JP2540685B2 - Fast-dissolving sweetener containing caramel - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to methods of making products containing artificial sweeteners such as aspartame. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for producing a fast-dissolving sweetener product comprising caramel, and also having improved flouring and flow characteristics.

Description of the Prior Art The use of sweeteners in the desired product can often be difficult. For this application, sweeteners will include, but are not limited to, aspartame, saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame-K, trichlorogalactosucrose (TGS, sucralose), and alitame. Appearance, chemical and physical properties, instability, and difficulty in handling and manufacturing can limit the applicability of sweeteners, especially in powder form. Sweeteners can be difficult to use when low dusting, free flowing, rapid dissolution, or rapid release is required.

Aspartame is sometimes difficult to use. This is because the lumpy earth partame dissolves slowly, and the fine powder composed of needle-shaped crystal particles has the characteristics of being easily charged with static electricity and having a bad flow. The beverage industry is aware of aspartame dusting losses and slow dissolution. Loss of aspartame can result from the loss of fines in the air and absorption on the surfaces of equipment and containers during manufacturing, shipping, handling and use.

Various methods have been proposed in the past to solve the problems of aspartame flour dusting, flow and dissolution. These methods include granulating aspartame with bulking agents such as sugars, dextrins, and maltodextrins. In successful products, a high percentage of bulking agent is generally mixed with a small percentage of aspartame. This is because the property of a large amount of the extender is required to produce a fast-dissolving product. Conventionally included in the examples of granulation methods are fluid bed granulation, spray drying, co-drying, high shear energy granulation, roll compaction, and extrusion. For example, Adolph U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,835 teaches the use of mixtures containing solid hydrolyzed shells, edible acids, phrases, opacifiers, aspartame and colorants. All ingredients except the colorants are premixed and added with the colorant solution when the ingredients are combined.
This mixture has improved solubility in powdered beverage mixes. However, this mixture contains more than 10 parts of other components per part of aspartame.

One particular method is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,468 to Pischke et al. Pischke details a method of making a dispersion of aspartame and dextrin. It is preferred to stay as some aspartame particles, insoluble particles encapsulated in dextrin.

A way to try to attract interest in the beverage manufacturing industry can be found in Sharma US Pat. No. 2,104,369B. The Sharma patent discloses an aspartame concentrate, which is a mixture of 1-35% aspartame and 65-99% caramel colorant. This concentrate is typically used to make a syrup with added aspartame sweetener for carbonated beverages. This concentrate can be used in liquid form or dehydrated to obtain a powder product. There are difficulties in using aspartame with the method disclosed by Sharma. The caramel and aspartame content levels in the mixture result in a hygroscopic and moisture intolerant mixture which quickly turns into a sticky substance when exposed to moist air, making it difficult to handle and transport. Become.
Making a mixture of caramel and aspartame in the amounts disclosed by Sharma leaves handling problems that are similar to those encountered with the use of typical aspartame powders (eg, product does not flow freely). Moreover, the caramel color mentioned when used in said patent is very intense, so that the formulated products can only be used in applications where a deep tint is desired. Further, since it is difficult to use the above-mentioned granulation method using such a high content level of caramel, a manufacturing problem may occur.

Therefore, there is a need for a method of making sweeteners, especially aspartame, in a fast-dissolving form.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a sweetener product that has a fast solubility. A particularly preferred invention is a fast dissolving granular sweetener that also has improved flouring and flow characteristics. The sweetener is mixed with low levels of caramel to form a fast dissolving powder. The sweetener may be moistened with a caramel solution and then dried to form a powdery or granular product. Preferably, caramel and water or a caramel solution is used as a granulating agent to make a granular product which, when dried, has low dusting, free flowing and fast dissolving properties. The sweetener is about 70% to about 99.5% dry weight percent,
It is preferably mixed with a dry weight percentage of 0.5% to about 30% caramel.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments The product of the present invention comprises a mixture of sweetener and dehydrated caramel, wherein the sweetener is present in an amount of about twice the amount of caramel. (For the purposes of this use, dehydrated caramel means that caramel in the final product has a limited amount of moisture. The caramel may be in powder or syrup form before mixing. ). Preferably,
Caramel is present in a dry weight percentage of about 0.5% to about 30%, and artificial sweetener (preferably aspartame) is present in a dry weight percentage of about 70% to about 99.5%. (For the purposes of this use, the amounts and percentages of caramel and sweetener are discussed on a "dry weight basis".
This means that water may be present in the mixture but is not considered when discussing the percentages and ratios of caramel and sweetener. ) Water, if it does not significantly affect the performance and stability of the product, has a residual moisture content of about 8
It may be present up to% moisture. This product dissolves at an unexpectedly fast rate. When the sweetener is granulated with caramel,
The product also has improved dusting and flow characteristics.

