Reduced calorie beverage or food product and process and apparatus for making same

Abstract

The invention relates to a process for preparing a reduced calorie beverage or food product employing fermentation of a plant-derived juice or liquid and removing the ethanol therefrom. This invention also relates to an apparatus for performing the process for preparing a reduced calorie beverage or food product and to the reduced calorie juices and juice products created using this process and apparatus.

1 . A process for preparing a reduced calorie beverage or food product, the process comprising:
 (a) fermenting, under aerobic conditions, a plant-derived juice or liquid with yeast to produce a fermentation product containing ethanol; and   (b) removing at least some of the ethanol from the fermentation product while maintaining the fermentation product at a temperature of less than 78° C. to produce the reduced calorie beverage or food product.   
     
     
         2 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein step (a) comprises:
 (i) fermenting, under aerobic conditions, a first fraction of the juice or liquid with the yeast; and   (ii) subsequently adding a second fraction of juice or liquid to the fermented first fraction to produce the fermentation product.   
     
     
         3 . A process for preparing a reduced calorie beverage, the process comprising:
 (a) (i) fermenting a first fraction of a plant-derived juice or liquid with yeast to produce fermentation product containing ethanol;
 (ii) subsequently adding further plant-derived juice or liquid to the fermented first fraction to produce further fermentation product containing ethanol; 
 (iii) displacing a portion of the fermentation product away from a remaining portion of the fermentation product; and 
   (b) removing at least some of the ethanol from the displaced portion while maintaining the fermentation product at a temperature of less than 78° C. to produce the reduced calorie beverage or food product.   
     
     
         4 . The process according to  claim 1 , additionally comprising a step (c), wherein volatiles removed from the fermentation product at step (b) are added back to the reduced calorie beverage or food product. 
     
     
         5 . The process according to  claim 4 , wherein substeps (a) (ii) and (iii) and step (b) occur continuously, to produce a continuous stream of the reduced calorie beverage or food product. 
     
     
         6 . The process according to  claim 5 , additionally comprising a step (c), wherein volatiles continuously removed from the fermentation product at step (b) are continuously added back to the reduced calorie beverage or food product. 
     
     
         7 . The process according to  claim 1 , additionally comprising a step wherein a low-calorie sweetener is added to at least one of the juice or liquid, the fermentation product, and the reduced calorie beverage or food product, and wherein the low-calorie sweetener has a lower calorie content than that of glucose or has a lower blood glucose impact than that of sucrose. 
     
     
         8 . The process according to  claim 5 , additionally comprising a step wherein a low-calorie sweetener is continuously added to at least one of the juice or liquid, the fermentation product, and the reduced calorie beverage or food product, and wherein the low-calorie sweetener has a lower calorie content than that of glucose or has a lower blood glucose impact than that of sucrose. 
     
     
         9 . The process according to  claim 7 , wherein the low-calorie sweetener is contains a sugar alcohol, a natural sweetener, an artificial sweetener, or any mixture thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein step (b) is performed at a pressure of less than one bar. 
     
     
         11 . The process according to  claim 10 , wherein step (b) is performed at a pressure of less than 400 millibars. 
     
     
         12 . The process according to  claim 11 , wherein step (b) is performed at a pressure of between 50 and 70 millibars. 
     
     
         13 . The process according to  claim 11 , wherein step (b) is performed at a pressure of below 50 millibars. 
     
     
         14 . The process according to  claim 13 , wherein step (b) is performed at a pressure at or below 12 millibars to enable boiling below 20 degrees Celsius. 
     
     
         15 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein step (b) is performed with a device that imparts moderate heat and low pressure upon the fermentation product. 
     
     
         16 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein step (b) is performed with a falling film evaporator, a spinning cone column, a rising film evaporator, a plate evaporator, an evaporator, a Thermally Accelerated Short Time Evaporator™ or a Centritherm™. 
     
     
         17 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein oxygen-containing gas is added to the juice or liquid at step (a), by liquid diffusion using a bubble diffuser, or by other means. 
     
