Thickener composition for dysphagia patients

Abstract

The invention relates to thickening compositions for thickening nutritional products to make the nutritional product suitable for consumption by dysphagia patients, said thickening composition comprising starch, xanthum gum and/or methylcellulose and galactomannan and/or glucomannan.

Claims

1. A composition for thickening a nutritional product, based on the total dry weight of the product, comprising: (a) 40-70 wt. % starch; (b) 1-5 wt. % xanthan gum, methylcellulose, or both; (c) 4-20 wt. % tara gum; and (d) 15-55 wt. % maltodextrin, wherein the weight ratio of ingredients (b):(c) is in the range of 1:4 to 1:10.

2. The composition according to claim 1, wherein ingredients (a)-(d) comprise more than 80 wt. % of the dry weight of the composition.

3. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the composition is in the form of a powder.

4. A thickened nutritional product comprising protein, fat and a thickener composition according to claim 1.

5. The thickened nutritional product according to claim 4 which has an energy density between 1.3- 2 kcal/ml.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) FIG. 1 shows the ideal viscosity profile (St), the profile of a composition consisting of starch and tara gum (St+Ta) and starch with tara gum and xanthan gum (St+Ta/Xa). From the figure it can be seen that the composition with both tara gum and xanthan gum gives a viscosity profile close to the ideal profile.

(2) FIG. 2 shows the fermentation of gums and starch by intestinal flora bacteria. As can be seen from this figure, xanthan gum is not well hydrolyzed while tara gum is comparable with glucose. This indicates that xanthan will only be fermented for a small part and therefore has the effect of retaining water in the faeces. In dysphagia patients, this water retention is undesirable because many patients already have dehydration problems due to low intake of liquids.

EXAMPLES

Example 1

Viscosity Profile

(3) During processing in the mouth and swallowing the viscosity of a food product changes due to shear forces. This change in viscosity can be analyzed in a laboratory mixing experiment of the food product. The force needed for mixing food product is a measure for the viscosity of this food product. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the viscosity decreases when the shear rate increases.

(4) Consumers are accustomed to the ideal viscosity profile of a product entirely consisting of starch. This product is depicted as triangles (St) in FIG. 1. It was found that by combining tara gum, xanthan gum and starch a similar viscosity profile could be made depending on the quantity and ratios of these ingredients. Tara gum or xanthan gum alone were not able to mimic the viscosity profile. Tara gum and xanthan gum could be replaced or mixed with other polysaccharide gums of plant and microbial origin as there are locust bean gum, guar gum, fenugreek gum, tamarind gum, konjac mannan, cassia gum, gum Arabic, gum ghatti, pectin, cellulosics, agar, carrageenan, alginate, tragacanth gum, karaya gum, curdlan and gellan gum.

(5) Preparation of Dispersions

(6) Dispersions were prepared by adding 12 gram of thickener composition described in Example 4 to 200 gram of water in a 500 ml shaking beaker and shaking the mixture in the shaking beaker by hand until no powder particles could be observed anymore visually. After preparation the dispersions were allowed to rest for 15 minutes at 20 C.

(7) Measurement of Viscosity in Shear

(8) The viscosity was determined using a Carri-Med CSL rheometer. The used geometry is of conical shape (6 cm 2 deg acrylic cone) and the gap between plate and geometry was set on 55 m. A logarithmic continuous ramp shear rate was used from 1 to 1000 s.Math..sup.1 in 2 minutes. The rheometer's thermostat was set on 20 C.

Example 2

Compression Test

(9) Preparation of Dispersions

(10) Dispersions were prepared by adding 12 gram of a thickener composition described in Example 4 to 200 gram of water in a 500 ml shaking beaker and shaking the mixture in the shaking beaker by hand until no powder particles could be observed anymore visually. Directly after preparation of the dispersion it was split in two and transferred to 100 ml cups. After preparation the dispersions were allowed to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

(11) Freeze-thaw-heat Treatment

(12) After preparation the dispersions were put in a freezer with a temperature of 18 C. and were left in the freezer overnight. Before a measurement dispersions were taken out of the freezer and heated up to 90 C. in a Micro-Wave. After heating the dispersions were allowed to rest and cool down for 30 minutes.

(13) Treatment with Saliva

(14) Fresh human saliva from one or more individual(s) was gathered and mixed carefully. Directly after fresh preparation of a dispersion, or 30 minutes after a dispersion had been heated 2 ml of the saliva-mixture was carefully applied on top of the dispersions using a pipette. Care was taken that the upper surface of the dispersion was not disturbed when applying saliva. After addition of the saliva the dispersions were incubated at 20 C. for one hour.

(15) Measurement of Compression Force

(16) To make sure the dispersions would be compressed exactly in the centre they were placed in a specially developed mall precisely under the compression disc. The dispersions were compressed using a TAXT.Plus Texture Analyser (Stable Micro Systems, Godalming, UK) equipped with an acrylic 35 mm circular disc at 20 C. Before testing the disc was lowered at a pre-test speed of 1.5 mm/sec until a trigger force was measured of 5 g. During testing the disc was lowered at a test speed of 2 mm/sec until a depth of 20 mm. After compression the disc was moved upwards at a constant speed of 2 mm/sec. During the test the force required to compress and de-compress the dispersion and the distance the disc traveled were recorded. For further calculations the maximum compression force was used. Tests were performed 3 times and average is depicted in table 1.

