Dried sleep-aiding three-seven rice noodles as well as preparation method and application of dried sleep-aiding three-seven rice noodles

Abstract

The invention discloses dried sleep-aiding three-seven rice noodles as well as a preparation method and application thereof, and belongs to the technical field of sleep-aiding rice noodle foods. The dried sleep-aiding Sanqiao rice noodles comprise the following raw materials in parts by weight: 15-25 parts of pseudo-ginseng powder, 70-80 parts of rice flour, 10-20 parts of buckwheat flour, 5-15 parts of spina date seed powder, 5-15 parts of a grape seed extract, 5-15 parts of orange juice and 5-15 parts of lily powder. Pseudo-ginseng powder is used as a main functional component, and rice meal, buckwheat flour, spina date seed powder, grape seed extract, orange juice and lily powder are used as auxiliary materials to prepare the rice noodles. The health food is simple in process, rich in nutrition, good in taste and free of any preservatives, is an ideal pure natural green food, and is particularly suitable for sub-health groups with insomnia to eat. According to the invention, the normal diet is not influenced, and meanwhile, the insomnia trouble caused by various factors is improved, so that the effects of calming and helping sleep are achieved, and people can keep good sleep.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of sleep-aiding rice noodle food technology, and in particular to a dried sleep-aiding Panax notoginseng rice noodle, its preparation method, and its application. Background Technology

[0002] Insomnia refers to the inability to fall asleep or maintain a state of sleep, resulting in insufficient sleep. Also known as sleep onset and maintenance disorder, it is a common condition caused by various reasons, including difficulty falling asleep, insufficient sleep depth or frequency, early awakening, and insufficient sleep duration or poor sleep quality.

[0003] Traditional rice noodles use rice as the main ingredient and are extruded into rice strands using a rice noodle machine. These rice noodles have a very limited flavor, nutritional value, and color, and cannot meet people's growing demand for functional rice noodles.

[0004] Panax notoginseng, a perennial herb belonging to the genus Panax in the family Araliaceae, is a precious traditional Chinese medicine unique to my country, recorded in classic texts such as the *Compendium of Materia Medica*. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that total saponins of Panax notoginseng are its main active ingredients, possessing significant sedative and tranquilizing effects, improving cerebral blood flow, and regulating neurotransmitter balance. It can also exert its sleep-aiding effects by regulating the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system and the serotonin system. However, the direct application of Panax notoginseng in the food industry faces three major technical challenges: First, Panax notoginseng itself has a significant bitter and earthy taste, and its direct addition would severely affect the sensory quality of rice noodles, making it difficult for consumers to accept; second, the active ingredients in Panax notoginseng are prone to oxidative degradation during high-temperature extrusion, steaming, and other processing methods, reducing bioavailability; third, the dose-response relationship between the dosage and method of addition of Panax notoginseng and the efficacy and safety of the final product is still unclear, and systematic research on optimizing process parameters is lacking.

[0005] Currently, there are thousands of non-health-functional rice noodles on the Chinese market, but health-functional Panax notoginseng rice noodles are rare, and there is a lack of rice noodle products specifically targeting sub-healthy groups suffering from insomnia. Existing Panax notoginseng-related foods are mostly processed as wet products or simply dried products. There is still no publicly available and effective technical solution for how to stably process rice noodles containing Panax notoginseng and other functional ingredients into "dry-processed rice noodles" with good rehydration properties, no breakage, no stickiness, and a long shelf life through key processes such as systematic "aging" and "segmented drying," while maximizing the preservation of active ingredients and sleep-aiding effects. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to provide a dried Panax notoginseng rice noodle for sleep aid, its preparation method and application, in order to solve the problems existing in the prior art.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following solution: In the first aspect, the present invention provides a dried sleep-aiding Panax notoginseng rice noodle, comprising the following raw materials in parts by weight: 15-25 parts Panax notoginseng powder, 70-80 parts rice flour, 10-20 parts buckwheat flour, 5-15 parts jujube seed powder, 5-15 parts grape seed extract, 5-15 parts orange juice and 5-15 parts lily powder.

[0008] Preferably, the ingredients include the following parts by weight: 20 parts Panax notoginseng powder, 80 parts rice flour, 10 parts buckwheat flour, 5 parts jujube seed powder, 5 parts grape seed extract, 5 parts orange juice, and 5 parts lily powder.

