Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Extraction utilizing liquid as extracting medium
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-23
2004-03-02
Weier, Anthony J. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Extraction utilizing liquid as extracting medium
C426S651000, C426S594000, C426S386000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06699518
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to methods of preparing coffee aromatizing compositions. In particular, the invention relates to methods of preparing such compositions which are useful to provide coffee beverage preparation aroma.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The manufacture of “instant” (or soluble) coffee powder, often involves processing conditions such as elevated temperature, which cause loss of desirable coffee aroma. By the time the powder is prepared, most of the chemicals that create the distinctive pleasurable coffee aroma have evaporated. Unless additional steps are taken during manufacture, there is very little aroma associated with hot coffee beverages prepared from instant coffee powder relative to the aroma of hot coffee beverages prepared from roast and ground coffee. This, in large part, has contributed to consumers viewing instant coffee as an inferior product. Many attempts have been made to enhance the aroma of instant coffee, including the use of particular types of coffee beans, the use of particular coffee roasting conditions, and the addition of coffee aroma.
Coffee aromas and flavors are usually complex, comprising many organoleptically active compounds, which combine in effect to create the characterizing aroma of the product. Since the aromas and flavors are extremely powerful and typically unstable in their undiluted state they are combined with a carrier to render them stable and easier to handle. The carriers are neutral or complementary in organoleptic impact and do not contribute to the characterizing aroma of the product.
Aroma carriers can be liquids or water-soluble solids. In cases where a liquid carrier is used, it is often encapsulated in a solid, water-soluble matrix to further preserve the characterizing aromas from loss or damage. The carrier, often referred to as a solvent in liquid systems, functions as an aroma base and is used to adjust the level of otherwise powerful aroma and taste substances to levels similar to those that exist in nature. Desirable characteristics of carriers for liquid systems include blandness and miscibility with other liquid aromas. The traditional liquid carrier used for coffee aromas, and the liquid carrier perhaps exclusively used for coffee aroma frosts, is coffee oil that has been expelled from roasted coffee or extracted from spent coffee grounds used in the manufacture of instant coffee.
The aroma constituent of an aromatizing composition characterizes its aroma, i.e., the innate quality that gives the aroma its special attributes among and over other aromas. The aroma constituent may, and often does, include a plurality of aroma ingredients which together result in the characterizing aroma.
A particular problem that has been noted in connection with instant coffee is the relative lack of coffee aroma that is generated at the time that a hot instant coffee beverage is prepared compared to the coffee aroma that is generated when brewing roasted and ground coffee. This problem of poor aroma burst or “above-cup aroma” at the time of preparation of an instant coffee beverage is noted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,368 assigned to Nestec S.A. and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,750,178 also assigned to Nestec S.A. Each of these patents describes several prior art attempts to provide an initial burst of above-cup coffee aroma, such as by coating soluble coffee powder with an aqueous emulsion of an aromatic coffee substance, or by employing particulate aromatized coffee glass. It is reported in each of these U.S. patents that these and other previously known procedures were not successful in achieving a good above-cup aroma. The '368 and '178 patents propose methods for making capsule particles containing an aromatized coffee oil core.
The amount of above-cup aroma which can be achieved by methods incorporating aromatized coffee oil-containing particles, such as those described in the '368 and '178 patents, into an instant coffee product depends, in large part, on the amount of such particles employed. The use of coffee oils in instant coffee does not normally pose a problem at the low levels needed to provide only a package aroma. However, a relatively large amount of particles must be employed to produce good preparation aroma. This approach may lead to a product having an overwhelmingly strong taste or aroma during consumption. Moreover, the more capsules that are employed, the more capsule material, particularly coffee oil, that is introduced. The added coffee oil accumulates as an oil film on the surface of the coffee beverage. Such oil films are very apparent and are widely known to impair consumer acceptance of instant coffee.
Further, the use of oils during the aroma entrapment stage involves processing at temperatures above the freezing point of oil. At these temperatures, water is present as a liquid and can be detrimental. Methods for decanting the water therein have been patented (Canadian Patent No. 2,091,276). Nevertheless, considerable amounts of aroma are unavoidably decanted with the water phase, and residues of water are left in the oil which hastens degradation of the coffee aroma.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,153 discloses a process for the fractionation of coffee aroma in which the residual water phase left after aromatization of an oil by contact with frost is used as a main aroma source to aromatize a second fraction of oil. Because of the hydrophilic nature of this coffee aroma fraction, such a process is relatively inefficient and the character of the coffee aroma entrapped in the oil is significantly different from the original source.
The fixation conditions discussed above lead to changes in the chemical or physical properties of the coffee aroma because of exposure to heat and moisture. In addition, the efficiency of recovery of the most volatile compounds is low, and partitioning of aroma between the water phase and the hydrophobic oil phase can cause imbalance.
It is an object of the invention to provide methods for preparing coffee aromatizing compositions which minimize the problems associated with previously known methods such as flavor imbalance, heat or moisture-induced changes in chemical or physical properties, and low efficiency. It is a further object of the invention to provide such methods which can achieve these goals economically, without the need for complex or expensive apparatus. These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the invention to follow.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a method for preparing a coffee aromatizing composition which comprises contacting a coffee aroma with a volatile organic carrier liquid at a processing temperature at which said carrier is in the liquid state and at which any moisture present is in the form of ice, and recovering an aromatized carrier liquid, said carrier liquid having a freezing point below said processing temperature and a boiling point above said processing temperature, a vapor pressure of at least 0.01 mm Hg at 25° C. and atmospheric pressure, and having a water solubility of not more than 10% by weight.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In accordance with the present invention, a coffee aromatizing composition is prepared by contacting a coffee aroma, such as a coffee aroma frost, with a volatile organic carrier liquid at a processing temperature such that any moisture present in the aroma is in the form of ice. Physical properties of the volatile organic carrier liquid are important. The carrier liquid must be liquid at the processing temperature at which any moisture present is in the form of ice. Accordingly, the carrier liquid has a freezing point below the prevailing processing temperature. The carrier liquid freezing point is necessarily less than 0° C., preferably less than −5° C., and more preferably less than −10° C.,
A common source of coffee aroma is coffee aroma frost obtained from commercial preparation of roasted and ground coffee and of instant coffee. Such coffee aroma frosts include coffee aroma, CO
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Ceriali Stefano
Gaonkar Anilkumar G.
Wragg Anthony
Zeller Bary L.
Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc.
Larson & Taylor PLC
Weier Anthony J.
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