Composite Granular Refreshment Material and Process for Preparing the Same

Granular or flaky refreshment composition, especially for use as a drink when dissolved in a liquid by extraction or cooking, as well as a process for the preparation thereof.

The present invention relates to a granular or flaky refreshment as well as to a process for the preparation thereof, said refreshment composition being intended to be used as a drink when dissolved in a liquid by extraction or cooking. Such drinks include coffee, tea and also herb preparations as flavoring substances.

For the sake of clarity, the invention will be explained in the following specification in connection with its most significant embodiment, i.e. the preparation of coffee.

The present coffee making methods, filtration and boiling, require coffee powder of certain coarseness. In both cases, the degree of grinding is so coarse that considerable amount of flavour remains within the granules and thus the raw material will be incompletely exploited.

The object of the invention is to provide a granular or flaky refreshment composition of the above type from which flavouring agent extraction will be a lot more effective than at present, the raw material thus being exploited better than at present.

To accomplish this object the present invention is characterized in that the refreshment composition contains 5-50% of an inert, water insoluble carrier which is a polymeric material which forms granules or fibers to whose surface the flavoring substance is adhered in fine-powdered form, and the finished product is ground to desired coarseness. With the refreshment ground into a fine dusty form, a large extraction surface is obtained and flavouring agents can be effectively extracted. On the other hand, this does not interfere with conventional drink making methods by filtration or boiling since the fine-powdered material is adhered to the surface of major granules or fibers of the carrier. By inert carrier the intention is to point out that the inert carrier does not substantially release taste or odour, nor does it react with the flavoring substance even when subjected to heat. Such carriers can comprise polymeric or polymerizing materials having long fibers. .alpha.-cellulose has proved to be a particularly preferred carrier.

The present preparation process is characterized in that the flavoring substance is fine-powdered and mixed with 5-50% of a granular or fibrous, inert carrier and adhered to the surface of granules or fibers of the carrier by extrusion by applying heat and pressure, said carrier being of polymeric material and finally the extruded product is ground for intended use into desired granular coarseness.

Thus, the heat and pressure required for adhering the flavoring substance to the carrier are generated in an extruder. For the end use, the extruded product is ground to granular coarseness conventional to this particular flavoring material. Depending on the materials employed, the product obtained from the extruder can be temporarily stored prior to grinding it to desired final coarseness.

The attached schematic drawing presents the preparation steps of the product of the invention.

In the drawing, step 1 refers to fine grinding for grinding e.g. coffee into fine dust form. In step 2, fine-powdered coffee and a suitable carrier, such a .alpha.-cellulose, are mixed. In step 3, the mixture is subjected in an extruder to heat and pressure. Hence, the setting temperature can vary within the range of 100.degree.-180.degree. C. and temperature of the mass of 90.degree.-170.degree. C. as well as pressure within the range of 50-300 bar. The amount of carrier varies within the range of 5-50% of the total weight of the product, the most suitable amount being 25-30%. Extruded material is ground to conventional granular coarseness for coffee, i.e. either to filtration coarseness or regular pot coarseness, followed by packing. Extruded material can also be stored and transported in unground state.

The above steps 2 and 3 can in practice be combined, so that the carrier and fine-powdered coffee are passed into an extruder in which they are mixed and adhered together simultaneously. For sufficient adhering surface it is preferable that the carrier comprises a material having long fibers in an amount of nearly half of the total amount of the product.

Coffee was fine-ground to coarseness shown in table below:

90% by weight of fine-powdered coffee and 10% by weight of .alpha.-cellulose were mixed. Moisture of the mass was 20% and it was fed in an extruder at a feed rate of 200 g/min. The extruder was provided with 5 auger screws, rotational speed was 50 rpm and power consumption of the motor 11 kW. Heating was performed with 7 kW induction heaters. Setting temperature was 140.degree. C. and the measured mass temperature in the extruder was 129.degree. C. Pressure varied within the range of 7-8 MPa. The orifice diameter of the extruder was 5 mm. The extruded product was ground to the coarseness shown in table below corresponding to rather fine pot coarseness.

The end product was processed into a drink by using the product in the amount of 60 g/l. A test group verified that coffee flavour was flawless.

75% of fine-ground tea and 25% of .alpha.-cellulose were mixed and fed in an extruder at a feed rate of 300 g/min. Moisture of the mass was 10%. Power consumption of the extruder drive motor was 24 kW and the mass was heated with 10 kW induction heaters. Setting temperature was 140.degree. C. and the measured mass temperature 128.degree. C. In the extruder the mass was subjected to a pressure of 8.2 MPa. The mass was extruded through an orifice of 5 mm in diameter, cut into pieces which were ground into substantially the same grinding coarseness as the end product of example 1. A test group verified that the tea prepared from the product has flawless flavour.