Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to a process for the
production of a flavouring agent based on an aromatic
herb, namely lovage, which is suitable for incorporation
in various food dishes.
5It is known that a flavouring agent based on
lovage can be prepared by heat-treating a mixture
comprising lovage in the form of an extract, pulp or
leaves, at least one sugar, at least one amino acid
source and optionally a s,alt, concentrating and then
10dehydrating the heat-treated mixture. One particular
embodiment of this process comprises preparing a mixture
containing a liquid lovage extract, a mixture of glucose
and sucrose as the sugar and onion purée as the amino
acid source, stirring the mixture thus formed and then
15subjecting it to heat treatment for one hour at 90C
before cooling and then dehydrating it to obtain a
flavouring agent in powder form. However, the product
thus obtained has a sweet, even sugary, taste which is
probably attributable to the presence of sugars con-
20tained in the onion, the sugars in question not having
been completely utilized during the heat treatment. The
sweet taste thus developed interferes with the meat
taste it is desired to develop for the present flavour-
ing agent.
25The object of the present invention is to provide
a process for the production of a flavouring agent based
on lovage and onions of which the taste would be less
sweet than that produced by the known process and closer
to the required meat taste and which would retain its
30flavouring power over a period of time.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a
process for the production of a flavouring agent in
which a mixture containing a lovage extract, a sugar and
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an onion extract is prepared and then subjected first to
lactic fermentation and then to a heat treatment.
One advantage of this process is that it provides
for the production of a flavouring agent based on lovage
extract which has a meat taste comparable with that of
a flavouring agent based on lovage extract prepared from
sodium glutamate as the amino acid source but which does
not contain glutamate at any stage Qf the process.
Another advantage has been to find that the flavouring
agent produced by the process according to the invention
has an enhanced meat taste as if the effect of the
fermentation step were to "boost" the flavour developed.
Other advantages and features of the invention
will become apparent from the description in which parts
and percentages are by weight.
To prepare a lovage extract suitable for use in
the process according to the invention, freshly gathered
lovage may be washed with cold water and left to drain,
after which the leaves may be cut and then pressed, for
example in a mechanical press or in a screw press to
obtain a liquid material or extract, a solid material or
pulp. The lovage extract obtained may be pasteurized,
for example by heating for 1 to 3 minutes at 70 to 85C,
and the extract thus pasteurized may be clarified, for
example by adding 1% by ~eight of a filtration aid, such
as Celite, to the extract and mixing for 1 to 15 minutes
before separation is carried out, for example by centri-
fugation or filtration. The clarified extract may then
be concentrated, for example by evaporation under re-
duced pressure at a temperature of 60 to 70C and under
a pressure of 100 to 200 mbar, to obtain a lovage
extract having a dry matter content of 60 to 80%.
A sugar suitable for use in the process according
to the invention may be, for example, a mono- or disac-
charide. Sucrose and/or fructose is/are preferably
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used.
So far as the onion extract is concerned, it is
possible to use powder-form, ground and dehydrated onion
or fresh onion reduced to purée. If fresh onion is
used, it may advantageously be heat-treated before use,
for example for 8 to 14 minutes at 110 to 130C using
superheated steam, in order to inactivate any enzymes it
might contain. In addition, if fresh onion is used, an
extract having a dry matter content of the order of 15
to 30~ is preferably selected in view of the fact that,
the higher this dry matter content, the more intense the
meat flavour developed. If dehydrated onion in powder
form is used, its initial dry matter content before
dehydration is not an important ~`actor. Accordingly, a
mixture containing a lovage extract, a sugar and an
onion extract is prepared.
The propor~ions of each ingredient of the mixture
are preferably selected within the following ranges: 0.8
to 1.3 parts sugar and 0.8 to 1.3 parts onion extract
dry matter are added for 3 parts lovage dry matter.
Water is optionally added to obtain a mixture having a
dry matter content of the order of 20 to 30~. The
initial pH of the mixture is generally of the order of
6.0 to 6.3.
The mixture thus prepared is then subjected to
lactic fermentation. To this end, a bacterial culture,
for example of Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus
acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus pento-
sos, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Pediococcus dextranicus,
or a culture of the yogurt type: L. bulgaricus + S.
thermophilus, or a yeast, such as Saccharomyces cere-
visiae, may be added to the mixture. The culture is
preferably added in a quantity of 1 to 3~ where the
mixture has a dry matter content of 20 to 30~.
