Patents Assigned to Ajinomoto
  • Patent number: 8198478
    Abstract: This present invention provides crystallization of ?-form crystals preferentially which are metastable crystals without precipitating ?-form crystals. This method allows for the precipitation of ?-form crystals which are metastable crystals by combining (a) the process of achieving supersaturation by mixing an acidic solution with an aqueous solution containing glutamic acid to attain a pH at the isoelectric point of glutamic acid or lower, and (b) after a certain elapsed time, adding more of the aqueous glutamic acid solution to achieve a second supersaturation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Hidetada Nagai, Yoshifumi Takahashi, Takao Yamane, Nobuharu Konishi
  • Patent number: 8198053
    Abstract: A method for producing a basic substance by fermentation comprising culturing a microorganism having an ability to produce the basic substance in a liquid medium contained in a fermentation tank to produce and accumulate the basic substance in the medium, wherein amount of sulfate and/or chloride ions used as counter ions of the basic substance is reduced by adjusting total ammonia concentration in the medium to be within a specific concentration range during at least a part of the total period of culture process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Ryo Takeshita, Shinichi Sugimoto
  • Patent number: 8197874
    Abstract: A method of producing baked egg using a horizontal rotating cylinder-type continuous frying apparatus, which baked egg has a small size and a strong fried flavor, is disclosed. Egg liquid is sprayed onto the inner surface of a heating drum while rotating the heating drum to solidify the egg liquid and then to make the solidified egg liquid detach from the inner surface of the heating drum, which egg liquid is sprayed within an area of the inner surface of the heating drum, which area expands at an angle of 60° to 150° in the direction of rotation of the heating drum from a rotation origin defined as the intersection of a vertical line and the rotation axis of the heating drum, wherein the angle is indicated taking the angle of the direction of the vertical line as 0°.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Kazuya Hori, Eiji Kawase, Yuuki Hiruma
  • Publication number: 20120142774
    Abstract: An emulsifying preparation for an oil-soluble component, which is sensorily superior when applied to an aqueous phase, can maintain stability for a long time, and imposes less restriction for formulation or production is provided. The emulsifying preparation of the present invention contains (A) an oil phase component containing an oil-soluble component, (B) an aqueous phase component containing a polyol, and (C) an emulsifier containing polyglycerol fatty acid monoester having an average degree of polymerization of not less than 10, and having an HLB value of not less than 14 and not more than 18 or showing a transmittance of 1 wt % aqueous solution at 600 nm of not less than 80%.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2011
    Publication date: June 7, 2012
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO. INC
    Inventors: Yoko SHIMAGAMI, Yasushi Ichimi
  • Patent number: 8192770
    Abstract: By using transglutaminase with calcium chloride or magnesium chloride as active ingredients, food raw materials such as meat pieces can be sufficiently adhesion-molded without using a protein material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventor: Teppei Ogawa
  • Patent number: 8192963
    Abstract: A bacterium is described which belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family, and has an ability to produce an L-amino acid, such as L-glutamic acid, L-arginine and L-threonine. The bacterium is modified so that the activity of a protein encoded by ydcI gene is decreased, thereby producing and accumulating the L-amino acid selected from L-glutamic acid, L-arginine, and L-threonine in the culture medium or cells of the bacterium when cultured in a culture medium. Subsequently, the L-amino acid is collected from the culture medium or the bacterium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Yousuke Nishio, Yoshihiro Usuda
  • Patent number: 8193137
    Abstract: The present invention provides a thickening composition simultaneously exhibiting suitable thickening performance and superior usability, which contains N-long-chain acyl acidic amino acid and/or a salt thereof, an amphipathic substance, an inorganic salt, and water as essential components, and has a viscosity of not less than 200 mPa·s. By the addition of the thickening composition, moreover, cleansing compositions and cosmetic compositions for skin, hair and the like, which maintain thickening performance and usability, while containing N-long-chain acyl acidic amino acid and/or a salt thereof are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Hironobu Kunieda, Akemi Kunieda, legal representative, Kazuhiko Tobita, Koichiro Sagawa
