Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Carbohydrate containing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-24
2002-08-13
Hendricks, Keith (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Carbohydrate containing
C536S123130
Reexamination Certificate
active
06432470
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for improving the aftertaste of sucrose and uses thereof, and more particularly to a method for improving the aftertaste of sucrose characterized in that it comprises incorporating trehalose into sucrose in an amount of 2-12 w/w % to the sucrose, on a dry solid basis (d.s.b.), and saccharide compositions and food products, wherein the aftertaste of sucrose is improved by using the method without lowering the sweetening power of sucrose.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sucrose, a natural sweetener used for a long time, has become to be noticed of its thick taste, which is a main drawback, which causes an unpleasant long-lasting aftertaste, in modern diet styles flooded with food materials and fast foods.
To improve the drawback, for example, Japanese Patent Kokoku No. 44,476/86 proposed a method for improving the aftertaste of sucrose by treating sucrose solutions with ultrasound; the method is scarcely used because of its relatively-low effect for its complexity. The use of a combination of sucrose with other saccharides such as maltose, trehalose, and maltotetraose is known in the food industries as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Kokai No. 319,486/94 and Japanese Patent Kokoku Nos. 77,381/93 and 89,916/95. These other saccharides are low-sweetened sweeteners with a reduced sweetening power of sucrose. On the pretext of fitting to modern feelings, these conventional methods aim to lower the content of sucrose in food products in order to reduce the sweetening power as much as possible and increase the content of total saccharides as high as possible within the margin of the reduced sweetening power, resulting in a relatively-long shelf-life of the food products. Usually, the other saccharides are added to sucrose in an amount of about 40-300 w/w % to the sucrose, d.s.b. In some cases, such use of sucrose hinders the effective high-sweetening power of sucrose, and in many cases, it deteriorates the flavor and taste of sucrose. It has been strongly demanded to improve the aftertaste of sucrose as a drawback while retaining the sweetening powder, flavor, and taste.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a method for improving the aftertaste of sucrose due to its thick taste without substantially lowering the sweetening power of sucrose, and uses thereof.
To attain the above objects, the present inventors energetically studied for the combination use of sucrose and other saccharides. As a result, they unexpectedly found that the present object is attained by incorporating trehalose, &agr;,&agr;-trehalose, into sucrose in a specific proportion, and accomplished this invention; the inventors found that incorporation of trehalose into sucrose in an amount of 2-12 w/w % (hereinafter the wording “w/w %” is abbreviated as “%” throughout the specification, unless specified otherwise) to the sucrose, d.s.b., eliminates the thick taste and aftertaste of sucrose without substantially lowering the sweetening power of sucrose, and they accomplished this invention which is mainly constructed by:
(1) A method for improving the aftertaste of sucrose, characterized by incorporating trehalose into sucrose in an amount of 2-12% to the sucrose, d.s.b.;
(2) A saccharide composition which contains trehalose in an amount of 2-12% to sucrose, d.s.b.;
(3) A food product with improved aftertaste of sucrose without lowering the sweetening power of sucrose, where trehalose is incorporated into sucrose in an amount of 2-12% of the sucrose, d.s.b., without substantially lowering the sweetening power of sucrose; and
(4) An agent for improving the aftertaste of sucrose, which comprises trehalose as an effective ingredient.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Any types and forms of sucrose can be used in the present invention independently of their origins as long as the present invention improves their taste quality, particularly, their aftertaste. For example, white sugars, granulated sugars, white superior soft sugars, powdered sugars, frosted sugars, and liquid sugars can be used. Saccharides comprising sucrose and other saccharides can be also used. In general, those rich in sucrose can exert more easily the effect of the present invention, and the following saccharide compositions can be advantageously used in the present invention; black sugars containing sucrose and small amounts of invert sugars and minerals, &agr;-galactosyl sucrose such as raffinose and stachyose, saccharides containing sucrose, &agr;-glycosyl sucrose such as erlose and maltosylsucrose, saccharides containing maltooligosaccharides and sucrose, i.e., “COUPLING SUGAR ®, &bgr;-galactosylsucrose, i.e., lactosucrose, and saccharides containing lactose and sucrose, i.e., NYUKAOLIGO ®”.
Any types and forms of trehalose can be used in the present invention independently of their origins as long as they can improve the flavor and taste of sucrose, particularly, the aftertaste of sucrose. For example, trehalose derived from starches as disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai Nos. 319,486/94 and 213,283/95, and trehalose from maltose as disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai Nos. 216,695/83 and 170,977/95 can be advantageously used. The sweetening power of trehalose is known to be about 45% of the sweetening power of sucrose and is not changed independently of the form of a crystalline hydrate, crystalline anhydride, powder, and liquid. The form of trehalose can be appropriately chosen as the occasion demands. Trehalose can be advantageously used as an effective ingredient for agents for improving the aftertaste of sucrose.
To attain the present object, trehalose should be incorporated into sucrose in an amount of 2-12% to the sucrose, d.s.b. If the content is below 2%, d.s.b., it improves insufficiently the aftertaste of sucrose, while if the content is over 12%, d.s.b., it unsatisfactorily reduces the sweetening power of sucrose. As long as it does not inhibit the present object, other saccharides excluding sucrose and trehalose can be coexisted: For example, monosaccharides such as glucose, fructose, and galactose; disaccharides such as maltose, isomaltose, lactose, and palatinose; trisaccharides such as maltotriose, erlose, raffinose, lactosucrose, and ketose; tetrasaccharides such as maltotetraose and stachyose; and sugar alcohols such as xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol, lactitol, and maltotriitol, all of which are appropriately chosen, particularly, saccharide compositions containing oligosaccharides having a sucrose structure can be advantageously used. The present saccharide compositions thus obtained contain trehalose in an amount of 2-12% to sucrose, d.s.b. The higher the content of sucrose, the more easily exerted the present effect; Preferably, those containing at least 10%, and more preferably, at least 40% sucrose, d.s.b., can be suitably used independently of their forms of solid, paste, and liquid.
The present saccharide compositions thus obtained have a satisfactorily improved aftertaste of sucrose free from the reduction of sweetening power, and they can be arbitrarily and widely used to sweeten food products. Specifically, the saccharide compositions exert their effect in food products which contain relatively-large amounts of the compositions, and preferably they can be advantageously used in food products containing at least 30% of the compositions, d.s.b.: For example, seasonings such as sweeteners, table sugars, coffee sugars, “mentsuyu” (a sauce for Japanese vermicelli), sauces, catsups, “yakiniku-no-tare” (a sauce for Japanese grilled meat), instant soup mixes, and complex seasonings.; Japanese confectioneries and material saccharides thereof such as an (a bean jam), “uiro” (a sweet rice jelly), “yokan” (a sweet jelly of beans), jellies, “kingyoku” (a kind of jelly), pao de Castellas, and “amedama” (a Japanese toffee); Western confectioneries and material saccharides thereof such as buns, cookies, pies, puddings, chewing gums, chocolates, sand creams, custard creams, butter creams, cream p
Chaen Hiroto
Mitsuhashi Masakazu
Miyake Toshio
Browdy and Neimark
Hendricks Keith
Kabushiki Kaisha Hayashibara Seibutsu Kagaku Kenkyujo
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