GB2529893A

GB2529893A - Apparatus and method for separating pollen and optionally microbiota from honey

Info

Publication number: GB2529893A
Application number: GB1415818.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jonah Chitolie
Original assignee: GEOTECHNIQUESRES Ltd
Current assignee: GEOTECHNIQUESRES Ltd
Priority date: 2014-09-08
Filing date: 2014-09-08
Publication date: 2016-03-09
Also published as: GB201415818D0; WO2016038348A1; GB201805634D0; WO2017042568A1; GB2564514A

Abstract

An apparatus101 for separating pollen and optionally microbiota from honey comprising a base 103, a support 105 for supporting a filter 104 and mountable on said base and a body 102 attachable to said base. In use said filter is supported by said support and said filter and said support are retained in said apparatus between said base and said body. Pollen is separated

Description

APPARATIJS AND METHOD FOR SEPARATINC POLLEN AND

OPTIONALLY MICROBIOTA FROM HONEY

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for separating pollen and optionally microbiota from honey.

It is expedient to recover pollen from honey inter alia to identify the flowers which bees have been visiting.

There are several known methods and apparatuses for separating pollen from honey.

Centrifuges are used to separate pollen from a sample of honey diluted with water. A tube containing a sample of diluted honey is spun around at high speeds by a centrifuge, The resultant centrifugal forces cause the grains of poflen to collect at the end of the tube furthest from the center of rotation, Typically centrifuge equipment is expensive and complicated.

An alternative method for separating pollen from honey uses chemicals to IS concentrate the pollen and then float the pollen grains to the surface of the solution, where they can be manually removed. Zinc bromide is typically used but is toxic, therefore this separation process is normally carried out in a suitable environment such as a laboratory, The necessary chemicals and equipment are expensive and provide a complicated separating procedure, These processes do not extract pollen grains from honey, but merely concentrates the pollen grains and also pollen losses occur. More importantly these processes do not permit the recovery of microbiota that is also present in the honey. At present, research uses microbiota extracted from the gut of bees: there is no known process for extracting microbiota from honey itself At least preferred embodiment of the present invention helps to reduce this problem.

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for separating pollen and optionally microbiota from honey, which apparatus comprises: i) a base; ii) a support for supporting a filter and mountable on said base; and iii) a body attachable to said base the arrangement being such that, in use, the filter is supported by the support and the filter and the support are retained in the apparatus between the base and the body.

Preferably the support comprises a holed region bounded by a sealing portion.

Advantageously the sealing portion may be of any shape for example rectangle, oval or annular, according to the shape of the body.

Advarnageously a seal is formed between the body and the base.

Preferably the base comprises a ledge, and the support and the filter are mountable thereon.

Advarnageously the body and the base are threadedly connectable.

Preferably the sealing portion of the support is compressible.

The present invention also provides a method of separating pollen and optionally microbiota from honey, which method comprises: IS i) diluting honey containing pollen and optionally microbiota, with water; ii) pouring said liquid into an apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim; and iii) recovering pollen and microbiota (where present) from said filter.

The honey may be raw honey or processed honey. However, it is envisaged that the method of the present invention will primarily be concerned with raw honey ie honey as it exists in the beehive.

Advantageously the honey is at a temperature of from 20°C to 26°C. At lower temperatures the honey is more viscous and difficult to handle.

Preferably the temperature of the honey is 20°C.

Advantageously the water is at a temperature of from 30°C to 38°C. At higher temperatures the microbiota can be damaged.

Preferably the temperature of the water is 3 5°C.

Advantageously 200m1 to 250m1 of water is added per SmI to I OmI of honey.

Preferably 200m1 of water is added per 10m1 of honey.

For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an exploded view of one embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a side view, partly in cross section, of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 duly assembled; Figure 3 is a plan view looking down on a component of the apparatus shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is an enlarged view of a region of Figure 2, depicting the apparatus in use; and Figure 5 is an exploded view of an alternative embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the present invention, Referring to Figure 1, there is shown an apparatus for extracting pollen and IS microbiota from honey, which apparatus is generally identified by reference numeral 101.

The apparatus 101 comprises a body 102 which screws into a base 103, between which a filter 1 04 and a perforate support shelf I OS are held fast in place. The body 102 comprises a cylindrical wall 106 provided with external threads 107 at a lower portion of the cylindrical wall 106, The base 103 comprises a cylindrical base wall 108 provided with internal base threads 109 at an upper portion of the cylindrical base wall 108, to accommodate the external threads 107. The base 103 further comprises an inwardly extending ledge 110.

In assembly the perforate support shelf 105 is placed into the base 103 so that it rests upon the inwardly extending ledge 110, The filter 104 sits on top of the perforate support shelf 105, so their perimeters are aligned, The external threads 107 and the internal base threads 109 are aligned and the body 102 is then screwed tight into the base 103.

