Erythritol Sweetening Composition Granulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing sweetening tablets with erythritol as the prevalent component (> 50 wt%) face challenges due to erythritol's difficulty in compression and the need for additional polyols or binding agents, resulting in unsatisfactory dietary characteristics and complex, expensive production processes.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a wet mixing step with erythritol and an intensive sweetener, followed by drying and granulation, which allows for the formation of a combined crystalline form with erythritol comprising less than 85 wt%, enabling the production of tablets with improved compressibility and rheological properties without the need for additional polyols or binding agents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If erythritol is used as the prevalent component (> 50 wt%) in sweetening tablets, then the dietary characteristics are improved (low caloric power, low glycemic impact, high digestive tolerance), but the compressibility deteriorates making production difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the physical state and composition parameters of the erythritol mixture. Specifically, it combines erythritol with intensive sweeteners in specific ratios (0.1-10 wt% intensive sweetener, 90-99.9 wt% erythritol) and controls water content during granulation (5-20 wt%) to transform the difficult-to-compress erythritol into a compressible granulated mixture that maintains its superior dietary characteristics while enabling tablet production
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite material system by combining erythritol with intensive sweeteners (such as aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame K, or stevioside) in specific proportions. This composite granulated mixture leverages the properties of both components: erythritol provides the desired dietary characteristics while the intensive sweeteners and controlled moisture content improve compressibility, enabling the production of tablets with >50 wt% erythritol without needing additional polyols or binding agents
2Ease of manufacture
If additional polyols or binding agents are added to improve compressibility, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the dietary characteristics deteriorate (increased caloric power, increased glycemic impact)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by eliminating the need for additional polyols or binding agents that would compromise dietary characteristics. Instead, it uses only intensive sweeteners (which have negligible caloric power and glycemic impact) and controlled water content during granulation to achieve the necessary compressibility, thereby extracting the harmful elements while retaining the beneficial compressibility function
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of the erythritol system itself rather than adding external substances. By controlling water content at 5-20 wt% during granulation and using specific intensive sweetener concentrations, it achieves improved compressibility while maintaining the low caloric power and low glycemic impact characteristics, proving that parameter optimization can replace the need for additional polyols
3Device complexity
If conventional production methods are used with erythritol, then the manufacturing process remains simple, but the manufacturing precision deteriorates due to poor compressibility and unsuitable rheological properties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing wet granulation as a pre-processing step before tablet compression. The erythritol and intensive sweeteners are first mixed with water (5-20 wt%) to form a granulated mixture with improved rheological properties and compressibility, which then serves as the feed material for tablet production, ensuring suitable hardness and low friability in the final tablets
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the erythritol mixture through wet granulation, transforming it from a difficult-to-compress powder into a granulated material with suitable moisture content (5-20 wt%) and improved flow and compression characteristics. This parameter transformation enables conventional tablet presses to produce tablets with appropriate hardness and low friability without requiring complex equipment modifications
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 produces tablets with suitable hardness, low friability, and palatability similar to saccharose, while maintaining extremely low caloric content and glycemic impact, simplifying the production process and overcoming previous technological limitations.
Implementation Method 1
a drying step, which is at least partially subsequent to the step of wet mixing and during which the wet mixture is at least partially dried so as to obtain a substantially dry mixture; the substantially dry mixture comprises from 0.1 wt% to 0.6 wt% (KF), with respect to the weight of the substantially dry mixture, of water
Implementation Method 2
the erythritol and the intensive sweetener being in a combined crystalline form
Data Source
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AI summary
Described herein are a solid sweetening composition, which comprises a weight percentage of erythritol that is higher than 50 wt% and a weight percentage of an intensive sweetener that is higher than 2 wt% and a process suitable for modifying the crystalline structure of erythritol, such as to render it suitable as excipient in the production of tablets, in the absence of further polyols or binding agents, such as maltodextrins.