Recent
Patents on Food, Nutrition & Agriculture
ISSN: 1876-1429
Recent Patents on Food, Nutrition & Agriculture
Volume 2, Number 1, January 2010
Contents
Inventions on Baker’s Yeast Storage and
Activation at the Bakery Plant Pp. 1-11
Pierre Gélinas
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Clinically-Relevant Chemotherapy Interactions
with Complementary and Alternative Medicines in Patients with
Cancer Pp. 12-55
Kevin Yi-Lwern Yap, Cheng Shang See and Alexandre
Chan
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Article]
Differences of Protein Fractions Among Fresh, Frozen
and Powdered Donkey Milk Pp. 56-60
Paolo Polidori and Silvia Vincenzetti
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Article]
Extraction, Isolation and Analysis of Chondroitin
Sulfate Glycosaminoglycans Pp. 61-74
Takuo Nakano, Mirko Betti and Zeb Pietrasik
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Article]
Recent Patents on the Extraction of Carotenoids Pp.
75-82
Ezio Riggi
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Article]
Antimicrobial Agents Deriving from Indigenous Plants
Pp. 83-92
Cencic Avrelija and Chingwaru Walter
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Article]
Patent
Selections Pp. 93-95
Abstracts
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Inventions on Baker’s Yeast Storage and Activation
at the Bakery Plant
Pierre Gélinas
Baker’s yeast is the gas-forming ingredient in
bakery products. Methods have been invented to properly handle
baker’s yeast and optimize its activity at the bakery
plant. Over the years, incentives for inventions on yeast
storage and activation have greatly changed depending on trends
in the baking industry. For example, retailer’s devices
for cutting bulk pressed yeast and techniques for activating
dry yeast have now lost their importance. Review of patents
for invention indicates that activation of baker’s yeast
activity has been a very important issue for bakers, for example,
with baking ingredients called yeast foods. In the recent
years and especially for highly automated bakeries, interest
has moved to equipments and processes for optimized storage
of liquid cream yeast to thoroughly control dough fermentation
and bread quality.
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Clinically-Relevant Chemotherapy Interactions
with Complementary and Alternative Medicines in Patients with
Cancer
Kevin Yi-Lwern Yap, Cheng Shang See and Alexandre
Chan
Complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs), in particular
herbal medicines, are commonly used by cancer patients in
conjunction with chemotherapy treatment for their anticancer
properties and supportive care. However, the effects of many
of these herbs are not well-documented due to limited studies
done on them. Severe herb-drug interactions (HDIs) have been
recorded in some cases, and failure to recognize these harmful
HDIs can lead to dire consequences in cancer patients. This
study discusses clinically-relevant interactions between anticancer
drugs (ACDs) and herbs classified into 7 categories: cancer
treatment and prevention, immune-system-related, alopecia,
nausea and vomiting, peripheral neuropathy and pain, inflammation,
and fatigue. Some promising patents which contain these herbs
and thus may manifest these interactions are also presented
in this article. Pharmacokinetic interactions involved mainly
induction or inhibition of the cytochrome P450 isozymes and
p-glycoprotein, while pharmacodynamic interactions were related
to increased risks of central nervous system-related effects,
hepatotoxicity and bleeding, among others. Clinicians should
be vigilant when treating cancer patients who take CAMs with
concurrent chemotherapy since they face a high risk of HDIs.
These HDIs can be minimized or avoided by selecting herb-drug
pairs which are less likely to interact. Furthermore, close
monitoring of pharmacological effects and plasma drug levels
should be carried out to avoid toxicity and ensure adequate
chemotherapeutic coverage in patients with cancer.
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Differences of Protein Fractions Among Fresh, Frozen
and Powdered Donkey Milk
Paolo Polidori and Silvia Vincenzetti
Recently donkey milk has been the focus of several studies
because of its special nutritional properties and composition,
which is very close to human milk. When a mother cannot breastfeed,
or chooses not to breastfeed, the use of a milk substitute
must provide the best option to meet the nutritional and health
needs of the infant. Donkey milk has been widely used in the
past to replace human milk, because chemical composition and
protein content are close to that of human milk, and also
because the allergenicity of donkey milk is low. The recent
studies of the paediatric scientists have demonstrated that
infant formulae, which are based on dairy cows milk, are less
adapted than donkey milk. In fact, donkey’s milk digestibility
is higher than cows’ milk and similar to human milk,
because of the high whey proteins content and the few casein
content. Since donkey milk supply is related to its seasonal
availability during the year, in this study were evaluated
the effects of a specific technological treatment (spray-dryer)
and a particular storage temperature (-20°C) on the protein
fractions of donkey milk. The results obtained in fresh, frozen
and powdered donkey milk showed different values in total
proteins, caseins, whey proteins and lysozyme content. The
article presents some promising patents on protein fractions
among fresh, frozen and powdered donkey milk.
