US-12622439-B2 - Edible cellulosic casings and compositions, and methods of formation

US12622439B2US 12622439 B2US12622439 B2US 12622439B2US-12622439-B2

Abstract

Edible cellulosic casings comprise cellulose and at least one modifier comprising at least one polysaccharide. The at least one modifier is substantially evenly distributed with the cellulose throughout a casing material of the edible cellulosic casing. A composition useful for an edible cellulosic casing comprises regenerated cellulose and at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide dispersed in the regenerated cellulose. The regenerated cellulose composes at least 50 wt. % of the composition. A method for forming an edible cellulosic casing comprises forming a cellulose solution and forming a modifier solution comprising at least one polysaccharide dissolved therein. The modifier and cellulose solutions are mixed to form a mixture from which the edible cellulosic casing is made. Edible cellulosic casings, as disclosed, may be consumed along with an encased foodstuff or other material for ingestion.

Inventors

Owen J. McGarel
Myron D. Nicholson
Chris L. Williams

Assignees

VISKASE COMPANIES, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20211028

Claims (14)

1 . An edible cellulosic casing, comprising: cellulose; and at least one modifier comprising at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide, the at least one modifier substantially evenly distributed with the cellulose throughout a casing material of the edible cellulosic casing, the casing material having a heterogeneous material structure in which the cellulose and the at least one modifier comprising the at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide provide distinguishable phases from one another in the heterogeneous material structure, wherein the edible cellulosic casing comprises, by dry weight thereof: the cellulose in a range from about 55 wt. % to about 75 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing; the at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide, of the at least one modifier, in a range from about 10 wt. % to about 35 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing; at least one peptide, of the at least one modifier, in a range from about 10 wt. % to about 35 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing; and at least one filler material in a range from about 0 wt. % to about 15 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing; and wherein the edible cellulosic casing is free of aldehydes, methylols, epoxides, and enzymes.
2 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the cellulose comprises regenerated cellulose.
3 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the at least one polysaccharide is selected from the group consisting of starch, starch acetate, chitin, chitosan, pectin, carrageenan, konjac, xanthan gum, alginic acid, and alginate.
4 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide comprises carrageenan.
5 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the casing is in a seamless tube form or in a flat film form.
6 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , further comprising at least one adhesion promoter on a food-contact surface of the edible cellulosic casing.
7 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 6 , wherein the at least one adhesion promoter comprises at least one peptide.
8 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 6 , wherein the at least one adhesion promoter comprises at least one of starch or dextrin.
9 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the edible cellulosic casing is free of animal-derived components.
10 . A method for forming the edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , the method comprising: forming a solution comprising the cellulose; forming a modifier solution comprising, dissolved in the modifier solution, the at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide and the at least one peptide; mixing the modifier solution into the solution comprising the cellulose to form a mixture; and forming the casing material of claim 1 from the mixture.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein: forming the solution comprising the cellulose comprises forming a viscose solution comprising the cellulose; forming the casing material comprises: exposing the mixture to at least one acid to form a casing composition comprising a regenerated cellulose derived from the cellulose of the viscose solution; and the method further comprises: extruding the casing composition to form a seamless tube casing comprising the casing material; and shirring the seamless tube casing while applying at least one adhesion promoter on a food-contact surface of the seamless tube casing.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein: forming the solution comprising the cellulose comprises dissolving natural cellulose in at least one of N-methyl-morpholine-N-oxide (NMMO), an ionic liquid (IL), or a deep eutectic solvent (DES); and the method further comprises extruding the mixture to form an edible casing comprising the casing material, the cellulose of the casing material being derived from the natural cellulose.
13 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the at least one peptide in the range from about 10 wt. % to about 35 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing comprises at least one oligopeptide in the range from about 10 wt. % to about 35 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing.
14 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the heterogeneous material structure comprises cellulose-rich regions and modifier-rich regions that are microscopically distinguishable from one another.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/108,134, filed Oct. 30, 2020, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety herein by this reference. TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the application, in various embodiments, generally relate to edible food casings for sausages, hot dogs, other material for ingestion, and the like. More particularly, the application relates to edible food casings that are cellulose based (i.e., edible cellulosic casings) and to methods of making and using such food casings. BACKGROUND Foodstuff casings generally fall into one of four categories: natural casings, collagen casings, cellulosic casings, and polymeric casings. Both natural casings (e.g., formed from animal intestines) and collagen casings are derived from animals. For example, collagen casings, which are conventionally based on extracted and cross-linked collagen, are derived from animal hides. Being derived from animals, the manufacture of natural and collagen casings depends on availability of animal sources. Animal-derived casings can be more expensive to manufacture than non-animal-derived casings (e.g., cellulosic and polymeric casings) due to, for example, a limited supply of animal sources, which limited supply can become further limited upon animal disease outbreaks. And, animal-derived casings are generally not suitable for vegetarian and vegan consumers. Conventional cellulosic and polymeric casings are typically derived from non-animal sources. However, conventionally, these types of casings are also generally indigestible by humans. For example, a casing consisting of only regenerated cellulose would likely be extremely tough such that biting into the casing may be very tough if not impossible. Therefore, cellulosic and polymeric casings have, conventionally, been considered non-edible. When used to encase foodstuffs (e.g., meat or other food emulsions) or other material for ingestion, conventional cellulosic and polymeric casings are removed (e.g., peeled) from cooked foodstuffs before the remainder of the foodstuffs are consumed. Attempts have been made to formulate edible casings that are cellulosic or, more generally, not animal derived. However, formulating casings with appropriate strength to survive stuffing processes, but not so strong as to prevent a consumer from biting into the casing and breaking down the casing by chewing, has proved challenging. Adding to this challenge is the need for edible casings to adhere to the encased foodstuffs during cooking and during chewing. Other desired characteristics that can add to the challenge of formulating edible casings may include desired permeability or semi-permeability to, e.g., smoke and the desirability of cooked encased products maintaining an acceptable appearance and flavor. Moreover, it can be challenging to form edible and non-animal-derived casings in a manner that is cost effective, efficient, and yields a product of suitable quality. BRIEF SUMMARY According to at least some embodiments of the disclosure, an edible cellulosic casing comprises cellulose and at least one modifier. The at least one modifier comprises at least one polysaccharide. The at least one modifier is substantially evenly distributed with the cellulose throughout a casing material of the edible cellulosic casing. In accordance with at least some embodiments of the disclosure, a composition useful for an edible cellulosic casing comprises regenerated cellulose and at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide dispersed in the regenerated cellulose. The regenerated cellulose composes at least 50 wt. % of the composition. In at least some embodiments of the disclosure, a method for forming an edible cellulosic casing comprises forming a solution comprising cellulose, forming a modifier solution, and mixing the modifier solution into the solution comprising the cellulose. The modifier solution comprises at least one polysaccharide dissolved therein. Mixing the modifier solution into the solution that comprises the cellulose forms a mixture. An edible cellulosic casing material is formed from the mixture. The edible cellulosic casing material comprises the cellulose and the at least one polysaccharide. The cellulose comprises at least about 50 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing material. The cellulose and the at least one polysaccharide are substantially evenly distributed throughout the edible cellulosic casing material. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational, perspective, schematic illustration of an edible cellulosic casing, according to embodiments of the disclosure, wherein the casing is configured as a tubular casing. FIG. 2 is a perspective, schematic illustration of an edible cellulosic casing, according to embodiments of the disclosure, wherein the casing is a flat film casing, which may subsequently be reconfigured