The functional ingredients and the constituents
26 The specification is very general in its description of possible functional ingredients and constituents. It is stated that 'the at least one' functional ingredient may be generated from 'the at least one' constituent by two or more conversion agents. It is said that preferably, 'the at least one' constituent of the food material is selected from a large class of compounds, including esters, mono-, di- and triglycerides, fats, fatty acid esters, various oils, proteins, amino acids, a constituent comprising a hydroxy group, polyvalent alcohols, including glycerol, water, ethanol and sugars. Indeed there seems to be a repetition of proteins and amino acids in the list.
27 A more detailed description is given of the meaning of the term "triglyceride" to mean a triester of an alcohol, preferably glycerol and a fatty acid.
28 A number of preferred aspects of the integers of the invention are then described:
The triglyceride of the first constituent is selected from triglycerides of specified fatty acid chain lengths.
The functional ingredient is generated from at least two constituents of the food material where at least two constituents of the foodstuff may interact and/or react and/or combine together to generate at least one functional ingredient.
The functional ingredient is generated from a first constituent and a second constituent of the food material.
The first and second constituents are constituents of the foodstuff. The functional ingredient is generated from a first and a second constituent of the food material and these constituents are also present in the foodstuff. That is, the constituents/ingredients are only partially used.
The first constituent of the food material/foodstuff is hydrophobic and/or lipophilic.
The first constituent of the food material/ foodstuff is selected from a broad class of compounds including esters, mono-, di- and triglycerides and various oils, derivatives and mixtures thereof. More preferably, the first constituent of the food material/foodstuff comprises or is an ester or a triglyceride.
The second constituent is hydrophilic and may be selected from proteins, amino acids, mixtures and derivatives.
The second constituent is selected from a constituent comprising a hydroxy group including glycerol, water and ethanol, more preferably glycerol. This preferred group does not include fatty acid esters.
The first constituent is an ester, preferably a triglyceride and the second constituent is a constituent comprising a hydroxy group, preferably an alcohol, more preferably a polyvalent alcohol and yet more preferably glycerol.
In a highly preferred embodiment, the first constituent is a triglyceride and the second constituent is a sugar or a sugar alcohol. These constituents interact on contact with the conversion agent to generate an ester derived from the first constituent with a lower degree of esterification than the first constituent, and a sugar ester. Each of the ester and the sugar ester may act as a functional ingredient such as an emulsifier. Thus, two functional ingredients may be generated from two constituents of the food material/foodstuff by a conversion agent. This describes a single reaction, known as interesterification. In that highly preferred embodiment, the second constituent is preferably ascorbic acid.
In a further broad aspect of the invention, the foodstuff comprises at least two functional ingredients which have been generated from a first constituent of the food material (preferably a triester, more preferably a triglyceride) and a second constituent of the food material (preferably a sugar or sugar alcohol and more preferably ascorbic acid) by a conversion agent.
In a further preferred aspect of the invention, the food material/foodstuff further comprises greater than two constituents, preferably a third constituent. This is selected from the constituents listed for the first and second constituents, preferably one that comprises a hydroxy group, including glycerol and water. Preferably, it is selected from sugars.
The provision of one or more of the constituents in liquid form may significantly increase the reaction velocity of the generation of 'the at least one' functional ingredient.
The conversion agent may be contacted with all of or a portion of the food material. An example is described in the specification and in Figure 1, resulting in margarine.
Preferably, the functional ingredient is generated by a reaction selected from alcoholysis, preferably glycerolysis, hydrolysis, interesterification and combinations thereof, more preferably alcoholysis, preferably glycerolysis.
The 'at least one' functional ingredient is selected from emulsifiers, hydrocolloids, preservatives, antioxidants, colourings and flavourings. Preferably, at least one functional ingredient comprises or is selected from a group including emulsifiers and, more preferably, is an emulsifier. The emulsifier may comprise or be selected from mono- and diglycerides, derivatives and mixtures thereof.
The food material and/or the food material contacted with the conversion agent and/or the conversion material is substantially free of water. An example of this aspect of the invention is where a lipase carried in glycerol is contacted with a triglyceride. Mono- and diglycerides and preferably sugar esters are generated as functional ingredients. Two single reactions are exemplified, one an interesterification using a lipase where the constituents are triglyceride and glycerol, the other using triglyceride and glycerol/sugar, that is three constituents, and a lipase. It is possible to select the 'at least one constituent' to provide a required functional ingredient. Where it is an emulsifier being a mono-, di- or triglyceride, 'the at least one' constituent may be, for example, a triglyceride and a polyvalent alcohol.
The foodstuff provided may be selected from a very wide range of goods including baked goods. In one aspect of the invention, it is other than mayonnaise. A preferred embodiment is margarine.
29 The specification contains 16 examples which illustrate the invention. These examples relate to the production of a variety of foodstuffs, including where the foodstuff is full fat margarine, 60% fat spread with protein, 40% fat spread with whey powder, filling cream, ice cream and various other forms of margarine. Example 14 relates to the production of sponge cake, a baked product.
30 It is not in dispute that there are reactions described in the specification that are single reactions. The specification also describes a reaction in which the first and second constituents are contacted with the conversion agent under conditions of controlled water activity.
31 The relevant claims of the Patent are set out later in these reasons.