JP2000300205A - Concentrated and desalted plum vinegar and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high-performance low-cost desalting process for producing concentrated and desalted plum vinegar and plum salt having high utility value as a new resource from surplus plum vinegar generated as a by-product of pickled plum and almost completely discarded hitherto as a waste, preventing the discard of the vinegar to environment, satisfying the other conditions and free from degradation problem. SOLUTION: Plum vinegar is concentrated at 30-90 deg.C under reduced pressure with a vacuum concentrator 1 provided with a rotary coil heating apparatus, the precipitate is separated and recovered as plum salt by a solid-liquid separator 2, the concentrated plum vinegar filtrate is further subjected to electrodialytic desalting with an electrodialyzer 3 to obtain concentrated and desalted plum vinegar. The pH of the plum vinegar is raised beforehand to 2.5-3.0 to suppress the change in the taste and flavor of the concentrated plum vinegar and prevent the corrosion of the equipment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to concentrated desalted ume vinegar and ume salt (mainly 3 to 15% of mother liquor separated from concentrated ume vinegar slurry, which is hereinafter referred to as ume salt), while maintaining the unique flavor of ume vinegar. And its manufacturing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Plum vinegar is a by-product of umeboshi, a traditional food in Japan, but its use is limited except that part of it is used for pickles and the like, and is almost discarded. In recent years, demand for umeboshi has been increasing remarkably, and the amount of by-product umevine is estimated to have reached ten thousand tons in Japan. Most of them are discarded because of their limited effective use, which leads to environmental pollution. Since this ume vinegar has a high concentration of salt near saturation and a high acidity, it has been a problem that its direct use and processing are difficult. Therefore, there has been a demand for a processing method that can be processed at low cost so as not to cause environmental pollution or that produces a value-added product that can offset the cost. From another point of view, plum vinegar is an extract that has been leached by pressing and salting raw raw plum, so it originally has the same composition as the main product plum, if its processing method is appropriate It can be expected to have high value-added applications similar to Umeboshi. As a result of analysis of such ume vinegar, potassium, iron, and amino acids such as γ-aminobutyric acid, aspartic acid, alanine, threonine, and other polyphenols are prominent and are expected to be used in health foods. In addition, if the processing technology suitable for recycling ume vinegar is completed, it is expected to be the most desirable solution, not limited to the disposal method.

[0003] On the other hand, when a simple (conventional) simple concentration operation of plum vinegar is performed, that is, the concentration of boiled plum vinegar to evaporate water and the like is caused, the precipitated slurry is precipitated even with a slight concentration due to high salt content. It also adheres to the can wall of the concentration device, making it difficult to continue concentration. In addition, remarkable scorching occurs on the can wall, causing browning and off-flavor. Furthermore, it causes corrosion,
In addition, foaming and bumping were likely to occur, and concentration was hardly performed. Therefore, it was difficult to obtain a high-quality concentrate, and its use in foods was not widespread. In particular, the seasoning liquid containing a large amount of sugar had a severe overheat deterioration.
For this reason, ume vinegar is used only after desalting by electrodialysis, and its technology is known, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-24103 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-322503. Difficulties are seen.

[0004]

The so-called ume vinegar and seasoning liquid, which become excessive during the processing of umeboshi, are partly desalted by electrodialysis according to the above-mentioned technology and recycled, but it is difficult to adjust the concentration. For this reason, a considerable amount is disposed of at high cost. For desalting by electrodialysis, it is very costly and time-consuming to perform high-salinity ume vinegar only by electrodialysis. Further, since the removed salt is separated in the form of a solution, it must be discarded in its entirety. Did not. In addition, since ume vinegar has conventionally been difficult to process, only a very small amount of ume vinegar has been used as is for turf pickling and the like. Therefore, the present invention is to produce concentrated desalinated ume vinegar and ume salt having high utility value as a new resource from surplus ume vinegar, and to prevent disposal to the environment, and to provide a high-functionality that does not cause deterioration to meet the conditions for that purpose. Provide low cost concentrated desalination method.

[0005]

The problems to be solved by the present invention are as described above. Next, means for solving the problems will be described. That is, ume vinegar is reduced under reduced pressure by a reduced pressure heating type concentrator having a rotating coil heating device to 30-9.
The mixture is concentrated at 0 ° C., preferably at 40 to 60 ° C., and the precipitate is separated and collected as a ume salt by a centrifugal separator, and the concentrated ume vinegar filtrate is further dialyzed and desalted by an electrodialysis device to obtain a concentrated desalted ume vinegar. It is like that. Then, the pH of the plum vinegar is raised to 2.5 to 3.0 in advance to suppress the change in flavor of the concentrated plum vinegar, and at the same time, to prevent corrosion of the apparatus. The ume vinegar described herein means a white pickled ume vinegar having an acidity of 2 to 6% and a salt content of 8 to 24% produced in the process of producing umeboshi, and a liquid prepared by mixing a seasoning sugar and other ingredients (also known as a seasoning liquid). The concentrated desalted ume vinegar is a liquid having an acidity of 2 to 16% and a salt content of 1 to 13% obtained by the method of claim 1, and the solid content varies depending on the composition of the ume vinegar used.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The raw material plum vinegar is generally 15-23%
Is a plum leachate having a peculiar flavor of plum containing sodium chloride and organic acid of 2-5% acidity, and its pH is 1.5-2.5.
Normal acidity is indicated by the number of equivalents obtained by titration with an alkaline normal solution to neutrality, but in the case of ume vinegar, the acid component contained is mostly citric acid. % By weight. Figure 1 shows the method of concentration and desalination.
The outline is shown below, but some adjustment is desirable as appropriate depending on the quality of the raw material and the deviation of the concentration. Plum vinegar is concentrated 2-8 times in acidity without deterioration. About 4-fold concentration is desirable,
Most of the precipitated ume salt is separated as shown in Examples described later, and the subsequent electrodialysis and desalting of residual salt is also effective. That is, since most of the salt is removed by concentration, the ratio of the salt content to the acidity is remarkably reduced, so that the salt can be easily and completely desalted in a short time.

