CN115969036A

CN115969036A - Particulate plant sterol and preparation method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN115969036A
Application number: CN202310035190.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 罗文涛; 邹彦平
Original assignee: Wilmar Oleochemicals Co Ltd
Current assignee: Wilmar Oleochemicals Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-01-10
Filing date: 2023-01-10
Publication date: 2023-04-18

Abstract

The invention discloses a phytosterol particle and a preparation method thereof, belonging to the technical field of food. According to the invention, according to the microencapsulation principle, the levorotatory Arabic gum is used as a coating material to coat the surface of the phytosterol, so that the water dispersion stability of the phytosterol is improved. The invention can simply, quickly and efficiently prepare the phytosterol microcapsule powder with good dispersibility by a boiling drying granulator. The obtained phytosterol microcapsule powder has good water dispersibility and an easily-accepted mouthfeel, does not have a chalk mouthfeel of pure phytosterol, and is easy to use and accept.

Description

Particulate plant sterol and preparation method thereof

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of food, and particularly relates to a phytosterol product and a preparation method thereof, in particular to a water-dispersible phytosterol microparticle (microcapsule or powder and the like) prepared by using levorotatory Arabic gum and a preparation method thereof.

Background

Phytosterols, which are natural active substances present in plants, mainly include sitosterol, stigmasterol, brassicasterol, campesterol, and the like, and are present in plant cells in the forms of free, esterified, steroidal glycoside, acylated steroidal glycoside, and the like. The phytosterol is usually white solid in sheet or powder shape at normal temperature, the carbon number is usually 27-31, the molecular weight is about 386-456, and the melting point is 130.6-141.7 ℃.

The physical and chemical properties of phytosterol are mainly represented by hydrophobicity, but the structure of phytosterol is attached with hydroxyl, so that the phytosterol has certain hydrophilicity. Based on such properties, it is widely used in the fields of medicines, cosmetics, foods and the like. For example, clinical medicine mainly has the effects of reducing cholesterol, diminishing inflammation, abating fever, resisting ulcer, resisting tumor and the like; in the application of the skin external preparation, the phytosterol has good skin permeability, can inhibit skin inflammation, keep skin moisture and prevent skin aging, so the phytosterol can be widely applied to cosmetics as a skin nutrient.

On the other hand, gum arabic, a gum-like secretion derived from acacia or acacia species, is a safe and harmless food additive produced by physical processing. The natural gum arabic is in the form of light white to light yellow brown semitransparent block, or white to orange brown granule or powder, odorless and tasteless, and can be gradually dissolved in water to form acidic viscous liquid. Arabic gum is widely used in food and cosmetics as an emulsion stabilizer, a thickener, a suspending agent, an adhesive, a film-forming agent and the like, and is a good water-soluble dietary fiber applied to health food because the Arabic gum does not generate heat basically. In addition, as described in cited document 1, gum arabic of different sources may have some differences in structure and properties, such as optical rotation and nitrogen content.

With the gradual improvement of the living standard of the new era, the awareness of health is gradually improved. The phytosterol has good regulating effect on blood fat of a human body, and can effectively prevent coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, fatty liver and other diseases. At present, a plurality of phytosterol products are sold in the market, including capsules, chewable tablets, solid beverages, health-care foods and the like, but the products are not convenient to eat or have low content, cannot meet the daily intake standard and are difficult to be accepted by consumers, so that the development of the phytosterol product with good mouthfeel, high content and high consumer preference is an important step for expanding the influence of the phytosterol.

Further, water dispersible phytosterols are generally a type that allows the phytosterols to be uniformly dispersed in warm water, thereby increasing the convenience of consumption of the phytosterols and significantly reducing the chalky mouthfeel. In the process of preparing the water dispersible phytosterol, factors such as composition, form or treatment process and the like directly influence the dispersion uniformity, stability, taste and texture of the product.

Citation 2 discloses a powdered phytosterol formulation such that the phytosterol formulation is made available for incorporation in both aqueous and oily formulations. For this purpose, the powdered phytosterol formulation comprises at least one phytosterol in amorphous form having an average particle size of 0.01 to 100 μm. And, the phytosterols are embedded in a protective colloid matrix. The protective colloid may be selected from gelatin such as bovine, porcine and fish gelatin, vegetable protein, gelatin, casein, sodium caseinate, gum arabic and modified starch, etc.

Although there has been some research into the preparation of products containing phytosterols, particularly those which require use in dispersions, there is room for further investigation into these products, particularly in terms of further improving the dispersion characteristics and mouthfeel of aqueous dispersions of phytosterols.

Cited documents:

citation 1: studies on the type, nature and function of gum arabic, wangweiping et al, chinese food additives, 2002

Cited document 2: CN1741748A

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The phytosterol is greatly limited in application due to the characteristics of insolubility in water and small lipid solubility. Further, for example, cited document 2, although it is proposed to use a protective colloid matrix to coat phytosterols to obtain a powder product of a specific particle size, the sterol loading is low and convenient and excellent dispersion characteristics sometimes cannot be obtained in practical use, particularly in the preparation of aqueous dispersion products.

