Cereal-based product with improved eating quality fortified with dietary fiber and/or calcium

摘要

Inhibition of expansion of a cereal product, such as a ready-to-eat cereal, by a particulate insoluble component such as fiber and/or calcium is avoided by pelletizing the particulate insoluble component. A binder component, such as gelatinized starch, is used to bind particles of the particulate insoluble component into a coherent mass which is formed into non-expanded pellets for fortification of the cereal product. The expanded cereal products, such as extruded puffed RTE cereals which contain the pellets, exhibit a crisp, uniform texture and cell structure, improved, prolonged bowl life, a non-gritty mouthfeel, and a smooth, uniform surface appearance even though they are fortified with high amounts of the solid or particulate insoluble nutritional components.

主权项

1. A method for producing an expanded ready-to-eat cereal which is fortified with a particulate insoluble component comprising:
admixing at least one flour, water, and pellets in an extruder to form a dough, the pellets formed by admixing a particulate insoluble component, water, and a binder component in an extruder to bind the particles of the particulate insoluble component into a coherent mass, wherein the extrusion is conducted at a temperature of the mass at the extruder exit of less than 100° C. and a pressure of less than about 150 bars whereby the pellets are not expanded during extrusion, the binder component comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of partially gelatinized starches and fully gelatinized starches, extruding the mass through a die to obtain an extrudate rope, cutting the extrudate rope into pieces, and drying the pieces to obtain pellets, wherein the amount of binder component is from about 5% by weight to about 40% by weight, and the amount of the insoluble component is from about 60% by weight to about 95% by weight, based upon the total dry weight of the particulate insoluble component and the binder component, and the pellets have a particle size of from about 500 μm to about 1.5 mm; extruding the dough through an extruder die to expand the dough, and cutting the expanded dough into pieces to obtain an expanded ready-to-eat cereal wherein a plurality of the pellets are distributed substantially uniformly throughout the pieces of expanded ready-to-eat cereal, the expanded cereal pieces having a cell structure comprising cell walls which form voids, the pellets are partially or completely contained in the cell walls or attached to the cell walls, the amount of the pellets is from about 5% by weight to about 50% by weight, based upon the total weight of the ready-to-eat cereal, wherein the particulate insoluble component of the pellets comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of fibers and calcium components, and the binder component of the pellets comprises the partially or fully gelatinized starch in an amount of at least about 50% by weight, based upon the weight of the binder component.