CN1135721A - Method and apparatus for sterilization - Google Patents

Abstract

A sterilizing method and sterilizing device, characterized in that superheated steam is used to instantly heat and pressurize the inside of a sterilizer with a closed structure filled with raw materials, and then release the pressurized state and immediately depressurize rapidly to a vacuum state, and then, the sterilized raw material is continuously moved into a vacuum cooling dryer with a closed structure for vacuum cooling and drying. The method and device of the present invention can effectively sterilize food and Chinese herbal medicines without reducing their food value. In addition, the method of the present invention has good operability.

Description

Sterilization method and sterilization device

field of invention

The present invention relates to a method and a device for sterilizing foods, Chinese herbal medicines, paper, stones such as medical stones, and other various raw materials.

Background technique

In the past, as a sterilization method for the above-mentioned raw materials, a steam heating type high-pressure steam sterilization method is generally used. That is to heat and pressurize the inside of the sealed container with steam, and to sterilize the general bacteria or heat-resistant bacteria, spores, molds, fungi and other fungi in the raw materials by heat treatment.

However, the high-pressure steam sterilization method needs to be heat-sterilized for a long time, thereby either losing the active ingredients of the raw materials and deteriorating the quality of the raw materials; Value drops.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sterilization method and a sterilization device which can perform effective sterilization without reducing the commercial value of raw materials and which have good operability.

invention disclosure

The sterilizing method of the present invention is to heat and pressurize the inside of the sterilizing container with a closed structure in which raw materials are added with heated water vapor, and then release the pressurized state; more preferably, after the above-mentioned After heating and pressurizing, immediately depressurize rapidly to a vacuum state, and then continuously move the above-mentioned sterilized raw materials into a vacuum cooling drier with a closed structure, and carry out a sterilization method of vacuum cooling and drying. The present invention is such a sterilizing device. A superheated steam generating device for transporting superheated steam is connected to a sterilizer with a closed structure added with raw materials, and then a vacuum cooling drier is connected to the above-mentioned sterilizer. A vacuum pump capable of rapid decompression to a vacuum state is connected to the sterilizer by a vacuum tank, and a vacuum pump capable of rapid decompression to a vacuum state is also connected to the vacuum cooling drier through a vacuum tank.

Therefore, it is possible to exert an excellent sterilization effect without reducing the commercial value of foods, Chinese herbal medicines, and other various raw materials. At the same time, it is also possible to exert a good drying effect and exert the effect of increasing the content of the essence. Effect.

The present invention also relates to a raw material for sterilizing treatment which is heated and pressurized by heated water vapor for a moment, and then rapidly decompressed to a vacuum state immediately after releasing the pressurized state.

The raw materials used in the present invention are not limited, and stones such as food, Chinese herbal medicine, paper, and medical stone can be exemplified. However, it is especially suitable for use in raw herbs and foods. Among them, any one of cinnamon bark, fennel, licorice, bellflower, lakeside burdock, and coix seed can be used as raw herbal medicine.

A brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a sterilizing device related to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is the HPLC chart before the sterilization treatment of cassia bark.

Fig. 3 is the HPLC chart after the sterilization treatment of same cassia bark.

The best form for carrying out the invention

It can be considered that, in the present invention, after the instant sterilization treatment with gaseous superheated steam, and then immediately depressurized rapidly to a vacuum state, the sterilizing effect will be produced due to the superheated steam, and at the same time, due to the instantaneous , The reason for the sharp drop in pressure improves the sterilization and drying effects, suppresses the deterioration and discoloration of raw materials, and in addition, increases the content of extracted components.

The reason why the sharp pressure drop can help to improve the sterilization effect is considered to be that the cell membrane of the fungus is destroyed due to the drastic change in pressure, but the sterilized raw material is finished in an optimal dry state. It can also be considered to have played a big role.

That is, the method of the present invention is owing to be after doing sterilization and drying with superheated steam, after superheated steam treatment, depressurizes again immediately, makes raw material depressurize under keeping residual heat state, therefore, can make in common drying Moisture in raw materials that cannot be removed during processing is vaporized, eliminating the environment for fungal growth. In addition, although rapid cooling after superheated steam treatment can induce steam leakage on the surface of the raw material, since the vacuum treatment is performed after superheated steam treatment, the leakage of steam remaining in the sterilizer can also be suppressed.

