Bovine colostrum, a highly nutritious food has high concentration of immunoglobulins, antimicrobials lactoferrin, lysozyme, lactoperoxidase, growth factors and other bioactive components. Immunoglobulins, a major immune fraction, are natural antibodies which boost immunity against a wide range of bacterial and viral infections. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) constitutes about 80 to 90 percent of immunoglobulins in bovine colostrum. Thermal treatment of colostrum causes a significant loss in the immunity boosting property of IgG due to its denaturation. A novel technology has been developed to protect immunoglobulin G (IgG) against heat, thereby enabling retention of about 65 to >90 percent of its bioactivity in dairy and related products after heat processing.
The patented technology uses powder formulations having “heat stable” colostrum. These are reconstituted in water for the manufacture of bioactive “Ready to drink” (RTD) UHT (long life) beverages and “Ready to eat” (RTE) products on a commercial scale. The powders can be used with other naturally occurring bioactive ingredients to get additional health benefits. The long-life beverages do not have added preservatives, have a shelf life of 3 to 9 months under ambient conditions. These can be made with different flavours and enjoyed by both adults and children.
The technology employs low-cost heat processing which can be used by manufactures of dairy products and beverage / juice manufacturers, including small scale manufacturers.
The inventor of this technology would like to collaborate with manufacturers of dairy products / beverages / juices/ nutritional supplements and license the technology for manufacturing immunity boosting products.
IgG is a heat sensitive protein. On heating reconstituted colostrum at a temperature of 85-90°C / 15 sec, <15% of the original bioactivity of IgG is retained. A novel technology developed recently enables retention of about 65 to >90 per cent of its original bioactivity after heating reconstituted colostrum at 63-140 °C. The technology uses unique powder formulations having “heat- stable” colostrum powder which besides IgG has other bioactive components like lactoferrin, lysozyme, etc. The powders offer advantages of ease of handling, uniformity of composition, thus avoiding difficulties in handling day to day variation in handling liquid colostrum. Moreover, powder can be transported over long distances and used for making bioactive products at the point of manufacture. The commercial manufacture of immunity boosting RTD UHT beverages and RTE products involves reconstitution of powder in water, hydration, acidification and heating at 63-140°C. For RTE products like ice cream, instant desserts acidification / heating is not required. Conventional thermal processing which is low in capital cost and equipment is used which is much more economical than other non-thermal technologies.
The commercial products currently available in the form of powder or tablets as nutritional supplements contain colostrum powder which can be used for domestic consumption only after reconstitution in water. The immunity boosting RTD and RTE products are convenient to use, have a greater consumer appeal and can be made with different flavours. Moreover, RTD UHT beverages have a shelf life of 3 to 9 months under ambient conditions.
The technology can be used in the following areas: