Preparation method of roxburgh rose molecular essence solid beverage

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of food processing, in particular to a preparation method of a roxburgh rose molecular essence solid beverage, which comprises the following steps: pretreatment of roxburgh rose raw materials, low-temperature physical wall-breaking extraction, multistage membrane separation and purification, low-temperature vacuum concentration and recombination crystallization. According to the method, high-efficiency physical extraction is realized under the low-temperature (25-35 DEG C) condition by adopting a torrent oscillation wall breaking technology, no chemical extraction agent is added in the whole process, and micromolecular active ingredients are selectively enriched and impurities and microorganisms are effectively removed by combining an ultrafiltration and nanofiltration multistage membrane separation system. After low-temperature vacuum concentration and recombination crystallization processes, the prepared solid beverage is high in active ingredient retention rate (SOC is greater than or equal to 90%, and VC is greater than or equal to 87%), good in solubility (the cold water dissolution time is less than or equal to 30 seconds), free of chemical residues, pure in taste and suitable for large-scale industrial production.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of food processing technology, specifically to a method for producing a solid beverage containing prickly pear molecular essence. Background Technology

[0002] Prickly pear is a unique fruit found in Guizhou and Guangxi provinces, valued for both its medicinal and edible properties. It is rich in vitamin C, superoxide dismutase (SOD), anthocyanins (OPC), and other bioactive components, exhibiting significant antioxidant, immune-regulating, and blood sugar-lowering health benefits. These heat-sensitive active ingredients are the core value of prickly pear.

[0003] Currently, the industrial processing methods for prickly pear beverages are mainly divided into two categories: one is mechanical physical methods, such as crushing and pressing. Patent CN104643061A discloses that prickly pear fruit is crushed by a crusher and pressed by a press to obtain the original juice; or centrifugation to extract juice. Patent CN102178323B discloses that frozen prickly pears are thawed and then centrifuged to separate the juice. Although the above physical methods do not involve chemical additives, they have problems such as insufficient cell wall disruption, low extraction rate of active ingredients, and easy oxidation and browning of the juice. The second is chemical solvent extraction methods, such as ethanol extraction. Patent CN103054031A discloses that prickly pear fruit is extracted by adding ethanol at room temperature and pressure. Although this method can improve the extraction rate of some components, the use of organic solvents may cause heat-sensitive components (such as SOD and VC) to be inactivated and introduce solvent residue risks, affecting product safety and purity. Subsequent complex purification steps are required to remove the solvent, increasing production costs and environmental burden.

[0004] Therefore, existing technologies suffer from bottlenecks such as difficulty in simultaneously achieving high extraction efficiency and preserving active ingredients, risks of chemical residues, and poor process continuity. Developing a highly efficient, green, and effective solid beverage processing method that maximizes the preservation of the natural active ingredients of prickly pear is of great significance for increasing the added value of prickly pear products and promoting industrial upgrading. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, the technical problem solved by this invention is to provide a method for producing a solid beverage containing prickly pear molecular essence. This method aims to solve problems such as low efficiency of mechanical extraction and residues and damage to active ingredients caused by chemical extraction, thereby achieving green manufacturing of prickly pear products with high efficiency, zero chemical additives, and high activity retention.

[0006] To solve the above problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: a method for preparing a solid beverage containing prickly pear molecular essence, comprising the following steps: S1. Low-temperature physical cell wall disruption extraction: The pretreated prickly pear fruit is put into a turbulent shaking cell wall disruption device and physically disrupted at 25-35℃ for 30-60 minutes to obtain the extract. S2. Multi-stage membrane separation and purification: After centrifugation to remove residue, the extract is sequentially separated and purified by ultrafiltration membrane and nanofiltration membrane to obtain the essence; the molecular weight cutoff of the ultrafiltration membrane is 10-100kDa, and the molecular weight cutoff of the nanofiltration membrane is 200-1000Da. S3. Low-temperature vacuum concentration: The essence is concentrated at 40-60℃ and a vacuum of -0.08MPa to -0.1MPa to obtain an extract; S4 Recombinant Crystallization: The extract is recombinantly crystallized, and the water content is controlled to be ≤5% to obtain a prickly pear molecular essence solid beverage.

[0007] This method utilizes the physical shear force and cavitation effect generated by turbulent oscillation to break down the cell walls of prickly pear fruit at a low temperature of 25-35℃, allowing the active ingredients to dissolve. Water is used as the medium throughout the process, without the addition of any chemical extractants. After centrifugation to remove residue, the extract is passed sequentially through an ultrafiltration membrane and a nanofiltration membrane. The ultrafiltration membrane retains large molecular impurities and pectin, while the nanofiltration membrane enriches small molecular active ingredients, such as SOD and VC, achieving selective separation and concentration of the target components while removing harmful substances such as microorganisms and heavy metals.

