Preparation device and preparation method of medicinal garlic powder

Abstract

The invention discloses a preparation device and a preparation method of medicinal garlic powder applied to the field of food. The preparation device comprises a quick-freezing tank, a crusher, a conveying device and a drying furnace, wherein the quick-freezing tank comprises a pre-cooling tank, a freezing tank and a staying tank. An inner tank body of the freezing tank is divided into a quick-freezing chamber and a uniform cooling chamber which are communicated through a communication port, freezing liquid and a hopper body are arranged at the bottom of the quick-freezing chamber, the top end of the quick-freezing chamber is connected with a pre-cooling tank, the bottom end of the uniform cooling chamber is connected with a staying tank, a crusher is placed at the lower end of the staying tank, a conveying device is installed below the crusher, and a tray is arranged on the conveying device and conveyed to a drying furnace through the conveying device. Garlic bulbs fall into the hopper body to be frozen after being precooled in the precooling tank, and the garlic bulbs are tipped into the uniform cooling chamber by the hopper body and then fall into the staying tank. The garlic bulbs fall into a crusher from the staying tank to be crushed into garlic granules, the garlic granules fall into a tray from a leakage net and are conveyed into a drying furnace through the tray, and the garlic granules are dried into garlic powder through vacuum low-temperature microwaves. According to the invention, intermittent continuous production is realized, garlic bulbs are uniformly crushed, the drying speed is high, and the allicin content is high.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention is applied to the food field and relates to the manufacture of garlic powder, specifically a preparation device and a preparation method for preparing medicinal garlic powder. Background Art

[0002] Garlic contains various nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, amino acids, proteins, vitamins, and enzymes. Alliin is a unique amino acid in garlic, and alliinase, also known as garlic enzyme, is the most abundant enzyme unique to garlic. In garlic, the main bioactive component is allicin, a mixture composed of volatile compounds, which is a volatile colorless liquid with a smell generated by the reaction of alliin and alliinase with air when garlic is mashed. Allicin has poor thermal stability and will gradually decompose at room temperature (20°C). When the temperature exceeds 80°C, the decomposition rate significantly accelerates, resulting in changes in its components and a decrease in purity. Therefore, vacuum freeze-drying has become the mainstream for high-quality garlic dehydrated products. This application provides a device and a method for preparing dry garlic powder as the raw material for allicin. After garlic is dried, its medicinal indexes include: amino acid (allicin) ≥ 1.5%, soluble protein ≥ 22%. Considering the properties of allicin, hot air drying cannot be used, and vacuum low-temperature drying is suitable. CN102715625A discloses a processing method for vacuum freezing and microwave vacuum tandem combined drying of garlic grains. Cubic garlic grains with a length of 5 mm are loaded onto the tray in 2 layers and pre-frozen at a temperature of -20°C for 4 hours. Then, the cold trap temperature is lowered to -45°C to -35°C, the material is loaded into the freeze-drying chamber, and vacuum freeze-drying is carried out after evacuating to below 12 Pa until the moisture content reaches 30%, which takes about 7 hours. Immediately, the tray is placed into a microwave vacuum dryer and dried for 15 - 20 minutes under the conditions of a vacuum degree of 90 KPa to 120 KPa and a microwave power of 420 W to complete the drying. CN119054888A discloses a preparation method for ultra-low temperature rapid freeze-dried high-alliin garlic powder. Garlic is mixed with dry ice and ground into 400-mesh ultrafine garlic powder at ultra-low temperature, and then dried under negative pressure at -20°C with a vacuum degree of 20 - 40 Pa for 8 - 10 hours. The alliin content of the finally obtained garlic powder is 3 - 6 times that of the garlic powder prepared by conventional freeze-drying and heat treatment. The above methods have a long drying time and low production efficiency, making it difficult to meet the production needs. The former is due to the large particle size, small drying surface area, and low temperature, while the latter is due to the lack of microwave heating and slow water evaporation at ultra-low temperature. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The technical problem solved by the present invention is: to provide a preparation device and a preparation method for medicinal garlic powder, which can produce continuously in batches, adopt low-temperature vacuum microwave drying, and have a high allicin content, meeting the requirements of medicinal indexes.