This is depicted in Figure 2, which shows the alignment of the base 103, perforate support shelf 105, filter 104, and body 102 of the apparatus 101.

Referring to Figure 3, the perforate support shelf 105, comprises a holed region Ill in the inner portion of the perforate support shelf 105 and an annular sealing portion 112 at an outer region of the perforate support shelf 105.

In use, referring to Figure 4, honey (typically at about 20°C is diluted with warm water (typically at 35°C) in the ration 1:20 (by volume). The resulting solution is poured through the hollow center of the body 102, which is surrounded by cylindrical wall 106 and onto the filter 104. The solution passes through the spaces in the filter 104 and then through the larger holes in the holed region 111 of the perforate support shelf 105. The liquid solution that passes through the filter 104 and the support shelf 105 is collected (not shown) for disposal or flirther processing.

Pollen and microbiota are retained on the surface of the filter 104 (which typically has a 5 micron to 20 micron mesh size and preferably a 10 micron mesh size), as a result of being larger than the fine spaces. (A few pollens have a diameter of around 3 microns. However, as a practical matter we have found that a 5 micron screen IS does retain a significant portion of such small pollen particles.) The deposits, primarily pollen and microbiota together with any impurities, can then be easily removed from the filter 105 and collected for further processing or analysis.

The base 102 and body 103 are made of Nylon and are rigid enough to retain the filter 104, perforate support shelf 105 and the fluid and are preferably hard enough to withstand prolonged and frequent use. Other plastics materials, for example polypropylene, can also be used.

Referring to Figure 5, there is shown an alternative embodiment of an apparatus also for extracting pollen and microbiota from honey, which is generally identified by reference numeral 201. The alternative apparatus 201 similarly comprises a body 202 which screws into a base 203, between which a seal ring 213, a filter 204 and a uniform perforate support shelf 214 are held fast in place. The body 202 comprises a cylindrical wall 206 provided with external threads 207 at a lower portion of the cylindrical wall 206 according to Figure 5. The base 203 comprises a cylindrical base wall 208 provided sth internal base threads 209 at an upper portion of the base wall 208, to accommodate the external threads 207. The base 203 further comprises an inwardly extending ledge 210.

it is noted that uniform perforate support shelf 214 has holes to its edge and no seal attached thereto.

In assembly the holed support shelf 214 is placed into the base 203 so that it rests upon the lip 210. The filter 204 sits on top of the uniform perforate support shelf 214 and the seal ring 213 sits on top of the filter 204, so that all three of the circular perimeters are aligned.

The external threads 207 and the internal base threads 209 are aligned and the body 202 is then screwed tight into the base 203.

The alternative apparatus 201 is used in the same way as the apparatus 101 shown in Figure 1, Referring to the preferred embodiment (Figures 1 -4), the filter 104 is a 10 micron pore size Nylon mesh which is sufficiently fine to remove the pollen and IS microbiota from the honey.

The perforate support shelf S is a resilient plastics material (e.g. Nylon) and sufficiently rigid to support the filter 104 and inhibit it stretching under the weight of the honey. This can result in an increase in filter pore size which is undesirable as pollen and microbiota can be lost through the pores.

The holed region Ill and annular sealing portion 112 are a single piece of material, with the holed region 111 providing support of the perforate support shelf 105 to the filter 104 and the annular portion 112 providing a perimeter to the perforate support shelf 105 that can be compressed when the body 102 is screwed into the base 103. This compression allows a tight seal to be made between the filter 104, body 102 and base 103, in order to inhibit any fluid from becoming trapped in the boundary.

The arrangement of the external threads 107 and internal base threads 109 are so that the body 102 and the base 103 can be screwed tight together, whilst not requiring excessive rotation which can move the filter 104 relative to the perforate support shelf 105, resulting in undesirable bumps in the filter 104, which can vary the pore size.

The order of the components of apparatus 101 are so that the filter 104 is in direct contact with the annular sealing portion 112 (Figure I) or seal ring 213 (Figure 5) and that a seal will form due to the compression of annular sealing portion 112 or seal ring 213 from the force of screwing the body 102 into the base 103, with the edges of the filter 104 also being compressed, Additionally the perforate support shelf 5 is underneath and in direct contact with the filter 104 in order to provide support against the weight of the honey.

In the preferred embodiment, with reference to Figure 1, the outer diameter of the body 102 is 100mm, the inner diameter is 90mm, the height of the body 102 is 55m and the external threads 107 are 10mm in height from the bottom of the wall 106 of base 103.

The outer diameter of the base 103 is 130mm, the inner diameter is 100mm, the height of the base 103 is 14mm and the internal base threads 109 are 8mm in depth from the top of the base 103 (as seen in Figure 1), The ledge 110 is 6mm in height from IS the bottom of the base 103 and inwardly extends 5mm from the inside of the cylindrical base wall 108 to the center of the base 103.

