CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The application claims the benefit from the priority of European patent application EP 18193873.9 filed on September 11, 2018; the entire content of this application is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of veterinary medicine, fodder and animal feed. In particular, the invention relates to palatability enhancers, preferably turmeric, and disaccharides, preferably isomaltulose, containing coatings for nutritional form bodies, therewith coated nutritional form bodies, and uses thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A nutritional form body is a preferable dosing form for nutritional supplements for horses. The nutritional form body allows for accurate dosing and it allows for hand feeding the nutritional supplement, which is an advantage when the horse is on pasture, where a feed cannot be administered in a crib. However, it is a prerequisite that the palatability and attractiveness of the form bodies is sufficiently good, so that almost all horses will eat them from the hand voluntarily.

It is well known to increase the palatability and attractiveness of horse feed by addition of palatants or flavors (commonly called palatability enhancers) like apple flavor, banana flavor, peppermint flavor, garlic, fenugreek or turmeric. Normally, the palatability enhancers are included in the feed. This works well in pelleted or powdered feeds, which have relatively large surface areas. However, in nutritional bars, where the surface area is relatively small, large inclusion rates of the palatability enhancers are required in order to obtain a sufficient effect. As the palatability enhancers are normally quite expensive, this tends to increase the cost of goods inappropriately. However, simply dusting the palatability enhancer on the outside of the form body is not applicable as sufficient amounts will not stick on the bar.

EP 0 542 510 describes a thermostable, colored coating material which consists of colored, at least, partially gelatinized starch based matrix material and can include turmeric.

WO 2007/137297 discloses foods and beverages with additives including turmeric.

There is an urgent need for an improved application of palatability enhancers in nutritional form bodies, preferably nutritional bars, in particular for horses, which overcomes the problems of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a coating material, preferably suitable for the coating of nutritional form bodies for equines, more preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, even more preferably horses, comprising one or more palatability enhancers, preferably turmeric, more preferably turmeric powder, and at least one disaccharide, preferably isomaltulose (Palatinose).

The present invention further concerns a process of manufacturing the coating material as herein described and claimed, comprising the steps: (a) mixing the at least one disaccharide, preferably isomaltulose, more preferably 9 parts of the at least one disaccharide, preferably isomaltulose, with water, preferably 10 parts of water, and heating such mixture up, preferably up to 40° C to 90° C, more preferably to 75° C to 85° C, most preferably to 80° C, to obtain a semi-viscous liquid; and

(b) mixing the semi-viscous liquid obtained as a result of step (a), preferably 19 parts of such semi- viscous liquid, with the one or more palatability enhancers, preferably turmeric, more preferably turmeric powder, even more preferably 1 part of turmeric powder, and heating such mixture up, preferably up to 40° C to 90° C, more preferably to 75° C to 85° C, most preferably to 80° C, to obtain the coating material, preferably as viscous liquid suspension.

The present invention further concerns a coating material, preferably suitable for the coating of nutritional form bodies for equines, more preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, even more preferably horses, obtainable by the process of manufacturing the coating material as herein described and claimed.

The present invention further concerns the use of the coating material as herein described and claimed for the coating of nutritional form bodies, preferably nutritional bars, preferably for the coating of nutritional form bodies for equines, preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, more preferably horses.

The present invention further concerns a process of coating a nutritional form body, preferably nutritional bar, preferably suitable as dietary supplement for equines, preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, more preferably horses, comprising the steps:

(a) applying, preferably spraying, rinsing, drizzling and/or sprinkling, more preferably spraying, the coating material as herein described and claimed onto the nutritional form body, preferably nutritional bar, preferably leaving excess coating material to drip off;

(b) cooling the coated nutritional form body as a result of step (a) down to room temperature, preferably to 15° C to 25° C, preferably in order to allow the coating material to set, and

(c) drying the cooled down coated nutritional form body as a result of step (b) at 20° C to 40° C, preferably at 30° C., for one or more hours, preferably 6 to 7 hours, preferably in order to reduce the moisture (water content) in the coating of the nutritional form body to below 16% (w/w), preferably to below 13% (w/w), more preferably to below 10% (w/w) of the coating; and

(d) optionally, repeating process steps (a) to (c) one or more times, preferably in order to obtain two or more coating layers of the coating material as herein described and claimed.

