阅读说明：本技术 食物产品的降糖 (Hypoglycemic food products ) 是由 陈韵 A·L·维杰诺尔茨 J·德弗里德 于 2020-02-14 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种用于降低食物产品(1)的糖含量的食物加工设备(10)。该食物加工设备包括：食物加工隔间(30),其包括刀片装置(28)和流体释放阀(37)；基座(20),包括被布置为驱动刀片装置的马达(22)；加热装置(40、42),用于利用蒸汽加热食物加工隔间中的食物产品,该加热装置包括水箱(40)和加热元件(42),水箱与食物加工隔间(30)流体连通,该加热元件(42)被热耦合到所述水箱并且处于所述控制器(60的控制下；以及控制器(60),用于控制马达和加热元件。控制器被布置为控制加热元件,例如利用过蒸汽针对限定时间段加热在食物加工设备中的食物产品；以及一旦针对限定时间段对食物产品的加热终止后、并在对食物产品的加热期间产生的蒸汽冷凝物通过流体释放阀被从食物加工隔间释放后,控制马达以搅拌食物产品。还公开了一种通过这种食物加工设备降低食物产品糖含量的方法。(A food processing apparatus (10) for reducing the sugar content of a food product (1). The food processing apparatus includes: a food processing compartment (30) comprising a blade arrangement (28) and a fluid release valve (37); a base (20) comprising a motor (22) arranged to drive the blade arrangement; heating means (40, 42) for heating the food product in the food processing compartment with steam, the heating device comprises a water tank (40) and a heating element (42), the water tank being in fluid communication with the food processing compartment (30), the heating element (42) is thermally coupled to the water tank and under the control of the controller (60; and a controller (60), the controller is arranged to control the heating element, e.g. to heat a food product in the food processing apparatus for a defined period of time with superheated steam; and once the steam condensate generated during heating of the food product after termination of heating of the food product for the defined period of time and after being released from the food processing compartment through the fluid release valve, a method of reducing the sugar content of a food product by such a food processing apparatus is also disclosed.)

1. A food processing device (10) for reducing the sugar content of a fruit-based food product (1), the food processing device comprising:

a food processing compartment (30), said food processing compartment (30) comprising a blade arrangement (28) and a fluid release valve (37);

a base (20) comprising a motor (22) arranged to drive the blade arrangement;

heating means (40, 42) for heating a food product in the food processing compartment with steam, the heating means comprising a water tank (40) in fluid communication with the food processing compartment (30) and a heating element (42), the heating element (42) being thermally coupled to the water tank; and

a controller (60) arranged to control the motor and the heating element; wherein the controller is arranged to:

controlling the heating element to generate the steam to heat a food product in the food processing device for a defined period of time; and

controlling the motor to agitate the food product once the heating of the food product for the defined period of time has terminated and after steam condensate generated during the heating of the food product has been released from the food processing compartment through the fluid release valve.

2. The food processing device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the defined period of time is in the range of 5-20 minutes.

3. Food processing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fluid release valve (37) is controlled by the controller (60), and wherein the controller is adapted to open the fluid release valve for a further defined period of time during and/or after the heating of the food product.

4. The food processing device according to any of claims 1-3, further comprising a steam condensate collection reservoir (39) in fluid communication with the fluid release valve (37).

5. The food processing device (10) according to any of claims 1-4, further comprising a user interface (50) communicatively coupled to the controller and including a menu of food product selections, wherein the defined period of time is a function of the food product selections made with the user interface.

6. The food processing device (10) according to claim 5, wherein the controller (60) is arranged to control the motor (22) to blend the food product (1) for a further time period as a function of the food product selection made with the user interface (50) once the time period has ended.

7. The food processing device (10) according to claim 6, wherein the food product selection menu comprises a food product weight specification option, and wherein the further time period is a function of a food product weight specified by the food product weight specification option.

8. The food processing device (10) according to any of claims 1-7, further comprising a temperature sensor (31) in the food processing compartment (30), said temperature sensor being communicatively coupled to the controller (60), wherein the controller is arranged to operate the heating means (40, 42) in response to temperature data provided by the temperature sensor.

9. The food processing device (10) according to claim 8, wherein the controller (60) is arranged to control the heating element to generate the steam to heat the food product in the food processing device to a temperature in the range of 60-90 ℃.

