FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The subject of the present invention is a process for producing an assembly of at least one dairy protein and at least one vegetable protein. The subject of the present invention is also the assembly that can be obtained by means of said process, and also the uses thereof, in particular in the food-processing field.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Along with carbohydrates and lipids, proteins constitute a considerable part of our diet. Consumed proteins generally come either from an animal origin (meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, etc.), or from a vegetable origin (cereals, leguminous plants, etc.).

Their nutritional role is to provide amino acids and energy, which are substrates required for the synthesis of the body's proteins.

Proteins are composed of a sequence of amino acids. There are 20 amino acids, 9 of which are essential to humans, since the body is not able to synthesize them, and they must therefore be provided by the diet.

In the conventional approach, the quality of proteins is evaluated on the basis of their essential amino acid content. It is in particular known that, as a general rule, proteins of animal origin are richer in certain essential amino acids than vegetable proteins.

Milk proteins are of advantageous nutritional interest; on the other hand, they are expensive and this can curb their use. Manufacturers therefore seek substitute proteins, and vegetable proteins are attractive substitute proteins.

Numerous patent applications already describe the use of vegetable proteins for replacing all or some of the proteins of animal origin in foods. However, the substitute proteins currently available on the market do not necessarily possess functionally optimal and advantageous properties, equivalent to the functional properties of the functional protein ingredients of animal origin.

Proteins play an important role regarding the organoleptic quality of many fresh or manufactured foods, for instance the consistency and the texture of meat and meat-based products, of milk and derivatives, of pasta and of bread. These qualities of foods very frequently depend on the structure, the physicochemical properties and the functional properties of the protein constituents of the foods.

The term “functional properties” of food ingredients means, in the present application, any non-nutritional property which influences the utility of an ingredient in a food. These various properties contribute to obtaining the desired final characteristics of the food. Some of these functional properties are the solubility, hydration, viscosity, coagulation, stabilization, texturing, paste formation, foaming properties, and emulsifying and gelling capacities. Proteins also play an important role in the sensory properties of the food matrices in which they are used, and there is a real synergy between the functional properties and the sensory properties.

The functional properties of proteins, or functionality, are therefore the physical or physicochemical properties which have an effect on the sensory qualities of food systems generated during technological transformations, preservation or domestic culinary preparations.

Whatever the origin of the protein, it is noted that it has an effect on the color, the flavor and/or the texture of a product. These organoleptic characteristics are determining in consumer choice and they are in this case greatly taken into account by manufacturers.

The functionality of proteins is the result of molecular interactions by the latter with their environment (other molecules, pH, temperature, etc.). These properties are generally classed in 3 groups:hydration properties which group together the interactions of the protein of water: this covers absorption, retention, wettability, swelling, adherence, dispersion, viscosity, etc., properties,structuring properties which group together the properties of protein-protein interaction: this covers precipitation, coagulation, gelling, etc., phenomena,surface properties which group together the properties of protein interaction with other polar or nonpolar structures in the liquid or gas phase: this covers emulsifying, foaming, etc., properties.

These various properties are not independent of one another since a functional property can result from several types of interactions or from several functional properties.

The applicant companies have noted that there is a real, unsatisfied need to have a composition having advantageous functional properties, which can be used in the food industry as an at least partial substitute for proteins of animal origin.

In this context, the applicant companies have developed a particular process which makes it possible to obtain a novel composition comprising at least one dairy protein and at least one vegetable protein, having improved functional and/or sensory properties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A subject of the present invention is thus a process for obtaining an assembly of at least one vegetable protein and at least one dairy protein, comprising the steps consisting in obtaining a composition comprising at least one vegetable protein, in obtaining a composition comprising at least one dairy protein and in mixing the composition comprising at least one vegetable protein and the composition comprising at least one dairy protein, and in addition one or more identical or different steps of treatment which modifies the conformation of the proteins.

The present invention also relates to an assembly of at least one dairy protein and at least one vegetable protein that can be obtained by means of the process described above. This assembly has improved functional and/or sensory properties compared with the functional and/or sensory properties that would be obtained by the simple juxtaposition of these proteins, for example in the dry mixing of the two types of proteins. The assembly of at least one vegetable protein and at least one dairy protein according to the present invention thus makes it possible to obtain a real synergy in terms of the final properties obtained. This means that the properties of each of the proteins used are not just added and accumulated, but they are either improved or new. This synergy is demonstrated in particular in the examples hereinafter.

Finally, the present invention relates to the use of said assembly in various industrial sectors, and more particularly in the food-processing field. The assembly may be used as a functional agent, and preferably for its solubility or as an emulsifier, a foaming agent, a gelling agent, a viscosifying agent, an overrun agent, a water-retaining agent and/or an agent which can react to heat treatment.

