Patent Application
20120003317
The present invention relates to the field of probiotic compositions used for human and/or animal food and health. It relates particularly to a granulation method associated with a composition comprising probiotic microorganisms allowing the production of stable probiotic granules.
The term “probiotic” denotes live or viable microorganisms which, when they are ingested in sufficient quantity, exert a positive effect on the host organism by improving the properties of its intestinal flora beyond traditional nutritional effects. They constitute an alternative to the use of antibiotics in animal feed. They are most often bacteria or yeasts present either in foods or in food supplements.
There are four main types of probiotics:
Microorganisms killed by heat do not meet the definition of probiotics even though it has been possible to attribute some therapeutic effects to them.
By extension, the term “probiotics” also denotes foods containing such microorganisms.
Probiotics are increasingly used both as human food and as animal feed, especially as substitutes for antibiotics given especially a return to a more healthy, more natural and more environmentally friendly diet. In animal nutrition, these microorganisms are in general added to a granular feed through a premixture also containing vitamins, trace elements and amino acids.
In general, the manufacture of granules is divided into at least two stages:
The probiotic microorganisms are incorporated either into the premixture or during the manufacture of the granules.
The introduction of probiotic microorganisms into the granules is however not easy. The probiotic microorganisms are most often destroyed during the granulation process. Indeed, the manufacture of granules is carried out in the presence of steam at temperatures of between 60° C. and 120° C. and at pressure values ranging from 0.5 to 40 bar. These granulation methods combine very high thermal, mechanical and moisture stresses in which the microorganisms have to survive.
In patent application EP 0 694 610, the resistance to granulation of yeasts of the species Phaffia rhodozyma which produce a coloring, astaxanthin, and are used as fish food to give the red color to farmed salmon and trout, was improved by drying in the presence of a sugar such as glucose.
However, these were not probiotic yeasts which must remain live up to their ingestion by animals in order to fulfill their functions.
In patent application No. WO 2007/135278, it is stated that probiotic microorganisms could exhibit improved stability in premixtures over time by mixing with yeast walls and/or deactivated yeasts in place of other traditionally used premixture supports such as wheat flour or calcium carbonate, this improved stability over time then making them more resistant to granulation.
A real need therefore exists for probiotic microorganisms which are both stable over time and also during the granulation process such that the effect expected on the health of the one ingesting them is real.
The applicant has found that the selection of a probiotic microorganism for which the precise definition of the characteristics combined with the optimization of the operating conditions of the granulation method makes it possible to solve the problem cited above.
The solution of the invention allows better stability of the microorganisms, that is to say losses after treatment that are less than 1 log CFU/g (CFU: Colony Forming Unit).
More specifically, the applicant has found that the solution to this problem lies in the combination of the following two elements:
The solution forming the basis of the present invention does not generate losses of probiotic microorganisms after granulation that are greater than 1 log CFU/g of granular food as explained later.
The spherules according to the invention advantageously have a dry matter content of between 93 and 96% and a median diameter (d) of between 800 and 1200 μm.
In general, the production line for the granules is divided into several stages:
The subject of the invention is a method for preparing probiotic granules comprising the following stages:
The temperature (T) of the granulation die, the diameter of the granules (D), the dry matter (DM) content, and the median diameter (d) of the spherules are set so as to satisfy the following equation:
X=−196.482−0.023d+2.256(DM)−14.793T+3.046D+6.25.10−5d(DM)+0.001d.T+5.6310−5d.T+0.167(DM).T−0.036(DM).T−0.023D.T+4.06.10−6d2+0.003T2
in which the yeast losses after granulation×(log CFU/g initially−log CFU/g after granulation) are less than 1 log CFU/g of granular food.
According to a preferred embodiment, the method of the invention is carried out under the following conditions:
The probiotic composition of the invention preferably comprises:
Yeast preparation and drying is a well known technique. The yeast is cultured in the form of a pure biomass, the yeast is then harvested, optionally mixed with technological aids in an amount of a few percent of the dry matter used, extruded and dried by various techniques: fluidization, drying on a belt or in a rotating drum. These various techniques are described in basic manuals such as Yeast Technology, Reed and Nagodawithana, second edition, an AVI book, Van Nostrand Reinhold. Persons skilled in the art know how to adapt the operating conditions, especially the dimensions of the granulation die and of the sieves, and the drying conditions so as to obtain the yeasts according to the present invention as indicated in the experimental section.
By way of example of a probiotic yeast, there may be mentioned the probiotic yeasts chosen from the group comprising yeasts of the genus Saccharomyces, preferably of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or of the genus Kluyveromyces, such as Kluyveromyces marxianus, and mixtures thereof.
Preferred examples of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains are the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sc47 strain deposited at the NCYC under the number 47, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain deposited at the Pasteur collection (CNCM) under the number I-1077, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain deposited at the Pasteur collection (CNCM) under the number I-1079, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain deposited at the MUCL collection under the number 39 885, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain deposited at the CBS collection under the number 39 493.94, the Kluyveromyces marxianus strain deposited at the MUCL collection under the number 39434, and mixtures thereof.
