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 sub-steps (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 or 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. 
     
     
         8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . The process according to  claim 7 , wherein the low-calorie sweetener contains a sugar alcohol, a natural sweetener, an artificial sweetener, or any combination 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 50 millibars. 
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . The process according to  claim 11 , 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 about 55° C. to less than about 25° C. 
     
     
         19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         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 about 2% to less than about 1%, exclusive of any low-calorie sweetener or other added sweetener in the reduced calorie beverage or food product. 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . The process according to  claim 1 , wherein step (a) is performed at a temperature between 15° C. and 40° C. 
     
     
         27 . (canceled) 
     
     
         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 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . The process according to  claim 28 , 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 . An apparatus for producing a reduced calorie beverage or food product, the apparatus comprising:
 a fermentation unit or fermentation tank comprising a container or storage tank 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 or fermentation tank; and an alcohol-removal unit in communication with the fermentation unit or fermentation tank for removing alcohol from the fermented plant-derived juice or liquid, to produce the reduced calorie beverage or food product.