Enzymatic Beverage Smoothing by Aldehyde Oxidation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Consumable beverages, particularly distilled alcoholic beverages, exhibit an unpleasant harshness or 'bite' that conventional methods such as distillation, filtration, and aging fail to eliminate effectively, leading to a negative sensory experience for consumers.
Innovation Solution
The use of dehydrogenase enzymes, specifically aldehyde dehydrogenases, during or after beverage production to selectively oxidize harshness-causing aliphatic aldehydes into carboxylic acids, thereby reducing or eliminating the harshness without affecting flavor profiles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional methods (distillation, filtration, aging) are used to reduce harshness, then some softening occurs, but harshness is not eliminated and energy/time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical/physical methods (distillation, filtration, aging) with an enzymatic chemical method. Dehydrogenase enzymes specifically catalyze the oxidation of harshness-causing aldehydes to carboxylic acids, achieving harshness reduction without the time and energy costs of conventional methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical state of harshness-causing compounds by converting aldehydes to carboxylic acids through enzymatic oxidation. This parameter change (chemical transformation) directly eliminates harshness rather than merely masking or physically separating it.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional methods (distillation, filtration, aging) are used to reduce harshness, then some softening occurs, but harshness is not eliminated and energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces energy-intensive mechanical/physical methods with a biological catalytic process. Dehydrogenase enzymes facilitate the oxidation reaction under mild conditions, dramatically reducing energy consumption compared to distillation, filtration, and aging processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The enzymatic process is self-catalyzed by dehydrogenase enzymes that naturally facilitate the oxidation of aldehydes. The system uses biological catalysts that operate efficiently under ambient conditions, eliminating the need for high-energy input required by conventional methods.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional methods (aging, filtration) are used to reduce harshness, then harshness is reduced to some extent, but detectable levels remain and flavor masking is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent specifically extracts and targets harshness-causing aliphatic aldehydes using dehydrogenase enzymes. The enzymatic process selectively oxidizes these harmful compounds to carboxylic acids, removing the harshness source entirely rather than merely reducing it or masking it with additional flavors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent achieves complete harshness elimination by transforming the chemical parameter of harshness-causing aldehydes into non-harsh carboxylic acids. This chemical transformation reaches undetectable harshness levels, surpassing the partial reduction achieved by conventional methods.
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 method effectively minimizes or eliminates the harshness of consumable beverages to undetectable levels, preserving the intended flavor and aroma, as demonstrated by analytical and sensory tests.
Implementation Method 1
The dehydrogenase enzyme may selectively oxidize aliphatic aldehydes
Implementation Method 2
adding at least one dehydrogenase enzyme to the beverage during or after production
Data Source
AI summary
Methods of producing a consumable alcoholic product involve utilizing one or more enzymes to reduce or remove an oral pain response otherwise experienced upon consumption of the product. Methods involve admixing at least one oxidase with a fermentate and optionally distilling the fermentate to produce a consumable alcoholic product, such as a distilled alcohol. Methods involve admixing at least one oxidase comprising an aldehyde dehydrogenase.