In addition, the present inventors have further studied and found that, although there is a hope of improving the dispersion characteristics of the plant sterol particles by providing a suitable coating layer, it does not provide effective guidance for improving the mouthfeel of the plant sterol product as an edible product while improving the dispersion.

Therefore, the primary object of the present invention is to provide particulate plant sterol with a specific outer coating and a specific particle size, and it has been unexpectedly found that the particulate plant sterol can not only improve the dispersibility in water, and can obtain improved dispersion rate and dispersion stability, but also improve the mouthfeel of the product of plant sterol dispersion, thereby expanding and improving the application range and convenience in the related fields.

More specifically, the invention uses the L-arabic gum as a coating material to form a coating material to coat the phytosterol so as to improve the water dispersion performance of the phytosterol, and the obtained phytosterol microcapsule powder has good water dispersion performance, has no chalk taste of pure phytosterol, and is easier to use and accept.

Means for solving the problems

Through long-term research, the inventor finds that the technical problem can be solved through the implementation of the following technical scheme:

[1] the invention provides, in a first aspect, a particulate plant sterol, wherein the particles in the particulate material comprise:

an inner core portion comprising phytosterols; and the number of the first and second groups,

an outer layer portion comprising L-acacia, optionally an emulsifier,

wherein the outer layer part covers at least a part of the surface of the inner core part, and the particle diameter of the particles is 80 mesh or less.

[2] The granule of [1], wherein the phytosterol is derived from a vegetable oil; the content of the phytosterol is more than 80 mass percent based on the total mass of the inner core part;

[3] the particulate matter according to [1] or [2], wherein, based on the total mass of the particulate matter:

the content of the phytosterol is 40-95 mass%;

the content of the L-arabic gum is 3-30 wt%;

the content of the emulsifier is 30% by mass or less.

[4] The particulate matter according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the outer layer portion of the particles in the particulate matter is substantially formed of the L-acacia and the emulsifier.

[5] The particulate matter according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein the outer layer portion of at least some of the particles completely covers the inner core portion.

[6] The particulate matter according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the specific optical rotation of the gum arabic is in a range of-35 ° to-25 °; the emulsifier is selected from one or more of a nonionic surfactant, an anionic surfactant or an amphoteric surfactant, preferably the emulsifier comprises a phospholipid.

[7] A method for producing the particulate matter according to any one of [1] to [6], wherein the method comprises:

in the boiling granulator, the coating dispersion liquid containing the outer layer part is brought into contact with the core material forming the core part.

[8] The method of [7], wherein, while the contacting is performed: the coating dispersion is applied by spraying and the core material in the boiling granulator is in a circulating flow state; the air inlet temperature of the boiling granulator is 50-70 ℃, and the air inlet pressure is 0.05-0.5 MPa.

[9] The method according to [7] or [8], wherein the solid content of the coating dispersion is 25% by mass or less; the coating dispersion is a substantially uniform aqueous dispersion formed at 50-60 ℃.

[10] Further, the present invention also provides a product which is an edible product, a product for external application to the skin or a feed product, wherein the product comprises or is produced from the particulate plant sterol according to any one of the above [1] to [6].

The invention has the advantages of

Through the implementation of the technical scheme, compared with the existing dispersion type phytosterol product and the preparation process, the invention has the advantages that:

(1) Preparing a stable coating solution by using the L-arabic gum, and coating the phytosterol to obtain phytosterol particles with specific particle sizes, so that the particles have improved dispersion rate and dispersion stability and durability in water, and the obtained particles also have improved mouthfeel when being eaten;

(2) The preparation process is simple, quick and efficient, no risk process equipment such as high temperature, high pressure and the like is involved in the preparation process, the investment is low, and the large-scale production is easy to realize;

(3) The prepared final product has high sterol content, uniform coating, good fluidity, good taste and excellent dispersion performance, and can be widely applied to various application fields.

Drawings

FIG. 1: a flow diagram for the preparation of particulate plant sterol according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in detail below. The technical features described below are explained based on typical embodiments and specific examples of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and specific examples. It is to be noted that, unless otherwise defined:

in the present specification, the numerical range represented by the expression "numerical value a to numerical value B" means a range including the end points of numerical values a and B.

In the present specification, the numerical ranges indicated by "above" or "below" mean the numerical ranges including the numbers.

In the present specification, the meaning of "may" includes both the meaning of performing a certain process and the meaning of not performing a certain process.

As used herein, "optional" or "optionally" means that certain materials, components, performance steps, application conditions, and the like are used or not used, and that no limitation is intended to the manner of use.

In the present specification, the unit names used are all international standard unit names, and "%" used means weight or mass% unless otherwise specified.

In the present specification, the term "substantially" or "essentially" means that the standard deviation from the theoretical model or theoretical data is within 3%, preferably 2%, more preferably 1%, and the deviation herein also includes systematic deviation.

In the present specification, the term "room temperature" or "normal temperature" means a temperature of 23. + -. 2 ℃.

In the present specification, reference to "some particular/preferred embodiments," "other particular/preferred embodiments," "embodiments," and the like, means that a particular element (e.g., feature, structure, property, and/or characteristic) described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment described herein, and may or may not be present in other embodiments. In addition, it is to be understood that the described elements may be combined in any suitable manner in the various embodiments.

