CZ308610B6 - A liquid or pastelike product based on microalgae and/or cyanobacteria and/or myxomycetes - Google Patents

Description

Liquid or pasty product based on microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or mucus

Field of technology

The invention relates to a liquid or pasty product based on microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or mucus with increased shelf life and biological efficiency.

Prior art

Microalgae and cyanobacteria (cyanobacteria, blue-green algae), very often mentioned only as algae, are photosynthetic microorganisms that combine the desired properties of higher plants (ie agricultural crops) and microbes (bacteria, yeasts). Their ability to grow photosynthetically is important, ie to use only light, cheap salts, water and carbon dioxide for growth. They do not need organic substrates such as sugars for autotrophic growth.

Systematic research into microalgae as a source of biologically active substances, especially antibiotics, began in the 1950s. Interest in the use of algae continued with studies of the use of racial photosynthesis to create biological "filters for spaceflight, which were to serve to capture exhaled carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, or as a source of plant protein for space flight crews. Commercial large-scale algae cultivation began in the 1960s in Japan and Czechoslovakia with the production of the Chlorella microalgae. This was followed by large-scale cultivation of Spirulina (Arthispirosa) in Mexico.

The idea of cultivating carbon dioxide-metabolizing microalgae for large-scale production and industrial use became especially relevant in the 1970s and 1980s (see, for example, Y. Yamaguchi: Recent advances in microbial bioscience in Japan, with special reference to utilization of biomass and metabolites: a review (J. Appl. Phycol. 8,487 - 582,1997). Since then, there has been a significant increase in the amount of scientific work devoted to both the cultivation and use of various species of microalgae and the analysis of their useful components, both for freshwater and marine algae. At the same time, especially in Asia, the industrial cultivation of algae, especially Chlorella and Spirulina for food and nutrition, has grown since the 1980s. It is reported that by 1980, there were 46 large-scale racial farms in Asia with individual production in excess of 1 tonne of biomass per month (Spolaore P., Joaniss-Cassan C, Duran E., Ismabett A .: Commercial application of microalgae, J. Biosc. Bioeng., 101, 87-96, 2006).

Commercial production of the Dunaliella shalina microalgae for beta-carotene production was carried out in Australia, followed by plants in Israel and the USA. Bulk production of Spirulina cyanobacteria began in India in 1986. In the last 20 years, a number of companies have been established to produce the microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis as a source of the antioxidant pigment astaxanthin in India and the United States.

Microalgae contain a number of highly sought after products. Of the main components, they contain to a large extent proteins, 51 to 58% based on dry matter, 12 to 17% starch and 14 to 22% lipids. These values are average, eg for the class of green freshwater algae Chlorophyceae, in laboratories algae containing up to 60 to 70% oils or starch, respectively, are cultivated. Microalgae are a source of vitamins (A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, E), folic acid, chlorophyll, carotenoids, immunostatics (eg 1,3-betaglucan), polysaccharides and many rare and desirable components (Metting FB: Biodiversity J. Ind. Microbiol., 17, 477-489 (1997) Racial lipids are glycerol, sugars or bases esterified to saturated or unsaturated fatty acids having predominantly 12 to 22 carbon atoms. long-chain fatty acids (C> 18) that higher plant plants are unable to synthesize, such as ARA (structure 20: 4), DHA (structure 22: 6) and EPA (structure 22: 5), which are essential as correctors of brain and eye development in children, or as supplements for cardiovascular care in adults.These long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids produce mainly

- 1 CZ 308610 B6 eustigmatophyte microalgae and algae-like microorganisms Labyrinths or "water mucus", a small group of relatively little known marine heterotrophic microorganisms, which are currently included in the kingdom Chromalveolata and the strain Stramenopila.

Most of the current world production of microalgae (especially strains Chlorella, Spirulina, Dunalliela and Haematoccocus) is used in the production of feed additives and dietary supplements, especially as a source of antioxidants and carotenoids and is realized in fists in the shape of pools about 20 to 30 cm deep. circulating culture medium for algae growth. However, due to the large depth of the pool, there is a poor distribution of sunlight into the algae suspension, and these in these conventional systems grow slowly and to a low concentration of about 1 g / l, which requires costly concentration and dewatering of the suspension. In Czechoslovakia, a thin-layer cultivation method was developed in the 1960s by the Institute of Microbiology of the ASCR, and the method was subsequently innovated into a modular system, which represents a solution protected by CZ 304161 B6, Photobioreactor for large-scale autotrophic cultivation of cyanobacteria and unicellular algae with desorption zones. .

