PROCEDURE FOR PRODUCING FINE FIBRE, AND FINE FIBRE

Abstract: The invention concerns a procedure for producing cellulose-containing fine fibre meant for raw material in the foodstuff and animal feed industry, the cereal product being treated with an enzyme preparation, the treated product being homogenized and the cellulose-containing fine fibre being separated from the homogenized product.

Description: PROCEDURE FOR PRODUCING FINE FIBRE, AND FINE FIBRE The present invention concerns a procedure for producing fine fibre containing cellulose and which is intended for use as raw material in the foodstuff and animal fodder industry. The invention further concerns fine fibre that has been produced by said procedure. It is customary in cereal processing processes of prior art to separate the fibrous material from the rest of the cereal product; e.g. in the grinding pro¬ cess the husk fraction is separated from the rest of the grain material, as a rule. Further, when starch or alcohol is produced from cereal grains, the fibrous material contained in the grains, which often contains protein, is separated from the starch. Present fibrous materials of various types separated from cereal pro¬ ducts have the following features in common: coarseness of the material, its splintery composition and dusting quality. Moreover, the protein frequently gives the product a bitter, unpleasant taste. Owing to these un¬ favourable characteristics the fibrous material in question has been usable as such for raw material in the fodder industry only. The object of the present invention is to eliminate these drawbacks. The particular object of the invention is to provide a procedure by which the fibrous material sepa¬ rated from cereal products can be brought into a form which is usable in the foodstuff and animal fodder in¬ dustry, that is, into a uniformly divided, splinter- free, substantially non-dusting and neutral-tasting form. It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel cellulose-containing fibrous material which is suitable to be used as raw material in the foodstuff and animal fodder industry. The invention is based on the fundamental idea that the cereal product is treated with an enzyme prep¬ aration, the product thus treated is homogenized, and the cellulose-containing, and powdery, fine fibre is separated from the homogenized product. When cereal products are treated with the aid of an enzyme preparation, the enzyme preparation exerts a softening and hydrolyzing action on different con¬ stituents of the product whereby it becomes easier to liberate the fibrous material from the other constitu¬ ents of the grain and to make fine fibre of the rest of the fibrous material. The enzyme preparation decomposes β-glucane, present in the fibrous material, whereby the fine fibre constituent therein is set free from the coarser fibrous material. Furthermore, the enzyme prep¬ aration may from the fibrous material release protein matter, i.e., hemicellulose and/or pectin, which among other things causes bitter taste. The enzyme treatment is carried out at a moiε- ture content at which the proportion of cereal product and water is about 1:1 to 8:1, advantageously about 2:1 to 4:1. The treatment time is e.g. 0.5 to 4 hrs, suit¬ ably about 1 to 3 hrs, advantageously about 2 hrs. The treatment temperature is about 0 to 70'C, suitably about 20 to 60 e C, advantageously about 40 to 50°C. To the cereal product is added enzyme prepara¬ tion possessing e.g. cellulase, hemicellulase, β-gluca- nase, pectinase and/or proteolytic activity. The enzyme preparation may be a commercial preparation, e.g. a microbe cultivating solution containing one or several enzymes. The enzyme may be precipitated on a solid or liquid carrier. An advantageous enzyme preparation is the enzyme preparation obtained from the microbe Trich- oderma viridae, e.g. the preparation Eσonase 20, which possesses the activities mentioned above. The inherent enzymes of the cereal product may also be active during the enzyme treatment of the in¬ vention and thereby advantageously contribute to the formation of fine fibre. Thanks to the enzyme treatment of the inven¬ tion, from a cereal product is gained fine fibre ac¬ cording to the invention which presents the character¬ istics of freedom of splinters, uniform division, sub¬ stantially non-dusting quality and neutral taste. The homogenizing step employed in the proce¬ dure of the invention opens up fibre bundles of the fibrous material, without cutting any fibres. In an embodiment, the homogenizing step is carried out by grinding (rubbing) the fibre bundles. The enzyme treat- ment can be enhanced with the aid of homogenizing so that in the fibres under treatment new points of action are exposed to the enzymes. Homogenizing as taught by the invention promotes the forming of uniformly divided and nearly dust-free fine fibre. In the procedure of