Courtesy: New Orleans Times Picayune
New Orleans: If you’re looking for a low-fat peanut butter that tastes like the real thing, you may be closer than you think. A New Orleans food chemist is on his way to the patent office with one that contains 90% peanuts and 30% less fat than other types. Best of all, it tastes good and has the consistency of regular peanut butter. Harmeet Singh Guraya developed it at the Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans, one of four such centers in the country run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Guraya’s product is not short on peanuts like low-fat peanut spreads, so named because they don’t contain the federally required 90% peanuts. His product is also high in protein. “Regular peanut butter is 50% fat by weight and 25% protein by weight,” Guraya said, “Our peanut butter is 35% fat and 35% protein by weight. “Spreads usually trim fat and flavor by adding bulking agents to replace the fatty peanuts. To make up for a lack of peanut taste, some are too sweet, Guraya said, and most are runny and sticky.
Guraya’s secret now before the U.S. Patent Office is a process to modify defatted peanut flour to make creamy low-fat peanut butter. Peanuts were defatted for the first time at the research center, which was established in New Orleans’ City Park in 1941 on Robert E, Lee at Wisner Boulevard. Other revolutionary discoveries made there include permanent-press for fabrics and frozen concentrated orange juice.
Since peanuts were defatted, they have become a staple on grocery shelves. Their ground form, or flour, is a main ingredient in low-fat peanut butter. The difficulty facing Guraya shortly after his arrival here last year was how to eliminate the grittiness that the flour gave to the peanut butter. About two months ago, he found the solution, which contains no chemical agents and is economically feasible to develop. At an informal tasting with Guraya and his research leader, Elaine Champagne, similar Products from two companies failed to measure up (6 Guraya’s, ° The son of a renowned scientist, Sardul S. Guraya, who is a reproductive physiologist living in India, Guraya completed his doctorate in food science and technology last year’ al the University of Georgia. He was born in Kansas and raised in India. “I love to do this kind of work because it helps the farmer,” he said. “I love to” develop new food products. Even at home I like to cook up stuff. My wife (Raveen Kaur, a physician) always throws me out of the kitchen because I mess it up.”
His next step is to look for an Industry partner to manufacture it. “We want (0 give consumers more food value for their money in a low-fat product, with more protein instead of fillers,” World Sikh News thanks S. Amole’ Singh (New Orleans) for sharing this piece of news with the readers of World Sikh News.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 26, 1996
