An Edible Ink for Direct-to-Gallery Chocolate and Its Preparation Method

Abstract

This invention discloses an edible ink for direct-to-garment printing on chocolate. Its key feature is that, by weight percentage, the raw materials include at least the following components: 5-20% film-forming liquid, 20-30% solvent, 1-10% pigment liquid, and deionized water to make up the balance. This edible ink exhibits low surface tension, conductivity, viscosity, and other physicochemical parameters, demonstrating excellent adhesion to the surface of chocolate products. It solves the problem of poor printing results on chocolate surfaces with conventional water-based inks. It can be used for digital direct-to-garment printing, enabling color printing with good pattern quality. It is easy to operate, low in cost, and uses safe materials, complying with the food additive standards for cocoa products, chocolate and chocolate products (including cocoa butter substitute chocolate and products), and confectionery in GB2760-2014.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of edible inks, particularly to the field of IPC C09, and more specifically, to an edible ink for direct-to-garment chocolate and a method for preparing the same. Background Technology

[0002] In the production and sales of food, especially candies and chocolates, the target consumer group is primarily young people and children. Decorating the surface of these products can significantly stimulate consumer desire. Compared to the time-consuming and labor-intensive process of handcrafting, direct printing methods offer greater production efficiency. Current research on food-grade printing inks is relatively limited, and most existing inks are water-based edible inks. While water-based inks are suitable for ordinary candies, using conventional water-based edible inks on chocolates, which contain a large amount of oil, results in problems such as difficulty in pattern formation, slow drying, poor absorption, lack of adhesion, and easy peeling. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop edible inks suitable for inkjet printing on chocolate products.

[0003] Chinese invention patent CN 106147380 A discloses an edible printing ink that meets national food safety and health requirements. This edible ink has high gloss and coloring power, but contains a large amount of colorants and animal and vegetable oils. On the one hand, the high oil content may cause a burden on consumers, and on the other hand, its preparation process is rough. Simply mixing the raw materials and using them directly cannot guarantee a high printing effect and adhesion effect. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the aforementioned problems, the first aspect of this invention provides an edible ink for direct-to-garment chocolate printing, wherein the raw materials, by weight percentage, include at least the following components: 5-20% film-forming liquid, 20-30% solvent, 1-10% pigment liquid, and deionized water to make up the balance.

[0005] Preferably, the film-forming liquid comprises at least the following components by weight: 1 to 60 parts of film-forming agent, 0 to 10 parts of sodium hydroxide, and 10 to 85 parts of first solvent.

[0006] Preferably, the film-forming liquid comprises at least the following components by weight: 2-50 parts of film-forming agent, 0-5 parts of sodium hydroxide, and 20-78 parts of second solvent.

[0007] Preferably, the film-forming agent is one or more of shellac, gelatin, xanthan gum, pectin, or polysaccharides.

[0008] Preferably, the pigment liquid comprises at least the following components by weight: 8-15 parts edible pigment, 1-8 parts surfactant, and 80-95 parts first solvent.

[0009] Preferably, the pigment liquid comprises at least the following components by weight: 10-12 parts edible pigment, 2-5 parts surfactant, and 85-90 parts secondary solvent.

[0010] It should be noted that both the first and second solvents in the film-forming solution and the pigment solution are deionized water.

[0011] Preferably, the edible pigment is one or more of Brilliant Blue, Carmine, Allura Red, Erythrosine, Tartrazine, Sunset Yellow, and Gardenia Yellow.

[0012] Preferably, the surfactant is one or more of cyclodextrin, phospholipids, modified soybean phospholipids, Tween 20, Tween 60, Tween 80, mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, and sucrose fatty acid esters.

[0013] Preferably, the solvent is one or more of glycerol, erythritol, sorbitol, edible alcohol, isopropanol, and n-butanol.

[0014] Preferably, the solvent is a mixture of glycerol, erythritol and edible alcohol, and the mass ratio of glycerol, erythritol and edible alcohol is (5-15):(5-20):(5-20).

[0015] Preferably, the solvent is a mixture of glycerol, erythritol, and edible alcohol, and the mass ratio of glycerol, erythritol, and edible alcohol is 10:(10-15):(10-15).

[0016] Preferably, the solvent is a mixture of glycerol, sorbitol and isopropanol, and the mass ratio of glycerol, sorbitol and isopropanol is (5-15):(5-15):(5-15).

[0017] Preferably, the solvent is a mixture of glycerol, sorbitol, and isopropanol, with a mass ratio of glycerol, sorbitol, and isopropanol of 10:10:10.

