Method of fortifying seeds with an essential fatty acid, fortified seed and food product
AssigneeSharp Ingrained Functional Foods, Inc.
InventorsBruce J. Holub, Arun Nagpurkar
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Abstract
A method is provided for fortifying a seed, grain, nut, bean, or the like with an essential fatty acid such as docosahexaenoic acid or eicosapentaenoic acid. Using the method, it is possible to produce seeds that can be used as a dietary source of that essential fatty acid. A seed that has been soaked in an aqueous mixture containing an essential fatty acid so as to become fortified with the fatty acid, and a food product formed using the seed are also provided.
Claims59
A method of fortifying seed with a polyunsaturated essential fatty acid, comprising:
- mixing a quantity of said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid with water to form a mixture, wherein said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid is in the form of a free fatty acid or an acylglycerol and is selected from the group consisting of alpha-linolenic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, stearidonic acid, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, gamma-linolenic acid and dihomo gamma-linolenic acid;
- soaking said seed in said mixture for between 0.5 and 72 hours so that an amount of said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid is absorbed by said seed, said amount of said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid absorbed by said seed being between 10 mg and 1500 mg per 100 g of said seed.
A method of fortifying rice grain with a polyunsaturated essential fatty acid, comprising:
- dissolving a quantity of said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid in ethanol, wherein in said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid is in free fatty acid form and is selected from the group consisting of docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid;
- mixing said ethanol containing said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid with water in a ratio of between about 1:99 and about 60:40 of ethanol containing said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid:water to form a mixture, said quantity of said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid being sufficient to provide a final concentration in said mixture of between about 0.001% and 35%;
- soaking said rice grain in said mixture for between 0.5 and 72 hours so that an amount of said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid is absorbed by said rice grain, said amount of said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid absorbed by said rice grain being between 10 mg and 1500 mg per 100 g of said rice grain.
A seed that is fortified with a polyunsaturated essential fatty acid that is in the form of a free fatty acid or an acylglycerol and is selected from the group consisting of alpha-linolenic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, stearidonic acid, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, gamma-linolenic acid and dihomo gamma-linolenic acid, wherein between 10 mg and 1500 mg of said polyunsaturated essential fatty acid has been absorbed per 100 g of said seed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.