Title of Invention

PROCESS FOR PRODUCING A STABILIZED NATURAL SUGAR CANE JUICE

Abstract

A process of preparing stabilized juices of Agricultural products as beverages. The present invention is to prevent the quick spoilage and Purification of the extracted raw sugar cane juice. It is well known that sugar cane juice is a commodity which at present has virtually no shelf life. Products with chemical additives do appear in the market which are far from a natural juice and taste badly. The conventional method of stopping this spoilage by the application of Chemical suppressor or by preservatives and also by application of Thermal Treatment only. The present inventive process overcomes this by using the mechanical means of separation in inimical ingredients present in the juice. By filtration process of using macro to micro filters and finally by Membrane filtration using Reverse Osmosis Process to get a pure sterile and Stabilized Sugar Cane Juice whose shelf life longer than any other method. PRICE: THIRTY RUPEES

Full Text

The present invention relates to a ncvel and innovative procedure of production of stabilised Beverages of Agricultural products like Cane Sugar / Palmira / Coconut Milk Juices. The innovative method was first intended to find a way out to produce a stabilized Sugar Cane Juice Product from the crude juice only. Later on the same procedure of stabilized sugar cane juice product is slightly modified only in relation to obtaining the crude / raw juice of the required Agricultural natural jir.ce products, while the rest of the procedure is the same and can be adopted as an online processing as that of the sugar cane juice production. The innovative method deviates from the conventional method of manufacturing of Sugar Cane Juice for human consumption. In the conventional method, the resultant sugar cane juice is usually treated with chemicals and preservatives in order to prevent the spoilage of the juice. The chemically treated juice which is now available in the market is stable only for a short period of time and further tastes badly as the time progresses. The juices obtained from this innovate procedure of this inventor not only tastes good but also preserves the ingridents in a pure and sterile form. The stabilized sugar cane juice obtained by this method keeps the original ingredients of the sugar cane that is naturally present in the juice in its original structural form of its various ingredients because this process prevents the denaturation of the original chemical structural form taking place due to the passage of time as a result of action of Bacterias and enzymes acting upon them. The product obtained in this innovative process method is more beneficial to the health of the human beings for consumption of natural juices as soft drinks unlike the chemically treated and preserved products now available in the market. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The intention of the inventor is to pr vent the quick spoilage and putrefication of the extracted raw sugar cane juice which take place within a short span of its production. The present invention relates to a method of producing a stabilized sugar cane juice product which is stable and has a long shelf life. It is well known that the sugar cane juice is a commodity which at present has virtually no shelf life. Products with chemical additives do appear in the market which are far from a natural juice and taste badly. Sugarcane cells, like any other plants cells, contain a number of Enzymes which upon extraction mingle with the main juices and react with sugar to render the juice unacceptable to human consumption within a short are inherent in the juice itself and are difficult to remove these juices separately by normal means. It can only be inactivated by actions. This type of inactivation of enzyme was only adopted in the preparation to subdue the progress of the spoilage of the juice, The chemical the taste of the juice and the thermal action only slows down the reaction el the enzymes action.. Apart there are bacterial contamination during the crushing process which also spoils the juice. The present innovative process inve tion relates to effectively removing the Bacteria and the Enzymes to ensure a totally clem product, still retaining the essential SUGAR, VITAMINES AND MINERALS of the juice and thus eventually maintains the natural taste of the juice. The essence of this process invention is that all the Enzymes, Virus and Bacterias have larger molecular weights compared to the weights of Sugars, Minerals and Vitamins molecules. The Enzymes have a molecular 10,000 and the Virus and Bacterias have higher molecular weights than that of Molecular Weights are between 196 and 342; the Vitamines and Minerals By selecting a suitable membrane filter, which will selectively allow the the Vitamines along with water content of the juice to permeate through effectively stops the Enzymes, Virus and Bacterias to pass through the itself because the molecular weights and size of these inimical the filtering porosity of the filters. These inherent Enzymes and Bacterias and Virus responsible for the degradation of the juice as resul upon the juice are removed by this process. The other important aspect procedure is that this very same procedure can be adopted to producce stai lized juices other Beverages of any Agricultural Juice producing products like Palmira and Water Melon etc., even though the original invention of this process to the production of stabilised sugar cane juice only. The production of crude sugar some steps in the initial stages viz., cutting the sugar cane at the harvest, and