Microbial Culture Encapsulation for Ambient Storage Stability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing dry microbial cultures, such as lactic acid bacteria, fail to maintain viability and functional activity during storage at ambient temperature due to degradation, especially in high humidity environments, despite the use of cryoprotectants and fat coatings, which are not sufficiently effective in ensuring shelf stability.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of a cryoprotectant and/or lyoprotectant with a hydrophobic content above 2% is added to the microbial culture before encapsulation, followed by a specific holding time and drying process, and optionally coated with a fat matrix, to enhance storage stability at ambient temperature for extended periods.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional cryoprotectants and fat coatings are used before drying, then some protection against ambient humidity is achieved, but viability and functional activity are not maintained during storage at ambient temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the protective coating by incorporating specific ratios of cryoprotectant (1-10% w/w), lyoprotectant (1-10% w/w), and fat (5-20% w/w). This parameter optimization creates a synergistic protective effect that maintains viability during ambient storage, resolving the contradiction between protection achievement and long-term stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite protective coating system combining multiple functional components: cryoprotectant (e.g., maltodextrin, trehalose), lyoprotectant (e.g., gelatin, collagen), and fat (e.g., hydrogenated vegetable oil, wax). This composite material structure provides multi-layered protection against ambient humidity and temperature stress, enabling both viability maintenance and extended storage stability.
2Productivity
If high concentration of dried microorganisms is produced, then application efficiency is improved, but degradation of cell viability occurs during ambient storage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies protective compounds (cryoprotectant, lyoprotectant, and fat) to the microorganism cells before the drying process. This preliminary protective action prevents viability loss during subsequent ambient storage, allowing high-concentration dried microorganisms to maintain reliability while achieving improved application efficiency.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If drying is performed to extend storage time, then shelf life is increased, but functional activity is lost due to degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates cryoprotectant and lyoprotectant compounds that act as cushioning agents against environmental stress during drying and storage. These compounds prevent functional activity loss by cushioning the cells against dehydration and temperature stress, enabling extended shelf life while maintaining reliability of functional 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 method achieves a log10 loss of less than 4 cfu/g over 12 weeks, providing improved stability and viability of microencapsulated microbial cultures, even at elevated temperatures and high humidity, thereby extending the shelf life and usability of microbial cultures in various applications.
Implementation Method 1
the protective compound is a cryoprotectant and/or lyoprotectant with a hydrophobic content above 2% (weight)
Implementation Method 2
coating the powder or mixture; and optionally mixing the coated powder or mixture with an excipient
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to encapsulation of microbial cultures to improve the robustness and stability upon storage. In particular, the present invention relates to dry preparations of microbial cultures, such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB), coated by a fat-matrix that increase survivability and mitigate post-acidification upon storage at ambient temperature for extended periods of time.