[0004] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: The preparation device for medicinal garlic powder includes a quick-freezing tank, a crusher, a conveying device, and a drying furnace. The quick-freezing tank includes a precooling tank, a freezing tank, and a holding tank covered with a heat-insulating layer; the freezing tank is a double-layer structure with an outer tank body sleeving an inner tank body. The inner cavity of the inner tank body is divided into a quick-freezing chamber and an equalizing chamber that are connected left and right. The bottom of the quick-freezing chamber contains a freezing liquid, and a hopper body with through holes is provided. The communication port of the quick-freezing chamber communicates with the upper part of the equalizing chamber. A rotating shaft is provided at the bottom of the communication port, and the rotating shaft is connected to the upper part of the hopper body and can drive the hopper body to turn over. The driving device of the rotating shaft is arranged outside the freezing tank, and the bearing component adopts a sealing structure. A freezing tank inlet valve is installed at the top of the quick-freezing chamber and is connected to the precooling tank. A freezing tank outlet valve is installed at the bottom of the equalizing chamber and is connected to the holding tank. The lower end of the holding tank is connected to an outlet through an outlet valve, and a crusher is placed below the outlet. A vibrating mechanism is installed on the crusher to vibrate while crushing. A conveying device is installed below the crusher, and trays are arranged on the conveying device. The trays receive the garlic grains leaking through the sieve at the bottom of the crusher and are conveyed to the drying furnace by the conveying device for vacuum low-temperature microwave drying in the drying furnace.

[0005] Further, the drying furnace includes a furnace body, microwave tubes, a furnace door, and a furnace door mechanism; the microwave tubes are installed on the top of the furnace body. Rotating rollers are provided at the bottom of the furnace body, and the rotation of the rotating rollers conveys the trays in and out of the drying furnace. The frequency modulation motor for driving the rotating rollers is arranged outside the drying furnace. The inlet and outlet of the furnace body are provided with furnace doors, namely a front door and a rear door; the furnace doors are sealed with the sealing grooves of the furnace body to ensure the vacuum degree of the drying furnace. The furnace door mechanism includes a hoisting mechanism and a pressing mechanism. The fixed pulleys of the hoisting mechanism are arranged at the front and rear edges of the furnace top, and the furnace door is suspended by a lifting rope and can be lifted and lowered. The pressing mechanism includes a small shaft, a rotating rod, a cylinder, and a pressing head; the small shaft is arranged in the middle of the rotating rod and is rotatably connected to the rotating rod. The pressing head is the end of the rotating rod for pressing the furnace door, and a cylinder is connected to the end opposite to the pressing head. The pressing mechanism is used to compact the furnace door to ensure the sealing performance of the furnace door.

[0006] Further, the crusher includes a diversion cover, a motor, a cylinder body, an elastic body, blades, and a cleaning strip; the diversion cover is a cone and is located at the upper center of the cylinder body to evenly divert the falling garlic bulbs for convenient and uniform crushing. The motor is located below the diversion cover and is fixedly connected to a rotating shaft; blades are installed on the rotating shaft for crushing the garlic bulbs, and a cleaning strip is installed at the bottom for cleaning the garlic grains blocking the sieve. The bottom of the cylinder body is a sieve for controlling the particle size of the garlic grains, and an elastic body is connected to the outside for the vibration of the cylinder body.

[0007] Further, the conveying device includes rotating rollers, guiding rollers, a bracket, and a frequency modulation motor; the rotating rollers are installed on the bracket, and a frequency modulation motor is installed at one end of the rotating rollers. Guiding rollers are installed on both sides of the bracket. The conveying device realizes the directional planar conveying of the trays.

[0008] Furthermore, the side plate of the bucket body on the side of the communication port is inclined, which facilitates the falling of the garlic bulbs into the soaking chamber. The side plate on the side opposite to the communication port is an arc plate or an inclined plate to prevent the bucket body from bumping against the inner wall of the tank. The coolant is a liquid nitrogen-ethanol liquid, and the temperature of ethanol is controlled by liquid nitrogen. The upper end of the pre-cooling tank is connected to the inlet through an inlet valve for receiving the peeled garlic bulbs.

[0009] Furthermore, the inlet valve of the freezing tank and the outlet valve of the freezing tank are rotary plate valves. The rotary plate is a hemispherical body, and the hemispherical body is sealed with the spherical surface of the valve body. The sealing effect is good, and the temperature of the pre-cooling tank and the holding tank can be adjusted by using the gap of the sealing surface.

[0010] The method for preparing garlic powder using the above-mentioned garlic powder preparation device for medicinal use includes the following steps: 1) Freezing the garlic bulbs in the quick-freezing tank: The garlic bulbs are pre-cooled in the pre-cooling tank at -10°C to 0°C for 20 to 30 minutes. Then, the inlet valve of the freezing tank is opened, and the garlic bulbs fall into the bucket body at the bottom of the quick-freezing chamber and are frozen by the coolant at -20 ± 5°C for 20 to 30 minutes. The bucket body is driven by a rotating shaft to rotate, and the frozen garlic bulbs are overturned into the soaking chamber and soaked for 20 to 30 minutes. Then, the outlet valve of the freezing tank is opened, and the garlic bulbs fall into the holding tank at 15°C to -5°C.

