Liquid Egg White Pasteurization via Preliminary Cooling

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for producing liquid egg white are time-consuming and impair the product's quality, particularly foaming properties and stability, due to long pasteurization durations, which are not suitable for culinary applications requiring precise bacteriology control.

Innovation Solution

A process involving preliminary egg storage for 48 hours, followed by pasteurization at 51-53°C for 2-5 hours, with optional hydrocolloid addition and careful handling to maintain natural viscosity and appearance, allowing for reduced pasteurization time while preserving quality.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If long-term pasteurization treatment (18-72 hours at 40-48°C) is applied to liquid egg white, then bacterial safety is improved, but foaming properties and mousse stability deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvebacterial safetyVSAvoidfoaming properties
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary cooling of egg white to 4-10°C before pasteurization to slow bacterial growth kinetics, enabling reduced pasteurization time while maintaining safety. This preliminary temperature adjustment creates conditions that allow shorter treatment duration without compromising bacterial elimination, thereby preserving foaming properties.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the temperature parameter from conventional 40-48°C to a lower range of 4-10°C during pre-treatment, and optimizes the pasteurization temperature to 50-55°C. This parameter modification alters bacterial growth rates and pasteurization kinetics, enabling effective pasteurization in 2-5 hours instead of 18-72 hours, thus preserving culinary qualities.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Object-affected harmful factors

If extended pasteurization duration (several days) is used, then pathogen elimination is improved, but product quality and natural appearance deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepathogen eliminationVSAvoidnatural appearance
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary cooling to 4-10°C for at least 4 hours before pasteurization to reduce initial bacterial load and slow growth kinetics. This preliminary action enables subsequent rapid pasteurization at 50-55°C for only 2-5 hours, achieving pathogen elimination without extended exposure that would damage natural appearance and composition.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements a rushed-through approach by using optimized temperature parameters (50-55°C) combined with preliminary cooling to achieve effective pasteurization in just 2-5 hours, skipping the conventional extended treatment period of 18-72 hours. This rapid treatment eliminates pathogens while minimizing thermal damage to natural appearance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #21Skipping (Rushing through)

3Productivity

If high temperature pasteurization (70°C) is applied, then pasteurization speed is improved, but culinary application suitability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepasteurization speedVSAvoidculinary application suitability
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent optimizes the pasteurization temperature parameter to a moderate range of 50-55°C, which is lower than conventional 70°C treatments. This parameter change, combined with preliminary cooling to 4-10°C, achieves effective pasteurization in 2-5 hours while preserving the delicate protein structure necessary for culinary applications like mousses and floating islands.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies preliminary cooling to 4-10°C for at least 4 hours before pasteurization to reduce bacterial growth rates. This preliminary action enables the use of lower pasteurization temperatures (50-55°C) with shorter treatment times, achieving both rapid processing and preservation of culinary suitability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

4Productivity

If rapid pasteurization (2-5 hours) is implemented, then production efficiency is improved, but bacterial safety may be compromised

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveproduction efficiencyVSAvoidbacterial safety
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary cooling to 4-10°C for at least 4 hours before pasteurization to slow bacterial growth kinetics and reduce initial bacterial load. This preliminary action creates a safety buffer that enables rapid pasteurization at 50-55°C for only 2-5 hours while maintaining equivalent or superior bacterial safety compared to conventional extended treatments.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the temperature parameter to an optimized range of 50-55°C for pasteurization, which provides optimal balance between bacterial elimination efficiency and protein structure preservation. Combined with preliminary cooling, this parameter change enables rapid 2-5 hour treatment that achieves both production efficiency and bacterial safety.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

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 achieves significant time savings with improved foaming properties and stability, maintaining the product's quality and appearance similar to natural egg white, enabling long-term storage and safe distribution.

Implementation Method 1

pasteurization of the packaging, by maintaining at a pasteurization temperature of between 51 and 53° C., for a pasteurization time of between 2 and 5 hours

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectPasteurization: Heat Treatment

Data Source

PatentEP2716162B1Process for the preparation of liquid egg white.
Publication Date: 2017.08.16 OVOTEAM
  • EP2716162B1 patent drawingFigure 1

AI summary

Producing liquid egg white, comprises: breaking (2) an egg and recovering an egg white in a tank; inserting a predetermined amount of egg white in a package; tightly closing the package; pasteurizing (9) the package by holding at a pasteurization temperature of 50-55[deg] C for a period of 2-10 hours.