Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Preparations characterized by special physical form – Food or edible as carrier for pharmaceutical
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-14
2002-08-27
Webman, Edward J. (Department: 1617)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Preparations characterized by special physical form
Food or edible as carrier for pharmaceutical
C426S250000, C426S455000, C426S456000, C426S506000, C426S426000, C426S650000, C426S640000, C426S465000, C426S444000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06440449
ABSTRACT:
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides methods of infusing compositions including phytochemicals, nutraceuticals such as vitamins, herbal extracts, and medicinals into food products, including, e.g., juices, fruits, vegetables, and meats, etc. The resulting infused food products are consumable products which are helpful in alleviating dietary insufficiency and/or to prevent or treat diseases such as cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, etc.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Fruits, vegetables, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals included in a diet can enhance disease resistance. Food products such as fruit and vegetables commonly have moisture reduced through various techniques such as freeze drying, vacuum drying, air drying, osmotic dehydration, etc. to enhance storage, consumption, and shippability.
It has been noted in the conditioning and preservation of food products in their natural state that all food products contain soluble materials which may be lost or altered by contact with solutions of many types. For example, if meats, vegetables, or fruits are placed in water, the water has a tendency to dissolve out the soluble components of these food products, thereby altering their appearance and flavor.
There have been previous attempts to modify food products with useful ingredients. Some of the previous work involved mixing vitamin extracts into a fresh fruit mass, e.g., Elliot Ritchie Alexander, “Vitamin Fruit Composition,” U.S. Pat. No. 1,886,931, and Clarence Birdseye, “Process of Improving and Preserving Food Products,” U.S. Pat. No. 2,419,877. Others involved adding flavors into frozen foodstuffs, such as those disclosed in Harry A. Noyes, “Process of Conditioning Foods,” U.S. Pat. No. 2,317,397. More recent work described using osmosis to dehydrate and preserve foods, e.g. Brimelow and Brittain, “Contiguous Food Impregnation,” U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,963, and Peter Butland, “Process for Producing a Natural Fruit Candy,” U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,050. There have also been efforts made to infuse certain flavors into foods using osmosis, such as those disclosed in Lewis and Lewis, “Dehydrated Vegetables,” U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,141, Karim Nafisi-Novaghar, “Method of Making Dried Fruits,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,972, and Aebi, et al., “Process for Preparing Dehydrated Vegetable Products,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,873, and using a degradation enzyme, e.g. as in Poulose and Boston, “Enzyme Assisted Degradation of Surface Membranes of Harvested Fruits and Vegetables,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,662. Some have also explored methods of preserving fruits and vegetables using deep freezing, e.g., Berey et al., “Fruit and Vegetable Preservation Using Deep Freeze—by Complete or Partial Withdrawal of Free Water and Partial Replacement of it with Additives, Improving Appearance, Flavour and Shelf-life,” e.g., in Hungarian patent HU 47823.
However, none of these prior art methods are satisfactory in terms of their ability to infuse nutrients into food products in general. The reason is that the above processes result in a loss of phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals from the food, resulting in a corresponding loss of nutritional value and decreasing the disease-preventative value of the food. A need exists in the art to provide improved methods of food preparation and storage, as well as to provide efficient mechanisms for infusing osmotically dried fruits, vegetables, and other food products. This invention fills these and other needs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Food products can have their moisture reduced through various techniques such as freeze drying, vacuum drying, air drying, osmotic dehydration, etc. One process described herein uses osmotic dehydration, in which higher osmotic pressure outside a food particle causes moisture to migrate out of the food. This is done with sugars or solutions of sugars, e.g., high fructose corn syrup, or others. During the migration time, solutes in the solutions fill voids left by the water that was removed by infusion. In the invention, flavors, colors, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals such as isoflavonals, lycopene, resveratol, indocarbonals, anthocyanins, etc., as well as, e.g., soluble fiber, are infused along with the osmotic dehydration solute by adding these desired additives in controlled dosage to the osmotic dehydration solution.
The invention provides a method of infusing a composition into a food product by increasing the brix of an osmotic dehydration solution containing the food product, over a period of time. The food product is incubated with the composition, thereby infusing the composition into the food product. These steps are optionally performed separately, sequentially, or simultaneously.
Typically, the composition used in the method is a phytochemical, a nutraceutical, or other desirable food additive. In one significant aspect of the invention, the food product is predried before the composition is infused into the food product. Alternatively, the osmotic dehydration solution optionally includes the composition to be infused into the food product.
The brix of the osmotic dehydration solution is typically varied from about 20° B. to about 80° B. The brix of the osmotic dehydration solution is optionally changed daily, e.g., for a period of at least about one week. The method of the present invention can be performed at various temperatures such as about room temperature or up to about 50° C., e.g., where the brix of the osmotic dehydration solution is about 77° B. The infusion method further comprises stirring or circulating the osmotic dehydration solution, thereby increasing the rate of infusion of the composition into the food product. In one example, the infusion method is performed where the food product includes a strawberry and the brix of the osmotic dehydration solution is about 40° B. In another example, the food product can include a marionberry and the osmotic dehydration solution includes high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). In another example, the food product used in the present invention includes a sliced cranberry, and the osmotic dehydration solution includes a phytochemical and HFCS, and the brix of the osmotic dehydration solution is about 77° B.
In another aspect of the invention, when the food product includes fresh sliced carrot, and the brix of the osmotic dehydration solution is about 77° B., the infusion method further includes heating the osmotic dehydration solution containing HFCS, Saw Palmetto, and Gingko Biloba, and incubating the solution overnight. Typically, the osmotic dehydration solution includes a dehydration solute such as high fructose corn syrup, dextrin, starch, gelatin, pectin, juice concentrate, or soy isolate. Optionally, the food product can be coated with a coating substance such as gelatin, pectin, or starch to form a coated food product, and the phytochemical is infused into the coated food product.
The dehydration solution is optionally heated, and/or continuously circulated. The solution is typically circulated through a tube or a pipe, or passed over a perforated conveyor in either a continuous or discontinuous process. In yet another aspect of the invention, the food product is freeze dried to 10% or lower residual moisture before infusion occurs.
Compositions to be infused include can be phytochemicals, or nutraceuticals such as: vitamins, minerals, isoflavoronals, lycopene, resveratol, indocarbonals, anthocyanins, soluble fiber, high protein rice, soy isolate or others. Optionally, the composition to be infused can include a flavor, or a color. The food product is optionally a vegetable such as a carrot, or bell pepper, e.g., where the osmotic dehydration solution includes a low dextrose and L-Carnitine.
In a further aspect of the invention, excess water is removed by drying a mixture of the food product and the composition after incubation of the food product with the composition. The food product includes, e.g., fruit, fruit juice, a vegetable, vegetable juice, ground liver, chicken, salmon, or the like. For ex
Townsend & Townsend & Crew LLP
Webman Edward J.
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