Granules comprising sterol

The invention relates to granules comprising lipid powder. The invention further relates to use of these granules in the preparation of edible dispersions and/or tablets.

Powdered lipids, lipid granules, lipid cubes and lipid tablets are known. However these known products cannot be used to structure an oil phase in a food product comprising an oil phase, in the same way as such a product is structured by lipid crystallized from the melt, such as in a votator process for the preparation of margarine.

There is also a need for particular formulations (e.g. concentrates) for soups, sauces, boullions, seasonings which particulate formulations can disperse quickly in an aqueous liquid and/or in a food composition. There is also a need for a process for manufacturing seasonings and particular formulations for preparing boullions, broth, soups, which are in the form of cubes, tablets, etcetera. Usually such cubes or tablets are prepared using a process involving a compression step. Prior to such compression step, the ingredients are usually mixed. The ingredients are usually a combination of dry particulate ingredients (salt, MSG, herbs, spices, starch and starch derivatives) which typically 1-30 wt. % fat. Mixing such dry ingredients with fat can be cumbersome, e.g. involving melting of the fat, maturation times, and other inconveniences. Hence there is a need for an easy way of manufacturing such seasonings and concentrates for bouillons, broth, soups sauces in cube or tablet form.

Co-pending application PCT/EP2004/006544 describes edible dispersions, including water-in-oil emulsions, that comprise a structuring agent, specifically fat, having a microporous structure of submicron size particles. The water-in-oil emulsion may be a table spread. In the examples pourable emulsions and pourable dispersions were described. The edible dispersions may for instance be prepared by mixing an oil phase with structuring agent particles with a separately prepared water phase.

One or more of the above problems are solved according to the invention which provides a granule comprising a liquid and lipid powder particles (herein described as secondary particles) that have a microporous structure and which are agglomerates of primary particles of submicron size.

We have found that micronised fat particles such as used in PCT/EP2004/006544 can become airborne and can be described as dusty. When using the micronised fat powder to produce food products, this dustiness influences the handling properties of the powder negatively. Additionally, we have found that micronised fat powder has a very low bulk density. This creates the problem that a certain mass of powder takes up a huge space if it is transported.

The invention therefore relates to a granule comprising:—

• • a) solid micronised lipid powder particles that have a microporous structure; and,
  • b) a liquid;
    wherein the granule is an agglomeration of said lipid particles herein described as secondary particles; and wherein said secondary particles are agglomerates of primary lipid particles, said primary lipid particles are platelets having an average thickness of 0.01-0.5 μm and wherein the lipid comprises sterol.