Spray Drying Gram-Negative Bacteria Using Protective Carriers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for formulating gram-negative bacteria as biopesticides face challenges in retaining their biological activity and viability during processing, particularly during spray drying, which affects their effectiveness as plant disease control agents and agronomic trait improvers.
Innovation Solution
The development of a spray drying method that uses carriers like lactose, lignosulfonates, maltodextrin, and dextrose to enhance the survival of gram-negative bacteria, resulting in a powder with high colony-forming units (CFU) and improved dispersibility, shelf life, and compatibility with biocides, allowing for effective use as an inoculant and disease resistance enhancer in plants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If spray drying is used to formulate gram-negative bacteria, then the bacteria can be produced as a stable powder with improved dispersibility and shelf life, but the biological activity and viability of the bacteria are significantly reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses carriers (such as maltodextrin, lactose, or other excipients) as intermediary substances to protect gram-negative bacteria during spray drying. These carriers form a protective matrix around the bacterial cells, reducing the direct impact of heat and mechanical stress, thereby maintaining biological activity while enabling powder formulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes spray drying parameters including inlet temperature, outlet temperature, feed rate, and atomization pressure to minimize thermal and mechanical stress on bacteria. By carefully controlling these parameters, the process achieves both powder stability and retention of biological activity.
2Productivity
If conventional spray drying conditions are applied, then processing efficiency is high, but the colony-forming units (CFU) of gram-negative bacteria are severely reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs preliminary protection measures by pre-mixing bacteria with protective carriers and optimizing cell density before spray drying. This preliminary preparation ensures that bacteria are already protected against stress conditions, maintaining higher CFU counts during the high-efficiency processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses rapid spray drying conditions that quickly pass through the critical temperature zone, minimizing the time bacteria are exposed to harmful heat and mechanical stress. This rapid processing maintains both productivity and bacterial viability.
3Ease of manufacture
If gram-negative bacteria are spray dried without protective measures, then the process is simple and fast, but the resulting powder has poor viability and effectiveness as a biopesticide
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces protective carriers as intermediary substances that simplify the overall manufacturing process by providing built-in protection during spray drying, eliminating the need for complex post-processing or specialized equipment while maintaining high viability and effectiveness.
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 effectively retains the biological activity and viability of gram-negative bacteria, ensuring a stable product with high CFU counts that can control plant pathogens and improve agronomic traits, offering enhanced plant health and disease resistance.
Implementation Method 1
spray drying methods are performed under conditions that allow for the spray dried composition to retain the biological activity of interest
Implementation Method 2
spray drying methods are performed under conditions that allow for the spray dried composition to retain the biological activity of interest
Data Source
AI summary
Methods for spray drying gram negative bacteria are provided. Such spray drying methods are performed under conditions that allow for the spray dried composition to retain the biological activity of interest of the gram-negative bacteria. Further provided are compositions comprising a spray dried gram-negative bacteria, where the spray dried formulation comprises at least 105 CFU/gram of said gram-negative bacteria. The gram-negative bacteria employed in the various methods and compositions can comprise a biological activity of interest which, in specific embodiments, controls one or more pathogens that cause plant disease and/or improve at least one agronomic trait of interest. The spray dried formulation can be used as an inoculant for plants. Methods for growing a plant susceptible to plant disease and methods and compositions for controlling plant disease are also provided. Further provided are methods and compositions of increasing disease resistance in plants. Methods and compositions for improving plant health and/or improving at least one agronomic trait of interest are also provided.