  • Publication number: 20120135111
    Abstract: By using phospholipase C and/or phospholipase D when producing a processed meat product, water content released while the processed meat product is stored can be suppressed without adversely affecting the texture, such as the hardness and flexibility, of the processed meat product.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2011
    Publication date: May 31, 2012
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO. INC
    Inventor: Tomohiro KODERA
  • Publication number: 20120135110
    Abstract: It is possible to adjust the balance of taste of a low-salt food or beverage and to impart good taste to the low-salt food or beverage for general purposes without the need of imparting a salty taste to the low-salt food or beverage, by adding a hydrolysate of a plant-derived protein and an yeast extract are added to a low-salt food or beverage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2011
    Publication date: May 31, 2012
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO. INC
    Inventors: Sayuri CHIBA, Tadaaki SAEGUSA, Mayu ISHII
  • Patent number: 8187579
    Abstract: Thickening agents which containing a specific N-acylamino acid (component A) and a specific amideamine (component B) are capable of generating, when used in combination with a wide variety of oily bases including a hydrocarbon oil and silicone, a creamy thickening composition having a practical dissolution temperature and a smooth feeling in use when applied to the skin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Keitaro Saito, Tatsuya Hattori
  • Patent number: 8187835
    Abstract: By culturing a methanol-assimilating bacterium which harbors a DNA construct which contains a promoter sequence that functions in the methanol-assimilating bacterium and a nucleotide sequence that encodes a polypeptide containing a signal sequence and an objective protein which is functionally connected to the promoter sequence, in a liquid medium containing methanol as a major carbon source, the bacterium is allowed to secrete the objective protein, and the secreted objective protein is recovered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Itaya, Yoshimi Kikuchi, Masayo Date
  • Patent number: 8187850
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for producing an L-amino acid using a bacterium of the Enterobacteriaceae family, particularly a bacterium belonging to genus Escherichia or Pantoea, which has been modified to attenuate expression of the ybiV gene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Konstantin Vyacheslavovich Rybak, Marina Evgenievna Sheremet'eva, Aleksandra Yurievna Skorokhodova, Tatyana Viktorovna Leonova, Yury Ivanovich Kozlov, Vitaly Grigorievich Paraskevov, legal representative
  • Publication number: 20120129695
    Abstract: A method of producing a plant biostimulant includes hydrolyzing bacterial cells to obtain a hydrolysate and formulating the hydrolysate as a plant biostimulant for foliar application or application as a soil adjuvant.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2011
    Publication date: May 24, 2012
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO NORTH AMERICA, INC
    Inventors: Shinya TACHIBANA, Paul SUMMER, Jessica EWING, Tetsuya MIWA, Daisuke KITAZAWA
  • Patent number: 8183017
    Abstract: The ability and speed with which a coryneform bacterium can produce L-lysine are improved when the coryneform bacterium contains an aspartokinase in which feedback inhibition by L-lysine and L-threonine is substantially desensitized. This is accomplished by successively enhancing the DNA coding for dihydrodipicolinate reductase, the DNA coding for dihydrodipicolinate synthase, the DNA coding for diaminopimelate decarboxylase, and the DNA coding for diaminopimelate dehydrogenase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Seiko Otsuna, Masakazu Sugimoto, Masako Izui, Atsushi Hayakawa, Eiichi Nakano, Masaki Kobayashi, Yasuhiko Yoshihara, Tsuyoshi Nakamatsu
  • Patent number: 8178322