The caramel and sweetener can be mixed by a number of methods, each of which results in a sweetener / caramel mixture having an improved dissolution rate. The "caramel" contemplated by this invention includes all conventionally available caramelized sugars. Caramelized sugar is a solution of sugar such as liquid corn sugar at high temperature (eg 125
It is manufactured by heating to (° C.). Caramel may be in the form of a syrup or a dry powder. Caramel has traditionally been used in a wide variety of food products, including beverages and confectionery. Caramel is desirable for applications requiring coloring with little caloric value. Examples of suitable caramels include, but are not limited to, those manufactured by the Sethness Products Company. A particularly suitable caramel is a beverage type caramel prepared in the presence of ammonium bisulfite as a reactant. A particularly suitable caramel has a pH in the range of about 2.5-5.0 and an isoelectric point below 2.5. An example of a preferred caramel is the Sethness Products Company Double S
Includes trength 400SM and AP100SM. Surprisingly, it has been found that small amounts of caramel can significantly improve the dissolution rate of large amounts of sweetener. This is surprising, especially for aspartame, as previous attempts to improve the dissolution rate through the use of bulking agents have met with limited success or required relatively large amounts of bulking agent. For the purpose of this use, the term "bulking agent" includes substances conventionally mixed with aspartame or other sweeteners.
Examples of these substances include, but are not limited to, polydextrose, maltodextrin, gum arabic, dextrose, and solid corn syrup.

Caramel has been found to be mixed with the sweetener in various ways, granulating and / or coating it to form a fast dissolving product. In one method, syrup-like caramel is diluted with water and then added to a sweetener to form a slurry, which is dried and then ground.
In the second method, the sweetener is mixed with dry caramel powder, then moistened with water to make a soft dough, then dried and ground. In another method, the sweetener is granulated with a powder mix of caramel solution or dry caramel powder, and the sweetener is also a Hobart mixer, or other conventional granulator, such as a mechanical mix granulator, fluid bed granulator. It is granulated in water using a granulator or a rotary processing machine. In another method, the artificial sweetener may be added to the coater and then the sweetener is coated and granulated by the addition of caramel solution. Another method involves adding dry caramel to dry aspartame. It was surprisingly found that this simple mixture has an increased dissolution rate without any wetting. It was especially surprising that this would occur with the intended small amount of caramel.

The resulting granules or powder particles have a rapid dissolution rate. Thus, aspartame and other artificial sweeteners are required to have a fast dissolution rate, yet low levels of caramel as a solubilizer due to color, taste, or other considerations. It could be used in a variety of applications. Moreover, caramel appears to have excellent wettability and dispersibility, allowing the granules to dissolve more quickly than expected.

More than one sweetener can be incorporated into a product, including caramel. A particularly preferred sweetener mixture is a combination of aspartame and Acesulfame-K caramel.

Small amounts of conventional extenders may also be included in the product. These bulking agents may be desirable for applications where certain physical properties are desired to be improved (eg, when it is desired to make harder granules). The maximum amount of extender envisaged here is about 15% by dry weight of the product. The total amount of caramel and extender is preferably 30% or less based on the dry weight of the product. The bulking agent is added in an amount to increase the hardness of the granules. Consumable products including caramel and sweeteners are used in a variety of products, examples of which include, but are not limited to:
Includes foods, beverages, juices, alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and other carbonated beverages, confectionery products (candy, chewing gum, baked goods, pastries, breads, etc.), oral hygiene products, pharmaceuticals and veterinary foods.

The following examples show various methods of making caramel-aspartame products and comparison with aspartame mixed with other powdery or syrup extenders. These examples are included for purposes of illustration only and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention.

Example 1 A caramel-aspartame mixture was prepared by diluting a commercially available caramel syrup with water. The diluted solution was added to powdered aspartame to form a slurry.
The slurry was filtered and dried in a vacuum oven at 50 ° C. The dried filter cake produced from the slurry was ground and then sieved to make samples (granules or powders) with various particle sizes. For this purpose of use, the granular particles should be considered to have an average size of about 20-60 US Standard (US Std) mesh,
Also, the powder particles should be considered to have a particle size smaller than the 60 US Std mesh. The following table shows the dissolution rates of various caramel-aspartame mixtures. All product percentages are dry weight percentages.

The caramel in the product component analysis value is considerably smaller than the initial caramel amount, because a part of the caramel is removed as a filtrate during the filtration process.

Example 2 A caramel-aspartame mixture was obtained by mixing commercially available powdered caramel with powdered aspartame. Water was added to the powdery mixture and then mixed.

The mixture was then dried and screened through a 60 US standard mesh screen.

Example 3 Powdered aspartame was mixed with other granular or syrup soluble extenders. Water was added to moisten the powder mixture. The mixture was then dried and sieved to obtain a sample size of particles below 60 US standard mesh. When the bulking agent is in the form of a syrup, the bulking agent is first diluted with water and then added to aspartame to moisten the aspartame particles.