Example 3

Fermentation of Gums

(17) Microorganisms

(18) Micro-organisms were obtained from fresh faeces from bottle fed babies. Fresh faecal material from babies ranging 1 to 4 month of age was pooled and put into preservative medium within 2 h.

(19) Compositions/Substrate

(20) As substrate either prebiotics (TOS; TOS and inulin HP mixture in a 9/1 (w/w) ratio; inulin HP; oligofructose and inulin HP mixture in a 1/1 (w/w) ratio, or none (blanc) was used.

(21) Media

(22) McBain & Macfarlane medium: Buffered peptone water 3.0 g/l, yeast extract 2.5 g/I. mucin (brush borders) 0.8 g/l, tryptone 3.0 g/l, L-Cysteine-HCl 0.4 g/I, bile salts 0.05 g/I, K2HP04.3H20 2.6 g/l, NaHC03 0.2 g/l, NaCl 4.5 g/l, MgS04.7H20 0.5 g/I, CaC12 0.228 g/l, FeS04. 7H20 0.005 g/l. Fill 500 ml Scott bottles with the medium and sterilize 15 minutes at 121 C.

(23) Buffered medium: K2HP04.3H20 2.6 g/I, NaHC03 0.2 g/I, NaCl 4.5 g/l, MgS04.7H20, 0.5 g/l, CaC12 0.228 g/l, FeS04.7H20 0.005 g/l. Adjust to pH 6.30.1 with K2HP04 or NaHC03. Fill 500 ml Scott bottles with the medium and sterilize 15 minutes at 121 C.

(24) Preservative medium: Buffered peptone 20.0 g/I, L-Cysteine-HCl 0.5 g/I, Sodium thioglycollate 0.5 g/I, resazurine tablet 1 per litre, adjust to pH 6.70.1 with 1 M NaOH or HCl. Boil in microwave. Fill 30 ml serum bottles with 25 ml medium. Sterilize 15 minutes at 121 C.

(25) The fresh faeces are mixed with the preservative medium and can be preserved in this form for several hours at 4 C.

(26) Faecal suspension: The preserved solution of faeces is centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 15 minutes. The supernatant is removed and the faeces is mixed with the McBain & Mac Farlane medium in a weight ratio of 1:5.

(27) Fermentation

(28) 3.0 ml of the faecal suspension were combined with 85 mg glucose or prebiotic or with no addition (blanc) in a bottle and mix thoroughly. A t=0 sample was withdrawn (0.5 ml). 2.5 ml of the resulting suspension is brought in a dialysis tube in a 60 ml bottle filled with 60 ml of the buffered medium. The bottle was closed well and incubated at 37 C. Samples were taken from the dialysis tube (0.2 ml) or from the dialysis buffer (1.0 ml) with a hypodermic syringe after 3, 24, and 48 hours and immediately put it on ice to stop fermentation.

(29) Short Chain Fatty Acids Analysis

(30) The short chain fatty acids (SCFA) acetic, prop10mc, n-butyric, iso-butyric and n-valeric acids were quantitatively determined by a Varian 3800 gas chromatograph (GC) (Varian Inc., Walnut Creek, U.S.A.) equipped with a flame ionisation detector. 0.5 .l of the sample was injected at 80 C. in the column (Stabilwax, 150.53 mm, film thickness 1.00 .m, Restek Co., U.S.A.) using helium as a carrier gas (3.0 psi). After injection of the sample, the oven was heated to 160 C. at a speed of 16 C./min, followed by heating to 220 C. at a speed of 20 C./min and finally maintained at a temperature of 220 C. for 1.5 minutes. The temperature of the injector and detector was 200 C. 2-ethylbytyric acid was used as an internal standard.

Example 4

(31) 50.0% modified waxy maize starch (WMS 78-0632 from National Starch), 39.6% maltodextrin (27.9% Glucidex 19 IT from Roquette and 11.7% C*Dry from CereStar), 9.0% tara gum (tara gum High Viscosity from Exandal Corp.), 1.4% xanthan gum (Novaxan (dispersible, transparant) from ADM).

Example 5

(32) 50% modified waxy maize starch (US-M from National Starch), 8% konjac gum (VidoGum KJ II, Unipektin) 2% Xanthan gum (Rhodigel Supra Clear, Rhodia) 40% maltodextrin

Example 6

(33) 50% modified starch 10% tara gum 2% methylcellulose (Akucell AF 2985, Akzo Nobel) 38% maltodextrin

Example 7

Preparation of a Thickened Meal

(34) 1. products (e.g. vegetables) are cleaned and if necessary thawed 2. product is mixed in blender together with e.g. milk and/or water and/or butter 3. thickener composition is added and mixed with blended product 4. obtained thickened product is put in malls shaped in an attractive form 5. product is frozen 6. the frozen product is released from the mall and thawed 7. heated in oven until 72 C. to 83 C. as a pasteurisation step 8. cooling the product until desired temperature for consumption

(35) Product prepared in this way using e.g. the composition of one of the previous examples will give a stable product resistant to amylase digestion.