A drug loading and solidification method of plant active ingredients based on water extraction enrichment

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of plant active ingredient extraction and solidification, and specifically discloses a plant active ingredient drug-loaded solidification method based on water extraction enrichment, which comprises the following steps: dividing plant raw materials into carrier matrix group raw materials and water extraction enrichment group raw materials; water-soaking and heating extraction are performed on the water extraction enrichment group raw materials to obtain water extract containing plant active ingredients; the water extract is added to the carrier matrix group raw materials, and under the condition of heating and low-speed stirring, the water extract is stirred to be adsorbed, penetrated and enriched in the internal structure of the plant solid matrix, forming drug-loaded semi-dry materials; the drug-loaded semi-dry materials are subjected to low-temperature drying treatment to form a stable porous solid structure, locking the loaded plant active ingredients, and obtaining drug-loaded solidification products, which are packaged after drug-loaded solidification molding; through the combined action of heat, moisture and shearing, the plant cell wall structure is softened and rearranged, the effective components are embedded, and the stability and bioavailability of the plant active ingredients are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of plant active ingredient extraction and solidification, specifically a method for solidifying plant active ingredients based on water extraction and enrichment. Background Technology

[0002] With people's pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, herbal teas, herbal substitutes, and functional herbal drinks have gained widespread attention due to their natural and healthy characteristics. These products typically exert their health benefits by extracting active ingredients from plants. Currently, there is considerable research on the extraction and application technology of plant active ingredients, but many technical challenges remain regarding extraction efficiency, product stability, and ease of use.

[0003] In the field of plant extract preparation technology, existing technologies mainly include water extraction, alcohol extraction, and ultrasound-assisted extraction, among others. For example, CN109453101A discloses a process for preparing plant extracts, which uses enzyme treatment, high-speed homogenization, and high-pressure homogenization to obtain a plant extract slurry, followed by vacuum concentration and resin elution to prepare the plant extract. While this method is simple to operate, it is mainly for liquid products and is not suitable for preparing solid instant products.

[0004] CN117323267B proposes a method for preparing peony root bark extract, targeting the extraction of specific plant active ingredients. This method employs ultrasound-assisted water extraction to obtain a crude water extract, which is then enriched and purified using macroporous adsorption resin to obtain a high-purity paeonol extract. While this method improves the purity of specific components, the extract remains in liquid form, making it inconvenient for long-term storage and transport.

[0005] Regarding the extraction of plant polysaccharides, CN121203050A describes a method for extracting plant polysaccharides, including steps such as alcohol extraction, water extraction, concentration, and alcohol precipitation, which can obtain plant polysaccharides with immunomodulatory functions. Although this technology achieves the extraction of specific active ingredients, it does not solve the problem of how to effectively load these components into a solid carrier.

[0006] Regarding research on improving the extraction efficiency of plant active ingredients, CN116115543A proposes an innovative extraction method that uses plant cell sap as the extraction solvent, enabling highly selective extraction of active ingredients from plants. While this method improves extraction efficiency, it still does not solve the problems of extract solidification and stability.

[0007] Regarding the preparation process of plant concentrates, CN121534107A discloses a process for producing loquat herbal concentrate from dried loquat leaves. This process effectively enriches active ingredients such as triterpenes and flavonoids through steps such as supercritical CO2 dewaxing and gradient solvent extraction. While this process achieves component enrichment, the product remains in concentrate form, failing to address the issues of portability and quantitative application.

[0008] However, existing technologies still have the following technical problems in the processing of herbal teas, substitute teas, and functional herbal beverages: 1. Traditional whole-origin or coarse-powdered herbal teas are highly dependent on water temperature. Under low or room temperature water conditions, the release of active ingredients is insufficient, the dissolution rate is slow, the flavor and efficacy are unstable, and the plant tissue structure is not effectively reconstructed, resulting in low utilization of active ingredients. 2. Products obtained by simple decoction concentration or liquid herbal tea preparation technology are in liquid form, which is not conducive to storage and transportation, and is susceptible to microbial contamination. They require the addition of preservatives or high-temperature sterilization, making it difficult to produce portable, quantitative, and instant products. 3. Existing spray drying or excipient granulation-type drug delivery technologies usually rely on external polymer carriers, excipients or coating materials, which are complex, have high equipment costs, poor compatibility with traditional plant beverage processing systems, and the taste and natural properties of the products are easily affected. 4. In existing technologies, the combination of plant active ingredients and solid carriers is mostly simple mixing or external coating, which fails to achieve the deep utilization of the raw materials themselves as carriers. It is difficult to achieve high drug loading rate, structural stability and multi-temperature rapid dissolution performance without introducing a large amount of exogenous excipients.

[0009] Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a technical solution that can fully utilize the inherent characteristics of plant raw materials to achieve efficient loading, solidification, and stability of active ingredients, in order to solve the aforementioned problems in existing plant beverage processing technologies. Summary of the Invention

[0010] To address the existing problems, this invention provides a method for loading and solidifying plant active ingredients based on water extraction and enrichment, which can effectively solve the problems mentioned in the background art.

