A METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A ROOM-TEMPERATURE ACIDIC BEVERAGE CONTAINING SPORIC BACILLUS COAGULANS

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method for the production of a room-temperature acidic beverage containing sporic Bacillus coagulans, which comprises the following steps: an acidic beverage is prepared and sterilized under sterilization conditions corresponding to 750 C to 110 C. for 23 to 33 s; sporic Bacillus coagulans is then dispersed into sterile water, and the Bacillus coagulans solution thus obtained is pasteurized under pasteurization conditions corresponding to 70 to 90 C. for 23 to 33 s; the acidic beverage obtained following sterilization and the sporic Bacillus coagulans solution obtained following pasteurization are placed in canned packaging to obtain a room-temperature acidic beverage containing sporic Bacillus coagulans. By employing a two-step sterilization process, said method ensures that the concentration of active sporic Bacillus coagulans conforms to relevant standards while maintaining the stability of the acidic beverage, and significantly extends the shelf-life of the acidic beverage.

Claims

1. A method for the production of a room-temperature acidic beverage containing sporic Bacillus coagulans, which is characterized in that is comprises the following steps: An acidic beverage is prepared and sterilized under sterilization conditions corresponding to 75 C. to 110 C. for 23 to 33 s; Sporic Bacillus coagulans is then dispersed into sterile water, and the Bacillus coagulans solution thus obtained is pasteurized under pasteurization conditions corresponding to 70 to 90 C. for 23 to 33 s; The acidic beverage obtained following sterilization and the sporic Bacillus coagulans solution obtained following pasteurization are placed in canned packaging to obtain a room-temperature acidic beverage containing sporic Bacillus coagulans.

2. A method for the production of a room-temperature acidic beverage as specified in claim 1, which is characterized in that said room-temperature acidic beverage includes room-temperature yogurt, juice, flavored water, a juice-based tea beverage or a sports beverage.

3. A method for the production of a room-temperature acidic beverage as specified in claim 1, which is characterized in that the pH value of said room-temperature acidic beverage ranges from 2.0 to 4.4, where the pH value of said room-temperature acidic beverage should preferably range from 3.7 to 4.3.

4. A method for the production of a room-temperature acidic beverage as specified in claim 1, which is characterized in that the initial concentration of sporic Bacillus coagulans added to said room-temperature acidic beverage corresponds to 110.sup.7 cfu/ml, and the concentration of sporic Bacillus coagulans does not fall under 10.sup.6 cfu/ml within 6 months at a temperature of 28 C.

5. A method for the production of a room-temperature acidic beverage as specified in claim 1, which is characterized in that pasteurization of the Bacillus coagulans solution is performed at 75 to 78 C. for 27 to 33 s.

6. A method for the production of a room-temperature acidic beverage as specified in claim 1, which is characterized in that the method used to place the acidic beverage obtained following pasteurization and the sporic Bacillus coagulans solution into canned packaging includes sterile filling or hot filling.

7. A method for the production of a room-temperature acidic beverage as specified in claim 6, which is characterized in that in said sterile filling method the acidic beverage obtained following sterilization and the sporic Bacillus coagulans solution obtained following pasteurization were subject to in-line mixing.

8. A method for the production of a room-temperature acidic beverage as specified in claim 6, which is characterized in that said hot filling method is performed at a filling temperature of 70 to 88 C. and a double filling machine is used to place the acidic beverage obtained following sterilization and the sporic Bacillus coagulans solution obtained following pasteurization into canned packaging.

9. A method for the production of a room-temperature acidic beverage as specified in claim 8 which is characterized in that the method used for the production of said room-temperature acidic beverage also involves performing in-container pasteurization following hot filling, where sterilization is performed at 72 C. for 180 s or 65 C. for 600 s.

10. A room-temperature acidic beverage containing sporic Bacillus coagulans, which is characterized in that it is prepared via a method for the production of a room-temperature acidic beverage as specified in any one of claim 1.

Description

SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the present invention, the present invention will be further described below in conjunction with corresponding preferred embodiments. It should be understood by any person skilled in the art that the following detailed description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive and should not be construed as limiting the protective scope of the present invention.