crushing in a roller mill for the crude juice production, where as juices of other Agricultural Products like Palmira, Coconut Milk above process as that of sugar cane extraction. They differ slightly easy procedures without the crushing process. Moreover the easily Agricultural product can be subjected to the online processing for juices from the moment the juices are extracted, which involves reducing the temperature of the juices quickly and passing the juices through the Micro-filters which in turn reduces any spoilage prior to the Micro Membrane filteration. The main object of the above inventive procedure is to overcome the problems associated with the prevention of denaturation of the ingredients of the crude juices if it left alone. The conventional type of extraction could not overcome this defect. The prior art of extraction of crude juice by conventional method starts from the cultivation of the sugar cane, then the sugarcane, is harvested by a machinery or manually with machet. The cane stalks are then stripped of leaves and transported to a sugar mill. There they are crushed, shredded and passed through a series of heavy rollers under great pressure to extract the cane juice. The remaming solid material called Bagasse, may be used as a fuel by the mill or may be processed into paper or wallboard. The cane juice is clarified and then concentrated by boiling. The resuitant thick syrup called Massecuite is led into a centrifuge having a perforated basket at it; centre. When the centrifuge is spun, some of the syrup is thrown into the periphery. This process is repeated once or twice to extract additional sugar crystals. The residue is a dark odorous syrup called blackstrap MOLASSES At this stage the sugar crystals are known as raw cane sugar and are light brown in colour because they are coated with a thin filrn of molasses. At the refinery, the raw sugar is washed to remove the molasses and is dissolved into a water syrup. After the syrup is crystallized by boiling in vacuum pans, washing and centrifuging, the crystallization is repeated as long as extractable sugar remains in the syrup. The end product is the familiar granulated white sugar, which is dried, screened and packed. This novel method of process invention possesses all the ingrediants of a process invention and differs from that prior art extraction of sugar cane juice production. In the conventional method the preservation of the juice is done by addition of chemical and thermal treatment which can only stop the spoilage for a short period and also taste badly when taken after some time. Firstly this process invention adopts -in innovative and novel method of harvesting a pure, sterile and stabilized sugar cane juioc which' is palatable and tasty by getting rid of the causative agents like inherent enzymes ■ vhich spoils the juice by its catalytic effects on the Sugar, Vitamin and Mineral molecules of the juices.; seconddly the bacterias present in the juice do also the damage to the juice by its action and multiplication in the medium of sugar . So by getting rid of these agents present in the juice in the initial stage itself is the only way by a device of not allowing these agents to enter into the receptacle by way of micro-membrane filtration which by its mechanism segregates the larger molecules using the differential Molecular Weight and Molecular size property of these inimical agents and allows only the sugar, vitamines and minerals molecules to pass through membranes that are present in the juice. The innovative product so obtained can be profitably maTketed as a natural healthy soft drink throughtout the world. This agricultural oriented product can be a competitor to or better health drink to the foreign made soft drinks, which are making huge profits in our country by wide distribution net work to quench the thirst of vast millions of people living in India during Summer and other seasons also. Foreign companies convert their huge profit in terms of foreign exchange and thereby drains our foreign exchange reserves. The present innovative process invention of producing stabilized natural drinks would not only earn money in our country but also earn quite a substantial sum of foreign exchange if these product are sold through out the world. These stabilised juices of Agricultural products as Beverages to the human being would also form an alternate drink to the foreign made soft drinks. The foreign made drinks are a combination of chemicals, sugars, colouring substances and other necessary ingredients to make the required drinks which are artificial and not natural. Further India is a land of Agriculture and 70% of the population are dependent upon agricultural income only. Therefore this innovative process invention of producting stabilized sugar cane juice is a boon for the agriculturist and further it would involve entire population living in the villages to resort to agricultural production of these Agriculture based juice crops, which ultimately would give a fillip to our industry and our country's economy. Production of these crops would not only engage agriculturist in these farming to a larger extent of their cultivable land but also would augment their earning to many folds. Further it provides employment opportunities for the educated youth in the villages. When this natural drinks in the form of soft drinks starts its production m addition to Sugarcane industry the transport industry, marketing industry, banking industry, the bye products industry like Alcohol, paper & Board Industries etc., would also flourish along with the production of these natural soft drinks. When the sugar cane juice