The mixture is then left to ferment at a tempera-
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ture of 30 to 40C until a pH of the order of 3.5 to 4.5
is obtained. The fermentation process generally lasts
12 to 20 hours.
The mixture thus fermented is then heat-treated,
for example by heating for 2 to 3 hours at 85 to 95C.
In addition to inactivating the microorganisms used
during the fermentation step, the heat treatment enables
a Maillard reaction to develop between the proteins and
the sugars present in the fermented mixture.
On the other hand, the function of the heat
treatment may also be to dehydrate the fermented mixture
o~tained. In this case, the heat treatment may be
prolonged until the required dry matter content is
obtained.
It should be noted that the development of a
meat-type flavour is observed during the dehydration of
65% to 70% dry matter and intensif~es during the rest of
the heat treatment over 15 to 22 hours at 65 to 75C.
It is also necessary to ensure that the heat treatment
of the fermented mixture is not excessive because other-
wise the flavour developed would be destroyed.
The process according to the invention gives a
flavouring agent having a meat flavour with a vegetable
note using only natural starting materials, namely:
lovage extract, which completely replaces the sodium
glutamate used in the prior art, and onion extract which
enhances the flavour developed, the process comprising
lactic fermentation of the starting materials, which
allows development of the flavour, and heat treatment of
the fermented mixture which, on the one hand, enables
the product to be dehydrated by pasteurization and, on
the other hand, the flavour developed to be enhanced.
It is thus possible to develop a flavouring agent
having a meat taste by utilizing the acidity developed
in the course of a lactic fermentation process. In
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addition, the intensity of the flavour developed may be
modified by controlling the dehydration step according-
ly.
The invention is illustrated by the following
Examples.
Ex~mple 1
A mixture containing 3 parts lovage extract dry
matter, 1 part dry matter of a fresh onion purée having
a dry matter content of 20%, 1 part sucrose and option-
ally water to obtain a dry matter content of approxi-
mately Z2%. 1% of a culture of L. plantarum is added to
the mixture which is then left to ferment at 37C. The
pH of the mixture decreases from 5.6 to 4.1 and the
acidity (% lactic acid) increases from 0.5 to 1.5 during
the first 10 hours of fermentation.
The mixture thus fermented is then heat-treated
by heating to 65C under a pressure of 130 mbar for
approximately 22 hours and is then rapidly cooled to
15C, at which temperature it is stored.
A pasteurized and dehydrated flavouring agent
having a dry matter content of approximately 70% is thus
obtained and may be stored for prolonged periods.
If the intensity of the meat flavour developed
during the heat treatment is evaluated by tasting and
scoring on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = barely developed, 10
= highly developed) as a function of the dry matter
content obtained, the following results are obtained:
Dry matter content
7C 75
Intensity of flavour 4 4.5 7.0 7.9 3.9
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Accordingly, development of the flavour is
maximal at a dry matter content of approximately 70%.
Example 2
A mixture having a dry matter content of 20%
containing 3 parts lovage dry matter, 1 part sugar and
1 part dry matter of various fresh onion extracts is
prepared and then subjected to lactic fermentation in
the same way as in Example 1.
lo The acidity and intensity of the meat-type aroma
developed is then evaluated by awarding scores of 1 to
10 to the various fermented mixtures obtained. A score
of 1 means "barely perceptible" while a score of 10
means "highly perceptible".
The following results are obtained:
Onion extracts A B C D E
Initial dry matter
content of the onion
extract (%) 6 9 14 17 22
Acidity (%) <1.0 <1.0 1.0 1.5 1.5
Meat-type flavour 3 3 4 5 7
Thus, when fresh onion is used for the onion
extract, the meat-type flavour developed is more in-
tense, the higher the initial dry matter content of the
onion extract.
~xample 3
A mixture containing 28% salt, 11% sucrose, 13.5%
maltodextrin, 22% flavouring agent as prepared in
Example 2 (dry matter content 70%), 12% meat extract,
6.5% vegetable fats, 6% yeast and 1% of a mixture of
ground white pimento, ground laurel, onion powder,
cloves and turmeric is prepared.
.
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The mixture thus prepared may be used in a
quantity of 13.5 grams dissolved in 500 ml water and
provides the product to which it is added with an
intensified meat flavour.
