Organic compounds -- part of the class 532-570 series – Organic compounds – Fatty compounds having an acid moiety which contains the...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-28
2003-05-06
Carr, Deborah D. (Department: 1621)
Organic compounds -- part of the class 532-570 series
Organic compounds
Fatty compounds having an acid moiety which contains the...
C426S807000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06559324
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a process for the production of rumen bypass feed supplements that are useful as an energy source for ruminants. The process converts highly unsaturated fatty acids to their respective calcium salts. In particular, the present invention relates to a process for the production of calcium salts of unsaturated fatty acids that are of particular interest as nutritional supplements, such as conjugated linoleic acids (CLA's). The calcium salts of the present invention, when fed to cattle, result in the production of milk and meat that is enriched with the unsaturated fatty acid of interest.
CLA's have become the focus of numerous research programs that seek to capitalize on their nutritional, therapeutic and pharmacologic properties. In 1978, researchers at the University of Wisconsin discovered the identity of a substance in cooked beef that appeared to inhibit mutagenesis. This substance was found to be a CLA.
The biological activity associated with CLA's is diverse and complex. Anticarcinogenic properties have been well documented, as well as stimulation of the immune system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,346 discloses the use of CLA's to enhance natural killer lymphocyte function. U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,066 describes the effect of CLA's in preventing weight loss and anorexia by immune system stimulation.
CLA's have also been found to exert a profound generalized effect on body composition, in particular, upon redirecting the partitioning of fat and lean tissue mass. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,554,646 and 6,020,378 disclose the use of CLA's for reducing body fat and increasing lean body mass. U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,663 discloses the use of CLA's to maintain an existing level of body fat or body weight in humans. U.S. Pat. No. 6,034,132 discloses the use of CLA's to reduce body weight and treat obesity in humans. CLA's are also disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,804,210 to maintain or enhance bone mineral content.
The beneficial effects produced by unsaturated fatty acids are not limited to CLA's. Other unsaturated fatty acids are disclosed to be useful for treating diabetes (U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,432), heart disease (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,495,201; 5,541,225 and 5,859,055), prostaglandin deficiencies (U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,328), malaria (U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,258), osteoporosis (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,618,558 and 5,888,541), cancer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,763,484), immune system function (U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,156), Huntington's Chorea (U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,731) and inflammation (U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,433).
The use of CLA-enriched foods to increase dietary levels of CLA is disclosed by U.S. No. 5,416,115. U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,737 discloses that the unsaturated fat content of milk and meat from ruminant animals can be increased by incorporating the intended unsaturated fat into the diet of the ruminant. Thus, meat and milk enriched with CLA's and other unsaturated fatty acids can be obtained by supplementing ruminant diets with unsaturated fatty acids such as CLA.
Unsaturated fatty acids, however, undergo hydrogenation to saturated fatty acids by microbial action in the rumen and must be fed to ruminants in a protected form. The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,737 discloses the encapsulation of unsaturated fatty acids with non-toxic organic materials to protect the unsaturated fatty acids from microbial action in the rumen. The most familiar form in which fatty acids in general are protected from microbial action in the rumen are the fatty acid calcium salts disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,642,317; 4,826,694; 4,853,233 and 4,909,138. This form of fatty acid protection is widely accepted in the dairy and beef cattle industries.
Unsaturated fatty acids, however, do not readily react to form calcium salts using the processes disclosed by the above-listed patents. Instead of forming free-flowing granules, a mass develops that hardens into a tough material that resists grinding into the fine particles required for consumption by cattle. The resulting material also lacks storage stability. The product tends to auto-oxidize through an exothermic reaction that leads to a congealing of the product mass horn its free flowing granular state to a hard amorphous state, suggesting that significant quantities of unreacted starting materials are present in the final product.
To be commercially viable, rumen-protected unsaturated fatty acid cattle feed supplements must be in a form acceptable to the cattle industry. Therefore, a need exists for a process by which unsaturated fatty acids can be converted to calcium salts that are storage stable and easily formed into particles small enough for cattle to consume.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This need is met by the present invention. It has now been discovered that storage stable calcium salts of unsaturated fatty acids can be produced in fine particle form either by using elevated levels of calcium oxide, or by reducing the amount of unsaturated fatty acids in the fatty acid feedstock.
Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for the preparation of free-flowing calcium salts of highly unsaturated fatty acids, which includes the steps of
(a) providing a fatty acid feedstock consisting essentially of
(i) from about 50 to about 95% by weight of unsaturated C: I 6-C:22 fatty acids;
(ii) from about 5 to about 40% by weight of saturated C:14-C:22 fatty acids; and
(iii) no more than about 6% by weight of moisture, insolubles and unsaponifiables,
with no more than about 20% by weight of the unsaturated feedstock being in the form of glycerides;
(b) adding to the unsaturated feedstock from about 1.0 to about 2.5 equivalents of calcium oxide relative to the unsaturated feedstock, so that a reactive admixture is formed; and
(c) adding to the reactive admixture from about two to about five equivalents of water relative to the calcium oxide, so that the calcium oxide hydrates and neutralizes the fatty acids to form the calcium salts;
provided that when less than 1.75 equivalents of calcium oxide is added, the unsaturated feedstock comprises at least 25% by weight of the saturated fatty acids and is heated to a temperature above its melting point before the step of adding the calcium oxide.
Thus, one embodiment of this aspect of the present invention employs 1.75 equivalents of calcium oxide or greater to produce an unsaturated fatty acid calcium salt that readily forms a fine, granular free-flowing product that is considered acceptable by the cattle industry. This embodiment of the invention can be used with all levels of unsaturation in feedstocks and even with feedstocks that consist entirely of unsaturated fatty acids. In another embodiment of this aspect of the present invention, when lower amounts of calcium oxide are employed, the level of unsaturated fatty acids in the fatty acid feedstock must also be lowered by blending the feedstock with a second fatty acid feedstock having a lower level of unsaturated fatty acid.
For example, in a preferred embodiment of this aspect of the invention, an unsaturated fatty acid feedstock is employed containing from about 60 to about 70% by weight of CLA's, with the total level of unsaturated fatty acids ranging as high as 95% by weight. A fatty acid calcium salt suitable for use as a rumen bypass feed supplement can be produced by reacting this unsaturated fatty acid feedstock with 1.75 equivalents or greater of calcium oxide. To produce an acceptable fatty acid calcium salt with less calcium oxide, the CLA-containing feedstock must be blended with a second fatty acid feedstocks containing reduced levels of unsaturated fatty acids. For example, the CLA-containing feedstock can be blended with an amount of palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) effective to increase the level of saturated fatty acids in the blend to at least 25% by weight. Other suitable sources of saturated fatty acids include tallow, lard, etc., or distilled or fractionated sources of individual saturated fatty acids.
Thus, the process of the present
Fredericksen Eiler D.
Strohmaier George K.
Carr Deborah D.
Norel Acquisition Corp.
Synnestvedt & Lechner LLP
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