[0008] Concentration is performed at 40-60℃ under negative pressure to reduce the loss of heat-sensitive components. Spray drying, vacuum freeze-drying, or vacuum negative pressure drying technologies are used to solidify the extract into powder or granules, controlling the final product's moisture content to ≤5%. Recrystallization can be an option in the process, where the dried material is recrystallized under low-temperature negative pressure to improve product solubility and flowability, followed by pulverization to a suitable particle size. Compared to existing homogeneous and differential pressure cell-breaking extraction methods, the turbulent shaking extraction method in this scheme better ensures the consistency of the prickly pear product. While homogeneous cell-breaking can refine particles to the nanoscale, effectively disrupting cell structure and improving solubility and stability, excessive fragmentation may lead to difficulties in subsequent separation, resulting in poor product quality. Differential pressure cell-breaking extraction typically uses constant or variable pressure modes, resulting in a relatively stable process, but it requires high precision in pressure control and is easily affected by material viscosity, which can also impact the quality of the final product.

[0009] Furthermore, in S1, the pretreatment includes washing, pitting, and cutting fresh or frozen prickly pear fruit into pieces.

[0010] Furthermore, in S2, the centrifugation speed is 2500-3500 rpm, and the time is 10-30 minutes.

[0011] Furthermore, in S4, the recrystallization includes: recrystallizing the extract at 25-35°C under negative pressure for 1-3 hours, and then pulverizing it to obtain a prickly pear molecular essence solid beverage.

[0012] Furthermore, prior to the low-temperature physical cell wall disruption extraction described in S1, the pretreated prickly pear fruit undergoes enzymatic hydrolysis. This enzymatic hydrolysis employs a composite enzyme of cellulase and pectinase, performed for 30-40 minutes at pH 4.0-6.0 and a temperature of 50-60℃. This method utilizes a composite enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulase and pectinase to disrupt the cell wall structure, facilitating the subsequent release of components.

[0013] Furthermore, the pH 4.0–6.0 environment is adjusted by adding citric acid or malic acid. The enzymatic pH is adjusted using natural organic acids (such as citric acid), without introducing synthetic chemicals.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution of this application has the following beneficial effects: 1. High extraction efficiency and environmentally friendly: Turbulent shaking physically disrupts cell walls, avoiding the use of chemical solvents. Simultaneously, its cavitation and shearing effects significantly improve cell wall disruption rate and the dissolution rate of active ingredients. Combined with enzymatic pretreatment, extraction efficiency can be further enhanced.

[0015] 2. Maximum preservation of active ingredients: The entire core extraction and concentration process is carried out at low temperatures, which effectively protects the bioactivity of heat-sensitive ingredients such as SOD and VC.

[0016] 3. High product purity and superior quality: The multi-stage membrane separation technology of ultrafiltration + nanofiltration achieves precise molecular sieving, which enriches the target active ingredients while efficiently removing impurities, pesticide residues, heavy metals and microorganisms, resulting in high product purity and good safety.

[0017] 4. Excellent solubility and taste: The product's crystal morphology is optimized through recrystallization, giving it excellent cold water solubility. Membrane separation removes some acidic substances, improving the taste and making it more acceptable to consumers.

[0018] 5. Good process continuity and suitable for industrialization: The method has clear steps, each unit operation is easy to automate, the process flow is coherent, it is suitable for large-scale standardized production, and it is in line with the development direction of modern food industry. Attached Figure Description

[0019] Figure 1 This is a process flow diagram of a method for producing a solid beverage containing prickly pear molecular essence. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0021] Example 1: This embodiment of the invention discloses a method for preparing a solid beverage containing prickly pear molecular essence, referring to... Figure 1 : Step 1. Pre-treatment: Take 10kg of fresh prickly pear fruit, wash, remove the core and cut into pieces.

[0022] Step 2. Low-temperature physical cell wall breaking extraction: Put the prickly pear fruit pieces and 100L of purified water into a turbulent shaking cell wall breaking device and extract at 30℃ for 40 minutes.

[0023] Step 3. Centrifugation: Centrifuge the extract at 3000 rpm for 20 minutes to remove the pulp.

[0024] Step 4. Membrane separation: The supernatant is first filtered through an ultrafiltration membrane with a molecular weight cutoff of 50 kDa, and the filtrate is then filtered through a nanofiltration membrane with a molecular weight cutoff of 500 Da. The nanofiltration retentate (essence) is collected.

[0025] Step 5. Low-temperature vacuum concentration: The essence is concentrated at 50℃ and -0.09MPa to a paste with a solid content of 30%.

[0026] Step 6. Recrystallization: Dry and recrystallize the extract in a recrystallization unit (25°C) for 1 hour, and then pulverize it to obtain a light yellow powder.

[0027] Step 7. Packaging: Dispense the powder into aluminum foil bags and seal them.

[0028] Example 2: Enzymatic hydrolysis-assisted process Based on Example 1, an enzymatic hydrolysis step is added before step 2 (extraction): Enzymatic hydrolysis: Add the pretreated prickly pear pieces to a compound enzyme solution (cellulase and pectinase in a mass ratio of 1:1, with the total amount of enzyme added being 0.5% of the fruit piece mass), adjust the pH of the system to 5.0 with citric acid, and enzymatically hydrolyze at 55℃ for 35 minutes.

