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US-12618820-B2 - Container for determining the quantity of CO2 absorbed and/or expelled by a sample of matter over time

US12618820B2US 12618820 B2US12618820 B2US 12618820B2US-12618820-B2

Abstract

A container for determining the quantity of CO 2 absorbed and/or expelled by a sample of matter over time, including: a bottom compartment designed to receive a sample of matter, a top compartment receiving element for trapping CO 2 , positioned in line with and communicating with the bottom compartment, and having an exhaust opening enabling gas to escape from the top compartment after it passes through the receiving element for trapping CO 2 , a separation element, disposed between the bottom compartment and the top compartment, configured to enable gas to pass from the bottom compartment to the top compartment.

Inventors

  • Jean-Charles Bartolucci
  • Florence KAPRAL

Assignees

  • LESAFFRE ET COMPAGNIE

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20220613
Priority Date
20210615

Claims (17)

  1. 1 . An appliance for determining the quantity of CO 2 absorbed by a sample of organic matter containing yeast and/or leaven and/or leavening powder, in particular dough, over time, comprising: a pressure-measuring means, and at least one container comprising: a bottom compartment designed to receive a sample of matter, a top compartment receiving means for trapping CO 2 , positioned in line with and communicating with the bottom compartment, and having an exhaust opening enabling gas to escape from the top compartment after it passes through said means for trapping CO 2 , a separation means, disposed between the bottom compartment and the top compartment, configured to enable gas to pass from the bottom compartment to the top compartment, wherein the pressure-measuring means is connected to the exhaust opening of the top compartment of the container so as to be able to determine the change over time in the pressure in the bottom compartment receiving the sample of matter after the gases coming from the bottom compartment pass into the top compartment of the container.
  2. 2 . The appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the bottom compartment is at least partially, preferably entirely, made from a transparent material, for example glass or thermoplastic material, so as to enable an observer to view the content of the bottom compartment.
  3. 3 . The appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the bottom compartment, the top compartment and the separation means form a self-supporting assembly.
  4. 4 . The appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the separation means includes a sieve in which a plurality of openings are provided, configured so as to enable gas to pass from the bottom compartment to the top compartment.
  5. 5 . The appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the means for trapping CO 2 include granules of soda lime.
  6. 6 . The appliance according to claim 5 , wherein: the separation means includes a sieve in which a plurality of openings are provided, configured so as to enable gas to pass from the bottom compartment to the top compartment, and the granules of soda lime are disposed directly on the sieve, the openings in the sieve being configured so as to prevent the granules of soda lime passing from the top compartment to the bottom compartment.
  7. 7 . The appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the container includes a top opening and the top compartment includes a bottom opening, the top opening of the container being aligned with the bottom opening of the top compartment, and wherein the separation means is also aligned with the top opening of the container and with the bottom opening of the top compartment.
  8. 8 . The appliance according to claim 7 , wherein the top compartment is positioned entirely in the container, a plug, in particular removable, being positioned in the top opening of the container, so as to make said container airtight.
  9. 9 . The appliance according to claim 8 , wherein the plug includes a through piercing positioned in line with the exhaust opening of the top compartment, so as to enable the gas from the top compartment to escape therefrom via said exhaust opening.
  10. 10 . The appliance according to claim 7 , wherein the separation means is disposed at the bottom opening of the top compartment.
  11. 11 . The appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the bottom compartment and the top compartment are secured removably.
  12. 12 . The appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the container includes a substantially cylindrically shaped peripheral wall, and the top compartment also includes a substantially cylindrically shaped peripheral wall, with its axis coincident with the axis of the peripheral wall of the container.
  13. 13 . The appliance according to claim 1 , furthermore comprising a connection means, in particular removable, configured to allow connection of the top compartment to a conduit, and in particular a flexible conduit, said connection means being positioned at the exhaust opening of the top compartment, extending through said exhaust opening.
  14. 14 . The appliance according to claim 13 , wherein: the plug includes a through piercing positioned in line with the exhaust opening of the top compartment, so as to enable the gas from the top compartment to escape therefrom via said exhaust opening, and the connection means is held in position with respect to the top compartment by said exhaust opening of the top compartment, said connection means extending through the through piercing of the plug and being held in position with respect to the plug by said through piercing.
  15. 15 . The appliance according to claim 1 , wherein the top compartment includes a top wall, the exhaust opening being provided in said top wall.
  16. 16 . A method for determining over time the quantity of CO 2 absorbed by a sample of organic matter containing yeast and/or leaven and/or leavening powder, in particular dough, during a fermentation reaction generating CO 2 , comprising: /a/ providing an appliance according to claim 1 comprising the means for trapping the CO 2 received in the top compartment of the container; /b/ placing the sample of matter in the bottom compartment of the container, /c/ measuring the change in the pressure over time in the bottom compartment receiving the sample of matter, after the gases coming from the bottom compartment pass into the top compartment of the container, the CO 2 expelled by the sample eliminated by the means for trapping the CO 2 .
  17. 17 . A method for determining over time the quantity of CO 2 expelled by a sample of organic matter containing yeast and/or leaven and/or leavening powder, in particular dough, in the course of a fermentation reaction generating CO 2 , comprising simultaneously a first measurement and a second measurement on a first fraction of sample and a second fraction of sample, with the same volume, and wherein said first measurement is configured to measure the change in pressure due solely to the quantity of gas absorbed, and the second measurement is configured to measure the change in pressure due to the quantity of gas absorbed and to the quantity of gas expelled, and wherein the first measurement comprises: /a1/ providing a first appliance according to claim 1 comprising the means for trapping the CO 2 received in the top compartment of the container; /b1/ placing the first fraction of sample of matter in the bottom compartment of the container, /c1/ measuring the change in the pressure over time in the bottom compartment receiving the sample of matter, after the gases coming from the bottom compartment pass into the top compartment of the container, the CO 2 expelled by the sample eliminated by the means for trapping the CO 2 , and wherein the second measurement comprises: /a2/ providing a second appliance according to claim 1 with no means for trapping the CO 2 received in the top compartment of the container, /b2/ placing the first fraction of sample of matter in the bottom compartment of the container, /c2/ measuring the change in the pressure over time in the bottom compartment receiving the second fraction of the sample of matter, after the gases coming from the bottom compartment pass into the top compartment of the container, with no means for trapping the CO 2 , and wherein the quantity of CO 2 expelled by the sample is obtained from the difference between the second measurement and the first measurement.

