Fermented Cereal Phytic Acid Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Infant cereals contain phytic acid, which binds to minerals like iron, reducing their bio-availability and leading to iron deficiency, a common nutritional disorder, especially in infants and pregnant women, as existing methods like iron fortification can lead to infections if not absorbed properly.
Innovation Solution
A process involving phytase-positive lactic acid bacteria fermentation of cereals to reduce phytic acid content by heating the fermented cereals to activate phytase activity, breaking down phytic acid, resulting in a dry cereal composition with improved mineral bio-availability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If iron fortification is used to overcome iron deficiency in cereals, then iron content is increased, but risk of infections increases due to unabsorbed iron reaching the colon
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by reducing phytic acid content through fermentation with lactic acid bacteria before iron fortification. This pre-treatment removes the substance (phytic acid) that causes harmful effects, allowing subsequent iron addition to be properly absorbed and preventing the harmful scenario of unabsorbed iron reaching the colon
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of phytic acid (which binds iron and prevents absorption) into a benefit by using the same phytic acid-binding property to selectively remove excess phytic acid through fermentation, thereby improving iron bioavailability without requiring excessive iron fortification
2Quantity of substance
If phytic acid content is reduced through fermentation, then mineral bio-availability is improved, but process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by using lactic acid bacteria that naturally produce phytase enzyme during fermentation. The system serves itself by utilizing the metabolic activity of the bacteria to break down phytic acid, eliminating the need for external phytase addition or complex industrial enzyme treatments
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies parameter changes by optimizing fermentation conditions (pH, temperature, time, bacterial strain selection) to maximize phytase activity. By adjusting these parameters, the process efficiently reduces phytic acid content while maintaining simplicity, as the biochemical parameters naturally favor phytase production and activity
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 effectively reduces phytic acid levels in cereals, enhancing the absorption of minerals like iron, zinc, calcium, and magnesium, thereby addressing iron deficiency and improving overall mineral bio-availability for infants, young children, and pregnant women.
Implementation Method 1
fermenting phytic acid containing cereals by phytase-positive lactic acid bacteria
Implementation Method 2
phytase activity that is present in some lactic acid bacteria that are suitable to ferment cereals, can be used after the fermentation step to reduce the phytic acid content
Implementation Method 3
the fermented cereals are heated in step (b) for optimal phytase activity to break down the phytic acid content
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention concerns a process for producing a dry cereal composition, comprising (a) fermenting phytic acid containing cereals by phytase-positive lactic acid bacteria at a temperature below 45 °C, until a pH of at most 5.9 is reached, (b) heating the fermented cereals obtained in step (a) to a temperature in the range of 40 – 55 °C, for a period of at least 1.5 h; (c) drying the fermented and phytase treated cereals originating from step (b) to obtain the dry cereal composition. The present invention is ideally suited to reduce the phytate content of fermented cereals, thereby increasing the bio-availability of minerals. The invention further contains the dry cereal composition obtainable by the process according to the invention, especially having a molar ratio of phytate to iron of at most 1, and the use thereof in increasing the bio-availability of minerals.