Sterilization device and method for direct oral traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of traditional Chinese medicine decoction piece processing, and discloses a sterilization device and method for direct oral traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces. The sterilization device comprises a sterilization device body for accommodating a sterilization object, an evaporator and an air heater which are communicated with the sterilization device body, and a temperature control device for controlling the internal temperature of the sterilization device body; according to the sterilization method, a moist heat sterilization method is adopted, sterilization treatment is conducted on a sterilization object for 30-60 min at the sterilization temperature of 70-80 DEG C, and hot air drying is conducted for 120-180 min at the temperature of 50-70 DEG C after sterilization treatment. According to the method, low-temperature moist heat sterilization is combined with low-temperature hot air drying, so that the microbial indexes of the traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces are lower than the requirements specified by the national standard under the condition that the original appearance color, smell and components of the traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces are kept unchanged, and the quality stability and the medicine safety of the direct oral traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces are ensured.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of processing Chinese herbal medicine slices, and in particular to a sterilizing device and method for directly taking Chinese herbal medicine slices orally. Background Art

[0002] Chinese herbal medicine slices are Chinese herbal medicines that have been processed according to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine and processed by traditional Chinese medicine processing methods and can be directly used in clinical Chinese medicine. There is no absolute boundary between Chinese herbal medicine slices and Chinese herbal medicines. Chinese herbal medicine slices include some slices of Chinese herbal medicines processed at the place of origin, original herbal medicine slices, and slices that have been cut and processed. Chinese herbal medicine slices are one of the three pillars of China's traditional Chinese medicine industry. They are a traditional weapon necessary for clinical diagnosis and treatment of traditional Chinese medicine, and are also an important raw material for Chinese patent medicines. Their unique processing theories and methods all reflect the profound wisdom of ancient Chinese medicine. With the continuous improvement and maturity of its processing theory, it has now become an important means of clinical disease prevention and treatment in traditional Chinese medicine.

[0003] For a long time, Chinese medicinal materials have been grown mainly in the soil of hillsides and fields, which carry countless microorganisms. Most of the microorganisms can be removed by various cleaning methods during the harvesting of medicinal materials and the production and processing of medicinal slices. Ordinary medicinal slices can remove most of the remaining microorganisms again after decocting, and patients will basically not experience adverse reactions due to microbial reasons after taking them. Direct oral medicinal slices are Chinese medicinal slices that are directly taken orally or taken by patients after the Chinese medicinal materials are crushed into fine powder. Therefore, the production process of such Chinese medicinal slices needs to be sterilized to control the microorganisms within a certain range to ensure the safety of patients' medication.

[0004] The commonly used sterilization methods for directly oral Chinese herbal medicines are high temperature or irradiation, but long-term high temperature sterilization will cause the appearance color of the pieces to change under the influence of high temperature and affect the quality. Irradiation sterilization is currently a more commonly used sterilization method, but irradiation sterilization can easily cause Chinese herbal medicines to produce odors. Therefore, it is necessary to find an effective method that can be widely used in the sterilization of directly oral Chinese herbal medicines. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of this, the object of the present invention is to provide a sterilization device and method for directly taking Chinese herbal medicine slices orally, so as to overcome the above-mentioned defects in the prior art.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a sterilizing device for directly taking Chinese herbal medicine pieces orally, comprising:

[0008] The sterilization device body is used to contain the sterilization object;

[0009] An evaporator, which is connected to the main body of the sterilization device and is used to fill the inside of the sterilization device main body with steam;

[0010] A temperature control device, which is used to control the temperature inside the main body of the sterilization device;

[0011] A hot air blower, which is connected to the main body of the sterilization device and is used to introduce hot air into the inside of the sterilization device main body.

[0012] Furthermore, the temperature control device includes a temperature sensor arranged on the inner wall of the main body of the sterilization device, an air outlet and an air inlet arranged on the main body of the sterilization device. The air outlet is connected to an air outlet pipe, and an air outlet valve is arranged on the air outlet pipe. The air inlet is connected to the evaporator.

[0013] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a sterilization method for directly orally administered traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces. It uses the moist heat sterilization method to sterilize the sterilization object, and after the sterilization treatment, hot air drying is carried out at a temperature of 50 - 70°C for 120 - 180 min; the sterilization temperature of the moist heat sterilization method is 70 - 80°C, and the sterilization time is 30 - 60 min.

[0014] Furthermore, the sterilization temperature of the moist heat sterilization method is 75°C.

[0015] Furthermore, the drying temperature of the hot air drying is 60°C.

[0016] Furthermore, the sterilization method provided by the present invention uses the above-mentioned sterilization device for sterilization treatment.

[0017] Furthermore, the sterilization method using the above-mentioned sterilization device for sterilization treatment includes the following processes:

[0018] A loading process, in which the sterilization object is loaded into the main body of the sterilization device;

[0019] A steam injection process, in which the water vapor generated by the evaporator is injected into the main body of the sterilization device containing the sterilization object;

[0020] A temperature control process, in which the opening degrees of the steam inlet valve and the steam outlet valve are adjusted to control the sterilization temperature at 70 - 80°C;

[0021] A drying process, in which hot air at 50 - 70°C is introduced into the main body of the sterilization device.

[0022] More preferably, in the temperature control process, the sterilization temperature is controlled at 75°C, and in the drying process, the temperature of the introduced hot air is 60°C.

[0023] Compared with the prior art, the sterilization device provided by the present invention has a simple structure, is easy to manufacture and use. The sterilization method adopts low-temperature moist heat sterilization combined with low-temperature hot air drying, which can better eliminate bacteria, molds and pathogenic bacteria in the Chinese herbal pieces while maintaining the original appearance color, smell and components of the Chinese herbal pieces, making the microbial indexes contained in the Chinese herbal pieces lower than the requirements specified by the national standard, thereby ensuring the quality stability and drug safety of directly oral Chinese herbal pieces. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 FIG. is a schematic structural diagram of the sterilization device for directly oral Chinese herbal pieces provided by the present invention.

[0025] LEGEND DESCRIPTION:

[0026] 1 - Sterilization device body; 2 - Evaporator; 3 - Hot air blower; 4 - Air inlet; 5 - Air inlet pipe; 6 - Air inlet valve; 7 - Air outlet; 8 - Air outlet pipe; 9 - Air outlet valve; 10 - Temperature sensor; 11 - Air inlet; 12 - Air inlet duct; 13 - Air inlet valve; 14 - Air inlet sieve plate; 15 - Blocking material sieve plate; 16 - Sealing door. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0027] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments.

[0028] See Figure 1 , the present invention provides a sterilization device for directly oral Chinese herbal pieces, which includes a sterilization device body 1 for accommodating the sterilization object, an evaporator 2 for evaporating the solution to generate steam and filling the steam into the interior of the sterilization device body 1, a hot air blower 3 for introducing hot air into the interior of the sterilization device body 1 and a temperature control device for controlling the temperature inside the sterilization device body 1; the sterilization device body 1 can be a sealed device such as a tank or a box, and a sealing door 16 is provided on the sterilization device body 1 to facilitate the putting in and taking out of the sterilization object.

[0029] An air inlet 4 is provided at the bottom of the sterilization device body 1, and the air inlet 4 is connected to the evaporator 2 through an air inlet pipe 5 to facilitate the evaporator 2 to fill the steam into the interior of the sterilization device body 1. An air inlet valve 6 is provided on the air inlet pipe 5 to adjust the delivery amount of the steam. Preferably, more than two air inlets 4 can be provided at the bottom of the sterilization device body 1 to improve the penetration uniformity of the steam in the sterilization object. For example, two air inlets 4 are provided and symmetrically opened at the bottom of the sterilization device body 1. The steam coming out of the evaporator 2 enters the sterilization object through the air inlet 4 and penetrates and discharges. Since the air inlets 4 are symmetrically arranged, the steam is more evenly distributed in the sterilization object. A blocking material sieve plate 15 is installed on the air inlet 4 to prevent the sterilization object in the sterilization device body 1 from entering and blocking the air inlet pipe 5.

[0030] The temperature control device includes a temperature sensor 10 disposed on the inner wall of the sterilization device body 1, an air outlet 7 provided at the top of the sterilization device body 1, and an air inlet 4 provided at the bottom of the sterilization device body 1. The air outlet 7 is connected to an air outlet pipe 8, and an air outlet valve 9 is provided on the air outlet pipe 8. The temperature inside the sterilization device body 1 is monitored in real time by the temperature sensor 10 to adjust the opening degrees of the air inlet valve 6 and the air outlet valve 9, thereby controlling the temperature inside the sterilization device body 1 to the required sterilization temperature. It can be understood that the present invention may further include an automatic control element and a program, and the opening degrees of the air inlet valve 6 and the air outlet valve 9 can be automatically adjusted according to the data fed back by the temperature sensor 10 through the automatic control element and the program. The automatic control element and the program are prior arts in this field and will not be elaborated herein.