10. The food processing device (10) according to any of claims 1-9, wherein:

the water tank (40) is located in the base (20); and

the food processing compartment (30) comprises a container having a first surface (32) comprising at least one aperture (33) for injecting steam from a water tank into the food processing compartment, and a second surface (34), the second surface (34) comprising the blade arrangement (28), and wherein each of the first and second surfaces is capable of being fitted to the base.

11. The food processing device (10) according to any of claims 1-9, wherein the water tank (40) is arranged adjacent to the food processing compartment (30), and wherein a partition between the water tank and the food processing compartment comprises at least one aperture (33), the at least one aperture (33) being for injecting steam from the water tank into the food processing compartment.

12. The food processing device (10) according to any of claims 1-11, wherein said food processing device is a blender or a juicer.

13. A method (100) of reducing the sugar content of a fruit-based food product (1) with a food processing apparatus (10) comprising:

a food processing compartment (30), said food processing compartment (30) comprising a blade arrangement (28) and a fluid release valve (37);

a base (20) comprising a motor (22) arranged to drive the blade arrangement;

heating means (40, 42) for heating a food product in the food processing compartment with steam, the heating means comprising a water tank (40) in fluid communication with the food processing compartment (30) and a heating element (42) thermally coupled to the water tank; and

a controller (60) not arranged to control the motor and the heating element;

the method comprises the following steps:

heating (107) the food product in the food processing compartment with steam generated by the heating element for a predetermined period of time; and

controlling (112) the motor to blend the food once the heating of the food product for a predetermined period of time is complete and steam condensate generated during the heating of the food product is released from the food processing compartment through the fluid release valve.

14. The method (100) of claim 13, wherein the fluid release valve is controlled by the controller (60), the method further comprising: opening (111), with the controller (60), the fluid release valve (37) for a further defined period of time during and/or after the heating of the food product.

15. The method of claim 13 or 14, further comprising:

receiving a food product selection with a user interface with the controller (60); and

defining a time period as a function of the received food product selection and/or defining a temperature as a function of the received food product selection.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a food processing apparatus comprising a food processing compartment comprising a blade arrangement; a base comprising a motor arranged to drive the blade arrangement; heating means for heating the food product in the food processing compartment; and a controller arranged to control the motor.

The invention also relates to a method of operating such a food processing apparatus.

Background

In order for a person to follow a healthy diet, it is often necessary to balance the intake of the various essential nutrients that make up the diet, while not exceeding the recommended daily calorie target. In fact, in many developed countries, healthcare issues have become commonplace as people follow unhealthy eating habits, where excessive fat, sugar and/or calories are often ingested. This can lead to chronic and potentially life-threatening conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.

For this reason, vegetable and in particular fruit-based processed food products, such as vegetable and/or fruit-based juices or smoothies, are becoming increasingly popular due to the health benefits these food products are believed to have. In fact, many vegetables and fruits contain many useful nutrients such as vitamins, fibers, and carbohydrates such as monosaccharides and other sugars. However, eating such food products also results in an imbalance in one's diet. For example, the calorie content of such food products may be high, e.g. due to sugars therein, which may result in the consumer not ingesting sufficient other types of essential nutrients, such as (unsaturated) fats and proteins. In addition, high concentrations of sugar in such beverages can lead to health problems such as obesity and dental caries.

The use of heat-treated food products is known per se, for example in order to modify their composition. However, many of these processes are applied on an industrial scale, and their deployment in a domestic environment, such as in kitchen appliances, is far from trivial. An example of such a local process and apparatus is disclosed in WO 2013/035029 a1, which discloses a method and apparatus for preparing fruit puree, comprising providing a feedstock piece in a stirring unit; heating the feedstock pieces and agitating the feedstock pieces while the feedstock pieces are heated to a first temperature (the reversible inactivation temperature of enzymes in fruits and vegetables), wherein in the agitating step, the heating step is controlled such that the temperature of the agitated feedstock pieces is between the first temperature and a second temperature (the irreversible inactivation temperature of enzymes in fruits and vegetables), the second temperature being higher than the first temperature. Inactivation of the enzymes by stirring the fruit or vegetable at elevated temperatures ensures that essential nutrients, such as vitamin C and polyphenols, are not broken down by such enzymes during the stirring process. Furthermore, the reversible inactivation of enzymes is usually in the temperature range of 50-60℃, and the subsequent heating of the fruit or vegetable to 70-80℃ or higher during stirring can also prevent undesirable thermal decomposition of such nutrients.

