Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Treatment of live animal
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-31
2001-06-12
Sayala, Chhaya D. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Treatment of live animal
C426S053000, C426S615000, C426S629000, C426S623000, C426S630000, C426S635000, C426S807000, C426S132000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06245363
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to methods for making useful products from precursors such as plant materials. The invention also relates to methods for converting said products into still further useful derivatives.
Large amounts of plant material are produced as a by-product of various manufacturing processes in the form of a pulp. For example, sunflower seed meal is produced as a by-product of sunflower oil manufacture. Sunflower seed meal has a high protein content (approximately 40%) which comprises significant amounts of nutritionally important amino acids. Thus it has potential as a human food or an animal feed. Until now, such plant material has received very little attention as a resource. Some plant material is used for animal feed, but its nutritional value is lowered by the presence of endogenous phenolic compounds, principally chlorogenic acid, an ester of caffeic acid and quinic acid. The phenolic compounds reduce the nutritional value of the plant material by binding to proteins, especially to essential amino acids such as lysine. Phenolic compounds are also known to cause discolouration of feed materials and extracted proteins [Smith and Johnsen,
Cereal Chem.,
1948, 25, 339]. Removal of these phenolics will give a more acceptable foodstuff material. Attempts have been made to remove the phenolic compounds by solvent extraction, but in general these have failed principally because chlorogenic acid is relatively insoluble in organic solvents, and aqueous extraction procedures tend to remove both the chlorogenic acid and the nutritious protein from the plant material. (See Tranchino et al, Qual. Plant Plant Foods Hum. Nutr., 1983, 32, 305 for further information.) Extraction into organic solvents makes the process logistically inconvenient because of the necessity for sequential extractions (see Sripad et al., J. Biosci., 1982, 4, 145). Clearly, it would be desirable for the plant material to be put to better use
According to the invention there is provided a method of treating plant material to increase its nutritional value comprising exposing it to a hydrolytic enzyme in an aqueous environment and removing phenolic compounds produced by hydrolysis using solvent extraction. Some suitable solvents are listed in Table 2.
The term plant material as used herein includes material such as the meal or pulp produced by mechanical processing of plants. The plant material typically comprises the residue or meal produced by mechanical processing of plant material or the residues remaining after the extraction of seed oils eg. sunflower seeds, rape seed, olives, potatoes, cereal grains, such as wheat or corn, coffee, soya bean, tobacco, grapes, sugar beet and such like.
By removing products of hydrolysis, such as caffeic acid produced by hydrolysis of chlorogenic acid as described, for example, in Example 1, the nutritional value of the remaining plant material is increased considerably. In the case of plant material in the form of processed rape seed, the method of the invention can be used to remove the excessively bitter taste caused by sinapine, an ester of sinapic acid and choline.
Thus the phrase “increase the nutritional value” used herein embraces improving the palatability of the plant material and, by removing discolouring phenolic compounds, the suitability/acceptability of the treated plant material as a food for humans or animals.
Whilst the methods of the invention can be used to improve the nutritional value of plant and plant-derived materials as food, the extracted products of hydrolysis such as caffeic acid, quinic acid, sinapic acid, choline, coumaric acid and ferulic acid are also valuable.
In a further aspect the invention provides a method of preparing a phenolic compound comprising treating a plant material by exposing it to a hydrolytic enzyme in an aqueous environment and removing the phenolic compound.
Preferably, the phenolic products are removed by solvent extraction.
Preferred hydrolytic enzymes for use in the methods of the invention are those which exhibit activity on an ester bond, hydrolysing the carbon oxygen bond to produce acid and alcohol moieties. These are the enzymes classified in the Enzyme Classification recommendations as E.C. 3.1. and subgroups thereof.
Preferably the hydrolytic enzyme does not exhibit a substantial proteolytic activity as such activity may reduce the nutritional value of the protein component of the treated plant material. Conveniently, the enzyme is isolated from Humicola, Bacillus and Aspergillus species or is isolated from porcine liver. Suitable enzymes include those listed in Table 1.
Preferred enzymes for use in the methods of the invention can be isolated by the selection procedure detailed in Example 10. This procedure involves screening candidate enzyme preparations for chlorogenic acid hydrolysis activity and the absence of a substantial proteolytic activity against bovine serum albumin. It will be appreciated that similar selection procedures can be used for other phenolic compounds of interest and other proteins could be employed in the optional proteolytic activity selection step.
The above screening methods form further aspects of the invention.
The enzyme preparation marketed by the Enzyme Process Division of Novo Nordisk, Denmark under the trademark Celluzyme® is particularly preferred for use in the methods of the invention. Celluzyme® is a cellulolytic enzyme preparation produced by submerged fermentation of the fungus
Hunicola insolens.
The enzyme complex is used in the laundering of cotton fabrics or mixed fabrics containing cotton.
Celluzyme is listed on relevant inventories of chemicals which are approved for use in cosmetics and foodstuffs, eg. EINECS (European Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances) and TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act). Celluzyme is classified in Chemical Abstract Service as “Cellulase” (CAS No. 9012-54-8). The corresponding Enzyme Classification number (International Union of Biochemistry) is E.C. 3.2.1.4.
Another Novo Nordisk enzyme preparation useful in the methods of the invention is Bio-Feed™ Plus, a carbohydrase preparation produced by submerged fermentation of
Humicola insolens.
The enzyme hydrolyzes arabano-xylans and &bgr;-glucans into oligosaccharides and some mono-, di-and trisaccharides. Bio-Feed Plus contains other carbohydrase activities, including cellobiase, hemi-cellulase and cellulase.
A further enzyme preparation useful in the methods of the invention is sold by Biocatalysts Limited of Pontypridd, Wales, under the tradename Pectinase 162. Pectinase 162 is a wide activity spectrum pectinase derived from the Aspergillus species. The pectinase is effective on both soluble and insoluble pectins.
Advantageously, the plant material is derived from sunflower, rape, cereals including wheat, corn, potato and rice, or combinations thereof. However, skilled persons will appreciate that a variety of material from other plants can be used in the methods of the invention including material from tomatoes, olives, sugar beet or other available plants.
Preferably the method of the invention further comprises precipitating and isolating protein from the treated plant material.
Preferably the methods of the invention further comprise the step of administering the treated plant material or protein to a human or animal.
In a second aspect, invention provides a food comprising treated plant material or protein obtainable by the method of the invention. The food may be for human consumption or may be in the form of an animal feed.
The invention also relates to the use of the treated plant material or protein in a method of making a food product for human or animal consumption.
In a third aspect, the invention provides a method of converting sinapine to sinapic acid and choline comprising hydrolysing the sinapine enzymatically.
In a fourth aspect the invention provides a method of making sinapic acid and choline comprising the method of the third aspect and the further step of removing the products of hydrolysis.
In a fifth aspect the invention provides a method o
Banister Nigel E.
Cheetham Peter S.J.
Myers Stephen John
Bromberg & Sunstein LLP
Sayala Chhaya D.
Zylepsis Limited
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