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Methods and compositions for improving the nutritional content of mushrooms and fungiMethods and compositions for improving the nutritional content of mushrooms and fungi description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20090269441, Methods and compositions for improving the nutritional content of mushrooms and fungi. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of a provisional application Ser. No. 61/047,268 filed Apr. 23, 2008, which application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. This invention relates to a nutritional product for use in animal feed, foods and beverages and more particularly to a mushroom or fungi having an increased vitamin content. Mushrooms are valuable health food—low in calories, high in vegetable proteins, chitin, iron, zinc, fiber, essential amino acids, vitamins & minerals. Mushrooms also have a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine. Their legendary effects on promoting good health and vitality and increasing a body\'s adaptive abilities have been supported by Western medicine as well. They are an excellent source of selenium, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, copper, niacin, potassium and phosphorous. Selenium is needed for the proper function of the antioxidant system, which works to reduce the levels of damaging free radicals in the body. Selenium is a necessary cofactor of one of the body\'s most important internally produced antioxidants, glutathione peroxidase, and also works with Vitamin E in numerous vital antioxidant systems throughout the body. Mushrooms are also the only vegetable or fruit which contains Vitamin D, naturally. All other natural food sources of Vitamin D are of animal, poultry or seafood origin. Also, some foods, such as milk, orange juice and cereals may be fortified with Vitamin D, up to 100 IU. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in very few foods, added to others, and available as a dietary supplement. It is also produced endogenously when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger Vitamin D synthesis. So one must either ingest Vitamin D or sit in the sun and soak up UV rays, so that it may be synthesized endogenously. The risks of sun exposure have gained much attention lately, and the association of sun exposure with Pre-cancerous (actinic keratosis) and cancerous (basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma) skin lesions—caused by loss of the skin\'s immune function, fine and coarse wrinkling of the skin, freckles, discoloration of the skin, and Elastosis—the destruction of the elastic tissue causing lines and wrinkles is well documented. Thus as people become more sensitive to the dangers of UV exposure, other dietary sources of Vitamin D become increasingly important for maintaining health. Vitamin D is essential for promoting calcium absorption in the gut and maintaining adequate serum calcium and phosphate concentrations to enable normal mineralization of bone and prevent hypocalcemic tetany. It is also needed for bone growth and bone remodeling by osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Without sufficient Vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, or misshapen. Vitamin D sufficiency prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Together with calcium, Vitamin D also helps protect older adults from osteoporosis. Vitamin D has other roles in human health, including modulation of neuromuscular and immune function and reduction of inflammation. Many genes encoding proteins that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis are modulated in part by Vitamin D. Many laboratory-cultured human cells have Vitamin D receptors and some convert 25(OH)D to 1,25(OH)2D. It remains to be determined whether cells with Vitamin D receptors in the intact human carry out this conversion. It is an object of the present invention to provide a food product for use in foods and beverages which is high in nutritional values, particularly Vitamin D. It is another object of the invention to provide methods for enhancing the Vitamin D content of mushrooms. It is yet another object of the invention to provide such nutritionally enhanced mushrooms and filamentous fungi without any deleterious affects on the mushrooms appearance. These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the invention which follows. This invention creates an improved food product with an enhanced nutritional profile by utilizing ultraviolet irradiation. The product is obtained by a method comprising the steps of obtaining a mushroom or other fungi the content of Vitamin D or its analogs or derivatives, of which is desired to be increased. The mushroom or fungi is subjected to pulsed UV irradiation. Applicants have discovered the dosage and timing of radiation (pulsing) to provide the highest benefit of increased Vitamin D content, without any negative effects on mushroom appearance, shelf life, or nutrients. These benefits were shown to be stable, even after more than one week in storage. The pulsed UV minimizes the damaging effects of ultra-violet radiation both from a mushroom quality as well as commercial preparation and workplace safety standpoint. Utilizing the irradiation in discrete pulses was shown to enhance the Vitamin D content on the order of eight to ten times the content of Vitamin D over non-irradiated mushroom or fungi. The effect was also demonstrated to not adversely affect other nutritionally desirable components of mushrooms and was shown to be effective at increasing Vitamin D when applied to mushroom tissues, components, or even to spent mushroom substrate. In yet another embodiment, the Vitamin D enriched mushroom substrate could be used in animal feed or as a nutritional source of Vitamin D. Mushrooms are usually produced by first preparing a substrate, such as corn, rice, millet or rye, prepared by soaking the grain in water and sterilizing the substrate before inoculation with mushroom spores or mushroom mycelia. Mycelia are the filamentous hyphae of a mushroom that collect water and nutrients to enable mushrooms to grow. The inoculated substrate is then held to promote colonization of the mycelia, at which point the mycelia-laced grains become “spawn”. This is usually done in individual spawn bags. The substrate provides the nutrients necessary for mycelium growth. The mycelium-impregnated substrate then develops under controlled temperature and moisture conditions, until the hyphae of the mycelium have colonized the substrate. The mycelium enriched product usually is harvested after about four to eight weeks from the beginning of the process, with the contents of the spawn bag possibly processed into dry powdered product. According to the invention, this spent substrate may also be enriched in Vitamin D upon application of pulsed UV irradiation. As used herein the term “mushroom” or “filamentous fungi” shall be interpreted to include all tissues, cells, organs of the same, including but not limited to mycelium, spores, gills, fruiting body, stipe, pileus, lamellae, basidiospores, basidia, and the like. Continue reading about Methods and compositions for improving the nutritional content of mushrooms and fungi... Full patent description for Methods and compositions for improving the nutritional content of mushrooms and fungi Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Methods and compositions for improving the nutritional content of mushrooms and fungi patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. 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