[0009] Secondly, the present invention also provides a method for preparing the aforementioned dried sleep-aiding Panax notoginseng rice noodles, wherein the rice noodles are dried rice noodles, and the preparation method includes the following steps: According to the amount of raw materials used, take Panax notoginseng powder, rice flour, buckwheat flour, jujube seed powder, grape seed extract and lily powder. Sift the above raw materials, add orange juice and water to the sieved raw materials to make powder, and then process the powder into mature extrusion, aging treatment, dispersion and drying to obtain the dried sleep-aiding Panax notoginseng rice noodles.

[0010] Preferably, the grape seed extract is prepared by: crushing grape seeds, adding ethanol, ultrasonically extracting to obtain grape seed extract, and then vacuum drying to obtain the grape seed extract.

[0011] Preferably, the ethanol is added at a ratio of 1g to 5-10mL of grape seeds to ethanol solution, and the volume fraction of the ethanol is 40-80%.

[0012] Preferably, the ethanol is added at a ratio of grape seed to ethanol liquid of 1g:8mL, and the volume fraction of the ethanol is 70%.

[0013] Preferably, the ultrasonic power is 100-120W, the ultrasonic time is 30-60min, and the ultrasonic temperature is 35-60℃.

[0014] Preferably, the ultrasonic power is 100W, the ultrasonic time is 50min, and the ultrasonic temperature is 35℃.

[0015] Preferably, the aging process is divided into two stages: first, aging at 20°C for 3 hours, and then raising the temperature to 35°C for another 5 hours.

[0016] Thirdly, the present invention also provides an application of the aforementioned sleep-aiding Panax notoginseng rice thread in the preparation of sleep-aiding products.

[0017] The present invention discloses the following technical effects: 1. Innovative Formula and Clear Function: This invention uses Panax notoginseng powder as the core, combined with medicinal and edible ingredients such as jujube seed powder and lily powder, as well as grape seed extract (rich in proanthocyanidins), buckwheat powder and orange juice. The scientifically formulated formula has been verified by animal experiments and clinical trials to have the sleep-aiding effect of shortening the sleep latency and prolonging sleep time.

[0018] 2. Technological Innovation and Product Standardization: This invention innovatively introduces a systematic "two-stage aging" and "segmented gradient drying" process for rice noodles containing functional ingredients such as Panax notoginseng. This process solves the problem of deteriorated rice noodle processing performance (easily broken, sticky) caused by the addition of functional ingredients, successfully producing "dry-processed rice noodles" that meet the QB / T 2652-2025 standard for "Rice Noodles". The product has a moisture content ≤14%, a breakage rate ≤5.0% when cooked, a cooking loss rate ≤15.0%, a stickiness rate ≤3.0%, good rehydration properties, a smooth and chewy texture, and a long shelf life.

[0019] 3. Balancing Flavor and Efficacy: The orange juice in the formula effectively masks the inherent bitterness of Panax notoginseng, improving the product's palatability. Simultaneously, the optimized low-temperature ripening and segmented drying processes help reduce the loss of heat-sensitive functional components such as total saponins from Panax notoginseng. Detailed Implementation

[0020] Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail. This detailed description should not be considered as a limitation of the present invention, but rather as a more detailed description of certain aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention.

[0021] It should be understood that the terminology used in this invention is merely for describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the invention. Furthermore, with respect to numerical ranges in this invention, it should be understood that each intermediate value between the upper and lower limits of the range is also specifically disclosed. Any stated value or intermediate value within a stated range, as well as each smaller range between any other stated value or intermediate value within said range, is also included in this invention. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may be independently included or excluded from the range.

[0022] Unless otherwise stated, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. While only preferred methods and materials have been described herein, any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein may be used in the implementation or testing of this invention. All references to this specification are incorporated by way of citation to disclose and describe methods and / or materials associated with those references. In the event of any conflict with any incorporated reference, the content of this specification shall prevail.

[0023] Various modifications and variations can be made to the specific embodiments described in this specification without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Other embodiments derived from this specification will also be obvious to those skilled in the art. This specification and embodiments are merely exemplary.