However, such methods and apparatus do not significantly reduce the sugar content of the fruits and vegetables processed according to them.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention seeks to provide a food processing apparatus comprising a food processing compartment including blade means; a base comprising a motor arranged to drive the blade arrangement; heating means for heating the food product in the food processing compartment; and a controller arranged to control the motor, the motor being configured to reduce the sugar content in a food product processed by the food processing apparatus.

The present invention also seeks to provide a method of reducing the sugar content of fruit-based food products processed by such food processing apparatus.

According to an aspect, there is provided a food processing apparatus for reducing the sugar content of a food product, the food processing apparatus comprising a food processing compartment comprising a blade arrangement and a fluid release valve; a base comprising a motor arranged to drive the blade arrangement; a heating device to heat a food product in the food processing compartment by steam, the heating device comprising a water tank in fluid communication with the food processing compartment and a heating element thermally coupled to the water tank; and a controller arranged to control the motor and the heating element; wherein the controller is arranged to control the heating element to generate steam to heat the food product in the food processing device for a defined period of time; and controlling the motor to agitate the food product once heating of the food product for the defined period of time has terminated and steam condensate generated during heating of the food product has been released from the food processing compartment through the fluid release valve.

The present invention is based on the surprising finding that exposure of a (sliced) food product to such high temperatures for a defined period of time significantly reduces the sugar content of the food product, such that when the food product is subsequently agitated (typically at a temperature below the heating temperature, since preferably the heating of the food product has been terminated at the beginning of the agitation process), the produced processed food product, such as a fruit juice or smoothie, has a reduced sugar content, which is beneficial in, for example, sugar intake control. Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed herein that condensation of steam on the surface of a piece (e.g., slice) of food product in the food processing compartment causes sugar at the contact surface to dissolve in the condensate, thereby (also) helping to reduce the sugar content of the food product in the food processing compartment.

A particularly significant reduction of the sugar content of the food product thus prepared is achieved when the defined period of time is in the range of 5-20 minutes.

In one embodiment, the fluid release valve is controlled by the controller, and the controller is adapted to open the fluid release valve for a further defined period of time during and/or after said heating of the food product. In this manner, steam condensate may be automatically drained from the food processing compartment without user intervention.

The food processing apparatus may further comprise a steam condensate collection reservoir in fluid communication with the fluid release valve to collect steam condensate such that a user does not have to provide a container for collecting steam condensate, thereby increasing user convenience.

In a preferred embodiment, the food processing device further comprises a user interface communicatively coupled to the controller and including a menu of food product selections, wherein the defined time period is a function of the food product selections made by the user interface. This has the following advantages: for different food products, e.g. different types of fruit, an optimized heating time for that particular food product may be applied, e.g. to optimize the reduction of sugar in the food product while maintaining the beneficial ingredients of the food product, e.g. vitamin C.

In one embodiment, the controller is arranged to control the motor to blend the food product for a further period of time at the end of said period of time, which period of time is a function of the food product selection made by the user interface. This is advantageous for controlling the concentration of the food product thus prepared, since different types of food, e.g. different types of fruit, may require different stirring times to achieve such a desired concentration. Further, the food product selection menu may include a food product weight specification option such that the additional time period may be a function of the weight of the food product specified with the food product weight specification option, since different amounts of food product are selected, typically requiring different mixing times to achieve the desired concentration.

The food processing device may further comprise a temperature sensor in said food processing compartment, which temperature sensor is communicatively coupled to said controller, wherein said controller is arranged to operate the heating means in response to temperature data provided by said temperature sensor. In this way, the actual temperature of the food product during the heat-induced sugar content reduction process can be accurately controlled, thereby reducing the risk of loss of beneficial ingredients of the food product during the process.

In an embodiment, the controller is arranged to control the heating element to generate said steam to heat the food product in the food processing device to a temperature in the range of 60-90 ℃. In particular, heating a food product in the temperature range of 60-90 ℃ has been found to be particularly effective in reducing the sugar content of the target food product (e.g., different types of fruit).

In an example embodiment, the water tank is located in the base and the food processing compartment comprises a container having a first surface comprising at least one aperture for injecting steam from the water tank into the food processing compartment, and a second surface comprising the blade arrangement, and wherein the first surface and the second surface may be respectively fitted to the base. This has the advantage that a particularly compact food processing apparatus may be provided, wherein after the heating step, the stirring step may be invoked simply by the user manually inverting the container to change the contact surface of the container with the base, from a first surface comprising the one or more apertures to a second surface comprising the blade means.

