Low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder and preparation method and application thereof

Abstract

The present invention discloses a low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder, a preparation method thereof, and use thereof. White tomato fruits are extracted with a food-grade ethanol aqueous solution under light-shielding and nitrogen-protection conditions. The crude white tomato extract is subjected to centrifugation, microfiltration, and low-temperature reduced-pressure concentration to obtain a white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate, which is subjected to selective low-temperature adsorption treatment using a food-grade macroporous adsorption resin to reduce colored carotenoids. The refined white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate is mixed with wall materials, antioxidant protectants, and an emulsifier, subjected to shear dispersion and homogenization to obtain an embedding emulsion, and then spray-dried or vacuum freeze-dried. The resulting microcapsule powder has low colored-carotenoid content, low free-oil content, controlled particle size and water activity, and improved storage stability, and is suitable for preparing oral solid nutritional products for non-therapeutic anti-photooxidation and brightening skin tone.

Description

[0001] DESCRIPTION

[0002] Low-Colored-Carotenoid, High-Stability White Tomato Colorless Carotenoid Microcapsule Powder and Preparation Method and Application Thereof

[0003] Technical Field

[0004] The present invention relates to the technical field of functional foods, and in particular to a low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder and a preparation method and application thereof.

[0005] Background Art

[0006] With the continuous upgrading of residents' health-consumption awareness, the market scale of oral skin-nutrition products continues to expand. Consumers have an increasing demand for alleviating the skin effects caused by daily photooxidation, improving dullness, and enhancing skin-tone evenness. Functional raw materials of natural plant origin have become one of the core directions for developing oral nutritional products because of their high safety and good consumer acceptance. Carotenoid components contained in plants of the genus Lycopersicon have natural physiological activity, among which colorless carotenoids show high development value and application potential in the field of oral skin nutrition due to their unique action characteristics. As a special tomato variety, white tomato is a high-quality plant source of natural colorless carotenoids and has attracted wide attention in the functional food industry. The current industry demand for high-quality white tomato active raw materials with strong dosage-form compatibility continues to increase, promoting continuous iterative optimization of related preparation technologies and product formulas.

[0007] However, the development and application of existing white tomato active raw materials still have multiple limitations. Most products directly use ordinary tomatoes or white tomatoes that have not undergone quality screening as raw materials, and the proportion of colored carotenoids in the raw materials is relatively high, which not only affects the appearance color of the raw materialDESCRIPTION

[0008] but also limits its application scenarios in light-colored oral solid dosage forms. Existing products are mostly developed as oil-soluble extracts, mainly adapted to soft capsule dosage forms, and are difficult to directly use in various oral solid dosage forms such as capsules, tablets and granules. Ordinary powder-form products have not undergone systematic embedding treatment and have problems such as high free-oil content, strong hygroscopicity and poor powder flowability, which directly affect the preparation processing and finished-product storage effects. At the same time, colorless carotenoids themselves have weak stability, and existing products are prone to degradation under storage and light exposure. Some embedded products use only a single wall material, cannot balance active protection in the gastric-acid environment with effective release in the intestinal stage, and lack targeted antioxidant- synergy design in component combination, resulting in unsatisfactory practical application effects and storage stability.

[0009] Summary of the Invention

[0010] The object of the present invention is to remedy deficiencies in the prior art by providing a low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder and a preparation method and application thereof. Through coordinated design of composite wall-material components and antioxidant protective components, the invention constructs a multilayer embedding structure with wall-material components having different film-forming and solubility properties, forms a dense protective barrier outside the active ingredients, and isolates the active ingredients from external oxygen, moisture and light; by combining lipid-soluble and water-soluble antioxidant components, it directly acts on the surrounding environment of the active ingredients and blocks the reaction pathway of oxidative degradation. The microcapsule powder can regulate the particle size, flowability and hygroscopicity of the powder, reduce the risk of free-oil exudation, give the finished product physical properties compatible with processing of oral solid dosage forms, maintain structural stability in the gastric-acid environment, and gradually releaseDESCRIPTION

[0011] the active components after entering the intestinal stage, thereby ensuring oral efficacy.

