Granted Patent B2

US 12,349,705 · App. 17/677,297 · Granted Jul 8, 2025

Inventors: Maurice Moragne (Mooresville, NC); Humberto Wedderburn Morales (Panama, PA); David H. Skea (Independence, KY); Julio Cesar Vasquez (Fairburn, GA); Teresa S. Cogswell (Overland Park, KS)

Assignee: INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURE GROUP, LLC

A23L19/01A23G1/34A23G1/48A23L5/15A23V2002/00

Abstract

Claims (21)

1. A composition for a cocoa alternative comprising roasted green banana flour formed from a dried green banana slurry made from peeled mashed green bananas and/or roasted plantain flour formed from a dried plantain slurry made from peeled mashed plantains;

wherein the roasted green banana flour or the roasted plantain flour were roasted one or more times independently for a total combined time of 8 minutes to 144 minutes at a temperature from 128° C. to 264° C.

2. A composition comprising cocoa powder and a roasted flour comprising roasted green banana flour formed from a dried green banana slurry made from peeled mashed green bananas and/or roasted plantain flour formed from a dried plantain slurry made from peeled mashed plantains, the cocoa powder and the roasted flour having a combined total mass, the roasted flour having a mass from 5% to 90% of the combined total mass.

3. A method of preparing a composition for a cocoa alternative comprising:

peeling green bananas and/or plantains, mashing the peeled green bananas and/or plantains to form a slurry thereof, drying the slurry to form a green banana flour and/or a plantain flour, and roasting the green banana flour and/or the plantain flour until the roasted green banana flour and/or plantain flour comprises a sensory attribute of a cocoa aroma;

wherein the roasted green banana flour or the roasted plantain flour were roasted one or more times independently for a total combined time of 8 minutes to 144 minutes at a temperature from 128° C. to 264° C.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the roasted green banana flour is made from native green banana flour.

5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the roasted green banana flour is made from pre-gelatinized green banana flour.

6. The composition of claim 2 , wherein the roasted flour has a mass from 5% to 75% of the combined total mass.

7. The composition of claim 2 , wherein the roasted flour has a mass from 5% to 50% of the combined total mass.

8. The composition of claim 2 , wherein the roasted flour has a mass from 10% to 50% of the combined total mass.

9. The composition of claim 2 , wherein the roasted flour has a mass from 10% to 25% of the combined total mass.

10. The composition of claim 2 , wherein the composition comprises roasted green banana flour made from green bananas having less than 2% sugar content.

11. The composition of claim 2 , wherein the roasted flour comprises green bananas in Stage 1 and/or Stage 2 of ripeness.

12. The composition of claim 2 , further comprising one or both of: sugar not present in or derived from the roasted flour or the cocoa powder; and/or dairy.

13. The composition of claim 2 , wherein the roasted flour comprises roasted green banana flour made from native green banana flour and/or roasted plantain flour made from native plantain flour.

14. The composition of claim 2 , wherein the roasted flour comprises roasted green banana flour made from pre-gelatinized green banana flour and/or roasted plantain flour made from pre-gelatinized plantain flour.

15. The method of claim 3 , wherein the roasting is performed for only one continuous period of time.

16. The method of claim 3 , wherein before the roasting the flour has a pH of at least 5.0.

17. The method of claim 3 , further comprising pre-gelatinizing the green bananas and/or plantains before the mashing.

18. The method of claim 3 , further comprising allowing the green bananas to develop a Stage 1 and/or Stage 2 of ripeness before mashing.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (156)