< first aspect >

In a first aspect of the invention, a particulate plant sterol is provided. The particulate plant sterol is an aggregate of plant sterol particles. In some particular embodiments, these aggregates may be present in a visually powdery state.

For the phytosterol particles of the present invention, the particles therein have at least a partial, or complete, core-shell structure (e.g., capsule structure). Specifically, the particles in the particulate matter of the present invention include: an inner core portion comprising phytosterols; and an outer layer part including L-acacia, optionally an emulsifier, and covering at least a part of the surface of the inner core part.

Further, the particles in the particulate matter of the present invention may have a uniform or randomly graded particle size distribution. From the viewpoint of improving dispersibility and reducing a feeling of graininess upon drinking, the particle diameter is preferably 80 mesh or less. In some preferred embodiments of the invention, the particles in the granulate of the invention may have an average particle size of from 70 to 170 μm, preferably from 80 to 150 μm, more preferably from 90 to 120 μm.

Core part

The inner core of the particles in the phytosterol granules mainly comprises phytosterol.

The phytosterols described herein are selected from one or more of the three sterol types 4-methyl free sterol, 4-methyl sterol and 4,4' -dimethyl sterol. Also, the plant sterol of the present invention includes (partially) hydrogenated products or (fatty acid) esterified products of the above three types of sterols.

There is no particular limitation on the source of the phytosterols of the present invention, and for example, the phytosterols may be derived from various vegetable oils, nuts, plant seeds, vegetables and/or fruits.

In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the phytosterol is derived from one or more of soybean oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, rice bran oil, sesame oil, safflower oil, wheat germ oil; more preferably, the phytosterol is one or more plant extracts obtained by deodorizing and distilling vegetable oil selected from soybean oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower seed oil, corn oil, rice bran oil, sesame oil, safflower oil and wheat germ oil.

In addition, specific examples of phytosterols include: the phytosterol is selected from one or more of stigmasterol, brassicasterol, campesterol, beta sitosterol, avenasterol and ergosterol. In particular, the phytosterols produced from the above-described vegetable oil are a mixture of phytosterols consisting of about 40-58% by weight beta-sitosterol, 20-30% by weight campesterol, and 14-22% by weight stigmasterol.

With respect to the above forms of phytosterols, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the phytosterols may be used in the form of free sterols (fatty acid esters other than sterols). In addition, the phytosterol of the present invention may have a certain crystallinity, and in some specific embodiments, the crystallinity may be 10 to 70%, preferably 20 to 50%, as measured by X-ray diffraction.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the plant sterol starting material may have a 100-mesh sieve passage rate of 90% or more, preferably 92% or more, for example, 95% or the like, and may have a moisture and volatile matter content of less than 2% by mass, preferably less than 1.5% by mass, from the viewpoint of convenience of use.

In some preferred embodiments, the content of the above-mentioned phytosterol in the inner core portion of the particles of the phytosterol of the present invention may be 80% by mass or more, further 85% by mass or more, for example, 90% by mass or more or 95% by mass or more, based on the total mass of the inner core portion.

Further, the inner core portion of the plant sterol particles of the present invention may contain other components in addition to the plant sterol described above without affecting the technical effect of the present invention.

In some embodiments of the invention, the other ingredients may include any functional ingredients, adjunct ingredients, and the like.

The functional ingredient that can be used is not particularly limited depending on the field of use of the final product.

In some specific embodiments, the functional ingredients include: pharmaceutically active ingredients such as anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesic drugs, blood pressure/blood lipid lowering drugs, etc.; non-pharmaceutically active or nutritional supplement ingredients, such as one or more of antioxidant ingredients, moisturizing ingredients (biological moisturizing ingredients or polyols), anti-aging ingredients, cell repair ingredients, cell nutrient ingredients, whitening promoting ingredients, anti-allergic ingredients, vitamin ingredients, vegetable oils, trace element supplement ingredients (organic acid metal salts), anti-ultraviolet or ultraviolet absorbing ingredients, active enzymes, and the like.

As the auxiliary components which can be used, there may be mentioned colorants, bleaching agents, pH adjusting agents, chelating agents, color fixatives, plasticizers (sugar alcohols), preservatives, sweeteners, surfactants, solvents, silicone oils and the like.

Further, the above-mentioned "other ingredients" are preferably oil-soluble ingredients from the viewpoint of good dispersion or compatibility with phytosterols.

Outer layer part

The outer layer portion of the present invention may be formed of a material containing l-acacia. In other embodiments, additional thickening components different from the above-described gum arabic may be used in addition thereto.

The source of the gum arabic according to the present invention is not particularly limited, and the gum arabic can be obtained by removing impurities, pulverizing, sterilizing, decolorizing, and spray-drying from gum arabic.

For gum arabic, there may be some differences in structure due to its different origin or origin. In the present invention, the L-arabic gum refers to gum arabic having a negative specific rotation (OR) measured by a polarimeter at 20 ℃. Also, in some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the specific optical rotation (optical rotation) of the gum arabic at 20 ℃ may range from-35 ° to-25 °, more preferably from-30 ° to-27 °. The present inventors have surprisingly found that the use of gum arabic in a levorotatory form enables the desired dispersion characteristics and dispersion stability of the present invention.

