# US 10,245,227 B2 · Soft, chewable and orally dissolvable and/or disintegrable products > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,245,227 B2 - Document ID: US10245227B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/856,673 - Filed: 2015-09-17 - Published: 2016-01-07 - Granted: 2019-04-02 - Earliest claimed: 2008-12-08 - Assignees: Philip Morris USA Inc. - Applicants: Philip Morris USA Inc. - Inventors: Feng Gao; Shalva Gedevanishvili; Shengsheng Liu; Munmaya K. Mishra; William R. Sweeney; Randall Baren; Qinglin Li; Darin Colassaco; Salem Chouchane - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10245227B2 ## CPC - A61K 9/0056: {Mouth soluble or dispersible forms; Suckable, eatable, chewable coherent forms; Forms rapidly disintegrating in the mouth; Lozenges; Lollipops; Bite capsules; Baked products; Baits or other oral forms for animals} - A23G 4/068: {containing plants or parts thereof, e.g. fruits, seeds, extracts (containing gums A23G4/10)} - A23G 4/08: of the chewing gum base - A23G 4/12: containing microorganisms or enzymes; containing paramedical or dietetical agents, e.g. vitamins (containing dairy products A23G4/16) - A24B 13/00: Tobacco for pipes, for cigars, e.g. cigar inserts, or for cigarettes; Chewing tobacco; Snuff (reconstituted tobacco products A24B3/14) - A24B 15/18: Treatment of tobacco products or tobacco substitutes - A24B 15/20: Biochemical treatment - A61K 36/81: Solanaceae (Potato family), e.g. tobacco, nightshade, tomato, belladonna, capsicum or jimsonweed - A61K 36/82: Theaceae (Tea family), e.g. camellia - A61K 47/36: Polysaccharides; Derivatives thereof, e.g. gums, starch, alginate, dextrin, hyaluronic acid, chitosan, inulin, agar or pectin - A61P 3/02: Nutrients, e.g. vitamins, minerals - A61P 39/06: Free radical scavengers or antioxidants - A23V 2002/00: Food compositions, function of food ingredients or processes for food or foodstuffs - A61K: PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES (devices or methods specially adapted for bringing pharmaceutical products into particular physical or administering forms A61J3/00; chemical aspects of, or use of materials for deodorisation of air, for disinfection or sterilisation, or for bandages, dressings, absorbent pads or surgical articles A61L; soap compositions C11D) - A23G: COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF - A24B: MANUFACTURE OR PREPARATION OF TOBACCO FOR SMOKING OR CHEWING; TOBACCO; SNUFF - A61P: SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS - A23V: INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND LACTIC OR PROPIONIC ACID BACTERIA USED IN FOODSTUFFS OR FOOD PREPARATION ## Abstract A soft, chewable and orally dissolvable and/or disintegrable product includes a biopolymer-sugar based matrix and botanical powder dispersed throughout the biopolymer-sugar based matrix. The biopolymer-sugar based matrix includes at least one biopolymer, at least one sugar and optional additives. Soft, chewable and orally dissolvable and/or disintegrable product can also include flavor beads. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of making a pre-portioned, soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product comprising: dissolving a biopolymer and a sugar in water to form a solution; adding an amount of a botanical powder to the solution; stirring the solution to form a suspension; gelling the suspension to form a gel; drying the gel to form a dried gel; and portioning the dried gel to form a pre-portioned, soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product, wherein the amount of the botanical powder is distributed in a biopolymer-sugar based matrix. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the solution is heated to a temperature of about 40° C. to about 95° C. and wherein the solution is stirred for about 15 minutes to about 45 minutes. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the soft, chewable and orally dissolvable and/or disintegrable product comprises about 30 wt % to about 75 wt % of the botanical powder, about 1 wt % to about 35 wt % of the biopolymer, about 2 wt % to about 60 wt % of the sugar and up to about 10 wt % additives. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the sugar is included in an amount sufficient to substantially inhibit cross-linking between the botanical powder and the biopolymer. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein: the sugar is selected from the group consisting of: monosaccharides including fructose, glucose and xylose; disaccharides including sucrose, trehalose and lactose; trisaccharides; polysaccharides; oligosaccharides including fructan and inulins; sugar alcohols including sorbitol, xylitol, lactitol and maltitol; and combinations thereof; the biopolymer is selected from the group consisting of gellan gum, konjac gum, modified starch, pectin, carrageenan, guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, agar, gum Arabic, alginate, cellulose and combinations thereof; the botanical powder is selected from the group consisting of tobacco powder, coffee powder, tea powder, herb powder, spice powder, cocoa powder and combinations thereof; and the botanical powder has dimensions of less than about 50 mesh. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the botanical powder has dimensions of less than about 50 mesh. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product is up to about 1 inch in height, up to about 1 inch in width, and up to about 1 inch in length and wherein the soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product has a density of less than about 2.0 g/cm3. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product ranges in size from about 0.1 inch to about 0.5 inch in height, about 0.5 inch to about 1.0 inch in width and about 0.25 to about 0.5 inch in length. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product further comprises (a) at least one vitamin, (b) at least one mineral, (c) at least one nutraceutical, (d) at least one amino acid, (e) at least one energizing agent, (f) at least one soothing agent, (g) at least one sweetener, (h) at least one coloring agent, (i) at least one chemesthesis agent, (j) at least one antioxidant, (k) at least one food-grade emulsifier and/or (l) at least one pH modifier. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product has a water activity of about 0.70 aw to about 0.30 aw. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product has water activity of less than about 0.60 aw. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the sugar is selected from the group consisting of: monosaccharides including fructose, glucose and xylose; disaccharides including sucrose, trehalose and lactose; trisaccharides; polysaccharides; oligosaccharides including fructan and inulins; sugar alcohols including sorbitol, xylitol, lactitol and maltitol; and combinations thereof. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the biopolymer is selected from the group consisting of agar, alginate, carrageenan, cellulose, gellan gum, guar gum, gum Arabic, konjac gum, locust bean gum, modified starch, pectin, xanthan gum, and combinations thereof. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-portioned, soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product includes flavor beads comprising a solid, liquid or gel center and a hard outer coating. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the pre-portioned, soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product includes a hard outer coating comprising a polymeric coating. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the hard outer coating has a rough surface. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the flavor beads are included in the soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product in an amount of about 1 wt % to about 5 wt % based on the weight of the soft, chewable and orally dissolvable and/or disintegrable product. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the flavor beads are contained in a center of the soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product and/or on the exterior of the soft, chewable and orally dissolvable and/or disintegrable product. ### Claim 19 A method of making a soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product comprising: dispersing tobacco powder in water to form a suspension; adding at least one enzyme in an amount of up to about 5 wt % by weight of the tobacco powder to the suspension; storing the suspension at a temperature above about 35° C. for about 24 hours to about 60 hours to form enzyme treated tobacco; dissolving a biopolymer and a sugar in water to form a solution; adding the enzyme treated tobacco to the solution; stirring the solution to form a suspension; gelling the suspension to form a gel; drying the gel to form a dried gel; and portioning the dried gel to form a pre-portioned, soft, chewable and orally-dissolvable and/or -disintegrable product. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the enzyme is selected from the group consisting of pectinases, cellulases, hemicellulases, ferulic acid esterase, proteases, lipases and combinations thereof.