IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF STARCH AND STARCHY SUBSTANCES, AND THE PRODUCTION THEREFROM OF A COMPOUND BODY CAPABLE OF BEING USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR MALT IN BREWING AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1874

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Cornelius O'Sullivan, of Burton-on-Trent, in the
County of Stafford, Brewer, and William George Valentin, of the
Royal College of Chemistry, South Kensington, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT
OF STARCH AND STARCHY SUBSTANCES, AND THE PRODUCTION THEREFROM OF A
COMPOUND BODY CAPABLE OF BEING USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR MALT IN
BREWING AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
ealed the 7th May 1875, and dated the 12th November 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cornelius O'Sullivan
and William George Valentin at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 12th November 1874.
We, CORNELIUS O'SULLIVAN, of Burton-on-Trent, in the County of
Stafford, Brewer, and WILLIAM GEORGE VALENTIN, of the Royal
College of Chemistry, South Kensington, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE TREATMENT OF STARCH AND STARCHY SUBSTANCES, AND THE PRODUCTION

page_text: THEREFROM OF A COMPOUND BODY CAPABLE OF BEING USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR
MALT IN BREWING AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in producing from starch or starchy substances
a compound solid body which we term "dextrin-maltose," consisting
of the same proportional quantities of dextrin and maltose as are
ordinarily obtained from malt by a properly conducted mashing process,.
and which is capable of being employed with great advantage for brewing
and other purposes.
In carrying out the transformation of starch into dextrin and maltose
in accordance with this Invention, any of the existing methods used for
that purpose may be employed, but by preference dilute sulphuric acid
is used as well-known and understood, but instead of continuing the
action of the sulphuric acid (as has hitherto been done) till the whole
of the starchy matter has been converted into glucose, or nearly so, the
process of conversion must be arrested when the liquid contains one
equivalent of maltose and one equivalent of dextrin, that is to say, when
the solid matter in solution gives a reduction with a Fehling's copper
solution as if it contained 44 per cent. of glucose, tantamount or
thereabouts to 66 per cent. or thereabouts of maltose.
The conversion is readily arrested when the transformation of the
starch has reached the desired point (which can be ascertained by any
of the known methods) by simply neutralising the sulphuric acid by
means of calcic hydrate or carbonate. The gypsum or calcic sulphate
thus formed is removed by any of the well understood methods practised
for such purposes and the solution evaporated to dryness. The solid
matter which is left contains the same bodies and in proportions
analogous to those which the starch of malt yields to the wort in the
ordinary mashing process; such proportions are capable of being slightly
varied, however, without detriment to the quality of the saccharine
compound body produced in a manner similar to that now practised in
the mashing of malt. The solid substance thus obtained, and which, as
before mentioned, we term "dextrin-maltose," can be obtained nearly
free from water, and forms a gummy semi-crystalline body which may
be preserved, when kept dry, for any desired length of time without
undergoing any change.
In order to prepare the dextrin-maltose the following process of

page_text: weight of water are added, and from one-and-a-half to two parts by
weight of concentrated sulphuric acid. Such proportions, however,
must be considered as being approximative only, inasmuch as they may
in some instances be varied without jeopardising the results or departing
from the principles of this Invention. The mixture is then digested at
the temperature of boiling water until the solution contains the requisite
porportions of dextrin and maltose, when the acid is then neutralised as
berein-before mentioned. The solution is afterwards freed from the
insoluble calcic sulphate which is formed by the combination of the
lime with the sulphuric acid, and when evaporated to dryness yields the
solid dextrin-maltose, the preparation of which forms the subject of the
present Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Cornelius O'Sullivan and William George Valentin
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th May 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CORNELIUS
O'SULLIVAN, of Burton-on-Trent, in the Country of Stafford, Brewer,
and WILLIAM GEORGE VALENTIN, of the Royal College of Chemistry,
South Kensington, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Cornelius O'Sullivan and William George
Valentin, Her special licence, that we, the said Cornelius O'Sullivan and
William George Valentin, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Cornclius O'Sullivan and William George
Valentin, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF STARCH AND STARCHY SUBSTANCES,
.