The present invention further concerns a nutritional form body, preferably nutritional bar, preferably suitable as dietary supplement for equines, more preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, even more preferably horses, comprising the coating material as herein described and claimed. The present invention further concerns the nutritional form body as herein described and claimed for use as a dietary supplement in a method of improving, maintaining or restoring the status of health and physical well-being of equines, preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, more preferably horses; preferably for use as a dietary supplement in a method of treating and/or preventing diseases of equines, preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, more preferably horses; more preferably for use as a dietary supplement in a method of treating and/or preventing Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) in equines, preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, more preferably horses. A corresponding method of improving, maintaining or restoring the status of health and physical well-being of equines, preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, more preferably horses; a corresponding method of treating and/or preventing diseases of equines, preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, more preferably horses; and a corresponding method of treating and/or preventing Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) in equines, preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, more preferably horses, are also intended to be comprised by the scope and spirit of the present invention as are the corresponding uses for the preparation of a medicament for improving, maintaining or restoring the status of health and physical well-being of equines, preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, more preferably horses; for treating and/or preventing diseases of equines, preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, more preferably horses; and for treating and/or preventing Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) in equines, preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, more preferably horses.

The advantages according to the present invention are one or more of the following:

- possibility of making a slurry (e.g. dispersion, such as a viscous liquid suspension) of the one or more palatability enhancers, the at least one disaccharide and water, in particular turmeric powder, isomaltulose (Palatinose) and water, spraying, rinsing, drizzling and/or sprinkling, more preferably spraying, said slurry on the nutritional form bodies, preferably nutritional bars, and thereafter drying the nutritional form bodies, preferably nutritional bars to eliminate the water, thereby providing the nutritional form bodies with a coating of one or more palatability enhancers and at least one disaccharide, in particular turmeric powder and isomaltulose (Palatinose), which enhances the acceptance of the nutritional form bodies compared to when the same amount of turmeric is added to the matrix of the nutritional form body instead;

coating the nutritional form bodies with the one or more palatability enhancers and the at least one disaccharide, in particular turmeric powder and isomaltulose (Palatinose), prevents the nutritional form bodies from crumbling, differentiates the nutritional form bodies from typical animal feed form bodies by providing the form bodies with a colored, in particular yellow or red, surface coating; which does not taint the fingers, which it does, when the one or more palatability enhancer, preferably turmeric, is included in the matrix of the nutritional form body, preferably nutritional bar;

increase of the release of smell and taste from the one or more palatability enhancers thereby obtaining the desired palatability effect with a minimal inclusion rate and at acceptable costs; - turmeric as palatability enhancer is generally believed to have a positive impact on the general health of equines, more preferably horses and even-toed ungulates, even more preferably horses, due to its anti-inflammatory effects.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Before the embodiments of the present invention are described in further details, it shall be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. All given ranges and values may vary by 1 to 5 % unless indicated otherwise or known otherwise by the person skilled in the art, therefore, the term“about” was usually omitted from the description and claims. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, the preferred methods, devices, and materials are now described. All publications mentioned herein are incorporated herein by reference for the purpose of describing and disclosing the substances, excipients, carriers, and methodologies as reported in the publications which might be used in connection with the invention. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the invention is not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention.

In the course of the present invention the term“form body” includes any shape of a dietary supplement or treat, in particular for horses, which can be coated. It may exhibit the shape of a bar, a brick, a chip, a cookie, a pellet or a poke. Most preferred the form body has the shape of a bar.

In the course of the present invention“palatability enhancer” is defined as follows: any substance, which, when added to an animal feed, preferably a horse feed, in a relatively small amount (< 2%), will increase the animal’s, preferably the horse’s, willingness to eat said feed.

Isomaltulose is a disaccharide carbohydrate composed of glucose and fructose. The glucose and fructose are linked by an alpha- 1 ,6-glycosidic bond. Isomaltulose is present in nature in among others honey and sugarcane. Isomaltulose is used as a dietary ingredient providing easily digestible energy in energy supplements for humans and animals.

Turmeric powder is the ground, dried root of Curcuma longa. Turmeric is widely used in human nutrition as a spice and is increasingly used as a nutraceutical ingredient in recognition of its well documented anti inflammatory properties (cf. WO 2007/137297, which is herewith incorporated in its entirety by reference). In another aspect the present invention concerns the coating material as herein described and claimed, wherein the one or more palatability enhancers is selected from the group consisting of: apple flavour, banana flavour, raspberry flavour, vanilla flavour, peppermint flavour, garlic, fenugreek, beetroot, chicory, endive, maple syrup, and/or turmeric, and preferably is turmeric, more preferably turmeric powder.

In another aspect the present invention concerns the coating material as herein described and claimed, wherein the at least one disaccharide is selected from the group consisting of: sucrose, maltose, trehalose and/or isomaltulose (Palatinose), and preferably is isomaltulose (Palatinose).

In another aspect the present invention concerns the coating material as herein described and claimed, wherein such coating material comprises turmeric powder, isomaltulose (Palatinose) and water.

In another aspect the present invention concerns the coating material as herein described and claimed, wherein such coating material consists of turmeric powder and isomaltulose (on a dry basis), preferably 5% to 15% (w/w) turmeric powder, more preferably 10% (w/w) turmeric powder, and 85% to 95% (w/w) isomaltulose, more preferably 90% (w/w) isomaltulose (on a dry basis).

