Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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3~CXGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field o- the Invention:
This invention relates to a process for
producing puffed snacks using seeds.
Description of the Prior Art:
Conventional puf~ed snacks have been produced
by, for example, puffing machine, namely, by adding
water to a farinaceous raw material such as corn, wheat
flour or potatoes, pressurizing and heating the result
~ng mixture and then extruding the thus-pressurized
hot mix.ure into the a.mosphere.
The ,hus-produced puffed snacks have porous
textures and they give light feeling to the eating.
Since they have plain and, in many instances, poor taste
and lavor, it is general to season them with some sea-
soning materials such as spices, cheese, etc.
.~lthough seeds have their inherent taste and
flavor, they cannot be converted into puffed porous
textures but are formed into hard textures containing
pores only to limited extents even when, similar to the
conventional farinaceous raw materials, they are added
with water, pressurizd and heated and then extruded into
the atmosphere. Thus, the thus-processed seeds are still
difficult to eat. Furthermore, it was unable to extrude
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seeds ir they contained lots or ~at, because the fat
was separa~ed from the seeds. T~here fat-rich seeds
were used after defatting them, they permitted their
extrusion but they were not converted to puffed porous
textures. They were converted only to hard textures
containing a few pores. Accordingly, the thus-extruded
seeds were s-till difficult to eat. It was still unable
to obtain puffed porous textures even seeds were sub-
jected to extrusion processing after cooking them with
ste~m.
Despite of the very attractivé taste and
flavor of seeds, there have not been developed any
pu~f,~ed snacks using seeds.
SU~M~RY OF THE -~V~T-~ON
The present inventors have however found
tha. even such seeds, which are difricult to puff as
mentioned above, ~ay be rendered to have porous tex-
tures and may be able to give light feeling to the
eating provided that seeds having low fat contents or
defatted seeds are chosen and subjected together with
a speciEic Earinaceous raw material to puffing process-
ing.
In one aspect of this invention, there is
thus provided a process for producing puffed snacks
using seeds, which process comprises the following
consecutive steps:
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(i) gelatinizing a farinaceous raw material,
whlch contains at least 50 wt.~ of one or more selected
from the group consisting of sweet potato, cassava,
sweet potato starch and tapioca starch and then forming
the thus-gelatinized raw material into pellets havin~ a
water content in the range of S - 20 wt.~;
(ii) mixing 25 - 75 parts by weight of the
thus-obtained pellets and 75 - 25 parts by weight of
the seeds which, either inherently or through a fats-
reducing process, contains less than 7 ~ of fats by
weight to make the total amount of the resulting mixture
be lOO parts by weight; and
(iii) adjusting the water content of the
mixture obtained in the step (ii) to 13 - 22 wt.~,
pressurizing and heating the resulting mixture and then
extruding the thus-pressurized and heated mixture into
the atmosphere to puff the mixture.
Thus thus-obtained pufred snacks have the
characteristic taste and flavor of the seeds and they
are able to give light feeling to the eating which could
not b~ obtained by any other method.
The above and other objects, features and
advantages of the present invention will become apparent
from the following description.
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D~TA~LED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
AND PREFERED E~ODIME~TS
The invention will hereinafter be described
in further detail.
It has already been found that, even if the
same farinaceous raw material as that used in conventional
puffed snacks such as corn, wheat, oats, cornmeal,
potato granules, rice flour, wheat flour, oatmeal, corn
starch or potato starch is chosen, the farinaceous raw
material is mixed as is or after gelatinizing it in
advance with a variety of defatted or undefatted seeds,
the water content of the resulting mixture is adjusted,
and the thus-conditioned mixture is heated and pressurized
and then extruded into the at~osphere, the resultant
product will not be puffed at all or to any sufficient
extents and will noi be able to give light feeling to
the eating.
~ iowever, it has also been found that a well-
puffed product capable of giving light feeling to the
eating can be obtained by mixing sweet potatoes, cassava,
sweet potato starch and/or tapioca starch as a farinaceous
raw material or part of the farinaceous raw material
with seeds which have a low fat content or have been
defatted and then processed in ~he same manner as
mentioned above. A product c~apable of assuring very
light feeling to the eating is obtained, especiall~ when
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such a farinaceous raw material is used after its
gelatinization. If seeds having a high fat content
should be used, their puffing does not occur to any
significant extents and the resultant product is
unable to ~ive light feeling to the eating.
Exemplary farinaceous raw materials useful
in the practice of this invention embrace food raw
materials consistin~ principally of such starches as
cereals, e.g., corn, maize, wheat, barley, naked barley, rye,
oats, rice, etc., rhizomes including potatoes, sweet
potatoes, cassava and the like, and starches such as
corn starch, potato starch, sago starch and the like.