In an alternative example embodiment, the water tank is arranged adjacent to the food processing compartment, and wherein the partition between the water tank and the food processing compartment comprises at least one aperture for injecting steam from the water tank into the food processing compartment. This may increase the footprint of the food processing apparatus to some extent compared to the previous exemplary embodiments, but has the advantage that the heating and stirring steps may be performed sequentially by the food processing apparatus without necessarily requiring user intervention.

The food processing apparatus is typically a kitchen appliance for a domestic or commercial kitchen. For example, the food processing device may be a blender or juicer.

According to another aspect, there is provided a method of reducing the sugar content of a food product using a food processing apparatus comprising a food processing compartment comprising a blade arrangement and a fluid release valve; a base including a motor for driving the blade arrangement; heating means for heating a food product in the food processing compartment with steam, the heating means comprising a water tank in fluid communication with the food processing compartment and a heating element thermally coupled to the water tank; and a controller for controlling the motor and the heating element; the method comprises heating a food product in a food processing compartment to a temperature in the range of 60-90 ℃ for a defined period of time by means of steam generated by a heating element; a defined period of time with the heating element using the generated steam; and controlling the motor to agitate the food once heating of the food product for the defined period of time is complete and steam condensate generated during heating of the food product is released from the food processing compartment through the fluid release valve. Using this method, the sugar content of a food product prepared from such a food product can be significantly reduced without significant loss of other nutritional ingredients in the food product during the heating step.

The defined period of time is preferably in the range of 5-20 minutes to ensure that the sugar content of the food product item made from such a food product is significantly reduced during the heating step, without significant loss of other nutritional ingredients in the food product during the heating step.

In one embodiment, the fluid release valve is controlled by the controller, and the method further comprises opening the fluid release valve with the controller for a further defined period of time during and/or after heating of the food product to further enable automation of the food processing.

Preferably, the method further comprises receiving a food product selection made through a user interface of the controller; and defining the time period as a function of the received food product selection in order to optimize the sugar content reduction of the specific food product. Such a user interface may form part of the food processing device or may form part of a device in communication with the food processing device, such as a smartphone, tablet computer, or the like.

The method may further include defining the temperature as a function of the received food product selection to also optimize the sugar reduction process of the selected food product.

Drawings

Embodiments of the invention are described in more detail and by way of non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a food processing apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a food processing method implemented with a food processor, according to an embodiment;

fig. 3 schematically depicts a cross-sectional view of a food processing apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 schematically depicts a cross-sectional view of the food processing device of the alternative configuration of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 schematically depicts a cross-sectional view of a food processing apparatus according to another embodiment;

fig. 6 schematically depicts a cross-sectional view of a food processing device according to an embodiment

FIG. 7 is a graph showing experimental results illustrating the proof of concept of the teachings of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a graph illustrating the effect on sugar content of an example food product when processed in a food processing apparatus according to an embodiment; and

fig. 9 is a graph illustrating the effect on sugar content of another example food product when processed in a food processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

Detailed Description

It should be understood that these drawings are merely schematic and are not drawn to scale. It should also be understood that the same reference numerals are used throughout the figures to indicate the same or similar parts.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a food processing apparatus configured to reduce the free (free) sugar content of (raw) food products such as vegetables and fruits, most notably fruits, since the free sugar content of most fruits is higher than that of vegetables. The food processing device in the exemplary embodiment is a kitchen appliance, such as a blender, juicer, or the like, for a home or commercial kitchen. FIG. 1 depicts a schematic block diagram of a typical food processing appliance 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The food processing device 10 includes a food processing compartment 30 that typically includes a blade arrangement for dipping or otherwise cutting or blending the food product. The blade assembly is driven by motor 22 under the control of controller 60. The motor 22 may be coupled to the blade apparatus in any suitable manner, such as by a drive shaft or shafts, a gear box, or the like. This type of coupling is well known per se and will therefore not be explained in further detail for the sake of brevity.

The controller 60 may be any suitable control device that includes one or more physical entities that implement such a control device. For example, the controller 60 may include one or more processing units, such as a suitably programmed general purpose processor, special purpose processor, microcontroller, or the like. The controller 60 may implement an algorithm 62 that is used to control a heating control unit 64 and a timer 66. The heating control unit 64 and the timer 66 may be implemented in any suitable manner, for example as discrete hardware entities or in software on the controller 60.