The Chlorella microalga has been used as a food and feed supplement for decades, including immunomodulatory and probiotic effects, supports liver function and digestion, contributes to the proper functioning of the immune system and promotes vitality. This is mainly due to the content of antioxidants, trace elements, carbohydrates, polysaccharides, proteins, polar and neutral lipids, pigments, terpenoids, sterols, carotenoids, nucleic acids and a set of water-extractable substances called "Chlorella growth factor. It is also stated that Chlorella contributes to the cleansing of the body by binding heavy metals and other contaminants to its cell wall, or. into cellular structures. Beneficial effects have become a hit over the years, and thanks to growing awareness, the demand as well as the consumption of Chlorella is still rising and its applications are expanding to cosmetics, food, feed, pharmacy and other fields. Chlorella thus ranks among the functional so-called superfoods, and the demand is directed to better quality sources, in contrast to cheap and problematic Asian production.

The use of microalgae as soil improvers, fertilizers or growth stimulators is also being considered, both for their elemental composition and for the production of phytohormones and exopolysaccharides.

Use of Chlorella, or Spirulina or other microalgae, cyanobacteria and similar microorganisms thus represent the most modern trend in nutrition and formulation of so-called functional foods enriched with microalgae, where consumers are increasingly looking for new functional foods with added nutritional value and also deal with the environmental impact of their actions. Among consumers of microalgae, their use in the form of tablets or capsules is typical, but recently the home preparation of green drinks has intensified, characterized by the addition of powdered dried algae to fruit or vegetable juices before consumption. However, beverages prepared in this way are subject to rapid microbial destruction and their immediate consumption is necessary.

The disadvantage preventing the expansion of the use of microalgae in functional foods is their relatively high price. At the same time, it turns out that a significant part of the costs of racial biomass production is the cost of dewatering and drying the suspension and disrupting the solid cell walls of microalgae, necessary for access to active substances and their effective use by the body. These steps are typically performed by centrifugation on plate centrifuges, grinding of cells on bead mills, or their disintegration in a high-pressure homogenizer and subsequent spray-drying of the algae suspension to produce algae powder. These costs of processing the racial suspension can amount to up to 50% of the total production costs of algae. Thus, it appears that if a racial suspension could be used directly for the production of final racial products, there could be significant savings in production costs, thus reducing the selling price of the products and increasing the market penetration potential of these products. For the production of liquid products, preservatives or high-temperature treatments are used to ensure microbial stability, and conventional methods are used to disrupt the cell structure, such as grinding the cells on bead mills, or their disintegration in a high-pressure homogenizer.

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However, the direct use of wet racial suspension is associated with two basic problems that have not yet been addressed:

- The cell walls of algae, formed by poles of carbohydrates are very strong and difficult to digest. To release the content of bioactive substances, it is necessary to disrupt the cell walls, which can be solved in the above ways, but at the cost of high operating and investment costs for a bead mill or high-pressure homogenizer;

- The wet racial suspension is very quickly attacked by pathogenic microorganisms and its applicability is in the order of hours to days even in the case of hypothermia, which complicates the distribution and sale of products based on the microalgal suspension. High-temperature sterilization or pasteurization destroys biologically active substances contained in microalgae and preservation with chemical substances, e.g. type of sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate, is often unacceptable to environmentally conscious consumers and prevents the certification of the resulting food or feed as a product of organic farming.

WO 2015007997 A1 describes a method for disrupting the cell wall of Chlorella microalgae cells by high pressure homogenization in at least one pass at a pressure between 300 and 400 MPa or in at least two successive passages at a pressure between 150 and 300 MPa, at a temperature between 4 and 40 ° C and in biomass of microalgal cells containing 15 to 50% by weight, dry matter.

In the food industry, for the treatment of food in order to destroy bacteria, or. yeasts and fungi, responsible for microbial contamination and degradation of food, use their high-pressure processing, which is called pascalization. During pascalization, the food is packed in a flexible container and placed in the pressure chamber of a high-pressure press, high pressure, which causes inactivation of live bacteria, viruses and mold without the need to heat, while the food retains its natural appearance, color, nutrient content, taste and aroma. When applying pressure, the high temperatures required for sterilization or pastoral care are not used, which would lead to the degradation of nutritionally important substances, but the shelf life of the food will increase several times.

From utility model CZ 22036 U1 it is known to mix a mixture consisting of 40 to 70% by weight, celery pulp juice, 18 to 55% by weight, apple or cherry or pear or grape juice and up to 12% by weight of orange or lemon concentrate at a pressure of 410 MPa after for 15 min.

The use of pascalization to treat microalgae, resp. microalgal aqueous suspensions are not known in the art.

The essence of the invention

The object of the invention is to obviate the disadvantages described above, i.e. to provide a liquid pasty product based on microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or mucus with increased durability and biological efficiency, which can be produced at as low a cost as possible.

This object is achieved by a liquid or pasty product based on microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or mucus in which the cells of the microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or mucus are pascalized.