The filter 104 is 97mm in diameter and has a mesh size of 10 microns.

The perforate support shelf 105 is 97mm in total diameter, with the holed region being 60 mm Tn diameter, The holes in the holed region 111 are 10 mm in diameter, providing a functional filter area of about 2430 mm2 compared to the total area of the filter at 6360 mm2, In the alternative embodiment (Figure 5), the differing features have dimensions such that the seal ring 213 is 97 mm in external diameter and 90 mm in internal diameter, The uniform perforate support shelf2l4 is 97 mm in diameter, Tn an exemplary separation process, 10 ml of raw honey at 20°C were diluted with 200 ml of deionised water at 35 ?C, The resulting solution took of the order of 30, seconds to pass through the apparatus I UI, Various modifications to the embodiment described are envisaged, for example the annular sealing portion 112 does not necessarily have to be an integral part of the perforate support shelf 105, and could be separate from each other, An alternative -.7-combination and order of filters, supports and seal rings could be used. Another form of seal could be employed, such as an oil based substance to repel the solution and inhibiting it from entering the external threads 107, internal threads 109 and ledge 110.

Abuiltinsealcouldbeanintegralpartofthebaselo3 orbody lo2oftheapparatus 101. The components of apparatus 101 could be adhered together, creating a seal and inhibiting the components being separated from each other. An alternative means for providing support to the filter could be in place on the perforate support shelf 105, such as wires or support struts. The filter could be constructed or attached to the body 102 and base 103 to sufficiently support itself so that an additional form of support is not required. The ledge 110 could support the filter 104 or a seal directly or it could be omitted from the base entirely. The mesh size of filter 104 could be larger or smaller than the preferred size, consistent with the size of the pollen to be removed. The holes in holed region 111 of the perforate support shelf 105 could be larger or smaller than the preferred size. The holes of perforate support shelf 105 could be arranged in an orderly manner or randomly across the area of the holed region 111. An alternative method for securing the body 102 into the base 103 could include a slot and lock arrangement or a combination of either the body or the base being tapered and fitting into the corresponding part The body and the base and therefore corresponding walls could be any shape including, triangle, square, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon, octagon etc. The components of the apparatus I could be made out of any materials or combination thereot including, aluminum, steel, iron, rubber, plastics material, etc. 101. Apparatus 102. Body 103. Base 104. Filter 105. Perforate support shelf 106. Cylindrical wall 107, External threads 108, Cylindrical base wall 109, kternal base threads 110. Ledge 111, Holed region 112, Annular sealing portion I 5 201, Apparatus 202, Body 203. Base 204, Filter 206, Cylindrical wall 207, External threads 208. Cylindrical base wall 209. Jnternal base threads 210. Ledge 213, Sealring 214. Uniform perforate support shelf

Claims

Claims: 1 An apparatus for separating pollen and optionally microbiota from honey, which apparatus comprises: i) a base (103; 203); ii) a support (lOS; 214) for supporting a filter (104; 204) and mountable on said base(I03; 203); and iii) a body (102; 202) attachable to said base (103; 203) the arrangement being such that, in use, said filter (104; 204) is supported by said support (105; 214) and said filter (104; 204) and said support (105; 214) are retained in said apparatus (101; 201) between said base (103; 203) and said body (102; 202).
2. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the support (105) comprises a holed region (lii) bounded by a sealing portion (112).
3. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the sealing portion (212) is annular..
4. An apparatus as claimed in Claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the base (103; 203) comprises a ledge (110; 210), and the support (105; 214) and the filter (104; 204) is mountable thereon.
5. An apparatus as claimed in Claims 1, 3 or 4, wherein the body (102; 202) and the base (103; 203) are threadedly connectable.
6. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the sealing portion (Ill) of the support (1 05) is compressible.
7. An apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures ito 4 of the accompanying drawings.
8. An apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.
9. A method of separating pollen and optionally microbiota from honey, which method comprises: i) diluting honey containing pollen and optionally microbiota, with water; ii) pouring said liquid into an apparatus (101; 201) as claimed in any preceding claim; and iii) recovering pollen and microbiota (where present) from said filter (104).
10. A method according to Claim 8, wherein the honey is at a temperature of from 20°Cto26°C.
11. A method according to Claim 9, wherein said temperature is 20°C.
12. A method according to Claim 10, wherein the water is at a temperature of from 30°C to 38°C.
13. A method according to Claim 11, wherein said temperature is 35°C.
14. A method according to Claim 12, wherein 200m1 to 250m1 of water is added per 5m1 to lOmi of honey..

15, A method according to Claim 13, wherein 200m1 of water is added per lOmI of honey.