For the above-mentioned additional thickening components, one or more selected from animal or plant colloids, polysaccharides, polymeric thickeners, their respective derivatives, and the like may be used. The animal or plant (protein) colloid may be a protein, a colloid, or the like of animals and plants in general, and may include animal gelatin, casein, or a modified product thereof; the polysaccharide substance may be starch, dextrin, alginic acid (salt), xanthan gum, carrageenan, cellulose thickener, or modified product thereof; for the polymer thickening, a polyol, polylactic acid, polyacrylic acid (polyacrylate) or the like is usually used.

Further, the gum arabic content in the outer layer portion may be 80 mass% or more, preferably 85 mass% or more, more preferably 90 mass% or more, still more preferably 95 mass% or more, and most preferably 97 mass% or more, based on the total mass of the gum arabic and the additional thickening component.

In addition, in the outer layer portion of the present invention, an emulsifier may be optionally included in addition to the above components. Moreover, by using the emulsifier, the outer coating material which will be described below can have good dispersion uniformity, so that better outer coating performance is provided when the phytosterol particles are prepared, and further, the dispersion characteristic of the particles can be improved, and the mouthfeel of a final dispersed product can be improved.

In the present invention, the emulsifier employed may be selected from any of the emulsifiers defined in GB2760, including synthetic or natural emulsifiers.

For the outer layer portion, in some specific embodiments, the emulsifier that may be used in the present invention may be selected from one or more of a nonionic surfactant, an anionic surfactant, or an amphoteric surfactant, preferably, the emulsifier includes an amphoteric surfactant, and more preferably, the content of the amphoteric surfactant may be 80 mass% or more, preferably 85 mass% or more, based on the total amount of the emulsifier.

As for the above-mentioned nonionic surfactants, in some preferred embodiments of the present invention, they may be selected from fatty acid ester surfactants of (poly) polyols. One or more of polyglycerol glyceride, polysorbate (Tween), sorbitan fatty acid ester (span), sorbitol fatty acid ester, sodium stearoyl lactylate, fatty acid monoglyceride, sucrose fatty acid ester, etc.

As for the above-mentioned anionic surfactant, in some preferred embodiments of the present invention, it may be selected from one or more of fatty acid salts, fatty acid lactylates, alkylsulfonates, alkylsulfates, and the like.

As for the above-mentioned amphoteric surfactant, in some preferred embodiments of the present invention, there may be mentioned various kinds of phospholipids, betaine-type or amino acid-type amphoteric surfactants, and preferably phospholipids such as soybean phospholipids, rape oil phospholipids and the like.

Particulate plant sterol

As mentioned previously, the plant sterol particulate matter of the invention is an aggregate of plant sterol particles, which has flowability, and in some preferred embodiments, the total weight ratio of the particles present in the form of individual particles, based on the total mass of the particulate matter, is 80 mass% or more, preferably 90 mass% or more, and more preferably, there is no substantial adhesion between the particles in the particulate matter.

Further, the phytosterol particles of the present invention at least partially cover the outer layer part on the surface of the inner core part, and in some specific embodiments, the average coverage rate of the outer layer part of the particles in the phytosterol granules to the inner core part is 50% or more, preferably 70% or more, more preferably 80% or more, and most preferably 90% or more. The adjustment of the average coverage rate can be realized by the preparation process and the adjustment of raw materials.

In a typical embodiment of the invention, the average coverage of the particle surface in the particulate material is 100%, i.e. the particulate material as a whole exhibits the form of a microencapsulated particulate material.

Further, in some specific embodiments, the plant sterol is contained in an amount of 40 to 95 mass%, preferably 45 to 85 mass%, more preferably 50 to 80 mass%, more preferably 55 to 75 mass%, most preferably 60 to 70 mass% with respect to the total mass of the plant sterol granules of the present invention; the content of the gum arabic is 3 to 30% by mass, preferably 5 to 25% by mass, and more preferably 9 to 20% by mass; the content of the emulsifier is 30% by mass or less, preferably 1 to 30% by mass, more preferably 5 to 29% by mass, and still more preferably 10 to 28% by mass.

< second aspect >

In a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process for preparing particulate plant sterol particles as disclosed in the first aspect above, for example, according to some principles of microencapsulation, an outer layer coated on the surface of plant sterol particles can be formed by a coating dispersion containing the gum arabic gum, and the coating dispersion can optionally contain the emulsifier as described above. Wherein, the levorotatory Arabic gum is used as a wall material, and an emulsifier is used in a coating dispersion liquid in the preparation process, so that the dispersion characteristic and the dispersion stability of the phytosterol in water can be further improved.

Coating dispersion

The coating dispersion is a solution of gum arabic, water and optionally emulsifiers, if any, and optionally additional thickening ingredients, if any, mixed together.