[0024] The terms “include,” “including,” “have,” “contain,” etc., used in this article are all open-ended terms, meaning that they include but are not limited to.

[0025] With rapid socio-economic development and the significantly accelerated pace of modern life, sleep disorders have become a major public health issue affecting national health. Data from the World Health Organization shows that approximately 27% of the global population experiences varying degrees of sleep problems, while the incidence of insomnia among adults in my country is as high as 38.2%, and is showing a trend of increasing year by year and affecting younger people. Long-term insomnia not only leads to physiological dysfunctions such as memory loss, weakened immunity, and endocrine disorders, but is also closely related to mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, as well as chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, seriously affecting people's quality of life and work efficiency. Currently, intervention methods for insomnia mainly include drug treatment, psychosocial therapy, and dietary regulation; however, existing technological solutions all have significant limitations in practical application.

[0026] In terms of drug treatment, while benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepines are relatively fast-acting sedative-hypnotic drugs, long-term use can easily lead to drug dependence, tolerance, and residual effects the following day. They may also cause serious adverse reactions such as cognitive impairment and respiratory depression, which does not align with the health concept of "prevention is better than cure." In the health food sector, most common sleep aids on the market use melatonin, jujube seed extract, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as their main active ingredients. Dosage forms are concentrated in traditional formats such as capsules, tablets, and oral liquids, which suffer from problems such as monotonous taste, inconvenient administration, and high prices, making them difficult to integrate into daily dietary habits and resulting in poor consumer compliance. Furthermore, these products often focus on supplementing single ingredients, neglecting the unique advantages of traditional Chinese medicine's "holistic conditioning" approach. They are also out of sync with the staple food consumption habits of Chinese residents, failing to achieve the dual goals of satisfying hunger while providing functional conditioning.

[0027] Rice noodles, a traditional staple food in southern my country, have a history of over two thousand years. They are beloved by consumers for their smooth texture, easy digestibility, and quick preparation. However, traditional rice noodles, primarily made from rice, have relatively simple nutritional components and low added value, making it difficult to meet the diverse nutritional and functional needs of modern consumers. In recent years, with the booming development of the health industry, the research and development of functional staple food products has gradually become a hot topic of innovation in the food industry. While existing technologies include rice noodle products with added vegetables, grains, and edible fungi, rice noodle products specifically designed to improve sleep are still lacking. In particular, research combining traditional Chinese medicinal herbs with rice noodle processing is still in its early stages, facing numerous technical bottlenecks that urgently need to be addressed.

[0028] Currently, although there have been some attempts at developing Panax notoginseng noodles, Panax notoginseng biscuits, and other noodle products, the following shortcomings exist: First, these products are not specifically designed for sleep-aiding functions and lack scientific formulation and efficacy verification; second, the problem of masking the bitterness of Panax notoginseng and harmonizing its flavor has not been solved, resulting in poor product taste; third, the processing methods are simple and crude, and an effective protection and controlled-release technology system for the active ingredients of Panax notoginseng has not been established; finally, there is a lack of research on the processing technology of rice noodles as a specific staple food, making it impossible to solve the technical challenges of the stability of Panax notoginseng components under high moisture content and high-temperature cooking conditions. Therefore, developing a functional rice noodle product that retains the inherent edible quality of rice noodles while integrating the sleep-aiding effects of Panax notoginseng, and establishing a corresponding industrialized preparation method, has significant practical significance and market value for enriching the categories of functional staple foods, promoting the industrialization of traditional Chinese medicine food therapy, and meeting the dietary conditioning needs of people with insomnia.

[0029] Example 1: A method for preparing dried Panax notoginseng rice noodles for sleep aid The ingredients include the following parts by weight: 20 parts Panax notoginseng powder, 80 parts rice flour, 10 parts buckwheat flour, 5 parts jujube seed powder, 5 parts grape seed extract, 5 parts orange juice, and 5 parts lily powder.

[0030] The preparation method of grape seed extract is as follows: grape seeds are crushed, and 70% ethanol is added at a material-to-liquid ratio of 1g:8mL. The grape seed extract is obtained by ultrasonic extraction at 100W and 35℃ for 50min. After vacuum drying, the grape seed extract is obtained.