Most preferably, the probiotic composition according to the present invention comprises yeasts corresponding to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sc47 strain deposited at the NCYC under the number 47.
The probiotic composition of the invention may be used as animal and/or human food. It may be administered in various forms.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the probiotic composition intended as animal feed is administered in the form of granules.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the following conditions are applied:
The composition (A) is introduced into the granules in an amount of 0.01 to 10% of probiotic yeast according to the invention relative to the dry weight of the food, which corresponds to 1.E7 to 1.E12 CFU per kg of granular foods.
Another subject of the invention is a granule comprising from 0.01 to 10% of probiotic yeast and from 90 to 99.9% by weight of a suitable nutritional mixture.
According to a preferred form, the granule comprises from 0.01% to 5% of probiotic yeast and from 95 to 99.9% of the nutritional mixture.
The granule of the invention is obtained with losses of probiotic microorganisms after granulation that are less than 1 log CFU/g of granular food.
Another subject of the invention is the use of the probiotic granule as animal and/or human food.
The text which follows describes the embodiments of the invention without limiting its scope.
The following studies were carried out:
In this work, the yeast in the ADY/SPH form was used. This is a dry bread yeast to be hydrated. It requires rehydration before use. It is provided in the form of spherules.
Complex experimental designs made it possible to obtain the following classification of the critical parameters in decreasing order of severity: diameter of the granules, pre-granulation temperature, length of the channels of the die, moisture of the food. The physical constraints are therefore the moisture of the food, the treatment temperature and the compression (diameter and length of the channels being directly linked to the compression forces).
A complete experimental design (multifactorial, multilevel) varying the parameters below was followed:
The trials were carried out on a Kahl L14-175, 3 kW pilot press
For example, there are a few results obtained:
This design led to the establishment of a model explaining the yeast losses after granulation as a function of these 4 factors.
The mathematical equation of the full model is presented below (valid in our experimental field).
X=−196.482−0.023d+2.256(DM)−14.793T+3.046D+6.25.10−5d(DM)+0.001d.T+5.6310−5d.T+0.167(DM).T−0.036(DM).T−0.023D.T+4.06.10−6d2+0.003T2
(log CFU/g)=log CFU/g initially−log CFU/g
According to our objectives for stability—losses that are less than 1 log CFU/g−the pairs [DM×median diameter of the spherules] which are of interest to us should be defined according to the granulation conditions applied. The mathematical equation then becomes:
1.0>−196.482−0.023d+2.256(DM)−14.793T+3.046D+6.25.10−5d(DM)+0.001d.T+5.6310−5d.T+0.167(DM).T−0.036(DM).T−0.023D.T+4.06.10−6d2+0.003T2
It is important to note that for given granulation conditions, there are a multitude of pairs [DM×median diameter of the spherules].
Here are a few examples of pairs which make it possible to have losses that are less than 1.0 log CFU/g of food:
Two pairs were then selected for validation in industrial granulation (according to the feasibilities of manufacture of the products):
Pair 1: d=950 μm and DM=94.7%
Pair 2: d=865 μm and DM=94.8%
Detailed description of the method for preparing the yeast according to the invention
The yeast is prepared in the form of a pure biomass, it is then harvested, mixed with technological aids in an amount of a few percent of the dry matter used, extruded and dried by various techniques: fluidization, drying on a belt or in a rotating drum.
A 2 mm extrusion mesh is used with the aim of obtaining spherules having a median diameter of 950 μm and a mesh of 1.8 mm in order to have spherules having a median diameter of 865 μm.
The method consists in drying in a conventional drum as described later. The drying times were optimized so as to have the desired DM content.
It is possible to distinguish several manufacturing stages, a dehydrating stage and a drying stage.
This stage makes it possible to obtain a yeast paste containing 33% (plus or minus 3%) DM from a cream yeast containing 18% (plus or minus 2%) DM.
Brine (water+NaCl) is incorporated into the cream yeast until a conductivity varying between 15 000 μS and 20 000 μS is obtained.
This salted cream then passes onto a dehydrator (rotating filter under vacuum) on which a prelayer of potato starch (water+potato starch) will have been produced beforehand. After the passage onto the dehydrator, the cream yeast passes from a liquid state to a pasty state (30 to 36% DM).
This yeast paste is then crushed in a granulator (cylinder with mixing arms mixing the yeast and pushing it toward another cylinder at the end of which there is a perforated grid at 2 mm or 1.8 mm). This stage is crucial in the production of the desired particle size. The crushed yeast is then transported toward the drying organs.
The drying is performed batchwise in a horizontal rotating cylinder provided with blades mixing the yeast and within which a hot air stream passes. The temperature and the flow rate of hot air are set so as to reach a yeast temperature of the order of 43° C. (+/−1° C.) at the end of drying.
Once the desired DM has been reached, the yeast is discharged into a silo for packaging.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0901094 | Mar 2009 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FR10/00193 | 3/9/2010 | WO | 00 | 9/7/2011 |