The food processing device 10 also includes a heating element 42 responsive to the controller 60. The heating element 42 is typically arranged to generate steam from a water reservoir containing water, whereby the contents (i.e. the food product) in the food processing compartment 30 is brought to a set temperature by means of the steam. Such a food product heating step in the food processing compartment 30, when performed under certain conditions, may serve to reduce the free sugar content of the food product in the food processing compartment 30, since the sugar at the surface of the food product dissolves in the condensed surface steam. This is also referred to as steam condensate in this application. The heating control unit 64 controls the operation of the heating element 42, for example to ensure that the contents of the food processing compartment 30 are heated to the proper temperature, while the timer 66 controls the duration of the heating operation. In addition, the timer 66 may control the duration of the stirring operation of the contents of the food processing chamber 30 by operation of the motor 22 after the heating operation is completed. It should be understood that in a preferred embodiment, the contents of the food processing compartment 30 are not heated during this blending operation, and the temperature of the contents of the food processing compartment 30 may be lower during this blending operation than during the heating operation.

Furthermore, prior to stirring, the steam condensate is to be removed from the food processing compartment 30 to remove sugar dissolved in the steam condensate from the food product to be stirred. This may be done manually, such as by a user providing user instructions to perform a steam condensate removal operation, or automatically, such as by the controller 60 operating a fluid release valve in the food processing compartment 30 to remove steam condensate after or during the heating step.

The controller 60 may be responsive to the user interface 50 through which the food processing appliance 10 may be controlled. Such a user interface 50 may form part of the food processing device 10, in which case the user interface 50 may be implemented in any suitable manner, for example as a touch screen display, one or more switches, buttons, knobs, dials, or the like, or any combination of such user interface elements. Alternatively, the user interface 50 may be implemented on a remote device, such as by way of a software program (e.g., an application program) by which the food product processing apparatus 10 may be remotely controlled. For example, such a remote device may be a computing device, a mobile communication device (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, etc.). In embodiments where the user interface 50 is implemented on such a remote device, the food processing device 10 typically also includes a communication module, preferably a wireless communication module, communicatively coupled to the controller 60, by which the remote device may communicate with the food processing device 10. Such a communication link may be a direct (P2P) link, such as a bluetooth link, or may be an indirect link operated through a communication management device, such as a server or a router. Since the technology relating to such communication links is well known per se, it will not be explained in further detail for the sake of brevity.

The operation of the food processing device 10 will now be explained in more detail with the aid of fig. 2. Fig. 2 depicts a flow diagram of a method 100 of reducing the sugar content of a food product using such a food processing apparatus. The method 100 begins at operation 101, such as by a user loading food products into the food processing compartment 30 of the food processing device 10. Next, in operation 103, a user of the food processing device 10 operates the user interface 50 to, for example, initiate free sugar reduction processing of the food product loaded into the food processing compartment 30.

In a first set of embodiments, this may simply involve the user starting and/or selecting the appropriate operation of the food processing appliance 10, for example using a function selection menu of the user interface 50. The selected function can be read, for example, as "producing a food product with reduced sugar content" or the like. Of course, this function may be given any suitable name. Selection of this function will cause the controller 60 to access the algorithm 62 in operation 105 and operate the food processing device 10 according to the duration and temperature of the heating step and the stirring step, respectively, programmed into the algorithm 62.

In a second set of embodiments, the user operates the user interface 50 in operation 103 not only to enable the food processing appliance 10 (e.g., by selecting its appropriate operation), but also to specify the type of food product that has been loaded into the food processing compartment in operation 101. To this end, the user interface 50 may include a food product selection menu from which the user may select an appropriate food product. For example, a food product menu may list a number of different fruits, such as apples, pears, oranges, tangerines, pineapples, kiwifruits, etc., and berry types, such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc. In these embodiments, the algorithm 62 contains optimized processing parameters, i.e., heating temperature, heating period, and blending period for each of the food products listed in the food product selection menu, such that upon selection of a particular type of food product, the controller 60 selects the appropriate processing parameters for determining the type of food product with the algorithm 62 in operation 105.

In a further refinement, the user interface 50 may include a food product weight specification function to allow a user to specify the (approximate) weight of the food product loaded into the food processing compartment 30. The specified weight may be used by the controller 60 to determine the duration of the blending operation of the food product loaded into the food processing compartment 30, i.e., to define the duration of the blending operation as a function of the weight of the food product specified by the user of the food processing device 10 using the user interface 50. This has the advantage that variations in the consistency of the food product prepared with the food processing device 10 due to different amounts of food product being stirred for the same duration are reduced.

