[jtf]

I am mixing some amino acids and stimulants in a water solution using an IKA overhead stirrer and a propeller blade.  I am wondering if a high shear blade would damage the ingredients?  Sometimes a few of the ingredients agglomerate and it's a mess.  I am thinking that a high shear blade would solve my problem and also ensure better reconstitution after the formulation freezes and thaws (as might happen). 

A chemist for a beverage company told me that shear would destroy the ingredients.  But I am not sure he is correct because some people heat process the ingredients and that has to have some serious effects.

Can anyone here offer any insight?  It costs a lot to buy a shear blade, so I don't want to invest unless there is a good chance it will work.

J-

[fledarmus]

I don't see how high shear could possibly do anything to what you are describing - separate amino acids and (I assume) small molecule stimulants. The molecules are far too small for a blade of any sort to have any effect that any other form of efficient mixing wouldn't have.

It might be different if your amino acids aren't separate but are in protein form - then you could actually have far larger molecules. Still, these are very small compared to, say, single cells. If you have truly enormous proteins, or if there are specific protein-protein interactions that you are trying to preserve, it is within the realm of possibility that you might have some effect with a shearing blade, but I would doubt it.

If your stimulants are not small molecules but are actually ground plant material or something along those lines, then the high shear mixing might make a difference by destroying the integrity of the cells present in the mixture. Many components of cells are not stable outside of the cells and will not survive the shearing process.

[jtf]

Thanks so much!

My ingredients are just simple powders of single ingredients or weakly bonded ingredients like Citrulline Malate.  If the dissolver blade is unlikely to have any effect compared to a propeller type blade, is there any real benefit to buying one over a just a larger propeller or pump type blade?  Maybe the dissolver blade can blend faster? 

Thanks again.

J-

I don't see how high shear could possibly do anything to what you are describing - separate amino acids and (I assume) small molecule stimulants. The molecules are far too small for a blade of any sort to have any effect that any other form of efficient mixing wouldn't have.

It might be different if your amino acids aren't separate but are in protein form - then you could actually have far larger molecules. Still, these are very small compared to, say, single cells. If you have truly enormous proteins, or if there are specific protein-protein interactions that you are trying to preserve, it is within the realm of possibility that you might have some effect with a shearing blade, but I would doubt it.

If your stimulants are not small molecules but are actually ground plant material or something along those lines, then the high shear mixing might make a difference by destroying the integrity of the cells present in the mixture. Many components of cells are not stable outside of the cells and will not survive the shearing process.