An Improved Foodstuff, suitable also for Mixing with Flour and other Foodstuffs.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Nov., 1897
Complete Specification Left. 20th June. 1898-Accepted. 13th Aug.. 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Foodstuff, suitable also for Mixing with Flour and
other Foodstuffs.
I, EDWIN BURGES WATSON, of Vellore, Mowbray Road, Upper Norwood, in the
County of Surrey, Food Specialist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved foodstuff suitable also for mixing with
Hour and other foodstuffs.
The said invention has reference more particularly to the manufacture of a pure
white flour or meal from the nuts known as pea-nuts or ground-nuts. At the
present time an oil is extracted from these nuts which serves as a substitute for
olive oil, and after such extraction there is left behind a cake of compressed
material of a highly nutritious character, but unsuitable as an article of human
food partly on account of the impurities it contains which give to it a dark colour
and other objectionable qualities, and partly an account of the presence therein of
the germs of the nuts which are liable to set up fermentation, particularly if
incorporated with such articles as wheaten flour.
Now according to my invention I subject the nuts, after removal of the husk,
and prior to the oil extraction process, to a treatment which removes from them
their coverings or skins and also the whole or the greater part of the germs, leaving
behind only the clean white portion or body of the nuts. By this means after the
nuts have been pressed to effect the extraction of the oil, a clean white cake is
left behind which when ground up gives a palatable meal of a highly nutritious
character, which can either be eaten alone or be mixed with or added to other
articles of food for the purpose of enriching the same. It is well known that many
of the food grains most commonly used for human food are deficient in flesh
formers. This deficiency is accentuated in their flour products notably in wheaten
Hour in which a heavy percentage of the flesh forming elements is eliminated to
meet the demand for a white flour. My improved flour or meal can be mixed with
ordinary white flour, say in the proportion of one to ten, without danger of
impairing the colour of bread or other articles made therewith and with the advan-
tage of materially increasing the nutritive and digestive properties thereof.
The said meal can in some cases also be used as a substitute for starch, for
example in the manufacture of cocoa preparations.
According to one method of carrying out the invention I subject the nuts, after
the removal of their shells, to a temperature such as they will bear without danger
of coagulating the albumen compounds in them, a suitable temperature being
for example rather less that 180° Fahrenheit. The nuts are kept at this temper-
ature for some time which causes them to swell or expand, after which they are
allowed to cool, when the skins shrivel up and become loosened from the nuts.
The latter are then placed in a revolving screen or other suitable decorticating
apparatus whereby the skins are finally removed. The removal of the skin and
the action of the decorticating machine has the effect of detaching and removing

page_text: the greater part of the germs of the nuts, and the final separation of the said
germs can be effected by sifting or by other suitable means.
The nuts are now ready to have the oil extracted from them after which they can
be ground up or pulverised to form the flour or meal before referred to.
In manufacturing this flour or meal heat may be applied to drive off moisture or
to develop flavour or to modify the colour. may also in some cases add to the
flour or meal a small quantity of the hypo-phosphites of line or soda or both or
other desirable food ingredients.
An Improved Foodstuff, suitable also for Mixing with Flour and
other Foodstuffs.
I, EDWIN BURGES WATSON, of Vellore, Mowbray Road, Upper Norwood, in the
County of Surrey, Food Specialist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to an improved foodstuff suitable also for mixing with
wheaten Hour and other food stuffs.
་
The said invention has reference more particularly to the manufacture of a pure,
white and palatable flour or meal from the nuts or seeds commonly known as pea-
nuts or ground-nuts and termed in botany "Arachis hypogwa." At the present
time an oil is extracted from these nuts or seeds which serves as a substitute for
olive oil, and after such extraction there is left behind a cake of compressed
material of a highly nutritious character, but unsuitable as an article of human
food partly on account of the debris of the husks and skins and other impurities
it contains, which give to it a dark colour and other objectionable qualities, and
partly on account of the presence therein of the germs of the nuts or seeds which
are liable to set up fermentation, particularly if incorporated with such articles
as wheaten Hour.
Now according to my invention I subject the nuts or seeds after removal of the
husks, and prior to the oil extraction process, to a treatment which removes from
them their coverings or skins and also the whole or the greater part of the germs,
leaving behind only the clean white portion or body of the nuts or seeds. Or
when I prefer to retain the germs, I render the fermentive elements in them
inert by scalding or by the application of steam.
By this treatment after the nuts have been pressed to effect the extraction of
the oil, a clean white cake is left behind which when ground up gives a palatable
flour or meal of a highly nutritious character, adapted either to be eaten alone or
to be mixed with, or added to other articles of food for the purpose of enriching
them.
It is well known that many of the food grains most commonly used for human
food are deficient in flesh formiers. This deficiency is accentuated in their flour
products, notably in wheaten flour, in which a heavy percentage of the flesh form-
ing elements is eliminated to meet the demand for a white flour. My improved
flour or meal can be mixed with ordinary white flour, say in the proportion of one
to ten, without danger of impairing the colour of bread or other articles made
therewith, and with the advantage of materially increasing the nutritive and
digestive properties thereof. Although I have stated above the proportions in

page_text: which my improved flour or meal may be used with ordinary white flour, I wish
it to be understood that such proportions may be varied without departing from
the nature of my invention.
According to one method of carrying out the invention I subject the nuts or
seeds, in a suitable oven, or other heating chamber, preferably after the removal
of their shells, to a dry heat, such as that of air heated to a temperature which the
nuts will bear without danger of coagulating the albumen compounds in them, or
deteriorating the quality of the oil to be extracted from the nuts or seeds or affect-
ing the white colour of the residuum to be obtained after pressing, a suitable tem-
perature being for example rather less than 180° Fahrenheit. The nuts or seeds
are kept at this temperature for a sufficient time to cause them to swell or expand,
after which they are allowed to cool, when the skins shrivel up and become loosened
from the nuts or seeds.
The latter are then placed in a revolving screen or other suitable decorticating
apparatus, whereby the skins are finally removed. The removal of the skins has
the effect of detaching the greater part of the germs of the nuts or seeds, and the
final separation of the said germs can be effected by sifting or by other suitable
means.
According to a modified method of carrying out the invention, applicable more
especially in cases where I prefer to retain the germs in the residuum, I subject the
said nuts or seeds, preferably after removal of their shells, to a moist or damp heat
at a temperature of about 212° Fahrenheit for a sufficient period,-say for about ten
minutes to render inert the fermentive elements contained in the germ. This
treatment of the nuts or seeds may be effected by a scalding or steaming process
which does not injure the colour of the residuum to be obtained after pressing; the
said process also renders the skin of the nuts or seeds easily removable by ordinary
mechanical means, after which the nuts or seeds ar dried before pressing.
The nuts are now ready to have the oil extracted from them, which is done by
pressure in the ordinary way, after which they can be ground up or pulverised to
for the flour or meal before referred to.
In manufacturing this four or meal heat may be applied to drive off the moisture
or to develop the flavour or to modify the colour thereof. I may also in some cases
add to the flour or meal a small quantity of the hypophosphites of lime or soda or
both, or I may add other desirable food ingredients.
my
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. A foodstuff in the form of flour or meal prepared from the edible portion of
the pea-nut or ground-nut, after the whole or the greater portion of the oil has been
expressed from the same, and after the whole or the greater portion of the germ
of the seed has been removed, or the fermentative elements in the germ have been
rendered inert substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. A foodstuff produced from pea-nuts or ground-nuts substantially as and for
the purposes described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.