Device for the targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of food

Abstract

A device for the targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of foodstuffs, comprising a material hopper, a cell detachment device arranged below the material hopper, a conditioning device connected to the cell detachment device, an enzyme hydrolysis vessel connected to the conditioning device, and a drying device connected to the enzyme hydrolysis vessel, each of which is connected to one another by a conveying device to convey a material stepwise through the successive devices, such that quantitatively and qualitatively determined, low-ion concentration osmotic protein peptides are produced consistently in a closed system.

Description

Field of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to an enzymatic hydrolysis device and, in particular, to an enzymatic hydrolysis device capable of selectively producing enzymatic peptides and disclosing an innovative structure. State of the art

[0002] The human body requires approximately 20 different amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. Different amino acid arrangements produce different proteins. For example, the protein in soybeans is different from that in milk or beef. No matter what type of protein it is, it is broken down into these 20 amino acids in the human body, which are then synthesized into the proteins and enzymes needed by the body. Amino acids can promote the consumption of excess fat in the body and convert it into the heat energy needed by the body, which has a positive effect on weight loss. Amino acids can break down fat, stimulate its burning, promote metabolism, eliminate edema, and stimulate growth hormone.

[0003] Amino acids are generally divided into essential and non-essential amino acids. Essential amino acids: There are eight types of amino acids in the human body that cannot be synthesized by the liver and must be obtained from food; non-essential amino acids: These can be synthesized in the liver from other amino acids. Peptides are the basic building blocks of proteins and consist of several amino acids. They have properties such as small molecular size and high activity. They can be directly and quickly absorbed by the villi of the small intestine without being metabolized by the liver or kidneys, which reduces the burden on these organs. Peptides are more easily absorbed by the body than free amino acids or proteins, have a lower osmotic pressure, and taste better, allowing for rapid replenishment of the proteins needed by muscles.Certain peptides that influence physiological functions can promote the aerobic metabolism of cells, increase physical performance and exercise tolerance, and regulate physiological functions.

[0004] Research has shown that whole grains such as soybeans, wheat, corn, rice, buckwheat, oats, blue-green algae, and mung beans are sources of plant protein. To produce functional peptides that exhibit physiological functions such as antioxidant activity, anticancer activity, and hypotensive activity, or effects such as ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibition, antihypertensive activity, and immunoregulatory activity, special peptides with antioxidant activity are required, which are produced through special enzymatic hydrolysis. Furthermore, according to a 1985 World Health Organization document, among all plant proteins, only soy protein can fully meet the essential amino acid needs of children aged 2 to 5 years. Soy protein contains the ten essential amino acids necessary for the development of infants and young children, as well as arginine.Currently, peptides in most products on the market are produced by fermentation or acid or alkaline hydrolysis of soy protein. However, the peptide-based soy proteins produced by these processes often have a high molecular weight and contain many antinutritional factors such as plant antigens (urease, trypsin inhibitors, soy serotonin), which can cause gastrointestinal discomfort after consumption. Object of the invention

[0005] The main objective of the present invention is to provide a device for enzymatic hydrolysis. The technical problem to be solved is how to develop a novel, more optimal and practical structure of the device for targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of food.

[0006] The technical features of the present invention that solve this problem are described below. The device for targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of food comprises a material hopper, a cell detachment device located below the material hopper, a conditioning device connected to the cell detachment device, an enzyme hydrolysis tank connected to the conditioning device, and a drying device connected to the enzyme hydrolysis tank, each of which is connected to one another by a conveyor device for conveying a material stepwise through the successive devices.

[0007] Compared with the conventional technology, the innovative and unique design of the present invention can produce quantitatively and qualitatively determined osmotic protein peptides with low ion concentration in a closed system in a consistent manner, thus providing the industrial applicability of easy uptake and significant effect without burdening the liver and kidneys. Short description of the drawing Fig. Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of the structure according to the present invention. Detailed description of the embodiment

[0008] It will be Fig.1, which shows a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention for the targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of foodstuffs. The following description only explains one embodiment of the invention and is not intended to limit the claims. According to current technology, there are a variety of foods that provide plant proteins, such as soybeans, wheat, corn, rice, buckwheat, oats, blue-green algae, and mung beans. To illustrate the structural properties and advantages of the present invention, soybeans are used as an example of the foodstuff.The device for the targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of foodstuffs comprises a material hopper 10, a cell detachment device 20 arranged below the material hopper 10, a conditioning device 30 connected to the cell detachment device 20, an enzyme hydrolysis container 40 connected to the conditioning device 30, and a drying device 50 connected to the enzyme hydrolysis container 40, each of which is connected to one another by a conveyor device 60 in order to convey a material stepwise through the successive devices.

