WO2000069272A1

WO2000069272A1 - Fat containing products

Info

Publication number: WO2000069272A1
Application number: PCT/EP2000/003715
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anthony V. Rawlings; Mandy K. Chen; Matthew Patrick
Original assignee: Unilever N.V.; Unilever Plc; Hindustan Lever Ltd.
Priority date: 1999-05-18
Filing date: 2000-04-18
Publication date: 2000-11-23
Also published as: AU4402600A

Abstract

Fat based product in particular food products are taught. The products contain oil in water and water in oil emulsions and in addition contain isoflavones and preferably petroselinic acid and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Description

FAT CONTAINING PRODUCTS

Fat based food products containing a health component are well known in the art, e.g., WO 98/08503 discloses that isoflavones can be applied in food products such as oil-in- water and water-in-oil formulations. The isoflavones are said to have beneficial effects on blood cholesterol levels and on diseases like menopausal syndrome, or premenstrual syndrome and even prostate cancer. The food products indicated herein are drinks, dairy products, health bars and desserts. In addition to the isoflavones, other components can be present as well, such as vitamin E, which is said to act synergistically with the isoflavones.

However, in this document no indication can be found about the relation between the presence of isoflavones and the presence of specific fatty acids in the food products.

This is, in general, of importance because specific fatty acids in a food product determine the possible application of the product. Products rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids are believed to be healthier than other fat based products.

We have studied whether we could find fat containing products containing such an amount of a health component with which one or more of the following aims could be fulfilled simultaneously:

- the food product should have the desired texture and therewith the required mouthfeel - the amount of health component required, therefore, should correspond with the amounts that would enable a daily serving of health component that is required to achieve the desired health effects

- the health component preferably should be a component that has synergistic effects with other health components present in the food products, such as Ca-salts and/or vitamins - the health component preferably should have an interaction with polyunsaturated fatty acids so that the uptake thereof by the human body would be improved and their health effects would be increased

- the health component should preferably have antioxidant activity so that the benefits of this activity would be obtained as well

- the health component should be cholesterol lowering and act synergistically with unsaturated fatty acids .

the health component should also be active on improving skin health (less irritation, less dry skin, less wrinkles) and/or cognitive performance

It is found that one or more of above aims could be achieved by using isoflavones with the formula's 1-19 of the formula sheet (attached) in selected fat containing products. Therefore, the invention concerns, in the first instance, fat containing products having a fat content of 0.5 to 99.999 wt% from which at least 10% consists of petroselinic acid and/or polyunsaturated fatty acids, having at least two unsaturations and at least 18C-atoms and comprising 0.001 to 5.0 wt% of one or more of the isoflavones with formula 1-19 of the formula sheet.

As isoflavones the compounds with the formula's 1-19 can be applied. Herein R1=H or an acidic or amino acidic residue and R8 to R18 can be selected from: H; OH; OR (R=C1-C10 alkyl); COR; COOR (R=H or alkyl) ; CONHR (R=H or alkyl) and amino acid residue. Isoflavones can be made synthetically or can be isolated from natural sources containing them. Very suitable sources heretofore are: red clover, linseed, lentils, beans, chick beans and soya. The isoflavones may be added in their glycosilated form as normally present in nature or may be added as aglycone (i.e., in a form wherein the glucosyl rest is removed from the isoflavone backbone) . When we refer to amounts of isoflavones , we refer to the amount of isoflavones as in the aglycon form. It is also possible to add the isoflavones as an extract from natural sources. These extracts in general will also contain natural proteins present in the natural sources. These proteins are found to be beneficial to increase the effects of the isoflavones .

The fat containing products can have very different fat levels, preferred products are products with fat levels of 3-90 %, preferably 10-85 %, more preferably 20-60 wt%, while the balance may be formed by one or more of the following components: water, emulsifiers, thickeners, flavors, colorants and acidifiers.

The isoflavone level of the fat products can range from 0.001 to 5 wt%. The isoflavones can be split into two categories, i.e., hydrophobic and hydrophilic isoflavones.

