Tea dry matter compositional beverage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10188124-B2
Application number	US-201314651754-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2013
Priority date	Dec 19, 2012
Publication date	Jan 29, 2019
Grant date	Jan 29, 2019

Abstract

The invention relates to a tea-based beverage composition comprising, calculated by weight of dry matter: 0.3-10% of dry tea components; 10-80% saccharide selected from sucrose, glucose, fructose and combinations thereof; 2-35% oil; 0.5-20% gelatinized starch; and 0.1-10% plant protein selected from leguminous protein, cereal protein and combinations thereof; wherein the composition contains less than 10% by weight of dry matter of particles of plant material comprising the plant protein wherein said particles having a diameter of more than 10 μm and wherein the gelatinized starch and the plant protein are contained in the beverage composition in a weight ratio of 1:1 to 20:1. The benefits of the invention can be realized in ready-to-drink beverages as well as in reconstitutable powders. The invention also provides a process for the preparation of the aforementioned tea-based beverage composition, the process comprising addition of a flour selected from leguminous flour, cereal flour and combinations thereof.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A tea beverage composition comprising, calculated by weight of dry matter:
0.3-10% of dry tea components;
30% to 65% saccharide selected from sucrose, glucose, fructose and combinations thereof
2-35% oil;
0.5-20% gelatinized starch; and
0.1-10% plant protein selected from leguminous protein, cereal protein and combinations thereof;
wherein the tea beverage composition contains less than 10% by weight of dry matter of particles of plant material comprising the plant protein wherein said particles having a diameter of more than 10 μm and wherein the gelatinized starch and the plant protein are contained in the tea beverage composition in a weight ratio of 4:3 to 10:1;
wherein the tea beverage composition has a viscosity at 35° C. and 50 s −1 of 1-50mPa·s.

2. The tea beverage composition according to claim 1 , wherein the dry tea components, oil, gelatinized starch, plant protein and saccharide together constitute at least 80 wt. % of the dry matter contained in the tea beverage composition.

3. The tea beverage composition according to claim 1 , wherein the tea beverage composition contains at least 50 mg theanine per kg of dry matter.

4. The tea beverage composition according to claim 1 , wherein the tea beverage composition contains less than 10% by weight of dry matter of an insoluble matter other than oil.

5. The tea beverage composition according to claim 1 , wherein the tea beverage composition contains 0.5-20% by weight of dry matter of dairy protein.

6. The tea beverage composition according to claim 1 , wherein the tea beverage composition contains 0.7-25% by weight of dry matter of flour, the flour selected from lentil flour, pea flour, and combinations thereof.

7. The tea beverage composition according to claim 1 , wherein the tea beverage composition is a ready-to-drink beverage.

8. The tea beverage composition according to claim 7 , wherein the tea beverage composition contains 75-97 wt % water.

Assignees

• Unilever Plc
• Conopco Inc

Inventors

• Benjamin Mia Claire
• Bialek Jadwiga Malgorzata
• Versluis Pieter

Classifications

• A23F3/16 Primary

  Tea extraction; Tea extracts; Treating tea extract; Making instant tea · CPC title

• A23F3/163

  Liquid or semi-liquid tea extract preparations, e.g. gels or liquid extracts in solid capsules · CPC title

• A23L2/66

  Proteins · CPC title

• A23L2/52

  Adding ingredients (adding preservatives A23B70/10) · CPC title

• A23F3/30

  Further treatment of dried tea extract; Preparations produced thereby, e.g. instant tea ({A23F3/166 takes precedence; } flavouring A23F3/40) · CPC title