IP Library Granted Patent US 12,458,047
Granted Patent B2
US 12,458,047 · App. 17/913,230 · Granted Nov 4, 2025

Vegetable milk fermented food product, and method for manufacturing same

Inventors: Masanobu Yanagisawa (Sakai, JP); Naoya Ikenaga (Wakayama, JP)
Assignee: FUJI OIL CO., LTD.
A23L11/50A23L11/65A23L29/30
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,458,047
App. No.
17/913,230
Granted
Nov 4, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vegetable milk fermented food product having a creamy mouthfeel and having the same smoothness as yogurt, the vegetable milk fermented food product being such that it is possible to user EPS-producing bacteria of a wider variety of types irrespective of whether said bacteria have α-galactosidase activity. A method for manufacturing a vegetable milk fermented food product by inoculating a vegetable-milk-containing fermented raw material with lactic acid bacteria and prompting lactic acid fermentation to occur, wherein the method for manufacturing a vegetable milk fermented food product is characterized in comprising: A) a decomposition step in which α-galactosidase is caused to act on vegetable milk to which a saccharide including galactose bonded by an α-glycoside bond has been added as a constituent sugar, or on vegetable milk containing said saccharide, and the saccharide is hydrolyzed; and B) a fermentation step, performed after or simultaneously with the decomposition step, in which the hydrolyzed saccharide is fermented by lactic acid bacteria having extracellular-polysaccharide-producing capabilities.

Claims (21)

1 . A method for producing a fermented plant-based milk food comprising inoculating a lactic acid bacterium into a fermentation raw material containing a plant-based milk and subjecting the plant-based milk to lactic acid fermentation,

the method comprising:

(A) a decomposition step comprising adding a sugar containing galactose bound with an α-glycosidic bond as a constituent sugar to a plant-based milk and hydrolyzing the sugar in the plant-based milk by activating a α-galactosidase on the plant-based milk to obtain a hydrolyzed plant-based milk; and

(B) a fermentation step comprising fermenting the hydrolyzed plant-based milk with a lactic acid bacterium having extracellular polysaccharide-producing ability after the decomposition step or together with the decomposition step.

2 . The method for producing a fermented plant-based milk food according to claim 1 , wherein the decomposition step is performed by fermentation with a microorganism having α-galactosidase activity.

3 . The method for producing a fermented plant-based milk food according to claim 1 , wherein the decomposition step is performed with an enzyme having α-galactosidase activity.

4 . The method for producing a fermented plant-based milk food according to claim 1 , further comprising a pasteurization step prior to the fermentation step (B) and after the decomposition step (A).

5 . The method for producing a fermented plant-based milk food according to claim 1 , wherein the sugar containing galactose as a constituent sugar is raffinose or stachyose.

6 . The method for producing a fermented plant-based milk food according to claim 1 , wherein the plant-based milk is a bean milk.

7 . A method for producing a plant-based milk for a fermentation raw material using a lactic acid bacterium having an extracellular polysaccharide-producing ability,

the method comprising:

adding a sugar containing galactose bound with an α-glycosidic bond as a constituent sugar to a plant-based milk and hydrolyzing the sugar in the plant-based milk with α-galactosidase by activating a α-galactosidase on the plant-based milk, and

then subjecting the plant-based milk to a pasteurization.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the hydrolysis is performed by fermentation with a microorganism having α-galactosidase activity.

9 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the hydrolysis is performed by treating with an enzyme having α-galactosidase activity.

10 . The method for producing a plant-based milk according to claim 7 , wherein the sugar containing galactose as a constituent sugar is raffinose or stachyose.

11 . The method for producing a plant-based milk according to claim 7 , wherein the plant-based milk is a bean milk.

12 . The method for producing a fermented plant-based milk food according to claim 1 , wherein the plant-based milk in the decomposition step comprises 0.1 to 10% by weight of sugar after adding the sugar containing galactose bound with an α-glycosidic bond as a constituent sugar.

13 . The method for producing a fermented plant-based milk food according to claim 7 , wherein the plant-based milk comprises 0.1 to 10% by weight of sugar after adding the sugar containing galactose bound with an α-glycosidic bond as a constituent sugar.

14 . The method for producing a fermented plant-based milk food according to claim 1 , wherein the lactic acid bacterium does not have α-galactosidase activity.

15 . The method for producing a fermented plant-based milk food according to claim 7 , wherein the lactic acid bacterium does not have α-galactosidase activity.

Assignments (2)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Sep 29, 2025
From: FUJI OIL HOLDINGS INC.
To: FUJI OIL CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 072406/0056 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 21, 2022
From: YANAGISAWA, MASANOBU; IKENAGA, NAOYA
To: FUJI OIL HOLDINGS INC.
Reel/Frame 061497/0429 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2020-055397 · Mar 26, 2020 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230337705A1 · Oct 26, 2023
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