[0012] To solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides the following technical solutions: in one aspect, a low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder comprises, by parts by weight:

[0013] 35-45 parts of white tomato concentrate solids, 20-35 parts of sodium starch octenyl succinate, 20-35 parts of resistant dextrin or gum arabic or inulin, 3-8 parts of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, 0.5-1.5 parts of sucrose fatty acid ester, 0.2-0.5 part of natural mixed tocopherols, 1-4 parts of silicon dioxide, and optionally 0.1-0.4 part of ascorbyl palmitate and 0.05-0.3 part of rosemary extract, one or both of them;

[0014] wherein the total content of phytoene and phytofluene in the microcapsule powder is 5.0%-9.0%, and the total amount of lycopene and beta-carotene in the microcapsule powder is not more than 5% of the total amount of phytoene and phytofluene.

[0015] Further, the white tomato concentrate solids are derived from tomato fruit varieties having low lycopene or being nearly colorless; based on fruit dry matter, the total amount of phytoene and phytofluene is 0.10%-0.45%, the total amount of lycopene and beta-carotene is not more than 0.12%, and the mass ratio of the total amount of phytoene and phytofluene to the total amount of lycopene and beta-carotene is 2.5-8: 1.

[0016] More further, the mass ratio of phytoene to phytofluene in the microcapsule powder is 1.5-2.2:1.

[0017] More further, the moisture content of the microcapsule powder is not more than 6%, the D90 particle size is 80-180 micrometers, the water activity is not more than 0.45, and the free-oil content is not more than 2.5%; after the microcapsule powder is heat-sealed in an aluminum foil bag and placed in the dark at 40°C and 75% RH for 30 days, the total retention rate of phytoene andDESCRIPTION

[0018] phytofluene is not less than 75%.

[0019] In another aspect, a preparation method for a low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder has the following specific steps:

[0020] Step 1: taking white tomato fruits, washing, removing stems and crushing under light-shielding conditions to obtain white tomato slurry; adding a food-grade ethanol aqueous solution to the white tomato slurry, and extracting at 15-35 °C for 0.8-2.5 hours under light-shielding and nitrogen-protection conditions to obtain a crude white tomato extract;

[0021] Step 2: subjecting the crude white tomato extract successively to centrifugation, microfiltration and low-temperature reduced-pressure concentration below 35°C to obtain a white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate;

[0022] Step 3 : adding a food-grade adsorbent material to the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate for selective low-temperature adsorption treatment, and after solid-liquid separation, obtaining a refined white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate;

[0023] Step 4: calculating the refined white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate by solids, mixing it with wall materials, antioxidant protectants and an emulsifier, performing shear dispersion and homogenization to obtain an embedding emulsion, and subjecting the embedding emulsion to spray drying or vacuum freeze drying to obtain the microcapsule powder.

[0024] More further, in Step 1, the volume fraction of the food-grade ethanol aqueous solution is 75%-95%, and the mass-volume ratio of white tomato fruit dry matter to the food-grade ethanol aqueous solution is 1:6-15.

[0025] More further, in Step 2, the centrifugation speed is 3000-6000 rpm and the centrifugation time is 10-30 minutes; the supernatant is separated and collected, and then subjected to filtration treatment through a microfiltration membrane having a pore size of 0.22-0.8 micrometers; the filtrate is collected and subjectedDESCRIPTION

[0026] to low-temperature reduced-pressure concentration below 35 °C under a vacuum degree of 0.06-0.095 MPa until the solids mass fraction is 15%-30%, thereby obtaining the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate.

[0027] More further, in Step 3, the food- grade adsorbent material is selected from nonionic styrene-divinylbenzene food-grade macroporous adsorption resins; the amount thereof is 10%-40% of the weight of solids in the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate; the adsorption temperature is 5-30°C and the adsorption time is 20-80 minutes; the food-grade macroporous adsorption resin has a particle size of 0.3-1.25 mm and a specific surface area of 400-800 m2 / g, and is pretreated with 75%-95% food-grade ethanol and purified water before use.

[0028] More further, in Step 4, the wall materials comprise sodium starch octenyl succinate, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, silicon dioxide, and at least one selected from resistant dextrin, gum arabic and inulin; the antioxidant protectants comprise natural mixed tocopherols and optionally one or both of ascorbyl palmitate and rosemary extract; the emulsifier is sucrose fatty acid ester. The shear-dispersion condition is 8000-12000 rpm for 5-15 minutes, the homogenization condition is 20-45 MPa for 1-3 times, the spray-drying inlet air temperature is 130-155°C and the outlet air temperature is 55-75°C; and the vacuum freeze-drying prefreezing temperature is -45°C to -35°C, the prefreezing time is 5-7 hours, and the vacuum drying time is 20-28 hours.

[0029] In another aspect, a low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder is used in the preparation of oral solid nutritional products. The oral solid nutritional products are used for non-therapeutic purposes of anti-photooxidation, brightening skin tone or making skin tone more even; and the oral solid nutritional products are capsules, tablets, granules or powders.

[0030] Compared with the prior art, the low-colored-carotenoid, high- stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder and preparation method and application thereof have the following beneficial effects:DESCRIPTION

[0031] First, through coordinated design of composite wall-material components and antioxidant protective components, the present invention constructs a multilayer embedding structure with wall-material components having different film-forming and solubility properties, forms a dense protective barrier outside the active ingredients, and isolates the active ingredients from external oxygen, moisture and light; by combining lipid-soluble and water-soluble antioxidant components, it directly acts on the surrounding environment of the active ingredients and blocks the reaction pathway of oxidative degradation. The microcapsule powder can regulate the particle size, flowability and hygroscopicity of the powder, reduce the risk of free-oil exudation, give the finished product physical properties compatible with processing of oral solid dosage forms, maintain structural stability in the gastric-acid environment, and gradually release active components after entering the intestinal stage, thereby ensuring oral efficacy.

[0032] Second, by combining limitation of raw-material quality with selective adsorption technology, the invention controls from the source the basic ratio between colorless carotenoids and colored carotenoids in the raw material, and then, by means of differences in adsorption selectivity, reduces the proportion of colored carotenoids while retaining the core colorless carotenoids, thereby achieving a low-colored-impurity property of the finished product. The whole-process low-temperature and light-shielding treatment can reduce degradation losses of active ingredients during preparation and maintain the natural structure and physiological activity of colorless carotenoids. This design makes the finished product use colorless carotenoids as marker components, have a lighter color, adapt to the development needs of various light-colored oral solid nutritional products, and preserve the active advantages of a natural plant source.DESCRIPTION

[0033] Other advantages, objectives and features of the present invention will be described to some extent in the following specification, and to some extent will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on review and study of the following text, or may be learned from practice of the present invention.

[0034] Description of the Drawings

[0035] In order to more clearly explain the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or in the prior art, the drawings required for describing the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0036] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the preparation method of a low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder;

[0037] FIG. 2 is a framework diagram of Step 3 in the preparation method of a low-colored-carotenoid, high- stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder;

[0038] FIG. 3 is a framework diagram of Step 4 in the preparation method of a low-colored-carotenoid, high- stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder.

[0039] Detailed Description of the Embodiments

[0040] In order to further describe the technical means and effects adopted by the present invention to achieve the intended purpose, the specific embodiments, structures, features and effects of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the drawings and preferred examples.

[0041] The white tomato fruits used in the examples were mature fruits of the same batch. The nonionic styrene-divinylbenzene food-grade macroporous adsorption resin had a particle size of 0.6 mm and a specific surface area of 600 m2 / g. Before use, it was uniformly pretreated by adding a 95% food-grade ethanol solution byDESCRIPTION

[0042] volume fraction and soaking for 24 hours, stirring to remove floating impurities, rinsing with ethanol of the same concentration until the eluate was clear, then rinsing with purified water until there was no ethanol odor, and sealing it for storage in the dark.

[0043] Example 1 :

[0044] Components (by parts by weight):

[0045] 40.00 parts of white tomato concentrate solids, 28.00 parts of sodium starch octenyl succinate, 24.00 parts of resistant dextrin, 4.00 parts of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, 1.20 parts of sucrose fatty acid ester, 0.35 part of natural mixed tocopherols, 0.25 part of ascorbyl palmitate, and 2.20 parts of silicon dioxide.

[0046] Preparation method:

[0047] Mature white tomato fruits were taken, and rotten or damaged individuals were removed by screening. Under light- shielding conditions, the fruits were washed, stemmed and crushed with a tissue masher to obtain white tomato slurry. Based on a mass-volume ratio of white tomato fruit dry matter to food-grade ethanol aqueous solution of 1:10, an 85% food-grade ethanol aqueous solution by volume fraction was added to the white tomato slurry. Nitrogen was introduced to expel the air at the top of the vessel, and the vessel was then sealed. Low-speed stirring extraction was performed for 1.5 hours at 25°C in a dark environment to obtain a crude white tomato extract, as shown in FIG. 1.

[0048] The crude white tomato extract was transferred to centrifugation equipment and centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 20 minutes, and the supernatant was separated and collected. The supernatant was filtered through a 0.45 micrometer microfiltration membrane, and the clarified filtrate was collected. The filtrate was transferred to a rotary evaporation apparatus and concentrated under reduced pressure at low temperature at 32°C and a vacuum degree of 0.08 MPa until the solids mass fraction was 20%, thereby obtaining a white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate.

[0049] The pretreated food-grade macroporous adsorption resin was added to theDESCRIPTION

[0050] white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate in an amount of 25% of the weight of solids in the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate. The mixture was placed in a thermostatic shaking device and adsorbed for 40 minutes at 15°C under light-shielding conditions. After adsorption, solid-liquid separation was carried out by suction filtration, and the filtrate was collected to obtain a refined white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate, as shown in FIG. 2.

[0051] An amount of the refined white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate corresponding to the solids content was measured, and the wall-material, antioxidant protectant and emulsifier components were successively added. Purified water was supplemented to adjust the solids mass fraction of the system to 22%. After low-speed stirring until the materials were fully swollen and dispersed, shear dispersion was performed at 10000 rpm for 10 minutes, and then the mixture was transferred into a high-pressure homogenizer and homogenized twice at 35 MPa to obtain an embedding emulsion.

[0052] The embedding emulsion was fed into a centrifugal spray dryer. The inlet air temperature was set at 145°C and the outlet air temperature at 65°C. After feed drying, the discharged powder was collected to obtain the finished microcapsule powder, as shown in FIG. 3.

[0053] Finished-product testing:

[0054] The contents of carotenoid components were determined by HPLC-DAD. A C30 reversed-phase chromatographic column with a specification of 250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 micrometers, was used; the column temperature was 30°C and the flow rate was 1.0 mL / min; a methanol-water-methyl tert-butyl ether system was used for gradient elution, and external- standard quantification was performed at the corresponding characteristic wavelengths. Moisture was determined by a drying method at 105°C, water activity was measured with a water activity meter, D90 particle size was measured with a laser particle-size analyzer, and free-oil content was measured by a centrifugation-filter-paper method. The finished microcapsule powder was heat-sealed in aluminum foil bags and packaged in the dark, placed atDESCRIPTION

[0055] 40°C and 75% RH for 30 days, and the active-ingredient contents were retested to calculate the retention rate. The test results were: total content of phytoene and phytofluene, 7.58%; total amount of lycopene and beta-carotene accounting for 2.77% of the total content of phytoene and phytofluene; moisture content, 4.1%; water activity, 0.29; D90 particle size, 132 micrometers; free-oil content, 1.3%; and total retention rate of phytoene and phytofluene after 30 days of accelerated storage, 88.6%.

[0056] Example 2

[0057] Formula (by parts by weight):

[0058] 38.00 parts of white tomato concentrate solids, 26.00 parts of sodium starch octenyl succinate, 28.00 parts of gum arabic, 5.00 parts of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, 1.00 part of sucrose fatty acid ester, 0.35 part of natural mixed tocopherols, 0.15 part of rosemary extract, and 3.50 parts of silicon dioxide.

[0059] Preparation method:

[0060] White tomato fruits of the same batch were taken, screened, washed in the dark, stemmed and crushed to obtain white tomato slurry. A 78% food-grade ethanol aqueous solution by volume fraction was added at a mass-volume ratio of white tomato fruit dry matter to food- grade ethanol aqueous solution of 1:9. After sealing under nitrogen protection, extraction was performed for 1.2 hours at 30°C under light-shielding conditions to obtain a crude white tomato extract.

[0061] The crude white tomato extract was centrifuged at 3500 rpm for 25 minutes. The supernatant was taken and filtered through a 0.6 micrometer microfiltration membrane. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure at 30°C and a vacuum degree of 0.085 MPa until the solids mass fraction was 18%, thereby obtaining a white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate.

[0062] The pretreated food-grade macroporous adsorption resin was added to the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate in an amount of 20% of the weight of solids in the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate. Adsorption was performed for 45 minutes at 20°C under light- shielding conditions, and suction ioDESCRIPTION

[0063] filtration separation was carried out to obtain a refined white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate.

[0064] An amount of the refined white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate corresponding to the solids content was measured, and the wall-material, antioxidant protectant and emulsifier components were successively added. The solids mass fraction of the system was adjusted to 20%. Shear dispersion was performed at 9000 rpm for 12 minutes, and homogenization was performed twice at 30 MPa to obtain an embedding emulsion. Spray-drying treatment was then carried out at an inlet air temperature of 140°C and an outlet air temperature of 62°C, and the finished microcapsule powder was collected.

[0065] Finished-product testing:

[0066] Testing was performed by exactly the same method as in Example 1. The test results were: total content of phytoene and phytofluene, 6.79%; total amount of lycopene and beta-carotene accounting for 3.53% of the total content of phytoene and phytofluene; moisture content, 4.3%; water activity, 0.31; D90 particle size, 145 micrometers; free-oil content, 1.5%; and total retention rate of phytoene and phytofluene after 30 days of accelerated storage, 85.2%.

[0067] Example 3

[0068] Formula (by parts by weight):

[0069] 35.00 parts of white tomato concentrate solids, 30.00 parts of sodium starch octenyl succinate, 25.00 parts of inulin, 5.50 parts of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, 1.00 part of sucrose fatty acid ester, 0.30 part of natural mixed tocopherols, 0.20 part of ascorbyl palmitate, and 3.00 parts of silicon dioxide.

[0070] Preparation method:

[0071] White tomato fruits of the same batch were taken, screened, washed in the dark, stemmed and crushed to obtain white tomato slurry. A 90% food-grade ethanol aqueous solution by volume fraction was added at a mass-volume ratio of white tomato fruit dry matter to food- grade ethanol aqueous solution of 1:12. After sealing under nitrogen protection, extraction was performed for 2 hours at iiDESCRIPTION

[0072] 20°C under light- shielding conditions to obtain a crude white tomato extract.

[0073] The crude white tomato extract was centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 15 minutes. The supernatant was taken and filtered through a 0.3 micrometer microfiltration membrane. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure at 33 °C and a vacuum degree of 0.07 MPa until the solids mass fraction was 25%, thereby obtaining a white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate.

[0074] The pretreated food-grade macroporous adsorption resin was added to the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate in an amount of 30% of the weight of solids in the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate. Adsorption was performed for 60 minutes at 10°C under light- shielding conditions, and suction filtration separation was carried out to obtain a refined white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate.

[0075] An amount of the refined white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate corresponding to the solids content was measured, and the wall-material, antioxidant protectant and emulsifier components were successively added. The solids mass fraction of the system was adjusted to 24%. Shear dispersion was performed at 10000 rpm for 8 minutes, and homogenization was performed twice at 25 MPa to obtain an embedding emulsion.

[0076] The embedding emulsion was spread in a freeze-drying tray and placed in a vacuum freeze dryer. The prefreezing temperature was -40°C, the prefreezing time was 6 hours, and vacuum drying was performed for 24 hours. After drying, the material was pulverized and passed through a 100-mesh sieve to obtain the finished microcapsule powder.

[0077] Finished-product testing:

[0078] Testing was performed by exactly the same method as in Example 1. The test results were: total content of phytoene and phytofluene, 6.31%; total amount of lycopene and beta-carotene accounting for 4.12% of the total content of phytoene and phytofluene; moisture content, 4.8%; water activity, 0.34; D90 particle size, 166 micrometers; free-oil content, 1.7%; and total retention rate of phytoene andDESCRIPTION

[0079] phytofluene after 30 days of accelerated storage, 82.7%.

[0080] Comparative Example 1 : Ordinary white tomato freeze-dried powder Mature white tomato fruits of the same batch were taken, screened, washed and stemmed, then crushed with a tissue masher, directly spread in a freeze-drying tray, and placed in a vacuum freeze dryer. The prefreezing temperature was -40°C, the prefreezing time was 6 hours, and vacuum drying was performed for 24 hours. After drying, the material was pulverized with a universal grinder and passed through a 100-mesh sieve to obtain ordinary white tomato freeze-dried powder.

[0081] Finished-product testing:

[0082] Testing was performed by exactly the same method as in Example 1. The test results were: total content of phytoene and phytofluene, 0.62%; total amount of lycopene and beta-carotene accounting for 29.03% of the total content of phytoene and phytofluene; moisture content, 5.8%; water activity, 0.42; D90 particle size, 216 micrometers; free-oil content, 0.2%; and total retention rate of phytoene and phytofluene after 30 days of accelerated storage, 59.4%.

