Title of Invention	PROCESS FOR MAKING TEA
Abstract	A process comprising the steps of: (i) harvesting a source of tea plant material comprising stem and leaf material; (ii) physically separating the stem material from the leaf material to provide a tea plant source rich in stem; (iii) treating the stem source with at least one conventional tea processing unit operation selected from withering, maceration, grinding, steaming, fermentation, firing and infusing.

Title of Invention

PROCESS FOR MAKING TEA

Abstract

A process comprising the steps of: (i) harvesting a source of tea plant material comprising stem and leaf material; (ii) physically separating the stem material from the leaf material to provide a tea plant source rich in stem; (iii) treating the stem source with at least one conventional tea processing unit operation selected from withering, maceration, grinding, steaming, fermentation, firing and infusing.

Full Text	F3361/C FORM - 2 THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970) & The Patents Rules, 2003 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See Section 10 and Rule 13) PROCESS FOR MAKING TEA HINDUSTAN LEVER LIMITED, a company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1913 and having its registered office at Hindustan Lever House, 165/166, Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai -400 020, Maharashtra, India The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494 - 1 - PROCESS FOR MAKING TEA The present invention relates to a process for making amino acid-rich tea or tea extracts. In particular it relates to tea or tea 5 extracts rich in theanine. BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART Tea is generally prepared as green leaf tea or black leaf tea. 10 The method of preparing such teas is well known to those skilled in the art. Generally, to prepare black leaf tea, fresh green leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis are withered (subjected to mild drying), comminuted, fermented (in which process enzymes in the leaf tea use atmospheric oxygen to oxidise various substrates 15 to produce brown-coloured products) and then fired (to dry the tea leaves) . Green leaf tea is not exposed to the fermentation process. Partial fermentation may be used to produce intermediate-type teas known as "oolong" tea. Conventionally, a portion of the upper most part of the tea plant is harvested, 20 which usually involves plucking a number of leaves (normally two to up to seven) together with a bud. Inevitably, some stem material is also plucked. This stem material is seen as a problem to leaf tea manufacturers because the consumer likes to see processed large leaf tea and does not like to see fibrous 25 stem material. Therefore it is normal practice to remove stem from the process at some stage. Only in cheaper teas is stem material normally retained. Today tea based beverages can be prepared by methods other 30 than infusing leaves in hot water and served in ways other than poured from tea pots. For example they can be made with concentrates or powders that are mixed with hot water in vending machines or used to prepare ready to drink teas in 22-06-2006 ) C0M EPC"DC * EP2005008494 22 C6. 2006 © cans and bottles. Consumers also demand more from tea such as accelerated infusion, more colour, more aroma. In particular the modern consumer is particularly interested in 5 naturally healthy beverages which form part of a modern healthy lifestyle. As a beverage, tea fits well with this attitude in view of its natural content of inter alia flavonoids, catechins and amino acids. There is therefore a need in the art to provide a method for the concentration of these naturally occurring 10 healthy ingredients whilst maintaining the healthy nature of tea without adding synthetic compounds. The present inventors have surprisingly discovered that stem material of the tea plant camelia sinensis contains -a higher 15 concentration of amino acids than the leaf material. Thus, by using a suitable tea manufacturing process, the content of naturally occurring amino acids can be increased by selective processing of the stem material. 2 0 It is known from GB 893 551 to mechanically separate stem material from leaf material for the purposes of improving the quality of the leaf tea. However in this case the stem is seen as a waste product and is thrown away. 25 Thus, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a process comprising the steps of harvesting a source of tea plant material comprising stem and leaf material; physically separating the stem material from the leaf material to provide a tea plant source rich in stem; and treating the stem source with at least one 30 conventional tea processing unit operation selected from withering, maceration, grinding, fermentation and firing. AMENDED SHEET WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494 - 3 - In a second aspect, the present invention provides a black tea which comprises at least 50 wt% of stem plant material. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 5 Herein, the term "stem" means the elongate tea plant material which is not part of the leaf proper. The process of the present invention comprises the steps of 10 physically separating stem material from leaf material and then processing the stem material to ultimately obtain the amino acids and other tea solids within in it. The leaf tea is preferably conventionally processed in a 15 convention black tea manufacturing process, comprising the steps of withering, maceration, fermentation, firing. Physical separation 20 It is preferred that physical separation of leaf and stem occurs as the first step, however it is possible that the physical separation of leaf and stem takes place after withering or even after fermentation. 25 Separation may be achieved in a number of ways, for example byhand. However it is preferred that this is carried out by a machine, such as that described in GB 893 551. Such a machine may operate by thrashing plucked tea plant material comprising stem and leaf and subsequently using blown air on a falling 30 stream of thrashed material to provide two streams, one rich in stem and the other rich in leaf. 22-06-2006 EP2005008494 - 4 - The physical separation step provides a tea plant source rich in stem material, i.e. containing more stem than would be obtained merely by plucking fresh tea. 5 Processing the stem material In the process of the present invention, the stem material is preferably processed as though it were leaf tea. In this way, the stem material is subjected to at least on of the following 10 tea processing unit operations: withering, maceration, grinding, fermentation and firing. Preferably the stem material is subjected to fermentation and firing to arrest fermentation. Preferably the leaf material is 15 conventionally processed to produce black leaf tea. In one particular preferred process, the processed stem material is combined with leaf material. This leaf material may be the leaf material which was physically separated from the stem in 20 step (i). In this case, the recombination could occur at any suitable stage in a conventional tea process, but it is preferred that they are recombined once the leaf and the stem have both been processed. 