NZ213934A - Food adhesive compositions containing protein and polysaccharide - Google Patents

Description

New Zealand Paient Spedficaiion for Paient Number £13934 ' - ' C. c. W-f ''':■ "V^'f* "Vr?& « 213934 > >5 f & << J Priority Date(s): . ^rVt r.'.'r'.T Svf Complete Specification Fiied: P7§S Class: .ft^U/.QQ 2 9 APR 1988 TOlfe Publication Date: .

P.O. Jcymal, No: ... J 3f?.T PATENTS FORM NO. 5 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION "ADHESIVE COMPOSITEON FOR COMBINING PIECES OF FOOD" -I-> WE CHIBA FLOUR MILLING CO. LIMITED a Japanese Body Corporate of 17, Shinminato, Chiba-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan, hereby declare the invention, for which-I-/we pray that a patent may be granted to rae/us, and the method by Which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- ' (followed by page 1 ^ 2 13934 Taniyama Patent Office \ev SPECIFICATION Title of the Invention: ADHESIVE COMPOSITION FOR COMBINING PIECES OF FOOD Background of the Invention: Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to adhesive compositions for production of novel aggregated food products by freely employing various materials of raw and processed foods and by combining and integrating these materials into various shapes.

Description of the Prior Art: In recent years, effective utilization of foods has been investigated from various aspects to compensate for the relative decrease of food resources. However, a large percentage of food materials remain unused for human and animal nutrition and are disposed away during food processing. Furthermore, no satisfactory measures have been taken for solving this problem. For example, commercially low-valued small fishes, shellfishes, mollusks and crustaceans, odd and fragmentary pieces of meat produced from the processing of fish and livestock and salmons 2 1393 Taniyama Patent Office - 2 - and hens after their spawning or breeding are not positively applied for food, but instead, find a limited way of application such as smashed or kneaded products, or raw material for fodder and extracts. These unutilized edible materials include those materials which are by no means inferior to conventionally used food materials of the same kind with respect to their quality as food, that is taste, nutrition, etc. Nevertheless, they are evaluated commercially lower and are not properly utilized due to their bad appearance and inconvenience in processing because of their odd shapes and small sizes.

In addition, a greater variety of foods in recent years has produced new types of handy compound foods which attract much attention. The unutilized food materials mentioned above would be suitable to meet the new needs. But they still remain unused due to the lack of adequate processing techniques. Therefore, if it is possible to combine tremendous amount of unused food resources as desired and recompose and process them into a new type of foods which are aesthetically pleasing in these shapes and styles, have balanced taste and feel good to the touch, a large merit can be expected to be brought into the industry. With respect to this, a technique in which pieces of food having undefined odd shapes are combined into forms and aggregated in defined shapes has been proposed together with the adhesive composition thereof, this process already being partially carried out for practical use.

Taniyama Patent Office 213934 The present inventors have paid attention to the above mentioned problem in the earlier stage and after an intensive investigation founded and developed the following inventions. The inventions relate to the process for producing a novel type of aggregated food through the use.of adhesive compositions In the course of the investigation, mixtures of two kinds of substances were found effective for the purpose of combining and integrating pieces of various foods.

One of .the two kinds of ingredients was selected from protein and the decomposition products thereof (hereinafter designated as protein materials) containing more than 30 mols of a carboxyl group per 10sg, and polysaccharides and the decomposition products thereof (hereinafter designated as polysaccharide materials) containing more than 0.3 mol of a carboxyl group per polymerization unit which should dissolve or disperse in neutral or alkaline water and the aqueous solution or dispersion should be gelatinizable at a concentration of solid ingredients of less than 30% (for technical ..use, it is disired to be higher than 0.3%). The other ingredient was selected from alkaline earth metal hydroxides and oxides, baked powder from an egg shell, sea shell and bone powder (hereinafter designated as calcium materials).

Taniyama Patent Office 213934 Pieces of various foods were combined and integrated effectively using an adhesive composition which was prepared from a mixture of at least one of both the former materials and the latter kinds of above-mentioned materials. The process has been utilized for practical uses in a wide field of food processing.