[0031] The preparation method of the sleep-aiding Panax notoginseng rice noodles is as follows: pass the above-mentioned weight parts of Panax notoginseng powder, rice flour, buckwheat flour, jujube seed powder, grape seed extract and lily powder through a 100-mesh sieve, and then put them into a mixer to dry mix evenly to obtain a mixed powder. Add orange juice and an appropriate amount of purified water to the mixed powder, and stir in a dough mixer until a granular powder with uniform moisture content is formed, which can be formed into a ball by hand and crumbled when released, with a moisture content of about 40%.

[0032] The powder is fed into a twin-screw rice noodle extruder and matured at 100℃ for 5 minutes. The rice noodle blanks are then extruded through a circular die to form rice noodle blanks with a diameter of approximately 1.0 mm. The rice noodle blanks are then neatly hung in an aging chamber and aged for 3 hours at 20℃ and 95% relative humidity. Subsequently, the temperature is raised to 35℃ while maintaining 95% relative humidity, and aging continues for another 5 hours.

[0033] The aged rice noodles are gently combed using a sifting machine to completely separate them. The rice noodles are then transferred to a drying room and slowly dried at 30℃ for 1.5 hours (strip setting stage), then the temperature is increased to 45℃ for 6 hours (main drying stage). Finally, heating is stopped, and the noodles are ventilated and cooled to room temperature for 2 hours to balance the moisture content. The finished product's moisture content is measured to be 12.5%.

[0034] The dried rice noodles are cut to length, weighed, and packaged to obtain the dried Panax notoginseng rice noodle product for sleep aid. Testing showed that the product had a 3.2% breakage rate during cooking, a 12.1% cooking loss rate, and a 1.8% stickiness rate, meeting the standards for high-quality dried rice noodles.

[0035] Example 2: A method for preparing dried Panax notoginseng rice noodles for sleep aid The only difference from Example 1 is that it includes the following ingredients in parts by weight: 15 parts Panax notoginseng powder, 75 parts rice flour, 10 parts buckwheat flour, 5 parts jujube seed powder, 5 parts grape seed extract, 10 parts orange juice, and 5 parts lily powder. The rest is the same as in Example 1.

[0036] Example 3: A method for preparing dried Panax notoginseng rice noodles for sleep aid The only difference from Example 1 is that it includes the following ingredients in parts by weight: 15 parts Panax notoginseng powder, 80 parts rice flour, 5 parts buckwheat flour, 5 parts jujube seed powder, 5 parts grape seed extract, 10 parts orange juice, and 5 parts lily powder. The rest is the same as in Example 1.

[0037] Comparative Example 1: A method for preparing dried Panax notoginseng rice noodles for sleep aid The only difference from Example 1 is that it includes the following ingredients in parts by weight: 5 parts Panax notoginseng powder, 90 parts rice flour, 5 parts buckwheat flour, 5 parts jujube seed powder, 20 parts grape seed extract, 15 parts orange juice, and 5 parts lily powder. The rest is the same as in Example 1.

[0038] Comparative Example 2: A method for preparing dried Panax notoginseng rice noodles for sleep aid The only difference from Example 1 is that Panax notoginseng powder was not added to the raw material formula, and the amounts of other raw materials were adjusted, including the following ingredients by weight: 80 parts rice flour, 10 parts buckwheat flour, 15 parts jujube seed powder, 5 parts grape seed extract, 10 parts orange juice, and 10 parts lily powder. The rest is the same as in Example 1.

[0039] Comparative Example 3: A method for preparing dried Panax notoginseng rice noodles for sleep aid The only difference from Example 1 is that grape seed extract and jujube seed powder were not added to the raw material formula, and the amounts of other raw materials were adjusted, including the following ingredients by weight: 80 parts rice flour, 25 parts Panax notoginseng powder, 10 parts buckwheat flour, 10 parts orange juice, and 5 parts lily powder. The rest is the same as in Example 1.