[0031] An air inlet 11 is provided on the side wall of the sterilization device body 1, an air inlet sieve plate 14 is provided on the air inlet 11, the air inlet 11 is connected to a hot air blower 3 through an air inlet pipe 12, and an air inlet valve 13 is provided on the air inlet pipe 12. Through the arrangement of the air inlet 11, the hot air generated by the hot air blower 3 can be blown into the sterilization object to achieve the effect of hot air drying.

[0032] A method for sterilizing directly orally administered traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces using the above sterilization device includes the following steps:

[0033] Step 1, loading: Open the sealing door 16, load the directly orally administered traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces to be sterilized into the sterilization device body 1, and close the sealing door 16; preferably, the loading amount of the directly orally administered traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces is 1 / 2 volume of the sterilization device body.

[0034] Step 2, steam injection and temperature control: Open the evaporator 2. After a large amount of water vapor is generated by the evaporator 2, open the air inlet valve 6. The water vapor enters the sterilization device body 1 through the air inlet pipe 5. After the temperature sensor 10 detects that the temperature inside the sterilization device body 1 rises to 70 - 80 °C, start timing. Open the air outlet valve 9, and the water vapor penetrating the sterilization object is discharged from the air outlet pipe 8. According to the real-time temperature data fed back by the temperature sensor 10, timely adjust the opening degrees of the air inlet valve 6 and the air outlet valve 9 to control the temperature inside the sterilization device body 1 to be maintained within the range of 70 - 80 °C. After 30 - 60 min from the start of timing, close the air inlet valve 6 and the evaporator 2 to stop the injection of water vapor.

[0035] Step 3, drying: Turn on the hot air blower 3 to generate hot air at 50 - 70 °C, open the air inlet valve 13, and the hot air enters the sterilization device body 1 from the air inlet pipe 12 through the air inlet sieve plate 14. After 120 - 180 min of treatment, close the air inlet valve 13 and the hot air blower 3, and the sterilization operation of the directly orally administered traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces is completed.

[0036] Example 1: Sterilization of directly orally administered traditional Chinese medicine cut crude drug Panax notoginseng powder (batch number S24001)

[0037] Using the above sterilization device, the Panax notoginseng powder was sterilized by moist heat sterilization method at a sterilization temperature of 75°C. Six control groups with sterilization times set at 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, 40 min, 50 min, and 60 min were set. After sterilization, its properties, moisture content, and microbial indicators were detected. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

[0038] Example 2: Sterilization of directly orally administered traditional Chinese medicine cut crude drug Panax notoginseng powder (batch number S24001)

[0039] Using the above sterilization device, the Panax notoginseng powder was sterilized by moist heat sterilization method at a sterilization temperature of 75°C for 60 min, and then dried with hot air at 60°C for 120 min or 180 min. Its properties, moisture content, and microbial indicators were detected. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

[0040] Example 3: Sterilization of directly orally administered traditional Chinese medicine cut crude drug Panax notoginseng powder (batch number S24001)

[0041] It was sterilized by the existing high-pressure steam sterilization method (sterilization temperature 121°C). Three control groups with sterilization times set at 10 min, 20 min, and 30 min were set. After sterilization, its properties, moisture content, and microbial indicators were detected. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

[0042] High-pressure steam sterilization is carried out in a closed high-pressure steam sterilizer. Its principle is: Place the object to be sterilized in a high-pressure steam sterilizer containing an appropriate amount of water, heat the water in the pot to boiling, and completely drive out the original cold air in it, then seal the pot and continue heating. The steam pressure in the pot rises, and the temperature also rises above 100°C. To achieve good sterilization effect, generally it is required that the temperature should reach 121°C (pressure 0.1 MPa), and the time is maintained for 15 - 30 min.

[0043] Example 4: Sterilization of directly orally administered traditional Chinese medicine cut crude drug Panax notoginseng powder (batch number S24001)

[0044] It was sterilized by the existing irradiation sterilization method ( 60 Co-γ irradiation dose 4.2 kGy, dose rate 0.18 - 0.26 Gy / s), and after sterilization, its properties, moisture content, and microbial indicators were detected. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

[0045] Microbial indicator detection method: According to the microbial limit inspection method for traditional Chinese medicine cut crude drugs in Part IV of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020 Edition, the microbial conditions of the Panax notoginseng powder before and after sterilization treatment were detected.