In some specific embodiments, the gum arabic may be added sequentially (along with the gum arabic if additional thickening ingredients are also used), optionally an emulsifier, to the heated water, stirring to a homogeneous state. The water can be selected from deionized water, distilled water, purified water and/or ultrapure water; in one embodiment of the present invention, the temperature at which the water is heated is 50 to 60 ℃ to promote the dispersion of the gum arabic.

From the viewpoint of the subsequent coating process, the coating dispersion may have a solid content of 25 mass% or less, and preferably has a solid content of 1 to 25 mass%, 5 to 20 mass%, 10 to 15 mass%, or the like, and if the solid content is too high, the subsequent coating operation on the outer layer portion may be disadvantageous, and if the solid content is too low, the production efficiency may be reduced.

Preparation of water dispersible particulate phytosterol

In the present invention, the preparation of the particulate plant sterol particles mainly includes a step of coating the surface of the plant sterol particles with the coating dispersion forming the outer layer. There is no particular limitation on such steps as long as the same function can be achieved. For example, in some embodiments, the coating dispersion described above can be sprayed to spray and coat the surface of the particles formed from the phytosterol containing core material.

It has further been found that the desired particulate phytosterol particles of the present invention can be advantageously obtained by using a boiling granulator to perform the above-described coating process.

Specifically, the core material containing phytosterols is placed in a boiling drying granulator and kept in a "boiling" state. The boiling state refers to the state that the phytosterol is in a circular flow state under the action of hot air in a skip car of the boiling drying granulator. The size of the inner core portion can be controlled and the adhesion between the particles covering the outer layer portion can be prevented by controlling and adjusting the "boiling" state.

Further, the 'boiling' state is realized by adjusting the air inlet temperature and the air inlet pressure of a boiling drying granulator, and the air inlet temperature needs to meet the requirement of quickly drying the water in the mist coating dispersion liquid so as to prevent the phytosterol powder from being adhered to influence the final product.

In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the temperature of the inlet air may be 50 to 80 ℃, and the pressure of the inlet air is 0.1 to 0.5MPa; preferably, the air inlet temperature is 60-70 ℃, and the air inlet pressure is 0.1-0.2 MPa; more preferably, the air inlet temperature is 65-70 ℃, and the air inlet pressure is 0.1-0.15 MPa.

And (3) conveying the coating dispersion liquid to the surface of the core raw material in a coating boiling granulator through a peristaltic pump to finish the surface coating of the phytosterol granules. The feeding speed of the peristaltic pump and the atomizing pressure of the boiling granulation dryer are adjusted, and the plant sterol surface which is in boiling motion is wrapped in a mist form, so that the plant sterol surface uniformly covers the membrane-shaped outer layer part. In some specific embodiments of the invention, the feeding speed of the peristaltic pump is adjusted to be 1-10 ml/min, and the atomization pressure of the boiling drying granulator is 0.2-0.7 MPa; more preferably, the feeding speed of the peristaltic pump is adjusted to be 1-2 ml/min, and the atomization pressure of the boiling drying granulator is adjusted to be 0.5-0.7 MPa.

And further, carrying out particle size classification on the coarse product of the phytosterol particulate matter with the outer layer, filtering to remove large particle products with poor dispersibility, and preparing the phytosterol particulate matter meeting the requirements. The method for size classification is not particularly limited, and in some preferred embodiments of the present invention, it can be obtained by sieving the above-mentioned crude product. And the screening is to screen the coated phytosterol particles through an 80-mesh screen and take undersize products.

More specifically, in some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the method for preparing the water dispersible particulate phytosterol comprises:

(1) Preparation of coating dispersion: adding the levorotatory Arabic gum and the emulsifier into heated water, and uniformly stirring to obtain a coating dispersion liquid;

(2) Placing the plant sterol raw material in a boiling drying granulator to enable the plant sterol raw material to be in a circulating flowing state;

(3) And (2) coating the coating dispersion liquid obtained in the step (1) on the surfaces of the phytosterol particles, and screening by using an 80-mesh screen to obtain the phytosterol particles.

< third aspect >

In a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a product and method of use of the plant sterol particulate material of the invention.

The phytosterol particles have good water dispersion and improved mouthfeel, so the phytosterol particles can be widely applied to various products. For example, the plant sterol granules provided by the invention can be used for preparing food products, skin external products or feed products.

Can be a food product, a skin product for external use or a feed product, can be obtained by mixing the particulate plant sterol of the invention with any necessary other ingredients, and in some preferred embodiments, the particulate plant sterol of the above-mentioned products can still retain the original properties, or such products can be formed substantially only from the particulate plant sterol of the invention.

As a food product it may be a powdered product that is reconstitutable or can be added to an aqueous system. In some embodiments, the powder of the present invention may be consumed after being reconstituted with water, rice gruel, milk, fruit juice or soybean milk. The temperature of reconstitution may be 25 to 100 deg.C, preferably 50 to 70 deg.C. 1-60 g of the phytosterol particles are added into each liter of water, rice porridge, milk, fruit juice or soybean milk.

The food product of the present invention may be a product obtained by dispersing the particulate plant sterol in an aqueous food, for example, a beverage containing the particulate plant sterol.