[0011] To solve the above problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: A method for loading and solidifying plant active ingredients based on water extraction and enrichment includes the following steps: S1 Plant raw material grouping treatment: The various plant raw materials to be treated are divided into carrier matrix group raw materials and water extraction enrichment group raw materials according to their functions and tissue structure characteristics. The carrier matrix group raw materials are crushed to form plant solid substrate with a certain pore structure. S2 water extraction enrichment treatment involves water immersion and heating extraction of the raw materials in the water extraction enrichment group to obtain an water extract containing plant active ingredients. The water extract can be extracted and combined multiple times according to the characteristics of the raw materials. S3 drug loading and remodeling treatment involves adding the aqueous extract to the carrier matrix raw material and stirring it under heating and low-speed stirring conditions. This allows the aqueous extract to be gradually adsorbed, penetrated and enriched in the internal structure of the plant solid matrix, forming a drug-loaded semi-dry material. Through the combined effects of heat, moisture and shear, the plant cell wall structure is softened and rearranged, achieving the embedded loading of effective ingredients. S4 structure solidification and drying shaping involves low-temperature drying of drug-loaded semi-dry materials to form a stable porous solid structure, locking in the loaded plant active ingredients, and obtaining drug-loaded solidified products. S5 molding and packaging involves quantitatively dispensing the drug-loaded solidified product into substitute tea or functional plant solid products.

[0012] As a further aspect of the present invention, the raw materials of the carrier matrix are selected from plant materials with strong adsorption capacity, porous structure or high fiber content, so as to improve the drug loading capacity of active ingredients in the aqueous extract.

[0013] As a further aspect of the present invention: the raw materials for the water extraction enrichment group are selected from plant materials containing high levels of active ingredients or flavor substances, and the effective components are fully released through water extraction.

[0014] As a further aspect of the present invention: the heating temperature in the drug loading reconstruction process is controlled between 60-90°C, and the stirring speed is controlled between 20-60 rpm, so as to ensure that the aqueous extract and the carrier matrix are in full contact without damaging their structure.

[0015] As a further aspect of the present invention: the curing and drying of the structure adopts a low-temperature drying method of 40-60℃ to protect the heat-sensitive active ingredients from being damaged, while forming a stable porous structure.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are: 1. This invention uses the plant itself as a carrier, avoiding the addition of polymers or chemical excipients, thus maintaining the natural properties of the product and meeting the needs of modern consumers for healthy and natural products. 2. Through the integrated process of drug loading, reconstruction, and solidification, the efficient utilization of plant active ingredients is achieved. Compared with traditional whole-material brewing, the utilization rate of effective ingredients is significantly improved. Experiments show that under the same dosage conditions, the release of active ingredients can be increased by 40-60%. 3. The finished product can be rapidly dissolved or released under high-temperature water (95℃), normal-temperature water (25℃), and low-temperature water (10℃) conditions. Experimental data shows that the release rate of effective ingredients can reach more than 80% within 5 minutes in 10℃ low-temperature water, while the traditional whole-material brewing method can only achieve 30-40% under the same conditions. 4. The process route is compatible with traditional water decoction logic, is easy to operate, requires low equipment investment, has high stability, is suitable for large-scale production, and has a production efficiency that is about 25% higher and an energy consumption that is about 30% lower than traditional spray drying process; 5. Significantly superior to traditional whole-ingredient brewing methods, it maintains good dissolution performance even in low-temperature water, solving the problem of traditional herbal teas and substitute teas being highly dependent on water temperature, making the product more convenient and flexible to use. Detailed Implementation

[0017] The technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the embodiments of the present invention. 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 of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0018] This embodiment provides a method for drug loading and solidification of plant active ingredients based on water extraction and enrichment, including the following steps: S1 Plant Material Grouping Treatment The plant materials to be processed were divided into two groups according to their functions and tissue structure characteristics: the carrier matrix group and the water extraction enrichment group. In this embodiment, the carrier matrix group materials were selected from Prunella vulgaris and Dendrobium officinale, and the water extraction enrichment group materials were selected from Taraxacum mongolicum, Imperata cylindrica root, ginseng, Poria cocos, Dioscorea opposita, Citrus reticulata peel, malt and licorice.

[0019] The raw materials for the carrier matrix, Prunella vulgaris and Dendrobium officinale, were pulverized to approximately 5 mesh in a 3:1 ratio to form a porous plant solid substrate. This fineness of pulverization preserves the basic structural characteristics of the plant tissue while providing sufficient surface area for the subsequent adsorption and loading of active ingredients.

[0020] S2 water extraction enrichment treatment The raw materials for the water extraction enrichment group were subjected to water immersion and heating extraction. The specific operation was as follows: appropriate amounts of dandelion, dried Imperata cylindrica root, ginseng, Poria cocos, yam, tangerine peel, malt, and licorice were weighed and soaked in purified water at a material-to-liquid ratio of 1:10 for 30 minutes. Then, they were heated and extracted at 90℃ for 60 minutes. Each raw material was extracted twice, and the extracts were combined to obtain an aqueous extract containing plant active ingredients.

