Development of a small scale pilot plant (biofermentory) for the production of an innovative probiotic health beverage

该项目是将一种创新的健康软饮料推向市场的计划的组成部分。它将被定位为一种功能性饮料和日常产品，将为消费者在日常零售中或在餐饮服务环境中从低/无菜单中提供更好的选择。在拥有健康特性的同时，它将是可口的和容易饮用的。具体地说，这将是一种利用益生菌培养独特活性的益生菌产品。它将是一种在定制的工程处理设施中采用创新的培养和发酵技术的特殊“酿造”产品。近年来，人类肠道微生物群的重要性以及益生菌在愈合和支持它方面的作用已变得非常清楚。同样，现代生活方式似乎对微生物群的多样性和功能造成了严重破坏。现代健康状况的明显上升，包括哮喘、儿童食物不耐症和过敏症、湿疹和其他皮肤问题、自身免疫障碍、糖尿病等，越来越多地被认为与肠道微生物群健康的减弱或失衡密切相关。肠道微生物组与心理健康和幸福感之间甚至有联系，包括对抑郁和焦虑的影响。这一领域正在进行的科学研究几乎每天都会发表越来越多的证据，证明益生菌对支持我们的微生物组有多么重要。益生菌不仅对我们的一般健康和福祉很重要，而且现在很明显，益生菌可以以一种低干预的治疗方式来专门治疗健康状况。益生菌曾经是传统上用于胃肠道疾病的普通用途，现在益生菌的使用数量大幅增加，它们正被用于治疗越来越多的全身疾病。由于底物和生物过程的新颖和独特性质，需要定制的处理设施。该项目的目的是开发一个定制的小型中试工厂。它被认为是一种生物加工或生物发酵植物。该项目将纳入生化和过程工程原理，并将通过最终概念设计、元素采购和采购、工厂安装、试运行和现场批准测试等阶段进行。项目完成后，该工厂将继续用于帮助确定和改进最终产品的最佳方法、操作参数和配方。它将成为最终全尺寸商业设施的原型。

The project forms an integral part of a programme to bring to market an innovative, healthy soft drink. It will be positioned as a functional drink and an everyday product that will give consumers a 'better choice' option in everyday retail or from a low/no menu in a food service setting. While having healthy properties it will be palatable and easy drinking. Specifically is will be a probiotic product employing the unique activity of probiotic cultures. It will be a specially 'brewed' product adopting innovative culturing and fermentation techniques in a custom engineered processing facility.The significance of the human gut microbiome and the role of probiotics in healing and supporting it has become abundantly clear in recent years. Likewise, modern lifestyle appears to wreak havoc on the diversity and function of the microbiome. The apparently relentless rise in modern health conditions including asthma, childhood food intolerances and allergies, eczema and other skin issues, auto-immune disorders, diabetes and many more is increasingly considered to go hand in hand with waning or imbalances in gut microbiome health. A link has even been shown between gut microbiome and mental health and wellbeing, including effects on depression and anxiety.Growing evidence from ongoing scientific research in this field is being published almost daily that demonstrates just how important probiotics are to support our microbiome. Not only are they important to our general health and wellbeing, it is now clear that probiotics can be employed in a type of low intervention therapeutic way to specifically treat health conditions. Once where they were traditionally employed generically for gastrointestinal conditions, now there is a substantial increase in the number of uses of probiotics and they are being used to treat a growing number of systemic conditions.Due to the novel and unique nature of the substrate and the bioprocess used, a bespoke processing facility is required. The purpose of this project to develop a bespoke small scale pilot plant. It is considered to be a bioprocessing or biofermenting plant. The project will incorporate biochemical and process engineering principles and will progress through phases of finalised conceptual design, element sourcing and procurement, plant installation, commissioning and site approval testing. Following the project, the plant will go on to be employed to help determine and refine optimal methodology, operating parameters and recipes for the end product. It will become a prototype for an eventual full scale commercial facility.