[0083] Comparative Example 2: White tomato ethanol-extract dry powder White tomato fruits of the same batch were taken, and a white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate was prepared according to the extraction, centrifugation, microfiltration and concentration steps of Example 1. The adsorption treatment for removing colored carotenoids was not performed; instead, the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate was directly subjected to vacuum freeze drying, with a prefreezing temperature of -40°C, prefreezing for 6 hours and vacuum drying for 24 hours. After drying, the material was pulverized and passed through a 100-mesh sieve to obtain white tomato ethanol-extract dry powder.

[0084] Finished-product testing:

[0085] Testing was performed by exactly the same method as in Example 1. The test results were: total content of phytoene and phytofluene, 9.84%; total amount ofDESCRIPTION

[0086] lycopene and beta-carotene accounting for 7.32% of the total content of phytoene and phytofluene; moisture content, 4.6%; water activity, 0.27; D90 particle size, 158 micrometers; free-oil content, 6.8%; and total retention rate of phytoene and phytofluene after 30 days of accelerated storage, 62.8%.

[0087] Comparative Example 3: Embedded powder without removal of colored carotenoids

[0088] White tomato fruits of the same batch were taken, and a white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate was prepared according to the extraction, centrifugation, microfiltration and concentration steps of Example 1. The adsorption treatment for removing colored carotenoids was not performed; instead, the wall-material formula and shearing, homogenization and spray-drying process of Example 1 were directly used to prepare a powder, thereby obtaining an embedded powder without removal of colored carotenoids.

[0089] Finished-product testing:

[0090] Testing was performed by exactly the same method as in Example 1. The test results were: total content of phytoene and phytofluene, 8.10%; total amount of lycopene and beta-carotene accounting for 8.52% of the total content of phytoene and phytofluene; moisture content, 4.8%; water activity, 0.31; D90 particle size, 150 micrometers; free-oil content, 1.4%; and total retention rate of phytoene and phytofluene after 30 days of accelerated storage, 86.2%.

[0091] In summary, based on the finished-product testing results, the finished product prepared in Example 1 had the highest 30-day retention rate of active ingredients, the lowest proportion of colored carotenoids, uniform particle size and low free-oil content, and is suitable for capsule and compressed-tablet products with relatively high requirements for color and stability; Example 2 adjusted the filler wall materials and antioxidant components, providing a better balance between cost and performance, and is suitable for development of conventional granules and ordinary tablets; Example 3 used a freeze-drying process and had better powder reconstitution properties, making it suitable forDESCRIPTION

[0092] instant powder products. The three comparative examples respectively had defects such as low active content, serious free-oil exudation, and excessively high colored-impurity proportion, and could not simultaneously meet the requirements of low color, high stability and multi-dosage-form compatibility. Therefore, the entire process of the examples has strong repeatability and can be adapted to different industrial production scenarios.

[0093] The above descriptions are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not limit the present invention in any form. Although the present invention has been disclosed above by preferred embodiments, they are not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art may make some changes or modifications to the technical content disclosed above into equivalent embodiments without departing from the scope of the technical solutions of the present invention. Any simple modifications, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments according to the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the content of the technical solutions of the present invention shall still fall within the scope of the technical solutions of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A low-colored-carotenoid, high- stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder, characterized in that the microcapsule powder comprises, by parts by weight:35-45 parts of white tomato concentrate solids, 20-35 parts of sodium starch octenyl succinate, 20-35 parts of resistant dextrin or gum arabic or inulin, 3-8 parts of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, 0.5-1.5 parts of sucrose fatty acid ester, 0.2-0.5 part of natural mixed tocopherols, 1-4 parts of silicon dioxide, and optionally 0.1-0.4 part of ascorbyl palmitate and 0.05-0.3 part of rosemary extract, one or both of them;wherein the total content of phytoene and phytofluene in the microcapsule powder is 5.0%-9.0%, and the total amount of lycopene and beta-carotene in the microcapsule powder is not more than 5% of the total amount of phytoene and phytofluene.

2. The low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder according to claim 1, characterized in that the white tomato concentrate solids are derived from tomato fruit varieties having low lycopene or being nearly colorless; based on fruit dry matter, the total amount of phytoene and phytofluene is 0.10%-0.45%, the total amount of lycopene and beta-carotene is not more than 0.12%, and the mass ratio of the total amount of phytoene and phytofluene to the total amount of lycopene and beta-carotene is 2.5-8:1.

