Thyme Extracts for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current thyme preparations are not effective for treating chronic inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract and irritable bowel syndrome, as they often retain volatile essential oils that can limit their therapeutic application and stability.

Innovation Solution

Development of novel extracts from Thymus serpyllum L. using a systematic extraction process that reduces essential oil content, involves steaming, defatting, and thermal disinfection, allowing for the creation of stable formulations suitable for inflammatory diseases, including irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease, using water or organic solvents as extractants.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If thyme preparations retain volatile essential oils, then antimicrobial and therapeutic effects are maintained, but stability and shelf life are reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetherapeutic effectivenessVSAvoidpreparation stability

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and removes volatile essential oils from thyme preparations through systematic processing steps including steaming, defatting, and thermal disinfection. This separation eliminates the harmful volatile components while preserving the stable therapeutic principles in the extract, resolving the contradiction between maintaining therapeutic effectiveness and ensuring preparation stability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies thermal processing parameters (steaming, thermal disinfection) and chemical processing (defatting with solvents) to transform the thyme material. These parameter changes convert the unstable volatile oil-containing raw material into a stable extract form that maintains therapeutic activity without the instability caused by volatile oils.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Stability of the object's composition

If essential oil content is reduced through processing, then stability and shelf life are improved, but therapeutic potency may be compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepreparation stabilityVSAvoidtherapeutic active ingredients

Core Design Contradiction:

Stability of the object's compositionVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The systematic extraction process selectively removes volatile essential oils while preserving non-volatile therapeutic principles. The steaming, defatting, and thermal disinfection steps extract harmful volatiles but leave intact the stable therapeutic compounds, thus improving stability without compromising therapeutic potency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent converts the harmful effect of volatile essential oils (instability) into a benefit by removing them through processing. The same processing that eliminates the harmful volatility also concentrates and preserves the stable therapeutic principles, turning a potential disadvantage into a therapeutic advantage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #22Blessing in disguise (Convert harm into benefit)

3Ease of manufacture

If conventional extraction methods are used, then production is simple, but essential oils remain that limit therapeutic application

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveextraction process simplicityVSAvoidtherapeutic applicability

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the extraction process into distinct sequential steps: steaming to remove volatile oils, defatting to remove residual oils, thermal disinfection, and final extraction. This segmentation allows each step to target specific components systematically, achieving complete removal of limiting essential oils while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through standardized sequential operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies preliminary actions (steaming and defatting) before the main extraction process. These preliminary steps pre-treat the thyme material to remove volatile essential oils that would otherwise limit therapeutic application, ensuring the subsequent extraction yields a versatile therapeutic preparation free from volatile oil limitations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

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 process results in effective extracts that can be used to treat inflammatory diseases along the digestive tract, providing local anti-inflammatory effects and improving the stability and shelf life of thyme preparations, with reduced essential oil content, enhancing their therapeutic utility.

Implementation Method 1

steaming

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectEvaporation: Evaporation

Implementation Method 2

steaming

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectPhase change: Phase Change

Implementation Method 3

defatting

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectDissolution: Solvation

Implementation Method 4

thermal disinfection

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectThermal disinfection: Heating

Data Source

PatentUS11179430B2Extracts from mother-of-thyme and the use i'hereof

Publication Date: 2021.11.23 FINZELBERG

AI summary

Extracts from Thymus serpyllum L. for use in enteric inflammatory diseases.