Bouillon Tablet Fat Encapsulation for Post-Hardening

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Solution Overview

Problem

The existing manufacturing processes for bouillon tablets or cubes face challenges with hygroscopic amorphous ingredients, which lead to post-hardening issues during shelf life due to their high sensitivity to moisture, affecting crumbliness and stability.

Innovation Solution

Encapsulating at least 5% of hygroscopic amorphous ingredients with fat, achieving a fat content of 22 to 80%, to maintain the necessary hardness and prevent post-hardening, ensuring the product remains crumbly and shelf-stable for over 12 months.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If hygroscopic amorphous ingredients are used to replace MSG, then health concerns are addressed and natural ingredients are used, but post-hardening occurs during shelf life and crumbliness is lost

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveproduct stabilityVSAvoidhardness stability
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The harmful hygroscopic amorphous ingredients are extracted from the bulk powder and isolated by encapsulating them with fat, separating the problematic components from the rest of the formulation to prevent post-hardening

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Fat acts as an intermediary substance that encapsulates the hygroscopic amorphous ingredients, creating a protective barrier that prevents moisture interaction and subsequent post-hardening while still allowing the ingredients to function

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Strength

If the tablet is made harder to allow wrapping, then wrapping is enabled, but the user cannot break the tablet with fingers

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetablet hardnessVSAvoidbreakability
Core Design Contradiction:
StrengthVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The tablet has non-uniform properties due to encapsulated hygroscopic ingredients distributed throughout, creating local variations in hardness that allow the tablet to be hard enough for wrapping while remaining breakable by hand pressure

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Ease of operation

If the tablet is made softer to allow finger breaking, then ease of operation is improved, but wrapping becomes difficult

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovebreakabilityVSAvoidtablet hardness
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The encapsulated hygroscopic ingredients create localized soft zones within the tablet structure, enabling finger breaking while the overall tablet maintains sufficient hardness for wrapping through the combined effect of encapsulated and non-encapsulated ingredients

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The encapsulation process enhances the bouillon tablets' crumbliness, maintains a minimum hardness for easy wrapping, and significantly reduces post-hardening, ensuring the product remains stable and sensory properties are preserved throughout its shelf life.

Implementation Method 1

Encapsulating at least 5 wt % of hygroscopic amorphous ingredients with fat

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectEncapsulation:

Implementation Method 2

The encapsulated hygroscopic amorphous ingredients have a fat content of between 22 to 80% and an amount of between 5 to 35 wt % based on the total weight of the bouillon tablet or bouillon cube

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectHygroscopicity prevention: Absorption (physical)

Data Source

PatentUS11478004B2Process for making a bouillon tablet or bouillon cube
Publication Date: 2022.10.25 SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE SA

AI summary

The invention relates to a manufacturing process for the production of a bouillon tablet or bouillon cube. In particularly the invention relates to a process for the production of a bouillon tablet or bouillon cube wherein the hygroscopic amorphous ingredients are encapsulated with fat and wherein the encapsulated hygroscopic amorphous ingredients have a fat content of between 22 to 80%.