Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Carbohydrate containing
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-04
2004-11-23
Bhat, N. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Carbohydrate containing
C536S123100, C536S123130, C536S126000, C127S030000, C127S042000, C127S046200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06821547
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a novel method for the preparation of polydextrose, the product formed therefrom and to foodstuffs containing said polydextrose.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Polydextrose is a water-soluble, low-calorie, non-cariogenic bulking agent in food which contributes the bulk and texture normally associated with sugars in many food products. It is also used as an excipient in pharmaceutical products. Polydextrose is a randomly bonded highly branched glucose polymer.
Polydextrose is an essentially low-calorie sugar substitute which has many of the technological properties of sugar without the sweetness. It has been used most advantageously where conventional sugar based compositions have proven to be too sweet. This non-sweet bulking agent is especially useful when used in combination with high intensity sweeteners to provide low-calorie food products having the desirable texture of conventional sugar-containing food products without the calories associated with those products.
Polydextrose is commercially available in various forms, such as Polydextrose A, an amorphous, slightly acidic (pH of 2.5-3.5) fusible powder; Polydextrose N, a potassium hydroxide partially neutralized (pH of 5-6) light-colored 70% aqueous solution of Polydextrose A; and Polydextrose K, a potassium bicarbonate partially neutralized (pH of 5-6) powder form of Polydextrose A.
Polydextrose is also available in another form, which has been designated as Improved Polydextrose, a form of Polydextrose A which is substantially free of certain low molecular weight organic acids (pH of 3-4).
Commercial polydextrose is prepared in accordance with the procedure described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,766,165 and 3,876,794, both to Rennhard. They disclose a procedure for preparing carbohydrate polymers, including polydextrose by melting a dry saccharide selected from the group consisting of glucose and maltose at a temperature below the point of substantial decomposition of the saccharide, maintaining the molten saccharide at a temperature ranging from 140° C. to 295° C. and at a reduced pressure in the presence of a catalytic amount up to 10 mol percent of a food acceptable polycarboxylic acid catalyst and in the substantial absence of water until substantial polymerization occurs and simultaneously removing water formed during melting and polymerization. Both the '165 and '794 Patents require polycarboxylic acids having at least two carboxyl groups. That is, both require carboxylic acids having at least two acidic protons thereon. Examples of the polycarboxylic acids used in the process in the '165 and '794 patents include citric acid, fumaric acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, adipic acid, itaconic acid, and malic acid and the anhydride of succinic, adipic and itaconic acids. The polycarboxylic acids are not only used as catalysts but also are cross-linking agents and polymerization activators.
Both the '165 and the '794 patents teach away from the use of monocarboxylic acids in the process for preparing the carbohydrate polymers. More specifically, they both state that monocarboxylic acids will not be effective as cross-linking agents and will not be as satisfactory as polycarboxylic catalysts in anhydrous melt polymerization.
Thus, based on the teachings therein, it was doubtful that the polycondensation for preparing polydextrose could be prepared in the presence of a monocarboxylic acid containing only one acidic hydrogen therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,500 to Elmore discloses a continuous polydextrose process in which maltose or glucose, polyol and edible carboxylic acid are each conveyed in separate streams into an apparatus having a vented chamber with means for conveying the ingredients longitudinally through the chamber with lateral mixing and minimal longitudinal mixing, then mixed together and melted in a first zone and conveyed to a second zone and finally reacted under reduced pressure. Elmore, et al. also teach away from the use of monocarboxylic acids in their process, stating that they will not act as comonomers and may not be effective as crosslinking agents, and further that they will not be as satisfactory as polycarboxylic acids as catalysts in anhydrous melt polymerization.
Japanese patents 01012761, 01012762 and 5087083 describe the use of phosphoric acid in the process of preparing polydextrose. The concentration of phosphoric acid utilized is at about 0.1%. They do not suggest the use of any other acid catalyst.
Water soluble polydextrose (also known as polyglucose or poly D-glucose) is commercially prepared by melting and heating dextrose (also known as glucose or D-glucose) preferably with about 5-15% by weight of sorbitol present, in the presence of a catalytic amount (about 0.5 to 3.0 mol %) of citric acid, a dicarboxylic acid.
Water-soluble polydextrose is an item of commerce which, as an approved food additive, is defined in the Food and Drug Section of the Code of Federal Regulations (21 C.F.R. 172.841). In its unimproved form, it is also described by Rennhard, U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,165, as a “[w]ater-soluble highly branched poly[dextrose] wherein the linkage of 1→6 predominates, having . . . average molecular weight between about 1,500 and 18,000 and containing from about 0.5 to 5 mole percent of [citric] acid ester groups . . . ”, i.e., water-soluble polydextrose is characterized by its content of from about 0.5 to 5 mol % of bound citric acid. According to Rennhard, the water-soluble polydextrose is preferably prepared using 0.5-5 mol percent of citric acid as catalyst. However, Rennhard's use of about 6 mol percent of citric acid produced more than two thirds undesired insoluble polydextrose. Rennhard also specified the optional use of about 5-20% (preferably 8-12%) by weight of sorbitol in the polymerization. The narrower range approximates the 10% by weight of sorbitol also noted in the C.F.R., cited above.
It has been alleged that the commercially prepared polydextrose utilizing the process described hereinabove has an off-flavor associated therewith. To minimize off flavor, commercial polydextrose is further refined on an ion-exchange column.
The present inventor has found that the off-flavor can be significantly reduced or eliminated if monocarboxylic acid is utilized in the preparation of the polydextrose. The present inventor has found that monocarboxylic acids having only one acidic hydrogen atom or lactones thereof can be used instead of dicarboxylic acid in catalytic amounts in the preparation of polydextrose, contrary to the teachings of Rennhard, supra. Moreover, he has found that the product so produced does not exhibit the off-flavor found in polydextrose produced using citric acid.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a process for preparing a carbohydrate polymer which comprises polymerizing a sugar selected from the group consisting of monosaccharide, disaccharide, oligosaccharide and hydrolysate of a carbohydrate polymer at a temperature below the substantial decomposition of said sugar and at a reduced pressure under effective polymerization conditions in the presence of a catalytic amount of a monocarboxylic acid or lactone thereof or an arylol while removing the water formed during said polymerization, said monocarboxylic acid or lactone thereof being non-volatile and having only one acidic functionality thereon, while said arylol is non-volatile and has only one or two acidic functionalities thereon. In a preferred embodiment, a food acceptable polyol is included in the reaction mixture. The present invention is also directed to the product thus formed and to a foodstuff containing said carbohydrate polymer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As used herein, the term “carbohydrate polymer” is a carbohydrate polymer formed from monosaccharides. The monosaccharides contain from 3-6 carbon atoms and include aldoses and ketoses. Examples of monosaccharides include glyceraldehyde, erythrose, threose, ribose, arabinose, xylose, l
Gros Håkan
Lindholm Bengt
Shah Pankaj
Bhat N.
Danisco USA Inc.
Scully Scott Murphy & Presser
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