PROCESSES FOR THE PREPARATION OF PHOSPHOLIPID-ENRICHED DAIRY PRODUCTS AS NEUTRACEUTICALS FOR THE FORMULATION OF FUNCTIONAL FOODS, AND NEUTRACEUTICAL AND/OR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITIONS THEREOF
The present invention discloses processes for the preparation of phospholipid-enriched dairy products as nutraceuticals for the formulation of functional foods, and nutraceutical and/or pharmaceutical compositions thereof, the processes include the steps of: combining a non-dairy-based PL-containing material with an oil component and water to form a paste removing an excess amount of the water from the paste to form a PL-oil solution and mixing the PL-oil solution with a dairy component, thereby obtaining a PL-enriched dairy product. Preferably, the PL-containing material includes at least one material selected from the group consisting of: a vegetal-derived lecithin, a non-vegetal-derived lecithin, a de-oiled lecithin, a native lecithin-oil solution, and an enzymatically-processed lecithin. Preferably, the PL-oil solution has a weight-to-weight (w-w) concentration of at least about 0.01% of a residual amount of the water to the PL-containing material.