     
         18 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein, during step (b), the fermentation product is maintained at a temperature of less than 55° C. 
     
     
         19 . The process according to  claim 18 , wherein, during step (b), the fermentation product is maintained at a temperature of less than 45° C. 
     
     
         20 . The process according to  claim 19 , wherein, during step (b), the fermentation product is maintained at a temperature of less than 40° C. 
     
     
         21 . The process according to  claim 20 , wherein, during step (b), the fermentation product is maintained at a temperature of less than 37° C. 
     
     
         22 . The process according to  claim 21 , wherein, during step (b), the fermentation product is maintained at a temperature of less than 25° C. 
     
     
         23 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the reduced calorie beverage or food product produced at step (b) has a sugar content of less than 2%, exclusive of any low-calorie sweetener or other added sweetener in the reduced calorie beverage or food product. 
     
     
         24 . The process according to  claim 23 , wherein the reduced calorie beverage or food product produced at step (b) has a sugar content of less than 1%, exclusive of any low-calorie sweetener or other added sweetener in the reduced calorie beverage or food product. 
     
     
         25 . The process according to  claim 23 , wherein the reduced calorie beverage or food product produced at step (b) has a sugar content of less than 2%, exclusive of any low-calorie sweetener or other added sweetener in the reduced calorie beverage or food product. 
     
     
         26 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein step (a) is performed at a temperature between 15° C. and 40° C. 
     
     
         27 . The process according to  claim 26 , wherein step (a) is performed at a temperature between 15° C. and 30° C. 
     
     
         28 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the juice or liquid is extracted from a plant and is maintained under low oxygen conditions prior to step (a). 
     
     
         29 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the juice or liquid is extracted from a plant and is maintained under chilling conditions prior to step (a). 
     
     
         30 . The process according to  claim 29 , wherein the juice or liquid is derived from cupuacu, açai, acerola, prickly pear, black and red raspberry, blackberry, apple, pear, nectarine, peach, haskap, tomato, cashew fruit, chokecherry, currants, strawberry, banana, mango, cranberry, apricot, gooseberry, Saskatoon berry, white, red and blue grape, guava, guarana, kola nut, carrot, beet, lettuce, watercress, rice, soy, cashew nut, aloe vera, agave, maple, a citrus fruit, Sea-buckthorne, goji, spinach, almond, coconut, watermelon, rhubarb, raspberry, blueberry, coffee berries, elderberry, persimmon, cherry, tart cherry, mulberry, prune, plum, papaya, cantaloupe, mangosteen, pineapple or pomegranate. 
     
     
         31 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the yeast is wine yeast. 
     
     
         32 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein the yeast is  Saccharomyces cerevisiae bayanus.    
     
     
         33 . A reduced calorie beverage or food product produced by a process according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         34 . An apparatus for producing a reduced calorie beverage or food product, the apparatus comprising:
 a fermentation unit comprising a container for containing unfermented and/or fermented plant-derived juice or liquid and yeast; at least one of a bubble diffuser or another gas-injecting means for introducing oxygen-containing gas to the fermentation unit; and an alcohol-removal unit in communication with the fermentation unit for removing alcohol from the fermented plant-derived juice or liquid, to produce the reduced calorie beverage or food product.   
     
     
         35 . The apparatus of  claim 34 , further comprising adding means for adding unfermented plant-derived juice or liquid to the fermentation unit. 
     
     
         36 . The apparatus of  claim 34 , further comprising pressure-reducing means in communication with the alcohol-removal unit to reduce pressure in the alcohol-removal unit. 
     
     
         37 . The apparatus of  claim 34 , wherein the alcohol-removal unit is a device that imparts moderate heat and low pressure upon the fermentation product. 
     
     
         38 . The apparatus of  claim 34 , wherein the alcohol-removal unit is a falling film evaporator, a spinning cone column, a rising film evaporator, a plate evaporator, an evaporator, a Thermally Accelerated Short Time Evaporator™ or a Centritherm™. 
     
     
         39 . A reduced calorie beverage or food product produced by an apparatus according to  claim 34 .