Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Product with added plural inorganic mineral or element...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-30
2003-04-01
Pratt, Helen (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Product with added plural inorganic mineral or element...
C426S634000, C426S656000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06541051
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the field of animal feed supplements and more particularly to preparing metal complexes of amino acids from soy protein hydrolysates.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The importance of the trace elements copper, iron, manganese and zinc in animal nutrition has long been recognized. Maintaining the health and well being of domestic animals and poultry requires that these essential elements be present in the diet in sufficient amounts and in a biologically available form. Because common feed ingredients may be deficient in these elements, supplemental amounts of the elements are added to the feed of domestic animals and poultry. Many commercial feed additives have been developed to provide the essential elements in forms that are readily biologically utilizable. The degree of biological availability that is the extent nutrients are actually in a form that can be assimilated and used is often referred to as “bioavailability”. Bioavailability depends on the physical and chemical properties of the form in which the nutrient is present in the diet. Increased bioavailability of supplemental essential metals is beneficial because it allows the use of lower concentration of the additive in the diet to meet the nutritional needs of animals, while at the same time lowering the potential harmful effects of high levels of the trace metals both on the animals and on the environment.
Several commercial products are available in which trace elements are more bioavailable than the corresponding inorganic source of the metal. The enhanced bioavailability is attributed to the association of the metal with an organic molecule, generally known as ligand. This association or bonding modifies the physical and chemical properties of the metal resulting in increased solubility, enhanced stability in the gut, improved absorption into circulation and increased metabolic utilization.
The common assignee of the present application has in the past synthesized and patented metal complexes of amino acids as a more bioavailable source of the essential elements. The following are examples of these patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,941,818; 3,950,372; 4,021,569; 4,039,681; and 4,067,994 disclose 1:1 complexes of alpha amino acids, preferably DL-methionine with the transition metals zinc, chromium, manganese and iron. The formation of similar complexes with L-methionine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,329. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,900,561 and 4,948,594 disclose copper complexes of alpha amino acids containing terminal amino groups. Complexes of copper, manganese, zinc and iron with alpha hydroxyl aliphatic carboxylic acids are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,956,188 and 5,583,243. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,670,269 and 4,678,854 disclose complexes of cobalt with poly-hydroxyl carboxylic acid such as glucoheptanoic acid. Complexes of the amino acid L-lysine with trace elements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,815. The effectiveness of the compounds disclosed in these patents has been demonstrated from data provided in these patents themselves and in numerous scientific publications and technical reports.
The above patents describe the use of pure synthetic or natural amino or hydroxyl acids. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,724 the assignee of the current application disclosed the synthesis of complexes of essential elements with natural amino acids obtained by the hydrolysis of proteins in general. Since this patent was issued, a large number of field studies have demonstrated that trace elements from these complexes are more bioavailable than such metals from inorganic sources. The art disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,724 has worked well for the large-scale production of various metal amino acid complexes from a variety of readily available proteins. However, in 1998 the European Union approved the use of a group of trace element chelates of amino acids as feed additives but only under certain conditions. The approved additives include copper, iron, manganese and zinc chelates of amino acids. The source of the amino acids used in preparing these chelates is restricted to hydrolyzed Soya Protein.
Many technical difficulties were encountered in applying the general art disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,724 for the preparation of the trace element chelates of amino acids from commonly commercially available sources of Soya Protein. These technical difficulties required specialized conditions for soy protein based product especially targeted for the European market.
Soy Protein is available in a number of grades that contain different concentrations of protein. Soy Protein Concentrate is a commercially available product obtained by removing most of the oil, ash and fiber. Most of the soy carbohydrate remains in the Concentrate. Typically, Soy Protein Concentrate contains about 65% protein, about 25% carbohydrates and the balance is oil, ash and fiber. Soy Protein Isolate is another readily commercially available grade of soy protein obtained by removing most of the carbohydrates, fiber and fat from soy. Typically, Soy Protein Isolate contains about 90% protein, less than 5% carbohydrate and the balance is oil, ash and fiber. The difference between these two grades of soy protein is the higher concentration of protein in the Isolate and higher concentration of carbohydrates in the Concentrate. The physical properties of these two forms are significantly different and these differences impact the suitability of the product for use as the source of amino acids in the preparation of trace element metal complexes.
For example, the presence of high concentrations of carbohydrates in the Soy Protein Concentrate resulted in the formation of viscous residue and heavy precipitate during acid hydrolysis. This complicated the efficient formation of the metal amino acid complexes and uniform distribution of the liquid formed after the formation of the complexes on the carrier for drying. Additionally the relatively low protein content of the “Concentrate” limited the amount of metal amino acid chelates that could be incorporated in the final product.
The Soy Protein Isolate also has some special process concerns. It has a relatively high concentration of protein and low concentration of carbohydrates that makes it a potentially acceptable protein source for the preparation of the metal amino acid chelates, however, this product has a relatively low bulk density and wetability that presents technical difficulties in mixing the bulky powder with a relatively small volume of acid required for hydrolysis. It can therefore be seen there exists a continuing need for process improvements to make both soy protein concentrate and soy isolate useable in the process of making trace element/amino acid chelates.
Accordingly, the primary objective of this invention is to provide a practical method for processing the soy protein source and efficiently hydrolyzing such a source to obtain amino acids to form trace element/chelates that meet the specifications of the European Union Countries.
Another objective of this invention is to provide a simple and economical method to control the manufacturing process to maximize the amount of metal amino acid complexes produced.
A yet further specific objective of this invention is to provide for a safe and simple method for the preparation of copper amino acid complexes after protein hydrolysis with sulfuric acid.
Turning next to iron, large-scale production of iron amino acid complexes from commercial grade iron oxide according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,724 was not practical because of the harsh conditions required to dissolve the iron oxide. Additionally, amino acid complexes of Fe (II) could not be prepared by using the methods described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,724. It is necessary to develop a novel method for the preparation of iron, especially Fe (II) amino acid complexes from hydrolyzed Soy protein as well as other protein sources.
Another objective of this invention is to provide for a practical method for the preparation of iron, especially iron (II) complexes of amino
Abdel-Monem Mahmoud M.
Anderson Michael D.
McKee Voorhees & Sease, P.L.C.
Pratt Helen
Zinpro Corporation
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