Further, the food product of the present invention also includes a food obtained by further processing the particulate plant sterol using the present invention. For example, the aqueous dispersion of plant sterol particles of the invention is used to impart the plant sterol particles into an additional food substrate and further process the food substrate to obtain the final food product.

In addition, as a food product of the present invention, it may be a health product or food.

As a skin external product, it may be an emulsion-like or cream-like skin external agent, which is an aqueous system and in which the particulate matter of phytosterol of the present invention is dispersed and other essential components are dispersed or dissolved.

As the feed product of the present invention, it may be a feed comprising the plant sterol granules of the present invention or an aqueous system thereof, or a feed obtained by further processing the plant sterol granules of the present invention with other essential ingredients.

Examples

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples. The examples, in which specific conditions are not specified, were conducted under conventional conditions or conditions recommended by the manufacturer. The materials or apparatuses used are, unless otherwise specified, conventional products commercially available may be used.

(raw materials)

L-acacia (specific optical rotation OR: -27.95): purchased from Yiruian food ingredients, inc.;

D-Arabic gum (specific optical rotation OR: + 52): spearmint and xin food ingredients limited;

tween 80: purchased from Guangdong Runhua chemical Co., ltd;

sodium stearoyl lactylate: purchased from ornithat food, inc, south of the river;

sunflower oil concentrated phospholipids: the Yihaijiali Qinhuang island is provided by a factory;

soybean powder phospholipid: purchased from engineering technical responsibility, inc.

Example 1

A500 ml glass sample bottle was charged with 150g of deionized water and heated in a 55 ℃ water bath. The coating liquid is obtained by sequentially weighing and adding the L-arabic gum (OR: -27.95), the Tween 80 and the sodium stearoyl lactylate respectively 29.4g, 1.2g and 3.4g, and stirring to be uniform and dispersed. 266g of phytosterol raw material is weighed and placed in a boiling drying granulator, the air inlet temperature is set to be 70 ℃, the air inlet pressure is adjusted to be 0.1MPa after the air inlet temperature reaches a set value, and a three-way valve is adjusted to keep the phytosterol to perform boiling motion in a fluidized bed. And (3) allowing the coating solution to pass through a pipeline, adjusting the flow rate of a peristaltic pump to be 1.5ml/min, and adjusting the atomization pressure to be 0.48MPa to prepare the phytosterol microcapsule powder. After the preparation, the material was taken out and sieved by a 80-mesh sieve, and the undersize was tested, and the experimental results are shown in table 1 below.

Example 2

A250 ml glass sample bottle was added with 100g of deionized water and heated in a 55 ℃ water bath. The coating liquid is obtained by sequentially weighing and adding 14.4g, 0.9g and 2.7g of L-arabic gum (OR: -27.95), tween 80 and sodium stearoyl lactylate, and stirring to uniform and dispersed state. Weighing 282g of phytosterol raw material, placing in a boiling drying granulator, setting the air inlet temperature to 65 ℃, adjusting the air inlet pressure to 0.13MPa after the air inlet temperature reaches a set value, and adjusting a three-way valve to keep the phytosterol to perform boiling motion in a fluidized bed. The coating solution is put through a pipeline, the flow rate of a peristaltic pump is adjusted to be 1.5ml/min, the atomization pressure is adjusted to be 0.50MPa, and the preparation is started. After the preparation, the material was taken out and sieved by a 80-mesh sieve, and the undersize was tested, and the experimental results are shown in table 1 below.

Example 3

A500 ml glass sample bottle was charged with 250g of deionized water and heated in a 55 ℃ water bath. And (2) sequentially weighing and adding the levorotatory Arabic gum (OR: -27.95), span 20 and sodium stearoyl lactylate respectively 46.5g, 2.4g and 7.8g, and stirring to a uniform and dispersed state to obtain the coating liquid. 243g of phytosterol raw material is weighed and placed in a boiling drying granulator, the air inlet temperature is set to 65 ℃, the air inlet pressure is adjusted to 0.12MPa after the air inlet temperature reaches a set value, and a three-way valve is adjusted to keep the phytosterol to perform boiling movement in a fluidized bed. And (3) passing the coating solution through a pipeline, adjusting the flow rate of a peristaltic pump to be 1.7ml/min, and adjusting the atomization pressure to be 0.52MPa to start preparation. After the preparation, the material was taken out and sieved by a 80-mesh sieve, and the undersize was tested, and the experimental results are shown in table 1 below.

Example 4

A250 ml glass sample bottle was added with 100g of deionized water and heated in a 55 ℃ water bath. And (2) sequentially weighing and adding the L-arabic gum (OR: -27.95), the sunflower oil concentrated phospholipid and the sodium stearoyl lactate in 15g, 7.2g and 3.3g respectively, and stirring to obtain the coating liquid in a uniform and dispersed state. 275g of phytosterol raw material is weighed and placed in a boiling drying granulator, the air inlet temperature is set to 65 ℃, the air inlet pressure is adjusted to 0.15MPa after the set value is reached, and a three-way valve is adjusted to keep the phytosterol to perform boiling motion in a fluidized bed. And (3) passing the coating solution through a pipeline, adjusting the flow rate of a peristaltic pump to be 1.6ml/min, and adjusting the atomization pressure to be 0.50MPa to start preparation. After the preparation, the material was taken out and sieved by a 80-mesh sieve, and the undersize was tested, and the experimental results are shown in table 1 below.