[0029] After enzymatic hydrolysis, the material is directly subjected to step 2 of turbulent extraction, and subsequent steps are the same as in Example 1.

[0030] Comparative Example 1: Chemical Extraction Method Referring to CN103054031A, a 50% ethanol solution was used with a material-to-liquid ratio of 1:10. The solution was soaked and extracted at room temperature for 24 hours. After recovering the ethanol, the solution was concentrated and dried.

[0031] Comparative Example 2: Mechanical Pressing Method Referring to CN104643061A, the prickly pear fruit is crushed and then directly pressed to extract juice. The juice is then concentrated at 80℃ under normal pressure and spray-dried.

[0032] Comparative Example 3: High-Temperature Water Extraction Traditional hot water extraction was used, with a material-to-liquid ratio of 1:15, and extraction at 90°C for 2 hours. Subsequent concentration and drying were the same as in Example 1.

[0033] The key performance indicators of the products obtained in the above embodiments and comparative examples were tested, and the results are shown in the table below: Table 1: Comparison of key indicators of prickly pear solid beverages prepared by different methods

[0034] Results analysis: 1. Retention of active ingredients: The retention rates of SOD and VC in all embodiments of the present invention are significantly higher than those in all comparative examples. This demonstrates the effective protection of heat-sensitive components by the low-temperature physical cell disruption combined with membrane separation technology.

[0035] 2. Extraction Efficiency and Safety: The retention rate of active ingredients in Example 2 (enzymatic hydrolysis-assisted) was slightly higher than that in Example 1, indicating that enzymatic hydrolysis pretreatment can gently disrupt cell structure, improve extraction efficiency, and does not introduce safety risks. No chemical solvent residues were detected in any of the examples, while ethanol residues were found in Comparative Example 1.

[0036] 3. Product Performance: The products of this invention (Examples 1 and 2) dissolve rapidly in cold water and have a pure taste. In contrast, Comparative Examples 2 and 3 suffer from browning, poor solubility, and unpleasant taste due to process defects.

[0037] 4. Overall advantages: This invention achieves a balance in extraction efficiency, activity retention, product purity and safety through the core process combination of "low-temperature physical cell disruption + multi-stage membrane separation + low-temperature concentration and drying". Its overall performance is significantly better than that of traditional chemical and mechanical physical methods.

[0038] The method for producing solid beverages from prickly pear molecular essence provided by this invention has significant advantages such as high extraction efficiency, good retention of active ingredients, no chemical residues, and good solubility, and has good prospects for industrial application and market competitiveness.

[0039] The above descriptions are merely embodiments of the present invention, and common knowledge regarding specific structures and characteristics is not elaborated upon here. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the structure of the present invention, and these should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention. These modifications will not affect the effectiveness of the present invention or the practicality of the patent. The scope of protection claimed in this application should be determined by the content of its claims, and the specific embodiments described in the specification can be used to interpret the content of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for producing a solid beverage containing prickly pear molecular essence, characterized in that: Includes the following steps: S1. Low-temperature physical cell wall disruption extraction: The pretreated prickly pear fruit is put into a turbulent shaking cell wall disruption device and physically disrupted at 25-35℃ for 30-60 minutes to obtain the extract. S2. Multi-stage membrane separation and purification: After centrifugation to remove residue, the extract is sequentially separated and purified by ultrafiltration membrane and nanofiltration membrane to obtain the essence; the molecular weight cutoff of the ultrafiltration membrane is 10-100kDa, and the molecular weight cutoff of the nanofiltration membrane is 200-1000Da. S3. Low-temperature vacuum concentration: The essence is concentrated at 40-60℃ and a vacuum of -0.08MPa to -0.1MPa to obtain an extract; S4 Recombinant Crystallization: The extract is recombinantly crystallized, and the water content is controlled to be ≤5% to obtain a prickly pear molecular essence solid beverage.

2. The method for preparing a prickly pear molecular essence solid beverage according to claim 1, characterized in that: In S1, the pretreatment includes washing, pitting, and cutting fresh or frozen prickly pears into pieces.

3. The method for preparing a prickly pear molecular essence solid beverage according to claim 1, characterized in that: In S2, the centrifugation speed is 2500-3500 rpm, and the time is 10-30 minutes.

4. The method for preparing a prickly pear molecular essence solid beverage according to claim 1, characterized in that: In S4, the recrystallization includes: recrystallizing the extract at 25-35°C under negative pressure for 1-3 hours, and then pulverizing it to obtain a prickly pear molecular essence solid beverage.

5. The method for preparing a prickly pear molecular essence solid beverage according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before the low-temperature physical cell wall breaking extraction described in S1, the pretreated prickly pear fruit is further subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis. The enzymatic hydrolysis is performed using a complex enzyme of cellulase and pectinase at a pH of 4.0-6.0 and a temperature of 50-60℃ for 30-40 minutes.

6. The method for preparing a prickly pear molecular essence solid beverage according to claim 5, characterized in that: The pH 4.0-6.0 environment was adjusted by adding citric acid or malic acid.

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