25 It is preferred that the stem material is treated with a step to alter the physical structure so that it does not physically » resemble stem. It is preferred that the leaf material is also conventionally 30 processed to produce leaf tea. The treated stem source preferably comprises at least 2wt% theanine. AMENDED SHEET WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494 - 5 - Infusion of stem material 5 In a preferred process, the stem material is infused in water in order to extract the tea solids and amino acids. Preferably the stem material is at least fermented before infusion occurs. 10 Infusions of the stem material may be prepared using either a simple extraction process or an enzymatically assisted extraction process. The stem material is preferably combined with water in an 15 extractor at the desired temperature to obtain a tea infusion slurry containing extracted tea material and solid tea material. In one preferred process the infusion is carried out in relatively cold water, i.e. less than 50°C. After infusion, the solid tea material is separated from the tea 20 infusion for example by filtration and/or centrifugation. Enzymatically assisted extraction, if used, requires the addition of enzymes to the extractor in the form of an enzyme cocktail or the enzymes can be fed to the extractor 25 individually. For example, an enzyme cocktail including selected cell wall lysis enzymes such as carbohydrases including cellulase and mascerase, for example, Viscozyme L™ obtainable from NOVO Industri A/S Denmark may be used. The tea slurry containing the enzymes is then hot extracted to 30 complete the infusion process and the solid tea materialis separated from the tea extract as above. The tea extract is then preferably pasteurised to deactivate the enzymes. WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494 - 6 - The resulting tea infusion is then optionally concentrated and then cooled and polished by centrifugation or other clarification methods such as filtration and the like. After 5 polishing, the extract is then concentrated for example by vacuum concentration or by falling film type evaporation and dried for example by spray drying to give tea powder for use in the present invention. 10 In a preferred embodiment the extract is added to separately processed leaf tea in order to increase the content of tea solids and amino acids in the leaf. If done, this addition of stem tea solids and amino acids is preferably carried out once the leaf tea is in its finally produced black tea state. The leaf tea may 15 be the leaf tea which was mechanically separated from the stem. Made tea 20 The present invention permits a variety of made teas which are high in tea-derived amino acids. In one aspect of the invention, a tea with elevated levels of stem plant material is provided. Thus, a black tea comprising at 25 least 50 wt% of stem material is possible. Preferably the made black tea has at least 70 wt% stem material, more preferably essentially 100% stem material. In another aspect the black tea has enhanced levels of tea- 30 derived theanine added onto the leaves. WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494 - 7 - EXAMPLES A sample of plucked tea was obtained from a tea estate in Kenya. The tea was plucked by severing the plant stem just below the 5 fourth leaf from the top to obtain a cut known as "four leaves and a bud". The sample was then physically separated by hand into different categories according to the leaf position and the stem. The leaf and stem material were then analysed for their concentration of theanine, a major component of the available 10 amino acids in tea. The following results were obtained: Plant material type Theanine cone. Wt% Bud & 1st leaf 1.45 2nd leaf 1.45 3rd leaf 2.15 4th leaf 2.40 Bud & 1st and 2nd leaf (young) 1.90 Bud & l8t and 2nd leaf (mature) 2.50 Stem above 2na leaf 6.80 Stem above 3rd leaf 7.05 Stem above 4th leaf 6.10 Stem below 4" leaf 4.85 The stem material was withered, macerated by a CTC (crush-tear-curl) process, then fermented and fired to arrest fermentation, in a conventional black tea process. The resultant fermented stem material was then infused in hot water to provide an amino 20 acid-rich infusion. This was concentrated up and sprayed onto conventional black leaf tea to provide a leaf tea with enhanced levels of amino acids which are entirely naturally sourced from tea. :2-06-2006 j C0M EP200500849. _ 8 _ EPO-DG1 22 CS. 2006 CLAIMS 1. A process comprising the steps of: (i) harvesting a source of tea plant material comprising 5 stem and leaf material; (ii) physically separating the stem material from the leaf material to provide a tea plant source rich in stem; (iii) treating the stem source with at least one conventional tea processing unit operation selected 10 from withering, maceration, grinding, fermentation and firing. 2. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (iii) comprises fermentation and firing of the stem material. 15 3. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the leaf material is conventionally processed to produce black leaf tea. 20 4. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein step (iii) is followed by blending the processed stem with leaf material. 5. A process as claimed in claim 4, wherein the leaf material 25 is the leaf material which was physically separated from the stem in step (i). 6. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the .leaf material is conventionally processed to produce leaf 30 tea. 7. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (iii) comprises infusing tea solids from the stem material. AMENDED SHEET WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494 8. A process as claimed in claim 7, wherein the extracted stem tea solids are added to leaf tea. 5 9. A process as claimed in claim 8, wherein the extracted stem tea solids are added to fermented and dried black leaf tea. 10. A process as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the leaf tea to which the tea solids are added comprises 10 tea made from the leaf material which was mechanically separated from the stem material. 11. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the harvested tea plant material is withered before mechanical 15 separation. 12. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the • treated stem source comprises at least 2wt% theanine. 20 13. A black tea which comprises at least 50 wt% of stem plant material. 14. A black tea according to claim 13, which comprises at least 70 wt% of stem plant material. 25 15. A black tea according to claim 14, which comprises essentially 100% stem material. DATED 20 FEB 2007

