Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Noncarbohydrate sweetener or composition containing same
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-10
2002-04-09
Wong, Leslie (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Noncarbohydrate sweetener or composition containing same
C426S534000, C560S040000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06368651
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the use of additives to positively affect at least one taste characteristic imparted by the high intensity sweetener, N-[N-(3,3-dimethyl butyl)-L-&agr;-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine 1-methyl ester, or neotame, and compositions containing the same.
2. Related Background Art
N-[N-(3,3-dimethylbutyl)-L-&agr;-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine 1-methyl ester is a highly intense non-nutritive sweetening agent useful to impart sweetness to a wide variety of food products. This sweetener, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,668, is approximately 8,000 times as sweet as sucrose, on a weight basis. Thus, very small quantities of this sweetening agent may be used to sweeten foods without adding calories.
Flavor modifiers may be added to foods, beverages or personal care products, pharmaceutical preparations, or other compositions to increase acceptance of products by enhancing desirable tastes and/or aromas or by masking or eliminating undesirable taste and/or aroma attributes. Flavor modifiers may be used to modify the taste and/or aroma profile and/or the temporal taste and/or aroma profile of one or more specific flavoring ingredients. The temporal profile of a taste relates to the manner in which taste development occurs, e.g., the onset of the taste, the intensity of the taste, the time it takes for the taste to reach maximum taste intensity, the time it takes for the taste to dissipate (linger). Taste modifiers may be used in any concentration necessary to achieve the desired taste profile of a product for a desired application. Taste modifiers may be used above, below or at threshold concentrations to supplement, enhance, or modify the original taste of a composition. The threshold taste concentration of an ingredient is that concentration at which the taste of that ingredient can be detected in a food composition, and typically, is different for different food compositions. At below threshold concentrations, or sub-threshold concentrations, the taste modifier does not impart a characteristic taste of its own, but provides a taste-modifying effect to one or more tastes in a composition.
High intensity sweeteners, such as neotame, often produce a sweet taste that has a different temporal profile than that of sugar. For example, the sweet taste produced by high intensity sweeteners may have a sweet taste that has a faster or a slower onset or a shorter or longer sweetness taste linger than the sweet taste produced by sugar or may change the taste balance of a food composition. Because of these differences, use of a high intensity sweetener to replace a bulk sweetener, such as sugar, in a food or beverage, may cause an unbalanced profile in the resulting food composition. It is well known to those skilled in the art of food/beverage formulations that changing the sweetener in a composition requires re-balancing of the flavor and taste profiles of the composition. A high intensity sweetener that has a taste profile which can be selectively modified to impart specific desired taste characteristics could significantly expand the type and variety of compositions that may be prepared with that sweetener. Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop a method to selectively modify the taste characteristics of a high intensity sweetener.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to compositions containing N-[N-(3,3-dimethylbutyl)-L-&agr;-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine 1-methyl ester, or neotame, of the formula
and at least one taste modifying ingredient that positively affects one or more of the taste characteristics imparted by neotame in at least one product use. Although neotame is a known high intensity sweetener, it has now been discovered that selected materials can function as taste modifiers to affect the overall taste characteristics of compositions containing neotame in sweetening effective concentrations.
This invention also relates to the use of modified forms of neotame to prepare compositions that possess an improved taste compared to compositions containing neotame. The improved taste results from the positive effect on at least one taste characteristic imparted by neotame by the modification of neotame. A modified form of neotame may be used alone, or in combination with neotame, another modified form of neotame or a taste modifying ingredient to provide compositions wherein one or more of the taste characteristics imparted by neotame are positively affected in at least one product use.
This invention also relates to the method of preparing compositions containing neotame, in sweetening effective amounts, and one or more taste modifying ingredients. According to the method of this invention, one or more taste modifying ingredients may be added to a neotame-containing composition to positively affect at least one characteristic taste imparted by neotame in that composition.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the method of using taste modifying ingredients to positively affect at least one taste characteristic imparted by N-[N-(3,3-dimethylbutyl)-L-&agr;-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine 1-methyl ester, or neotame. This invention also relates to compositions containing neotame and at least one taste modifying ingredient wherein at least one characteristic of the taste of neotame imparts to the composition is positively affected. The compositions of this invention include food compositions, pharmaceutical compositions as well as compositions used in the preparation of food and/or pharmaceutical compositions. The compositions of this invention may be prepared in any form, including solids, semi-solids, gels and liquids, for example, beverages, dairy products, frozen dairy products, baked goods, cereals, gelatins, nutraceuticals and the like. Most preferably, this invention relates to the use of taste modifying ingredients to positively affect at least one taste characteristic imparted by neotame in foods, and particularly in beverages.
Neotame, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,668, is approximately 8,000 times as sweet as sucrose, on a weight basis. Thus, very small quantities of this sweetening agent may be used to produce foods that are equi-sweet tasting to presently available high caloric food products. According to one embodiment of this invention, compositions containing neotame, at sweetening effective concentrations, and at least one taste modifying ingredient, at below taste threshold concentrations, possess an improved taste compared to compositions containing neotame, without an added taste modifying ingredient. Specifically, the improved taste results from the positive effect of the taste modifying ingredient(s) on at least one taste characteristic imparted by neotame in the composition. A taste characteristic imparted by neotame, as defined herein, is any attribute of the taste provided or enhanced by neotame at or above sweetening threshold concentrations. Such taste characteristics include, for example, the sweetness taste attribute inherent to neotame, its compatibility with other tastes or flavors in a composition, including for example, neotame's effect on the balance of the tastes or flavors of a composition, as well as temporal taste attributes, such as sweetness onset, sweetness intensity and sweetness linger.
The neotame used in this invention may take any form. For example, it may be a salt or complex such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,004, U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,156, U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,942, U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,680, U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,402, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/126,363, the disclosure of each of which is incorporated by reference herein. Other exemplary forms of neotame that may be used in this invention include co-crystallized forms and cyclodextrin complexes, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,402 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/100,867, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated by reference herein. Agglomerates and various forms of neotame crystallized using diffe
Bechert Claire-Lise T.
Bishay Ihab E.
Desai Nitin
Gerlat Paula A.
Jarrett Tammy C.
Hoster Jeffrey M
The NutraSweet Company
Wong Leslie
LandOfFree
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