Example 4 A powdery extender was dissolved in water. The solution was added to aspartame powder to wet and granulate aspartame. The mixture was then dried and screened to obtain samples of various particle sizes.

Example 5 22.5 g of powdered aspartame was added to 2.5 g of powdered caramel (A
P680, marketed by The Sethness Products Company) and gently stirred with a teaspoon in a glass bowl. A sample of the material was dissolved (0.1 g in 120 ml room temperature deionized water with gentle stirring). Greater than 95% of the sample dissolved in 10 seconds and within 45 seconds all samples dissolved.

Thus, it is generally found that products containing caramel mixed with aspartame have a faster dissolution rate than conventional bulking agents or sweeteners mixed solely with aspartame. The results obtained by using caramel with aspartame are superior to other bulking agents. These results allow the use of aspartame or other sweeteners in applications where a fast dissolving sweetener with a minimum amount of bulking agent is desired.

The principles of the invention and the best mode contemplated for applying the principles have been described above. It should be understood that the above examples are for illustration only, and that other means and techniques may be used without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. is there.

Claims (13)

(57) [Claims] 1. A granular or powdery form comprising a sweetener and dehydrated caramel selected from the group consisting of aspartame, saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame-K, trichlorogalactose, alitame, salts of all and mixtures thereof. A sweetened product, wherein the sweetened product has a faster dissolution rate than the sweetener alone, wherein the sweetener comprises at least 70% by dry weight of the product and the caramel is a dry product of the product. A sweetened product as described above, which comprises 0.5% to 30% by weight. 2. A sweetened product according to claim 1, wherein the sweetener is aspartame. 3. A sweetened product according to claim 2, wherein the sweetener comprises a mixture of aspartame and acesulfame-K. 4. Further comprising a bulking agent in an amount effective to provide the desired bulk, the bulking agent being 15 by dry weight of the sweetened product.
Selected from the group consisting of gum arabic, leicacin, maltodextrin and solid corn syrup, provided that the amount of caramel and extender combined does not exceed about 30% by dry weight of the product. A sweetened product according to claim 1, which is 5. A sweetened product according to claim 1, wherein the sweetener comprises 90-97% by weight of the sweetened product and the dehydrated caramel comprises 3-10% by weight of the sweetened product. 6. A step of mixing dry caramel with a sweetener selected from the group consisting of aspartame, saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame-K, trichlorogalactose, alitame, all salts thereof and mixtures thereof. A method of producing a sweetened product with improved dissolution rate in the form of a powder, wherein the mixing is carried out without the addition of water or solvent, wherein the sweetener comprises at least 70% by dry weight of the product and caramel is the product The manufacturing method as described above, wherein the dry weight of 0.5 to 30%. 7. A method for producing a sweetened product in the form of a powder or granules, the method comprising mixing dehydrated caramel and aspartame to form a mixture, wherein the sweetener comprises at least 70% by dry weight of the mixture and the caramel is A process as defined above, which comprises 0.5% to 30% by dry weight of the mixture, adding sufficient water to dissolve the caramel while continuing to mix, and drying the moist mixture. 8. A process according to claim 7, wherein the dry mixture is ground and then sieved to produce granules or powder particles. 9. A step of further adding to the powdered caramel a powdery extender selected from the group consisting of gum arabic, leicacin, maltodextrin and solid corn syrup, the extender being about 2% by dry weight of the product. From about 15
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the amount of extender and caramel added is not more than 30% by dry weight of the product, added in an amount of up to%. 10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the mixing step is carried out in an apparatus selected from the group consisting of a mechanical stirring granulator, a fluidized bed granulator and a rotary processor. 11. A method for producing a sweetened product in the form of powder or granules, comprising the following steps: diluting caramel syrup with water, diluting caramel syrup with aspartame, saccharin, cyclamate, and acesal. Add to a powdered sweetener selected from the group consisting of Fame-K, trichlorogalactose, alitame, and all salts and mixtures thereof to form a water-containing slurry, where the sweetener depends on the dry weight of the product. Forming at least 70% and caramel comprising 0.5% to 30% by dry weight of the product, and drying and sieving the hydrous mixture to produce a granular or powdery product. 12. A step of further adding to the diluted caramel syrup a bulking agent selected from the group consisting of gum arabic, leicacin, maltodextrin and solid corn syrup, wherein the bulking agent is from about 2% to about dry weight. 12. The method according to claim 11, which is added in an amount of up to 15%, provided that the total amount of extender and caramel does not exceed 30% by dry weight of the product. 13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the mixing step is carried out in an apparatus selected from the group consisting of a mechanical stirring granulator, a fluidized bed granulator and a rotary processor.