the invention the fine fibre is ultimately separated from the product that has been obtained. Separation is advantageously performed by straining. In connection with treatment of cereal products the straining is usually implemented in two steps, so that coarse straining is first performed, using a coarse sieve with hole size e.g. about 2000 μm, suitably 800 μm, and thereafter a fine straining opera¬ tion with a fine sieve, hole size e.g. about 40 μm, suitably about 80 μm. Fine fibre consistent with the present inven¬ tion can be produced from any cellulose-containing part whatsoever of cereal plants, such as plant stalks, grain husks, and/or grains without husk. Fine fibre may also be produced from fibre material obtained as a by- product in connection with existing cereal plant treat¬ ment processes. A particularly advantageous raw material for producing fine fibre is the fibre fraction produced in connection with the starch producing process, which is normally used for animal feed; according to the present invention it is possible to produce therefrom salable products which are more profitable economically. The invention is described in detail in the following, with the aid of embodiment examples, which are meant to illustrate the invention. Example: Producing fine fibre according to the inven¬ tion, from cereal plants. For starting material barley grains were used, which were dry-ground first, and whereafter bran and chaff were removed from the powder by sieving. Process water was added in a mixer to the flour thus obtained in proportions of 2.5:1 to 4:1, the water having been heated to about 40-50°C, and enzyme preparation Eσonase 20 ( —% by weight) , calculated on the total powder quantity. The mixture was mixed and transferred into a container for enzyme treatment. The enzyme treatment time was about 2 hrs. but it may vary according to the enzyme preparation quantity used. During the treatment the enzymes detached fibrous material from the other grain matter and set fine fibre material free from the coarser fibre material. The enzyme-treated product was dewatered and homogenized with a grinder. The fine fibre was ultimately separated by sieving from the rest of the grain matter. The sieving was done in two steps, so that the homogenized product was first sieved with a coarse sieve having hole size about 800 μm, and subsequently with a fine sieve having hole size about 80 μm. The fraction falling between the coarse and fine sieves was recovered. The product ob¬ tained at sieving was washed with a small quantity of water arranged to run in counterflow relative to the sieving process. The fine fibre thus obtained was ultimately dewatered, and the fine fibre was dried.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A procedure for producing cellulose-con¬ taining fine fibre intended for raw material in the foodstuff and animal feed industry, characterized in that the fibrous material is treated in a manner known in itself in the art with an enzyme preparation which contains cellulase, he icellulase, β-glucanase, pecti¬ nase and/or proteolytic activity, the treated product is homogenized and from the homogenized product the fine fibre is separated, and that the fine fibre is separated by sieving with the aid of a coarse sieve having suitably about 800 μm hole size and of a fine sieve having suitably about 80 μm hole size. 2. Procedure according to claim 1, character¬ ized in that the enzyme treatment is carried out at a moisture content at which the proportion of cereal pro¬ duct and water is about 1:1 to 8:1, suitably about 2:1 to 4:1. 3. Procedure according to claim 1 or 2, char¬ acterized in that the enzyme treatment is carried out at a temperature of about O'C to 70"C, suitably about 20 to 60"C, advantageously about 40 to 50 e C. 4. Procedure according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the enzyme treatment time is about 0.5 to 4 hrs, suitably about 1 to 3 hrs, advan¬ tageously about 2 hrs. 5. Procedure according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the enzyme-treated product is homogenized by grinding (rubbing) . 6. Fine fibre to be used for raw material in the foodstuff and animal feed industry, characterized in that the fine fibre has been produced from fibre raw material by treating the fibre raw material so that in a way in itself known in the art, the fibre raw materi¬ al is treated with an enzyme preparation which contains cellulase, hemicellulase, β-glucanase, pectinase and/or proteolytic activity and by separating the fine fibre by sieving. 7. Fine fibre according to claim 6, charac¬ terized in that the fine fibre is homogenized by grind¬ ing (rubbing) after the enzyme treatment.

Inventors: KARINEN PERTTI, LEHTOMAEKI ILKKA, KARINEN, PERTTI, LEHTOMAEKI, ILKKA
Applicants: ALKO AB OY, OY ALKO AB
Application year: 1990
Main classification: A23L1
IPC codes: A23K1, A23L1, C08B30, C12P19