The specific contents will be described below. In order to concentrate and desalinate ume vinegar without deteriorating the flavor and components inherent in ume, and at a low cost, as a result of intensive research, the present invention has succeeded in removing most of the salt that precipitates by concentration under reduced pressure at low temperature. Separation and recovery are performed, and the concentrated liquid section is further desalted by further electrodialysis, so that concentrated desalted ume vinegar can be effectively obtained.

[0008] Since ume vinegar originally contains high-concentration salt, crystallization occurs immediately when concentration is started by a usual method to form a slurry, and denaturation is caused by bumping and overheating due to strong adhesion to the can wall. There are problems such as coloring and off-flavor.
As a result of exploring and examining a concentrating apparatus and a concentrating method capable of overcoming these problems, a process as shown in FIG. 1 enables almost complete reuse, and has a novel characteristic that is excellent in both economic efficiency and efficiency. This is the result of a method for treating plum vinegar.

First, ume vinegar as a raw material is charged into a reduced-pressure heating type concentrator (global concentrator) 1 having a rotating coil heating device, and subjected to reduced-pressure low-temperature concentration. The concentration temperature at this time is 3
0 to 90 ° C., preferably 40 to 60 ° C., the concentration pressure is 40 to 600 mmHg, preferably 70 to 300 mmHg.
mmHg. The vacuum heating type concentrator 1 used in the present invention has a structure in which a coil-shaped steam heating unit simultaneously performs stirring and heating while rotating horizontally in a concentrating can.
By this stirring, sedimentation of the precipitated salt slurry is prevented, and since the heated surface is constantly wetted by the liquid, there is no sticking and overheating, the concentration is advanced by a good stirring effect, and furthermore, foaming and bumping are suppressed, Even if it has some viscosity, it has preferable suitability such that highly efficient concentration can be carried out under reduced pressure and low temperature. In addition, plum vinegar usually has a pH of 1.
In the present invention, the pH is increased to 2.5 to 3.0 by using a very small amount of alkali or weak acid salt. Corrosion of equipment due to strong acidity of ume vinegar is prevented by this pretreatment. ing.

Then, water is evaporated by the reduced-pressure heating type concentrator 1 and concentrated, and then the solid-liquid separating device 2 is used for about 10 minutes.
% Of the mother liquor (referred to as plum salt) is filtered by suction or centrifuged to obtain a concentrated plum vinegar solution. The solid-liquid separator 2 comprises a well-known centrifugal separator or a vacuum filter (suction filter). For example, typical raw plum vinegar is about 20%
Contains about 4% acidity and salt, and when concentrated, 1kg
From concentrated liquid 330 g, plum salt 120 g and distilled water 55
0 g are obtained. The acid content of the concentrated mother liquor contained in this plum salt can be greatly reduced by washing with the raw material plum vinegar. The washing solution is collected and sent for concentration. The concentrated liquid from which most of the salt has been removed is further desalted by the electrodialysis device 3 to give a concentrated desalted ume vinegar from which the salt has been almost completely removed.

[0011] The concentrated desalted ume vinegar and ume salt obtained by this treatment method are highly useful products in the food field. Further, distilled water produced as a by-product is also valuable for uses such as washing and dilution, and can be almost completely reused. In this way, a novel method for treating plum vinegar that is excellent in terms of economy and efficiency can be obtained.

Further, the seasoning liquid containing sugars and seasoning components is concentrated at a low temperature in the present production method, so that a high-quality concentrated desalinated seasoning liquid free from off-odor and coloring due to heat denaturation can be obtained. By reusing the concentrated desalinated seasoning liquid thus collected for processing of umeboshi, a very high economic effect is produced.