Such farinaceous raw materials must individually contain
sweet potatoes, cassava, sweet potato starch and~or
tapioca starch in an amount of at least 50 wt.~. Sweet
potatoes, cassava/ sweet potato starch and tapioca
starch may be used either singly or in a desired combi-
nation so long as its content or their total content
accounts for at least 50 wt.% of each farinaceous raw
material. It is not always necessary to use starch or
~lour other than these sweet potatoes, cassava, sweet
pota-to starch and/or tapioca starch. It is desirous to
increase the proportion of sweet potatoes and the like
in such a farinaceous raw material, because use of sweet
pota-toes and the like in a small total proportion does
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not facilitate the puffing of the farinaceous raw
material and provides hard textures only.
The term "seeds" embraces edible beans and
peas such as brcad beans, cowpeas, ~idney beans, peas
t~hich may also be called "garden peas"), lima beans,
mung beansl kuromame beans, adzuki beans, soybeans,
green peas, winter peas, yellow peas, etc; nuts such
as peanuts, almond, e.g., sweet almond, hazel nuts and
the like; and oil- or fat-abundant edible seeds such as
sunf1ower seeds and sesame seeds and the li~e. Among
these seeds, those containing lots of oil or fat tent
to impair the puffing processing. Accordingly, it is
desirous to defat such seeds so that their fat contents
are lowered to less than 7 wt.%. These seeds may be
used either singly or in any desired comb.nation. When
using them in co~bination, no specific limitation is
vested on the proportions of individual seeds.
In order to practice this invention, it is
first of all necessary io gelatinize the rarinaceous
raw material, to dry the thus-gelatini7ed farinaceous
raw material to adjust its water content and then to
form it into pellets.
As mentioned above, the farinaceous raw
material usable in the present invention should contain
sweet potatoes, cassava, sweet potato starch and/or
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tapioca starch in an amount of at least 50 wt.%.~
Since a lower proportion of such a specific starch
source will impair the puffing processing and will
thus result in a hard texture, the content of sweet
potatoes, cassava, sweet potato starch and/or tapioca
starch should be 50 wt.% or higher.
The gelatinization of the farinaceous raw
material may be carried out by neating the farinaceous
raw material in a manner ~nown Per se in the art, for
example, by steam-cooking or steam-kneading it.
The thus-gelatlnized raw material is then dried
to adjust its water content to below 20~ or preferably
below 15~, because an excessively nigh water content
enhances viscosity of the raw Tmaterial and tends to cause
large ball.s thereof to be forme~ when the raw material
is mixed with .he seeds. The lower limit of the water
content in the thus-gelatinized raw material should be
kept over 5% or desirably 8~, since any excess drying
may lead to such a danger that, when the farinaceous raw
material is pressurized and heated, it would not be
sufficiently softened and some hard pieces would be
caused to remain in the resulting puffed product.
It is desirous to obtain the thus-dried
farinaceous raw material in the form of granular pellets
so that its subsequent mixing work with the seeds may be
facilitated and in a uniformly mixed state. For this
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purpose, the thus-gelatinized farinaceous raw material
is granulated eicher before or after its drying.
While the seeds may be used as they are, it is
feasible to crush the seeds to make their grain sizes
substantially equal to that of the pellets if necessary.
~ ext, the pellets and seeds are mixed together
and, if necessary, water, steam or the like is added
to the resultant mixture so as to adjust its water
content. After pressurizing and heating the mixture,
the mixture c~ the farinaceous raw material and the seeds
is extruded into the atmosphere so as to puff the same.
~ ere, it is difficult to obtain any sufficiently-
puffed product which gives lighc feeling to the eating
if the conient of the pellets should be too low in the
mixture. On .he other hand, the taste and flavoe of
the seeds cannot be draw out to any sufficient extents
if the content of the pellets should be too high in the
mixture. Thus, it is important to use 25 - 75 parts
by weight of pellets and 75 - 25 parts by weight of
defatted or low-rat seeds, both per 100 parts by ~eight
of the ~ixture.
The water content of the mixture should be 13-
22 wt.~ or preferably 14 - 20 wt.%, because an excessively
high waier content ma~es it difficult to pressurize the
mixture by means of an extruder or the like whereas an
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excesslvely low water content results in poor fluidity
when the mixture is pressurized and heated.
To pressurize and heat the mixture, a known
extruder such as puffing machine including a collet
machine may be used. A puffed product may be obtained
with desired shapes by choosing the die of the extruder
suitably.
The thus-obtained puffed product has the
characterisiic taste and flavor of the used seeds and
enjoys rich taste while assuring light feeling to the
eating.
The tas,e of the thus-puifed product can be
enhanced further if the mixture of the farinaceous raw
material and seeds or the puffed product is seasoned
with a seasoning material such as common salt, soy sauce,
dry vegetables, cheese, seasoning powder, oil, chocolate
and/or the liXe.
The present invention will next be described
by the following exa~ples, in which all designations of
"part" or "parts" mean part or parts by weight.
E~ample 1:
Eighty parts of sweet potato flour and 20 parts
of corn were kneaded while steaming the same so that
they were ~elatinized. The resulting mixture was formed
into pellets by means of an extruder. The pellets were
then dried to a water content of 12 wt.~.