After the above configuration of the controller 60 in operation 105, the method 100 proceeds to operation 107, wherein the food product in the food processing compartment is heated with steam to a defined temperature for a defined period of time under the control of the controller 60 using the heating element 42, thereby reducing its free sugar content. The defined temperature of the steam is preferably in the range of 60-90 ℃ and the defined time period is preferably in the range of 5-20 minutes. As previously described, the actual temperature and time period deployed by the controller 60 may be a function of the selected food product type, or alternatively may be a fixed temperature and time period independent of the food product type. The actual temperature in the food processing compartment 30 may be monitored by a temperature sensor in the food processing compartment 30 that provides its temperature reading to the controller 60 so that the controller 60 may operate the heating element 42 in response to the temperature data provided by the temperature sensor to ensure that the proper temperature is maintained within the food processing compartment 30.

In operation 109, it is checked by the controller 60, for example by checking the timer 66, whether the heating operation 107 has been completed. If not, the method 100 returns to operation 107; otherwise, the method 100 proceeds to operation 111 where the steam condensate is vented from the food processing compartment 30 for an additional period of time, such as 1-2 minutes, to remove sugar dissolved in the steam condensate from the food processing compartment 30. Alternatively or additionally, the discharge of steam condensate from the food processing compartment 30 may begin at a later stage of steam heating of the food product. After the steam condensate has been discharged from the food processing compartment 30, the method proceeds to operation 112, in which the steam heats the processed food product, followed by the controller 60 operating the motor 22 for a defined duration as previously described to blend with the blade arrangement in the food processing compartment 30. Such blending may be performed automatically upon completion of the heating operation of the food product loaded into the food processing compartment 30, or may be performed manually by a user of the food processing device 10, such as through the user interface 50. The stirring operation may be carried out in any suitable manner, for example as a continuous stirring operation, a pulsed stirring operation, or the like. The controller 60 checks in operation 113 whether the stirring operation 112 has been performed for a defined duration or period of time. If this is not already the case, the method 100 returns to operation 112; otherwise, the method 100 proceeds to a final operation 115, in which operation 115 the blending operation is terminated and the final food item (e.g., puree, sorbet, juice, etc.) is ready so that the user of the food processing device 10 can remove the final food item (item) from the food processing compartment 30.

Fig. 3 schematically depicts a cross-sectional view of the food processing device 10 according to an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the food processing apparatus 10 includes a base 20 that houses a controller 60 and a motor 22 of a blade arrangement 28 in a food processing compartment 30. The food processing device 10 may also include a user interface 50, which may be located on the base 20 by way of non-limiting example. The base 20 also houses a water tank 40 that is thermally coupled to a heating element 42 under the control of the controller 60 so that water stored in the water tank 40 can be converted to steam by operation of the heating element 42 (as explained previously). On the other hand, in order to allow the thus generated steam to be transferred from the water tank 40 into the food processing compartment 30, the food processing compartment 30 may comprise a first surface 32 comprising at least one aperture 33 fluidly connecting the water tank 40 to the food processing compartment 30, for example by being the top of the water tank 40. The undesired penetration of vapor into the base 20 may be prevented in any suitable manner. For example, in addition to the water tank 40, the base 20 may be hermetically sealed to prevent such moisture from entering and/or a portion of the first surface 32 covering a moisture sensitive portion of the base 20 may be hermetically sealed, i.e., not include any apertures 33 to prevent such moisture from entering. The at least one aperture 33 may take any suitable shape, such as a plurality of slits or conduits extending through the first surface 32 through which steam may migrate from the water tank 40 into the food processing compartment 30, as indicated by the wavy arrows in fig. 3.

A temperature sensor 31 may be present in the food processing compartment 30 to monitor the temperature within the food processing compartment 30, which temperature sensor 31 is used to indicate the (approximate) temperature of the food product 1 placed in the food processing compartment 30 by the user of the food processing device 10. Although not explicitly shown for clarity only, it should be understood that when the temperature sensor 31 is present, the temperature sensor is communicatively coupled to the controller 60 such that the controller 60 may operate the heating element 42 according to the temperature feedback provided by the temperature sensor 31. In this way, the controller 60 may ensure that the food product 1 exposed to the free sugar reducing heating process is heated to a temperature within a desired temperature range, e.g. 60-90 ℃.