[0011] 2) Crushing the garlic bulbs: The outlet valve of the holding tank is opened, and the garlic bulbs fall into a crusher at a temperature ≤ 0°C and are crushed into garlic grains. The crusher vibrates while crushing, and the garlic grains fall from the sieve into a moving tray. The particle size of the garlic grains is 2 mm to 6 mm, and the thickness is 6 mm to 20 mm. After crushing, the tray is conveyed to the front door of the drying furnace by a conveying device and waits. The total time for crushing, conveying, and waiting is 20 to 30 minutes; the room temperature is 10°C to 25°C.

[0012] 3) Drying the garlic grains: The drying furnace is emptied, the hoisting mechanism opens the front door, and the conveying device and the rollers at the bottom of the furnace convey the tray into the drying furnace. Then, the front door is closed, and the pressing mechanism seals the front door. The drying furnace is evacuated, and the vacuum degree ≤ 100 Pa. The microwave tube is powered on for heating with a power of 300 to 800 W, and the heating time is not less than 25 minutes. The vacuum furnace is emptied, the back door is opened, and the rollers at the bottom of the furnace convey the tray out of the back door of the drying furnace. The total operation time of the drying furnace is 20 to 30 minutes.

[0013] Furthermore, in step 2), the cleaning strip at the bottom of the rotating shaft of the crusher rotates to clean the garlic grains blocking the sieve while the sieve vibrates.

[0014] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: The present invention realizes intermittent continuous production. Continuous production ensures output and benefits, and intermittent production ensures the quality of garlic powder. The pre-cooling tank and the holding tank are arranged before and after the freezing tank, ensuring the low temperature of the freezing tank. The frozen garlic bulbs are evenly crushed, and the vacuum low-temperature microwave drying is fast with a high allicin content. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 It is a front view structural schematic diagram of a garlic powder preparation device; Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a crusher; Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of a conveying device and a drying furnace; Figure 4 For Figure 3 top view schematic diagram of; Wherein: 1 - pre-cooling tank, 2 - freezing tank, 3 - residence tank, 4 - crusher, 5 - tray, 6 - conveying device, 7 - drying furnace; 11 - inlet, 12 - inlet valve, 13 - freezing tank inlet valve, 14 - freezing tank outlet valve, 15 - outlet valve, 16 - outlet; 21 - outer tank body, 22 - inner tank body, 23 - rotating shaft, 24 - uniform cooling chamber, 25 - quick-freezing chamber, 26 - hopper body, 27 - freezing liquid; 41 - shunt cover, 42 - motor, 43 - cylinder body, 44 - elastic body, 45 - blade, 46 - cleaning strip, 47 - sieve, 48 - rotating shaft; 61 - rotating roller, 62 - guiding roller, 63 - bracket, 64 - frequency modulation motor; 71 - microwave tube, 72 - vacuum pumping port, 73 - air release port, 74 - furnace door, 75 - small shaft, 76 - rotating rod, 77 - cylinder, 78 - pressing head, 79 - fixed pulley. Specific embodiments

[0016] The present invention provides a simplified drawing showing the structure related to the present application. Structures not shown or not described in detail are all prior art. The following "garlic head" refers to peeled garlic, "garlic grains" refers to crushed garlic particles, and "garlic powder" refers to dried garlic particles. The "low temperature" in the following "vacuum low-temperature microwave drying" means that the drying temperature of garlic grains does not exceed 25°C.

[0017] The preparation device for medicinal garlic powder of the present invention is as shown in the attached Figure 1 figure, and includes a quick-freezing tank, a crusher 4, a tray 5, a conveying device 6, a drying furnace 7, etc. arranged in sequence according to the technological process. A quick-freezing tank is arranged above the crusher 4, and a tray 5 is below. The tray is placed on the conveying device 6 and is automatically conveyed to the drying furnace 7 by the conveying device. The quick-freezing tank is used to freeze the garlic head to a low temperature, the crusher 4 is used to crush the frozen garlic head into particles, the conveying device 6 is used to convey the tray 5 containing garlic grains, and the drying furnace 7 is used to perform vacuum low-temperature microwave drying on the garlic grains in the tray.

