Popular Science: Meihua advanced Pulullan

Pulullan is a kind of microbial polysaccharide found in 1938. On May 19, 2006, the Ministry of Health published the No. 8 announcement: it declared that pulullan is one of the four newly added kinds of food additives products; and it can be used as coating agent and thickening agent in candy, chocolate coat, membrane, compound seasoning and fruit and vegetable juice blends. 

Pulullan can be rapidly dissolved in cold water or warm water. Its aqueous solution is with stable property and lubricating and salubrious taste so that it can improve taste; is with gas barrier property, aromatic keeping properties, oil resistivity, electrical insulating property and other properties; is free of toxicant and harm for food, environment and human body; is with edibility and can be used on food surface to add gloss and keep food fresh. The food and its Pulullan membrane are all edible so that it is very convenient. Since Pulullan is hard to be absorbed by intestinal tract, it won’t cause the hypertension, heart disease, obesity and other diseases, so that it is a healthy food material and can be used to produce low-calorie foods and beverage. 

In pharmacy industry, using 20% Pulullan to replace the animal gelatin, this method may simplify the producing of anti-oxidation capsule; adding 5-10% Pulullan, this method may properly increase flexibility, elasticity and adhesion of soft capsule to improve it dissolves in the presumptive area, releases inclusion and improves the therapeutic of the drug. It also can be used as cleaning agent for potable water and living, industrial waste water to remove the suspended solids, BOD, COD from water and perform decoloration. 

Since the Pulullan is with various kinds of excellent properties, enormous developing potential, and vast application prospect. Hayashibara performed pilot scale test production in 1976 and at present has formed mass production scale. Our country started the research from the beginning of 1980s. It is the key research project of “The seventh five-year plan” and “The eighth five-year plan”. Even the research institutes for Pulullan is numerous, none of the haven’t achieve any breakthrough in extraction process so that they haven’t realize industrializing production of Pulullan.

Through one year of independent research and development, the Meihua Pulullan process has achieved major breakthrough. It is with short incubation period and high sugar production; especially the extraction process has achieved domestically advanced level. Our company applies perfect quality assurance system and sound control system. The quality of polysaccharide we extracted has exceeded national standard and some indexes has even been better than Hayashibara. Since the polysaccharide we produced is with little impurity, low moisture, strong viscosity and vast application scope, it not only applied in production of pullulan plant capsule, but also applied in preservative film and tablet preparation so as to accelerate technical progress of food, medicine and other application fields and establish a base for Meihua starts the field of medicine.