Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Carbohydrate containing
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-18
2004-01-27
Hendricks, Keith (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Carbohydrate containing
Reexamination Certificate
active
06682770
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a polysaccharide which is useful as an ingredient in a variety of foods containing psyllium, which is known to generate a high viscosity when hydrated. In accordance with the present invention, a polysaccharide which can reduce viscosity resulting from hydrated psyllium is provided. In addition, a food additive composition containing the polysaccharide and psyllium is provided. The food additive can be readily incorporated into foods without a loss of beneficial effects of psyllium and without an undesirable increase in the viscosity of the foods. Further, the present invention also provides a food product characterized by its ingredients, which are the psyllium viscosity-reducing polysaccharide and psyllium, and by its excellent handling properties and favorable palatability, and a method of manufacturing the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A recent trend of western-style dietary habits in Japan resulted in a continuous reduction in the consumption of dietary fibers. The current daily intake of dietary fibers is as low as about 17 g, which is far lower than the target level of 20 to 25 g prescribed by Ministry of Health and Welfare in Japan. In response to physiological studies directed to the actions of dietary fibers in a human body, the importance of dietary fiber in health care and disease control has been well recognized. Accordingly, various attempts are made to incorporate a dietary fiber into various foods for the purpose of increasing the intake of dietary fibers, which otherwise tends to be deficient.
We focused on psyllium, among dietary fibers, which was reported to have excellent water-retaining capability and swelling ability, as well as various physiological effects such as an intestinal function-controlling effect, blood lipid-controlling effect, hyperglycemia-suppressing effect, and blood cholesterol-reducing effect. Also, psyllium is barely digested and contains few calories, but provides a sense of satiety, and thereby is expected to exact a weight-controlling effect.
Psyllium is a naturally occurring vegetable gum derived from a seed of a plant of Plantago species, such as
Plantago Ovata Forskal,
which is a kind of plantain cultivated in Rajasthan and Gujarat states in India. Psyllium forms a highly viscous dispersion when hydrated, and it can form a dispersion having the viscosity as high as about 4000 cp (centipoise, determined using a type B viscometer with Rotor No. 3, at 30 rpm and 25° C.) for example, even when added at a concentration as low as 1% by weight. When hydrated at 2% by weight, psyllium usually forms a gelatin-like clear gel. When a 1% dispersion is heated to 90° C. and then cooled, a hard gel mass can be formed. The viscosity, which is as described above, is several or several ten times greater when compared with other thickening polysaccharides, such as guar gum, locust bean gum, and tara gum, added at the same concentration. In addition, although these thickening polysaccharides exhibit fluidity, even at a high viscosity, psyllium exhibits both high viscosity and high gelling ability.
Accordingly, when psyllium is incorporated into food products, such as beverages, confectioneries, breads, and noodles, in an attempt to obtain physiological effects, such as the intestine function-controlling effect as described above, the psyllium can be swollen during the manufacturing process later than the step of mixing with water due to the physical characteristics described above, thereby resulting in high viscosity. As a result, problems such as difficulties in processing and adverse effects on palatability are experienced, and applications in the field of food processing have been hampered. Therefore, a technique to suppress the onset of the elevated viscosity and gel-forming characteristics in response to the hydration of psyllium is still desired for the purpose of providing an improved handling of psyllium that is to be incorporated into various food products.
Especially, when manufacturing a liquid food to be packed into a sealed container is intended, the manufacturing process requires a step of heat sterilization following the hydration step of psyllium. Therefore, several problems result, such as formation of a hard gel, leading to impossibilities in packing into a container and to difficulties in retaining favorable fluidity or palatability.
A conventional method for suppressing the onset of the elevated viscosity resulting psyllium is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-15340, which discloses a method of processing a dietary fiber psyllium in which an agar solution prepared by heating for dissolution is supplemented with psyllium powder, and then solidified by cooling. In this method, although psyllium is fused by means of the coagulating action of agar, thereby achieving a decrease in viscosity, the coagulated psyllium and agar should be used together, preferably as a pulverized solid, and thus a reduction in the gelling ability of the psyllium alone in a hydration system is not achieved. In addition, because the usable form is a pulverized solid including agar, the scope of the applicable food products is necessarily limited.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a psyllium viscosity-reducing polysaccharide capable of suppressing the onset of an elevated viscosity and gel-forming characteristics (hereinafter referred to simply as “viscosity”) resulting from the hydration of psyllium, without deteriorating the physiological effects naturally associated with the psyllium, such as an intestinal function-controlling effect and the like.
Several attempts were made to achieve the object described above, and it was discovered, unexpectedly, that when a certain polysaccharide, such as a specified starch, is present in a hydration system for psyllium, the onset of elevated viscosity in a psyllium hydrate can be suppressed significantly. A further effort was made to finally identify such polysaccharides, thereby establishing the present invention.
Thus, an aspect of the present invention is to provide a polysaccharide for reducing the viscosity resulting from psyllium (i.e., “a psyllium viscosity-reducing polysaccharide”) having a molecular weight of 20,000 or greater and viscosity of an aqueous solution at 2% by weight of 9.0 cp or less (determined using a type B viscometer with Rotor No. 1, at 60 rpm and 25° C.). A polysaccharide having these characteristics can reduce the viscosity in a psyllium hydrate system without deteriorating any useful physiological property possessed naturally by psyllium, and without interfering in the manufacturing process or causing any adverse effect on palatability when incorporated into a water containing food.
The psyllium viscosity-reducing polysaccharide according to the present invention preferably is granulated to impart a desirable psyllium viscosity-reducing ability. Such polysaccharides can efficiently prolong the onset of an elevated viscosity upon hydration of psyllium, thus it is advantageously used for the manufacture of a powdered food for preparing a liquid food, such as powdered juice mix or powdered instant soup mix, namely food products which are prepared by dissolving in water, or in hot or boiling water, prior to drinking/eating them. It is preferable that the polysaccharide is granulated to yield 70% by weight or more of the particles being unable to pass through the 140 mesh sieve (140 mesh on), thereby the desirable psyllium viscosity-reducing effect, handling feasibility and solubility of the food product, as well as a preferred dispersion property and bulk density, can be achieved.
In a first aspect of the present invention as above-described, the psyllium viscosity-reducing polysaccharide preferably can be one selected from the group consisting of a modified starch, gum arabic, arabinogalactan, partially decomposed guar gum, pullulan, a dietary fiber, and mixtures thereof, due to the excellent psyllium viscosity-reducing ability thereof.
In particular, the modification m
Akiyama Daizaburo
Date Katsuhiro
Kawamura Yasumasa
Nakazeko Takuo
Ueda Kazuhiko
Hendricks Keith
Nissin Shokuhin Kabushiki Kaisha
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