Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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The present invention relates to animal foods. More
particularly, it relates to an animal food having improved
palatability and to a process for producing the same.
There is a continuing effort being made to develop
processes which improve the palatability of animal food
formulations while at the same time maintaining their nutrition-
al value. While the development and production of nutritious
animal foods have posed few problems to the ar-t, there is a con-
tinuing problem of making these formulations palatable. Where
the offered foods are unpalatable, animals often pass them up
and do not take advantage of their nutritious value.
According to the present invention an animal food of
improved palatability is obtained by incorporating an effective
amount of an enzymatically-treated meat into the animal food
formulation. This is accomplished according to the present
invention by a process comprising subjecting a meat slurry to
the action of pancreatin~ and incorporating the pancreatin-
treated meat into an animal food.
The meat employed according to the present invention
~0 is preferably beef and, more particularly, beef trimsO Other
beef by-products can be employed as can also other meats obtain-
ed from horse, swine, sheep and fowl. However, red muscle meats
are preferred over organ meats.
Animal foods normally contain from about 5 to 75
weight percent meat. The enzymatically-treated meat employed
according to the present invention can comprise any portion or
all of this meat content, it being necessary to the
The pancreatin mentioned in the disclosure and claims has
an IUB No. of 3.2.1.1; 3.~; 3.1.1.3.
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present invention only to provide an effective amount of
the enzymatically-treated meat for increasing the palat-
ability of the animal food. The meat or a portion thereof
is preferably subjected to the action of pancreatin separ-
ately.
The enzymatically-treated meat can be incorporat-
ed into the animal food in any suitable manner. Prefer-
ably, it is prepared separately from the remainder of the
animal food and then blended with the animal food by any
suitable means known to the art. Generally, the enzymati-
cally-treated meat comprises 1 to 10% by weight of the
animal food.
In accordance with the present invention, meat,
in the form of an aqueous slurry of 50/50 to 60/40 meat/
water, is subjected to the action of pancreatin. Pancrea-
tin is understood to contain two pancreatic proteinases,
trypsin and chymotrypsin; a pancreatic amylase, an ~-amylase;
a lipase; and a carboxypeptidase. It has unexpectedly been
discovered to have unique properties in improving meat pal-
atability. While no particular theory is advanced for theimprovement in animal food palatability resulting from the
incorporation of a pancreatin-treated meat or meat slurry
into the animal food, it appears that the use of pancreatin
permits a high degree of hydrolysis of the meat and at the
same time allows adequate dispersion of the fat. As a con-
sequence, the free amino acid content of the meat or meat
slurry is increased and this seems 9 theoretically at least,
to result in improved palatability of the animal food com-
prising the pancreatin-treated meat or meat slurry. While
the particular concentration of pancreatin is presently
believed critical for a given time period3 commercially
available pancreatins are typically employed in amounts of
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from 1 to 3% by weight, basis the protein content of the
meat.
In carrying out the process, the meat, preferably
beef trims, is added to water in a cooker and heated to a
tempera-ture of between about 100 and 150F. (38 and 65C.)
and the resulting slurry is then finely ground in a Fitz
Mill*.
The slurry is then transferred to an incubation
tank where the temperature of the slurry is maintained at
between 100 and 150 F. (38 and 65C.), preferably 122
F. (50C.). The pH of the slurry is adjusted to 7.5 to 8.0
by adding sodium bicarbonate or other suitable mild base.
Pancreatin is added at a level of 1 to 3% by weight, basis
the protein content of the meat, and the enzymatic reaction
is allowed to proceed for a period of time ranging from 30
to 240 minutes. The pancreatin-treated meat slurry is then
transferred to a deactivation tank wherein the slurry temp-
erature is increased to 190F. ~8C.) to deactivate the
pancreatin. The slurry is then held at 190~. (88C.) and
~0 is held until required for blending with an animal food in
an amount of from 1 to 10% by weight.
The pancreatin-treated meat is generally incorpor-
ated into the animal food in any effective amount. Amounts
as low as about 1% by weight, based on the total weight of
the animal food, can provide an improvement in palatability
for dogs. Generally, amounts greater than about 10% by
weight, based on the total weight of the animal food, are
not employed unless the animal food so obtained is later
diluted with another raaterial such as untreated animal
food, meat scraps, water, or the like. Preferably, the
pancreatin-treated meat is employed at a 3 to 5% level.
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While the enzymatically-treated meat prepared
according to the present invention can improve the palat-
ability of animal foods generally, it is especially suit-
able for use with nutritionally balanced foods comprising
protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals. Parti-
cularly significant and dramatic increases in palatability
have been noted with intermediate molsture or soft-moist
animal foods such as those described in United States
Patents 3,202,514~ 3,482,985 and 3,615,652 to H. M. surgess
10 et al. (Canadian Patent 739,897). Moreover, high-moisture
or canned-type animal foods can be successfully treated
according to the present invention as can also be dual-
textured animal foods of the type disclosed in applicant's
copending Canadian Application No. 301,995, filed April 26,
1978.
The following example is presented for the purpose
of further illustrating and explaining the present invention
and is not to be taken as limiting in any sense. Unless other-
wise indicated, all parts and percentages are by weight.
EXAMPLE
This example illustrates a preferred procedure
for improving the palatability of an animal food by incor-
porating therein an enzymatically-treated meat according to
the present invention.
A beef trims/water slurry with a 50/50 ratio is
prepared, the beef trims (obtained from beef by-products)
being as finely ground as possible. The slurry temperature
is increased to 122F. (50C.) and maintained there [+ 5F.
(+ 3 C.)] using a water bath system. While agitating the
slurry, the pH of the slurry is adjusted to 7.5 with sodium
bicarbonate. At this point, pancreatin (Miles Laborator-
ies, Inc. Pancreatin 4NF*) is added to the slurry at a
* Tradename
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0.13% level. (If the meat/water content varies, the enzyme
level is calculated uslng an assumed protein content of 1~%
for beef. Enzyme is added at a 1.6% level using the pro-
tein content value of the meat in the slurry.) After one
hour incubation, this enzyme-treated slurry is added at a
level of 3% to the total formula of a control soft-moist
dog food as a replacement for a portion of the beef by-
products in the formula.
The control soft-moist dog food of the following
formula
INGREDIENT DRY WEIGHT PERCENT
Soya Meal (44% Protein) 30.80
Beef By-Products 10.90
Sugar 17.00
Propylene Glycol 4.50
Tallow 3.00
Dicalcium Phosphate 2.39
Whey Powder 2.38
Iodized Salt 0.85
Emulsifier 0.75
Modified Cornstarch 0.46
Potassium Sorbate 0.12
Sodium Propionate 0.12
Vitamins and Minerals 0.10
Colors 0.03
Water _ 26.60
100.00
was kennel tested against the soft-moist dog food contain-
ing the above prepared enzymatically-treated meat. The dog
food containing the enzymatically-treated meat won strongly
over the control with the former being preferred by 33 out
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of 37 dogs, thus indicating its improved palatability.
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