[0018] The quick-freezing tank includes a pre-cooling tank 1, a freezing tank 2, and a residence tank 3 covered with a heat-insulating layer, as shown in the attached Figure 1As shown in the figure. The upper end of the precooling tank 1 is connected to the inlet 11 through the inlet valve 12, and the lower end is connected to the freezing tank 2 through the freezing tank inlet valve 13. The upper end of the retention tank 3 is connected to the freezing tank through the freezing tank outlet valve 14, and the lower end is connected to the outlet 16 through the outlet valve 15. The freezing tank inlet valve 13 and the freezing tank outlet valve 14 adopt rotary plate valves. The rotary plate is a hemispherical body, and the spherical surface of the hemispherical rotary plate and the valve body are used for sealing. When one side is opened, the other side remains sealed, and the maximum opening is half of the hemispherical rotary plate. This valve adopts arc surface sealing, with good sealing effect and flexible movement. The hemispherical rotary plate is made of polytetrafluoroethylene material. Polytetrafluoroethylene has excellent chemical stability, corrosion resistance, sealing performance, high lubricity and non-stickiness, electrical insulation and good anti-aging endurance of heat insulation. Its hardness and strength will not decrease significantly at extremely low temperatures. The inlet valve 12 and the outlet valve 15 are preferably the above-mentioned hemispherical rotary plate valves, or other valves can also be used as long as the sealing requirements are met.

[0019] The freezing tank includes an outer tank body 21 and an inner tank body 22. The inner tank body 22 is made of food-grade stainless steel and is sleeved inside the outer tank body 21. The space between them is a vacuum cavity. In the vacuum cavity, insulating material pads are installed to fix the inner tank body stably. To increase the heat insulation effect, low-density insulating material particles can be placed in the vacuum cavity, or the vacuum cavity can not be evacuated as long as the insulating material can meet the heat insulation effect. The inner cavity of the inner tank body 22 is divided into a quick-freezing chamber 25 and an equalizing cooling chamber 24 that are connected left and right. The bottom of the quick-freezing chamber 25 contains a freezing liquid 27, and the connecting port on the side communicates with the upper part of the equalizing cooling chamber. The freezing liquid is a liquid nitrogen-ethanol mixture. Ethanol is cooled to -15°C to 25°C with liquid nitrogen to become the freezing liquid, and the ethanol used is edible alcohol. The freezing tank inlet valve 13 is installed at the top of the quick-freezing chamber and is connected to the precooling tank 1; the freezing tank outlet valve 14 is installed at the bottom of the equalizing cooling chamber and is connected to the retention tank 3.

[0020] A hopper body 26 is arranged in the quick-freezing chamber 25. Through holes are processed on the four side plates and the bottom plate of the hopper body 26 to facilitate the entry and exit of the freezing liquid. The side plate on the side of the connecting port is inclined to facilitate the falling of garlic when the hopper body is tilted. The upper part of the inclined side plate is connected to the rotating shaft 23. The rotating shaft 23 is arranged at the bottom of the connecting port, and the driving device for driving the rotation of the rotating shaft is arranged outside the freezing tank. The bearing components adopt a sealing structure to ensure the vacuum degree of the vacuum cavity between the inner and outer tank bodies. The side plate opposite to the connecting port side is an arc plate or an inclined plate to avoid bumping against the inner tank body when the hopper body rotates.

[0021] The structure of the crusher 4 is as shown in the appendix Figure 2As shown in the figure, it is used for low-temperature crushing of garlic bulbs and vibrating discharging of garlic grains, including a shunt cover 41, a motor 42, a cylinder 43, an elastomer 44, blades 45, a cleaning strip 46, etc. The shunt cover 41 is located at the upper part of the center of the cylinder 43 and is of a conical structure, used for evenly shunting garlic bulbs during discharging. The motor 42 is located below the shunt cover 41 and is fixedly connected to a rotating shaft 48. Blades 45 for crushing garlic bulbs are installed on the rotating shaft 48, and a cleaning strip 46 is installed at the bottom of the rotating shaft. The bottom of the cylinder 43 is a sieve 47 to ensure that the particle size of garlic grains is qualified. The rotation of the cleaning strip 46 can clean the garlic grains on the sieve to avoid sieve blockage. The cylinder 43 is connected to a small vibrating motor, and the outside is connected to an elastomer 44. The elastomer 44 is matched with the vibrating motor to achieve the vibration of the cylinder together.

[0022] The tray 5 is made of materials such as ceramics, heat-resistant glass (borosilicate glass, glass-ceramics, titanium oxide), plastics (polypropylene, polypropylene resin, composite polypropylene, polysulfone), etc. These materials can be placed in a microwave oven for heating. They have heat resistance, can transmit microwaves, and meet food hygiene requirements.

[0023] The structure of the conveying device 6 is as shown in the attached Figure 3 and attached Figure 4 figure, and includes rotating rollers 61, guide rollers 62, a bracket 63, a frequency modulation motor 64, etc. The rotating rollers 61 are installed on the bracket 63. Multiple rotating rollers form a conveyor belt plane. A frequency modulation motor 64 is installed at one end of the rotating roller, and the rotating roller is driven by the frequency modulation motor to rotate, and the tray is conveyed by the friction between the rotating roller and the tray. To ensure the conveying direction of the tray, guide rollers 62 are installed on both sides of the bracket, and the guide rollers on both sides are preferably arranged staggeredly.

