Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Product with added plural inorganic mineral or element...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-02
2004-04-13
Pratt, Helen (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Product with added plural inorganic mineral or element...
C426S549000, C426S575000, C426S602000, C426S658000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06720016
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to flavor compositions needed in producing stable and transparent drinks, in particular, carbonate-free transparent drinks (carbonate-free soft drinks, near water, etc.) and stable and transparent drinks with the use of the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Sucrose fatty acid esters have been frequently employed as emulsion dispersants for foods. In the field of food industry, in particular, sucrose fatty acid esters are the only synthetic surfactants with a high HLB authorized at present under the Food Sanitation Law and, therefore, have been used over an extremely broad range. For example, sucrose fatty acid esters are employed as excellent emulsion dispersants in emulsifying oil-soluble carotenoids, azo dyes or natural dyes dissolved in animal or vegetable oils to give water-dispersible colorants.
However, these emulsifiers thus prepared have a serious disadvantage in practice. That is to say, they can be easily emulsified and dispersed in water within the neutral range and thus cause coloration but show turbidity or precipitation in water within the acidic region. To solve this problem, JP-A-58-103325 has disclosed a process for producing a coloring preparation easily dispersible in an acidic solution which contains lecithin and/or a polyglycerol fatty acid ester in a system being emulsified and dispersed with a sucrose fatty acid ester (the term “JP-A” as used herein means an “unexamined published Japanese patent application”).
On the other hand, JP-B-5-11937 (the term “JP-B” as used herein means an “examined Japanese patent publication”) has disclosed a coffee drink containing milk components together with lysolecithin which can sustain a high emulsion stability over a long period of time and in which the extermination ratio of thermostable bacterial spores can be increased without elevating the sterilization temperature or the germination and propagation of thermostable bacterial spores can be inhibited even though the thus sterilized coffee drink containing milk component is stored at a high temperature. In JP-B-5-11937, it is disclosed that the lysolecithin contains at least 50% by weight of the lysolecithin components in the total phospholipids and 0.01 to 0.5% by weight of lysolecithin is added to the coffee drink containing milk components.
Moreover, JP-A-7-123956 has proposed a bacteriostatic agent for coffee drinks containing milk components which contains lysolecithin with an organic acid monoglyceride. In this case, the lysolecithin is one member selected from among lysophosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidylethanolamine, lysophosphatidylinositol and lysophosphatidylserine or a mixture of two or more thereof.
JP-A-7-123958 has disclosed a food product put in a thermally sterilized sealed packaged container and a process for producing the same wherein lysolecithin is added to thereby improve a method for inhibiting the germination and propagation of thermostable bacterial spores by using a large amount of a sucrose fatty acid ester together with a sorbitan fatty acid ester.
JP-A-8-182485 has suggested that oil-off arising during storage of milk drinks at a high temperature in, for example, a hot vending machine can be effectively prevented by adding an emulsifier containing a sucrose fatty acid ester having an HLB of 15 to 16 and enzyme-treated lecithin or enzyme-hydrolyzed lecithin. Furthermore, JP-A-9-275948 has disclosed a liquid food having an improved flavor which contains enzyme-treated or enzyme-hydrolyzed lecithin, fats and oils and polyglycerol fatty acid ester. These additives can improve the flavor and prevent insoluble solid matters (tea, useful microbial cells, herb drug powder, etc.) from sedimentation in the liquid food containing the same.
However, the liquid food as described above contains insoluble solid matters and hardly soluble components (milk products, etc.). The published application as cited above aims at preventing the sedimentation of these components, inhibiting the germination and propagation of thermostable bacterial spores, preventing oil-off and improving the flavor. Namely, it relates neither to a flavor nor a transparent drink containing a flavor as in the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a flavor composition which is soluble to give a transparent solution without forming any insoluble precipitate or causing turbidity, when added to a transparent drink to thereby impart a flavor thereto.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a stable and transparent drink wherein the propagation of microorganisms originating in the water, sugars and other food materials constituting the drink or microorganisms invading thereinto in the course of the production can be inhibited.
To solve the above-described problems, the present inventors have conducted intensive studies. As a result, they have found out that a stable and transparent drink can be obtained by using a flavor combined with an emulsifier having an antibacterial effect, etc., thus completing the present invention.
When only a sucrose fatty acid ester is added to an acidic drink, the resulting drink does not become transparent, but shows precipitation or cloudiness. Especially in the case of a sucrose fatty acid ester having a lower monoester content, higher precipitation and cloudiness are found. According to the present invention, lysolecithin is used in combination with a sucrose fatty acid ester which is added to an acidic drink, which makes it possible to prevent the sucrose fatty acid ester from precipitating. Moreover, it has been found that the use of lysolecithin in combination can prevent precipitation of a sucrose fatty acid ester having a low monoester content.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a flavor composition which contains a flavor, a sucrose fatty acid ester having an HLB of 16 to 19 and lysolecithin optionally together with a polyglycerol fatty acid ester having an HLB of 12 to 15 and/or a monoglycerol fatty acid ester having an HLB of 0 to 1, and a stable and transparent drink containing the same.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The sucrose fatty acid ester having an HLB of 16 to 19 to be used in the present invention is not particularly restricted and those consisting of saturated or unsaturated fatty acids are usually employed therefor. Examples thereof include sucrose esters of saturated fatty acids (lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachic acid, etc.) and unsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, erucic acid, etc.). Among all, sucrose palmitate is preferable therefor.
Although it is said that sucrose fatty acid monoesters have an HLB of 16, i.e., a high solubility in water, sucrose fatty acid esters cannot be provided as a transparent solution because of the diesters and triesters contained therein which are insoluble in water at ordinary temperatures. Accordingly, the monoester purity is an important factor in obtaining a transparent solution. It is preferable to use a sucrose fatty acid ester containing 70% by weight or more, still preferably 95% by weight or more, of monoester. To obtain an aqueous solution having an antibacterial effect, the monoester content serves as an important factor. A higher antibacterial effect can be established at the larger monoester content. In the case of a drink, it is preferable that the monoester content ranges from 10 ppm to 0.1% by weight, though it varies depending on the contaminating bacteria. It is known that no antibacterial effect can be achieved in some cases at a monoester content less than 10 ppm. When its content exceeds 0.1% by weight, on the other hand, there might arise some troubles relating to solubility, i.e., turbidity and precipitation. In a flavor composition, the monoester content generally ranges from 0.5 to 5% by weight, though it varies depending on the addition level to drinks.
The lysolecithin to be used in the present invention is not particularly restricted. For example, use can be made theref
Nagao Masaharu
Yamaguchi Kayoko
Pratt Helen
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
Takasago International Corporation
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