[0009] According to the above structural composition and technical features, the use and operation of the present invention are described below: First, the cleaned and drained soybeans are placed in the material hopper 10. When the enzymatic hydrolysis process begins, the soybeans in the material hopper 10 are slowly conveyed into the cell detachment device 20 by a conveyor 60. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cell detachment device 20 uses a low-temperature cell membrane removal technique. Alternatively, the cell walls can be softened by heating and then completely separated by centrifugal force.By removing the cell walls prior to enzymatic hydrolysis, intact and high-quality protein products can be obtained, thus improving the availability, nutritional value, and economic efficiency of the protein products. After the cell wall removal of the soybeans is complete, the soybeans are also conveyed by a conveyor 60 into the conditioning device 30 to perform a conditioning treatment on the materials to be enzymatically hydrolyzed. The conditioning treatment on the materials to be enzymatically hydrolyzed can achieve the following effects: 1. Sterilization of powdered materials; 2.After conditioning, the degree of gelatinization of starch can be greatly increased under hydrothermal conditions, which promotes digestion and absorption. At the same time, the protein is denatured by heat, and the denatured protein is easily hydrolyzed by enzymes, thereby increasing the digestibility and utilization rate of granular materials. 3. Conditioning can improve the granulation properties of materials, increase the yield and quality of granules, and extend the service life of the die and roller used for granulation. 4. Conditioning can significantly improve the water resistance of granular materials.The conditioned materials to be enzymatically hydrolyzed are also conveyed into the enzyme hydrolysis tank 40 by means of a conveyor 60. Subsequently, the appropriate enzyme is added using the peptidase feeder 41 based on the properties of the materials in the enzyme hydrolysis tank 40. Since the purpose of this invention is to enzymatically hydrolyze soy peptides, a peptidase is used. After the enzymatic hydrolysis process, the pasty materials are conveyed into the drying device 50 for drying by means of a conveyor 60 to remove excess moisture and obtain pure soy peptides.

[0010] To facilitate the subsequent packaging process, the present invention may further comprise a grinding device 70 connected to the drying device 50 via a conveyor 60, and a sterilization device 80 connected to the grinding device 70 via a conveyor 60. The grinding device 70 can pulverize the dried soy peptides, making them easier to consume and improving their ingestion efficiency and user-friendliness. To prevent the obtained soy peptides from being contaminated during the pulverization process, the pulverized material may be subjected to a final sterilization process using the sterilization device 80 to ensure the final quality of the product.In this way, the above-mentioned devices are interconnected by means of several conveyors 60 to provide a fully automated consistent process that not only increases production efficiency but also prevents contamination or mixing with bad bacteria during the production process, which could otherwise affect the results of the enzymatic hydrolysis.

[0011] Soy protein is a rich, inexpensive, and effective source of plant-based protein. Soy peptides obtained through the targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of soy protein have a particularly strong effect and can significantly increase the nutritional and health benefits for consumers. Their main physiological functions are as follows: 1. high digestibility and absorption rate; 2. blood pressure reduction; 3. hypocholesterolemic activity; 4. anti-obesity; 5. fatigue recovery; 6. cancer prevention and antioxidant effect; 7. blood glucose regulation; 8. immunomodulatory activity; and 9. hypoallergenic properties. The following explains in detail the two physiological functions of blood glucose regulation and blood pressure reduction: Soy peptides act as α-glucosidase inhibitors. α-glucosidase is a digestive enzyme for sugars such as sucrose, starch, and oligosaccharides and is mainly distributed in the small intestine.Soy peptides can inhibit the secretion and activity of α-glucosidase, which slows the rise in blood sugar and helps maintain stable blood sugar levels. Furthermore, soy peptides have a strong inhibitory effect on angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), resulting in a blood pressure-lowering effect. ACE is an important enzyme in the human body that regulates the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and causes blood pressure to rise. ACE can convert physiologically inactive angiotensin I into angiotensin II, which has a vasoconstrictive effect, inactivating bradykinin and leading to an increase in blood pressure. In recent years, studies have shown that peptides (with chain lengths of 2 to 14 amino acids) produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins from various foods have the ability to inhibit ACE activity. Soy peptides are an example of such peptides. Beneficial effects:

[0012] The device according to the invention for the targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of foodstuffs has an innovative and unique design and technical features, in which a material hopper, a cell detachment device arranged below the material hopper, a conditioning device connected to the cell detachment device, an enzyme hydrolysis container connected to the conditioning device, a drying device connected to the enzyme hydrolysis container and conveying devices by which the above-mentioned devices are sequentially connected to one another are provided.Compared to the conventional structure known from the prior art, the present invention allows quantitatively and qualitatively determined, osmotic protein peptides with low ion concentration to be produced consistently in a closed system, thus providing commercial applicability for easy absorption and significant effects without burdening the liver and kidneys. Through targeted enzymatic hydrolysis, specific food receptor proteins can be hydrolyzed with specific proteases. By specifically influencing specific amino acid regions of proteases, the formation of specific peptides in the product or their relative concentration can be precisely controlled. Furthermore, targeted enzymatic hydrolysis allows the strategic selection of functional peptide combinations, thus avoiding bitter or undesirable byproducts.

Claims

[1] An apparatus for the targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of foodstuffs, comprising a material hopper, a cell detachment device arranged below the material hopper, a conditioning device connected to the cell detachment device, an enzyme hydrolysis container connected to the conditioning device, and a drying device connected to the enzyme hydrolysis container, each connected to one another by a conveyor device for conveying a material stepwise through the successive devices so that quantitatively and qualitatively determined, osmotic protein peptides with a low ion concentration are produced in a closed system in a consistent manner. [2] The apparatus for selective enzymatic hydrolysis of food according to claim 1, further comprising a comminution device connected to the drying device via a conveyor device for pulverizing the dried protein peptide. [3] Apparatus for the targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of food according to claim 2, further comprising a sterilization device connected to the comminution device via a conveyor device in order to eliminate the bacterial contamination arising in the comminution process. [4] Apparatus for the targeted enzymatic hydrolysis of food according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 3, wherein the enzyme hydrolysis container is equipped with a peptidase supply device so that during the enzymatic hydrolysis process, the appropriate enzyme is added by means of the peptidase supply device based on the properties of the materials in the enzyme hydrolysis container and thus the enzymatic hydrolysis process proceeds smoothly.

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