They Invented What? (No. 52)

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U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,677: Process for removing flatulence-causing sugars from bean products.

MD Note: I think we would all agree this solves a long-felt need. 

Abstract:

Flatulence-causing sugars can be removed from beans that contain such sugars through ultrafiltration. An ultrafiltration membrane system with a molecular weight cut-off between 30,000 and 100,000 daltons will permit the sugars to permeate through it, but it will retain most proteins.

Claims:

What is claimed is:

1. A method of processing navy beans, including the steps of:

(a) grinding the beans to produce a particulate bean product;

(b) suspending the particulate bean product in water to produce a filterable feed, the water to bean product ratio being between approximately 10:1 and 60:1 by weight;

(c) ultrafiltering the filterable feed using an ultrafiltration membrane system which as a molecular weight cut-off between approximately 30,000 and 100,000 daltons, thereby producing a permeate and a retentate…

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