Patent ID: 12226034

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The terms used in the present invention, unless otherwise specified, generally have meanings normally understood by those of ordinary skills in the art. The present invention is further described in detail in combination with particular examples and with reference to data. The following examples are intended only to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

Example 1

Taking a straw as an example, this example provides a method for preparing an edible and biodegradable gel straw, and the steps are as follows:(1) preparation of a gel column mold: adding 3 parts by weight of agar and 8 parts by weight of calcium chloride into 100 parts by weight of deionized water, heating in a water bath at 95° C. for 30 min until complete dissolution to form an aqueous solution containing calcium chloride and agar, filling the aqueous solution into a columnar mold, and forming a gel column mold after cooling;where the columnar mold may be a glass tube, a metal tube, a plastic tube, or a ceramic tube, and has a smooth inner wall, the inner diameter of the columnar mold may be freely chosen according to the inner diameter of the straw to be obtained, and a columnar mold having an inner diameter of 0.8 cm is used in Examples 1 to 5 for exemplary description.(2) preparation of a tube model: cutting the gel column mold into sections of 20 cm in length; dissolving 20 parts by weight of sodium alginate in 1000 parts by weight of deionized water at normal temperature to form the sodium alginate solution; vertically placing the cut gel column molds into the sodium alginate solution, and standing for 15 min, 30 min, and 60 min respectively; and forming gel tube models having thicknesses of 1.4 mm, 2.1 mm, and 3.2 mm respectively around the gel column molds; and removing the gel column molds from the gel tube models respectively, and rinsing the solution adhered to the gel tube models by using deionized water.(3) drying of a gel tube model: drying rinsed gel tube models to obtain gel straws having different thicknesses.

Example 2

Taking a straw as an example, this example provides a method for preparing an edible and biodegradable gel straw, and the steps are as follows:(1) preparation of a gel column mold: adding 0.5 parts by weight of agarose and 8 parts by weight of calcium chloride into 100 parts by weight of deionized water, heating in a water bath at 95° C. for 30 min until complete dissolution to form an aqueous solution containing calcium chloride and agarose, filling the solution into a columnar mold, and forming a gel column mold after cooling.(2) preparation of a tube model: cutting the gel column mold into sections of 20 cm in length; dissolving 20 parts by weight of sodium alginate in 1000 parts by weight of deionized water at normal temperature to form the sodium alginate solution; vertically placing the cut gel column molds into the sodium alginate solution, and standing for 15 min, 30 min, and 60 min respectively; and forming gel tube models having thicknesses of 1.4 mm, 2.1 mm, and 3.2 mm respectively around the gel column molds; and removing the gel column molds from the gel tube models, and rinsing the solution adhered to the gel tube models by using deionized water.(3) drying of a gel tube model: drying rinsed gel tube models to obtain gel straws having different thicknesses.

Example 3

Taking a straw as an example, this example provides a method for preparing an edible and biodegradable gel straw, and the steps are as follows:(1) preparation of a gel column mold: adding 3 parts by weight of agar and 10 parts by weight of zinc chloride into 100 parts by weight of deionized water, heating in a water bath at 95° C. for 30 min until complete dissolution to form an endogenous agar solution containing zinc chloride, filling the solution into a columnar mold, and forming a gel column mold after cooling;(2) preparation of a tube model: cutting a gel column mold into gel columns of 20 cm in length; dissolving 50 parts by weight of sodium alginate in 1000 parts by weight of deionized water at normal temperature to form the sodium alginate solution; vertically placing the cut gel column molds into the sodium alginate solution, and standing for 15 min, 30 min, and 60 min respectively; and forming gel tube models having thicknesses of 1.9 mm, 3.2 mm, and 3.9 mm respectively around the gel column molds; and removing the gel column molds from the gel tube models, and rinsing the solution adhered to the gel tube models by using deionized water.(3) drying of a gel tube model: drying rinsed gel tube models to obtain gel straws having different thicknesses.

Example 4

Taking a straw as an example, this example provides a method for preparing an edible and biodegradable gel straw, and the steps are as follows:(1) preparation of a gel column mold: adding 3 parts by weight of agar and 8 parts by weight of calcium chloride into 100 parts by weight of deionized water, heating in a water bath at 95° C. for 30 min until complete dissolution to form an endogenous agar solution containing calcium chloride, filling the solution into a columnar mold, and forming a gel column mold after cooling;(2) preparation of a tube model: cutting a gel column mold into gel columns of 20 cm in length; dissolving 20 parts by weight of sodium alginate and 100 parts by weight of glycerol in 1000 parts by weight of deionized water at normal temperature to form the mixed sodium alginate solution; vertically placing the cut gel column molds into the mixed sodium alginate solution, and standing for 15 min, 30 min, and 60 min respectively; and forming gel tube models having thicknesses of 1.4 mm, 2.1 mm, and 3.2 mm respectively around the gel column molds; and removing the gel column molds from the gel tube models, and rinsing the solution adhered to the gel tube models by using deionized water.(3) drying of a gel tube model: drying rinsed gel tube models to obtain gel straws having different thicknesses.