Surprisingly, the application of the high pressure used in pascalization, although not leading to fundamental, microscopically visually easily visible changes in the cell structure and surface of the microalgal cell, disrupts the cell wall structure of the algal cell to such an extent that the desired phenomenon of bioactive substances found inside the algal cell. However, there is also an inactivation of live bacteria, viruses and fungi present in the algal suspension or bound to the surface of racial cells. This ensures a longer period of time, typically min. 3 to 4 weeks, the microbial safety of the thus-treated liquid product, which at the same time retains a high content of nutritional and

-3 CZ 308610 B6 bioactive substances which are better bioavailable and usable in nutrition due to the disruption of racial cell walls. Pascalized racial suspensions are thus suitable for the preparation of beverages, food and feed in liquid, liquid or pasty form.

The microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or mucus cells can advantageously be pascalized at a pressure of at least 350 MPa, preferably for at least 10 minutes.

The cells of the microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or the mucus are, depending on the dry matter content, in a liquid to pasty consistency, typically the dry matter of the pasty suspension after its centrifugation is about 15 to 20% by weight. It is preferred that the pascalized microalgal and / or cyanobacteria and / or mucus cells are present in the product in an amount of 0.001 to 30% by weight, based on the dry weight of the cells. With regard to the recommended dosage, e.g. Chlorella, which is around 1 to 3 g / day, and in view of a typical beverage size of 200 to 330 ml, it is preferred that the microalgal cells are preferably present in the final product in an amount of 0.1 to 1.0% by weight, based on on the dry matter of the cells.

It is also preferred that the microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or mucus cells are formulated into a liquid or pasty product together with at least one other ingredient selected from the group consisting of fruit juices, vegetable juices, juice concentrates, juices or extracts to improve taste and nutritional properties. from plants, for example from herbs, extracts from macroalgae, powders from dried plants and spices, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, proteins, antioxidants, acidity regulators, aromatics, sweeteners, viscosity regulators, fiber, whey, colostrum, peptides, betaglucans, aminoglucans, kombucha enzyme, lactobacilli, pigments, preservatives, substances involved in energy processes in the body, neurotransmitters or neurotransmitter precursors.

The liquid or pasty product of the invention may advantageously contain vitamin C in an amount of 5 to 600 mg per dose of product. In addition, it may preferably contain B vitamins, in particular vitamin B3, B5, B6 and B12.

Substances involved in energy processes in the body can be, for example, taurine, inositol, L-carnitine, creatine monohydrate, glycine.

The powder from the dried plants can be, for example, green tea powder, young green barley, young brick wheat, matcha tea, protein concentrates and isolates.

Neurotransmitters or neurotransmitter precursors can be, for example, dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), DL-phenylalanine, choline, phosphatidylcholine and serine, and the like.

Plant extracts can be, for example, plant extracts with energetic, adaptogenic, aphrodisiac or thought-stimulating effects, e.g. Paullinia cupana, Gingko biloba, Panax ginseng, Rhodiola rosea, Schizandra chinensis, Mucuna pruriens, Ptychopetalum olacoides, Juniperus brasiliris, Tribulus or o extracts from macroscopic algae, etc.

Trace elements can be, for example, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium or calcium ions, and trace elements also contain metal ions of iron, chromium, selenium or zinc, copper and other elements.

The product is preferably used for the preparation of beverages, food and feed in liquid form.

Explanation of drawings

The invention is further elucidated on the basis of examples of its embodiment by means of the drawings, in which it shows:

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Giant. 1 cluster of living cells of Chlorella sp. Shown with a microscope (1A) and an electron scanning microscope (1B),

Giant. 2 cluster of Chlorella sp. after application of pascalization imaged with the help of a microscope (4A) and an electron scanning microscope (4B), no changes are visible on the cell walls,

Giant. 3 is a comparison graph of the antioxidant activity of the supernatant of aqueous suspensions of Chlorella sp. treated with preservative, pasteurization, high pressure homogenization associated with pastoral and pascalization, showing a positive effect of pascalization on the antioxidant activity of the supernatant.

Examples of embodiments of the invention

The invention will be further elucidated by means of specific embodiments of beverages containing microalgae.

Example 1

Fruit drink with Chlorella and cinnamon

930 ml of apple juice, prepared by pressing fresh washed fruit without pips, 60 ml of Chlorella microalgae suspension, concentrated to a dry cell content of 150 g / 1.10 ml of lemon concentrate and 1 g of finely ground cinnamon, were used for 1 l of beverage. After thorough mixing, the beverage was dispensed into 330 ml polyethylene bottles and treated by pascalization at a pressure of 400 MPa for 20 minutes. A fruit refreshing drink with Chlorella was created, suitable as a part of the so-called detoxification procedures, which, when stored at 5 to 8 ° C, met the requirements for microbial quality of food after 3 weeks of storage. The dry matter content of the Chlorella cells in the beverage was 0.9% by weight.