In another aspect the present invention concerns the coating material as herein described and claimed, wherein such coating material is a dispersion, preferably a suspension, more preferably a viscous liquid suspension.

In the course of the present invention the term“viscous” preferably refers to a viscosity of > 10 ⁵ mPa*s.

In another aspect the present invention concerns the nutritional form body, preferably nutritional bar as herein described and claimed, comprising one or more coating layers of the coating material as herein described and claimed, preferably comprising only one coating layer of the coating material as herein described and claimed.

In another aspect the present invention concerns the nutritional form body, preferably nutritional bar as herein described and claimed, comprising in the form body matrix one or more ingredients selected from the group consisting of: amino acids, vitamins, minerals, flavors, proteins, and further additives and mixtures thereof, wherein preferably the further additives are selected from one or more binders, colorants, sweeteners, antioxidants, carbohydrates, cereal grains, legumes, nuts, dietary libers, emulsifiers and mixtures thereof; more preferably wherein the one or more ingredients in the form body matrix comprise alfalfa fibre, linseed, short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (ScFOS), oilseed mixture, brewer’s yeast, potato protein, mineral stone, vitamin plus trace element premix and a mixture of herbs. As a rule 0.1 to 5.0 % by weight, preferably 1.0 to 2.0 % by weight of the nutritional form body, preferably nutritional bar as herein described and claimed is top dressed to the horse feed based upon the weight of total horse feed fed to the horse on a daily basis.

Examples

The following examples serve to further illustrate the present invention; but the same should not be construed as a limitation of the scope of the invention disclosed herein.

Example 1 - Manufacture of coating material

200 kg of coating material is manufactured by the following method:

- 90 kg of isomaltulose, anhydrous (Palatinose®, Syntech, US) is partly dissolved/partly

suspended in 100 kg of tap water and heated to 80°C in order to obtain a semi-viscous liquid.

- The isomaltulose/water suspension is hereafter mixed with 10 kg turmeric powder (Vidya Herbs, India) and re-heated to 80°C, whereby a viscous liquid suspension (10 ^L 2 mPa*s) is obtained.

- This suspension may be kept at 80°C for up to 6 hours before it is used.

At the end of the process, each bar of 45 g is coated with 5 g of a coating consisting of 90% isomaltulose and 10% turmeric powder (on a dry basis).

Example 2 - Coating of nutritional bars

The nutritional bars are coated with the coating material, as manufactured according to example 1 above, by the following method:

- 23,640 nutritional bars are manufactured by direct compression of 1,063.8 kg of the chosen ingredients into oblong bars of 45 g (100 bar/5 seconds).

- The heated isomaltulose/water/turmeric powder suspension is sprayed onto the bars leaving excess suspension to drip off.

- The coated bars are cooled to room temperature allowing the turmeric/isomaltulose suspension to set (viscosity > 10 ^L 5 mPa*s).

The coated bars are dried in an industrial oven at 30°C for 7-8 hours, hereby reducing the moisture content in the coating to below 10%.

Manufacture of coated nutritional bars according to the process described in this example will result in 23,640 bars of 50 g of which 5 g is coating consisting of 90% isomaltulose and 10% turmeric powder (on a dry basis).

Example 3 - Palatability study

The palatability of coated nutritional bars manufactured according to the method described in example 2 above and uncoated bars, where the same amounts of turmeric and isomaltulose were included in the matrix of the bar, was tested in a longitudinal palatability study with privately owned horses in Germany: Initially the nutritional bar without coating, but with the same amounts of turmeric and isomaltulose included in the matrix of the bar was tested in 21 privately owned adult ponies and horses (between 4 and 29 years of age).

Some months later the bars with coating were tested in 17 of the same horses that were used in the first study.

Materials and methods:

In each study one bar of 50 g per 125 kg body weight was offered by hand to each horse once daily for 3 days. The horse’s initial reaction (within one minute) was observed and noted using the following grading scale:

Very good: The product was eaten completely right away

Good: The product was eaten completely after a short delay

Moderate: The product was eaten completely, but after a longer delay

Poor: The product was only eaten partly

Very poor: The product was not eaten at all

The marked improvement of the palatability of the coated nutritional bars according to the invention was demonstrated in a palatability study in privately owned horses in Germany.

Results:

The results of the stability study with coated and uncoated bars are summarized in table 1 below.

Table 1: Results of the palatability study

Conclusion:

The palatability of the coated bars was markedly better than that of the uncoated bars.

The investigators also noted, that the uncoated bars tended to crumble and to colour the hands yellow, whereas this was not the case with the coated bars.

REFERENCES

(1) EP 0 542 510

(2) WO 2007/137297