[0027] The inventors of the present invention applied the method for adding Bacillus coagulans constituted by the present invention to long-shelf-life acidic beverages of differing viscosities and textures, including applications in yogurt, acidic dairy and yogurt beverages (with or without juice). Said products ranged in pH from 3.7 to 4.3, with protein content ranging from 0.5 to 2.7% and fat content ranging from 0.5 to 2.7%. For the examples and comparative examples included in the present invention, testing was performed on spore-type Bacillus coagulans provided by two different suppliers.

[0028] The initial amounts of Bacillus coagulans added in the following examples and comparative examples are shown in Table 1.

EXAMPLE 1

1. Raw Materials

[0029] Long-shelf-life yogurt (containing 2.7% protein), Bacillus coagulans, sterile water.

2. Method

[0030] 2.1. An environmentally long-shelf-life yogurt was sterilized at 75 C. for 25 s.
2.2. Bacillus coagulans was dispersed in sterile water (at a bacterial stock to water ratio of 1:5) and the solution was pasteurized at 75 C. for 25 s.
2.3. Sterile yogurt obtained in Step 2.1 and the Bacillus coagulans solution obtained in Step 2.2 were subject to in-line mixing and sterilely fed into canned packaging to obtain a finished yogurt product containing Bacillus coagulans.

3. Results

[0031] Since long-shelf-life yogurt itself contains only a small number of microorganisms, it can be fully sterilized at 75 C. for 25 s. The Bacillus coagulans-containing long-shelf-life yogurt produced via the method described here exhibited a pleasant texture and mouthfeel. Testing showed no logarithmic reduction in the Bacillus coagulans count of the final product.

EXAMPLE 2

1. Raw Materials

[0032] Yogurt drink containing a yogurt base (containing 2.0% protein), Bacillus coagulans, sterile water.

2. Method

[0033] 2.1. The yogurt drink was prepared and subject to sterilization at a temperature of 110 C. for 30 s.
2.2. Bacillus coagulans was dispersed in sterile water (at a bacterial stock to water ratio of 1:5) which was pasteurized at temperature of 88 C. for 30 s.
2.3. The solution obtained in the aforementioned two steps was subject to hot filling at a temperature of 88 C. to obtain a final yogurt drink product.

3. Results

[0034] The yogurt drink containing Bacillus coagulans exhibited a favorable texture and mouthfeel. Testing showed a 0.2 log reduction in Bacillus coagulans in the final product.

EXAMPLE 3

1. Raw Materials

[0035] Flavored yogurt drink (containing 1.0% protein), Bacillus coagulans, sterile water.

2. Method

[0036] 2.1. The flavored yogurt drink was prepared and subject to sterilization at a temperature of 110 C. for 30 s.
2.2. Bacillus coagulans was dispersed in sterile water (at a bacterial stock to water ratio of 1:5) which was pasteurized at temperature of 78 C. for 30 s.
2.3. The solution obtained in the aforementioned two steps was subject to hot filling at a temperature of 78 C.
2.4. Secondary in-container pasteurization was performed at a temperature of 65 C. for 600 s to obtain a finished flavored yogurt drink product.

3. Results

[0037] The flavored yogurt drink containing Bacillus coagulans exhibited a favorable texture and mouthfeel. Testing showed no logarithmic reduction in Bacillus coagulans of the final product.

EXAMPLE 4

1. Raw Materials

[0038] Yogurt drink containing a yogurt base (containing 2.0% protein), Bacillus coagulans, sterile water.

2. Method

[0039] 2.1. The yogurt drink containing a yogurt base (containing 2.0% protein) was prepared and subject to pasteurization at a temperature of 110 C. for 30 s.
2.2. Bacillus coagulans was dispersed in sterile water (at a bacterial stock to water ratio of 1:5) which was pasteurized at temperature of 78 C. for 30 s.
2.3. The solution obtained in the aforementioned two steps was subject to hot filling at a temperature of 78 C.
2.4. In-container pasteurization was performed at 72 C. for 180 s to obtain a finished yoghurt product containing a yogurt base.

