Food Products Comprising a Slowly Digestible or Digestion Resistant Carbohydrate Composition

Abstract

A food product comprises an oligosaccharide composition that is digestion resistant or slowly digestible. The oligosaccharide composition can be produced by a process that comprises producing an aqueous composition that comprises at least one oligosaccharide and at least one monosaccharide by saccharification of starch, membrane filtering the aqueous composition to form a monosaccharide-rich stream and an oligosaccharide-rich stream, and recovering the oligosaccharide-rich stream. Alternatively, the oligosaccharide composition can be produced by a process that comprises heating an aqueous feed composition that comprises at least one monosaccharide or linear saccharide oligomer, and that has a solids concentration of at least about 70% by weight, to a temperature of at least about 40° C., and contacting the feed composition with at least one catalyst that accelerates the rate of cleavage or formation of glucosyl bonds for a time sufficient to cause formation of non-linear saccharide oligomers, wherein a product composition is produced that contains a higher concentration of non-linear saccharide oligomers than linear saccharide oligomers.

1 . A method of controlling blood glucose in a mammal suffering from diabetes, comprising feeding to a mammal suffering from diabetes a food product that comprises an oligosaccharide composition that is digestion resistant or slowly digestible and that is made by a process selected from:
 (a) a process comprising:
 producing an aqueous composition that comprises at least one oligosaccharide and at least one monosaccharide by saccharification of starch; 
 fractionating the aqueous composition by a method comprising at least one of membrane filtering and sequential simulated moving bed chromatography to form a monosaccharide-rich stream and a digestion resistant oligosaccharide-rich stream; and 
 recovering the oligosaccharide-rich stream; and 
   (b) a process comprising:
 heating an aqueous feed composition that comprises at least one monosaccharide or linear saccharide oligomer, and that has a solids concentration of at least about 70% by weight, to a temperature of at least about 40° C.; and 
 contacting the feed composition with at least one catalyst that accelerates the rate of cleavage or formation of glucosyl bonds for a time sufficient to cause formation of non-linear saccharide oligomers, wherein a product composition is produced that contains a higher concentration of non-linear saccharide oligomers than linear saccharide oligomers. 
   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the food product is selected from baked foods, breakfast cereal, dairy products, confections, jams and jellies, beverages, fillings, extruded and sheeted snacks, gelatin desserts, snack bars, cheese and cheese sauces, edible and water-soluble films, soups, syrups, sauces, dressings, creamers, icings, frostings, glazes, pet food, tortillas, meat and fish, dried fruit, infant and toddler food, and batters and breadings. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (a) and the oligosaccharide-rich stream comprises at least about 50% by weight oligosaccharides on a dry solids basis, and wherein the oligosaccharides are primarily digestion resistant or slowly digestible. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (a) and the oligosaccharide-rich stream comprises a minor amount of dextrose and fructose, and wherein the process further comprises contacting the oligosaccharide-rich stream with an isomerization enzyme such that at least some of the dextrose is converted to fructose, thereby producing an isomerized oligosaccharide-rich stream. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (a), and wherein the process further comprises membrane filtering the oligosaccharide-rich stream to produce a second monosaccharide-rich stream and a second oligosaccharide-rich stream. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the second oligosaccharide-rich stream comprises more than about 90% by weight oligosaccharides on a dry solids basis. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (a) and the oligosaccharide-rich stream comprises a minor amount of monosaccharides, and wherein the process further comprises hydrogenating the oligosaccharide-rich stream to convert at least some of the monosaccharides therein to alcohols, thereby producing a hydrogenated oligosaccharide-rich stream. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the second oligosaccharide-rich stream comprises a minor amount of monosaccharides, and wherein the process further comprises hydrogenating the second oligosaccharide-rich stream to convert at least some of the monosaccharides therein to alcohols, thereby producing a hydrogenated oligosaccharide-rich stream 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (a), and wherein the process further comprises contacting the oligosaccharide-rich stream with a glucosidase enzyme such that at least some of any residual monosaccharides present in the stream are covalently bonded to oligosaccharides or other monosaccharides. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and the aqueous feed composition comprises at least one monosaccharide and at least one linear saccharide oligomer. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and the aqueous feed composition is a dextrose syrup, a corn syrup, or a solution of maltodextrin. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and at least about 50% by weight on a dry solids basis of the product composition is slowly digestible. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and at least about 50% by weight on a dry solids basis of the product composition is digestion resistant. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and the at least one catalyst is an enzyme that accelerates the rate of cleavage or formation of glucosyl bonds. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the enzyme accelerates the rate of cleavage of alpha 1-2,1-3, 1-4, or 1-6 glucosyl bonds to form dextrose residues. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the enzyme is a glucoamylase enzyme composition. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and the at least one catalyst is an acid. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the acid is hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, or a combination thereof. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein acid is added to the feed composition in an amount sufficient to make the pH of the feed composition no greater than about 4. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein acid is added to the feed composition in an amount sufficient to make the pH of the feed composition about 1.0-2.5. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the feed composition has a solids concentration of about 70-90% and is maintained at a temperature of about 70-90° C. during the contacting with the acid. 
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the solids concentration of the feed composition is about 90-100% by weight, and the feed composition is maintained at a temperature of at least about 149° C. for about 0.1-15 minutes after it is contacted with the acid. 
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and the feed composition comprises at least about 75% solids by weight. 
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and the product composition comprises non-linear saccharide oligomers having a degree of polymerization of at least three in a concentration of at least about 20% by weight on a dry solids basis. 
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the product composition comprises non-linear saccharide oligomers having a degree of polymerization of at least three in a concentration of at least about 50% by weight on a dry solids basis. 
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and the concentration of non-linear saccharide oligomers in the product composition is at least twice as high as the concentration of linear saccharide oligomers. 
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and the product composition comprises a minor amount of residual monosaccharides, and wherein the process further comprises removing at least some residual monosaccharides from the product composition by membrane filtration, chromatographic fractionation, or digestion via fermentation. 
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and the at least one catalyst that accelerates the rate of cleavage or formation of glucosyl bonds is enzyme, and the product composition is subsequently contacted with an acid that accelerates the rate of cleavage or formation of glucosyl bonds. 
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b) and the at least one catalyst that accelerates the rate of cleavage or formation of glucosyl bonds is acid, and the product composition is subsequently contacted with an enzyme that accelerates the rate of cleavage or formation of glucosyl bonds. 
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 1 , the oligosaccharide composition is made using process (b), and further comprising hydrolyzing a maltodextrin to form a hydrolyzed saccharide solution and concentrating the hydrolyzed saccharide solution to at least about 70% dry solids to form the feed composition. 
   
   
       31 . A method of controlling blood glucose in a mammal suffering from diabetes, comprising feeding to a mammal suffering from diabetes a food product comprising a carbohydrate composition that is primarily slowly digestible or digestion resistant, wherein the carbohydrate composition comprises a major amount on a dry solids basis of linear and non-linear saccharide oligomers, and wherein the concentration of non-linear saccharide oligomers is greater than the concentration of linear saccharide oligomers. 
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the concentration of non-linear saccharide oligomers in the composition is at least twice as high as the concentration of linear saccharide oligomers. 
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the concentration of non-linear saccharide oligomers having a degree of polymerization of at least three is at least about 20% by weight on a dry solids basis. 
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the concentration of non-linear saccharide oligomers having a degree of polymerization of at least three is at least about 50% by weight on a dry solids basis.