Improved bran

Abstract: The invention concerns with a method to improve a cereal bran. The bran is extracted with an aqueous alcohol, preferably ethanol. The bran is used in flour to make a modified whole meal, which can be used in batters, from which baked food can be obtained.

Description: As is known in the prior art a bran can be obtained from a cereal by milling the cereal and separating the milled product into three fractions, i.e. a white flour, a bran and the germ. The bran contains most of the fibres, originally present in the cereal. Attempts to use the bran in bakery compositions were not very successful so far, because of the fact that the baked products made from those compositions did not possess a good specific volume (= S.V.). We have now found a method by which the bran can be improved, so that the improved bran can be used successfully in bakery compositions, while the S.V. of the baked products made from these compositions is satisfactory. Therefore our invention in the first place concerns with a method for improving the properties of a cereal bran, which is characterised in that the bran is extracted with an aqueous solution of an alcohol with 1 to 4 carbon atoms, preferably ethanol and preferably containing more than 50 wt% ethanol and more preferably 80-99.9 wt% ethanol, after which the improved bran is separated from the extract. By carrying out this extraction some ingredients, which are disadvantageous for baking performance of compositions containing the bran are removed. We found that these components mainly consist of carbohydrates and lipid/oil, whereas only small amounts of protein and ash are present in these components. From DE 3.133.471 it is known to prepare a flour additive in particular obtained from maize. Therefore a milled cereal is treated with a polar solvent, e.g. a small alcohol, such as ethanol or isopropanol, at about the boiling point of the solvent. In this way proteins and lipids are removed from the remaining solid. The solid can be used as a flour-additive. However nothing is disclosed about improving a bran and recombing the improved bran with white flour. The extraction of the bran is preferably carried out by using at least a weight ratio alcoholic solvent: bran of more than 2, most preferably 2.5 - 3.5. The best results are obtained, when the bran is subjected to several extractions steps. In fact we use 2-10, preferably 3-4 extraction steps. The bran, that can be used in our process, can be obtained from any cereal, however in practice we use brans obtained from wheat, oat, rye and rice. In order to obtain the bran, that can be treated according to the process of the invention a cereal is first milled . The milled product is separated in the usual way into a white flour fraction and into a bran. The bran is extracted with 2 or 3 times its weight with an 80% aqueous alcohol. This extraction procedure is repeated for another two times, the bran being separated from the extract after each extraction. This way an improved bran is obtained. This improved bran is also part of our invention and can be described as a standard bran from which the fraction, that is extractable with an aqueous alcohol, is removed. The improved bran according to the invention can be used to make a cereal fibre enriched flour (= modified whole meal) from which a batter can be prepared. The improved bran can be mixed with the white flour, that is separated from the bran when the milled product is separated, but it is of course also possible to mix the improved bran with a white flour which is obtained from another cereal in a separate process. Examples of white flours that can be used are Snowdon® (= chlorinated flour), Roller White® and Stronghold®, which are all obtained from wheat. Advantageously the milled product is separated into fractions of 70-80 wt% white flour and 30-20 wt% bran plus the germ. The bran is treated according to the invention and the improved bran is remixed with the white flour. The invention therefore also covers a modified whole meal, that comprises a white flour and an improved bran, in particular comprising 70-80 wt% white flour and 30-20 wt% of the bran according to the invention. Hereby the bran can originate from the same cereal as the white flour or from a different cereal. Batters can be made by using the improved bran or the modified whole meal, in which the improved bran is incorporated. These batters further contain the usual ingredients. From the batters baked food products, in particular cakes, can be made. These baked products possess a specific volume, as measured by the rape seed displacement method and calculated as volume per gram cake, which is about the same as the S.V. for a cake in which no bran is present. However, when we make a batter, and from that batter a cake in which we use a standard (untreated) bran in the same amount as we use our improved bran, we obtain baked products with a very low S.V. This will be illustrated by the following examples: Example I A dry mix was made from: 804 ml water (= 35%) is added to the dry mix and mixed in a Hobart A 120 for 10 minutes, using a wire whisk. 200 g of the batter is baked at 180°C in a standard cake tin for 20 minutes. The S.V. of the cake was measured after cooling (24 hours) using the rape seed displacement method. The S.V. of this cake was 4.5 Example II Example I was repeated but the Snowdon® flour was replaced by a non chlorinated flour, containing modified bran. Crude fibre content of the flour was 2.0 wt%, which is equivalent to that of whole meal flour. In table I a review is given of the S.V. of cakes obtained when using different kinds of flours (Snowdon®, Roller White® and Stronghold®) per se or in combination with different brans (fine, superfine, extruded) or in combination with extracted brans (extruded and superfine). In table II a survey is given of the crude fibre content of the different types of brans, whereas in table III the amount of material that is removed in the extraction, using different aqueous ethanol solvent systems is given. The level of Spray Dried Egg in table I varies with the different flours. When a bran was present this level was increased to 10.2 wt%.

Claims: Method for improving the properties of a cereal bran characterised in that the bran is extracted with an aqueous solution of an alcohol with 1 to 4 carbon atoms, after which the improved bran is separated from the extract. Method according to claim 1, wherein the alcohol is ethanol. Method according to claims 1 and 2, wherein an aqueous alcohol with at least 50 wt% ethanol is used. Method according to claim 3, wherein an 80-99.9 wt% aqueous ethanol is used. Method according to claim 1, wherein a weight ratio alcoholic solvent: bran of more than 2 is used. Method according to claim 1, wherein several extraction steps of the bran are proceeded. Method according to claim 1, wherein a cereal bran from wheat, oat, rye or rice is used. Method according to claim 1, wherein first a cereal is milled, a white flour, a bran and germ are separated from the milled cereal, after which the bran is treated according to claims 1-6. Method for producing a cereal fibre enriched flour (modified whole meal) by milling a cereal, separating the milled product into white flour and bran, extracting the bran with an aqueous alcohol and mixing the improved bran with the white flour. Method according to claim 9, wherein the milled cereal is separated in fractions of 70-80 wt% white flour and 30-20 wt% bran. Improved bran comprising a standard bran from which the fraction that is extractable with an aqueous alcohol with 1 to 4 carbon atoms is removed. Modified whole meal, comprising the bran according to claim 11 and white flour. Modified whole meal according to claim 12 comprising 70-80 wt% white flour and 30-20 wt% bran. Modified whole meal according to claims 12-13, wherein the white flour and the bran originate from the same cereal. Modified whole meal according to claims 12-13, wherein the white flour and the bran originate from different cereals. Batter containing the improved bran according to claim 11 or the modified whole meal according to claims 12-15. Baked food products, which are at least partly made from the improved bran according to claim 11, the modified whole meal according to claims 12-15 or the batter according to claim 16.

Inventors: DAVIES ALAN PHILLIP, INGMAN SIMON JOHN, DAVIES, ALAN PHILLIP, INGMAN, SIMON JOHN
Applicants: UNILEVER NV, UNILEVER PLC, UNILEVER N.V.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: A21D13
IPC codes: A23L1, A21D13