Bulk HPP Beverage Extraction for Cold Yield and Shelf Life
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing ready-to-drink beverages through solid-liquid extraction are time-consuming, especially at cold temperatures, and often result in low extraction rates and yields, with heat-based methods risking damage to flavor and nutritional compounds, while existing high pressure processing (HPP) methods either increase extraction rates or ensure safety but not simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
A method using High Pressure Processing (HPP) in an 'in-bulk' unit where a mixture of liquids and solids is processed under controlled pressure to rapidly extract compounds and inactivate microorganisms, allowing for simultaneous extraction and microbial inactivation, thereby producing a safe and enriched beverage with extended shelf-life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If cold or room temperature extraction is used, then flavor and nutritional compounds are preserved, but extraction rate and productivity are low
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies high hydrostatic pressure (100-1000 MPa) as a parameter change to accelerate extraction at cold temperatures. This pressure parameter modification enables rapid extraction of compounds from solid matrices into liquid phase without thermal damage, resolving the contradiction between temperature preservation and extraction efficiency.
2Productivity
If heat is used to increase extraction rate, then productivity improves, but flavor and nutritional compounds are damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces thermal energy with mechanical energy (high hydrostatic pressure) to drive the extraction process. This substitution allows achieving high extraction rates through pressure-induced permeabilization and diffusion rather than heat, preventing thermal degradation of sensitive flavor and nutritional compounds.
3Productivity
If high pressure processing is used to increase extraction rate, then productivity improves, but microbial safety is not ensured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two functions into a single high pressure processing step: (1) extraction enhancement through pressure-induced permeabilization and (2) microbial inactivation through the same pressure treatment. This combined approach simultaneously achieves high productivity and ensures microbial safety without requiring separate processing steps.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If cold brewing is used for plant-based material extraction, then unique flavor profile is achieved, but production time and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies high hydrostatic pressure as a parameter change to accelerate the cold brewing process. This pressure modification enables the extraction to complete in seconds or minutes rather than hours, maintaining the unique cold-brewed flavor profile while dramatically reducing production time and associated space requirements.
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
This method significantly reduces extraction time, increases yield, and ensures microbiological stability and extended shelf-life of beverages by using HPP to permeabilize cell membranes and inactivate microorganisms, resulting in a ready-to-drink product with enhanced nutritional and flavor compounds.
Implementation Method 1
The use of high pressure processing (HPP), between 100 and 1,000 MPa, can reduce the time of extraction to a few seconds/minutes, increasing extraction yields at cold, room or mild temperature. High pressure promotes the permeabilization of the cell membranes of microorganisms, algae, and plant cells allowing their content (proteins, polysaccharides, antioxidants, vitamins, flavor molecules, etc.) to diffuse to their surrounding media, therefore extracting it to the liquid.
Implementation Method 2
Using HPP allows to obtain safe products with minimal impact on flavor and nutrients and with extended shelf-life, generally stored under refrigeration.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for preparing beverages by extraction, employing high-pressure processing (HPP), for the bulk production of enriched beverages, ready for consumption and with an extended useful life. The method uses high hydrostatic pressures to perform a solid-liquid extraction and/or infusion (e.g. cold infusion) with an improved extraction rate and/or yield, and simultaneously inactivating spoilage and pathogenic micro-organisms to increase its safety and useful life. The method includes placing a mix (8) of solids and liquids in a bag (3) located within a vessel (4) and pressurising same to a pre-set pressure (up to 800 MPa) and maintaining said pressure (10) for a pre-set period of time. The method includes the subsequent depressurisation of the vessel (11) and the removal of the mix from the bag (12), filtering the same under ultra-clean conditions (13), thus obtaining a safe, particle-free beverage, enriched with the extracted compounds of interest.