In the method of the this example, glycerol is added, and when the air humidity is low (e.g. the air humidity is less than 40%), the straw stored for a long time may be cracked after repeated bending, which can be significantly improved by adding glycerol.

Example 5

Taking a straw as an example, this example provides a method for preparing an edible and biodegradable gel straw, and the steps are as follows:(1) preparation of a gel column mold: adding 3 parts by weight of agar and 8 parts by weight of potassium chloride into 100 parts by weight of deionized water, heating in a water bath at 95° C. for 30 min until complete dissolution to form an endogenous agar solution containing potassium chloride, filling the solution into a columnar mold, and forming a gel column mold after cooling.(2) preparation of a tube model: cutting a gel column mold into gel columns of 20 cm in length; dissolving 20 parts by weight of k-carrageenan in 1000 parts by weight of deionized water at 80° C. to form the k-carrageenan solution; vertically placing the cut gel column molds into the k-carrageenan solution at 55° C., and standing for 10 min, 20 min, and 30 min respectively; and forming gel tube models having thicknesses of 1.5 mm, 2.3 mm, and 3.5 mm respectively around the gel column molds; and removing the gel column molds from the gel tube models, and rinsing the solution adhered to the gel tube models by using deionized water.(3) drying of a gel tube model: drying rinsed gel tube models to obtain gel straws having different thicknesses.

Example 6

Taking a straw as an example, this example provides a method for preparing an edible and biodegradable gel straw, and the steps are as follows:(1) preparation of a gel column mold: adding 3 parts by weight of agar and 8 parts by weight of calcium chloride into 100 parts by weight of deionized water, heating in a water bath at 95° C. for 30 min until complete dissolution to form an endogenous agar solution containing calcium chloride, filling the solution into a columnar mold, and forming a gel column mold after cooling;(2) preparation of a tube model: cutting a gel column mold into gel columns of 20 cm in length; dissolving 20 parts by weight of pectin in 1000 parts by weight of deionized water at 90° C. to form the pectin solution; vertically placing the cut gel column molds into the pectin solution at 55° C., and standing for 15 min, 30 min, and 60 min respectively, and forming gel tube models having thicknesses of 1.3 mm, 2.2 mm, and 3.2 mm respectively around the gel column molds; and removing the gel column molds from the gel tube models, and rinsing the solution adhered to the gel tube models by using deionized water.(3) drying of a gel tube model: drying rinsed gel tube models to obtain gel straws having different thicknesses.

Example 7

Taking a straw as an example, this example provides a method for preparing an edible and biodegradable gel straw, and the steps are as follows:(1) preparation of a gel column mold: adding 0.5 parts by weight of agarose, 4 parts by weight of calcium chloride, and 4 parts by weight of potassium chloride into 100 parts by weight of deionized water, heating in a water bath at 95° C. for 30 min until complete dissolution to form a mixed endogenous agarose solution containing calcium chloride and potassium chloride, filling the solution into a columnar mold, and forming a gel column mold after cooling.(2) preparation of a tube model: cutting a gel column mold into gel columns of 20 cm in length; dissolving 10 parts by weight of k-carrageenan and 10 parts by weight of sodium alginate in 1000 parts by weight of deionized water at normal temperature to form the solution of k-carrageenan and sodium alginate; vertically placing the cut gel column molds into the solution of k-carrageenan and sodium alginate, and standing for 15 min, 30 min, and 60 min respectively; and forming gel tube models having thicknesses of 1.5 mm, 2.3 mm, and 3.4 mm respectively around the gel column molds; and removing the gel column molds from the gel tube models, and rinsing the solution adhered to the gel tube models by using deionized water.(3) drying of a gel tube model: drying rinsed gel tube models to obtain gel straws having different thicknesses.

“Part by weight” in the above examples refers to a weight unit, such as g, kg, and ton.

Taking straw manufacturing as an example, a straw forming process is introduced by choosing three materials: agar, calcium chloride and sodium alginate.