Example 5

A500 ml glass sample bottle was added with 200g of deionized water and heated in a 55 ℃ water bath. And sequentially weighing and adding levorotatory Arabic gum (OR: -27.95), soybean powder phospholipid and sodium stearoyl lactate respectively 30g, 15.6g and 5.1g, and stirring to obtain a uniform and dispersed state to obtain the coating liquid. Weighing 250g of phytosterol raw material, placing the raw material in a boiling drying granulator, setting the air inlet temperature to be 70 ℃, adjusting the air inlet pressure to be 0.15MPa after the air inlet temperature reaches a set value, and adjusting a three-way valve to keep the phytosterol to perform boiling motion in a fluidized bed. And (3) passing the coating solution through a pipeline, adjusting the flow rate of a peristaltic pump to be 1.6ml/min, and adjusting the atomization pressure to be 0.50MPa to start preparation. After the preparation, the material was taken out and sieved by a 80-mesh sieve, and the undersize was tested, and the experimental results are shown in table 1 below.

Example 6

A500 ml glass sample bottle was charged with 240g of deionized water and heated in a 55 ℃ water bath. Sequentially weighing and adding L-arabic gum (OR: -27.95) and soybean powder phospholipid 18g and 30g respectively, and stirring to uniform and dispersed state to obtain coating solution. 152g of phytosterol raw material is weighed and placed in a boiling drying granulator, the air inlet temperature is set to be 60 ℃, the air inlet pressure is adjusted to be 0.15MPa after the air inlet temperature reaches a set value, and a three-way valve is adjusted to keep the phytosterol to perform boiling motion in a fluidized bed. And (3) passing the coating solution through a pipeline, adjusting the flow rate of a peristaltic pump to be 1.6ml/min, and adjusting the atomization pressure to be 0.55MPa to start preparation. After the preparation, the material was taken out and sieved by a 80-mesh sieve, and the undersize was tested, and the experimental results are shown in table 1 below.

Example 7

A500 ml glass sample bottle was charged with 280g of deionized water and heated in a 55 ℃ water bath. Sequentially weighing and adding L-arabic gum (OR: -27.95) and soybean powder phospholipid 18g and 50g respectively, and stirring to uniform and disperse state to obtain coating solution. Weighing 132g of phytosterol raw material, placing the raw material into a boiling drying granulator, setting the air inlet temperature to be 60 ℃, adjusting the air inlet pressure to be 0.15MPa after the air inlet temperature reaches a set value, and adjusting a three-way valve to keep the phytosterol to perform boiling motion in a fluidized bed. And (3) passing the coating solution through a pipeline, adjusting the flow rate of a peristaltic pump to be 1.4ml/min, and adjusting the atomization pressure to be 0.55MPa to start preparation. After the preparation, the material was taken out and sieved by a 80-mesh sieve, and the undersize was tested, and the experimental results are shown in table 1 below.

TABLE 1 screening results and Performance evaluation of the products of examples 1 to 7

( Water dispersibility: i represents that the water-soluble polymer is not dispersed and has poor dispersion performance, and is added into warm boiled water to float on the surface; II represents that the dispersion performance is medium, and the precipitate can be precipitated after being dispersed for a short time (generally, the precipitate can be generated within 5 minutes) when the dispersion is added into warm boiled water; III shows that the dispersion is good, and the dispersion can be uniformly dispersed (can be maintained for more than 30 minutes) when being added into warm boiled water. The mouthfeel is as follows: * Indicating a strong grainy sensation after drinking; * The taste indicates that the people can clearly feel granular sensation after drinking; * Indicates essentially no sensation after drinking. )

As can be seen from examples 1 to 7 and table 1, when the optical activity of the selected gum arabic is levorotatory, the prepared phytosterol microcapsule powder has good dispersibility, the chalky mouthfeel of the phytosterol is reduced, and the mouthfeel is good, and especially when examples 6 to 7 are compounded with high-proportion phospholipid, the water dispersibility and the mouthfeel reach better levels.

Comparative example 1

A250 ml glass sample bottle was charged with 100g of deionized water and heated in a 55 ℃ water bath. The coating liquid is obtained by weighing and adding 14.4g, 0.9g and 2.7g of dextrorotation Arabic gum (OR: + 52), tween 80 and sodium stearoyl lactylate respectively in sequence, and stirring to be uniform and dispersed. Weighing 282g of phytosterol raw material, placing in a boiling drying granulator, setting the air inlet temperature to 65 ℃, adjusting the air inlet pressure to 0.13MPa after the air inlet temperature reaches a set value, and adjusting a three-way valve to keep the phytosterol to perform boiling motion in a fluidized bed. And (3) passing the coating solution through a pipeline, adjusting the flow rate of a peristaltic pump to be 1.5ml/min, and adjusting the atomization pressure to be 0.50MPa to start to prepare the sterol micro-capsule powder. After the preparation, the material was taken out and sieved by a 80-mesh sieve, and the undersize was detected, and the experimental results are shown in table 2 below.

