Protein-enriched tobacco-derived composition

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11166485-B2
Application number	US-201615069129-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2016
Priority date	Mar 14, 2013
Publication date	Nov 9, 2021
Grant date	Nov 9, 2021

Abstract

The present disclosure describes methods of obtaining and/or deriving proteins from plants of the Nicotiana species and methods for incorporation of such proteins into various products. For example, a method for obtaining a protein-enriched material from a plant of the Nicotiana species or portion thereof is provided, comprising: extracting one or more proteins from the plant material into a solvent to form a liquid protein-containing extract; separating a solid extracted plant material from the liquid protein-containing extract; clarifying the liquid protein-containing extract to form a clarified protein-containing extract and a solids fraction; and treating the clarified protein-containing extract so as to provide a protein-enriched material comprising at least about 60% protein by weight.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A method for obtaining a protein-enriched material from a plant of the Nicotiana species or portion thereof, comprising:
receiving a plant material of the Nicotiana species;
contacting the plant material with a solvent for a time and under conditions sufficient to extract one or more proteins from the plant material into the solvent and form a liquid protein-containing extract;
separating a solid extracted plant material from the liquid protein-containing extract;
clarifying the liquid protein-containing extract to form a clarified protein-containing extract and a solids fraction; and
treating the clarified protein-containing extract so as to provide a protein-enriched material comprising at least about 60% protein by dry weight, wherein the treating step comprises filtering the clarified protein-containing extract to give a retentate and a liquid permeate; and
washing the retentate to provide the protein-enriched material,
wherein the treating step comprises filtering the clarified protein-containing extract through a microfiltration membrane, and wherein the microfiltration membrane has a pore size of about 0.05 to about 10 microns and wherein the retentate comprises at least about 50% RuBisCO by dry weight.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protein-enriched material comprises at least about 80% protein by dry weight.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the clarifying step comprises adjusting the pH of the liquid protein-containing extract.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein plant material of the Nicotiana species is in the form of a green plant material, yellowed plant material, cured plant material, or a mixture thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising spray drying, freeze drying, or otherwise dehydrating the protein-enriched material.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding one or more components to remove color, odor, taste, alkaloids, metals, or a combination thereof, at any step of the process.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more components are selected from the group consisting of activated carbon, a resin, clay, a chelating agent, a molecularly imprinted polymer, a non-imprinted polymer, or a combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
filtering the liquid permeate through a 1 kDa membrane, a 10 kDa membrane, or a 20 kDa membrane, giving a membrane permeate comprising F2 protein.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising concentrating the membrane permeate to give a membrane permeate comprising at least about 10% F2 protein by weight.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the membrane permeate comprises at least about 30% F2 protein by weight.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising distillation of the membrane permeate.

Assignees

• Reynolds Tobacco Co R

Inventors

• Mua John-Paul
• Ford Kyle
• Joyce Leigh Ann Blevins
• Lovette Margarette Elisa
• Morton Joshua D
• Hagan Leigh
• Bratcher Barry
• Debusk Samuel Mark

Classifications

• C07K14/415

  from plants · CPC title

• A61K36/81

  Solanaceae (Potato family), e.g. tobacco, nightshade, tomato, belladonna, capsicum or jimsonweed · CPC title

• A61K8/9789

  Magnoliopsida [dicotyledons] · CPC title

• A24B15/241 Primary

  Extraction of specific substances · CPC title

• A61K2800/10

  General cosmetic use · CPC title