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US-20260123653-A1 - Foam Enhancing Phospholipid Emulsion Systems

US20260123653A1US 20260123653 A1US20260123653 A1US 20260123653A1US-20260123653-A1

Abstract

Compositions in the form of an oil-in-water emulsion composition include an oil phase that includes a flavorant; and a continuous aqueous phase that includes water, a preservative and a phospholipid emulsifying agent, and optionally an emulsifier adjuvant; wherein the phospholipid emulsifying agent includes a low content of primary ammonium functional groups.

Inventors

  • Marcos A. OJEDA
  • Marlene A. McGorrin
  • Iain W.H. OSWALD
  • Thomas J. Martin, Jr.
  • Kevin A. KOBY

Assignees

  • ABSTRAX TECH INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251105

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . An oil-in-water emulsion composition comprising: an oil phase comprising: about 0.01 wt. % to about 30 wt. %, based on a total weight of the emulsion composition, of a flavorant; and optionally about 0.01 wt. % to about 10 wt. %, based on a total weight of the emulsion composition, of an emulsifier adjuvant; and a continuous aqueous phase comprising: water; about 0.01 wt. % to about 30 wt. %, based on a total weight of the emulsion composition, of a preservative; and about 0.01 wt. % to about 10 wt. %, based on a total weight of the emulsion composition, of a phospholipid emulsifying agent, wherein the phospholipid emulsifying agent comprises from about 0.001 mmol to about 1.0 mmol of primary ammonium functional group per gram of the phospholipid emulsifying agent.
  2. 2 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 , wherein the phospholipid emulsifying agent comprises a lecithin.
  3. 3 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 2 , wherein the lecithin comprises a sunflower lecithin.
  4. 4 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 , wherein the phospholipid emulsifying agent comprises from about 0.04% to about 0.6% by weight of phosphatidylinositol (PI), from about 0.04% to about 0.1% by weight of lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI), from about 0.1% to about 0.2% by weight of phosphatidylethanolamines (PE), and/or from about 0.3% to about 0.6% of phosphatidylcholines (PC), based on a total weight of the phospholipid emulsifying agent.
  5. 5 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 comprising about 0.01% to about 5% by weight of the total weight of the emulsion composition, of the phospholipid emulsifying agent.
  6. 6 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 , wherein the flavorant comprises hop oil, cannabis oil, hemp oil, hop extract, flavorant blends, hop-derived flavorant compounds, carrier oils, or non-hop derived flavorant compounds.
  7. 7 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 , wherein the flavorant comprises a terpene, a thiol, a ketone, an esters, an aldehyde, an alcohol, a heterocycle, or a phenolic.
  8. 8 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous phase comprises about 0.01 wt. % to about 10 wt. % of a preservative comprising a hop acid or a salt thereof.
  9. 9 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 8 , wherein the preservative comprises the hop acid, and the hop acid comprises an alpha acid, a beta acid, a tetra acid, or an iso-alpha acid.
  10. 10 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 8 , wherein the preservative comprises: (a) the hop acid, and the hop acid comprises humulone, cohumulone, adhumulone, lupulone, colupulone, adlupulone, tetrahydroisohumulone, tetrahydroisocohumulone, tetrahydroadlupulone, isohumulone, isocohumulone, or isoadhumulone; or (b) the hop acid salt, and the hop acid salt comprises potassium humulone, potassium cohumulone, potassium cohumulone, potassium humulone, potassium cohumulone, potassium adhumulone, potassium lupulone, potassium colupulone, potassium adlupulone, potassium tetrahydroisohumulone, potassium tetrahydroisocohumulone, potassium tetrahydroadlupulone, potassium isohumulone, potassium isocohumulone, or potassium isoadhumulone.
  11. 11 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous phase comprises about 0.01 wt. % to about 10 wt. % of a preservative comprising a vitamin and a salt thereof.
  12. 12 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 11 , wherein the vitamin comprises (a) vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A carotene, and derivatives thereof; or (b) ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol, β-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, δ-tocopherol, ϑ-tocopherol, α-tocotrienol, β-tocotrienol, γ-tocotrienol, or δ-tocotrienol.
  13. 13 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 11 , wherein the vitamin salt comprises sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate, potassium ascorbate, ascorbyl palmitate, sodium ascorbyl phosphate, or magnesium ascorbyl phosphate.
  14. 14 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 , further comprising an additional emulsifying agent comprising gum arabic, ester gum, acacia gum, xanthan gum, guar gum, carrageenan, locust bean gum, monoglycerides, diglycerides, ethoxylated castor oil, albumin, alginates, casein, egg yolk, or glycerol monostearate.
  15. 15 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 , wherein the emulsifier adjuvant comprises citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, ascorbic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, or a salt thereof.
  16. 16 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 , wherein the water is present in an amount corresponding to the remaining balance of material in the oil-in-water emulsion composition.
  17. 17 . The oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 , wherein the oil-in-water emulsion composition is substantially free of weighting agents and gum acacia.
  18. 18 . A stable foam formulation or a beverage comprising the oil-in-water emulsion composition of claim 1 .