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Fifty parts of the thus-prepared pellets
and 50 parts of lima beans were mixed, followed by~an
addition of water to adjust the water content of the
resultant mixture to 17 wt.~. It was heated and
pressurized in a high-pressure extruder equipped with
a heatin~ jacket and then extruded through a die,
which was provided at the tip of the extruder, into the
atmosphere, thereby obtaining a puffed product.
The resultant puffed product had a porous
texture and had taste and flavor typical to lima beans.
It gave light feeling to the eating.
The puffed product ~as further added with
common salt, a chemical seasoning and oil and mixed
therewith so as to season the sa~e. Very delicious
puffed snacks were obtained.
Example 2:
Steamed sweet potatoes were passed through a
strainer, dried to a wa~er content of 17 wt.~, and then
formed into pellets.
Thirty parts of the above pellets and 70
parts of mung beans were mixed, followed by an addition
to adjust the water content of the resultant mixture to
13 wt.%. The mix-ture was then pressurized and heated
in a collet-type extruder and then extruded through the
die so as to cause the mixture to puff. After spraying
oil over the thus-puffed product, common salt was added
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to and mixed with the puffed product so as to season
the puffed product. Puffed snacks were thus obtained.
These puffed snacks nad the taste and flavor
of mung beans and gave light feeling to the eating.
Example 3:
Mixed were 35 parts or dry sweet potatoes,
10 parts of sweet potato starch, 10 parts of tapioca
starch, 30 parts of corn and 15 parts of wheat flour.
After steam-coo~ing the resultant ~ixture to gelatinize
the same, pellets having a water content of 10 wt.
were pre~ared.
Thirty-eight parts of the thus-prepared
pellets, 62 parts of peas which had been dried, crushed
to the size substantially equal to that of the above
pellets in advance, and 0.5 part oI co~mon salt were
mixed and fed to an extruder by means of a screw feeder
while adding water to adjust its water content to 15
wt.~. It was then heated and pressurized in the extruder
and thereafter extruded into the atmosphere to puff the
same.
The thus-puffed product was cut intc a suitable
size. A spice dispersed in oil was thereafter sprinkled
over the thus-cut pieces, there~y obtaining puffed snacks.
The thus-obtained puffed snacks had the
characteristic taste and flavor of peas. The snacks
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were so tasty Lhat no comparable snacks had ever been
available. I gave light feeling to the eatin~.
Example 4:
Seventy-five parts of sweet potato flour and
20 parts of corn were steam-kneaded and thus gelatinized.
The resultant mixture was dried to form pellets having
a water content of 12~5 wt.%.
Sixty parts of the thus-obtained pellets and
40 parts of defatted soybèans (prepared at the inventors'
plant; fat content: 3 wt.%) were mixed and then added
with water to adjust its water content to 18 wt.~. It
was then pressu~ized and heated in a high-pressure
extruder and ,h2reafter extruded through the die, pro-
vided at the t~p of the high-pressure extruder, into the
atmosphere, .hereby obtaining puffed snacks.
The pufLed snacks had a porous exture and
gave lignt feeling to the eating. They nad taste and
flavor charac eristic to soybeans.
Common salt, chemical seasoning, oil and spices
were added to and mixed with the puffed snac~s. The
thus-seasoned puffed snacks were very delicious.
Example 5:
.~fter passing steamed sweet potatoes through
a strainer, it was dried until a water content of L7 wt.%.
It was thereaf.er crushed to~form pellets.
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Thirty-five parts of the pellets and 64
parts of defatted peanuts (fat content: 2.4 wt.~)
were mixed, followed by an addition of water to adjust
the water content of the resultant ~ixture to 14 wt.%.
It was then heated and pressurized in a collet~type
puffing machine and then extruded through its die so
as to cause the mixture to puff. Subsequent to spray-
ing oil over the thus-puffed mixture, common salt was
added to season the same, there~y obtaining puffed snacks.
The puffed snac~s had the taste and fla~or
of peanuts and was ~ery delicious. They gave light
feeling to the eating.
~xample 6:
30iled sweet potatoes were peeled, mashed, and
then passed through a strainer. Eighty parts of the
thus-strained sweet potatoes and 20 parts of sweet
potato starch were mixed and then heated to gelatinize
the starch. Thereafter, the resul'ant mixture was
extruded through a screen to prepare pellets. They
were then dried until a water content of 14.5 wt.%.
.~dded to 70 parts of the thus-prepared pellets
were 25 parts of defatted sunflower seeds (fa-t content:
1,2 wt.%) and 5 parts of defatted sesame seeds (fat
content: 2.8 ~7t.%). They were mixed and then added with
water to adjust i-ts water co,n~tent to 15.5 wt.~. It was
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then charged in a puffing machine, pressurized and
heated, and then extruded through its die, thereby
obtaining a puffed snacks.
After spraying a seasoning oil over the
puffed snacks, common salts were sprinkled. The
resultant puffed snacks had unique taste and flavor
which had not been available to date.
Having now fully described the invention,
it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the
art that many changes and modifications can be made
thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of
the invention as set forth herein.
It is noted that the names of the various
raw materials used in the present specification are
chiefly based on "Standard Tables of Food Composition
in Japan, the ~th edition".
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