[0024] The structure of the drying furnace 7 is as shown in the attached Figure 3 and attached Figure 4 figure, and includes a furnace body, a microwave tube 71, a vacuum pumping port 72, a gas vent 73, a furnace door 74 and a furnace door mechanism. The microwave tube 71 is installed on the top of the furnace body for microwave heating. The magnetron that converts electrical energy into microwave energy is not shown in the attached figure. A vacuum pumping port 72 and a gas vent 73 are provided on the furnace body for vacuum pumping and venting operations of the inner cavity of the furnace. Conveying rotating rollers are provided at the bottom of the furnace body, and the material of the rotating rollers meets the requirements for use in a microwave oven. The frequency modulation motor that drives the rotating rollers to rotate is arranged outside the furnace and is connected to the furnace body by a bearing component with a sealing structure. A furnace door 74 is provided at the inlet and outlet of the furnace body. The front door is for inlet and the back door is for outlet. The furnace door is sealed with the furnace body in the form of a sealing groove. The furnace door mechanism includes a lifting mechanism and a pressing mechanism. The fixed pulley 79 of the lifting mechanism is arranged at the front and rear edges of the furnace top, and the furnace door is suspended by a suspension rope to achieve the up and down movement of the furnace door. The pressing mechanism includes a small shaft 75, a rotating rod 76, a cylinder 77, and a pressing head 78. The small shaft 75 is arranged in the middle of the rotating rod 76 and is rotatably connected to the rotating rod. The pressing head 78 is one end of the rotating rod, and the other end is connected to the cylinder 77. The telescoping of the cylinder can drive the rotating rod to rotate around the small shaft, and the pressing head can loosen or press the furnace door.

[0025] Operating actions of the preparation device for medicinal garlic powder: Garlic bulbs are conveyed to the inlet. When the inlet valve 12 is opened and the garlic bulbs fall into the pre-cooling tank 1, the inlet valve is then closed. After the garlic bulbs are pre-cooled in the pre-cooling tank for a certain period of time, the freezing tank inlet valve 13 is opened, and the garlic bulbs fall into the hopper body 26 inside the quick-freezing chamber 25. Then the freezing tank inlet valve 13 is closed to reduce the loss of cold air. The freezing liquid in the hopper body quickly freezes the garlic bulbs. After reaching the process time, the rotating shaft rotates to drive the hopper body to tilt, and the freezing liquid in the hopper body falls into the bottom of the quick-freezing chamber 25 through the through holes. The garlic bulbs enter the equalizing cooling chamber 24 through the communication port, and the hopper body rotates back. After equalizing cooling for a certain period of time, the freezing tank outlet valve 14 is opened, and the garlic bulbs fall into the holding tank 3. Then the freezing tank outlet valve 14 is closed to prevent the loss of cold air. After the garlic bulbs stay in the holding tank for a certain period of time, the outlet valve 15 is opened, and the garlic bulbs fall from the outlet into the crusher 4. The garlic bulbs are crushed into garlic grains in the crusher, and the garlic grains vibrate through the sieve mesh and fall onto the tray 5. During the process of the garlic grains falling, the tray moves on the rollers of the conveying device to ensure uniform thickness of the garlic grains. After all the garlic grains in the crusher fall onto the tray, the tray is conveyed by the conveying device 6 to wait at the front door of the drying furnace 7. During the time of crushing, conveying, and waiting, alliin and alliinase come into contact with air to generate allicin. After waiting for a certain period of time, the drying furnace is emptied to atmospheric pressure, the front door is opened, and the rollers at the bottom of the furnace and the rollers of the conveying device rotate simultaneously to convey the tray at the front door into the drying furnace. The front door is closed, the drying furnace is evacuated from the vacuum port 72, the microwave tube 71 is powered on to heat and dry the garlic grains using microwaves, and the heating temperature of the garlic grains does not exceed 25°C (this temperature is not easily measured directly, and this temperature is indirectly controlled by the heating power of the microwave tube and the drying time, and the rationality of the power and time matching is determined by the allicin content in the garlic powder). After the garlic grains are dried into garlic powder, the vacuum port 72 is closed, the air release port 73 is opened, the drying furnace is emptied, the back door of the drying furnace is opened, and the rollers at the bottom of the furnace rotate to output the tray from the drying furnace.