production industry grows bigger in villages, the bye-products industry like Alcohol industry. Paper and Card Board Industries would have a parallel growth along side of the Stabilized sugar cane juice production, thereby the generation of employment will be many folds and the unemployment of the youths in the country would be reduced to a large extent. The present invention is an innovative in the sense, the procedure adopted in getting a good quality healthy natural drinks for human consumption is quite different in its approach and entirely differs from the prior art of production of such drinks. There is a novelty involved in the production because of its extraction based on physical principles of separation of inimical ingrediants and other contaminants through a process of filteration and not based on chemical or thermal suppression. Thus this innovative process fulfils the very aim of getting rid of the inipiical ingredients which are responsible for the spoilage of the juices. Further this method has a very large industrial application and provides job not only to the Agriculturists but also to the unemployed educated youths in the villages. Further the Alcohol and Paper and Board Industries would develop. The transport, Packing and Marketing and Banking Industries would also grow along with the Main activity. Summary of the Invention According to this invention, there is provided a method and a system of producing a stabilized juices of Agricultural Products like Sugar Cane / Palmira / Coconut juices as natural beverages for Human Consumption. These stablilized juices have more shelf life in this innovative process than the conventionally prepared one which is chemically treated to enhance the shelf life only for a very short time. A. Summary of Invention for Production of Stabilised Sugarcane Juice The innovative process includes the following steps; - Providing cleaned and freshly cut end sticks for extraction of the sugar cane juice. Extracting the sugar cane juice from such sticks. Quickly process the juice in a continuous operation through a series of filters and chilling equipment consistin, of macro filters, chillers, super centrifuges, micron filters to reduce the particle content of the juice to a size less than 5 microns and the temperature of the juice to maintain around 5°C. To clean the system periodically with fresh water to eliminate stagnation and contamination by old juice. During the cleaning cycle the extraction and filteration should operate on a secondary set of clean system. The two systems will be parallel and operating alternately to maintain steady operation. The cleaning time cycle depends on the GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) levels and temperature conditions and other issues can be determined by validation methods. The cleaning cycle time could be anywhert between 1 hour and 3 hours. To pass the sugar cane juipe through a membrane filter having a pore diameter equivalent to molecular size cut off between 1000 and 5000A°at a pressure equivalent to 30 to 60 psig (per square inch gauge) (depending on the recommendation of the supplier of the membrane) and collecting the permeate in a covered vessel previously sanitized. To again pass the sugar juice through a second set of membrane filter having a pore diameter equivalent to molecular size cut off between 1000 and 5000A° at a pressure equivalent to 30 to 60 psig (depending on the recommendation of the supplier of the membrane) and collecting the permeate in a covered vessel previously cleaned and sanitized. The membrane system to operate on a recovery rate equivalent to 80 to 85% by design. The concentrate of the second membrane system to be fed into the feed tank of the first membrane system 'o achieve an overall good yield. The concentrate of the first membrane system to be discarded as waste and should be sent to ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant) system for proper discharge or sent to sugar recovery system for recovery of the sugars in a conventional sugar plant. The permeate recovered by the second membrane system to be sent to an Aseptic processing section for further processing and packing. The product sugar cane juice ii now packed using commercially available Tetra Packs or similar Aseptic Packing Systems which incorporates Ultra Heat Treatment as an integral part of the machine. The juice passes through the UHT to ensure any freshly picked up or escaped bacteria is destroyed. The product is now packed in containers specially made for long shelf life and marketed. An inert gas blanket in the pack can further enhance the shelf life of the product. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DIAGRAMS DIAGRAM I Diagram I relates to the innovative process of making a stabilized sugar cane juice. It consists of various steps of relavant procedures to be followed in order to obtain the required results, in relation to the Diagram as follows : Cleaning the sugar cane thoroughly to remove all dirt, mud and other external contaminations by means of Water Jet Wash. The washed sticks are cut on both sides of the exposed ends first and the rest of the whole length is cut into a small pieces. The fresh cut pieces are put into rollers and the juices are produced by milling method. Juice Extraction and collection of crude juice in a big containers for further processing. The crude juices are first filtered through the Microfilters which allows only the fluid portion of the extract and thus practically stops the small particles like mud, twigs and other visible external contaminants. The filtered juice is now cooled to a Temp of 5°C to reduce the risk