Ethanol de-oiling for plant based protein extraction

1. A method for removing oil content from a source material and extracting protein from the source material prior to generating a protein concentrate, the method comprising:

decorticating the source material, the source material having a protein and an oil content therein, the decorticating to remove a cortex from the source material;

creating a flour from the source material having the cortex removed therefrom;

removing at least a portion of the oil content from the flour by generating an ethanol mixture by mixing the flour with ethanol;

extracting a de-oiled flour from the ethanol mixture, including extracting at least a portion of the ethanol from the ethanol mixture, the portion of the ethanol extracted from the ethanol mixture including oil and sugars extracted from the flour;

drying the de-oiled flour using at least one dryer; and

extracting a protein concentrate from the de-oiled flour.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of creating the flour is performed using a roller mill and flaker, whereby the flour includes flakes therein.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

milling the de-oiled flour, which includes milling the flakes therein.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein creating the flour is performed using a flour mill.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the oil content from the flour includes:

mixing the ethanol and flour in a mix tank; and

extracting the de-oiled flour using a decanter centrifuge.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the oil content from the flour is performed using a counter-current extraction unit.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one dryer includes one or more of: an air-flow dryer; a vacuum dryer; and a desolventizing toaster in combination with a vacuum dryer.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

feeding the ethanol extracted from the ethanol mixture, in combination with oil and sugars, to an ethanol recycling unit to extract the ethanol therefrom.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the source material is chickpeas.

10. A method for removing oil content from a source material and extracting protein from the source material prior to generating a protein concentrate, the method comprising:

decorticating the source material, the source material having a protein and an oil content therein, the decorticating to remove a cortex from the source material therefrom;

creating a flour from the source material having the cortex removed therefrom;

removing at least a portion of the oil content from the flour by generating an ethanol mixture by mixing the flour with ethanol;

extracting a de-oiled flour from the ethanol mixture, including extracting at least a portion of the ethanol from the ethanol mixture, the portion of the ethanol extracted from the ethanol mixture including oil and sugars extracted from the flour;

drying the de-oiled flour using at least one dryer; and

extracting a protein concentrate from the de-oiled flour by:

generating an initial alkalized slurry by combining de-oiled flour, water and a base;

generating a solubilized rich protein stream by separating the initial alkalized slurry;

generating a protein precipitate including an acid curd by mixing the solubilized rich protein stream with an acid and separating the acid curd from the protein precipitate;

washing the first protein curd using a wash station to generate a second protein curd;

generating a neutral hydrolyzed protein slurry by mixing the second protein curd with a base and water;

generating a homogenized protein slurry from the protein slurry;

generating a cooled protein slurry by pasteurizing the homogenized protein slurry; and

extracting the protein concentrate from the cooled protein slurry.

11. A system for removing oil content from a source material and extracting protein from the source material prior to generating a protein concentrate, the system comprising:

a decortication device removing cortex from the source material, the source material having a protein and an oil content therein;

a milling device milling the source material having the cortex removed therefrom to create a flour;

an oil removal device removing at least a portion of the oil content from the flour by mixing the flour with ethanol to form an ethanol mixture and extracting a de-oiled flour from the ethanol mixture, including extracting at least a portion of the ethanol from the ethanol mixture, the portion of the ethanol extracted from the ethanol mixture including oil and sugars extracted from the flour;

a dryer drying the de-oiled flour; and

an extracting system for extracting a protein concentrate from the de-oiled flour, the extracting system including:

a first mixer generating an initial alkalized slurry by combining the de-oiled flour, water and a base;

a first separator generating a solubilized rich protein stream by separating the initial alkalized slurry;

a second mixer generating a protein precipitate including an acid curd by mixing the solubilized rich protein stream with an acid;

a second separator separating the acid curd from the protein precipitate;

a washing station operative to wash the first protein curd and generate a second protein curd;

a third mixer generating a neutral hydrolyzed protein slurry by mixing the second protein curd with a base and water;

a homogenizer generating a homogenized protein slurry by homogenizing the protein slurry;

a pasteurizer generating a cooled protein slurry by pasteurizing the homogenized protein slurry; and

an extractor for extracting the protein concentrate from the cooled protein slurry.