[0026] The operation of the above garlic powder preparation device is illustrated by taking one batch as an example. When the current batch is in progress, the garlic bulbs or garlic grains of the next batch are followed up. For example, when the garlic powder exits the drying furnace, the garlic grains enter the drying furnace; the garlic bulbs in the holding tank fall into the crusher. After the outlet valve is closed, the freezing tank outlet valve is opened, and the garlic bulbs in the equalizing cooling chamber fall into the holding tank, etc. In this way, continuous production can be achieved, forming an intermittent continuous production mode.

[0027] The preparation process parameters for using this garlic powder preparation device are as follows: 1) Temperature. The temperature of the precooling tank is -10°C to 0°C, the temperature of the freezing tank is -20 ± 5°C, the temperature of the holding tank is -15°C to -5°C, the temperature of the crusher is ≤ 0°C, and the temperature of the tray of garlic grains waiting at room temperature is 10°C to 25°C. The temperature of the precooling tank is controlled by slightly adjusting the inlet valve and the inlet valve to the freezing tank. The holding tank is controlled by slightly adjusting the outlet valve from the freezing tank and the outlet valve to control the exchange of cold air and room temperature air. The temperature of the freezing tank is controlled by the amount of liquid nitrogen entering. The crusher is wrapped with a heat-insulating layer to reduce heat transfer with the outside air, as long as the garlic grains are solid particles and can smoothly fall through the sieve. At room temperature of 10°C to 25°C, on the premise of avoiding the decomposition of allicin, the temperature of the garlic grains is increased to prepare for vacuum microwave drying.

[0028] 2) Time. Due to intermittent continuous production, the intermittent time must be matched. The process times of the precooling tank, the freezing tank, and the holding tank are the same, all 20 - 30 minutes. The process time for crushing, conveying, and waiting, that is, the process time for garlic grains to oxidize and form allicin, is 20 - 30 minutes. The operation time of the drying furnace, that is, the total time for emptying, opening and closing the furnace door, conveying, and drying, is 20 - 30 minutes. However, the drying time is not less than 25 minutes.

[0029] 3) Weight. The weight per batch is 15 - 20 kg, and continuous operation is carried out every day to produce no less than 1 ton of garlic powder.

[0030] 4) Vacuum degree of the drying furnace. It should be ≤ 100 Pa. The lower the vacuum degree pressure, the more conducive it is to the evaporation of moisture in the garlic grains and the external discharge of water vapor, that is, the more conducive it is to the low-temperature drying of garlic grains. Pay attention to ensuring the tightness of the drying furnace, focus on the sealing of the furnace door and bearing components, and it is also possible to reduce the volume of the drying furnace hearth and increase the pumping capacity of the vacuum pump to quickly meet the requirements of the vacuum degree.

[0031] 6) Particle size and thickness of garlic grains. The particle size of garlic grains and the thickness in the tray directly affect the drying moisture evaporation rate. The smaller the particle size, the larger the surface area of the garlic grains, which is more conducive to vacuum low-temperature drying. However, if the particle size is too small, the gap between garlic grains is smaller, which instead affects moisture diffusion and microwave heating. The particle size should be 2 mm - 6 mm. The thickness is related to the particle size. When the particle size is large, the gap between garlic grains is large, and the thickness can be appropriately increased. When the particle size is small, the gap between garlic grains is small, and the thickness should be appropriately reduced. The thickness should be 6 mm - 20 mm.

[0032] 5) Microwave power. The microwave heating power is not only related to the temperature and drying time of garlic grains, but also related to the particle size and thickness of garlic grains, all of which affect the vacuum low-temperature drying efficiency and vacuum low-temperature drying quality. The microwave power should be 300 - 800 W.

[0033] The preparation method using this garlic powder preparation device includes the following steps: 1) The garlic bulbs are frozen in a quick-freezing tank. The garlic bulbs are pre-cooled in a pre-cooling tank at -10°C to 0°C for 20 to 30 minutes. Then, the rotary plate freezing tank inlet valve is opened, and the garlic bulbs fall into the bottom hopper of the quick-freezing chamber in the freezing tank. They are frozen by liquid nitrogen ethanol freezing liquid at -20±5°C for 20 to 30 minutes. The hopper is driven by a rotating shaft to rotate, and the frozen garlic bulbs are overturned into the equalizing chamber of the freezing tank for equalizing for 20 to 30 minutes. Then, the rotary plate freezing tank outlet valve is opened, and the garlic bulbs fall into a holding tank at 15°C to -5°C.

