Method for removing essential oils and antioxidants from...

Reexamination Certificate

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Reexamination Certificate

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06450935

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a method for removing by wipe or rolled film evaporation essential oils and antioxidants from extracts of organic material, more particularly organic material from the Lamiaceae (or Labiatae) family, including rosemary (
Rosemarinus officinalis
). The fraction containing antioxidants is suitable for addition to animal feeds and human food. The essential oils are pharmaceutical grade.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Worldwide demand for natural antioxidants has been rising due to safety concerns about synthetic food and feed additives and the public perception that natural food and feed supplements provide certain health benefits. The most important natural antioxidants being exploited commercially today are tocopherols. Tocopherols have a potent ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation in vivo by trapping peroxy-radicals (Burton, G. W., and K. U. Ingold (1989), in Vitamin E: Biochemistry and Health Implications, edited by A. T. Diplock, L. J. Machlin, L. Packer and W. A. Pryor, The New York Academy of Sciences, New York, pp. 7-22). Various herbal extracts for use as natural antioxidants are being explored. Possibilities include the extraction of rosemary or other botanical sources. Such new antioxidants may play a role in combating carcinogenesis as well as the aging process, and may be applicable in the nutraceutical industry.
Among the various natural extracts available in the market are rosemary extracts, which are reported to be highly effective in retarding lipid oxidation and protecting living cells from the damaging oxidative stress (Chen, Q., H. Shi and C-T Ho (1992), “Effects of rosemary extracts and major constituents on lipid oxidation and soybean lipoxygenase activity”, J Am Oil Chem Soc 69: 999-1002; Wong, J. W., K. Hashimoto and T. Shibamoto (1995), “Antioxidant activities of rosemary and sage extracts and vitamin E in a model meat system”, J Agric Food Chem 43: 2707-2712). These extracts are described as being superior to vitamin E, a well-known natural antioxidant and food supplement, in many food model systems (Lolinge, J. (1983), Natural antioxidants in Allen, J. C. and R. J. Hamilton eds, Rancidity in Foods, Elsevier Applied Science, London, Chapter 6). However, opposite findings are also documented. Wong et al. (1995) revealed that vitamin E is more effective than rosemary extract in a cooked beef homogenate. Additionally, rosemary extract is shown to be a synergist of vitamin E in stabilizing or retarding oxidation in sardine oil and fish muscle (Fang, X. and S. Wanda (1993), “Enhancing the antioxidant effect of &agr;-tocopherol with rosemary extract in inhibiting catalyzed oxidation caused by Fe
2+
and hemoprotein”, Food Res Int 26: 405-411; Wanda, S. and X. Fang (1992), “The synergistic antioxidant effect of rosemary extract and &agr;-tocopherol in sardine oil model system and frozen-crushed fish meat”, J Food Process Preserv 16: 263-274).
As to the extraction of rosemary, many authors report that polar solvents yield extracts with higher antioxidant activities (Chang, S. S., B. Ostric-Matijasevic, C-L Huang and OA-L Hsieh (1977), “Natural antioxidants from rosemary and sage”, J Food Sci 42: 1102-1106). Chen et al. (1992) found that hexane extracts of rosemary contained a higher content of carnosic acid and carnosol than methanol extracts do. Carnosic acid and carnosol are the effective antioxidant molecules in rosemary. Carnosic acid and carnosol have been suggested to account for over 90% of the antioxidant activity of rosemary extracts (Aruoma, O. I, B. Halliwell, R. Aeschbach and J. Loligers (1992) “Antioxidant and pro-oxidant properties of active rosemary constituents: carnosol and carnosic acid”, Xenobiotica 22: 257-268). Antioxidant molecules in general, and rosemary antioxidants specifically, are by nature labile molecules especially when exposed to heat and/or air. During the harvest, the drying, and the regular solvent extraction of rosemary, some oxidation is likely to occur. Through a process of chemical reactions, carnosic acid, the naturally-occurring antioxidant molecule in rosemary, is believed to be the precursor to carnosol and many other antioxidants found therein (Wenkert, E., A. Fuchs, J. D. McChesney (1965), “Chemical artifacts from the family labiate”, J. Org. Chem. 30: 2931-2934). It can be demonstrated that the freshly cut leaves of rosemary do not contain carnosol (Aeschbach, R. and L. Philippossian (1993), “Carnosic acid obtention and uses”, U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,700). Carnosic acid is about 10 times more effective as an antioxidant than carnosol (Aruoma et al., 1992), and it, therefore, is important for the high activity of a rosemary extract to minimize the damage to carnosic acid.
Essential oils are volatile oils which are the aroma and flavor components of organic material. They are used in a variety of products such as incense, aromatherapy oils, perfumes, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and foods. The market for these oils demands consistent high quality and reliable supplies at competitive prices. Essential oils are typically commercially extracted from organic material such as rosemary using steam distillation. In this prior art process, the antioxidants are destroyed, and thermal degeneration of the essential oils may occur.
An improved method for the simultaneous extraction of both antioxidant compounds and essential oils form species of the family Lamiaceae is described in pending patent application Ser. No. 09/206,458, which was filed Dec. 7, 1998, and is incorporated herein by this reference. Using tetrafluoroethane (TFE) in combination with one or more co-solvents, extracts of organic material are made that have a high level of antioxidant activity and further contain much of the essential oils present in the organic material. The essential oils are pro-oxidants, however, and further may limit the amount of the extract that may be used in certain antioxidant applications due to the odor of the essential oils. Further, essential oils of some species have a high market value apart from the antioxidant compounds. Accordingly, there is a need to remove and preserve the essential oils from the extract without substantially degrading the activity of the antioxidant compounds. There is also a need to purify further the antioxidant compounds, particularly carnosic acid, that may be present in the extract.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to a method of removing antioxidants and essential oils from the extract products of organic materials while preserving the activity of the compounds.
A purpose of the present invention is to provide a method using rolled film evaporation for removing antioxidants and essential oils from extracts of plants of the family Lamiaceae, particularly rosemary, that yields a fraction containing the essential oils of the plant material and a fraction that contains the antioxidant compounds present in the extract substantially free from odor and suitable for incorporation into animal feeds and human foods.
A further purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for removing antioxidants and essential oils from extracts of rosemary in high yields and high purity.
The organic material used during testing was dried, finely ground rosemary of the Arp variety. It is anticipated that the organic material can be any plant of the Lamiaceae family, and more broadly, any plant material which contains antioxidants and essential oils. It is also expected that any parts of the plant which contain the desired components may be extracted, as well as any form of the plant material (e.g., whole, ground, fresh, or dried).
Tetrafluoroethane (1,1,1,2) was used in the solvent blend. Tetrafluoroethane has a boiling point of −27° C. The technology utilizes the vapor pressure of the solvent at room temperature and allows extraction under mild conditions, therefore minimizing the oxidative decomposition of carnosic acid during the extraction process. Tetrafluoroethane is substantially apolar a

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