In the straw manufacturing process, a crosslinker-calcium chloride is first mixed with a gel A-agar, and as the agar is solidified, the calcium chloride is uniformly dispersed in the agar gel. After the agar-made gel mold is put into the solution of gel B-sodium alginate, Ca2+ in the agar gel mold migrates outwards to form water-insoluble calcium alginate with the sodium alginate in the solution, and finally form calcium alginate tube model on a wall of the agar gel. The thickness of the tube model is mainly determined by the content of calcium ions and the content of sodium alginate as well as the reaction time, and is not specifically limited herein, and the specific soaking and standing time may be determined according to actual requirements.

An Example Method of Straw Drying:

In the case of straw drying, a rinsed gel tube model is firstly sleeved on a support column (preventing the tube model from being deformed, the diameter of the support column may be the same as or slightly less than the inner diameter of a columnar mold, and “slightly less than” means that the diameter of the support column is 0-0.05 mm less than the inner diameter of the columnar mold), and placed in a constant temperature and humidity chamber (temperature of 60° C., humidity of 55%) for drying, after drying, the straw and the support column are removed, and the support column is removed from the dried tube model (when removed, the support column may be soaked in deionized water at normal temperature for 1 min); the removed tube model is sleeved on a new support column (the diameter of the support column here is less than that of the support column in the previous step, because the tube model has already a certain hardness, and the support column does not require to tightly abut the inner wall of the tube model), and then placed into a constant temperature and humidity chamber (temperature of 60° C., humidity of 55%) for the second drying. During drying, the temperature and humidity settings in the constant temperature and humidity chamber are exemplary and not limiting.

Flexural Strength Test of a Straw

The performance analysis of the three thicknesses of straws prepared in Example 1 was performed in the following specific steps:cutting three thicknesses of straws prepared in Example 1 into sections of 18 cm in length and removing uneven burrs, where the straws were taken as models for texture analysis, and a three-point flexural test was performed on the straws using a texture analyzer (Stable Micro Systems (SMS) Ltd. UK, TA. XT plus C) to simulate the pressure received by the straws during transportation and test the flexural strength of the straws. The parameters were set as follows: using a displacement mode, pre-measurement speed of 1 mm/sec, 2 mm/sec, and 10 mm/sec, probe height of 50 mm, compression depth of 30 mm, and distance between plates of 5 cm.

The test results are shown inFIG.1:

It can be seen fromFIG.1that the flexural strength of the straws increased as the diffusion time increased. Even after a short diffusion of 15 min, the flexural strength could reach 250 g. After a long diffusion time of 60 min, the flexural strength of the straws was about 1300 g. It can be seen that the straws prepared by the method of the present invention have good flexural resistance.

Tensile Performance Test of a Straw

A gel straw was prepared using the method of Example 1 with a standing time of 30 min. Three straws were placed in measuring cylinders, soaked in deionized water for 30 s, 30 min, and 24 h respectively, and taken out after soaking, the surface was dried using filter paper, a rectangular tensile bar with length of 4 cm and width of 2 cm was obtained by cutting, an universal extensograph (Instron, electronic universal material testing machine 5943) was used to perform tensile performance test. The test conditions were as follows: fixing fixture distance at 20 mm, tensile rate of 100 mm/min, and performing the tensile test at room temperature (25° C.).

The test results are shown inFIG.2:

It can be seen fromFIG.2that the straws could maintain good tensile performance from soaking for 30 s to 24 h, so that the straws prepared in the present invention had good swelling-resistance and good soaking resistance.

Examples 1 to 7 describes the method of the present invention in detail using a straw as an example. The manufacturing method of a bowl, dish, cup and spoon is similar to that of a straw, and the main difference is a shaped gel column mold, so that the preparation method of several other tableware will not be described in detail herein.

In order to enhance water resistance and prolong shelf life, the edible tableware prepared by the method of the present invention may be coated with an edible coating. The edible coating is applied by spraying, dipping, or brushing, etc. on the inner and/or outer surface of the tableware.

The edible waterproof coating may be coconut oil, palm oil, beech oil, castor oil, cottonseed oil, hazelnut oil, olive oil, palm kernel oil, peanut oil, pericarp oil, poppy oil, blackcurrant seed oil, linseed oil, purple safflower oil, raisin seed oil, rapeseed oil, rice bran oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, sunflower seed oil, turmeric oil, soybean oil, almond oil, Brazil nut oil, cashew nut oil, pine nut oil, pistachio nut oil, and walnut oil; optionally short or medium or long chain triglycerides, monoglycerides and/or diglycerides; confectioner's glaze; acetylated monoglyceride; and edible wax such as beeswax, rice bran wax.

The above description is only the preferred examples of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention in other forms, and any person skilled in the art may make use of the technical contents disclosed above to change or modify the equivalent examples with equivalent changes. However, any simple modification, equivalent change and modification made in accordance with the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the technical solution of the present invention are still within the scope of protection of the technical solutions of the present invention.