The hydrophobic isoflavones are specifically used in products with a continuous fat phase because they will dissolve easier in the fat phase. In products based on water continuous emulsions, it is better to apply hydrophilic isoflavones because they will dissolve in the water phase and, therefore, their effect will be more pronounced in the final fat product. Hydrophobic isoflavones are the aglycon-forms, whereas the glycosilated isoflavones are in general more hydrophilic. Examples of isoflavones that are particularly preferred are daidzein, genistein, daidzein, genistein, glycetein, glycetein, biochanin A, dihydrodaidzein, dihydrogenistein, formononetin and coumestrol.

Applicants anticipate that the effects of the isoflavones are the most pronounced in fat systems rich in petroselinic acid or polyunsaturated fatty acids (=PUFA) , in particular polyunsaturated fatty acids with 18-C-atoms and 2-4 unsaturations. When applied in these fat systems the uptake of the fat in the human body is anticipated to be higher than normal, further the health effects of the isoflavones are expected to be better. This could be explained by the fact that the isoflavones can also act as antioxidants and thus prevent an oxidation of the polyunsaturated fatty acids which are easily oxidized. Preferred PUFA and LCPUFA' s that are applied can be selected from the group consisting of C18:2, including the conjugated C18:2 fatty acids and more specific CLA' s rich in trans 10 cis 12 and in cis 9 trans 11 isomers, C18:3, C20:4; C20:5; C22:5 and C22:β.

Most preferred are oils rich in these C18:2 and C18:3 but also oils rich in LCPUFA' s, examples thereof being Fish Oil, modified Fish Oil and Fish Oil concentrates .

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, we found that fat containing products, wherein the product has a fat level of 0.5-99.999 wt% and contains one or more of the isoflavones with the formula's 1-19 have a Stevens hardness at temperature of its use of 200 to 2500, preferably 300 to 1800, most preferably 400 to 1000 g.^"1 and display excellent product properties. It should be noted in this respect that the temperature of use of the fat product differs for the different products, e.g., spreads, shortenings, and dressings are normally used at ambient temperature (i.e., 20-25° C) , whereas ice cream is applied at much lower temperatures of -18° C.

It is also anticipated that additives such as Ca²⁺- salts, vitamins D, K, folic acid, E, Bβ or B12 will increase the effects of the isoflavones more than corresponds with their individual effects. Therefore, we add preferably at least one of these components to the fat system. In a preferred embodiment we use the isoflavones and the Ca-salt in a weight ratio of 1:2 to 1:50, preferable 1 : 5 to 1:30, most preferably 1:7 to 1:14. The Ca-salts preferably are derived from edible, organic acids. Part of the invention are also food products comprising a fat, wherein the fat is a fat product according to the invention as disclosed above. These food products are in particular selected from fat continuous emulsions such as spreads or shortenings or from water continuous emulsions such as dressings or ice creams. In a preferred embodiment the novel food products are fat continuous emulsions containing one or more hydrophobic isoflavones and water continuous emulsions containing one or more of hydrophilic isoflavones. In this way the isoflavones are always dissolved in the continuous phase of the food product resulting in better mouthfeel and up-take thereof.

EXAMPLE I

A spread was made by the usual process route, using a common Votatator system AAC and applying the following recipe:

fat and oil 39.30 wt% (PUFA content 25 %) emulsifier 0.46 flavors 0.14 vitamins 0.08 salt 1.50 acid 0.08 thickener 2.00 isoflavone concentrate* 2.86 Ca-salt 1.88 water balance

* contains 3 wt% of isoflavones The product obtained displays excellent product characteristics .

EXAMPLE II

Example I was repeated using the following recipe:

fat and oil 39.50 wt% (PUFA content 50 %) emulsifier 0.46 flavor 0.01 salt 1.50 acid 0.08 thickener 2.00 vitamins 0.07 isoflavone concentrate* 2.86

Ca-salt 1.88 water balance

The resulting spread displays excellent product characteristics .

