Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Surface coated – fluid encapsulated – laminated solid...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-21
2001-06-19
Cano, Milton (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Surface coated, fluid encapsulated, laminated solid...
C426S302000, C426S442000, C426S474000, C424S439000, C424S489000, C424S490000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06248378
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to the field of small particle formation and more specifically to improvement of foods by the introduction of particles which are very small and uniform in size.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Advances in food technology are improving the foods that are available to consumers and promoting good health both through basic nutrition and through enhanced benefits of food products. Foods are being improved through the reduction or removal of certain components in a food, increasing the amount of certain components normally found in the food, or adding components to a food which are not normally found in the food. Products in which the amount of a component or ingredient naturally or normally present is increased or reduced include breakfast cereals with added bran or dairy products with reduced fat. Products with components or ingredients not normally present to any significant extent include fruit juice with added fiber, bread with added folic acid, and margarine spreads containing fish oils or olive oil.
Foods with components not normally present in those foods has become increasingly popular with the introduction of “functional foods”. A functional food is any non-toxic food or food ingredient that has been altered to provide medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease. Functional foods are similar in appearance to conventional foods that are consumed as part of a “normal” diet, but have additives that demonstrate physiological benefits beyond their nutritive content. These products include genetically engineered “designer” foods, herbal products, and processed products, such as cereals, soups and beverages. Functional food product development reflects a major shift in attitude and an application of current knowledge about diet and health from ‘removing the bad’ (for example, fat, cholesterol and salt) to ‘adding or enhancing the good’ (such as calcium, fiber, antioxidants and botanicals). This has, in turn, paralleled consumer interest in healthy eating. Hollingsworth, P.,
Food Technol.,
1997, 51, 55-8; Giese, J., & Katz, F.,
Food Technol.,
1997, 51, 58-61. Consumers and their demand for an improved quality of life are bringing worldwide growth to the functional food industry.
Currently, a number of functional foods are being offered to consumers, including fortified breads, cereals, juices, and the like. For example, juice containing the patented calcium source FruitCal™ (calcium citrate malate), U.S. Pat. No.4,722,8470, which is more readily absorbable in juice (>35%) than calcium from milk or calcium carbonate supplements, is widely marketed. These fortified juices provide protection against osteoporosis and promote healthy teeth and bones. Certain functional foods are also being introduced to prevent, treat or ameliorate physiological conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypercholesterolemia, and even menopause. For example, breakfast cereals with the compound PHYTROL™ added are marketed as foods to control cholesterol.
The opportunity for future growth and development of new functional foods worldwide is tremendous. Overwhelming evidence supports the link between diet and optimal health, particularly the prevention of degenerative diseases of aging such as cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, arthritis and stroke. Given the extended life expectancy for those in developed nations and the commensurate increase in healthcare costs associated with treating chronic ageing diseases, there will be more of an emphasis in the future on a preventative rather than a prophylactic approach to healthcare. Diet will play a critical role in this new paradigm.
There is thus a new demand for new methods of improving foods by adding components to these foods to improve nutrient content, reduce the amount or percentage of unwanted components (e.g., fats) or provide functional components that increase the physiological response beyond that of conventional food products.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is directed to production of particles for introduction into food using a stable microjet and a monodisperse aerosol of liquid particles formed when the microjet dissociates. A variety of devices and methods are disclosed which allow for the formation of a stream of a first fluid (e.g. a liquid) characterized by forming a stable capillary microjet over a portion of the stream wherein the microjet portion of the stream is formed by a second fluid (e.g. a gas). The second fluid is preferably in a different state from the first fluid—liquid-gas or gas-liquid combinations. However, the first and second fluids may be two different fluids immiscible in each other.
In preferred embodiments the first fluid is a liquid which forms a food or food additive and the second fluid is a gas which is non-toxic, e.g. air or nitrogen. In a particularly preferred embodiment the first fluid comprised of material which it would be desirable to have in but which can not be added to food for some reason, e.g. bad taste or reacts with the food. The first fluid is surrounded by a second fluid which is also a liquid, but which can coat and encapsulate the first fluid. A third fluid surrounds the second fluid and the third fluid is preferably a gas which focuses the liquid stream to a microjet. The jet will break up into particles where the first fluid (liquid food) is coated with the second fluid (liquid carrier coating). The coating provided by the second fluid keeps the bad taste or reactive effects of the first fluid from having its undesirable effects.
Many preferred embodiments provide a spheric food particle coated with a layer of another material which is non-toxic (e.g. a polymer which is degraded in the G.I.) and may or may not be a food product. The coating material may be a polymer which is maintained in a flowable liquid form until it coats the internal food particle after which the polymer coating is “cured,” polymerized or made non-flowable in some manner, e.g. by exposure to certain light energy, curing agent or a decreased temperature.
Although many specific embodiments described here relate specifically to foods those embodiments are applicable to drugs and nutriceuticals and other materials. Further, the drug embodiments described are applicable to foods, nutriceuticals and other materials.
The stable capillary microjet comprises a diameter d
j
at a given point A in the stream characterized by the formula:
d
j
≅
(
8
ρ
l
Π
2
Δ
P
g
)
1
4
Q
1
2
wherein d
j
is the diameter of the stable microjet, indicates approximately equally to where an acceptable margin of error is ±10%, &rgr;
l
is the density of the liquid and &Dgr;P
g
is change in gas pressure of gas surrounding the stream from the feeding point to the point A, and wherein Q is the flow rate of the focused liquid.
The microjet can have a diameter in the range of from about 1 micron to about 1 mm and a length in the range of from 1 micron to 50 mm. The stable jet is maintained, at least in part, by tangential viscous stresses exerted by the gas on the surface of the jet in an axial direction of the jet. The jet is further characterized by a slightly parabolic axial velocity profile and still further characterized by a Weber number (We) which is greater than 1 with the Weber number being defined by the formula:
We
=
ρ
g
V
g
2
d
γ
wherein the &rgr;
g
is the density of the gas, d is the diameter of the stable microjet, &ggr; is the liquid-gas surface tension, and V
2
g
is the velocity of the gas squared.
Although the Weber number is greater than 1 when a stable microjet is obtained the Weber number should be less than 40 to obtain a desired monodisperse aerosol. Thus, desired results are obtained within the parameters of 1≦We≦40. Monodisperse aerosols of the invention have a high degree of uniformity in particle size. The particles are characterized by having the same diameter with a deviation in diameter from one particle to another in a rang
Bozicevic Karl
Bozicevic Field & Francis LLP
Cano Milton
DeVore Dianna L.
Universidad de Sevilla
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