Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Protein – amino acid – or yeast containing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-22
2001-02-20
Hendricks, K. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Protein, amino acid, or yeast containing
C426S580000, C426S801000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06190724
ABSTRACT:
The invention concerns a protein composition, an baby food or infant formula, respectively, containing this protein composition and the use of this protein composition for the production of baby foods or infant formulas, respectively.
For the production of baby foods, in particular milk baby foods or infant milk formulas, respectively, inter alia cow's milk or components from cow's milk are used. These include for example cow's milk proteins (caseins and whey proteins). Now cow's milk proteins differ considerably from those of human milk. One of the fundamental differences is the ratio of caseins and whey proteins. Thus cow's milk has a whey protein/casein ratio of ca. 20:80, while in human milk this ratio is about 60:40 (50:50). Moreover, not only is there a difference in the whey protein/casein ratio, but also the individual whey proteins and caseins differ from one another. Thus for example human milk contains no &bgr;lactoglobulin and also no &agr;-casein. However in cow's milk these proteins make up ca. 50% of the total protein. In contrast to this, human milk protein contains ca. 25% of so-called immunological proteins, such as lactoferrin and secretory immunoglobulin A (sigA). Further differences between human and bovine proteins, even when they are identical in name, consist in the amino acid composition, in the 3-dimensional structure and in the chemical composition. Thus for example human &kgr;-casein contains about 40% carbohydrates and bovine &kgr;-casein only about 10%. These are only a few of the differences between cow's milk proteins and human milk proteins; many others could also be cited.
These differences have the effect that the amino acid uptake from the gastrointestinal tract of babies from human milk proteins is different to that from the proteins of standard commercial infant formulas, which are also described as formula foods. Such formula foods are “artificially” produced. In other words, the attempt is made to imitate maternal milk as “exactly” as possible, starting from animal and/or plant starting materials, these being in particular proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
The qualitative differences between proteins in formula foods and human milk proteins i.e. mother's milk proteins overall result in a different course of digestion. Thus for example the residence time of the human milk proteins in the stomach is shorter than that of the proteins from formula foods. On the other hand, the enzymatic breakdown of the human milk proteins in the small intestine takes place considerably more slowly than that of the proteins from formula foods. As a result, the supply of proteins, peptides and amino acids in the different sections of the gastrointestinal tract during digestion of proteins from formula foods does not correspond to the supply during the digestion of human milk proteins. This specific supply for the individual sections of the gastrointestinal tract is an important signal for the morphological and functional development of the intestinal section concerned. If the processes of the digestion of proteins from formula foods and mother's milk proteins are not matched, there is different development of important intestinal functions. These differences can persist into adulthood, and create the basis for increased susceptibility to gastrointestinal diseases.
It has now been found that during a cycle from one meal to the next the uptake of amino acids from proteins from formula foods corresponds to the amino acid uptake from a food with the same amount of human milk proteins at practically no time in the amino acid uptake cycle. The amount and mutual ratio of the individual amino acids taken up affect not only the amino acid supply to the tissues (and hence the tissue-specific protein synthesis) but also, as signals for the secretion of hormones and enterohormones, play an important part in the regulation of the postprandial metabolism. The morphological development of the brain, the morphological maturation and functional determination of the gastrointestinal tract and also the differentiation of the metabolism are completed in the initial months of life. Hence the regulation processes triggered by the food during this time are of great significance for subsequent development. Because of the chronological determination of the development phases, this applies particularly for the brain.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide protein mixtures for an infant formula (baby food) or formula food which creates just as good metabolic conditions for the normal development of the child as feeding with mother's milk proteins i.e. human milk proteins.
This purpose is accomplished through the teaching of the claims.
In the protein composition and formula food (i.e. baby food) according to the invention, normal proteins, which are already at present used for the production of formula foods, are mixed with proteins modified in the following way, so that the chronological course of the digestion in the different sections of the gastrointestinal tract is essentially matched qualitatively and quantitatively to the conditions during the digestion of mother's milk proteins. In other words, in the production of the protein compositions and formula foods according to the invention, modified and unmodified proteins are mixed in such a way that the digestion of the protein mixture essentially corresponds both in chronological course and also in quantity and quality to that of mother's milk proteins.
As raw materials and thus as proteins for the baby foods according to the invention, all previously known protein sources, for example proteins, oligopeptides, dipeptides and/or free amino acids, which can also be present in the form of their salts, hydrochlorides, etc., can be used. Thus, bovine caseins, whey proteins and individual proteins thereof (&agr;-casein, &bgr;-casein, &kgr;-casein, &agr;-lactalbumin, &bgr;-lactoglobulin, serum albumin, lactoferrin, immunoglobulins) and combinations of these proteins and also mixtures with other proteins, such as for example soya proteins, can be used. Other proteins of animal or plant origin, which are suitable for human nutrition, can also be used. These proteins are normal proteins, which in the present documents are described as modified proteins.
Now according to the invention, as well as the normal, unmodified proteins, modified proteins are also present. Such modified proteins are obtained by modification of such normal proteins by known methods, as a result of which the process of the digestion of these modified proteins is slowed. In other words, the kinetics of the digestion are altered, so that the digestion takes place more slowly.
As normal proteins or starting proteins which can be modified according to the invention, the following can be used: bovine caseins, whey proteins and individual proteins thereof (&agr;-casein, &bgr;-casein, &kgr;-casein, &agr;-lactalbumin, &bgr;-lactoglobulin, serum albumin, lactoferrin, immunoglobulins), specific combinations of these proteins and also mixtures with other proteins, such as for example soya proteins. Other proteins of animal or plant origin, which are suitable for human nutrition, are also possible.
The modification of such proteins can be performed by the following methods:
1) Polymerisation and/or crosslinking of the proteins by means of enzymes such as transglutaminases (Matheis, G., Whitaker, J. R.; A Review: Enzymatic cross-linking of proteins applicable to foods; J Food Biochemistry 11, 309-327, 1987 or Ikura, K., Sasaki, R., Motoki, M.; Use of transglutaminase in quality improvement and processing of food proteins. Comments Agric. & Food Chemistry 2 (6), 389-407 (1992).).
2) Introduction of defined amino acids (i.e. those amino acids, in particular proline, and amino acid sequences, in particular proline-containing, which slow the digestive process) into the protein chain by genetic engineering processes (WO 9502692-A1 & WO 9428126-A2) or with the help of the so-called plastein reaction (Lorenzen, C. P.
Bohm Gunther
Georgi Gilda
Sawatzki Gunther
Schweikhardt Friedrich
Bacon & Thomas
Hendricks K.
N.V. Nutricia
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