Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Specific dye or pigment per se or compositions containing same
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-01
2001-07-17
Nessler, Cynthia L. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Specific dye or pigment per se or compositions containing same
C426S590000, C426S599000, C426S654000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06261622
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a water-dispersible carotenoid pigment preparation, an aqueous composition comprising a carotenoid pigment, and a method of stabilizing a dispersion state of a carotenoid pigment in an aqueous composition. Specifically, the present invention relates to a water-dispersible carotenoid pigment preparation which can be added to various aqueous compositions with retaining dispersion stability excellent in a wide temperature range, particularly even in a low temperature range, an aqueous composition comprising a carotenoid pigment with retaining its dispersion stability in a wide temperature range, and a method of stabilizing a dispersion state of a carotenoid pigment in an aqueous composition in a wide temperature range.
BACKGROUND ART
A carotenoid pigment is known as one of pigments that are widely used for coloring of food, cosmetics, medicines, and the like. The carotenoid pigment is oil-soluble and characterized in that its color in the state of being dissolved in oil (oleo-resin) is different from that in the form of crystal. Utilizing this characteristic, there are two types of coloring of an aqueous composition using a carotenoid pigment: one type is coloring of an aqueous composition by emulsifying a carotenoid pigment in the form of oleo-resin in it; and another type is coloring of an aqueous composition by dispersing pulverized crystals of a carotenoid pigment in it.
Among the above two types of the aqueous compositions, the carotenoid pigment crystal dispersion type is inferior in stability to the oleo-resin emulsion type. It was found that aggregation of crystal particles of the former type is accelerated, particularly, in a condition of low temperature such as 10° C. or lower. This characteristic leads deterioration of the visual commercial value as a result of precipitation of aggregates of the crystals when used in drinks or the like, which have many opportunities of distribution, preservation, and exhibition at a low temperature. Therefore, when a carotenoid pigment is applied to food, the use of the carotenoid pigment crystals for coloring by dispersing in an aqueous composition is limited to solid foods such as kneaded products, jellies, candies, ice candies, and the like, which are obtained by dispersing the pigment in a composition and solidifying it. Thus, it is difficult to apply them to drinks (liquid food).
Known conventional methods of improving dispersion stability of a carotenoid pigment in an aqueous composition include a method of adding viscous polysaccharide such as pectin, or xanthane gum together with a carotenoid pigment, a method of using a water-dispersible carotenoid pigment powdery composition comprising a carotenoid pigment having a particle diameter of less than 0.1 &mgr;m and sodium laurylsulfate (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 52-84232), a method of dispersing a pulverized carotenoid pigment in an aqueous composition (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-90188), a method of incorporating a carotenoid pigment, particularly &bgr;-carotene, in cyclodextrin and dispersing it in an aqueous composition (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 62-267261), a method of incorporating lycopene, one of carotenoid pigments, in &ggr;-cyclodextrin, and adding the resulting inclusion compound in an aqueous composition together with gluten and/or ascorbic acid (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 8-259829), and the like. It cannot be said that dispersion stability of a carotenoid pigment in an aqueous solution prepared by any of the above methods is not satisfactory in a low temperature range.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made from the above viewpoint, and an object of the invention is to provide a water-dispersible carotenoid pigment preparation which can be added to various aqueous compositions while retaining dispersion stability excellent in a wide temperature range, particularly even in a low temperature range, a carotenoid-containing aqueous composition comprising a carotenoid pigment while retaining its dispersion stability in a wide temperature range, and a method of stabilizing a dispersion state of a carotenoid pigment in an aqueous composition in a wide temperature range.
As a result of intensive investigation in order to achieve the above object, it was found that addition of a dispersion stabilizer containing soybean extract fiber as an effective ingredient to a carotenoid pigment can confer sufficient dispersion stability on the carotenoid pigment in a wide temperature range, particularly even in a low temperature range such as 10° C. or less, to thereby complete the present invention.
Thus, the present invention relates to a water-dispersible carotenoid pigment preparation comprising a carotenoid pigment and a dispersion stabilizer containing soybean extract fiber as an effective ingredient.
The ratio of the carotenoid pigment to the dispersion stabilizer in the water-dispersible carotenoid pigment preparation of the present invention specifically ranges from about 1:10 to 1:2,000 in terms of the weight ratio of the carotenoid pigment to the soybean extract fiber.
The carotenoid pigment used in the water-dispersible carotenoid pigment preparation of the present invention is specifically exemplified by lycopene.
The present invention also provides an aqueous composition comprising a carotenoid pigment and a dispersion stabilizer containing soybean extract fiber as an effective ingredient.
In the aqueous composition of the present invention, it is preferable to further add tomato juice in addition to the above carotenoid pigment and the dispersion stabilizer containing soybean extract fiber as an effective ingredient.
Further, the content of the dispersion stabilizer is specifically exemplified by approximately 0.01 to 1 wt % in terms of the amount of the soybean extract fiber based on the total weight of the composition.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a method of stabilizing a dispersion state of a carotenoid pigment in an aqueous composition, which comprises the step of adding the carotenoid pigment, a dispersion stabilizer containing a soybean extract fiber as an effective ingredient, and optionally tomato juice to the aqueous composition.
The present invention will be illustrated in detail below. The water-dispersible carotenoid pigment preparation of the present invention will be explained first.
(1) The Water-dispersible Carotenoid Pigment Preparation
The water-dispersible carotenoid pigment preparation of the present invention comprises a carotenoid pigment and a dispersion stabilizer containing soybean extract fiber as an effective ingredient.
As the carotenoid pigment used in the present invention, any naturally-occurring or synthetic compound classified into carotenoid pigments can be used without any restriction. Specific examples thereof include &bgr;-carotene, lycopene, lutein, spheroidene, spirilloxanthin, bixin, violaxanthin, canthaxanthin, astaxanthin, cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, &bgr;-apo-8′-carotinal, and the like. According to the present invention, these compounds can be used alone or in combination of two or more thereof.
Further, among the above carotenoid pigments, lycopene is used particularly effectively in the present invention.
The above carotenoid pigments can be obtained by isolating and purifying from natural sources, which are known to contain them, including green plants, fungi, yeast, mushrooms, bacteria, and the like, by the usual method. Alternatively, they can be produced by chemical synthesis by the usual method from starting materials usually used. Since many of the carotenoid pigments are commercially available, these can also be used in the present invention.
Among the commercially available carotenoid pigments, there are various products having different particle diameters depending on, particularly, their use. The carotenoid pigments to be used in the present invention have the particle diameter of preferably about 0.20 to 0.40 &mgr;m, particularly preferably about 0.20 to 0.30 &mg
Fukuda Takeshi
Koguchi Masaru
Sakamoto Hideki
Kagome Co., Ltd.
Knobbe Martens & Olson Bear LLP.
Nessler Cynthia L.
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