[0018] A second aspect of the present invention provides a method for preparing edible ink for direct-to-garment chocolate printing, characterized by comprising at least the following steps:

[0019] S1: Preparation of film-forming solution;

[0020] S2: Preparation of pigment solution;

[0021] S3: Add deionized water, solvent, and film-forming solution to a container according to the formula ratio and stir at 500-800 r / min until homogeneous. Then add pigment solution and stir thoroughly at 800-1000 r / min. Filter twice through a 0.45 μm filter. Under a vacuum of 0.06-0.1 MPa, remove bubbles for 30-60 minutes and then pasteurize to obtain edible ink.

[0022] Preferably, the specific steps of S1 are as follows:

[0023] Sodium hydroxide is added to the first solvent, deionized water, at 30–50°C to adjust the pH to 9–10. Shellac is then slowly added and stirred until completely dissolved to obtain the film-forming solution.

[0024] Preferably, the specific steps of S1 are as follows:

[0025] Gelatin, xanthan gum, or hydroxypropyl methylcellulose are slowly added to the first solvent, deionized water, at 80–90°C, and stirred slowly until completely dissolved to obtain the film-forming solution.

[0026] Preferably, the specific steps of S2 are as follows:

[0027] Take the second solvent, deionized water, heat it to 80-90℃, slowly add the surfactant, stir at 1500-2000 r / min until completely homogeneous, stop heating, slowly add the edible pigment, stir at 1500-2000 r / min for 1 hour until homogeneous, filter it once through a 1μm PP filter membrane to obtain the pigment solution.

[0028] To address the aforementioned technical problems, the applicant, through experimental research, discovered that compared to existing technologies that often involve the direct blending of multiple raw materials, this application classifies and further refines the raw materials before formulating the ink, which significantly improves the stability and printing performance of the resulting edible ink. Furthermore, the applicant's research also revealed that directly adding film-forming substances to the ink, due to their large particle size and viscosity, results in poor compatibility with other components, easily leading to an imbalance in the mixture and flocculation. This increases production difficulty and can even render the ink unusable. Additionally, because edible pigment powder is extremely light and has a very small particle size, directly adding it to water also causes the powder to float, agglomerate, and fail to dissolve, all contributing to difficulties in ink production and poor printing results. To further address these issues, this application research found that, on the one hand, by controlling the use of specific proportions of ink raw material film-forming liquid (5-20%), solvent (20-30%), pigment liquid (1-10%), and deionized water to supplement the remainder, and on the other hand, by simultaneously controlling the ink manufacturing process, firstly, based on the differences in solubility of different film-forming agents used, and then, according to their characteristics, preparing them into stable film-forming liquids, and at the same time, first preparing edible pigments into coloring liquids, and then mixing and processing the various mixed liquids, it is possible to improve the dissolution efficiency of raw materials, improve the production efficiency of ink, and also improve the compatibility of ink components, so that edible ink has excellent physicochemical properties and printing performance.

[0029] Beneficial effects:

[0030] 1. The present invention provides an edible ink for direct-to-garment printing of chocolate, which uses safe materials and complies with the food additive standards for cocoa products, chocolate and chocolate products (including cocoa butter substitute chocolate and products) and candy in GB2760-2014.

[0031] 2. The physicochemical parameters such as surface tension, conductivity, and viscosity of the direct-to-garment edible ink for chocolate obtained by this invention are all low, and it has excellent adhesion to the surface of chocolate products, solving the problem of poor printing effect of conventional water-based inks on chocolate surfaces.

[0032] 3. This invention explores how classifying and further refining raw materials before formulating ink can significantly improve the stability and printing performance of the resulting edible ink.

[0033] 4. This invention, through experimental research, strictly controls the ink raw materials and the ink manufacturing process. First, based on the differences in solubility of different film-forming agents, a stable film-forming liquid is made according to their characteristics. At the same time, edible pigments are first made into coloring liquids. Then, the various mixed liquids are mixed and treated. This can improve the dissolution efficiency of raw materials, increase ink production efficiency, and improve the compatibility of ink components. This results in edible ink with excellent physical and chemical properties and printing performance, increases ink durability, and makes printed text more durable.

[0034] 5. The edible ink for direct-to-garment printing of chocolate prepared by this invention can be used for digital direct-to-garment printing, enabling color printing with good pattern quality, simple operation, and low cost. Attached image description:

[0035] Figure 1 These are renderings of the products prepared in Examples 1-4 for direct-to-garment edible ink hybrid printing of chocolate.

