Patent DE-102006009156-A1 (DE)
Title: Procedure for disintegration of dried, biological material e.g. plant parts, includes introducing penetration medium into material, distributing the material in carrier medium, and electroporation of mixture of carrier medium and material
Inventor: HOFFMANN DANIELA
IPC: B01J19/08
Filed: 2006-02-24
Abstract: The procedure for the disintegration of dried, biological material e.g. plant parts, comprises introducing a penetration medium into the material, distributing the material in a carrier medium, and treating mixture of the carrier medium and the biological material by electroporation. The penetration medium sets an electrical conductivity in the biological material. The nature of the carrier medium and the relationship between the carrier medium and the biological material are selected in such a manner that the received mixture has a weak electrical conductivity. The procedure for the disintegration of dried, biological material e.g. plant parts, comprises introducing a penetration medium into the material, distributing the material in a carrier medium, and treating mixture of the carrier medium and the biological material by electroporation. The penetration medium sets an electrical conductivity in the biological material. The nature of the carrier medium and the relationship between the carrier medium and the biological material are selected in such a manner that the received mixture has a weak electrical conductivity. The biological material is supplied to a given volume of the penetration medium and left for a predetermined period of time. The penetration medium, if it is a liquid, is adjusted to a temperature of 20[deg] C, and if it is a gas or vapor, is adjusted to a temperature of 130-150[deg] C. The mixture of biological material and penetration medium is agitated during the time period. The penetration medium is a liquid, and the mixture of the penetration liquid and the biological material is deaerated. The components that are condensed from the gas withdrawn from the mixture of the penetration liquid and the biological material, are isolated. A part of the introduction of penetration medium into the biological material takes place using saturated water vapor having 50-70[deg] C. At temperatures below 100[deg] C, the pressure in the treatment reactor is set in such a manner that the boiling point lies above 100[deg] C. The introduction of the penetration medium takes place by means of treatment in the liquid vapor and through contact with penetration liquid under application of pressure of 2-7 bars. The biological material is mechanically crushed and/or etched in a pre-treatment step and/or exposed to light or ionizing radiation before the introduction of the penetration medium. The material is subjected to a electroporation treatment and fed to an intermediate treatment. The intermediate treatment comprises mechanical crushing, storing, mixing with a caustic etching solution, temperature treatment, pressure treatment, and exposure to light or ionizing radiation. After electroporation, a portion of the biological material is mechanically crushed, treated with the penetration medium and treated by electroporation. A component is extracted from the biological material after the electroporation treatment. A residual portion of the electroporated biological material is again subjected to a pre-crushing treatment and/or a treatment with the penetration medium and another electroporation treatment. The field strength of the electroporation is 3-15 KV/cm and is selected with respect to the size of the cells of the biological materials. The decrease of the voltage potential across a cell of the biological material is 2 V. The electrical conductivity of the electroporated mixture of the carrier medium and the biological material is 30 mS/cm. The duration of the field impulse that is used for electroporation is 100 ns to 50 mu s. The frequency of the field impulse that is used for electroporation is 0.5-40 Hz. During the electroporation, the biological material is exposed to a total number of field impulses of 1-20. The penetration medium distinguishes itself from the carrier medium in its electrical conductivity. The penetration medium is electrically weak conducting oil. The carrier medium is a gas or a vapor. A surfactant is added to the penetration medium. The active substance is extracted from the electroporated material by application of pressure and/or temperature and/or an aqueous or organic solvent, for obtaining an active ingredient from a dried biological material. An independent claim is included for a device for the disintegration of dried, biological material.