GB1072795A - Solid composition containing fat-soluble vitamins and processes for making it - Google Patents

Abstract

Vitamin compositions in the form of a dry finely-divided free-flowing solid, insoluble in water at temperatures up to 100 DEG C., comprise a fat-soluble vitamin-active composition dispersed in a carrier of retrograded amylose. The fat-soluble vitamins are A, D, E and K, and compounds having the activity of these, including precursors thereof. Particularly mentioned are vitamin A-alcohol, -aldehyde and its phenolic complexes such as retinol quinolate, -esters such as the acetate and palmitate, and the vitamin A precursor b -carotene; the E vitamins a -tocopherol and a -tocopheryl acetate, and the oil-soluble antioxidants butylated hydroxy anisole, butylated hydroxy toluene and ethoxyquin; and natural or synthetic products having vitamin D or K activity. Retrograded amylose is described as a water-insoluble microcrystalline substance, formed by aggregation of colloidal amylose particles in aqueous solution on ageing the solution or by other treatments; it may be colloidally dissolved in water at superatmospheric pressure and temperatures of at least 150 DEG to 160 DEG C. The carrier may include edible plasticisers such as sugars, gums, methyl cellulose, or gelatin. The compositions are prepared by: (1) Preparing an aqueous colloidal solution of amylose; (2) dispersing therein the vitamin-active composition; and (3) converting the dispersion, under conditions at which the amylose retrogrades, into dry solid particles. The amylose solution is prepared suitably from pure retrograded amylose, by either solution in water at elevated temperature and pressure, or by agitation with aqueous alkali metal hydroxide; the vitamin active composition may be dispersed therein by simple stirring or agitation. The third step may be effected by methods wherein the dispersion is agitated with, or extruded or sprayed into, a retrogradation medium, the latter being water or a non-polar hydrocarbon, e.g. hexane when the amylose has been dissolved in superheated water, or an aqueous solution of a neutralising agent, such as an ammonium salt of a strong acid, when the amylose is dissolved in alkali. The retrograded particles are then removed from the medium, dehydrated (e.g. by air drying) and, if required, comminuted. Alternatively, the dispersion may be simultaneously retrograded and dried, by spray drying, or drying on a heated continuous belt, or retrograded on a chilled belt and subsequently dehydrated, and then comminuted. The product is useful as a vitamin concentrate for addition to animal or poultry feed.