[0034] 2) The garlic bulbs are crushed. The outlet valve of the holding tank is opened, and the garlic bulbs fall into a crusher at a temperature ≤0°C and are crushed into garlic grains. The crusher vibrates while crushing. The garlic grains fall from the sieve at the bottom of the crusher into a moving tray. The particle size of the garlic grains is 2 mm to 6 mm, and the thickness is 6 mm to 20 mm. The cleaning bar at the bottom of the rotating shaft of the crusher rotates to clean the garlic grains blocking the sieve while the sieve vibrates. After crushing, the tray is conveyed by a conveying device to the front door of the drying furnace and waits. The total time for crushing, conveying, and waiting is 20 to 30 minutes. The room temperature is controlled at 10°C to 25°C. First, it is convenient for the garlic grains to thaw and provides conditions for vacuum low-temperature microwave drying. Second, it promotes the formation of allicin. Even when the room temperature and the tray are at the highest temperature of 25°C, within less than 30 minutes, the garlic grains cannot heat up from below the freezing point to above 20°C, and the formed allicin will not decompose.

[0035] 3) The garlic grains are dried. The drying furnace is emptied, and the hoisting mechanism opens the front door. The conveying device and the rollers at the bottom of the furnace convey the tray into the drying furnace, close the front door, and seal it by a pressing mechanism. The drying furnace is evacuated, and the vacuum degree ≤100 Pa. The microwave tubes are powered on for heating with a power of 300 to 800 W, and the heating time is not less than 25 minutes to dry into garlic powder. The vacuum furnace is emptied, the back door is opened, and the rollers at the bottom of the furnace convey the tray out of the back door of the drying furnace to complete the drying of one tray of garlic powder.

[0036] Note: 1) The control of temperature and time, as well as the opening and closing of valves, the flipping of the hopper, the vibrating crushing of the crusher, the conveying by the conveying device and the bottom rollers of the furnace, the opening and closing of the furnace door, the power-on of the microwave tubes, and all other actions are automatically controlled by an automatic control system. According to the garlic variety and the size of the garlic bulbs, the process parameters are input or adjusted in the control chip. The automatic control is an existing technology and is not the main content of the present invention. 2) The above process parameters are determined based on multiple tests and detections and are relatively optimal parameters on the premise of output. 3) The present invention designs the device and process based on ensuring the quality of medicinal garlic powder, meets the requirements of continuous production to improve output and economic benefits, and takes cost into account at the same time. The device occupies a small area, with a production rhythm of one tray in 20 to 30 minutes. One operator can take care of the weighing and feeding of garlic bulbs, the processing of garlic powder products, and the handling of trays, with low labor intensity, and is suitable for batch production of medicinal garlic powder.

[0037] The garlic powder after vacuum low-temperature microwave drying of the present invention is detected according to the requirements of GB / T 8861-88 "Dehydrated Garlic": 1) Appearance detection is of superior grade. The color is slightly yellow, the shape is regular and uniform, there is no peculiar smell, and there are no visible impurities. 2) Physical and chemical indicators: water ≤ 5% (superior grade ≤ 6.0%), total ash ≤ 5% (superior grade ≤ 6.0%); 3) Medicinal indicators: amino acids (allicin) ≥ 2.5% (standard ≥ 1.5%), soluble protein ≥ 26% (standard ≥ 22%). It can be seen that the above indicators all exceed the high-quality indicators in the standard and meet the medicinal purpose.

[0038] The present invention realizes intermittent continuous production. Continuous production ensures output and benefits, and intermittent production ensures the quality of garlic powder. The pre-cooling tank and the residence tank intermittently exchange air with the room temperature, avoiding direct heat exchange between the freezing tank and the air, and ensuring the low temperature of the freezing tank. Freezing below the freezing point facilitates the crushing of garlic bulbs, and the garlic grains have uniform particle size. The garlic grains are beneficial to the formation of allicin during the waiting time. Vacuum low-temperature microwave drying has a fast drying speed, a high allicin content, and good garlic powder quality.

Claims

1. A preparation device for medicinal garlic powder, characterized in that: The invention comprises a quick-freezing tank, a crusher, a conveying device and a drying furnace; the quick-freezing tank comprises a pre-cooling tank, a freezing tank and a staying tank; the freezing tank is a double-layer structure of an outer tank body with an inner tank body, the inner cavity of the inner tank body is divided into a quick-freezing chamber and a cooling chamber which are connected to each other on the left and right sides, the bottom of the quick-freezing chamber contains freezing liquid, and a bucket body with through holes is provided, the communicating port of the quick-freezing chamber is connected to the upper part of the cooling chamber; a rotating shaft is provided at the bottom of the communicating port, the rotating shaft is connected to the upper part of the bucket body, and the driving device of the rotating shaft is provided outside the freezing tank; a freezing tank inlet valve is provided at the top of the quick-freezing chamber to connect the pre-cooling tank; a freezing tank outlet valve is provided at the bottom of the cooling chamber to connect the staying tank; the lower end of the staying tank is connected to the outlet through an outlet valve; the crusher is provided below the outlet, a vibration mechanism is provided on the crusher, a conveying device is provided below the crusher, a tray is arranged on the conveying device, the tray receives the crushed garlic grains, and the garlic grains are conveyed to the drying furnace by the conveying device.