The sterilization treatment conditions of superheated steam vary according to the type, nature and quantity of raw materials to be treated, and cannot be limited to a specific value, but usually the heating temperature is 150-200°C and the pressurization condition is 1.5-2.0kg/cm6 , The pressure heat treatment with a processing time of less than 30 seconds is better. In addition, rapid decompression drying is ideally evacuated instantaneously until the decompression difference becomes at least -760mmHg.

In addition, after instantaneous heating, when rapidly decompressing to a vacuum state, it is suitable to change the environment of the superheated state and the vacuum state as rapidly as possible. A sterilizer that is connected to a superheated steam generating device that delivers superheated steam, and a vacuum tank that can be rapidly decompressed to a vacuum state is connected between the sterilizer and the vacuum pump.

However, if the cooling treatment is only carried out in a sterilizer with a closed structure, it is necessary to cool the sterilizer that has a high temperature due to the action of superheated steam. From the perspective of heat utilization efficiency, its efficiency is poor. And the operation time is long, operability is bad. Therefore, in the present invention, after instant rapid decompression to a vacuum state, the sterilized raw material is continuously moved into a vacuum cooling drier with a closed structure, and vacuum cooling and drying is carried out in the vacuum cooling drier. .

Because the sterilizing method of the present invention is a sterilizing method in which superheated steam is used to instantly heat and pressurize the closed structure sterilizer that adds raw materials, release the pressurized state, and then directly rapidly cool and dry to a vacuum state. , the processing time is extremely short, and the active ingredient will not be lost, the quality will be deteriorated, or discoloration will not occur as in the prior art, resulting in a low commodity value.

In addition, since superheated steam is used for heating and pressurization, good sterilization treatment can be obtained; at the same time, since the pressure is rapidly reduced to a vacuum state immediately after the heating and pressurization, the rapid pressure drop is used again. After a sterilization treatment, the dry state can be improved, and the effective sterilization effect that has not been seen so far can be exerted. Especially in the case of processing the raw materials of Chinese herbal medicines, the above-mentioned sharp pressure drop further damages the surface of the raw materials, which can play a particularly significant role in improving the extraction efficiency of the refined components.

After using the sterilizer to depressurize directly and quickly to a vacuum state, the sterilized raw materials are continuously moved into a vacuum cooling drier with a closed structure, and vacuum cooling and drying are carried out in the vacuum cooling drier instead of in the vacuum cooling drier. Cooling is carried out in the sterilizer with a closed structure, so the heating efficiency of this sterilizer is extremely high, and it is rich in operability.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a sterilization device related to the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a sterilizer with a closed structure, 2 is a superheated steam generating device, and 3 is a vacuum device.

As shown in the figure, the steam pipe 4 is arranged above the container of the sterilizer 1 and connected to the external superheated steam generator 2 through a pipe 5 . The steam pipe 4 is connected with a steam groove around the part below it. 6 is the main wing that is arranged at the inner bottom of the container of the sterilizer 1 and is used for stirring raw materials, and is driven by the spindle motor 7 that is arranged at the outside of the container.

8 is the auxiliary wing that is located on the sidewall near the inner bottom of the container, mainly for stirring the powdery raw material usefulness and setting. Also, 9 is a transverse axis motor for driving the auxiliary wing 8 .

The upper part of the sterilizer 1 is provided with a metering feeding hopper 10 sequentially passing through a plug-in pourer 11 and a pressure-resistant pourer 12 from the upper side. A butterfly valve for opening and closing that can be controlled from the outside is provided in the pressure-resistant dumper 12 . 13 is arranged on the lower side outer wall of the sterilizer 1, and is used to send out the dumper for sending out the sterilized raw materials. Also, 14 is a sleeve-shaped structure provided on the outer peripheral wall of the sterilizer 1 .

15 is a steam header for distributing the steam sent from the boiler 16 to the above-mentioned superheated steam generator 2 and the sleeve structure 14 .

17 is a vacuum cooling drier connected to the sterilizer 1 through the above-mentioned delivery pourer 13, and another sleeve structure 18 is arranged around the vacuum cooling drier 17 for circulating cooling water. A cooling water introduction pipe 21 a is connected to the sleeve member 18 . 21b is a drainage pipe for drainage. In addition, the pourer 13 for delivery is also connected to the vacuum cooling drier 17 .