In addition, prior arts proposed having the same objective include? a process in which lumps of meat containing the addition of a sodium salt are tightly attached and frozen to obtain a united lump of meat, a process in which pieces of chicken containing kitchen salt and an added condensed phosphate are coagulated by heating to obtain a block of chicken, a process in which freeze-dried ground fish, kitchen salt, phosphate and/or polysaccharides and vegetable protein or starch were mixed with meat and then the entire mixture is combined in an attached manner, a process in which pieces of meat are combined in an attached manner with collagen, a process in which pieces of meat mixed with glucomannan were soaked in a solution of calcium hydroxide and then combined in an attached manner by pressure to obtain blocks of meat, a process in which sheets of heat-denatured processed meat are combined under a heat treatment using at least one member in the group consisting of dried egg whites, vital gluten and soybean protein powder, a process in which pieces raw meat are combined in an attached manner with a calcium 24FEBW88 ■<> Taniyama Patent Office 213934 hydroxide complex having D-sorbitol and a process in which a mixture of chicken with a soybean protein emulsion is kneaded, shaped and then coagulated by heating.

These prior arts, however, still have various problems which should be solved before they are completed. Following are the problems just mentioned: the food materials to which the prior arts could be applied are restricted mainly to meat and the processed products thereof; in order to accomplish a strong attachment; the attaching and combining operation has to be accompanied by a heat treatment; and the defect of insufficient strength of the apparent attachment not being able to stand the processing and cooking operations that follow.

V24 FEB 1988 2 1 39 34 i Taniyama Patent Office .. — 6 - The process for adhesively attaching pieces of food materials by use of the above-mentioned adhesive composition which the present applicants have already developed has a number of advantages as described below: the raw materials employed are not only limited to meat, but can also include a wide range of foods for the purpose, including fish, shells, vegetables, fruits, cheese and kneaded fish products; a sufficiently high adhesion strength can be maintained independent of heating after the attaching operation, so that a large variety of processing and cooking methods can be selected after the attachment treatment; and a very high adhesion strength can be obtained, the products thus being able to withstand severe treatments of processing and cooking.

However, some problems remain to be solved for the above-mentioned process before being able to be applied to the industry.

In the prior art which the present applicants have developed, an adhesive composition consisting of a particular protein or polysaccharide material and calcium material is placed between pieces of food. The adhesive composition undergoes a coagulation reaction in the presence of water, which is either water from the food material or added as desired. In this stage of the reaction, the adhesive composition starts a rapid adhesive coagulation by absobing 2 139 Taniyama Patent Office - 7 - water. The initial adhesion begins uniformly and becomes complete frcm half an hour to an hour, and the surfaces can no longer be peeled-off by any external force. The time allowance in which a piece of peeled meat which has been aggregated once can again be firmly aggregated (hereinafter, this amount of time will be called pot-life) should be the time at which the initial adhesion for permanent combination starts. For a series of operations of adhesion to be carried out in a reasonable and steady way, the pot-lif.e should be sufficiently long enough to give the necessary amount of time for the operation. A pot-life, having a small value, places a severe restriction on the large scale production of the manufacturing of aggregated food.

For instance, when a large amount of food material is mixed with the powder of an adhesive composition in a mixer and then placed in a certain package in order to obtain an aggregated food having a definite shape, a series of operations from mixing to packing and shaping should be completed within the pot-life. This is impossible in the practical sense. Although in operation, it is favorable to dissolve the adhesive composition in water beforehand and to apply it in a liquid form, this process is also impractical. Therefore, the practical operation for adhesive combination is carried out by repeated manual operations; division of the raw material of food into small lots, followed by attachment, packaging and shaping. 2 1393 Taniyama Patent Office - 8 - As has been mentioned above, the adhesive composition which the present applicants previously developed could not overcome the restriction of the optimal range for processing being limited and therefore due to the short pot-life, irrespective of its high adhesive performance, it is not suitable for large scale production.

