Coated Colloidal Plant Materials for Flavor Masking
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need to improve the mouth feel, taste, texture, appearance, and flavor delivery of plant materials like smokeless tobaccos and snuff compositions to make them more acceptable to consumers, as they often exhibit negative flavor characteristics such as bitterness and astringency.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of multiple polymeric coatings, including proteins and polysaccharides, is applied to finely ground plant materials to form coated particles that enhance their attributes when placed in the oral cavity, with the coatings being selected from specific groups like cationic polysaccharides, proteins, and non-ionic polysaccharides, and further modified to induce gelation and control release of flavors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If plant materials are used directly in orally utilized compositions, then the natural plant attributes are preserved, but the mouth feel, taste, texture, appearance, and flavor delivery are poor due to negative characteristics like bitterness and astringency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies polymeric coating materials as intermediary substances between the plant material and the consumer's oral cavity. These coatings (proteins, polysaccharides, or their mixtures) mask the negative flavor characteristics while allowing controlled delivery of desired plant attributes, effectively mediating the interaction between the plant material and the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical and chemical parameters of the plant material by coating it with polymeric materials. This modifies surface properties, controls release rates, and transforms the delivery mechanism from direct exposure to controlled release, improving mouth feel, taste, and overall acceptability.
2Duration of action of moving object
If a single polymeric coating is applied to plant material particles, then some flavor masking is achieved, but controlled and sustained release of flavors is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs nested multi-layer polymeric coatings where inner layers provide initial flavor masking and outer layers provide sustained release. Each layer is composed of different polymeric materials with specific properties, creating a nested structure that delivers flavors in a predetermined sequence and duration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite polymeric coating structures combining different types of polymers (proteins, polysaccharides, cationic, non-ionic) to achieve both immediate flavor masking and sustained controlled release. The composite nature of the coatings allows optimization of both short-term and long-term flavor delivery characteristics.
3Quantity of substance
If plant material is ground to fine particles for better delivery, then the surface area increases for flavor release, but the negative taste characteristics become more pronounced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality modification by coating only the surface of the ground plant particles with polymeric materials. This preserves the increased surface area for flavor delivery while locally masking the negative characteristics at the particle surface, allowing the fine particle benefits without the associated drawbacks.
Solution Approach 2:
The polymeric coating acts as an intermediary layer between the fine ground plant material and the oral environment, enabling the high surface area particles to deliver flavors effectively while the coating masks the bitterness and astringency that would otherwise be amplified by the increased surface exposure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The coated particles effectively deliver desired attributes of the plant material in a predetermined fashion, improving consumer acceptance by masking negative taste characteristics and providing a controlled release of flavors and textures.
Implementation Method 1
combining particles of finely ground plant material and a first polymeric coating material in a liquid medium, wherein the first polymeric coating material adsorbs onto at least a portion of a surface of the particles to form a first layer
Implementation Method 2
mixing a second polymeric coating material with the liquid medium, wherein the second polymeric coating material adsorbs onto at least a portion of a surface of the first layer to form a second layer
Implementation Method 3
dispersing a colloidal plant material in the first mixture to form a second mixture containing particles of plant material at least partially coated with a first coating material
Implementation Method 4
adjusting the temperature of the third mixture and optionally adjusting the pH of the third mixture, to induce gelation of the coated particles of plant material
Data Source
AI summary
A method of providing a comestible plant material taken orally by coating a micronized plant material with a first layer of polysaccharides or proteins, then a second layer of polysaccharides or proteins is disclosed. A bi-encapsulated plant material produced by this process is also disclosed.