    Abstract: A method is described for producing an L-amino acid or a nucleic acid by culturing a microorganism having an ability to produce the L-amino acid or nucleic acid in a liquid medium in a fermentation tank containing a stirring impeller, and optionally adding seed crystals to the medium as required to produce and accumulate crystals of the L-amino acid or nucleic acid in the medium, and collecting crystals of the L-amino acid or nucleic acid from the culture. The power density of the stirring impeller is controlled to be 2.4 kW/m3 or lower after either precipitation of the crystals or addition of the seed crystals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Masayuki Araki, Yusuke Takahashi, Akihiro Watanabe, Fumito Ohnishi, Takahiro Asano, Kazuya Kondo, Wataru Hibino, Shintaro Iwatani, Satoshi Okutani
  • Patent number: 8173605
    Abstract: The present invention encompasses a method for screening for a kokumi-imparting substance by using the calcium receptor activity as an index, a composition containing a kokumi-imparting substance obtained by the screening method, a method for producing food or drink imparted with kokumi, and food or drink imparted with kokumi.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Takeaki Ohsu, Sen Takeshita, Yuzuru Eto, Yusuke Amino, Naohiro Miyamura, Tomohiko Yamanaka, Hiroaki Nagasaki
  • Patent number: 8173192
    Abstract: The invention provides a W1/O/W2 type composite emulsified dressing characterized in that it comprises a polyglycerol polyricinoleate having a degree of esterification of 10-30% and a degree of ricinoleic acid-condensation of 5-8 and that it has a viscosity of 1,000-300,000 mPa·s, and a method for the preparation of the dressing which comprises the steps of 90-10 parts by mass of an aqueous phase (W1) is mixed with 10-90 parts by mass of an oily phase (O) to thus form a W1/O type emulsion and then 100 parts by mass of the resulting W1/O type emulsion is blended with 25-150 parts by mass of an aqueous phase (W2) to thus give a W1/O/W2 type composite emulsified dressing, wherein the dressing comprises a polyglycerol polyricinoleate having a degree of esterification of 10-30% and a degree of ricinoleic acid-condensation of 5-8, in an amount ranging from 0.01-5% by mass on the basis of the total mass of the W1/O/W2 type composite emulsified dressing. The dressing are quite excellent in their storage stability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignees: Knorr Foods Co., Ltd., Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Jiro Taki, Takashi Isomura, Kazumichi Kanda, Atsushi Kawahara, Kentaro Maruyama, Soichiro Kusumoto
  • Patent number: 8168669
    Abstract: Disclosed is an agent for use in the treatment or prevention of inflammatory bowel disease. Also disclosed is an agent for inhibiting the production of TNF-?. A therapeutic or prophylactic agent for inflammatory bowel disease comprising at least one amino acid selected from the group consisting of lysine, histidine, phenylalanine, methionine, tryptophan, glutamine, glycine, cysteine, cystine and threonine, the amino acid being administered at a dose of 0.1 to 4000 mg/kg per day; and a TNF-? production inhibitor comprising an amino acid selected from the group consisting of histidine, phenylalanine and tryptophan, the amino acid being administered at a dose of 0.1 to 4000 mg/kg per day.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Hideki Matsumoto, Tomohisa Okutsu, Tomoko Takeda, Hideki Suzuki, Tetsuo Yano, Masaki Hashimoto, Miho Ono, Manabu Suzuki
  • Patent number: 8168827
    Abstract: Amide derivatives represented by the formula (I): wherein: A is a cycloalkyl group, an aryl group or a heteroaryl group; X is a nitrogen atom or CR17; Y is —NRa-, —(CRbRb?)m-, and the like; m is 0 to 4; and R1 to R17 may be the same or different and each is a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a cyano group, a nitro group, a carboxyl group, a formyl group, a hydroxyl group, an ammonium group, an alkyl group optionally having one or more substituents, -ZR18 and the like, Z is —O—, —S(O)p-, —S(O)pO—, —NH—, —NR19-, and the like; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, a hydrate thereof, or a solvate thereof may be applied to pharmaceutical use such as anti-inflammatory and analgesic action and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Tadakiyo Nakagawa, Tamotsu Suzuki, Kaoru Takenaka, Shinichi Fujita, Youji Yamada, Yoichiro Shima, Tatsuya Okuzumi, Toshihiko Yoshimura, Masanao Yoshida, Masahiro Murata
  • Publication number: 20120088737
    Abstract: The present invention provides a pharmaceutical which possesses an excellent inhibitory effect on NHE3 (Na+/H+ exchanger type 3) and effectively improves diseases or conditions of organs in which NHE3 is expressed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2010
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Applicant: AJINOMOTO CO., INC
    Inventors: Wataru MIYANAGA, Yoichiro SHIMA, Misato NOGUCHI, Akiko OONUKI, Yayoi KAWATO, Hiroshi IWATA, Eri HARADA, Ryuta TAKASHITA, Hirokazu UENO, Tadakiyo NAKAGAWA