[0036] Figure 2 The images show the effects of the prepared samples (Comparative Examples 1-4) for direct-to-garment edible ink hybrid printing of chocolate. Detailed Implementation

[0037] Example

[0038] Example 1:

[0039] An edible ink for direct-to-garment printing on chocolate is provided, comprising the following ingredients by weight percentage: 20% film-forming liquid, 35% solvent, 30% pigment liquid, and the remainder deionized water.

[0040] The film-forming solution comprises, by weight, 40 parts film-forming agent, 5 parts sodium hydroxide, and 20 parts deionized water.

[0041] The film-forming agent is shellac.

[0042] By weight, the pigment liquid consists of: 10 parts edible pigment, 2 parts surfactant, and 89 parts deionized water.

[0043] The edible coloring is brilliant blue.

[0044] The surfactant is a mono- and diglyceride fatty acid ester.

[0045] The solvent is a mixture of glycerol, erythritol, and edible alcohol, with a mass ratio of 10:10:15.

[0046] The method for preparing a direct-to-garment edible ink for chocolate, as described above, is characterized by comprising the following steps:

[0047] S1: Preparation of film-forming solution;

[0048] S2: Preparation of pigment solution;

[0049] S3: Add deionized water, solvent, and film-forming solution to a container according to the formula ratio and stir at 700 r / min until homogeneous. Then add pigment solution and stir thoroughly at 900 r / min. Filter twice through a 0.45 μm filter. The resulting filtrate is pasteurized after defoaming for 45 min under a vacuum of 0.08 MPa to obtain edible ink.

[0050] The specific steps of S1 are as follows:

[0051] Add sodium hydroxide to deionized water at 40℃ to adjust the pH to 9.5, slowly add shellac, and stir until completely dissolved to obtain the film-forming solution.

[0052] The specific steps of S2 are as follows:

[0053] Take deionized water, heat it to 85℃, slowly add the surfactant, stir at 1800 r / min until completely homogeneous, stop heating, slowly add the edible pigment, stir at 1800 r / min for 1 h until homogeneous, filter it once through a 1 μm PP filter membrane to obtain the pigment solution.

[0054] Example 2:

[0055] An edible ink for direct-to-garment chocolate is provided, with the specific implementation method being the same as in Example 1, except that: by weight percentage, the raw materials include the following components: 30% film-forming liquid, 25% solvent, 20% pigment liquid, and deionized water to make up the balance.

[0056] The film-forming solution consists of the following components by weight: 2 parts film-forming agent, 20 parts polydextrose, and 78 parts deionized water.

[0057] The film-forming agent is gelatin.

[0058] By weight, the pigment liquid consists of: 10 parts edible pigment, 5 parts surfactant, and 85 parts deionized water.

[0059] The edible pigment is erythrosine.

[0060] The surfactant is phospholipid.

[0061] The solvent is a mixture of glycerol, erythritol, and edible alcohol, with a mass ratio of 10:10:15.

[0062] Example 3:

[0063] An edible ink for direct-to-garment chocolate is provided, with the specific implementation method being the same as in Example 1, except that: by weight percentage, the raw materials include the following components: 15% film-forming liquid, 30% solvent, 15% pigment liquid, and deionized water to make up the balance.

[0064] The film-forming solution comprises, by weight, 50 parts film-forming agent, 5 parts sodium hydroxide, and 20 parts deionized water.

[0065] The film-forming agent is shellac.

[0066] By weight, the pigment liquid consists of: 10 parts edible pigment, 5 parts surfactant, and 90 parts deionized water.

[0067] The edible coloring is a mixture of lemon yellow and sunset yellow, with a mass ratio of 9:1.

[0068] The surfactant is phospholipid.

[0069] The solvent is a mixture of glycerol, sorbitol and isopropanol, with a mass ratio of 10:10:10.

[0070] Example 4:

[0071] An edible ink for direct-to-garment chocolate is provided, with the specific implementation method being the same as in Example 1, except that: by weight percentage, the raw materials include the following components: 15% film-forming liquid, 35% solvent, 25% pigment liquid, and deionized water to make up the balance.

[0072] The film-forming solution comprises, by weight, 50 parts film-forming agent, 10 parts sodium hydroxide, and 30 parts deionized water.

[0073] The film-forming agent is shellac.

[0074] By weight, the pigment liquid consists of: 12 parts edible pigment, 3.5 parts surfactant, and 85 parts deionized water.

[0075] The edible coloring is a mixture of brilliant blue, allura red and lemon yellow, with a mass ratio of 4:6:2.