19 is, in the sterilizer 1 , a drainage pipe branched from the pipe 20 , and the pipe 20 communicates from the steam header 15 to the sleeve member 14 .

On the other hand, the vacuum device 3 is made up of a dust collector 22 connected to the sterilizer 1, a vacuum tank 23 connected to the dust collector 22, a vacuum pump 24 connected to the vacuum tank 23, and this structure is made in advance with the vacuum tank 23. In the decompressed state, the inside of the sterilizer 1 is rapidly decompressed to a vacuum state through the operation of the pipeline 25 .

Vacuum cooling drier 17 is also the same as sterilizer 1, is provided with steam device 3, is connected with dust collector 22, is connected with the vacuum tank 23 of dust collector 22, is connected with the vacuum pump 24 on the vacuum tank 23, pre-charged with vacuum The tank 23 is brought into a depressurized state, and the inside of the sterilizer 1 is rapidly brought into a vacuum state by the operation of the valve 25 . Also, in this embodiment, another vacuum device 3 different from the vacuum device 3 of the sterilizer 1 is connected to the vacuum cooling drier 17, but it can also be operated by a valve, and the two share a vacuum device.

26 is the outlet for superheated steam located on the upper wall of the sterilizer 1, 27 is an air suction port located on the middle wall of the sterilizer 1, 28 is a spiral conveyor belt for adding raw materials, and 29 is for discharging steam after vacuum cooling. Spiral conveyor for dried raw material. Because the sterilizer device of the present embodiment has the above-mentioned structure, when doing sterilization treatment, at first the raw material such as Chinese herbal medicine is added in the sterilizer 1 from metering feeding hopper 10, drops in the pressure-resistant dumper 11, closes After the butterfly valve in the pressure-resistant dumper 11, while rotating the main wing 6, superheated steam is sent into the sterilizer 1, and the raw materials are heated and pressurized instantaneously. After heating and pressurizing, the outlet 26 of superheated steam is opened to release steam. When the inside of the sterilizer 1 is almost returned to normal pressure, the valve 25 is opened by the vacuum tank 23 previously kept under reduced pressure by the vacuum pump 24, and the inside of the sterilizer 1 is instantly turned into a vacuum state. Thereafter, the sterilized raw material is continuously moved into the airtight vacuum cooling drier 17, and the cooling water flows into the sleeve member 18 from the conduit 21a to cool the inside of the vacuum cooling drier 17 in a vacuum state. The transfer of the raw material from the sterilizer 1 to the vacuum cooling drier 17 can be achieved by slightly releasing the depressurized state of the sterilizer while making the vacuum cooling drier 17 into a depressurized state. After the decompression treatment, the suction port 27 of the sterilizer 1 is opened, and the sterilizer 1 and the vacuum cooling drier 17 all return to normal pressure. Thereafter, the sterilized raw material is discharged out of the container by the discharge pourer 13 . Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the decompression release of both the sterilizer 1 and the vacuum cooling drier 17 is reached by the suction port 27, but other suction suction ports can also be set on the vacuum cooling drier 17. Mouth, respectively perform decompression release.

Furthermore, depending on the type of raw material, it is preferable to introduce steam into the sleeve member when it is necessary to more effectively create a heated and pressurized state of superheated steam. In addition, when it is necessary to cool the sterilizer 1 from the outside, cooling water may be injected from the cooling water conduit 17 .

Using the above-mentioned sterilizing device, evaluate the sterilizing and drying effect on cinnamon bark (carved) as a raw material of Chinese herbal medicine. Table 1 shows the results before and after sterilization. In addition, the test method for the number of viable bacteria and the negative and positive test for coliform bacteria are carried out in accordance with the Food Sanitation Law, and the determination of ash content and drying consumption is carried out in accordance with the Japanese Pharmacopoeia.

It can be confirmed from Table 1 that the general viable count of cassia bark (carved) is greatly reduced before and after the treatment. And, when the drying consumption was reduced to less than half, on the contrary, the content of fine extract increased. Also, since the essential oil components are independently extracted in a separate vacuum cooling drier from the sterilizer, a significant improvement can be seen. In connection therewith, it is 0.98 ml only when cooling and depressurizing the inside of the sterilizer. In addition, it can be seen from the quantitative values of cinnamic acid and cinnamaldehyde that the treated raw materials maintain good quality. The cassia bark of above-mentioned processing gained meets the specification of Japanese Pharmacopoeia.