The food processing compartment 30 also includes a fluid release valve 37 for venting steam condensate from the food processing compartment 30. The fluid release valve 37 is preferably arranged at the bottom of the food processing compartment 30 or near the food processing compartment 30, at least when draining steam condensate from the food processing compartment 30. The fluid release valve 37 may be manually operated (e.g., by a user) or automatically operated (e.g., by the controller 60). In the case of manual operation, the controller 60 may generate a user instruction through the user interface 50 to instruct the user to operate the fluid release valve 37 to vent steam condensate from the food processing compartment 30. The user may be instructed to open the fluid release valve 37 for an additional defined period of time, such as 1-5 minutes or 1-2 minutes, or alternatively, the user may open the fluid release valve 37 as long as the user can observe steam condensate passing through the fluid release valve 37 from the food processing compartment 30. As shown in fig. 3, the fluid release valve 37 may be fluidly connected to a steam condensate collection reservoir 39, which may form part of the food processing apparatus 10 in any suitable manner. Preferably, the steam condensate collection reservoir 39 is removable from the food processing device 10 for cleaning of the steam condensate collection reservoir 39. Alternatively, the fluid release valve 37 may form part of a fluid release channel that vents externally to the food processing appliance 10 so that a user may use any suitable container (e.g., a glass or the like) to collect steam condensate released from the food processing compartment 30.

In the exemplary embodiment of the food processing apparatus 10 schematically depicted in fig. 3, the food processing compartment 30 is shaped as a removable container having a first surface 32 and an opposing second surface 34, the blade arrangement 28 being mounted on the second surface 34. Both the first surface 32 and the second surface 34 are arranged to engage with the base 20; as previously mentioned, the first surface 32 is arranged to allow steam generated in the water tank 40 with the heating element 42 to pass into the food processing compartment 30, while the second surface 34 is engaged with the blade arrangement 28 by a motor in the base 20 when positioned on the base 20, e.g. by the drive shaft 24, a gearbox or the like, as schematically shown in fig. 4. Thus, after completing the heating process to reduce free sugar, the user may invert the container as the food processing compartment 30 to disengage the first surface 32 from the base 20 and instead engage the second surface 34 with the base 20 so that the previously described blending operation of the food product 1 may be subsequently performed. Although this requires manual intervention to perform the stirring process after the heating process, it has the advantage of providing a particularly compact food processing apparatus 10 due to the fact that the water tank 40 may be positioned within the base 20.

Fig. 5 schematically depicts a cross-sectional view of another example embodiment of the food processing device 10. In this embodiment, the water tank 40 is a separate entity arranged adjacent to the food processing compartment 30, wherein the separation wall 35 between the water tank 40 and the food processing compartment 30 comprises at least one orifice 33, through which orifice 33 the water stored in the water tank 40 is injected by the steam generated by the heating element 42 under the control of the controller 60 into the food processing compartment 30 containing the food product 1, which food processing compartment 30 contains the food product 1 to reduce the free sugar content of the food product 1, as previously described. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the at least one aperture 33 is generally located above the maximum level of the water tank 40 such that water from the water tank 40 cannot directly enter the food processing compartment 30. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the water tank 40 may be removable. Further, by way of non-limiting example, fig. 5 shows a fluid release valve 37 forming part of a channel that, as previously described, is vented externally to the food processing appliance 10, thereby eliminating the need for a steam condensate collection reservoir 39 forming part of the food processing appliance 10.

Fig. 6 schematically depicts a cross-sectional view of another example embodiment of the food processing device 10. In this embodiment, the water tank 40 forms part of a container that also contains the food processing compartment 30. In this embodiment, the water tank 40 may be disposed around the food processing compartment 30, wherein the separation wall 35 between the food processing compartment 30 and the water tank 40 comprises at least one aperture 33 (e.g., a plurality of slits, etc.), through which aperture 33 steam generated by the heating element 42 in the water tank 40 under the control of the controller 40 may pass, may enter the food processing compartment 30 to reduce the free sugar content of the food product 1 in the food processing compartment 30. Again, it is noted that the at least one orifice 33 is located above the maximum level of the water tank 40 to prevent water from entering the food processing compartment 30 directly. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the compartment 30 and the water tank 40 may be removable.

A demonstration of the ability to reduce the free sugar content of a food product using such a food processing apparatus 10 will now be provided with the aid of fig. 7-9. Figures 7-9 depict graphs of various experimental results that provide proof of concept.