  19. 19 . A method comprising: providing an oil phase comprising a flavorant and optionally an emulsifier adjuvant; providing an aqueous phase comprising water, a preservative, a phospholipid emulsifying agent, and optionally an emulsifier adjuvant; mixing the oil phase and the aqueous phase to obtain a pre-emulsion; and homogenizing the pre-emulsion to obtain an oil-in-water emulsion; wherein the phospholipid emulsifying agent comprises about 0.001 to about 1.0 mmol of primary ammonium functional group per gram of the phospholipid emulsifying agent; optionally wherein the homogenizing comprises a multi-stage homogenization process.
  20. 20 . A method for stabilizing a foam composition, the method comprising adding to the foam composition an oil-in-water emulsion comprising from about 0.01 wt. % to about 10 wt. %, based on the total weight of the emulsion composition, of a phospholipid emulsifying agent, wherein the phospholipid emulsifying agent comprises about 0.001 to about 1.0 mmol of primary ammonium functional group per gram of the phospholipid emulsifying agent, and wherein the oil-in-water emulsion and the foam composition are free of weighting agents and gum acacia.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/717,252, filed Nov. 6, 2024, the disclosures of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. FIELD The present invention generally relates to a novel phospholipid emulsion system designed to maintain the foam stability. In particular, the present invention relates to emulsion systems, specifically phospholipid-based emulsions, and their application in beverages to maintain foam stability. BACKGROUND The following discussion is provided to aid the reader in understanding the disclosure and is not admitted to describe or constitute prior art thereto. Emulsion systems are widely used in the food and beverage industry to improve texture, stability, and mouthfeel. In beverages like beer, foam stability is a critical quality attribute that impacts consumer perception and enjoyment. Traditional emulsion systems often utilize lecithin due to its emulsifying properties. However, lecithin is known to adversely affect foam characteristics, leading to poor foam retention and stability. The negative impact of lecithin on foam stability is primarily attributed to its high content of free ammonium groups. These groups can interact with proteins and other chemical constituents within the beverage, disrupting the natural network of proteins, hop acids, and polyphenols that stabilize foam. This interaction results in a deterioration of foam quality, which is undesirable in products such as beer. At present, there is therefore a need for the development of an emulsion system that overcomes the drawbacks of traditional systems like lecithin. SUMMARY In one first aspect, an oil-in-water emulsion composition includes an oil phase that includes about 0.01 wt. % to about 30 wt. % of a flavorant; and optionally about 0.01 wt. % to about 10 wt. % of an emulsifier adjuvant; and a continuous aqueous phase of water; containing about 0.01 wt. % to about 30 wt. % of a preservative; and about 0.01 wt. % to about 10 wt. % of a phospholipid emulsifying agent, wherein the phospholipid emulsifying agent comprises from about 0.001 mmol to about 1.0 mmol of primary ammonium functional group per gram of the phospholipid emulsifying agent. In some embodiments, the phospholipid emulsifying agent comprises a lecithin. In one embodiment, the lecithin comprises a sunflower lecithin. In one embodiment, the phospholipid emulsifying agent comprises from about 0.04% to about 0.6% by weight of Phosphatidylinositol (PI), from about 0.04% to about 0.1% by weight of Lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI), from about 0.1% to about 0.2% by weight of Phosphatidylethanolamines (PE), and/or from about 0.3% to about 0.6% of Phosphatidylcholines (PC). In one embodiment, the oil-in-water emulsion composition includes an aqueous phase which includes about 0.01% to about 5% by weight of the total weight of the emulsion composition, of the phospholipid emulsifying agent. In one embodiment, the oil phase comprises about 0.01 wt. % to about 10 wt. % of a flavorant. In one embodiment, the flavorant in the oil-in-water emulsion composition includes one or more of hop oil, cannabis oil, hemp oil, hop extract, flavorant blends, hop-derived flavorant compounds, carrier oil, and non-hop derived flavorant compounds, or a combination of any two or more thereof. In one embodiment, the flavorant comprises one or more of terpene, terpene blends, thiols, ketones, esters, aldehydes, alcohols, polyfunctional alcohols, polyfunctional thiols, heterocycles, and phenolics. In one embodiment, the flavorant comprises terpenes or a blend of terpenes. In one embodiment, the oil-in-water emulsion composition includes an aqueous phase which comprises about 0.01 wt. % to about 10 wt. % of a preservative comprising a hop acid and/or a salt thereof. In one embodiment, the hop acid comprises one or more of an alpha acid, a beta acid, a tetra acid, and an iso-alpha acid. In one embodiment, the hop acid may be humulone, cohumulone, adhumulone, lupulone, colupulone, adlupulone, tetrahydroisohumulone, tetrahydroisocohumulone, tetrahydroadlupulone, isohumulone, isocohumulone, and isoadhumulone. In one embodiment, the hop acid salt may be potassium humulone, potassium cohumulone, potassium cohumulone, potassium humulone, potassium cohumulone, potassium adhumulone, potassium lupulone, potassium colupulone, potassium adlupulone, potassium tetrahydroisohumulone, potassium tetrahydroisocohumulone, potassium tetrahydroadlupulone, potassium isohumulone, potassium isocohumulone, and potassium isoadhumulone, or a combination of any two or more thereof. In one embodiment, the oil-in-water emulsion composition includes an aqueous phase which comprises about 0.01 wt. % to about 10 wt. % of a preservative comprising a vitamin and a salt thereof. In one embodiment, the vitamin comprises ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), tocopherol (Vitamin E), vitamin A carotene, derivatives thereof and salts thereof. In