PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 16214548
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-12
Publication Date: 2019-04
Patent Classification: ["426", "041000"]

Abstract:
A method for preparing a modified whey protein concentrate (WPC) or whey protein isolate (WPI) is described. It involves (a) providing an aqueous WPC or WPI solution having a protein concentration of 15-50% (w/v), at a pH of 4.7-8.5; (b) heat treating the solution to more than 50 DEG C for a time that allows protein denaturation to occur; the heat treating comprising heating the solution while under conditions of turbulent flow. At the end of the heat treatment, the heat treated material may be promptly transferred to a drier or to be mixed with other ingredients. The heat-treated WPC or WPI is not subjected to a mechanical shear process prior to the transfer other than where liquid is converted into droplets to facilitate drying. The modified WPC is useful in the manufacture of food and drinks where a high protein content is desired without undesirable changes in texture.

Claim (Index 52):
A method for preparing a dried modified WPC or WPI with 50-95% of the total solids as whey protein, comprising:\n (a) preparing an aqueous WPC or WPI having 15-50%) (w/v) whey protein at a pH of between 5.5 and 8.5; (b) using a high pressure pump to feed the protein concentrate at a pressure of between 3 to 1000 bars into a high pressure heater, the flow of the product is such that a turbulent flow is effected with a Reynolds number of at least 500; (c) heat treating the solution while the turbulent flow is effected to more than 70 \u00b0 C. for a time that allows protein denaturation to occur, said time being less than about 120 s, and wherein the pressurized protein concentrate is not subjected to a mechanical shear process to break up particles within the solution; (d) at the end of the heat treatment, promptly transferring the heat-treated material to a drier; and (e) drying the heat-treated WPC or WPI,\n wherein the volume weighted mean particle size D[4,3] of the whey protein particles in the treated WPC stream from the heat treatment arrangement (c) is less than about 10 \u03bcm and the particles are not subject to a particle size reduction procedure prior to drying.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 59.0
- Percentile: 98.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.69
- Patent Class: 426.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: True
- Related Applications: ['10149339', '12294038', '14355803', '14337085', '10070406']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.7278985648257328
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5098974162045398
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.7060984499636135
- Mean Citation Score: 274.678628
- Max Citation Score: 285.65283
- Similarity Product: 210.8324173906749

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 0
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test