 
 about 2% to about 3% strawberry powder; 
 about 2% to about 3% banana powder; 
 about 10% to about 20% whole grain flour; 
 about 10% to about 20% said yogurt powder; 
 about 4% to about 6% rice flour; 
 about 0.70% to about 1.25% said whey protein powder; 
 about 15% to about 20% said added water; and 
 a Bostwick viscosity value measured at about 75° F. between about 6 centimeters in 30 seconds and about 7 centimeters in 30 seconds. 
 
     
     
         9 . The slurry of  claim 1  further comprising by weight:
 about 10% to about 15% strawberry powder; 
 about 7% to about 13% banana powder; 
 about 7% to about 13% apple puree concentrate; 
 about 7% to about 13% said yogurt powder; 
 about 4% to about 6% rice flour; 
 about 1% to about 1.5% said whey protein powder; 
 about 50% to about 60% said added water; and 
 a Bostwick viscosity value measured at about 75° F. between about 2 centimeters in 30 seconds and about 3 centimeters in 30 seconds. 
 
     
     
         10 . The slurry of  claim 1  further comprising by weight:
 about 30% to about 50% carrot puree concentrate; 
 about 20% to about 50% whole grain flour; 
 about 1% to about 5% said whey protein; 
 about 8% to about 15% said yogurt powder; and 
 about 5% to about 15% said added water. 
 
     
     
         11 . The slurry of  claim 1  further comprising by weight:
 about 14% to about 18% apple concentrate; 
 about 24% to about 28% peach concentrate; 
 about 21% to about 25% whole oat flour; 
 about 20% to about 24% said yogurt powder; 
 about 0.5% to about 1.5% said whey protein powder; 
 about 10% to about 14% said added water; and 
 a Bostwick viscosity value measured at about 75° F. between about 12 centimeters in 30 seconds and about 13 centimeters in 30 seconds. 
 
     
     
         12 . The slurry of  claim 1  further comprising by weight:
 about 11% to about 15% apple concentrate; 
 about 11% to about 15% banana concentrate; 
 about 16% to about 20% strawberry concentrate; 
 about 21% to about 25% whole oat flour; 
 about 20% to about 24% said yogurt powder; 
 about 0.5% to about 1% said whey protein powder; 
 about 10% to about 14% said added water; and 
 a Bostwick viscosity value measured at about 75° F. between about 12 centimeters in 30 seconds and about 13 centimeters in 30 seconds. 
 
     
     
         13 . The slurry of  claim 1  further comprising by weight:
 about 7% to about 11% apple concentrate; 
 about 3% to about 7% banana concentrate; 
 about 4% to about 8% strawberry concentrate; 
 about 40% to about 44% whole oat flour; 
 about 3% to about 7% said yogurt powder; 
 about 0.5% to about 1.5% said whey protein powder; 
 about 3% to about 7% rice flour; and 
 about 25% to about 29% said added water. 
 
     
     
         14 . A snack piece comprising by weight:
 about 13% to about 67% fruit solids or vegetable solids;   about 14% to about 28% yogurt solids;   about 1% to about 6% whey protein solids; and   less than about 2% water.   
     
     
         15 . The snack piece of  claim 14  further comprising:
 about 2% to about 60% flour solids. 
 
     
     
         16 . The snack piece of  claim 14  wherein said flour solids comprise at least one of whole grain flour solids and modified flour solids. 
     
     
         17 . The snack piece of  claim 14  wherein said fruit solids comprise by weight:
 about 40% to about 60% apple solids; and 
 about 40% to about 60% blueberry solids. 
 
     
     
         18 . The snack piece of  claim 14  wherein said fruit solids comprise by weight:
 about 6% to about 16% banana solids; 
 about 6% to about 16% strawberry solids; 
 about 50% to about 70% apple solids; and 
 about 16% to about 20% blueberry solids. 
 
     
     
         19 . The snack piece of  claim 14  wherein said fruit solids comprise by weight:
 about 40% to about 50% strawberry solids; 
 about 30% to about 40% banana solids; and 
 about 10% to about 30% apple solids. 
 
     
     
         20 . The snack piece of  claim 14  additionally comprising:
 less than about 5 grams of fat; 
 about 1 gram or less of saturated fat; 
 about 0 grams of trans-fatty acids; and 
 less than 240 milligrams of sodium. 
 
     
     
         21 . The snack piece of  claim 14  further comprising at least one half serving of fruit or vegetables. 
     
     
         22 . The snack piece of  claim 14  wherein said vegetable solids comprise about 100% carrot solids. 
     
     
         23 . The snack piece of  claim 14  further comprising at least one serving of fruit or vegetables. 
     
     
         24 . A snack piece comprising by weight:
 about 20% to about 95% binder, wherein said binder comprises:
 about 13% to about 67% fruit solids or vegetable solids; 
 about 14% to about 28% yogurt solids; 
 about 1% to about 6% whey protein solids; and 
 less than about 2% water; and 
   about 5% to about 80% solid inclusions.   
     
     
         25 . The snack piece of  claim 24  wherein said solid inclusions comprise at least one of nuts or seeds. 
     
     
         26 . The snack piece of  claim 24  wherein said solid inclusions comprise at least one of fruit pieces or vegetable pieces. 
     
     
         27 . The snack piece of  claim 24  wherein said binder further comprises:
 about 2% to about 60% flour solids. 
 
     
     
         28 . The snack piece of  claim 24  further comprising between about 20% and 40% said binder, and between about 60% and about 80% said solid inclusions.