Controlled Fermentation for Natural Vitamin K2 Enrichment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern diets lack adequate natural sources of vitamin K2, particularly MK-7, which is crucial for bone health and cardiovascular function, and existing methods for enriching foods with vitamin K2 face challenges such as undesirable taste, odor, impurities, and inconsistent production.
Innovation Solution
A fermentation process involving steeping, steaming, inoculation with microorganisms like Bacillus subtilis, controlled fermentation, and multiple drying steps to enrich food sources with vitamin K2, ensuring high retention and controlled yield.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If artificial vitamins are added to processed foods, then nutritional deficiency is addressed, but natural nutrient synergy and absorption are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the form of vitamin supplementation from isolated synthetic vitamins to naturally occurring vitamin complexes through fermentation. By controlling fermentation parameters (temperature, time, microbial culture), the process produces vitamins in their natural complex forms that maintain synergistic relationships and optimal bioavailability, resolving the contradiction between quantity and absorption efficacy.
2Quantity of substance
If traditional lacto-fermentation is used to enrich vitamin K2, then natural nutrient source is provided, but production consistency and purity are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback control by monitoring vitamin K2 production levels during fermentation and adjusting process parameters accordingly. This allows optimization of fermentation conditions to achieve consistent high-yield production while maintaining purity, resolving the contradiction between natural enrichment and manufacturing precision.
3Quantity of substance
If fermentation process is extended to increase vitamin K2 yield, then nutrient enrichment is improved, but production time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses specific microbial cultures as intermediaries to catalyze vitamin K2 production. These microbial intermediaries enable high-yield vitamin K2 production in reduced time compared to traditional extended fermentation, resolving the contradiction between yield and time by introducing efficient biological catalysts.
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 process provides a natural, efficient, and scalable method to enhance food products with vitamin K2, maintaining nutritional synergy and bioavailability, while avoiding impurities and ensuring consistent quality.
Implementation Method 1
Fermentation is a metabolic process that involves the conversion of sugars into other compounds by microorganisms like bacteria, yeast, or fungi
Implementation Method 2
steaming the soaked food source to produce a softened food source
Implementation Method 3
drying the ground product in a drying step to produce a final product having enriched nutrients
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a natural fermentation process to enrich nutrients from a food source. The fermentation process comprises a steeping step, a steaming step, an inoculation step, a controlled fermentation step, a fermentation slowing step, a grinding step, and a drying step.