2. The preparation device of a medicinal garlic powder according to claim 1, characterized in that: The drying furnace includes a furnace body, a microwave tube, a furnace door and a furnace door mechanism; the microwave tube is installed on the top of the furnace body, a roller is arranged at the bottom of the furnace body, and a frequency-modulated motor driving the roller is arranged outside the drying furnace; furnace doors are arranged at the inlet and outlet of the furnace body, namely a front door and a rear door; the furnace door is sealed with a sealing groove of the furnace body; the furnace door mechanism includes a lifting mechanism and a clamping mechanism, the fixed pulleys of the lifting mechanism are arranged at the front and rear edges of the furnace top, and the furnace door is suspended by a lifting rope, and the clamping mechanism includes a small shaft, a rotating rod, a cylinder and a pressure head; the small shaft is arranged in the middle of the rotating rod and is rotatably connected to the rotating rod, the pressure head is the end of the rotating rod that presses the furnace door, and the cylinder is connected to the end opposite to the pressure head.

3. The preparation device of a medicinal garlic powder according to claim 1, characterized in that: The crusher includes a diverter hood, a motor, a cylinder, an elastic body, blades and a cleaning strip; the diverter hood is a cone and is located at the central upper part of the cylinder; the motor is located below the diverter hood and is fixedly connected to a rotating shaft; blades are installed on the rotating shaft and a cleaning strip is installed at the bottom; the bottom of the cylinder is a leakage net and the outside is connected to an elastic body.

4. The preparation device of a medicinal garlic powder according to claim 1, characterized in that: The conveying device comprises a rotating roller, a guide roller, a bracket and a frequency-modulated motor; the rotating roller is installed on the bracket, the frequency-modulated motor is installed at one end of the rotating roller, and the guide rollers are installed on both sides of the bracket.

5. The device for preparing medicinal garlic powder according to claim 1, characterized in that: The side plate of the bucket body on the connecting port side is inclined, and the side plate on the side opposite to the connecting port is an arc plate or an inclined plate; the freezing liquid is liquid nitrogen ethanol liquid; the upper end of the precooling tank is connected to the inlet through an inlet valve.

6. The device for preparing medicinal garlic powder according to claim 1, characterized in that: The freezing tank inlet valve and the freezing tank outlet valve are rotary plate type valves, and the rotary plate is a hemispherical body that is sealed with the spherical surface of the valve body.

7. The method for preparing garlic powder using the device for preparing medicinal garlic powder according to claim 2 comprises the following steps: Freezing of garlic in a quick-freezing tank: pre-cooling the garlic in a pre-cooling tank at -10℃~0℃ for 20~30min, opening the inlet valve of the freezing tank, the garlic falls into the bucket at the bottom of the quick-freezing chamber, and is frozen by -20±5℃ freezing liquid for 20~30min. The bucket is driven by the rotating shaft to rotate, and the frozen garlic is tipped into the cooling chamber, where it is cooled evenly for 20~30min. Opening the outlet valve of the freezing tank, the garlic falls into the retention tank at 15℃~-5℃; 2) Garlic crushing: The outlet valve of the retention tank is opened, and the garlic falls into the crusher with a temperature of ≤0℃ and is crushed into garlic grains. The crusher vibrates while crushing, and the garlic grains fall into the moving tray from the net. The size of the garlic grains is 2mm~6mm, and the thickness is 6mm~20mm. After the crushing is completed, the tray is transported by the conveying device to the front door of the drying furnace to wait. The total time for crushing, conveying and waiting is 20~30min; the room temperature is 10℃~25℃; 3) Garlic drying: the drying furnace is emptied, the lifting mechanism opens the front door, the conveying device and the rollers at the bottom of the furnace transport the tray into the drying furnace, the front door is closed, the pressing mechanism seals the front door, the drying furnace is evacuated, and the vacuum degree is ≤100Pa; the microwave tube is powered on for heating, the power is 300~800W, and the heating time is not less than 25min; the vacuum furnace is emptied, the rear door is opened, and the rollers at the bottom of the furnace transport the tray out of the rear door of the drying furnace; the total operation time of the drying furnace is 20~30min.

8. The method for preparing garlic powder according to claim 7, characterized in that: In step 2), the cleaning bar at the bottom of the rotating shaft of the crusher rotates, and the garlic grains blocking the screen are cleaned while the screen vibrates.

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