Example 2

Green drink with Chlorella, barley and omega-3

30 g of young fresh spinach leaves, 80 g of cabbage, 50 g of fresh pitted avocado, 17 ml of Chlorella cell suspension, concentrated to a dry matter content of 180 g / l, 10 ml of lemon concentrate and 5 g of finely ground powder of of young green barley. The mixture was poured to a total content of 11 with spring drinking water and homogenized on a high-speed mixer. After thorough mixing, the beverage was dispensed into 250 ml polyethylene bottles and treated by pascalization at a pressure of 410 MPa for 20 minutes. This created a green drink with barley and omega-3, suitable as part of diet regimens, which, when stored at 5 to 8 ° C, met the requirements for microbial quality of food after 3 weeks of storage. The dry matter content of the Chlorella cells in the beverage was 0.3% by weight.

Example 3

A suspension of Chlorella vulgaris algae at a concentration of 12.3 g / l was prepared by culturing in bubbled column reactors at 27 ° C and aerating with a mixture of air with 2% carbon dioxide and LED panel illumination at 230 uE / m ^{2 / s 24 hours a day.} This was then concentrated in a centrifuge, washed with drinking water and centrifuged again to a paste with a final cell dry matter concentration of 167.1 g / l. Aliquots of the suspension, each corresponding to 2.0 g of cell dry matter, were subsequently diluted to 200 ml with drinking water, i.e. 4 suspensions with a cell concentration of 10 g / l were formed. Suspension A was preserved at 25 ° C with potassium sorbate. This procedure did not disrupt the cell walls, Suspension B was subsequently pasteurized at 90 ° C for about 2 minutes. This procedure was sufficient to destroy most non-sporulating microorganisms, but did not lead to effective disruption of structures

- 5 CZ 308610 B6 cell walls. Suspension C was subjected at 25 ° C to a single pass through a high pressure homogenizer HPH 2000/4 Single HEAD SH at a pressure of 1000 bar (100 MPa) and subsequently pasteurized at 90 ° C for about 2 minutes. This procedure corresponds to the current industrial practice of processing racial cultures, and during microscopic observation of the cells, disturbance of part of the cells and fragments of decayed cells was visible. Suspension D was subjected to pascalization at 410 MPa for 20 min at 25 ° C. Subsequently, all four suspensions were shaken at 6 ° C for 5 days on an orbital shaker, then centrifuged and the supernatant was determined for their antioxidant activity by DPPH free radical quenching, taking the value of suspension C, treated in a reference manner, as 100 %. The evaluation of the antioxidant activity shown in Figure 3 shows that the antioxidant activity of suspensions A and B is negligible compared to the activity of suspensions C and D, which are practically comparable, but in the case of reference suspension C the antioxidants are probably partially deactivated due to high temperature. sterilization.

Industrial applicability

The invention is particularly useful in the food and feed industries for the production of beverages containing microalgal cell suspensions with increased shelf life and biological efficiency, liquid products containing microalgal cell suspensions useful in the food industry, e.g. soups, sauces and pastes, for the production of liquid or pasty feed mixtures containing a suspension of microalgae cells, or for the production of liquid or pasty fertilizers and plant growth promoters containing a suspension of microalgal cells.

Claims (9)

PATENT CLAIMS Liquid or pasty product based on microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or mucus with increased durability and biological efficiency, characterized in that the cells of microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or mucus are pascalized. Liquid or pasty product according to claim 1, characterized in that the cells of microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or mucus are pascalized at a pressure of at least 350 MPa. Liquid or pasty product according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cells of the microalgae and / or cyanobacteria and / or the mucus are pascalized for at least 10 minutes. Liquid or pasty product according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it contains 0.001 to 30% by weight of pascalized microalgal and / or cyanobacteria cells and / or mucus. Liquid or pasty product according to Claim 4, characterized in that it contains 0.1 to 1.0% by weight of pascalized microalgal and / or cyanobacteria cells and / or mucus. Liquid or pasty product according to at least one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it contains at least one further component selected from the group consisting of fruit juices, vegetable juices, juice concentrates, juices or plant extracts, for example herbs, extracts from macroalgae, powders of dried plants and spices, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, proteins, antioxidants, acidity regulators, aromatics, sweeteners, viscosity regulators, fiber, whey, colostrum, peptides, beta-glucans, aminoglucans, kombucha enzyme, lactobacilli , pigments, preservatives, substances involved in energy processes in the body, neurotransmitters or precursors of neurotransmitters. Liquid or pasty product according to claim 6, characterized in that the at least one further component is pascalized. Liquid or pasty product according to Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the entire product is pascalized. Use of a liquid or pasty product according to at least one of claims 1 to 7 for the preparation of beverages, food, feed or fertilizers in liquid form.