3. The low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder according to claim 1, characterized in that the mass ratio of phytoene to phytofluene in the microcapsule powder is 1.5-2.2: 1.

4. The low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder according to claim 1, characterized in that the moisture content of the microcapsule powder is not more than 6%, the D90 particle size is 80-180 micrometers, the water activity is not more than 0.45, and the free-oil content is not more than 2.5%; after the microcapsule powder is heat-sealed in anCLAIMSaluminum foil bag and placed in the dark at 40°C and 75% RH for 30 days, the total retention rate of phytoene and phytofluene is not less than 75%.

5. A preparation method for a low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder, applicable to the low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the method comprises the following specific steps:Step 1: taking white tomato fruits, washing, removing stems and crushing under light- shielding conditions to obtain white tomato slurry; adding a food-grade ethanol aqueous solution to the white tomato slurry, and extracting at 15-35°C for 0.8-2.5 hours under light-shielding and nitrogen-protection conditions to obtain a crude white tomato extract;Step 2: subjecting the crude white tomato extract successively to centrifugation, microfiltration and low-temperature reduced-pressure concentration below 35°C to obtain a white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate;Step 3 : adding a food-grade adsorbent material to the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate for selective low-temperature adsorption treatment, and after solid-liquid separation, obtaining a refined white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate;Step 4: calculating the refined white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate by solids, mixing it with wall materials, antioxidant protectants and an emulsifier, performing shear dispersion and homogenization to obtain an embedding emulsion, and subjecting the embedding emulsion to spray drying or vacuum freeze drying to obtain the microcapsule powder.

6. The preparation method of a low-colored-carotenoid, high- stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder according to claim 5, characterized in that, in Step 1, the volume fraction of the food-grade ethanol aqueous solution is 75%-95%, and the mass-volume ratio of white tomato fruit dry matter to the food- grade ethanol aqueous solution is 1:6-15.CLAIMS7. The preparation method of a low-colored-carotenoid, high- stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder according to claim 5, characterized in that, in Step 2, the centrifugation speed is 3000-6000 rpm and the centrifugation time is 10-30 minutes; the supernatant is separated and collected, and then subjected to filtration treatment through a microfiltration membrane having a pore size of 0.22-0.8 micrometers; the filtrate is collected and subjected to low-temperature reduced-pressure concentration below 35°C under a vacuum degree of 0.06-0.095 MPa until the solids mass fraction is 15%-30%, thereby obtaining the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate.

8. The preparation method of a low-colored-carotenoid, high- stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder according to claim 5, characterized in that, in Step 3, the food-grade adsorbent material is selected from nonionic styrene-divinylbenzene food-grade macroporous adsorption resins; the amount thereof is 10%-40% of the weight of solids in the white tomato colorless carotenoid concentrate; the adsorption temperature is 5-30°C and the adsorption time is 20-80 minutes; the food-grade macroporous adsorption resin has a particle size of 0.3-1.25 mm and a specific surface area of 400-800 m2 / g, and is pretreated with 75%-95% food-grade ethanol and purified water before use.

9. The preparation method of a low-colored-carotenoid, high- stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder according to claim 5, characterized in that, in Step 4, the wall materials comprise sodium starch octenyl succinate, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, silicon dioxide, and at least one selected from resistant dextrin, gum arabic and inulin; the antioxidant protectants comprise natural mixed tocopherols and optionally one or both of ascorbyl palmitate and rosemary extract; the emulsifier is sucrose fatty acid ester. The shear-dispersion condition is 8000-12000 rpm for 5-15 minutes, the homogenization condition is 20-45 MPa for 1-3 times, the spray-drying inlet air temperature is 130-155°C and the outlet air temperature is 55-75°C; and the vacuum freeze-drying prefreezing temperature is -45°C to -35°C, the prefreezing time is 5-7 hours, and the vacuumCLAIMSdrying time is 20-28 hours.

10. Use of a low-colored-carotenoid, high-stability white tomato colorless carotenoid microcapsule powder in the preparation of oral solid nutritional products, characterized in that the oral solid nutritional products are used for non-therapeutic purposes of anti-photooxidation, brightening skin tone or making skin tone more even; and the oral solid nutritional products are capsules, tablets, granules or powders.

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