Development of a novel technology entitled “Intensification of Vaporization by Decompression to the Vacuum” (IVDV) for reconstitution and texturing of partially defatted peanuts

Demand for processed low-calorie food products is increasing due to the incrementing number of health conscious consumers and current changing lifestyles. Moreover, growing consumer preferences for natural high protein products incited us to introduce roasted low-fat peanuts to the global food market. For this purpose, an invention comprising of a defatting process called Mechanical Expression Preserving Shape Integrity (MEPSI) coupled to a novel expansion process by “Intensification of Vaporization by Decompression to the Vacuum” (IVDV) was lately designed, implemented, validated and optimized. The main outputs of these unit operations were partially defatted peanuts that preserved as much of their original characteristics as possible including texture, color, palatability, appearance, rheological and organoleptic properties. The high quality of the resulting end product has proven the effectiveness and commercial viability of those processes and new technologies which are currently operating at laboratory, pilot and industrial scales. Furthermore, since these novel methods involve mild thermal and mechanical stresses, industrial uses of such processes are very effective for a variety of highly sensitive biological products other than peanuts. Then, IVDV can advantageously replace conventional reconstitution processes since it thoroughly provided adequate texturing of the matrix and enabled a greater expansion thus resulting in a better technological propensity. In conclusion, MEPSI-IVDV know-how contributed to an effective and relevant technology transfer to large-scale industrial manufacturing.