Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Reaction flavor per se – or containing reaction flavor...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-04
2003-12-09
Corbin, Arthur L. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Reaction flavor per se, or containing reaction flavor...
C426S534000, C426S536000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06660319
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to a flavorant for pet food and a method of its manufacture. Particularly, this invention relates to a pet food flavor providing a savory flavor such as meat. More particularly, this invention relates to a process for improving the palatability of pet foods of either low or high moisture content by enhancing the flavor to increase its acceptability to cats and dogs.
It should be understood that the expression “dry pet food” as used herein includes foods having a low moisture content. For example, dry pet food may contain less than about 20% moisture so that the free water content is generally not sufficient to support the growth of microorganisms. High moisture content pet food is intended to include the semi-moist and canned types of foods. The invention is applicable to all types, but is particularly significant with dry foods which often are least appealing to domestic animals.
Advantages associated with dry pet foods are that they are generally more nutritious, on an equal weight basis, require less expensive packaging, and are more convenient to use than moist foods. However, domestic animals are often quite particular in their tastes and, therefore, improving palatability significantly improves the deliverability of a dry food. To improve taste, a variety of materials have been utilized to coat the surface and/or are mixed with the dry constituents to enhance the flavor. For example, phosphoric acid has been coated onto the surface of a dry cat food as a palatability enhancer. More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,429 discloses a method for improving palatability of dry cat food by coating pellets of food with fat and palatability enhancing acids such as phosphoric or citric.
Palatability of dry pet foods may also be enhanced by the application of flavors. As an example, flavors are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,964 as meat and cheese flavorings.
However, the use of meat or cheese flavoring is not always easy to accomplish. One complication in developing flavorants and palatability enhancers for pets is unpredictability. Moreover, flavorants which work effective with humans do not often work as effectively with pets. Similarly, a flavorant which is effective with one species may not work as well with a different animal group. Furthermore, pets are unable to express their preferences in an effective manner. Accordingly, palatability testing must be employed.
One primary area of focus has been to provide pet foods with a savory meat flavor. In fact, this effort exists simultaneously with respect to flavoring human foods. In animals, this has typically been accomplished using poultry viscera, heart and liver digests. However, this flavorant system is somewhat undesirable because it cannot meet with the increasing demand for palatability of pet foods, especially dry pet foods.
In humans, artificial meat flavorants have been investigated as demonstrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,543 wherein it is disclosed that phospholipids, create a desirable meat aroma. Specifically, a flavorant stated to have a savory meat aroma and flavor is comprised of a phospholipid of animal origin and a sulfur containing compound which is reactive with the phospholipid. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,587, herein incorporated by reference, a meat flavorant comprised generally of a cyclic carbonyl compound is disclosed. Further discussion of artificial meat flavors is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,878, herein incorporated by reference, wherein it is stated that certain alkane thiols and alkane mercapto sulfides alter the flavor of foodstuff to provide a roasted meat taste for humans.
Interestingly, notwithstanding the alleged success of these various artificial meat flavors, many human foods still rely on a combination of natural flavors and yeast. Furthermore, there has been no successful development of an artificial meat flavorant which has demonstrated success in meeting the particular and unique palatability demands of domestic animals.
Therefore, it would be desirable in the art of animal feed, to have available a meat flavorant which is easily storable, preservable and relatively inexpensive yet provides a savory meat-type flavor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved flavorant for animal feeds.
It is an advantage of this invention to provide a new and improved flavorant which imparts a meaty aroma and taste to pet food.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved flavorant which can be applied topically to pet food bases of either high or low moisture content or incorporated into the pet food bases of either low or high moisture content prior to production process, such as extrusion and canning/retorting.
Yet another advantage of this invention is to provide a new and improved method for the manufacture of the subject flavorant.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the foregoing objects and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the flavorant of this invention is manufactured in accord with a process comprising combining at an elevated temperature, at least one sulfur containing compound, at least one carbohydrate, and preferably at least one nitrogen-containing compound such as an amino group to form a reaction product. The formed reaction product is then combined with a base food.
Preferably, the amino-containing compound is selected from the group of ammonium sulfide, ammonium sulfate, ammonium hydrogen sulfate, diammonium carbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium chloride, ammonium nitrate, ammonium hydroxide, di-ammonium phosphate, and mixtures thereof. Preferably, the sulfur containing compound is selected from the group of ammonium sulfide, sodium sulfide, sodium sulfhydrate, potassium sulfide, hydrogen sulfide and mixtures thereof. A particularly preferred form of the invention uses ammonium sulfide to provide both the nitrogen and sulfur containing compounds.
Preferably, the carbohydrate is a reducing sugar. More preferably, the carbohydrate is a monosaccharide such as xylose, hexose, pentose, glucose, fructose, starch hydrolates or molasses. In addition, the reaction mixture will also preferably contain an animal digest, i.e., animal tissue.
The reaction process is preferably performed in a temperature range of 80 to 160° C. under a pressure of between 47 to 617 Kpa. In a further preferred form of the invention the reaction is conducted at a pH of between 2.6 and 12.0.
In a particularly preferred form of the invention, the reaction is carried out in a manner resulting in the production of at least one of the compounds selected therefrom the group consisting of: 2-Ethyl furan; 2,3-dihydrothiophene; Methyl pyrazine; 2-furanmethanol; Ethyl pyrazine; 2-Ethyl-5-Methyl pyrazine; 2-Methyl-6-(Methio)-pyrazine; 2,5-Dimethyl furan; 2-Methyl thiophene; Methyl Ethyl disulfide; 2,5-Dimethylpyrazine; 2-Methyl-1-Ethyl pyrrolidine; 2-Ethyl-6-Methyl pyrazine; 2-[(methyldithio)Methyl]-furan; Pyrazine; 3-Methyl thiophene; 2-(2-propenyl)-furan; 2,6-Dimethylpyrazine; Dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS); 5-Methyl-2-thiophenecarboxaldehyde; Benzo[b]thiophene-4-ol; propanoic acid; 4-Methyl thiazole; 2,5-diMethyl thiophene; Ethyl, Thiazone; Dihydro-2-Methyl-3(2H)-thiophene; Methyl-2-Methyl-3-furyl disulfide. Preferably, 3-Methyl thiophene will form at least 7 ppm of the reaction product.
The reaction flavor can be dried with conventional commercial drying processes, such as spray drying, drum drying, and vacuum drying.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiment of the inven
Alix Jeff
Li Hui-Chen
Nowaczyk Paul
Shi Zulin
Tang Jiunn-yann
Bioproducts, Inc.
Corbin Arthur L.
Fay Sharpe Fagan Minnich & McKee LLP
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