In a first set of experiments, fresh apple pieces were steamed in a conventional oven using the following steam temperatures and processing times:

steaming for 60-2 min (control experiment)

Steaming for 60-8 min

Steaming for 60-20 min

Steaming for 90-5 min

Steaming for 90-10 min

Steaming for 120-2 min

Steaming for 120-8 min

Steaming for 120-15 min

After the steaming process, the steamed apple pieces were stirred with a philips lnnergizizer counter top mixer (model HR 3868/00). After stirring, the resulting apple pulp was filtered to obtain a clear juice. The juice is evaluated to determine the sugar content of the juice and vitamin C. Figure 7 shows the results of sugar content evaluation of different experiments identified on the X-axis. The Y-axis shows the absolute sugar content of the juice from each experiment, as shown by each bar, while the line in figure 7 shows the reduction in sugar content relative to the sugar content of the juice produced from the control experiment. Figure 7 clearly shows that the longer the duration of the steam treatment, the particularly significant reduction in sugar content of the resulting apple juice is obtained, the reduction achievable being over 25%. From this data it can be concluded that a treatment duration in the range of 5-20 minutes can significantly reduce the sugar content of the apple juice. Furthermore, it was found that treatment temperatures below 100 ℃ (e.g. 60 ℃ and 90 ℃) more effectively retain vitamin C in the juice than treatments at higher temperatures (e.g. 120 ℃) such that the operating temperature of the heat treatment is particularly preferably in the range of 60-90 ℃.

Fig. 8 shows the results of a set of experiments in which apple juice was produced in three different ways:

(1) directly stir (untreated) raw apple (control experiment)

(2) Cutting apple into 8 pieces, steaming at 60 deg.C for 20 min before stirring

(3) Apples were sliced and the slices were steamed at 60 ℃ for 20 minutes before stirring and each experiment was repeated four times to establish reproducibility. The juice obtained was analyzed for sugar content for each experiment. Further, the brix value for each juice was independently determined using a brix sensor. The results are shown in fig. 8, where the left column shows the results for the apple juice produced in experiment (1), the middle column shows the results for the apple juice produced in experiment (2), and the right column shows the results for the apple juice produced in experiment (3). The values on the left side of the graph describe the analyzed sugar content, while the values on the right side of the graph describe the determined brix value for each juice.

As is clear from fig. 8. Steaming the apple slices prior to stirring resulted in a significant reduction in the sugar content of the subsequently produced juice, as the sugar content in the juice from experiments (2) and (3) was significantly lower than that of the juice from experiment (1). Furthermore, the sugar content of the juice produced in experiment (3) was reduced more significantly than in experiment (2). This can be explained by the thinner apple pieces in experiment (3) compared to experiment (2), thus resulting in a larger contact surface of the apple pieces with the steam generated in the heat treatment. Thus, it can be concluded that in order to obtain the best results, the user of the food processing device 10 should divide the food product 1 into small pieces to obtain the best results. However, too small pieces should be avoided, as this may disturb the cell matrix of the food product 1, leading to excessive loss of nutrients that ideally should be preserved. Therefore, a minimum diameter of 2-mm is recommended for such slices. Finally, although not shown in fig. 8, the sugar content of the juices produced in the three experiments was found to be highly reproducible; it was observed that the difference in the determined sugar content between the different examples of each experiment was less than 4%.

To demonstrate the principle of different types of food products, the above experiments for producing clear juice were repeated using pears instead of apples:

(1) directly stir (untreated) raw pear (control experiment)

(2) Cutting pear into 8 pieces, steaming the pieces at 60 deg.C for 20 min before stirring

(3) The pears were cut into slices, and the slices were steamed at 60 ℃ for 20 minutes before stirring.

Each experiment was repeated four times to establish reproducibility. Again, for each experiment, the given sugar content of the juice was found to vary by less than 4%. The juice obtained was analyzed for sugar content for each experiment. In addition, brix values for each juice were measured independently using brix sensors. The results are shown in fig. 9, where the left column shows the results for the pear juice produced in experiment (1), the middle column shows the results for the pear juice produced in experiment (2), and the right column shows the results for the pear juice produced in experiment (3). The values on the left side of the graph depict the analyzed sugar content, and the values on the right side of the graph depict the determined brix values for each juice.

The trend for pear juice is shown in figure 9, which is comparable to the trend for apple juice shown in figure 8, with approximately 13.5% by weight of sugar removed from the juice of experiment 3 and 10.4% by weight of sugar removed from the juice of experiment 2, compared to the sugar content of the juice from experiment 1. This clearly demonstrates that heat treatment of different types of food products prior to blending can reduce the sugar content of the resulting food product.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim. The word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The invention can be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements. In the device claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.