Full Text

F3361/C
FORM - 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patents Rules, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)
PROCESS FOR MAKING TEA
HINDUSTAN LEVER LIMITED, a company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1913 and having its registered office at Hindustan Lever House, 165/166, Backbay Reclamation, Mumbai -400 020, Maharashtra, India
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed

WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494
- 1 -
PROCESS FOR MAKING TEA
The present invention relates to a process for making amino acid-rich tea or tea extracts. In particular it relates to tea or tea
5 extracts rich in theanine.
BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART
Tea is generally prepared as green leaf tea or black leaf tea.
10 The method of preparing such teas is well known to those skilled in the art. Generally, to prepare black leaf tea, fresh green leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis are withered (subjected to mild drying), comminuted, fermented (in which process enzymes in the leaf tea use atmospheric oxygen to oxidise various substrates
15 to produce brown-coloured products) and then fired (to dry the tea leaves) . Green leaf tea is not exposed to the fermentation process. Partial fermentation may be used to produce intermediate-type teas known as "oolong" tea. Conventionally, a portion of the upper most part of the tea plant is harvested,
20 which usually involves plucking a number of leaves (normally two to up to seven) together with a bud. Inevitably, some stem material is also plucked. This stem material is seen as a problem to leaf tea manufacturers because the consumer likes to see processed large leaf tea and does not like to see fibrous
25 stem material. Therefore it is normal practice to remove stem from the process at some stage. Only in cheaper teas is stem material normally retained.
Today tea based beverages can be prepared by methods other 30 than infusing leaves in hot water and served in ways other
than poured from tea pots. For example they can be made with concentrates or powders that are mixed with hot water in vending machines or used to prepare ready to drink teas in