page_text: AND
THE PRODUCTION THEREFROM OF A COMPOUND BODY CAPABLE OF BEING
USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR MALT IN BREWING AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Cornelius O'Sullivan
and William George Valentin, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Cornelius O'Sullivan and William
George Valentin, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is
to say:-
-
66
Our said Invention consists in producing from starch or starchy
substances, and by preference from rice a compound solid body which
we term
dextrin-maltose," consisting of the same proportional
quantities of dextrin and maltose as are ordinarily obtained from malt
by a properly conducted mashing process, and which is capable of being
employed with great advantage as a substitute or partial substitute for
malt in brewing and for other purposes.
When rice is employed for the purposes of this Invention it should be
husked and finely ground. The rice meal (or meal of any other starchy
substance, as the case may be) is introduced gradually and with constant
stirring into acidulated boiling water in the proportion of 100 parts by
weight of the former to 250 parts by weight of the latter. To obtain
the acidulated water concentrated sulphuric acid is added to water in
the proportion of one-and-a-half to two or three parts per cent. For
these purposes an ordinary mash tun or other suitable vessel made either
of wood or iron or of any suitable material or materials capable of
resisting the action of dilute sulphuric acid may be employed, such
mash tun or receptacle being provided with steam coils by which the
requisite amount of heat is furnished, and also with stirring apparatus,
as will be well understood.
In carrying out the transformation or conversion of the starch into
dextrin and maltose in accordance with and by means of our said

page_text: Invention it is necessary that the process of conversion shall be arrested
when the liquid contains in solution the requisite proportions of maltose
and dextrin. A tolerably accurate knowledge of the progress of the
conversion may be obtained by ascertaining from time to time the
specific gravity of the liquid, provided the same quantities of starch or of
starchy substances and of acidulated water be invariably employed, and
also provided that the real amount of the substances which are capable
of being dissolved out from the starch or starchy substances employed at
the required stage of transformation be once for all positively determined
experimentally by any of the methods herein-after mentioned.
The proper proportional quantities of dextrin and maltose can be
accurately ascertained by taking a sample of the acid liquid, neutralizing
the free acid with baryta water, filtering, determining the specific gravity
of the filtrate (from which the total amount of matter in any given
volume can be found by known methods) and then estimating by known
means how much oxide of copper contained in a Fehling's copper
solution is reduced to sub-oxide by a known weight or measure thereof.
The conversion is completed if the quantity thus reduced indicates
44 per cent. or thereabouts of glucose calculated on the solid matter
derived from the starch of the substance employed and contained in a
known weight or measure of the solution taken. This reduction is
tantamount to 66 per cent. or thereabouts of maltose. In practice we
find that it is most expeditious, after digesting for a short time, to take
from time to time a sample of the infused substance, to neutralize with
baryta water, and to filter and thus obtain a perfectly clear filtrate. We
next ascertain accurately the specific gravity of the filtrate by weighing
in a specific gravity bottle, or by any of the other known means and
appliances capable of giving sufficiently accurate results and dertermine
the optical activity of the solution. The transformation is complete if
the specific rotatory power of the substance in solution for the transition
tint be 171° or thereabouts (a slightly lower rather than a higher angle
being preferred). When this point is reached the whole of the acid
liquid in the mash tun should be neutralized as speedily as possible by
means of finely divided chalk in sufficient quantity to neutralize about
90 per cent. of the free acid, completing the operation by the use of
milk of lime; or the neutralization may be effected by means of milk of
lime alone. The liquid should be rendered as nearly neutral as possible

page_text: before evaporation, but should on no account be left with a preponder-
ance of alkali, and in actual practice it will be found most advantageous
to leave the liquid slightly acid.
The liquid having been treated as before described and freed from the
precipitated calcic sulphate and insoluble portions of the starch or
starchy substances is next evaporated either in vacuum pans or by any
other suitable means until the compound body retains only from four to
five per cent. or thereabouts of moisture, when on being cooled rapidly
under the diminished pressure in the vacuum pans it acquires a crumbly,
sticky, semi-crystalline condition, and can by means of stirring apparatus
added for this purpose to the ordinary vacuum pans be removed from the
latter. The compound body thus obtained, which we term "dextrin-
maltose," contains the same substances and in the same proportions
which the starch of malt yields to the wort in the ordinary mashing
process, but as such proportions are capable of being varied in the
process of mashing malt so can they be varied in the preparation of
this saccharine compound body without in any way detracting from the
object and intentions of this Invention.
In packing the saccharine compound which forms the subject of our
said Invention care should be taken that it shall be prevented from
attracting or absorbing moisture.
We may here observe that the several proportions of materials and
substances herein-before referred to must be considered as closely
approximative only, as they may be modified and varied within
moderate limits, as will be understood by persons conversant with such
operations and processes, without departing from the main principles of
our said Invention.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we would observe
in conclusion that what we consider novel and original, and therefore
claim as being the Invention secured to us by the said herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent are, the processes for, and the methods of,
treating starch and starchy substances, and the production thereby of a
compound solid body consisting of the same proportional quantities of
dextrin and maltose as are obtained from malt in the ordinary mashing

page_text: process, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before set forth and
described, or any mere modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, we, the said Cornelius O'Sullivan and William
George Valentin, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-five.