Computational Molecular Biology 2025, Vol.15, No.1, 53-64 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/cmb 61 products. After optimization by Response Surface Analysis (RSM), the production efficiency can be increased by another 20% to 30%. Although the initial equipment investment is a bit large, it is quite cost-effective in the long run. The advantages in environmental protection are more obvious-traditional methods often require the use of strong acids and strong alkalis, while the new process basically does not use these hazardous chemicals, and the carbon footprint is significantly reduced. However, in actual operation, it was found that the raw materials of different batches vary greatly. Even the parameters optimized by RSM sometimes need to be fine-tuned. Recently, some manufacturers have attempted to turn the extracted waste residue into organic fertilizer, which can be regarded as maximizing the utilization of resources. However, whether this by-product can be profitable remains to be seen. 7 Case Studies on Enzymatic and Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction 7.1 Laboratory-scale cases Recently, those who are fiddling with the extraction of Cordyceps polysaccharides in the laboratory have all been fond of the combination of ultrasonic and enzymatic methods. There was a rather interesting experiment. After messing around with the parameters using the Response surface method (RSM) for a long time, a yield of 15.43% was finally achieved-this figure is quite impressive among peers. However, the selection of proteases also requires careful consideration. Alkaline proteases are more powerful than others, reaching up to 13.01% (Li and Liu, 2015), although they are not as effective as the combination of ultrasound. In fact, these small-scale trial data look good, but scaling up production is another matter. Last year, a factory conducted a pilot test based on the parameters of a paper and directly reduced the yield by 20%. Later, it was found that the purity of the industrial-grade enzyme preparation was insufficient. Now everyone is gradually getting the upper hand. Laboratory data needs to be given a headshot before it can be moved to the production line. After all, a 50-liter reactor and a 50-milliliter conical flask are completely different things. By the way, the polysaccharides extracted by these new methods are indeed highly active, and there should be a considerable market for high-end health products. 7.2 Pilot-scale validation In fact, conducting ultrasonic extraction of Cordyceps polysaccharides on a pilot-scale is much more troublesome than in a laboratory-after the equipment is scaled up, all parameters have to be readjust. There was an interesting study. After fidling with the random center optimization method for a long time, the yield was finally raised to 16.6% in a 50-liter reactor, which was a little higher than the laboratory data. However, in actual operation, it was found that the power stability of industrial-grade ultrasonic generators is far worse than that of laboratory equipment, and it is necessary to keep a close eye on the instruments for adjustment at all times. The most troublesome issue was the heat dissipation problem after amplification. The negligible thermal effect in the small tank could directly raise the temperature of the material liquid to 70 degrees after amplification. Later, a cooling system was added to solve the problem. Although these pilot-scale experiences are quite troublesome, they do prove that ultrasonic technology can be applied to industrial use. However, for each specific factory, the process may still need to be fine-tuned according to their own equipment. Now it seems that this method should have no problem running on a 5-ton tank. If it is scaled up further, it may require re-exploration. 7.3 Industrial application prospects Nowadays, many enterprises are thinking about how to transfer the ultrasonic-enzymatic process to the production line. To be honest, Cordyceps polysaccharides are becoming increasingly popular in the health supplement circle, especially for those antioxidant and immunomodulative functions (Zhu et al., 2016), but traditional extraction methods really can't keep up with market demand. The pilot-scale data is quite impressive, proving that this new process can also work well in scale-up production. However, for real industrialization, many practical problems still need to be solved-such as the layout of ultrasonic probes in large tanks, or how to recycle those expensive enzyme preparations. Recently, a company from Fujian Province has been in trial production and found that controlling the ultrasonic power in different zones can save 20% of energy consumption. Although the cost of equipment transformation is a bit high, it is quite cost-effective in the long run. Both domestic and foreign peers are keeping a close eye on this matter. After all, whoever can master the process first will be able to seize the initiative in the next-generation functional food market. However, to be precise, the biggest bottleneck at present
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