[0076] The surfactant is a mixture of phospholipids and mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids in a mass ratio of 3:0.5.

[0077] The solvent is a mixture of glycerol, erythritol, and edible alcohol in a mass ratio of 10:15:10.

[0078] Comparative Example 1:

[0079] An edible ink for direct-to-garment chocolate is provided, with the same implementation method as in Example 1, except that it does not contain a film-forming liquid.

[0080] Comparative Example 2:

[0081] An ink is provided, the specific implementation of which is the same as in Example 1. The difference from Example 1 is that there is no separate preparation method for the film-forming liquid. Instead, the raw materials for preparing the film-forming liquid are directly mixed with the ink raw materials to obtain the final ink.

[0082] Comparative Example 3:

[0083] An ink is provided, the specific implementation of which is the same as in Example 3, except that it does not contain phospholipids.

[0084] Comparative Example 4:

[0085] An ink is provided, the specific implementation of which is the same as that of Example 4. The difference from Example 4 is that there is no pigment liquid treatment process. Instead, the pigment liquid raw material is directly mixed with the ink raw material to obtain the final ink.

[0086] Performance testing:

[0087] 1. Physicochemical parameters: The prepared usable inks were tested for physicochemical parameters under standard atmospheric pressure and 25°C. The viscosity, surface tension, conductivity and pH of the edible inks for direct printing on chocolate prepared in Examples 1-4 and Comparative Examples 1-4 were tested. The average values ​​of the measured results are recorded in Table 1.

[0088] Table 1:

[0089]

[0090] 2. Printing smoothness: The printing smoothness of the edible inks for direct-to-garment chocolate prepared in Examples 1-4 and Comparative Examples 1-4 was tested on the SY-P-A2C food printer of Wuhan Shanyin Technology Co., Ltd., and the results are recorded in Table 2.

[0091] Table 2:

[0092]

[0093]

[0094] Note that the product prepared in Comparative Example 2 could not be printed, so it is indicated as NG.

[0095] The product prepared in Comparative Example 1 had no adhesion to chocolate.

[0096] The product obtained in Comparative Example 3 had high surface tension and poor printing effect during the physicochemical property test.

[0097] 3. Printing Effect Comparison: The printing effects of the mixed printing of the edible inks for direct-to-garment chocolate prepared in Examples 1-4 and Comparative Examples 1-4 were compared. The results are shown in the figures below. Figure 1 and Figure 2 .

Claims

1. A method for the preparation of a chocolate direct jettable edible ink, characterized in that, The raw material for the chocolate direct-jet edible ink comprises the following components: 5-20% of film-forming liquid, 20-30% of solvent, 1-10% of pigment liquid, and the balance of deionized water; The preparation method of the chocolate direct-jet edible ink comprises the following steps: S1: preparing the film-forming liquid: slowly adding gelatin into deionized water as the first solvent at 80-90℃, and slowly stirring until completely dissolved, to obtain the film-forming liquid; or adding sodium hydroxide into deionized water as the first solvent at 30-50℃, adjusting the pH to 9-10, slowly adding shellac, and stirring until completely dissolved, to obtain the film-forming liquid; S2: preparing the pigment liquid: taking deionized water as the second solvent, heating and keeping at 80-90℃, slowly adding phospholipid, and stirring at 1500-2000 r / min until completely uniform, stopping heating, slowly adding edible pigment, and stirring at 1500-2000 r / min for 1 h until uniform, filtering once with a 1 μm PP filter membrane, to obtain the pigment liquid; S3: adding deionized water, solvent and film-forming liquid into a container according to the formula proportion, stirring uniformly at 500-800 r / min, then adding the pigment liquid, fully stirring uniformly at 800-1000 r / min, filtering twice with a 0.45 μm filter, performing pasteurization after defoaming for 30-60 min under the condition of 0.06-0.1 MPa vacuum degree, to obtain the edible ink.

2. The method for preparing a chocolate direct jet edible ink according to claim 1, characterized in that, The edible pigment is one or more of bright blue, cochineal, temptation red, erythrosine, lemon yellow, sunset yellow and gardenia yellow.

3. The method for preparing a chocolate direct jet edible ink according to claim 1, characterized in that, The solvent is one or more of glycerol, erythritol, sorbitol, edible alcohol, isopropyl alcohol and n-butanol.

4. The method for preparing a chocolate direct jet edible ink according to claim 3, characterized in that, The solvent is a mixture of glycerol, erythritol and edible alcohol, and the mass ratio of glycerol, erythritol and edible alcohol is (5-15):(5-20):(5-20).

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