> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.flavorist.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Patent Summary: Natural Food Composition for Improving Food Properties
- URL: https://www.flavorist.com/patent-summary-natural-food-composition-for-improving-food-properties/
- Published: 2026-09-22T06:06:29.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T06:06:29.000Z
- Author: Editor
- Tags: Patent

Here’s a plain-English summary of Korean patent application **KR20240063922A**, filed by **Kerry Luxembourg S.à r.l.** The underlying international application is **PCT/EP2021/058773 (WO 2021/198499)**. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

### What the patent is about

The patent covers a **natural food ingredient system**, referred to in the specification as **“IsoFin,”** that combines:

**buffered vinegar (or another natural organic acid) + a natural smoke flavor rich in reactive carbonyl compounds.**

The idea is that these two components work together to do several jobs at once in foods, particularly **ready-to-eat meat and poultry**: improve texture, improve flavor/appearance, inhibit spoilage organisms and pathogens, and extend refrigerated shelf life. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

The inventors are essentially trying to create a **“clean-label” multifunctional ingredient** that could replace several separate additives with ingredients that can potentially be labeled more simply as things like vinegar and natural flavor. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

### How it works

The important part of the smoke flavor is not simply its smoky taste. The patent focuses on **reactive carbonyl compounds** produced when wood, sugars, or other plant materials are pyrolyzed.

Important carbonyls discussed include **glycolaldehyde, glyoxal, and methylglyoxal**. These compounds react with amino groups in proteins, particularly lysine residues, and can **crosslink proteins**. The patent's experiments found glycolaldehyde especially reactive. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

That protein crosslinking is supposed to make processed or ground meat behave more like intact muscle meat. In practical terms, it can increase properties such as **firmness, elasticity, shear resistance, and surface structure**, while also helping with moisture retention. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

Meanwhile, the **buffered vinegar/organic acid** contributes antimicrobial activity. The inventors argue that combining it with the carbonyl-rich smoke fraction produces functionality that neither ingredient provides as effectively on its own. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

### What the main claims cover

The broadest composition claim is essentially:

> A composition containing **buffered vinegar and/or another natural organic-acid source**, plus a **natural smoke flavor containing more than 35 wt% active carbonyl compounds** capable of reacting with and crosslinking proteins in ready-to-eat foods.

Dependent claims narrow this in various ways. For example, the smoke flavor can make up **9–60% of the composition**, and one claimed formulation has approximately **4.5–5.5% active carbonyl compounds in the final ingredient composition**. The buffered vinegar can have specified pH ranges, including roughly **5.85–6.15** or **4.55–4.85**. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

The patent also claims the **finished ready-to-eat food itself** when it contains roughly **0.5–5% of the patented composition**, with a narrower embodiment of **0.5–2.5%**. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

So the patent isn't merely claiming “vinegar plus smoke flavor.” A central feature is the use of a smoke flavor having a **specified high concentration of protein-reactive carbonyl compounds**.

### What the experiments showed

The inventors tested different formulations on chicken breast, turkey bacon, turkey sausage, and protein model systems.

They report that the carbonyl-containing formulations increased protein crosslinking and improved meat texture without producing obvious undesirable color changes or off-flavors. Two different commercial smoke-flavor sources, **CS9 and MA45GF**, were investigated, and formulations were adjusted so that sufficient active carbonyl compounds remained in the finished IsoFin ingredient. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

In laboratory protein experiments, **glycolaldehyde showed the greatest lysine reactivity** among the carbonyl compounds tested, supporting the inventors' theory that particular carbonyl species—not merely total smoke carbonyl content—are important for protein crosslinking. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

The patent also reports antimicrobial effects, including inhibition of **Listeria monocytogenes, lactic-acid bacteria, and spoilage organisms** in ready-to-eat meat products. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

One particularly striking experiment involved vacuum-packed turkey bacon treated with IsoFin. The patent reports **no visible white slime after eight months of refrigerated storage**, whereas it states that commercially available ready-to-eat meat products would normally develop such slime much sooner. This is an experimental claim made by the patent applicants, rather than an independent validation of an eight-month commercial shelf life. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

### Why the invention might matter commercially

The main value proposition is **one ingredient system performing several functions simultaneously**:

- **Preservation:** suppressing spoilage organisms and pathogens such as *Listeria*.
- **Texture modification:** crosslinking proteins so processed/ground meats become firmer and more meat-like.
- **Moisture retention:** helping the product retain water during processing/cooking.
- **Flavor and appearance:** carbonyl-protein reactions can contribute desirable cooked/roasted characteristics.
- **Clean labeling:** potentially allowing manufacturers to use recognizable ingredients such as vinegar and natural flavor rather than several separate functional additives. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

The specification also suggests that the approach could extend beyond conventional meat to **processed plant proteins and meat analogues**. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

### Bottom line

In one sentence, **Kerry is seeking protection for combining buffered vinegar with a specially selected, carbonyl-rich natural smoke flavor to create a clean-label food ingredient that simultaneously preserves food and modifies its proteins to improve texture, moisture retention, flavor, and appearance.**

The technically important concept is the **active carbonyl fraction of the smoke flavor**. Rather than treating liquid smoke merely as a flavoring/preservative, the inventors select smoke fractions rich in compounds such as glycolaldehyde that chemically interact with food proteins. The buffered vinegar supplies complementary antimicrobial functionality. The patent argues that their combination produces the multifunctional effect. [Patent Images](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?ref=flavorist.com)

[Open the original KR20240063922A patent PDF](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/78/d5/28/1ead253f7a3101/KR20240063922A.pdf?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com)

###