Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Surface coated – fluid encapsulated – laminated solid... – Dry flake – dry granular – or dry particulate material
Reexamination Certificate
1996-09-24
2002-09-03
Paden, Carolyn (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Surface coated, fluid encapsulated, laminated solid...
Dry flake, dry granular, or dry particulate material
C426S099000, C426S601000, C426S613000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06444242
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a microencapsulated oil or fat product containing at least one highly unsaturated fatty acid or a derivative thereof, a process of preparing the microcapsules and the use of the microencapsulated product in an infant formula and other functional foods.
Fat and oil products containing significant amounts of highly unsaturated fatty acids have recently been shown to possess valuable nutritional properties. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,285 describes an aqueous infant formula and an edible fat product for incorporation into an infant formula comprising highly unsaturated C
20
or C
22
, &ohgr;-6 fatty acids and C
20
or C
22
, &ohgr;-3 fatty acids which are considered to be of vital importance for the synthesis of structural lipids in the human brain. It also appears from said U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,285 that infants and especially premature infants are unable to synthesize such unsaturated fatty acids in sufficient quantities.
EP-B1-231904 discloses a method for preparation of a fat mixture for infant feeds containing arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid in a ratio of 2:1 to 3:1. According to the method various vegetable and animal fats or oils are heated, blended to obtain the desired fatty acid composition and stabilised by the addition of ascorbylic palmitate or alpha-tocopherol. The fat mixture can be used in the preparation of liquid or pulverized infant formulas.
Lipids containing unsaturated fatty acids, such as C
20:4
and C
22:4
, &ohgr;-6, C
20:5
, &ohgr;-3 and C
22:3
, &ohgr;-3, degrade easily under production of unpleasant tasting aldehydes (Pokorny, J. (1976) Effect of Non-lipidic Substances on Rancid Off Flavour of Lipids in Paoletti, R. et al. (eds.) Lipids, Vol. 2: Technology, p. 475-481, Raven Press, New York, 1976).
Thus, it is necessary to protect such lipids in e.g. food products from oxygen, trace metals and other substances which attack the double bonds of the highly unsaturated fatty acids in order to avoid off-flavour and loss of physiological activity and to increase the shelf life of products containing them. More specifically, there is a need to provide microencapsulated fats or oils, such as vegetable and marine oils, wherein the highly unsaturated fatty acids are present in a digestible, shelf stable and undegradable form, preferably in a free flowing powdered form to be readily mixed with other dry or liquid components to form a nutritionally satisfying product, such as an infant formula, without the use of undesired additives.
GB-A-2,240,702 discloses a process for preparing fatty fodder additives with high content of &ohgr;-3 fatty acids wherein a fat, e.g. fish oil, is heated to from 20 to 50° C. with addition of an emulsifier such as monoglyceride or diglyceride to obtain an emulsion which is mixed with a carrier material such as casein and homogenized. The resulting emulsion is dried in a spray drier or in a fluid bed drier to obtain a powder.
JP patent publication No. 85-49097 discloses a powdered marine animal oil containing highly unsaturated fatty acids encapsulated in 3 to 40% of casein or caseinate, 3 to 60% of a saccharide, 1 to 5% of an emulsifier and 0 to 2% of microcrystalline cellulose.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,569 discloses an infant food formulation and a powder or liquid concentrate for preparing an infant food formulation comprising the fatty acids DHA and EPA in a ratio of approximately 3:2, wherein the DHA and EPA may be protected from oxidisation by exposure to ambient air by encapsulation. Suitable matrix materials are materials approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, i.e. compounds of the GRAS list, especially starches, cellulosic compounds and gums.
JP patent publication No. 90-305898 discloses powders of oils, such as fish oils, containing highly unsaturated fatty acids, obtained by spray drying an emulsion of said oils in a solution of a partial hydrolysate of casein at a hot air temperature of 140° C. The casein should be hydrolysed to a degree of from 5 to 20% in a protease catalyzed reaction in order to be a satisfying emulsifier. The powders obtained contain fatty oil in an amount of from 50 to 70%. It appears that sodium caseinate is an unsuitable emulsifier.
EP-A2-0 385 081 discloses the preparation of double encapsulated fat or oil emulsion products. The encapsulation method requires the film forming material, e.g. caseinate, to be added in two separate steps to an aqueous dispersion of an oil such as coconut oil, peanut oil or sunflower oil, to form an additional coating layer to obtain the desired oxidation resistance.
Singh, M. N.; Mathur, B. N. 1992. Indian J. Dairy Sci., 45, 5, p. 251-255, describe encapsulation of milk fat and vegetable oils in a matrix comprising whey proteins and mixtures of caseins and whey proteins. Due to the water insoluble nature of caseins, these proteins are used in various mixtures with the water soluble whey proteins in order to obtain a water dispersable dry product. It was concluded that encapsulation of fat globules with whey protein rather than casein improved the physical performance of the product.
None of the above citations discloses suitable powdered, protected lipid products, wherein the oil or fat contains at least 10% by weight of highly unsaturated fatty acid, preferably &ohgr;-3 and &ohgr;-6 fatty acids, or a derivative there of, which satisfy the requirements of the European Community to ingredients, such as encapsulation materials and emulsifiers, in infant formulas as published by the Commission of the European Community (EC) in a directive of May 14, 1991. U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,569 suggests the use of gums and starches as wall material. However, gums, such as gum arabic, have been shown to inhibit mineral uptake in infants and the EC-allowed starches are unsuitable as matrix materials, because these starches cannot emulsify the fat or oil.
Caseinate is a water soluble proteinaceous film forming material which is a valuable nutrient, especially for infants. However, previous attempts to use caseinate as an encapsulation material for oil or fat has shown poor emulsifying properties (sodium caseinate, cf. JP 90-305898). Furthermore, EP-A2-0 385 081 shows the need for an additional coating layer when encapsulating oils and using caseinate as encapsulating material resulting in a less economic process.
EP-A1-0,424,578 discloses a free flowing particulate composition comprising from 70 to 95% of lipid e.g. fish oil containing from 10 to 50% of free fatty acids encapsulated in caseinate, preferably sodium caseinate. It appears from EP-A1-0 424 578 that the free fatty acid level must be above 10% by weight of the lipid in order to avoid leakage of lipid from a caseinate-protected product and it is considered important to homogenise an acidic lipid and an aqueous caseinate solution together at a temperature of at least 50° C. The emulsion is prepared by using a high-pressure ultrasonic homogeniser at a pressure of 14 to 16 bar. However, the free fatty acid level of natural animal and vegetable oils is normally below about 0.5-5.0% and the presence of free fatty acids in a food product is considered deleterious to the stability of the product.
EP-A2-0 425 213 discloses a microencapsulated lipid protected in a combination of caseinate and starch, said lipid being emulsified at a pressure of 1500 p.s.i. (103.4 bar) to 1700 p.s.i. (117.2 bar) and protected against leakage.
The above citations do not disclose a microencapsulated oil or fat product, wherein at least one oil or fat is dispersed without the use of emulsifiers in the matrix material as particles or drops having an average diameter of less than or equal to 2 &mgr;m, the oil or fat containing at least 10% by weight of highly unsaturated fatty acid, preferably &ohgr;-3 and &ohgr;-6 fatty acids, the level of free fatty acids being below 5.0% by weight and preferably below about 0.5% by weight, and the matrix material consisting of caseinate and optionally at least one carbohydrate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a mi
Andersen Steen
Skelbaek Tove
Danochemo A/S
Keil & Weinkauf
Paden Carolyn
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