[0046] Table 1. Detection results of Panax notoginseng powder with batch number S24001 before and after sterilization treatment

[0047]

[0048]

[0049] As can be seen from Table 1, in Example 1, moist heat sterilization was carried out at a low temperature of 75°C. After the sterilization time reached 30 minutes, the number of microorganisms in the notoginseng powder was all qualified. After 60 minutes of sterilization, the number of microorganisms decreased significantly. In Example 2, after moist heat sterilization at a low temperature of 75°C, hot air drying was carried out at 60°C for 120 - 180 minutes, which could make the moisture content of the notoginseng powder meet the standard requirements, and at the same time, the number of microorganisms further decreased. Compared with Example 3 and Example 4, the treatments in Example 1 and Example 2 had no effect on the properties of the notoginseng powder.

[0050] Example 5: Sterilization of directly orally administered fritillaria cirrhosa powder

[0051] Using the above sterilization device, the fritillaria cirrhosa powder was sterilized for 30 minutes at a sterilization temperature of 70°C by the moist heat sterilization method, and then dried with hot air at 50°C for 150 minutes. The properties, moisture and microbial indicators were detected, and the results are shown in Table 2 below.

[0052] Table 2. Test results of fritillaria cirrhosa powder before and after sterilization treatment

[0053]

[0054] Example 6: Sterilization of directly orally administered american ginseng powder

[0055] Using the above sterilization device, the american ginseng powder was sterilized for 45 minutes at a sterilization temperature of 50°C by the moist heat sterilization method, and then dried with hot air at 70°C for 130 minutes. The properties, moisture and microbial indicators were detected, and the results are shown in Table 3 below.

[0056] Table 3. Test results of american ginseng powder before and after sterilization treatment

[0057]

[0058] In summary, adopting the technical scheme of the present invention can effectively control the number of microorganisms in the traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces to the standard range, and there is no obvious change in the properties of the traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces before and after sterilization. The sterilization device used in the present invention has a simple structure, convenient operation, low sterilization cost, and is suitable for application and promotion.

[0059] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that the above preferred embodiments should not be construed as limiting the present invention, and the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the scope defined by the claims. For those of ordinary skill in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and these improvements and modifications should also be regarded as within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A sterilizing device for directly taking Chinese herbal medicine slices orally, characterized in that: include: The sterilization device body is used to contain the sterilization object; an evaporator, which is in communication with the sterilization device body and is used to fill the steam into the interior of the sterilization device body; A temperature control device, used to control the internal temperature of the sterilization device body; A hot air blower is connected to the sterilization device body and is used to introduce hot air into the sterilization device body.

2. The sterilization device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The temperature control device includes a temperature sensor arranged on the inner wall of the sterilization device body and an air outlet and an air inlet arranged on the sterilization device body, the air outlet is connected to an air outlet pipe, an air outlet valve is arranged on the air outlet pipe, and the air inlet is connected to the evaporator.

3. A sterilization method for directly taking Chinese herbal medicine slices orally, characterized in that: The sterilization object is sterilized by wet heat sterilization, and then dried with hot air at a temperature of 50-70°C for 120-180 minutes; the sterilization temperature of the wet heat sterilization method is 70-80°C, and the sterilization time is 30-60 minutes.

4. The sterilization method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The sterilization temperature of the moist heat sterilization method is 75°C.

5. The sterilization method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The drying temperature of the hot air drying is 60°C.

6. The sterilization method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The sterilization treatment is carried out using the sterilization device described in claim 1 or 2.

7. The sterilization method according to claim 6, characterized in that: Including the following processes: A loading step, loading the sterilization object into the sterilization device body; The steam injection step is to inject the water vapor generated by the evaporator into the sterilization device body containing the sterilization object; Temperature control process: adjust the opening of the steam inlet valve and the steam outlet valve to control the sterilization temperature at 70-80℃; In the drying process, hot air at 50-70°C is introduced into the sterilizer body.

8. The sterilization method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The sterilization temperature in the temperature control process is controlled to be 75°C, and the temperature of the introduced hot air in the drying process is 60°C.

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