22-06-2006 ) C0M EPC"DC * EP2005008494
22 C6. 2006
©
cans and bottles. Consumers also demand more from tea such as accelerated infusion, more colour, more aroma.
In particular the modern consumer is particularly interested in
5 naturally healthy beverages which form part of a modern healthy lifestyle. As a beverage, tea fits well with this attitude in view of its natural content of inter alia flavonoids, catechins and amino acids. There is therefore a need in the art to provide a method for the concentration of these naturally occurring
10 healthy ingredients whilst maintaining the healthy nature of tea without adding synthetic compounds.
The present inventors have surprisingly discovered that stem material of the tea plant camelia sinensis contains -a higher
15 concentration of amino acids than the leaf material. Thus, by using a suitable tea manufacturing process, the content of naturally occurring amino acids can be increased by selective processing of the stem material.
2 0 It is known from GB 893 551 to mechanically separate stem
material from leaf material for the purposes of improving the quality of the leaf tea. However in this case the stem is seen as a waste product and is thrown away.
25 Thus, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a process comprising the steps of harvesting a source of tea plant material comprising stem and leaf material; physically separating the stem material from the leaf material to provide a tea plant source rich in stem; and treating the stem source with at least one
30 conventional tea processing unit operation selected from withering, maceration, grinding, fermentation and firing.
AMENDED SHEET

WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494
- 3 -
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a black tea
which comprises at least 50 wt% of stem plant material.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
5
Herein, the term "stem" means the elongate tea plant material which is not part of the leaf proper.
The process of the present invention comprises the steps of
10 physically separating stem material from leaf material and then processing the stem material to ultimately obtain the amino acids and other tea solids within in it.
The leaf tea is preferably conventionally processed in a
15 convention black tea manufacturing process, comprising the steps
of withering, maceration, fermentation, firing.
Physical separation
20 It is preferred that physical separation of leaf and stem occurs as the first step, however it is possible that the physical separation of leaf and stem takes place after withering or even after fermentation.
25 Separation may be achieved in a number of ways, for example byhand. However it is preferred that this is carried out by a machine, such as that described in GB 893 551. Such a machine may operate by thrashing plucked tea plant material comprising stem and leaf and subsequently using blown air on a falling
30 stream of thrashed material to provide two streams, one rich in stem and the other rich in leaf.

22-06-2006

EP2005008494

- 4 -
The physical separation step provides a tea plant source rich in stem material, i.e. containing more stem than would be obtained merely by plucking fresh tea.
5 Processing the stem material
In the process of the present invention, the stem material is preferably processed as though it were leaf tea. In this way, the stem material is subjected to at least on of the following
10 tea processing unit operations: withering, maceration, grinding, fermentation and firing.
Preferably the stem material is subjected to fermentation and firing to arrest fermentation. Preferably the leaf material is 15 conventionally processed to produce black leaf tea.
In one particular preferred process, the processed stem material is combined with leaf material. This leaf material may be the leaf material which was physically separated from the stem in
20 step (i). In this case, the recombination could occur at any
suitable stage in a conventional tea process, but it is preferred that they are recombined once the leaf and the stem have both been processed.
25 It is preferred that the stem material is treated with a step to
alter the physical structure so that it does not physically
» resemble stem.
It is preferred that the leaf material is also conventionally
30 processed to produce leaf tea.
The treated stem source preferably comprises at least 2wt% theanine.
AMENDED SHEET

WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494
- 5 -
Infusion of stem material
5
In a preferred process, the stem material is infused in water in
order to extract the tea solids and amino acids. Preferably the stem material is at least fermented before infusion occurs.
10 Infusions of the stem material may be prepared using either a
simple extraction process or an enzymatically assisted extraction process.
The stem material is preferably combined with water in an
15 extractor at the desired temperature to obtain a tea infusion slurry containing extracted tea material and solid tea material. In one preferred process the infusion is carried out in relatively cold water, i.e. less than 50°C. After infusion, the solid tea material is separated from the tea
20 infusion for example by filtration and/or centrifugation.
Enzymatically assisted extraction, if used, requires the addition of enzymes to the extractor in the form of an enzyme cocktail or the enzymes can be fed to the extractor
25 individually. For example, an enzyme cocktail including selected cell wall lysis enzymes such as carbohydrases including cellulase and mascerase, for example, Viscozyme L™ obtainable from NOVO Industri A/S Denmark may be used. The tea slurry containing the enzymes is then hot extracted to
30 complete the infusion process and the solid tea materialis
separated from the tea extract as above. The tea extract is
then preferably pasteurised to deactivate the enzymes.

WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494
- 6 -
The resulting tea infusion is then optionally concentrated and then cooled and polished by centrifugation or other clarification methods such as filtration and the like. After
5 polishing, the extract is then concentrated for example by vacuum concentration or by falling film type evaporation and dried for example by spray drying to give tea powder for use in the present invention.
10 In a preferred embodiment the extract is added to separately
processed leaf tea in order to increase the content of tea solids and amino acids in the leaf. If done, this addition of stem tea solids and amino acids is preferably carried out once the leaf tea is in its finally produced black tea state. The leaf tea may
15 be the leaf tea which was mechanically separated from the stem.
Made tea
20 The present invention permits a variety of made teas which are high in tea-derived amino acids.
In one aspect of the invention, a tea with elevated levels of stem plant material is provided. Thus, a black tea comprising at
25 least 50 wt% of stem material is possible. Preferably the made black tea has at least 70 wt% stem material, more preferably essentially 100% stem material.
In another aspect the black tea has enhanced levels of tea-
30 derived theanine added onto the leaves.

WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494
- 7 -
EXAMPLES
A sample of plucked tea was obtained from a tea estate in Kenya.
The tea was plucked by severing the plant stem just below the
5 fourth leaf from the top to obtain a cut known as "four leaves and a bud". The sample was then physically separated by hand into different categories according to the leaf position and the stem. The leaf and stem material were then analysed for their concentration of theanine, a major component of the available
10 amino acids in tea.
The following results were obtained:

Plant material type Theanine cone. Wt%
Bud & 1st leaf 1.45
2nd leaf 1.45
3rd leaf 2.15
4th leaf 2.40
Bud & 1st and 2nd leaf (young) 1.90
Bud & l8t and 2nd leaf (mature) 2.50
Stem above 2na leaf 6.80
Stem above 3rd leaf 7.05
Stem above 4th leaf 6.10
Stem below 4" leaf 4.85
The stem material was withered, macerated by a CTC (crush-tear-curl) process, then fermented and fired to arrest fermentation, in a conventional black tea process. The resultant fermented stem material was then infused in hot water to provide an amino
20 acid-rich infusion. This was concentrated up and sprayed onto conventional black leaf tea to provide a leaf tea with enhanced levels of amino acids which are entirely naturally sourced from tea.

:2-06-2006 j C0M EP200500849.
_ 8 _ EPO-DG1
22 CS. 2006
CLAIMS
1. A process comprising the steps of:
(i) harvesting a source of tea plant material comprising
5 stem and leaf material;
(ii) physically separating the stem material from the leaf material to provide a tea plant source rich in stem;
(iii) treating the stem source with at least one
conventional tea processing unit operation selected
10 from withering, maceration, grinding, fermentation and
firing.
2. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (iii)
comprises fermentation and firing of the stem material.
15
3. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the
leaf material is conventionally processed to produce black
leaf tea.
20 4. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein step (iii) is followed by blending the processed stem with leaf material.
5. A process as claimed in claim 4, wherein the leaf material
25 is the leaf material which was physically separated from
the stem in step (i).
6. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the
.leaf material is conventionally processed to produce leaf
30 tea.
7. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (iii)
comprises infusing tea solids from the stem material.
AMENDED SHEET

WO 2006/021317 PCT/EP2005/008494
8. A process as claimed in claim 7, wherein the extracted stem tea solids are added to leaf tea.
5 9. A process as claimed in claim 8, wherein the extracted stem tea solids are added to fermented and dried black leaf tea.
10. A process as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein
the leaf tea to which the tea solids are added comprises
10 tea made from the leaf material which was mechanically separated from the stem material.
11. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the
harvested tea plant material is withered before mechanical
15 separation.
12. A process as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the
• treated stem source comprises at least 2wt% theanine.
20 13. A black tea which comprises at least 50 wt% of stem plant material.
14. A black tea according to claim 13, which comprises at least 70 wt% of stem plant material.

25

15. A black tea according to claim 14, which comprises essentially 100% stem material.

DATED 20 FEB 2007

PROCESS FOR MAKING TEA

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