Comparative example 2

A500 ml glass sample bottle was charged with 250g of deionized water and heated in a 55 ℃ water bath. And sequentially weighing and adding dextrorotation Arabic gum (OR: + 52), span 20 and sodium stearoyl lactylate 46.5g, 2.4g and 7.8g respectively, and stirring to be in a uniform and dispersed state to obtain the coating liquid. 243g of phytosterol raw material is weighed and placed in a boiling drying granulator, the air inlet temperature is set to 65 ℃, the air inlet pressure is adjusted to 0.12MPa after the air inlet temperature reaches a set value, and a three-way valve is adjusted to keep the phytosterol to perform boiling movement in a fluidized bed. And (3) passing the coating solution through a pipeline, adjusting the flow rate of a peristaltic pump to be 1.7ml/min, and adjusting the atomization pressure to be 0.52MPa to start to prepare the phytosterol microcapsule powder. After the preparation, the materials were taken out and sieved with a 80 mesh sieve, and the undersize was detected, and the experimental results are shown in table 2 below.

Comparative example 3

A500 ml glass sample bottle was charged with 200g of deionized water and heated in a 55 ℃ water bath. The coating liquid is obtained by weighing and adding dextrorotation Arabic gum (OR: + 52), soybean powder phospholipid, and sodium stearoyl lactylate 30g, 15.6g, and 5.1g respectively, and stirring to uniform and dispersed state. Weighing 250g of phytosterol raw material, placing the raw material in a boiling drying granulator, setting the air inlet temperature to be 70 ℃, adjusting the air inlet pressure to be 0.15MPa after the air inlet temperature reaches a set value, and adjusting a three-way valve to keep the phytosterol to perform boiling motion in a fluidized bed. And (3) passing the coating solution through a pipeline, adjusting the flow rate of a peristaltic pump to be 1.6ml/min, and adjusting the atomization pressure to be 0.50MPa to start to prepare the phytosterol microcapsule powder. After the preparation, the material was taken out and sieved by a 80-mesh sieve, and the undersize was detected, and the experimental results are shown in table 2 below.

TABLE 2 screening results and Performance evaluation of comparative examples 1-3 products

( Water dispersibility: i represents that the water-soluble polymer is not dispersed and has poor dispersion performance, and is added into warm boiled water to float on the surface; II represents that the dispersion performance is general, and the precipitate can be precipitated after being dispersed for a short time when being added into warm boiled water; III shows that the dispersion is good, and the dispersion can be uniformly dispersed when the water is added into warm boiled water. The mouthfeel is as follows: * Indicating a strong grainy sensation after drinking; * The taste indicates that the people can clearly feel granular sensation after drinking; * Indicates essentially no sensation after drinking. )

As can be seen from comparative examples 1 to 3 and table 2, when the optical rotation of the selected gum arabic is dextrorotation, the prepared phytosterol microcapsule powder is not significantly improved in the water dispersion type and the mouthfeel of phytosterol.

By combining the above examples and comparative examples, when the optical activity of the selected gum arabic is levorotatory, the prepared phytosterol microcapsule powder has good dispersibility and no chalky mouthfeel, and especially, when the examples 6 to 7 are compounded with high-proportion phospholipid, the mouthfeel is better.

Industrial applicability

The method for preparing the phytosterol microcapsule powder can be applied to industrial production.

Claims

1. A particulate plant sterol material, wherein the particles in the particulate material comprise:

an outer layer portion comprising L-acacia, optionally an emulsifier,

wherein the outer layer portion covers at least a part of the surface of the inner core portion, and the particle diameter of the particles is 80 mesh or less.

2. The particulate matter of claim 1, wherein the phytosterol is derived from a vegetable oil; the content of the phytosterol is more than 80 mass percent based on the total mass of the inner core part.

3. The particulate matter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, based on the total mass of the particulate matter:

the content of the phytosterol is 40-95 mass%;

the content of the L-arabic gum is 3-30 wt%;

the content of the emulsifier is 30% by mass or less.

4. The particulate matter of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the outer layer portion of the particles in the particulate matter is substantially formed of the L-acacia gum and the emulsifier.

5. The particulate matter of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the outer layer portion of at least some of the particles in the particulate matter completely covers the inner core portion.

6. Particulate material according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the specific optical rotation of the gum arabic at 20 ℃ is in the range of-35 ° to-25 °; the emulsifier is selected from one or more of a nonionic surfactant, an anionic surfactant or an amphoteric surfactant, preferably the emulsifier comprises a phospholipid.

7. A method for producing the particulate matter according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which comprises:

8. The method of claim 7, wherein while the contacting is performed: the coating dispersion is applied by spraying and the core material in the boiling granulator is in a circulating flow state; the air inlet temperature of the boiling granulator is 50-70 ℃, and the air inlet pressure is 0.05-0.5 MPa.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the coating dispersion has a solid content of 25 mass% or less; the coating dispersion is a substantially uniform aqueous dispersion formed at 50-60 ℃.

10. A product which is an edible product, a topical skin product or a feed product, wherein the product comprises or is produced from a particulate plant sterol according to any one of claims 1 to 6.