Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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DESCRIPTIO~I
` DOG FOOD FLAVORS
.
Technical Field
,
The present invention relates to dog food
flavors and more particularly to dog foods having
increased palatability due to these flavors and
methods for producing the dog foods in increased
palatability.
Back~round Art
There is a continuing effort being made to de-
velop processes and formulations which increase thepalatability of dog foods while at the same time
maintaining their nutritional value. While by it-
self the development of nutritious dog foods is
quite well understood and poses few problems to the
art, there is a continuing problem of making these
formulations palatable. Where an offered food is
unpalatable, a dog may pass it up and thereby not
take advantage of its nutritional va:Lue.
Many attempts have been made to obtain increas-
ed palatability of pet foods by the addition of a
variety of materials. In U.S. 3,653,908 to Buck et
al, it is disclosed that amino acids in general can
improve palatability when included in cat foods,
especially when reacted with reducing sugars. In
another recent patent, U.S. 3,857,968 to G. J. Haas
et al., there is disclosed a process for improving
the palatability of animal foods based on an
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enzymatic hydrolysate of a fat and protein. Also,recent U.S. Patent 3,830,798 discloses a method for
hydrolyzing ribonucleic acid for addition to dog
foods, and U.S. Patent 3,832,~71 discloses the use
of 5'-nucleotide containing flavors for cat foods.
Numerous other patents and publications also
indicate a need for, and a keen interest in, improv-
ing the palatability of dog foods.
Summary of the Invention
Accordingly, the present invention provides dog
foods of improved palatability.
Further, the present invention provides a pro-
cess for improving the palatability of dog foods.
The present invention is accomplished by incor-
porating an effective amount of a palatabilityenhancing material selected from the group consist-
ing of L-proline, L-cysteine, L-histidine, L-lysine,
inosine 5'-triphosphate (ITP), inosine 5'-diphosphate
(IDP), and adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), or a
combination of these, into the dog food formulation.
Significant palatability boosts can be obtained by
feeding dog foods improved by these palatability
enhancers to dogs.
Detailed Description of the Invention
The term "palatability" is broad and encom-
passes all of the various properties of the foods
sensed by the dog. Among these properties are tex-
ture, taste and aroma. It is believed that the pre-
sent invention increases the overall palatability of
a dog food by improving the taste of the food
through the introduction of highly pronounced levels
of those raw meat flavor notes Most preferred by
dogs. Thus, the compounds identified according to
this invention are referred to herein alternatively
as dog food flavors or palatability enhancers.
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The compounds identified by this, i.e., L-
proline, L-cysteine, L-histidine, L-lysine, inosine
5'-triphosphate, (ITP), inosine 5'-diphosphate
(IDP~, and adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), can
- 5 improve the attractiveness and acceptance by dogs,
of a variety of foods formulated for them. Among
these foods are the conventional dry, intermediate-
moisture and canned dog foods of conventional
formulation as well as soups or gravies for use
alone or in combination with any of the other dog
food forms. Typical formulations of dry dog foods
and their methods of preparation are those described
in U.S. Patents 3,365,297 and 3,330,503; especially
suitable use of the present invention can be made
where the meat contents of these foods is ~educed or
eliminated. Typical of the intermediate-moisture
dog foods are those described in U.'S. Patent
3,202,514 to Burgess et al. and United Kingdom
Patent 1,151,991.
20'
Especially suitable among the dog foods
which can be improved by the dog food flavors or
palatabil,ity enhancers identified according to the
present invention, are soups and gravies for dog
use., These soups and gravies can consist of, or
consist essentially of, water and effective flavor-
ing amounts of the dog food flavors. Plain water
solutions of the pet food flavors identified by the
present invention cause strong taste responses by
, 30 dogs. For gravies, a bland thickening medium will
ordinarily be employed, and such thickeners can also
be employed in soups. Among the suitable bland
thickeners are those hydrophilic colloids, such as
carboxymethyl cellulose, sodium alginate, kelp-
derived gums, and the like, which are known in the
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art. The foods if desired can be full-feeding,
nutritionally balanced dog foods containing protein,
fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, so long
as the complex formulations do not present their own
flavor profiles which totally mask or obscure the
flavors applied according to this invention.
When employed with a solid dog food of the
types mentioned above, -the dog food flavor composi-
tions of this invention are desirably coated on the
outside of the food, and preferably are applied in a
manner which allows their release into any water
used for hydration. Where the dog food has an
exterior fat coating, the flavor compound is prefer-
ably applied to the exterior of the fat coating.
The dog food flavors can also be incorporated in-
teriorly of the food, such as by simple mixing with
the other ingredients during preparation. However,
because this generally causes excessive losses in
the strength of the flavor, this is not usually pre-
ferred.
The active taste compounds identified by thisinvention are employed with the dog food in any
amount which is effective for its 1avor as such to
be observed by the dog, and are desirably employed
at levels effective to produce a significant improve-
ment in palatability for the dog food. Based on
aqueous solutions, effective concentrations of the
dog food flavors are within the range of from 0.1 to
500 milimolars. Strong responses are observed at
levels of from 50 to 125 milimolars in aqueous solu-
tion. Variation from and within these ranges will
obviously occur depending upon the particular dog
food formulation and its processing history, as well
as the manner of application of the flavors.
The dog foods containing the dog food flavors
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of this invention are fed to dogs in normal manner,
except for the fact that they are treated at some
point to incorporate the dog food flavors and the
dogs can be expected to prefer them to untreated
foods of similar formulation. Along this line, tests
have shown all of the dog food flavors of this inven~
tion to cause strong taste responses in dogs when
given in aqueous solution. And, aqueous gravies con-
sisting of water and L-cysteine, L-histidine, or a
combination of ~ part ATP with one part each of L-
proline, L-cysteine and L-histidine, served with a
commercial dry dog food having its own gravy former
were effective in improving the palatability of the
dog food yet further. Effective levels in this case,
where a 100 gram sample of the food was fed with 150
grams of warm water, were 1% and 3% by weight of the
dry weight of the dog food for L-cysteine; 3% of the
dry weight of the dog food for L-histidine; and 1%,
3% and 6% of the dry weight of the dog food for the
combination of flavors. A test employing, on the
same basis, 3% ATP, 1% and 3% L-proline, and 1% L-
lysine did not show palatability boosts over the
highly flavorful control, probably because the fla-
vors of this invention represent raw meat flavors _
which were overpowered and obscured by the heavycooked meat flavor inherent in the untreated dog food.
The above explAnation is presented for the pur-
pose of enabling those skilled in the art how to
practice the invention. However, upon reading this
disclosure, many modifications and variations of the
specific disclosure will become apparent to those
skilled in the art. It is intended that all such
modifications and variations be included within the
scope of the invention which is defined by the
following claims.
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