Plant seed based compositions and uses thereof

1. A process for providing a creamer comprising a plant seed based composition, the process comprising:

a) mixing an oil with a plant seed and grinding the plant seed in the oil to provide a first composition comprising micronized plant seed incorporated in the oil, wherein the oil is selected from the group consisting of a palm kernel oil, a canola oil, a soybean oil, a sunflower oil, a safflower oil, a cotton seed oil, a palm oil, a milk fat, a corn oil, a high oleic oil, a coconut oil, and combinations thereof;

b) providing a second composition comprising an aqueous solution comprising sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, trisodium citrate, sodium chloride, and water and having a protein content of 0.5-15% (w/w);

c) mixing the first composition with the second composition to provide a mixed composition; and

d) homogenizing the mixed composition to provide an oil-in-water emulsion to provide the creamer.

2. The process according to claim 1 , further comprising:

adding a bulking agent and/or a sweetener agent to the oil-in-water emulsion; and

pasteurizing or commercially sterilizing the oil-in-water emulsion.

3. The process according to claim 2 , wherein the bulking agent comprises maltodextrin, and the sweetener agent is selected from the group consisting of sugar, a combination of carbohydrates and fibers, and combinations thereof.

4. The process according to claim 1 , further comprising drying the oil-in-water emulsion to provide the plant seed based composition.

5. The process according to claim 1 , further comprising:

High Temperature/Short Time (HTST) or Ultra-High Temperature (UHT) treatment of the oil-in-water emulsion using either a direct or indirect process; and

filling on a clean fill, ultra clean fill (ESL) or aseptic filler.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein one or more emulsifiers are added in a step selected from the group consisting of:

to the first composition in step a);

to the aqueous component in step b);

during the mixing in step c);

during the homogenization in step d); and

combinations thereof.

7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the mixing in step a) comprises milling to micronize the plant seed.

8. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the second composition further comprises an additional component selected from the group consisting of skim milk solids, caseinate, whey protein, and combinations thereof.

9. The process according to claim 1 , wherein a weight/weight ratio of the plant seed incorporated in the oil and the oil in the first composition of step a) is in a range of 0.01:1-2:1.

10. The process according to claim 9 , wherein the mixed composition obtained in step c) comprises at least 5% (w/w) of the oil comprising the micronized plant seed therein.

11. The process according to claim 9 , wherein the mixed composition obtained in step c) comprises:

5-50% (w/w) of the oil comprising the micronized plant seed incorporated therein, wherein the micronized plant seed constitutes 2.5-70% of the total weight of the oil comprising the micronized plant seed incorporated therein;

1-50% (w/w) of one or more protein components; and

5-70% (w/w) of a sugar source.

12. A creamer obtainable according to the process of claim 1 .

13. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the high oleic oil is selected from the group consisting of a high oleic soybean oil, a high oleic canola oil, a high oleic safflower oil, a high oleic sunflower oil, and combinations thereof.

14. The method according to claim 1 further comprising drying the creamer to produce a powder creamer.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the creamer is a liquid creamer.