[0040] Experimental Example 1 Seventy mice weighing 18-22g were selected for the experiment and randomly divided into 7 groups of 10 mice each. The control group received an intraperitoneal injection of sodium pentobarbital 50mg / kg, and the time of loss of the righting reflex (sleep latency) and its duration were recorded. The other experimental groups were administered 15g / kg of the cooked rice noodle paste prepared in Examples 1-3 and Comparative Examples 1-3 of this invention via gavage daily for 4 weeks, with all other culture conditions identical for each group. One hour after the last gavage, mice in each experimental group received an intraperitoneal injection of sodium pentobarbital 50mg / kg, and the time of loss of the righting reflex (sleep latency) and its duration were recorded. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

[0041] Table 1 Effects of sodium pentobarbital on sleep duration in mice As shown in Table 1 above, the sleep-aiding Panax notoginseng rice thread prepared by the present invention can effectively shorten the sleep latency and prolong the sleep maintenance time of mice, thereby shortening the sleep onset time and improving sleep quality.

[0042] Experiment Example 2 Forty-eight patients diagnosed with insomnia at the Department of Neurology of a tertiary hospital in Yunnan Province between December 2024 and June 2025 were selected. There were 20 males and 28 females. They were randomly divided into six groups and treated with the Panax notoginseng rice noodles prepared according to this invention for one month. Inclusion criteria: Patients diagnosed with insomnia according to both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine standards, who had not recently received related anti-anxiety medication, and who voluntarily agreed to the study. Exclusion criteria: Patients who experienced insomnia symptoms due to surgery within the past 30 days, those who recently had difficulty falling asleep, those who had experienced acute gastrointestinal illness within the past 30 days, pregnant or menstruating women, those with serious systemic diseases such as cardiovascular, liver, kidney, and hematopoietic system diseases, or those currently undergoing treatment for other comorbidities. The study was conducted with the approval of the hospital's ethics committee and the consent of the patients and their families.

[0043] The experimental results are shown in Table 2 below.

[0044] Table 2 Experimental Results As can be seen from the data in Table 2 above, the Panax notoginseng rice noodles prepared by this invention have a good sleep-aiding effect, which can help patients fall asleep quickly and reduce the number of times they wake up at night.

[0045] The embodiments described above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Various modifications and improvements made by those skilled in the art to the technical solutions of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention should fall within the protection scope defined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A dried Panax notoginseng rice noodle for sleep aid, characterized in that, The ingredients include the following parts by weight: 15-25 parts Panax notoginseng powder, 70-80 parts rice flour, 10-20 parts buckwheat flour, 5-15 parts jujube seed powder, 5-15 parts grape seed extract, 5-15 parts orange juice, and 5-15 parts lily powder.

2. The dried Panax notoginseng rice noodles according to claim 1, characterized in that, The ingredients include the following parts by weight: 20 parts Panax notoginseng powder, 80 parts rice flour, 10 parts buckwheat flour, 5 parts jujube seed powder, 5 parts grape seed extract, 5 parts orange juice, and 5 parts lily powder.

3. A method for preparing dried Panax notoginseng rice noodles as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: According to the amount of raw materials used, take Panax notoginseng powder, rice flour, buckwheat flour, jujube seed powder, grape seed extract and lily powder. Sift the above raw materials, add orange juice and water to the sieved raw materials to make powder, and then process the powder into mature extrusion, aging treatment, dispersion and drying to obtain the dried sleep-aiding Panax notoginseng rice noodles.

4. The preparation method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The method for preparing the grape seed extract is as follows: grape seeds are crushed, ethanol is added, and ultrasonic extraction is performed to obtain grape seed extract, which is then dried under vacuum to obtain the grape seed extract.

5. The preparation method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The amount of ethanol added is based on a ratio of grape seed to ethanol liquid of 1g:5-10mL, and the volume fraction of ethanol is 40-80%.

6. The preparation method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The ethanol is added at a ratio of 1g to 8mL of grape seeds to ethanol solution, and the volume fraction of the ethanol is 70%.

7. The preparation method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The ultrasonic power is 100-120W, the ultrasonic time is 30-60min, and the ultrasonic temperature is 35-60℃.

8. The preparation method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The ultrasonic power is 100W, the ultrasonic time is 50min, and the ultrasonic temperature is 35℃.

9. The preparation method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The aging process is divided into two stages: first, aging at 20°C for 3 hours, and then raising the temperature to 35°C for another 5 hours.

10. The use of dried Panax notoginseng rice noodles as described in any one of claims 1-2 in the preparation of sleep aid products.

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