Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Noncarbohydrate sweetener or composition containing same
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-14
2004-03-16
Wong, Leslie (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Noncarbohydrate sweetener or composition containing same
C426S453000, C426S454000, C426S658000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06706304
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a highly soluble sweetener granule (i.e., granular sweetener or granulated sweetener) containing Aspartame (hereinafter abbreviated as “APM”) and Acesulfame K (hereinafter abbreviated as “ACE-K”) as active ingredients.
BACKGROUND ART
It is reported that the level of sweetness of APM which is an amino acid-based synthetic sweetener, is about 200 times that of sucrose in terms of weight ratio (Japanese Patent Application Publication (Kokoku) No. 31031/'72). When compared with sucrose which is regarded as a standard for evaluating sweetness characteristics, the profile of sweetness characteristics of APM is of such that it is weak in early taste (which means that the sweetener when placed in the mouth does not taste sweet so early as sucrose does), whereas it is strong in late taste (which means that the sweetener when placed in the mouth tastes sweet later than sucrose does). Accordingly, various approaches for the improvement of the sweetness profile of APM have been proposed mainly in terms of the late taste (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (Kokai) Nos. 148255/'81, 141760/'83, 220668/'83 and the like), and a method for obtaining a more natural sweetness profile which is closer to that of sucrose, for example, by using APM in combination with sucrose has been also proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (Kokai) No. 152862/'82).
On the other hand, ACE-K is also a synthetic sweetener having a sweetness level of about 200 times that of sucrose, like APM, but has such further poorer sweetness profile that it is strong in late taste, bitter taste, astringent taste, peculiar taste, and stimulation when compared with APM. Therefore, it has been subjected to various approaches for the improvement, including the use in combination with APM for improving the sweetness profile (U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,068, and corresponding Japanese Patent Application Publication (Kokoku) No. 51262/'84). For example, the Japanese Patent Application Publication discloses the concurrent use of ACE-K and APM in a (weight) ratio of about 1:10 to 10:1, especially about 2:5 to 5:2, which, in turn, provides a sweetness profile closer to that of sucrose than that of either of the two.
Thus, various proposes have been made for improving the sweetness profile of APM, and each has been successful to some extent. Nevertheless, APM involves still such other problem concerning its solubility characteristics that an industrially produced APM powder (crystals) in difficult to dissolve in water (because it has a tendency to form agglomerates (in Japanese, dama) and therefore, is not smooth to dissolve, and even without that, it has a lower rate of dissolution, and the like). The poorer solubility (i.e., poorer dissolution speed) due to such agglomeration and the like leads to the reduction in the production efficiency of food products or beverages to be supplemented with APM for imparting sweetness thereto, including soft drinks, which is, in turn, greatly disadvantageous to the commercial production thereof.
Some approaches for improving the solubility of APM have been proposed, including a method of graining (granulation). However, these approaches are still not satisfactory, e.g., because the solubility needs further improving (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (Kokai) No. 346769/'92, and the like) and because a relatively larger amount of an excipient should be used concomitantly (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (Kokai) Nos. 126855/'74, 19965/'75, 150361/'82, and the like). Incidentally, the concurrent use of ACE-K with APM disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent application Publication (Kokoku) No. 51262/'84 is a concurrent use by merely mixing aqueous solutions of the two components (i.e., an aqueous ACE-K solution and an aqueous APM solution), and there is not made in the patent document any suggestion of the concurrent use of the two components, both in the form of granules, nor any mention of the solubility of either of the two in the granular form.
In view of the prior art discussed above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an excellent method for improving the solubility of APM.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present inventors have made an effort to achieve the object described above and found unexpectedly that when APM is prepared in an admixture with ACE-K into granules, the resultant granules undergo no agglomeration and exhibit a higher dissolution rate as compared with granules consisting of APM alone, i.e., that the overall solubility is improved, thus establishing the present invention.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a granulated sweetener comprising Aspartame and Acesulfame-K as active ingredients, wherein the amount of the Acesulfame-K is 5 to 90% by weight based on the total amount of both the components and wherein the maximum particle size of the granules is about 1,400 &mgr;m or less.
The present invention will now be further described in greater detail below.
(a) Solubility of Original Powders and Single-component Granules
An APM original powder, an ACE-K original powder and granules produced by the method of Example 1 described below were respectively put in a dissolution tester to determine the respective time periods required for dissolution.
In the case of APM, those granules having a maximum particle size of about 1,400 &mgr;m or less required shorter time period for dissolution, as compared with the original powder, i.e., a solubility-improving effect by such granulation was observed, whereas no solubility-improving effect by such granulation was obtained concerning the APM granules having a particle size exceeding about 1,400 &mgr;m. On the contrary, the original powder of ACE-K exhibited an extremely high solubility as it was, and such granulation provided no particular improvement in solubility to the ACE-K (See Experiment 1).
Incidentally, a granulated sweetner comprising APM and ACE-K as active ingredients and having an ACE-K content of 90% by weight or higher is not desirable because the bitter taste characteristic of ACE-K gets evident.
(b) Solubility of Granules of a Mixture (i.e., Granulated Mixture) and a Mixture of Granules
Granules of a mixture of APM and ACE-K produced by the method of Example 1 (granules of mixture), and mixture of APM granules and ACE-K granules (mixture of granules) produced by the same method were respectively put in a dissolution tester to determine the time periods required for dissolution.
The results revealed that, insofar as the maximum particle size of the granules is 1,400 &mgr;m or less, the dissolution rate of the granules of a mixture is always larger than that of the mixture of granules, with the ACE-K content (% by weight of the ACE-K present in the granules of a mixture, and, % by weight of the ACE-K granules present in the mixture of granules) being the same and the particle size being the same, and that the difference in dissolution rate between the two becomes more remarkable as the ACE-K content is increased and as the granule particle size is decreased, i.e., the dissolution-promoting effect of ACE-K on APM becomes more evident (See Experiment 2). The improvement in solubility observed with the granule of a mixture was considered to be due to the granule dissolution/disintegration-promoting effect by ACE-K, in addition to the prevention thereby of agglomeration and the prevention thereby of the floating on the surface of water.
Incidentally, an ACE-K content of 5% by weight or less provides almost no dissolution-promoting effect by ACE-K, while that of 90% by weight or higher causes the bitter taste of the ACE-K to get evident, as has been discussed above.
Therefore, the solubility-improving effect by ACE-K according to the present invention can be achieved using granules of a mixture of APM and ACE-K in which the ACE-K content is 5 to 90% by weight and at the same time, the maximum particle size is about 1,400 &mgr;m or less. Granules having a maximum particle si
Ishida Hirotoshi
Nagai Takeshi
Suzuki Yuichi
Takemoto Tadashi
Ajinomoto Co. Inc.
Wong Leslie
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