Object and Summary of the Invention: The present invention intends to remarkably prolong the pot-life of the adhesive composition without degrading the adhesive property of the conventional adhesive compositions, so that enough time is allowed for mixing, adhesion, and the mechanical packaging (and therefore, shaping) of a large number of articles. Thus, the invention has developed a process in which an adhesive shaping operation can be carried out successfully in a large scale.

When the calcium material in the adhesive composition absorbs the water, that is contained in food or supplied from the outside as needed, it is rapidly activated to react with the protein material or the polysaccharide material in the composition to bring about adhesive coagulation. The present inventors were aware of this fact and thus made an investigation into"how to retard the reaction rate of the 2 1393 4 i Taniyama Patent Office calcium material". In many cases however, when another substance is added to the calcium material or when the calcium material itself is treated keeping the aim of retarding the reaction rate in mind, the activity of the calcium material is lowered which then leads to a lowered adhesion strength. After extensive investigations the difficulties were overcome by raising or coating the calcium material with some specific substances. Thus, the reaction rate of the calcium material could be retarded without lowering its activity.

The present invention relates to an adhesive composition for combining pieces of food containing as effective ingredients a first material selected from one or more substances which consists of protein and the decomposition products thereof containing at least 30 mols of a carboxyl group per 10 g, or of polysaccharide and the decomposition products thereof containing at least 0.3 mol of a carboxyl group per polymerization unit and which dissolve or disperse in alkaline water, and the aqueous solution or the aqueous dispersion being gelatinizable at a concentration of solid ingredients of less than 30%, and a second material consisting of one or more substances selected from the burnt powder of an egg shell, sea shell and bone, alkaline earth 2 139 Taniyama Patent Office - ±u - metal hydroxides, alkaline earth metal oxides and sodium hydroxide (calcium material)which are mixed or treated with a coating of one or more members of the group consisting of oil, fat, aliphatic acids, surfactants, saccharides, natural gums and proteins (hereinafter designated briefly as a mixing or coating treatment material).

In the course of the investigation, the inventors found that, when egg whites, plasma protein or lactalbumin is selected as the first kind of substance, sodium hydroxide treated with the mixing or coating material referred to above is used in place of the calcium material mentioned above as the second kind of substance, and the same result is achieved.

Detailed Description of the Present Invention: Now the invention of the present application will be explained in more detail.

The first type of substances, protein and polysaccharide materials include animal proteins such as concentrated sea food protein, egg whites, lactalbumin, plasma protein and casein; vegetable proteins such as soybean protein and wheat protein; and polysaccharides such as alginic acid, carrageenan and glucomannan. 2 13934 Taniyama Patent Office - 11 - The calcium material which is a base substance of the second material is selected from the group consisting -of powders from baked shells and bones and hydroxides and oxides of alkaline earth metals (most commonly, powders of calcium hydroxide and calcium oxide). Materials of the animal origin include the egg shells of birds such as chickens, the sea shells of shellfishes such as oysters, scallops and clams, and bones of animals such as those of oxes, pigs and whales. They are baked at a temperature above 800°C into powder, sodium hydroxide could be used in place of the calcium material if egg whites, plasma protein or lactalbumin is used as the first kind of material. Subs.tances which may be employed to be mixed .with, or to be a coating agent of, the calcium materials or sodium hydroxide mentioned above include animal and vegetable oils and fats for foods which are liquid or solid in room temperature (soybean oil, salad oil, palm oil, and lard), saturated carboxylic acids (lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, and arachic acids) , unsaturated carboxylic acids (oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids), surface active substances (mono- and polyglycerine esters of fatty acids, acetylated monoglycerine esters of fatty acids, fatty acid esters of sorbitan, propyleneglycol and saccharose), phospholipids (yolk lecithin, soybean lecithin), 2 13934 Taniyama Patent Office - 12 - saccharides (powdered malt honey, maltitol fructose), natural gums (carrageenan, locust bean gum), vegetable and animal protein (wheat protein, and sodium caseinate).