3. Results

[0040] The yogurt drink containing Bacillus coagulans exhibited a favorable texture and mouthfeel. Testing showed no logarithmic reduction in Bacillus coagulans of the final product.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1

1. Raw Materials

[0041] Yogurt drink containing a yogurt base (containing 2.0% protein), Bacillus coagulans, sterile water.

2. Method

[0042] 2.1. Bacillus coagulans was added to a yogurt drink containing a yogurt base (containing 2.0% protein) to obtain a homogeneous product with a Bacillus coagulans concentration of 110.sup.7 cfu/ml.
2.2. The homogeneous product obtained in the previous step was sterilized at a temperature of 110 C. for 30 s and hot filling was performed.

3. Results

[0043] The sterilized yogurt drink exhibited a favorable texture and mouthfeel. However, testing showed a 7 log reduction in Bacillus coagulans in the final product.

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 2

1. Raw Materials

[0044] Flavored yogurt drink (containing 1.0% protein), Bacillus coagulans, sterile water.

2. Method

[0045] 2.1. Bacillus coagulans was added to a flavored yogurt drink (containing 1.0% protein) to obtain a homogeneous product with a Bacillus coagulans concentration of 110.sup.7 cfu/ml.
2.2. The homogeneous product obtained in the previous step was sterilized at a temperature of 110 C. for 30 s and hot filling was performed.

3. Results

[0046] The sterilized yogurt product exhibited a favorable texture and mouthfeel. However, testing showed a 7 log reduction in Bacillus coagulans in the final product.

TEST EXAMPLES

[0047] The inventors of the present invention tested the maximum viability of Bacillus coagulans in the acidic beverages obtained in the examples and comparative examples, and the test results are shown in the following table.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Testing the maximum viability of Bacillus coagulans in each of the examples and comparative examples Conc. of Initial Bacillus Conc. of Survival of coagulans Bacillus Bacillus Bacillus in Finished coagulans coagulans coagulans Product after Stability of Added Sterilization Following Sterilization Bacillus Product (cfu/ml) Conditions Sterilization (cfu/ml) coagulans Example 1 3.0 10.sup.6 75 C./25 s No 3.0 10.sup.6 Stable for logarithmic 6 months reduction at 10 C. and 28 C.; reduction of 3 log cfu/ml observed at 38 C. Example 2 5.8 10.sup.6.2 88 C./30 s Reduction of 5.8 10.sup.6 Stable for 0.2 log 6 months cfu/ml at 10 C. and 28 C.; reduction of 6 log cfu/ml observed at 38 C. Example 3 9.8 10.sup.6 78 C./30 s, No 9.8 10.sup.6 Stable for 65 C./600 s logarithmic 6 months reduction at 10 C. and 28 C.; reduction of 5 log cfu/ml observed at 38 C. Example 4 7.9 10.sup.6 78 C./30 s, No 7.9 10.sup.6 Stable for 72 C./180 s logarithmic 6 months reduction at 10 C. and 28 C.; reduction of 5 log cfu/ml observed at 38 C. Comp. 7.6 10.sup.6 110 C./30 s.sup. No surviving 0 Example 1 strains Comp. 8.6 10.sup.6 110 C./30 s.sup. No surviving 0 Example 2 strains
The above test results show that for an acidic beverage produced via the method provided in the present invention, contaminant bacteria can be fully eliminated while at the same time satisfying international standards for the number of Bacillus coagulans contained therein, and the two-step sterilization method can effectively maintain the stability of the acidic beverage and extend the shelf-life of the acidic beverage without affecting the flavor and texture of the acidic beverage. The invention also provides an acidic beverage prepared via said addition method, wherein said beverage has a favorable texture and good stability and can be stored on a shelf at room temperature for at least 6 months. It should be apparent that the aforementioned examples pertaining to the present invention are merely illustrative of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of embodiments of the present invention; persons skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to the above description and an exhaustive list of embodiments cannot be provided here. Any obvious changes or modifications made to the technical solution constituted by the present invention shall fall within the protective scope of the present invention.