Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Beverage or beverage concentrate
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-20
2002-07-09
Pratt, Helen (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Beverage or beverage concentrate
C426S594000, C426S638000, C426S648000, C424S195110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06416806
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Coffee is heavily consumed around the world for various reasons, one of which is the enhanced alertness provided by the caffeine contained in coffee. Unfortunately, caffeine is quite addictive.
Approximately 2.1 billion cups of coffee are consumed per day worldwide, with four hundred twenty million cups being consumed daily in the United States.
Numerous other products such as chocolate, cola, and the like also contain caffeine and are consumed in large quantities.
Studies have raised concerns about caffeine consumption and caffeine addiction can lead to suffering from tremors, headache, impulsiveness, poor performance, loss of focus, loss of self-control, mood swings, irritability, panic, insomnia, birth defects, agitation, depression, loss of color, haggard appearance, loss of appetite, gastric manifestations, acid reflux, heart palpitations, decrease of cerebral blood flow, memory loss and more.
One response to this type of problem has been the development of decaffeinated coffee. However, decaffeinated coffee does not provide the desired stimulant effects which are provided by caffeine, despite the above-listed disadvantages.
It is desirable to provide a product which provides the perceived benefits of caffeine in terms of stimulant effects or increased alertness, while avoiding some or all of the drawbacks commonly associated with caffeine.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a caffeine replacement composition.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a composition which provides for increased alertness over relatively extended periods of time.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide various food products including beverages, chocolate and the like which have alertness enhancing qualities without the known drawbacks of caffeine.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear herein below.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects and advantages have been readily attained.
According to the invention, a caffeine replacement composition is provided, which comprises
Ginkgo biloba
extract and kudzu extract. The
Ginkgo biloba
extract preferably contains flavoglycosides and terpene lactones at particular ratios of one to the other. The kudzu extract preferably comprises standardized extract containing puerarin.
Numerous additional ingredients can be incorporated into the composition for additional benefits and/or flavor reasons. For example, polyphenols can readily be incorporated into compositions and food products in accordance with the present invention.
In further accordance with the present invention, a liquid beverage composition is provided which comprises a liquid base suitable for human consumption,
Ginkgo biloba
extract and kudzu extract. The beverage composition may be in concentrated strength or in final beverage strength, and may further include a wide variety of additional ingredients.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The invention relates to a caffeine replacement composition and various food products such as beverages and the like which incorporate same.
As set forth above, a wide variety of food products include caffeine which is desirable to many people for the alertness enhancing affect of the caffeine. In light of the well documented disadvantages of caffeine and caffeine addiction, the present invention is intended to provide an herbal replacement which provides similar alertness enhancement without the disadvantages. Further, compositions are provided as coffee replacement compositions, both in concentrated and diluted or beverage-strength form, which possess substantially the same flavor characteristics as coffee and provide substantially similar alertness benefits through a combination of herbal extracts selected according to the invention.
In accordance with the present invention, the two critical ingredients to the caffeine replacement composition are
Ginkgo biloba
extract and kudzu extract which, in appropriate proportions and ratios to each other, serve to advantageously enhance alertness of a person consuming same, typically for approximately the same period of time as an equal serving of caffeine.
Ginkgo biloba
is known to provide improved memory and cerebral circulation, and is also advantageous as an anti-oxidant. However,
Ginkgo biloba
does not provide any rapidly occurring alertness enhancement. Further,
Ginkgo biloba
has a very bitter taste and in high doses cannot be tolerated as an ingredient in beverages or other food products. For example, in a six ounce beverage, no more than about 20 milligrams of
Ginkgo biloba
can be tolerated in terms of taste.
Kudzu, which is also known as Pueraria, has a friendly taste and provides almost instant enhancement to alertness. However, this enhancement diminishes quickly and, depending upon the dose, can lose effect within about one half hour to one hour.
It has now been found in accordance with the present invention that a combination of
Ginkgo biloba
and kudzu advantageously serves to moderate the bitter flavor of
Ginkgo biloba
, and the combination serves to provide for an instant and sustained improvement in alertness. The composition according to the invention in typical strengths provides for enhanced alertness for about 2 to 6 hours. This makes the composition surprisingly well suited for use as a caffeine replacement in various food products, especially in a coffee replacement beverage.
The
Ginkgo biloba
extract portion of the present invention is preferably an extract which includes flavoglycosides and, more preferably, which also contains terpene lactones. These extracts can be obtained by a number of different extraction techniques which are well known to the person of ordinary skill in the art. Preferred
Ginkgo biloba
extract contains at least about 2% wt. of said flavoglycosides and at least about 0.05% wt. of said terpene lactones. An ideal
Ginkgo biloba
extract in accordance with the present invention is a standardized
Ginkgo biloba
extract containing between about 10% and about 40%, preferably 24% wt. flavoglycosides, and between about 1% and about 15%, preferably 6% wt. terpene lactones, with the balance consisting of various other crude plant extract material.
The
Ginkgo biloba
extract preferably contains flavoglycosides and terpene lactones at a ratio by weight of flavoglycosides to terpene lactones of between about 0.1 and 100, more preferably between about 0.4 and about 40, still more preferably between about 1 and about 10 and ideally about 4.
The flavoglycosides or flavonoids which are particularly desirable include quercetin, quercetagetin, ginkgetin, biloba, isorhamnetin, kaempferol, rutin, isoginkgetin, ginnol and combinations thereof. The most preferred flavonoids are quercetin, quercetagetin and ginkgetin, preferably in combination.
One excellent source of the desired materials is
Ginkgo biloba
, which is the preferred plant source for obtaining the desired extract. Of course, a number of these flavoglycosides can be obtained from other sources as well. For example, quercetin can be obtained from Crataegus, Aster, Rhododendron, Tagopyrum, Magnolia, Salix,
Zea mays
, Euphoria and the like. Quercetagetin is a derivative of quercetin and can be obtained from the foregoing sources and also Tagetes and Lotus.
The terpene lactones of the present invention are advantageously Ginkgo lactones, most preferably Ginkgolide A, Ginkgolide B, Ginkgolide C, Ginkgolide D, Ginkgolide M and combinations thereof, and
Ginkgo biloba
is an excellent source of these materials.
The kudzu extract is preferably a standardized extract of kudzu which contains at least about 0.1% wt. of puerarin based upon total weight of extract. More preferably, the kudzu extract includes between about 0.1% and about 90% wt. puerarin, and ideally about 30% wt. of puerarin. The kudzu extract is also obtained using extraction techniques which are readily known to the person of ordinary skill in the art.
The kudzu extract contains
Bachman & Lapointe, P.C.
Pratt Helen
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