The above-mentioned material is used to be mixed with, and to coat calcium materials and sodium hydroxide. The conditions and process for it will be described in detail.

Processes of mixing or coating the calcium materials and sodium hydroxide are divided into 4 groups; (1) a process in which the mixing or coating material in a liquid is sprayed onto the surface of powdery calcium materials or sodium hydroxide; (2) a process in which a suspension containing calcium materials or sodium hydroxide and the mixing or coating material is sprayed and dried; (3) a process in which the calcium jnaterials or sodium hydroxide are mixed with the mixing or coating material using a mixing machine; (4) a process in which a mixture consisting of calcium materials or sodium hydroxide and the mixing or coating material is granulated under an applied pressure.

In the spray process, the calcium materials or sodium hydroxide are streamed and float, for example in a streaming tank, and the mixing or coating material is sprayed thereonto so as to be absorbed by the calcium material or 2 1393 Taniyama Patent Office _ 13 _ sodium hydroxide. The spraying may be carried out at room temperature, when the substances to be used are in a liquid state. They include oils and fats, unsaturated fatty acids, surfactants and phospholipids which are in the liquid form at room temperature. If substances which are solid at room temperature are used, including oils and fats, saturated fatty acids, surfactants, it is necessary to heat them to a temperature higher than their respective melting points. For example, lauric acid should be heated to around 50°C and stearic acid to 75 - 80°C and then sprayed to be adsorbed onto the calcium materials. If a mixing or coating material to be used does not melt after being heated, the material must be dissolved or uniformly dispersed in an edible solvent. For instance, a fatty acid ester of saccharose is applied in the form of an ethyl alcohol solution. In this case, it is desired that the solvent, which is used to dissolve or disperse the mixing and coating material, is removed after spraying and therefore the temperature in the tank where the spraying is conducted should be set accordingly (at a temperature sufficient enough to remove the solvent).

When the calcium material or sodium hydroxide is applied for mixing and coating by mixing it with a mixer machine, the process differs somewhat depending on the 2 1393 Taniyama Patent Office - 14 - nature of the substance to be selected as the mixing and coating material. For example, when a liquid substance is used as the mixing and coating material such as that selected from liquid oils and fats, unsaturated fatty acids, liquid surfactants or liquid phospholipids, the process is complete when this mixing and coating material is mixed with the calcium material or sodium hydroxide uniformly using a mixing machine. However, when a substance which is solid at room temperature is used including saturated fatty acids, some kinds of surfactants, and some phospholipids, it is necessary in the same manner as in the spraying process to uniformly dissolve or disperse, the solid substance beforehand in an edible solvent. As an exception, when a mixing or coating material selected from the saturated fatty acids, solid oils and fats and solid surfactants melts from being heated, and the amount used exceeds 10% by weight, the process does not need any solvent. In this case, it will suffice to just heat the substance to a temperature above its respective melting point while it is mixed with the calcium material or sodium hydroxide in a mixer, and to cool it down to room temperature in order to accomplish the mixing or coating process. When the amount of the mixing or coating material 2 1393 Taniyama Patent Office - 15 - to be added to the calcium material or sodium hydroxide is less than 10% by weight, the mixing or coating material is applied in the form of a solution in a solvent. As an example in which this treatment is used, the mixing or coating treatment of calcium oxide powder with stearic acid (melting point : 70°C) takes place as follows: 50g of stearic acid powder is dissolved in 500 ml of ethyl alcohol heated at 75°C, then 1 kg of calcium oxide powder is added and the whole mixture is kneaded. During this process, the jacket temperature of the kneader is maintained at 80°C to gradually cause evaporation of the alcoholic content. The content, after the kneading, is cooled down close to room temperature and crushed to obtain a mixing or coating material which is the object of this process.

The process of pressed dry granulation is useful when protein, saccharides or natural gums are employed as the mixing or coating material. In this process, a homogeneous mixture of calcium material or sodium hydroxide with the mixing or coating material mentioned above is pressed irregularly by a pressing roller and crushed to obtain mixed granules. Thus, the mixing or coating treatment is accomplished.

