Lyophilizing Honey with Buffering Agent for Microbial Powders
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in creating a commercially viable dry powder of lyophilized microbial products using honey as a food source, as honey's low glass transition temperature makes freeze-drying difficult, leading to sticky and hard products, and existing methods struggle to maintain microbial concentration and prevent matty layers that complicate processing.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of honey as a food source, combined with a buffering medium of sucrose solution, where the honey's wax is removed, and the mixture is filtered and lyophilized above 0°C to produce a fluffy cake that is filterable, ensuring high microbial concentration and preventing matty layers, with pH cycling to promote diverse microbial growth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If honey is used as a food source for microbial growth, then microbial concentration increases significantly, but the low glass transition temperature of honey causes difficulty in freeze-drying and results in sticky, hard-to-handle products
Solution Approach 1:
A buffering medium is introduced as an intermediary substance between the honey-based microbial culture and the final lyophilized product. This buffering medium modifies the physical properties of the culture matrix during freeze-drying, enabling the formation of a free-flowing powder despite the presence of honey's low glass transition temperature, thus resolving the contradiction between high microbial concentration and manufacturability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical and chemical parameters of the culture medium by adding a buffering medium that alters the glass transition temperature and rheological properties of the honey-based matrix. This parameter modification enables successful lyophilization and produces a handleable powder product while preserving the high microbial concentration achieved through honey feeding
2Productivity
If rapid microbial growth is promoted to achieve high concentration, then microbial yield increases, but matty layers form that are difficult to break down and filter
Solution Approach 1:
The buffering medium acts as a physical intermediary that prevents direct contact and aggregation of microbial cells during rapid growth. This intermediary layer disrupts the formation of matty structures while still allowing nutrients to reach the microbes, thereby maintaining high productivity while eliminating filtration difficulties
Solution Approach 2:
The buffering medium creates local heterogeneity in the culture medium, providing different micro-environments that prevent uniform mat formation. This local quality variation ensures that even during rapid growth, microbes remain dispersed as individual cells or small clusters rather than forming large mats, facilitating easy filtration
3Quantity of substance
If molasses is used as a growth media to support diverse microbes, then microbial growth is sustained, but the processed nature of molasses leaves undissolved materials that create post-lyophilization issues
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful undissolved materials are selectively removed from the culture medium through filtration before lyophilization. The buffering medium facilitates this extraction by maintaining a homogeneous mixture that allows easy separation of soluble microbial cells from insoluble molasses residues, ensuring high product solubility after lyophilization while preserving microbial growth support
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite culture medium combining honey, buffering agents, and filtered molasses components. This composite material provides the nutritional benefits of molasses for microbial growth while the buffering medium and filtration process remove problematic undissolved materials, achieving both microbial sustenance and product solubility
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
This approach results in a high-concentration, water-soluble microbial powder with improved stability and ease of filtration, overcoming the difficulties of honey's handling and maintaining microbial viability, while reducing processing issues and costs.
Implementation Method 1
lyophilizing a buffering medium containing the microbes
Implementation Method 2
lyophilizing a buffering medium containing the microbes
Data Source
AI summary
Compositions and methods are provided for lyophilizing microbes suspended in a medium. Specifically, a food source comprising honey and a buffering medium form a fluffy cake after the lyophilizing.