Description

FIELD The present invention relates to a container for determining over time the quantity of carbon dioxide (CO2) absorbed and/or expelled by a sample of matter, and in particular organic matter containing a leavening agent, such as for example yeast and/or leaven and/or leavening powder, such as for example dough containing bakery yeast. The invention also relates to an appliance for determining over time the quantity of CO2 absorbed and/or expelled by a sample of matter comprising such a container. The invention also relates to a method for determining over time the quantity of CO2 absorbed and/or expelled by a sample of matter. BACKGROUND The main functionality of a leavening agent, such as for example yeast and/or leaven and/or leavening powder, is to make dough rise. To do this, it produces CO2 that quickly saturates the liquid phase of the doughy matrix and goes into vapour phase in numerous nuclei present in the dough at the end of kneading, thus producing expansion thereof, and will in the end product give rise to the numerous alveoli of the crumb. This expansion is possible only through the ability of the dough, in particular based on wheat flour, to retain gas. The expansion of the dough can easily be observed. By placing a given mass of dough in a test piece and regularly measuring the height of the dough in the test piece, it is possible overall to evaluate this expansion, on the macroscopic level. This measurement is not very precise and, because of its macroscopic character, incorporates other phenomena such as the rheology of the dough. For example, for the same volume of dough, it is possible to have different dough heights (“flat” or “round” rising) and pockets of gas may possibly become housed between the dough and the test piece, which can falsify the measurements. For a long time, appliances have existed that make it possible to measure the overall production of CO2 by the yeast in the dough. The principle thereof is as follows: a piece of dough of known mass is placed in a hermetic pot; then, when the yeast produces CO2, this causes an overpressure in the pot, firstly because the volume of dough increases, thus compressing the gas ceiling in the pot, and secondly because CO2 is expelled by the dough in the gas ceiling of the pot, thus increasing the number of molecules of CO2 present therein. This overpressure can be quantified by the displacement of a liquid, which corresponds to a direct measurement of volume, and/or by the use of a pressure sensor, as in some known measuring appliances, such as for example the measuring appliance marketed under the name Risograph® or Rhéofermentomètre®. The main advantage of these appliances is giving a kinetic vision of the phenomenon of production of CO2 by a dough over time. However, measuring the total production of CO2 by a dough does not distinguish the part retained by the dough (giving rise to the expansion of the dough) from the part lost in the atmosphere. It therefore perfectly gives information about the fermentary activity of the yeast, but not on the proportion of CO2 retained in the dough. However, many factors related both to the bread-making recipe (beginning with the quality of the flour) and to the process (e.g.: the frozen uncooked material), greatly modulate this retention/expulsion of the gas. Having a precise view on the kinetics of the gas retention/expulsion, apart from the rheological aspects, is therefore essential for being able to be in a position to uncouple the effects related to the fermentary activity of the yeast from the properties of the dough matrix. The Rhéofermentomètre® mentioned above attempted to offer a solution to this problem. Such a solution consists in simultaneously measuring the pressure variation in the gas ceiling of the pot containing the dough via a direct channel, to obtain the total production of CO2 by the dough, and via a channel passing through a CO2 trap, comprising for example soda lime, and thus measure only the overpressure due solely to the expansion of the dough (de facto causing compression of the gas ceiling of the pot). In such an appliance, the CO2 trap is connected to the pot containing the dough via a conduit, and is therefore separated from said pot and therefore from the gas ceiling of the pot containing the sample of dough. The curves shown on the graph in FIG. 1A show an estimation of the change over time in the rate of release of CO2 from a sample of dough in this type of device. This solution is nevertheless not very satisfactory for taking account of the change over time of the retention/expulsion of CO2 by a dough. This is because, and in accordance with the findings of the inventor, and as can be seen on the curves of the graph in FIG. 1B: if the flour-based dough is replaced by a reference system containing yeast but incapable of retaining CO2, such as for example a beaker containing water, sugar and yeast, the curve representing the retention of CO2 by said reference sys