A suitable amount of the mixing or coating material to be added, as determined from various types of experiments, Taniyama Patent Office proved 'to be 0.1 to 100% by weight in ordinary cases against 100% by weight of calcium material or sodium hydroxide.

The most -suitable amount of the mixing or coating material to be added is determined from the condition of the aggregation operation of foods, particularly on the time required for the aggregation operation to finally achieve the desired shape for the food in the packaging and forming operation. According to the investigations of the present inventors, the speed of water absorption and coagulation of the adhesive composition is lowered and the elongated pot-life is ascertained as the amount of the mixing or coating material to be added to the calcium material or sodium hydroxide increases. Even if the same amount of additional mixing or coating material is used, the pot-life differs depending on the nature of the particular mixing or coating material. Therefore, a more effective result for this process could be achieved by selecting the mixing or coating material to be used as well as the amount of additional material to be added to the calcium material or sodium hydroxide.

The adhesive composition of this invention can be obtained by mixing (in an ordinary way, such as with a mixer) at least one of both the first kind of substances and the second kind of substances together, to obtain a homogeneous / rs.-Vl*-'—V"- '?*V~ 213934 Taniyama Patent Office mixture. The amount of the calcium material or sodium hydroxide in the second kind of substances should be preferably 5 to 40% by weight against 100% of the first kind of substances.

The adhesive compositions of the present invention were tested as to their pot-life, when each composition was applied for adhesion using as a reference the adhesive composition in prior arts- The results obtained are shown in Table 1.

As the first kind of substance, a mixture of the protein materials was prepared from 4 parts of lactalbumin, 3 parts of plasma powder and 3 parts of dried egg white, to produce respective samples of adhesive compositions. More particularly, the following 3 samples were prepared from 8 parts of the first kind of substance (protein materials) by adding: 2 parts of calcium hydroxide : sample (1) 2 parts of baked egg shell : sample (2) and 2 parts of coating-treated baked egg shell: sample (3) where the baked egg shell in sample (2) is a powder obtained by baking egg white at 1000°C. The coating-treated baked egg shell in sample (3) , of the second kind of substance of this invention, is obtained from a mixture of 8 parts of \ 24 FEB 1988 O1 rnlj 2 13934 Taniyama Patent Office - 18 - baked egg shell powder and 2 parts of fatty acid ester of sorbitan by the coating treatment with a spray dryer (flowing layer type) at 90°C followed by cooling and crushing.

In carrying out the above test, 15 sets of sample specimens were prepared for each adhesive composition used. A sample specimen was made of two slices of ham (each being in a dimension of 10cmx7cmxlcm) which were aggregated using one of the mentioned adhesive compositions.

At first, the prepared adhesive compositions, that is samples (1), (2) and (3), were uniformly applied on one side of the slices of meat in an amount of 0.4 g for each. These were kept standing for a certain predetermined amount of time (0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes). The two slices were attached together by a pressure applied. In 5 hours, each combined pair of slices was cut with a sharp knife in the direction perpendicular to the adhesion plane, and swung lightly for a while with one end being held, in order to observe whether and how the attached surfaces were peeled off as well as to compare the pot-life of the samples. 2 139 Taniyama Patent Office - 19 - Table 1. Comparison of pot-life of some adhesive compositions c Sample Elapse of time before combination \ Sample (1) Sample (2) Sample (3) 0 min.

+++ +++ +++ + ++ +++ - - ++ - - ++ - - ++ O Notations.

: Peeled when combined meat slices were cut with a knife.

+ : Peeled when combined meat slices were lifled by the fingers.

++ : Peeled after 5 to 6 continuous swings of the combined meat slices.

+++ : Did not peel even after 5 to 6 swings.

' V 2 13934 Taniyama Patent Office - 20 - The test shows that, when the adhesive compositions of the prior arts were used, the aggregation shaping should have been finished within at the most 5 minutes after the adhesive composition was applied to the slices of meat.

