Starch Soft Capsule Casting via Temperature-Induced Gelatinization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing soft capsules using starch are limited by high starch viscosity, requiring complex and costly extrusion processes that reduce molecular weight and result in inferior mechanical properties, making them unsuitable for vegetarians and vegans due to gelatin's animal origin and high production costs.
Innovation Solution
A casting method that shapes a mixture with over 50% granular starch, solidifying it by increasing temperature, which maintains high molecular weight and achieves good mechanical properties without the need for extruders, allowing for simple and cost-effective production of soft capsules.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If starch concentration is increased to reduce production costs, then raw material cost decreases, but viscosity increases making casting impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature parameter of the starch mixture to enable casting at high starch concentrations. By heating the mixture to gelatinization temperature, the starch granules swell and the viscosity decreases, making the high-concentration mixture castable. After casting and cooling, the mixture gelates and forms the capsule shell with excellent mechanical properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the phase transition of starch from granular to gelatinized state during heating, and then from liquid to gel during cooling. This phase transition enables the mixture to be cast in a liquid state at high concentration and then solidify into a gel with good mechanical properties, resolving the contradiction between high starch content and castability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If gelatin is replaced by plant-based alternatives, then vegetarian and vegan suitability is improved, but production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses starch, a cheap and readily available plant-based material, to replace expensive gelatin. By utilizing common agricultural products like corn, potato, or wheat starch, the invention achieves vegetarian suitability while significantly reducing raw material costs compared to gelatin or specialized plant-based alternatives like carrageenan.
3Ease of manufacture
If starch is hydrolyzed to reduce viscosity, then castability is improved, but molecular weight decreases resulting in inferior mechanical properties
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of chemically hydrolyzing starch to reduce viscosity, the patent uses temperature parameter changes. By heating to gelatinization temperature, the starch granules swell and viscosity decreases temporarily for casting, but the molecular weight is preserved. After cooling and gelation, the capsules exhibit excellent mechanical properties due to the intact high molecular weight starch structure.
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 enables the production of soft capsules with high elasticity and extensibility, maintaining the quality of gelatin capsules while being suitable for vegetarians and vegans, with improved mechanical properties and reduced production costs.
Implementation Method 1
a mixture comprising starch, in which more than 50 weight percent (wt %) of the starch in the liquid phase is present as particles of granular starch, is shaped into a film, and the mixture is solidified during and/or after this shaping by an increase in temperature
Implementation Method 2
the mixture is solidified during and/or after this shaping by an increase in temperature, in particular by more than 5° C.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for producing starch soft capsules comprises the following steps: preparing a mixture comprising starch, plasticizer and water, wherein more than 50 weight percent of the starch is present in the form of particles of granular starch; shaping the mixture to form a film in a shaping process; solidifying the mixture by increasing the temperature of the mixture during and/or after the shaping process by more than 5° C.; and shaping the film to form a soft capsule. Soft capsules produced by this method have starch particles bonded to one another. A device for performing this method comprises a shaping device to enable shaping of the starch material to form a film, and a heating device to perform a heat treatment to destructure the starch during and/or after the shaping. It comprises a rotary die device.