[0013]

EXAMPLES Specific examples and reference examples will be shown below. Example 1 A concentrated desalted ume vinegar was obtained according to the production apparatus and production method shown in FIG. Using a global concentrator having a water distillation capacity of 300 kg / hr, 1000 kg of ume vinegar having the composition shown in column a of Table 1 was concentrated at 50 ° C. under a reduced pressure of 200 mmHg to distill 616 kg of distilled water. The concentrated slurry containing the crystallized salt was centrifuged to obtain 246.5 Kg of a concentrate and 136.1 Kg of ume salt. Table 1 shows the composition of the concentrate.
In column b of Table 1, the composition of ume vinegar is shown in column c of Table 1. The concentrate is 6
0 kg of distilled water was added, and the solution was desalted with an electrodialysis device (MicroAcilyzer G5, Asahi Kasei) to obtain 201.7 kg.
To obtain concentrated desalted plum vinegar. The composition of the produced concentrated desalted ume vinegar is shown in column d of Table 1. Table 2 shows the composition of acid content of concentrated desalted plum vinegar.
Table 3 shows the composition of the salt content of plum salt and concentrated plum vinegar. The potassium and iron contents in the concentrated plum vinegar are noteworthy.

[0014]

[Table 1]

[0015]

[Table 2]

[0016]

[Table 3]

Example 2 A concentrated desalinated seasoning was obtained according to the production method shown in FIG. Using a global concentration tester having a water distillation capacity of 30 kg / hr, 50 kg of the seasoning liquid having the composition shown in column a of Table 4 was concentrated at 40 ° C. under a reduced pressure of 80 mmHg to distill 26 kg of distilled water. The concentrated slurry containing the crystallized salt was centrifuged to obtain a concentrated seasoning solution (20.6 kg) and a plum salt (2.2 kg). The composition is shown in column b of Table 4. The concentrated seasoning solution was added with 1 kg of distilled water to 3 kg, adjusted to a pH of 3.8 using a sodium hydroxide solution, and then desalted using an electrodialyzer (MicroAcilyzer G3, Asahi Kasei). 6 Kg of a concentrated desalinated seasoning was obtained. The composition is shown in column c of Table 4. The pH has dropped to about 3, and excess acid has been removed as sodium salt at the same time as the salt.
In this way, the acidity can be adjusted if necessary.

[0018]

[Table 4]

Reference Example 1 Beverage: 2 parts of concentrated desalted plum vinegar obtained in Example 1, fructose rate 8
Mix and dissolve 12 parts of 0% isomerized saccharide 80% solution, 85 parts of distilled water or sterilized tap water obtained in Example 1 and 1 part of flavor, fill in a can with nitrogen replacement, and sterilize at 90 ° C. for 5 minutes. Then you can get a delicious plum drink. When filling in a can, carbon dioxide gas may be filled.

Reference Example 2 Edible vinegar: 20-25 parts of the concentrated desalted ume vinegar obtained in Example 1 was diluted with the distilled water or sterilized tap water obtained in Example 1 to 100 parts. Plum vinegar can be produced by adjusting the flavor by adding a seasoning or a flavor according to the purpose of use.

[0021]

The concentrated desalted ume vinegar obtained by the method of the present invention contains concentrated valuable components derived from ume (sugars, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, especially iron, polyphenols, etc.) in addition to organic acids. It can be widely used as vinegar, acidulants, beverages and other food ingredients, and is a new resource. Even at the stage of the ume vinegar concentrate, the ratio of the salt content to the acid content is greatly reduced, so that it can be used as a seasoning or an acidulant. In addition, the recovered plum salt contains about 10% concentrated ume vinegar mother liquor, and contains a unique flavor and mineral components (potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, phosphoric acid, etc.) derived from plum, so high purity salt It has a mellow salty taste different from that used in foods, and has wide applications as salt for processed foods, salt for pickles, and health foods. And it is of course possible to effectively reuse it for plum production.

Further, in the case of the plum seasoning liquid, it cannot be reused due to the extra acid component which has been brought in from the dried white plum during the pickling and reached about 4% and the salt accumulated up to about 5 to 13%. However, in the usual concentration method, the organic substances such as carbohydrates and amino acids contained therein caused remarkable alteration such as brown odor and abnormal smell. The recovered concentrated desalinated seasoning obtained by the method of the present invention is prepared by concentration under reduced pressure and low temperature for a short time, removal of precipitated salts, and subsequent effective desalting by electrodialysis. It is a high-concentration product that does not wake up. Therefore, it can be conveniently reused by adjusting the concentration or adding a necessary composition, and the trouble of environmental preservation measures for disposal can be avoided. Further, by setting the pH of the concentrated desalted ume vinegar to 2.5 to 3.0, it is possible to suppress a change in the flavor of the concentrated ume vinegar, and at the same time, prevent corrosion of the apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for producing concentrated and desalted plum vinegar of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 Concentrator 2 Solid-liquid separator (centrifuge) 3 Electrodialyzer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. The plum vinegar is concentrated at 30 to 90 ° C. under reduced pressure,
A method for producing concentrated desalted plum vinegar by separating and recovering the precipitate as ume salt and subjecting the concentrated ume vinegar filtrate to further electrodialysis desalting. 2. The concentrated desalted plum vinegar produced by the above production method. 3. The method for producing concentrated desalted ume vinegar according to claim 1, wherein the ume vinegar is concentrated at a pH of 2.5 to 3.0.