Protein-enriched tobacco-derived composition

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9301544-B2
Application number	US-201313830063-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2013
Priority date	Mar 14, 2013
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

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 60% protein by dry weight,
wherein the treating step comprises adjusting the pH of the clarified protein-containing extract to a pH of between about 3 to about 4.5;
isolating a precipitate from the acidic extract; and
washing the precipitate to provide a RuBisCO-containing and F2 protein-containing protein-enriched material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the washing is conducted on a filter having a pore size of between about 1 μm and about 1 kDa.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solvent used to wash the precipitate is an acidic solution.

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

5. 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.

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

7. 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.

8. The method of claim 7 , 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.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solvent employed in the contacting step comprises a buffer solution.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the clarifying step comprises passing the liquid protein-containing extract through a filter press or into a centrifuge.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least 60% protein by dry weight comprises at least 50% by dry weight of RuBisCO.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least 60% protein by dry weight comprises at least 10% by dry weight of F2 protein.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising separating the RuBisCO-containing and F2 protein-containing protein-enriched material to separately provide a RuBisCO-enriched material and an F2 protein-enriched material.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the separating step comprises dissolving the RuBisCO-containing and F2 protein-containing protein-enriched material in a solvent to give a mixture and bringing the mixture into contact with one or more filters or membranes to give a retentate comprising RuBisCO and a permeate comprising F2 protein.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the filters or membranes comprise a 500 kDa ultrafiltration membrane or a 0.1 μm ceramic filter.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the clarifying and treating steps are conducted at ambient temperature.

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

• A61K8/9789

  Magnoliopsida [dicotyledons] · CPC title

• A61Q19/00

  Preparations for care of the skin · CPC title

• A61K2236/00

  Isolation or extraction methods of medicinal preparations of undetermined constitution containing material from algae, lichens, fungi or plants, or derivatives thereof, e.g. traditional herbal medicine · CPC title

• A24B15/24

  by extraction; Tobacco extracts · CPC title

• C07K1/145

  by extraction or solubilisation · CPC title