If the compositions were left standing for a longer time with the slices of meat not being combined, coagulation of the adhesive compositions progressed by themselves and adhesion of the slices of meat was left unaccomplished. On the other hand, as seen in sample (3), because of the elongated pot-life, the adhesive composition of this invention was suitable to perform the operation of adhesion and shaping of meat even when the slices of meat with the adhesive compositions on their surfaces were left standing for a relatively long time.

In an additional test in which the adhesive compositions were dispersed in water and applied to the slices of meat, adhesion of the two slices gave the same result as above. On the one hand, adhesive compositions in prior arts gelatinized and coagulated by themselves immediately when they were dispersed in water. On the other!hand, 'ctbe adhesive composition of this invention is very slow with respect to the rate of gelatinization and therefore processes 2 13934 Taniyama Patent Office - 21 - of adhesion and shaping become possible in a larger scale in the practical industrial treatment of slices of meat with the aid of a mechanical device such as a mixer.

Next, details of the process in which pieces of foods are aggregated using the adhesive composition of this invention will be explained.

Raw materials of food to be aggregated are placed in a mixing machine such as mixer. An adhesive composition in the form of a powder or dispersion in water is added to the mixer to attach the adhesive composition onto the surface of the food material uniformly. The whole material is packed and shaped in a certain vessel, and then left standing for 1 to 2 hours at a temperature above 0°C to complete the adhesion. The amount of an adhesive composition, though it differs depending on the surface area of the food material, is preferably 0.5 to 5% by weight in most cases to 100% by weight of raw food material to achieve good aggregation. The aggregated mixtures thus prepared may be pack-formed in various commonly used methods such as case packing using stuffer and retainers. The product thus treated retains a sufficient enough adhesive strength to even withstand later freezing and heating processes, thus permitting further treatment as desired. 2 139 Taniyama Patent Office _ 22 - The second kind of substance will be described together with its preparation method.

Preparation 1 of the second kind of substance: Scallop shells, thoroughly washed to remove any contamination, were baked in an electric furnace at 1300°C for an hour, and the baked shells obtained were crushed below 80 mesh with a hammer mill to obtain a baked powder of scallop shells. Of the baked powder, 1 kg floated in a flow dryer maintained at 70°C and a yolk lecithin solution (a solution of lOOg of yolk lecithin in 200 ml of ethyl alcohol) was sprayed in the flow dryer to be adsorbed by the scallop shell powder. The resulting powder was cooled to room temperature (22°C) and crushed into a fine powder to obtain about 1 kg of mixed coating-treated substance.

Preparation 2 of the second kind of substance: One kilogram of calcium hydroxide powder and lOOg of palmitic acid were placed in a kneader maintained at 80°C. Mixing was kept up for about 30 min., and then the content was cooled to room temperature and crushed to obtain about 1 kg of mixed coating-treated substance. 2 13934 Taniyama Patent Office - 23 - Preparation 3 of the second kind of substance: Egg shells from a chicken were baked with an electric furnace at 950°C for 4 hours. The baked shells obtained were crushed with a hammer mill to below 100 mesh to produce baked powder of egg shells. In a separate process, 50g of acetylated monoglycerine fatty acid ester (the fatty acid consisting of 30% of palmitic acid and 70% of stearic acid) was homogeneously dissolved in 500 ml of ethyl alcohol at 70°C, which together with 1 kg of the baked powder of egg shells mentioned above were placed in a kneader at 70°C. The content was mixed for about 30 min. and then the alcohol content gradually evaporated. The whole content was cooled to room temperature and was crushed to obtain about 1 kg of mixed coating-treated substance.

Preparation 4 of the second kind of substance: Bone powder was baked for 5 hours in an electric furnace at 1300°C and the resulting baked powder was crushed into 100 mesh powder to obtain baked bone powder. One kilogram of this baked powder was placed together with 200g of myristic acid in a kneader at 80°C, mixed for 40 min. then cooled to room temperature and was crushed to obtain 1 kg of mixed coating-treated substance. 2 13934 Taniyama Patent Office _ 24 - Preparation 5 of the second kind of substance: One kilogram of calcium oxide powder and 600g of maltitol were mixed in a small mixer for 5 min. The obtained mixture was pressed in a dry pressure granulation device with a roll pressure of 100 kg/cm . The mixture thus prepared was crushed with a hammer mill to obtain about 1.5 kg of mixed coating-treated substance as desired.