[0021] S3 Drug Loading Remodeling Process The aqueous extract obtained in step S2 was added to the carrier matrix raw material prepared in step S1, and stirred at a low speed of 30 rpm for 90 minutes under heating at 65°C. During this process, the aqueous extract was gradually adsorbed, permeated, and enriched in the internal structure of the plant solid matrix. Through the combined action of heat, humidity, and shear force, the plant cell wall structure softened and rearranged, achieving the embedded loading of active ingredients and forming a drug-loaded semi-dry material. The moisture content was controlled within the range of 30%-40% at this stage to ensure that the active ingredients could fully penetrate into the pore structure of the carrier matrix.

[0022] S4 Structure Curing and Drying The drug-loaded semi-dry material obtained in step S3 was subjected to low-temperature drying. It was dried at a constant temperature of 45℃ for 12 hours to reduce its moisture content to below 5%, forming a stable porous solid structure and locking in the loaded plant active ingredients, resulting in a drug-loaded solidified product. The low-temperature drying process maximizes the preservation of the plant active ingredients' activity while simultaneously solidifying the carrier structure.

[0023] S5 Molding and Packaging The drug-loaded solidified product obtained in step S4 was quantitatively packaged into 3-gram packets using non-woven fabric tea bags to produce a substitute tea product.

[0024] Efficacy Verification: The prepared herbal tea product was steeped in water at 100℃, 60℃, and 25℃. Results showed that the product rapidly released its active ingredients under different water temperatures. Specifically, in 100℃ hot water, the release rate exceeded 85% within 30 seconds; in 60℃ warm water, the release rate exceeded 70% within 1 minute; and in 25℃ room temperature water, the release rate exceeded 50% within 3 minutes. Compared to traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces that are directly steeped, the product prepared using this method showed a more than three-fold increase in the release rate of active ingredients in low-temperature water, and also exhibited a more uniform taste and flavor.

[0025] In a preferred embodiment, the raw materials for the carrier matrix group can be yam and poria cocos, and the raw materials for the water extraction enrichment group can be codonopsis pilosula, atractylodes macrocephala, tangerine peel, malt and licorice. The product prepared according to the above steps has better spleen-strengthening and stomach-nourishing effects.

[0026] In another preferred embodiment, the raw materials for the carrier matrix group can be Dendrobium officinale and lily, and the raw materials for the water extraction enrichment group can be Polygonatum odoratum, Ophiopogon japonicus, Lycium barbarum and licorice. The prepared product has the effect of nourishing yin and promoting body fluid production, and still maintains good dissolution performance in low temperature water.

[0027] The above are all preferred embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, all equivalent changes made in accordance with the structure, shape and principle of this application should be covered within the scope of protection of this application.

[0028] Although embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for loading and solidifying plant active ingredients based on water extraction and enrichment, comprising the following steps: S1 Plant raw material grouping treatment: The various plant raw materials to be treated are divided into carrier matrix group raw materials and water extraction enrichment group raw materials according to their functions and tissue structure characteristics. The carrier matrix group raw materials are crushed to form plant solid substrate with a certain pore structure. S2 water extraction enrichment treatment involves water immersion and heating extraction of the raw materials in the water extraction enrichment group to obtain an water extract containing plant active ingredients. The water extract can be extracted and combined multiple times according to the characteristics of the raw materials. S3 drug loading and remodeling treatment involves adding the aqueous extract to the carrier matrix raw material and stirring it under heating and low-speed stirring conditions. This allows the aqueous extract to be gradually adsorbed, penetrated and enriched in the internal structure of the plant solid matrix, forming a drug-loaded semi-dry material. Through the combined effects of heat, moisture and shear, the plant cell wall structure is softened and rearranged, achieving the embedded loading of effective ingredients. S4 structure solidification and drying shaping involves low-temperature drying of drug-loaded semi-dry materials to form a stable porous solid structure, locking in the loaded plant active ingredients, and obtaining drug-loaded solidified products. S5 molding and packaging involves quantitatively dispensing the drug-loaded solidified product into substitute tea or functional plant solid products.

2. The method for loading and solidifying plant active ingredients based on water extraction and enrichment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The raw materials for the carrier matrix are selected from plant materials with strong adsorption capacity, porous structure or high fiber content, so as to improve the drug loading capacity of active ingredients in water extract.

3. The method for loading and solidifying plant active ingredients based on water extraction and enrichment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The raw materials for the water extraction enrichment group are plant materials containing high levels of active ingredients or flavor substances, and the effective components are fully released through water extraction.

4. The method for loading and solidifying plant active ingredients based on water extraction and enrichment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The heating temperature in the drug loading reconstruction process is controlled between 60-90℃, and the stirring speed is controlled between 20-60 rpm to ensure that the aqueous extract and the carrier matrix are in full contact without damaging their structure.

5. The method for loading and solidifying plant active ingredients based on water extraction and enrichment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The structure is cured and dried using a low-temperature drying method at 40-60℃ to protect the heat-sensitive active ingredients from damage and to form a stable porous structure.