Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Surface coated – fluid encapsulated – laminated solid... – Dry flake – dry granular – or dry particulate material
Reexamination Certificate
1996-12-20
2001-01-16
Tran, Lien (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Surface coated, fluid encapsulated, laminated solid...
Dry flake, dry granular, or dry particulate material
C426S096000, C426S099000, C426S534000, C426S650000, C426S651000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06174554
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a dry food product comprising encapsulated oil based flavor, and more particularly to dry food products for sauce or gravy which include dried hydrolyzed protein.
BACKGROUND ART
Oil based flavors are used as ingredients in dry mix food bases. The dry food base is used, for example, for liquid food products such as soup bases or gravy mixes. These food bases are mixed with warm liquids such as water or milk and, if necessary, heated to form the liquid food product. The dry food base may also be a seasoning mix which is typically used by sprinkling it onto other food products.
The oil based flavor is, for example, an oil prepared by thermal treatment of fat, oil or fatty acids. Many oil based flavors are sensitive to heat and susceptible to oxidation. In order to prolong the stability of such flavors in commercial products, it is known to trap the oil based flavor in starch products or encapsulations.
Despite these procedures, it has been found that such products deteriorate and generate off-flavors when stored for long periods, for example a year or more. In particular, when the encapsulated oil is part of a dry mix, the encapsulated oil has been found to interact with other ingredients in the dry food base, and deterioration of the oil based flavor will accelerate. Dried soups and gravy bases or seasonings mixes usually include hydrolyzed proteins. The presence of hydrolyzed proteins in such products has been found to have a deteriorating effect on the encapsulated oil. Thus, improvements in this area are desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a dry food base comprising a polysaccharide encapsulated oil based flavor which includes an edible coating thereon in an amount effective to delay release of the flavor during storage.
The edible coating preferably comprises a lipid, a gum, such as carrageenan gum, or mixtures thereof. The polysaccharide may be a starch, a modified starch, a maltodextrin or mixtures thereof. Also, silica can be added in an amount effective to enhance flowability of the dry food base.
The amount of edible coating may be between about 0.5 and 50 grams per kilogram of encapsulated oil based flavor. When a carrageenan gum is used as the edible coating, the amount is preferably between about 0.5 and 2.5 grams per kilogram of encapsulated oil based flavor.
Typically, the dry food base also contains hydrolyzed protein, but the coated product remains stable during storage.
Another aspect of the invention is a method for delaying release of flavor during storage from a dry food base which comprises forming a polysaccharide encapsulated oil based flavor, and coating the polysaccharide encapsulated oil with an edible coating in an amount effective to delay release of the flavor during storage of the dry food base. In this method, the polysaccharide encapsulated oil flavor is advantageously prepared by forming a mixture comprising about 1 to 20 percent by weight of an oil based flavor, about 8 to 33 percent by weight of a starch, about 8 to 33 percent by weight of a maltodextrin, and water; and then spray drying the mixture to form the polysaccharide encapsulated oil based flavor. The edible coating materials and amounts applied would be the same as described above.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the present invention, the term “dry food base” is used to define a product which can be used for soup, gravy and sauce, bouillon, past savory bases, or seasoning. The dry food base may be mixed with liquid to form a liquid food product, for example, by adding warm or hot water, milk products, soups, etc. The dry food base may be used to flavor, enhance or season the flavor of a food product, such as by sprinkling the mix thereon. The dry food base may be compacted in lumps or cubes or may be in powder form. Thus, the dry food base according to the invention will have a moisture content of about 1 to 6% by weight.
The oil based flavors are generally based on fats, oils or fatty acids which have been subjected to a conventional thermal treatment. One example of an oil based flavor is a flavor based upon thermally treated fatty acids. This thermal treatment is made, for example, by distillation and controlled combustion. Thermal treatments of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,104,672 and 5,079,017, the content of each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference thereto for further disclosure of such thermal treatments.
Preferably, the flavor is released within about ten seconds in hot (i.e., 60 to 80° C.) water. Advantageously, the flavor is designed to remain stable under household conditions, with the product not being sealed in a protective package.
The polysaccharide encapsulation material is preferably a starch, a modified starch, a maltodextrin or a combination thereof. These materials are generally known to one of ordinary skill in the art and need not be further described herein.
Encapsulation of the oil based flavor may be achieved by forming a mixture of the polysaccharide encapsulation material, water, and the oil based flavor, and then by spray drying the mixture. Alternatively, the oil based flavor may be sprayed into a rotary pan containing the polysaccharide material so as to form capsules prior to curing the capsules to their final state. The encapsulation may also be generated by extruding the oil based flavor and polysaccharide material and then cutting the extrudate to small particles. The encapsulation of the oil based flavor may also be achieved by a conventional spray-drying method or by spraying a mixture of oil based flavor and polysaccharide material into a chamber that contains another portion of the polysaccharide material while hot air is circulated in the chamber. The hot air agitates the particles to facilitate relatively uniform contact of the sprayed material on the particles and also helps to dry the flavor.
The relative amounts of the components in the encapsulated oil based flavor can vary over wide ranges. The oil based flavor is typically found in the mixture before encapsulation at an amount of about 1 to 20 percent by weight, with about 6 to 14 percent being preferred. The amount of starch will generally be in the range of about 8 to 33 and preferably about 15 to 25 percent by weight. The amount of maltodextrin would be about the same as the amount of starch. Water typically represents the remainder of mixture.
After the flavor is encapsulated, an edible coating is applied onto the flavor capsules. This coating preferably comprises a lipid, gum or combination thereof. When a lipid is used, it is preferred to use one that has a relatively low melting point of about 40 to 70° C. Advantageously, hydrogenated vegetable oil is used. The gums which are suitable in this invention include carrageenans, alginates, pectins or combinations thereof. Other suitable gums include guar gum, locust bean gum and carboxymethyl cellulose (“CMC”). The most preferred gum is carrageenan.
In order to apply the coating, the coating material must first be made into liquid form. This is generally accomplished by heating the material to an appropriate temperature. For the lipids, the melting point of the material must be exceeded to transform the lipid to a liquid which can be sprayed upon the particles. Generally, an amount of about 5 to 50 g liquid lipid per Kg particles is sufficient, with about 15 to 25 g per Kg preferred.
For gums such as carrageenan or the like, a water solution is made by heating the gum to about 85° C. The gum represents about 0.5 to 2.5% by weight of the solution. Typically, about 100 ml of the solution is sprayed onto about 1 Kg of the capsule particles, so that the amount of gum applied to coat the particles is about 0.5 to 2.5 g per Kg. An application of about 1 g gum per Kg of capsules is preferred.
For either embodiment, the edible coating material, in the form of a liquid or solution, is simply sprayed into the chamber after the capsules are formed and while the hot air is circulating. This is done in essentially t
Nestic S.A.
Pennie & Edmonds LLP
Tran Lien
LandOfFree
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