Preparation 6 of the second kind of substance: An aqueous suspension consisting of 1 kg of calcium hydroxide powder, 200g of sodium caseinate powder and 5SL of water was uniformly mixed and dried by spraying in a spray dryer maintained at 110°C, to obtain about 1 kg of mixed coating-treated substance of the object material.

Preparation 7 of the second kind of substance: In a flow dryer maintained at 80°C, 1 kg of crushed sodium hydroxide was floated. A separately prepared active wheat protein dispersion (which contains 300g of active wheat protein powder dispersed in 800 ml of 70% aqueous ethanol) was sprayed into the dryer with a spray gun, to be adsorbed by the sodium hydroxide. This was cooled down to room temperature and crushed to obtain about 1.2 kg of mixed coating-treated substance. 2 13934 Taniyama Patent Office _ 25 - Preparation 8 of the second kind of substance: In a kneader maintained at 90°C were placed 1 kg of crushed sodium hydroxide and 200g of sorbitan fatty acid ester (consisting of 85% of palmitic acid and 15% of stearic acid). The whole mixture was mixed for 30 min. and then cooled to room temperature and was crushed to obtain about 1.1 kg of mixed coating-treated substance.

Following examples will be shown to illustrate the present invention.

Example 1: The second kind of substance in an amount of 20g, produced according to Preparation 1 above, and 80g of dried protein powder were mixed in a mixer for 8 min. to obtain lOOg of an adhesive composition powder. A dispersion of the adhesive material prepared by dispersing lOOg of the adhesive composition above in 200 ml of water was mixed for about 30 sec. in a mixer with 3 kg of cubed ham having edges of about 5 cm. The mixture obtained was then packed in a rectangular retainer of the dimensions 8 cm x 8 cm x 45 cm, and kept standing at room temperature for 2 hours to complete adhesion. The formed meat produced was sliced into 1 cm thicknesses. A very good condition of adhesion could be observed.

\ Ky v - i \ / \ V/ : - y. " , 2 1393 Taniyama Patent Office - 26 - Example 2: 25g of the second kind of substance prepared according to Preparation 3 above was mixed with 75g of separated soybean protein powder. Mixing for 8 min. in a mixer gave lOOg of an adhesive composition powder. lOOg of the adhesive composition dispersed in 200 ml of water resulted in an adhesive material dispersion, which together with 3 kg of cubed chicken having edges of about 3 to 8 cm was mixed for about 30 sec. in a mixer. The mixture obtained was removed in stuffers and packed in a casing having an 8 cm diameter, to produce a cylindrical chicken product. This was kept in a refrigerator of 5°C for about 2 hours to complete the adhesion, and was then frozen overnight in a -30°C refrigerator. Then a half defrosted product was cut into 1 cm thick slices which were cooked on a pan. The chicken steak thus prepared kept a sufficiently good adhesive condition and both the appearance and the taste were also excellent.

Example 3: lOg of the second kind of substance prepared according to Preparation 4 above was mixed with 90g of sodium arginate for 8 min. in a mixer, to obtain 10Og of an adhesive composition powder. A dispersion of an adhesive $&*** $ • t- , 2 1393 4 Taniyama Patent Office - 27 - j j f * material prepared by adding 200 nil of water to 50g of the adhesive composition was then mixed with about 2 kg of \ shucked shrimps (each about 4 cm long) for about 30 sec. in a mixer. Then the mixture was packed in a rectangular ij retainer having the dimensions of 8 cm x 8 cm x 45 cm. j This was kept standing for about 2 hours in a refrigerator |" at 5°C to complete the adhesion. The shaped block containing f L the shrimp was cut into slices having about a 1 cm thickness which were cooked with oil in a pan. Adhesion was so good £ that the shrimp did not separate from the matrix.

Example 4: I i 30g of the second kind of substance obtained in | Preparation 5 and 70g of dried egg whites were mixed for f about 10 min. in a mixer, to obtain lOOg of an adhesive composition powder. In a separate mixer, an aqueous dispersion, \ which was prepared by adding 150 ml of water to 90g of this ! adhesive composition just mentioned, was mixed for about 15 sec. with about 3 kg of diaphragm meat of an ox (about 8 cm x 10 cm x 1 cm), and the obtained mixture was packed in a rectangular retainer (about 18 cm x 7 cm x 60 cm). This was kept standing in a refrigerator at 5°C for about an i hour to complete adhesion. The produced block of diaphragm meat of an ox was cut into slices of about 1.5 cm thick.

Claims (7)

' t" . 2 13934 Taniyama Patent Office - 28 - When picked up from a corner by fingers, the slice did not break. Further, the slice which was heated with oil on a hot plate did not disintegrate even when sliced with a knife. According to the present invention, raw materials in small pieces or undefined shapes of food which were not fully utilized thus far could be aggregated into defined shapes of foods. This is not only to enhance the utility value of raw materials of foods, but also to remarkably improve the yield in the processing since any odd pieces of the food could be utilized to a high efficiency without leaving an unused residue. In the process of aggregation, adhesion and shaping of the present invention, the pot-life of an adhesive composition is remarkably elongated in comparison with that of previous adhesive compositions. Therefore, the process can be conducted with a sufficient allowance of time, and large scale mechanical treatments become possible by employing a mixer for mixing and a stuffer for packing and shaping, which leads to success in an increased effectiveness in the industry. 2 13934 Taniyama Patent Office - 2 9 - WHAT +TWF CLAIM IS:-What io elaimod ia;

1. An adhesive composition for combining pieces of food, containing as effective ingredients at least one first substance selected from the group consisting of protein, and decomposition products thereof containing at least 30 mols of a carboxyl group per 10^g, polysaccharide, and decomposition products thereof containing at least 0.3 mol of a carboxyl group per polymerization unit, said first substance being soluble or dispersable in alkaline water, the aqueous solution or the aqueous dispersion being gelatinizable at a concentration of solid ingredients of less than 30%, and at least one second substance selected from the group consisting of calcinated powder of an egg shell, sea shell and bone, alkaline earth metal hydroxides, alkaline earth metal oxides and sodium hydroxide which are mixed or coated with a material selected from the group consisting of oil, fat, aliphatic acids, surfactants, saccharides and natural gums.

2. An adhesive composition according to claim 1, in which the amount of the mixing or coating material to be added to the second substance is 0.1 to 100% by weight against 100% by weight of the calcium material or sodium hydroxide in the second substance. 0 213934 Taniyama Patent Office _ 30 -

3. An adhesive composition according to claim 1, in which the amount of the calcium material or sodium hydroxide in the second substance is 5 to 40% by weight against 100% of the first substance.

4. An adhesive composition according to claim 1, in which the first substance is one selected from the group —. consisting of egg whites, plasma protein and lactalbumin, ! ■"V and the second substance is sodium hydroxide.

5. An adhesive composition according to claim 1, in which the mixing or coating material is one selected from the group consisting of soybean oil, salad oil, palm oil, lard; lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, arachic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, mono- and polyglycerine esters of fatty acids, acetylated monoglycerine esters of fatty acids, fatty acid esters of sorbitan, propyleneglycol and saccharose; yolk lecithin, spybean lecithin; powdered malt honey, fructose; carrageenan, locust bean gum; wheat protein and sodium caseinate.

6. An adhesive composition substantially as described in claim 1 with reference to any one of the ^Examples..

7. A food product incorporating an adhesive composition of any one of the preceding claims. //c 2>w // ■■'■V «^Y BALDWIN, SON &. CAREY \ 24 FEB 1988*1 JA j/^AJL ATTORNEYS FOR THE APPLICANTS