Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Fat or oil is basic ingredient other than butter in emulsion...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-14
2003-10-28
Paden, Carolyn (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Fat or oil is basic ingredient other than butter in emulsion...
C426S602000, C426S658000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06638557
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dry, edible oil and starch composition where the oil contains long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, a method for making the dry composition and foodstuffs which contain the dry composition. The present invention is especially suitable for fish oils and other unsaturated oils and fatty acids.
2. Art Relating to the Invention
Studies have linked long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and especially omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids which are contained in fish oil with multiple medicinal and nutritional functions. These include prevention of coronary heart disease, suppression of platelet-aggregation, decreasing the level of serum cholesterol, treatment of cerebral thrombosis myocardial infraction, as well as others. Thus, there is a desire on the part of the food industry to supplement foodstuffs with PUFA. This is normally done by incorporating an oil high in PUFA into the foodstuff. Fish oil is a main source for these oils, however, plant and microbial liquids are also sources of oils which are high in PUFA.
There are obstacles to the use of fish oils and to employing PUFA in foodstuffs. First, PUFAs are very sensitive to heat, light, and oxygen. They degrade due to oxidation and result in a rancid composition. Fish oils themselves have an unpleasant odor and flavor and are a liquid which makes them unacceptable for a number of dry foodstuffs such as powdered drink mixes, infant formula, health bars, breakfast cereals, baked goods, dressings and dairy products.
To solve these problems, it has been suggested to complex the fish oil or the PUFA with cyclodextrin. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,438,106; 4,564,475; 4,775,749; 4,777,162; 4,831,022; 5,189,149; 6,025,510; and 6,048,557.
These references rely heavily on the inclusion phenomenon that occurs between a guest and the cyclodextrin host. Although cyclodextrins provide excellent protection for their guests, there are recognized drawbacks. For example, there is a limited load of guest substances in the natural one-to-one molecule-to-molecule mechanism associated with cyclodextrin complexation. Normally, there is a 10% to 25% w/w limitation to the amount of oil or its selected components that occur in the complexation product. Also, it is not uncommon to employ organic solvents during either complexation or washing. This introduces a contaminate which must be removed or minimized. Furthermore, because cyclodextrins have a finite cavity size, certain guests bind better than others. Selective binding can occur when not enough cyclodextrin cavities are present for all the molecules of a multi-component guest substance. Finally, the percent of cyclodextrin in PUFA complexes is often as high as 70% or more, thereby leaving a product with only 30% w/w or less of guest.
Our copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/686,695 now U.S. 2003/0044490 employs a unique encapsulating mix which can increase the guest load to 40% w/w, however, the encapsulating mix still relies heavily on cyclodextrin.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It has now been discovered that a dry composition which contains a high load of an oil high in polyunsaturated fatty acid can be made by employing a multi-component starch based matrix which contains little or no cyclodextrin. The matrix comprises a starch hydrolysate, a converted starch and little or no cyclodextrin and/or lecithin. The dry composition of the present invention avoids a number of the problems of the prior art.
First, the present invention has been found to achieve oil loads of about 50% w/w based on the composition. This allows for a high load of oil per unit weight and a corresponding high load of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Also, there is no need for special organic solvents or for precipitation or isolation of the complex from the aqueous solution. The aqueous solution can be dried directly. This provides for a cost savings by decreasing the number of steps necessary for making the dry composition as well as the lack of the organic solvents.
With little or no cyclodextrin used in the composition, encapsulation occurs without a concern for the molecular size of the guest.
One of the unique aspects of the present invention is that the dry composition of oil and starch based matrix is exceptionally stable and the amount of oil in the dry compoosition is greater than the amount of oil in dry products made from cyclodextrin alone or conventional emulsifying starches.
The present invention has also been found to have long term stability in a dry state. This is important for storage purposes.
Finally, by employing conventional starches in the matrix, overall cost is reduced.
Broadly, the present invention entails a dry, stable, edible oil composition comprising:
(a) about 35 to about 55% by weight composition of an oil which contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid; and
(b) about 65 to about 45% by weight composition of a multi-component encapsulating matrix, said matrix comprising:
(1) about 65 to about 35% by weight matrix of a starch hydrolysate having a dextrose equivalent of about 20 to about 100;
(2) about 35 to about 65% by weight matrix of a converted starch selected from the group consisting of a maltodextrin, a thin boiled starch or a combination of maltodextrin and thin boiled starch; and
(3) about 0 to about 15% by weight matrix of a cyclodextrin; and
(4) about 0 to about 15% by weight matrix of a lecithin.
The method for making the dry, stable, edible oil composition of the present invention comprises:
(a) forming an aqueous slurry of a multi-component encapsulating matrix having a solids content of about 40 to about 70% by weight, wherein said multi-component encapsulating matrix comprises:
(1) about 65 to about 35% by weight matrix of a starch hydrolysate having a dextrose equivalent of about 20 to about 100;
(2) about 35 to about 65% by weight matrix of a converted starch selected from the group consisting of a maltodextrin, a thin boiled starch or a combination of maltodextrin and thin boiled starch; and
(3) about 0 to about 15% by weight matrix of a cyclodextrin; and
(4) about 0 to about 15% by weight matrix of a lecithin;
(b) adding about 35 to about 55% by weight dry composition, an oil which contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid to said slurry;
(c) mixing said slurry and oil to form an oil-in-water emulsion;
(d) drying said emulsion to obtain a dry, stable, edible oil composition comprising said oil and said matrix.
Foodstuffs which employ the dry, stable, edible oil composition of the present invention include gelatin and pudding, sauce mixes, dietary supplements, candy, jelly, powdered beverage mixes, meats, infant formula, baked goods, dairy products, breakfast cereals, health bars, and the like.
In order to formulate a foodstuff with the dry, stable, edible oil composition of the present invention, the foodstuff is made in a conventional manner except that the dry, edible oil composition of the present invention is added during formulation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The dry, stable edible oil composition comprises an edible oil and a multi-component encapsulating starch base matrix.
Sources of the oil which contain polyunsaturated fatty acids and can be employed in the present invention include fish oil, plant oil, microbial oil and animal fats and oils which contain one or more polyunsaturated fatty acids. Plant or vegetable oils include black current oil, wheat germ oil, borage oil, flax seed, evening primrose oil, linseed oil, sunflower oil, nut oil and olive oil. Fish oils for use in the present invention include oils from mackerel, trout, herring, tuna, salmon, cod, menhaden and sardines. Other animal sources include egg yolks. Microbial sources include fungus such as fungus from the order of Mucorales or genus Mortierella. Algal sources can also be used in the present invention.
The polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) which are contained within these oils and which are employed in the present invention include C18, C20 and C22, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty a
Hedges Allan
Qi Helena
Remmert Mike
Shieh Wen
Cerestar Holding B.V.
Muserlian Lucas and Mercanti
Paden Carolyn
LandOfFree
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