Table 1

About the maintenance state of the quality before and after sterilization, it evaluated again by liquid chromatography (HPLC). 2 and 3 show HPLC charts before and after sterilization, respectively. From Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, it can be confirmed that the intensity of the peaks of cinnamic acid and cinnamaldehyde does not change much, and no impurity peaks are generated.

Table 2 shows the general number of viable bacteria and the results of the coliform group test before and after the sterilization treatment of other Chinese herbal medicines. As can be seen from Table 2, all Chinese herbal medicines have played a significant bactericidal effect.

Table 2

product name General number of live bacteria (/g) Coliform test fennel Before sterilization 2.5×10 ⁴ /g BGLB positive After sterilization Below 10/g Negative licorice Before sterilization 2.1×10 ⁶ /g BGLB positive After sterilization Below 10/g Negative bellflower Before sterilization 4.3×10 ⁵ /g Negative After sterilization Below 10/g Negative Lakeside Burdock Before sterilization 4.5×10 ⁴ /g BGLB positive After sterilization Below 10/g Negative Job's tears Before sterilization 2.3×10 ⁴ /g Negative After sterilization Below 10/g Negative

And because, after the rapid decompression to the vacuum state, the sterilized raw material is continuously moved into the vacuum furnace drier with a closed structure, and vacuum cooling and drying is carried out in the vacuum cooling drier instead of in a closed Cooling and drying is carried out in the sterilizer of the structure, that is, it is not a sterilizer that uses superheated steam to cool to a high temperature. From the perspective of thermal efficiency utilization, it has high efficiency and is rich in operability. Industrial availability

As described above, the sterilization method of the present invention can be used in the sterilization method and sterilization apparatus of various raw materials such as foods and Chinese herbal medicines, and the food and Chinese herbal medicines subjected to the sterilization treatment are particularly suitable.

Claims (9)

1. a sterilizing methods is characterized in that, described method is, with overheated steam the heating pressurization of moment is done in the steriliser inside of the closed structure that added raw material, then, discharges pressurized state.

2. a sterilizing methods is characterized in that, described method is, with overheated steam the heating pressurization of moment is done in the steriliser inside of the closed structure that added raw material, then, discharge pressurized state, and rapid decompression immediately is to vacuum state.

3. sterilizing methods, it is characterized in that, described method is, with overheated steam the heating pressurization of moment is done in the steriliser inside of the closed structure that added raw material, then, discharge pressurized state, and rapid decompression immediately is to vacuum state,, the raw material of this process sterilization treatment constantly moved into the vacuum cooled exsiccator of tool closed structure in, carry out the vacuum cooled drying thereafter.

4. a bactericidal unit is characterized in that, described device is connected with the overheated steam generating means of carrying overheated steam on the steriliser of the closed structure that adds raw material, but is connected with the vacuum pump of rapid decompression to vacuum state by vacuum tank again.

5. bactericidal unit, it is characterized in that, described device is connected with the overheated steam generating means of carrying overheated steam on the steriliser of the closed structure that adds raw material, on above-mentioned steriliser, be connected with the vacuum cooled exsiccator again, but be connected with the vacuum pump of rapid decompression by vacuum tank again on the above-mentioned steriliser, but above-mentioned rapid decompression to the vacuum pump of vacuum state also is connected to the vacuum cooled exsiccator by vacuum tank to vacuum state.

6. the raw material through sterilization treatment is characterized in that, described raw material pressurizes with the heating that overheated steam is done moment, and behind the release decompression state, rapid decompression is to vacuum state again.

7. the raw material through sterilization treatment as claimed in claim 6 is characterized in that described raw material is a Chinese herbal medicine.

8. the raw material through sterilization treatment as claimed in claim 7 is characterized in that described raw material is Cortex cinnamomi japonici (Ramulus Cinnamomi), Fructus Foeniculi, Radix Glycyrrhizae, Radix Platycodonis, lakeside Fructus Arctii, Semen Coicis.

9. the raw material through sterilization treatment as claimed in claim 6 is characterized in that described raw material is a food.

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