EXAMPLE III

A Caesar dressing was made from the following recipe:

vinegar 5.00 wt% oil and fat 15.30 (PUFA content 30 %) sugars 7.50 cheese 3.30 salt 2.20 flavors 5.00 thickeners 0.40 isoflavone concentrate* 1.10 vitamins 0.03

Ca-salt 3.30 preservative 0.12 phosphoric acid 75 % 1.00 water balance

The product obtained displays excellent product characteristics.

EXAMPLE IV

An Italian dressing was made from the following recipe:

oil and fat 15.30 wt% (PUFA content 30 %)

High fructose corn syrup 13.20 vinegar 8.20 salt 2.00 phosphoric acid 75 % 1.00 thickener 0.25 flavors 5.60 preservative 0.08 isoflavone concentrate* 1.10 vitamins 0.03

Ca-salt 3.30 sugars 2.20 water balance

The product obtained displays excellent product characteristics . As used herein, the word "comprising" is intended to mean including but not necessarily "consisting essentially of", "consisting of" or "composed of". In other words, "comprising" the listed steps or options need not be exhaustive .

Except in the examples, or where otherwise explicitly indicated, all numbers in this description indicating amounts of material or conditions of reaction, physical properties of materials and/or use are to be understood as modified by the word "about." All amounts are by weight of the composition, unless otherwise specified.

It is understood that the examples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and that various modifications or changes in the light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the art and are to be included within the spirit and purview of this application and the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. Fat containing product having a fat content of 0.5 to 99.999 wt% from which at least 10% consists of petroselinic acid and/or polyunsaturated fatty acids, having at least two unsaturations and at least 18 C-atoms and comprising 0.001 to 5.0 wt% of one or more of the isoflavones with formula's 1-19 of the formula sheet, Rl being H, acidic or amino acidic residue and R8 to R18 can be selected from H; OH, OR (R=alkyl); COR (R=alkyl); COOR (R=H or alkyl); CONHR

(R=H or alkyl) and amino acid residue.

2. Fat containing product according to claim 1 wherein the product has a fat level of 3-90 %, preferably 10-85 %, more preferably 20-60 wt%, while the balance is formed by one or more of the following components: water, emulsifiers, thickeners, flavors, colorants and acidifiers.

3. Fat containing product according to claims 1-2, wherein the product has a level of isoflavones of 0.001 to 5 wt%, which isoflavones preferably are hydrophobic and present in the fat phase.

4. Fat containing product according to claims 1-3 wherein the isoflavones are selected from the group consisting of daidzein, genistein, dihydrodaidzein and dihydrogenistein .

5. Fat containing product according to claims 1-4, wherein the fat applied has a content of petroselinic acid and/or PUFA and/or LCPUFA of more than 20, preferably more than 40 wt%.

6. Fat containing product according to claim 5, wherein the PUFA cq LCPUFA is selected from the group consisting of C18:2, CLA isomers; C18:3; C20:4; C20:5; C22:5 and C22:6.

7. Fat containing product according to claims 5-6, wherein the fat applied is an oil rich in C18:2/C18:3, a fish oil, a modified fish oil or a fish oil concentrate.

8. Fat containing product, wherein the product has a fat level of 0.5-99.999 wt% and contains one or more of the isoflavones with the formula's 1-19 and has a Stevens hardness at temperature of its use of 200 to 2500, preferably 300 to 1800, most preferably 400 to 1000 g.^"1.

9. Fat containing product according to claims 1-8, wherein the product also comprises one or more of the following ingredients a Ca²⁺- salt, vitamin E, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12.

10. Fat containing product according to claims 1-9, wherein the isoflavone (s) and the Ca²⁺- salt are present in a weight ratio of 1:2 to 1:50, preferably 1:5 to 1:30, most preferably 1:7 to 1:14.

11. Food product comprising a fat component wherein the fat component is selected from the fat containing products from claims 1-10.

12. Food product according to claim 11, wherein the food product is selected from fat continuous emulsions such as spreads or shortenings or from water continuous emulsions such as dressings or ice creams.

13. Food product according to claim 12, wherein the fat continuous emulsions contain one or more hydrophobic isoflavones, in particular daidzein and the water continuous emulsions contain one or more hydrophilic isoflavones, in particular glycosilated genistein.