Mixed Potato Chip Popcorn Snack for Digestion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional potato chips and popcorn are difficult to digest due to their composition and structure, leading to digestive issues related to the incomplete breakdown of starches in the mouth and stomach.
Innovation Solution
A food product comprising a mixture of slices of potatoes cooked in oil and corns puffed up when heated, with a specific weight ratio of 55-85% potatoes to 15-45% corns, which enhances digestibility by increasing salivary stimulus and starch availability through complementary organoleptic characteristics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional potato chips or popcorn are consumed alone, then the snack provides satisfying taste and texture, but the digestibility is poor due to incomplete starch breakdown
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines potato chips and popcorn into a single mixed snack product. This merging creates complementary organoleptic characteristics that stimulate saliva production more effectively than either snack alone, thereby improving starch digestion and reducing incomplete breakdown in the digestive system.
2Ease of operation
If potato chips are made with high starch content, then the product achieves desired texture and taste, but the digestibility decreases due to difficulty in breaking down cooked starches
Solution Approach 1:
By merging potato chips with popcorn in specific proportions (60-80% potato chips, 20-40% popcorn by weight), the patent creates a mixed product where the complementary textures and flavors enhance overall organoleptic stimulation of salivary secretion, improving the digestion of the high-starch potato chip component.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the compositional parameters of the snack by introducing a second ingredient (popcorn) with different starch characteristics and texture properties, thereby changing the overall digestibility profile while maintaining acceptable taste and texture through optimized proportioning.
3Ease of operation
If popcorn is prepared with high oil and salt content, then the snack achieves desirable flavor and crunch, but the digestibility is reduced due to interference with enzymatic action
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges potato chips and popcorn in a way that the potato chip component provides a starch source that benefits from salivary amylase action, while the popcorn component contributes to overall organoleptic stimulation. The combination creates a synergistic effect where the mixed textures and flavors enhance saliva production, improving the digestion of both components despite their individual limitations.
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 mixed product is more digestible and assimilable, as demonstrated by increased chewing time, improved homogeneity, and better starch penetration and retention, leading to enhanced digestive efficiency without compromising taste.
Implementation Method 1
corns puffed up when heated
Implementation Method 2
corns puffed up when heated
Implementation Method 3
an enzyme: salivary amylase. The system controlling salivary secretion is complex
Implementation Method 4
amylase continues its action until it is deactivated by the acids themselves
Data Source
AI summary
Food product characterized in that it comprises a mixture of slices of potatoes cooked in oil and corns puffed up when heated, said slices of potatoes being present in a percentage by weight ranging approximately from 55% to 85% of the total weight of the food product and said corns being present in a percentage by weight ranging approximately from 15% to 45% of the total weight of the food product.