of spoilage by Bacteria / Enzyme action. The cooled juice is then subjtcted to centrifugation with help of High Speed Centrifuge / Ultra Centrifuge machine for the separation of solutes in liquid solutions on the basis of their sedimentation velocities. The supematent fluid obtained from previous step is now subjected MicrofiKeration of various porosities which will allow particles as low as 5 microns size and the resultant fluid is collected in a Feed Vessel (see box 9). Next the filtrate from the feed vessel is first passed through the Membrane Filter I and the permeate is collected in the next step, then this collected permeate is passed into the Membrane Filter II and the filterate is finally collected. This type of Alteration of sugarcane juices & other juices are effected through the Reverse Osmosis Processes. In these process, molecules between 1000 and 5000A° molecular size are all cut off whicih means the Bacterias and the Enzymes responsible for spoilage of the juice are cut off because of their higher molecular size which will not go along with the filtrate and thus they are cut off by this filteration process. Again Filtering the juice for a second time through the Membrane Filters by Reverse Osmosis Process prevents the inimical Bacterias and Abnormal Enzymes whose molecular weights are higher than the filtering rate of filters and thus this process of second filtration ensures 100% result with no scope for spoilage. At this stage the desired additives like,Lemon or Ginger juices are added as Flavours to the juice. The above Additives can either be transferred through the Membrane Filters separately by a parallel set up or it can be combined directly with the juice obtained from the Membrane Filter II. and, the combined flavours with the juice are again subjected to for further Membrane Alteration, adopting reverse osmosis process. The Final Juice obtained from the previous step is now subjected to quality control by subjecting the filtered juice to the various Bacteriological Tests and also for the estimation of various Enzymes level tests in the juice to ascertain the quality and purity of the juice. This next step further involves the blending of the juice to obtain a desired quality and grade. In this step the blended pure and good quality juice is subjected to Ultra-Heat Treatment (UHT) for further sterilization of the juice. The UHT Treated natural juice obtained from the previous step is now packed in Tetra Pockets in Sterile and Aseptic conditions. ■ The Sterile pure natural juices obtained without addition of any chemical additives are packed in Aseptic conditions in pockets in strict GMP (General Marketing Practice) conditions. The introduction of some inert gas blanketing in Tetra packets while packing, helps further improvement of shelf life. I CLAIM : 1. A. Method of production of Stabilised Sugar cane Juice coniprising the following steps of: Cleaning the sugar cane sticks thorough to remove dirt, mud and other external contaminations using high pressure water jets. Cutting the ends of the sugar cane sticks just prior to the extraction operation to remove previously exposed ends. Extracting Sugar cane juice from said sugar cane sticks. Quickly processing the cane juice with known mechanical type of ultra centrifuges and filters to clean the juice of the mud and other external dirt subjecting the resultant juice progressively through macro filters to filters in the micron rating. Upto 5 micron pore size all on line with very little hold up and completing the process within a short time. The temperature of the juice is reduced to 5°C during the above process to reduce the risk of spoilage by the Bacterial / Enzyme action. Filtering the sugar cane juice through a Reverse Osmosis Membrane filters of the rating of Molecular Size- cut off between 1000 A° and 5000 A" at a pressure equivalent to 30 to 60 psig (per square inch gauge) to remove of all Bacterias and Enzymes responsible for spoilage. Filtering the juice for a second time through a Reverse Osmosis Membrane filters of the rating of Molecular Size a cut off between 1000 A° and 5000 A° at a pressure equivalent to 30 to 60 psig (per square inch gauge) to ensure 100% removal of all bacterias and Enzymes responsible for spoilage. Sending the juice to a Sterile section for further Aseptic processing. The other desired additives like Lemon juice or Ginger juice or any other additives are added and similarly processed through filters of micron rating and similar reverse osmosis filters in separate section, through separate filtering systems. Packing the product in Aseptic packing material in strict GMP conditions having Ultra Heat Treatment (UHT),for ensuring better shelf life; Inert gas blanketing in packing for further improvement of shelf life. 2. A method of production of Stabilized Sugar Cane Juice according to Claim 1, wherein the filters of the ranges from macrofilters to micro filters upto 5 microns are used in decreasing order 3. A method of production of Stabilized Sugar Cane Juice according to Claim 1, wherein the Reverse osmosis rnembrane filters are of rating of molecular size cut off between 1000 - 5000 Ao 4. A method of production of Stabilized Sugar Cane Juice according to Claim 1, wherein the pressure for the membrane Alteration ranges from 30 - 60 psig.

Documents:

0053-mas-2001 abstract.jpg

0053-mas-2001 abstract.pdf

0053-mas-2001 claims.pdf

0053-mas-2001 correspondence others.pdf

0053-mas-2001 correspondence po.pdf

0053-mas-2001 description (complete).pdf

0053-mas-2001 drawings.pdf

0053-mas-2001 form-1.pdf

0053-mas-2001 form-26.pdf

0053-mas-2001 form-4.pdf

0053-mas-2001 form-9.pdf