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Extraction, Isolation and Analysis of Chondroitin
Sulfate Glycosaminoglycans
Takuo Nakano, Mirko Betti and Zeb Pietrasik
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) including chondroitin sulfate (CS)
and chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate (CS/DS) copolymers
are anionic straight chain polysaccharides. They are galactosamine
containing GAGs (galactosaminoglycans) having wide range of
applications in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries.
This article reviews techniques to isolate and characterize
these galactosaminoglycans from animal and poultry tissues.
Patent based information is also discussed. Cartilaginous
tissues are the major source of CS consisting entirely of
D-glucuronosyl-N-acetylgalactosamine repeating disaccharide
units, in which the galactosamine is sulfated at C4 or C6.
In contrast, most galactosaminoglycans in non-cartilaginous
connective tissues (e.g. skin and tendon) are CS/DS copolymers
comprised of varying proportions of D-glucuronosyl-N-acetylgalactosamine
and L-iduronosyl-N-acetylgalactosamine. Tissues are digested
with proteinase (e.g. papain) to liberate GAGs, which are
fractionated to isolate and purify galactosaminoglycans. Common
techniques used for fractionation of GAGs include: precipitation
with different concentrations of ethanol; solubilization of
GAG precipitated as GAG-quarternary ammonium compound complexes
with different concentrations of NaCl; anion exchange chromatography
and gel filtration chromatography. Purified galactosaminoglycans
are examined by various methods including chondroitinase digestion,
high performance liquid chromatography and electrophoresis.
Histological methods are used to localize galactosaminoglycans
in tissues. The patent information on the CS hydrolase and
ultraviolet irradiation may be useful for the preparation
of CS oligosaccharide.
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Recent Patents on the Extraction of Carotenoids
Ezio Riggi
This article reviews the patents that have been presented
during the last decade related to the extraction of carotenoids
from various forms of organic matter (fruit, vegetables, animals),
with an emphasis on the methods and mechanisms exploited by
these technologies, and on technical solutions for the practical
problems related to these technologies. I present and classify
29 methods related to the extraction processes (physical,
mechanical, chemical, and enzymatic). The large number of
processes for extraction by means of supercritical fluids
and the growing number of large-scale industrial plants suggest
a positive trend towards using this technique that is currently
slowed by its cost. This trend should be reinforced by growing
restrictions imposed on the use of most organic solvents for
extraction of food products and by increasingly strict waste
management regulations that are indirectly promoting the use
of extraction processes that leave the residual (post-extraction)
matrix substantially free from solvents and compounds that
must subsequently be removed or treated. None of the reviewed
approaches is the best answer for every extractable compound
and source, so each should be considered as one of several
alternatives, including the use of a combination of extraction
approaches.
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Antimicrobial Agents Deriving from Indigenous Plants
Cencic Avrelija and Chingwaru Walter
Phytonutrients in many indigenous plants are receiving a lot
of attention as they are important in antimicrobial and anticancer
therapies. Tropical areas, especially India, South America
and Africa, are the main sources of patentable plant products
and have indigenous populations with well developed traditional
medicinal knowledge. Phytochemicals, including carotenoids,
phenolics, alkaloids, nitrogen-containing compounds, and organosulfur
compounds, are recieving much attention as they impart important
health benefits. This article gives an insight into some important
phytochemicals, and analyses the ethical issues on property
rights of plant products. Many patent applications have been
lodged, and quite a number have been granted. Pharmaceutical
industries are engaging in massive speculative bioprospecting
on plant based phytochemicals and products, usually resulting
in conflicts with indigenous populations. More focus is given
here-in to Tylosema esculentum (marama) plant, found
in drier parts of Southern Africa and known to contain high
quantities of essential phytochemicals. Important phytochemicals
in marama include fatty acid (mainly oleic acid, linoleic
acid, linolenic acid, behenic acid), protein and phenolic
acid components. The marama plant has high potential as a
source of medical and cosmetic products. If conflicts surrounding
property rights on plant based products are resolved, phytochemicals
can be a good source of income for indigenous populations
in areas where such plants are found.
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