JP2001136944A - Method for drying food, dried food, drying equipment for food, method for extracting food essence, food extracted essence and apparatus for extracting food essence - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To produce a good dried food leaving softness on the surface side and further a color and an aroma in a state close to those of a raw state and to effectively utilize even a good food extracted essence extracted from the dried food. SOLUTION: A food which is an object of drying in a drying chamber 2 is dried with heat pipes 13, 14 and 15 and a dehumidifier to readily cause a self induction exothermic phenomenon or a defensive immune reaction of the food which is the object of drying with near infrared rays. Thereby, the food which is the object of drying is gradually dried from the interior and the softness can be left toward the outside by regulating the drying time. Further, coloring matters, aromatic components, nutrients (minerals, antioxidant substances, etc.), etc., are left in the interior so as to scarcely escape therefrom without decomposing the coloring matters, aromatic components or nutrients, etc. The above dehumidifier has not only drying auxiliary functions but also functions to recover waterdrops containing the food essence.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for drying food,
The present invention relates to a dried food and a food drying apparatus, a method for extracting a food extract, a food extract and a food extract extraction apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art
When various foods are dried on the sun, a drying device is often used because the drying time is long. For example, when using a hot-air drying device, since hot air from the heater directly hits only the surface of the food to be dried, only the surface side of the food to be dried becomes hard due to the heating phenomenon. Even during drying, even pigments, fragrance components and nutrients can easily escape to the outside, and the softness, color and fragrance on the surface side are lost, so that only dry food of poor quality can be produced.

[0003] An object of the present invention is to provide a good dry food which leaves color and aroma together with the softness of the surface side, and a method and an apparatus for producing the dry food. Also,
Another object of the present invention is to provide an extract extracted from the dried food and a method and apparatus for effectively recovering the extracted food.

[0004]

The present invention will be described with reference to the reference numerals in the drawings (FIGS. 1 to 5) of the following embodiments. Claim 1
In the method for drying food according to the invention, the drying room (2)
Heat pipes (13,14,15) for foods stored inside
To dry.

[0005] In the food drying method according to the second aspect of the present invention, the food stored in the drying chamber (2) is dried by the heat pipes (13, 14, 15) and the dehumidifier (11).

The dried food according to the third aspect of the invention is dried by heat pipes (13, 14, 15) in a drying chamber (2). The dried food according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is a heat pipe (13, 14, 1) in the drying chamber (2).
5) and dried with a dehumidifier (11).

In the food drying apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the heat pipes (13, 14,
15) and a dehumidifier (11) were installed. In the method for extracting a food extract according to the invention of claim 6, the food contained in the drying chamber (2) is heat-pipe (13, 1).
The extract from the food produced when dried according to 4, 15) is recovered through a dehumidifier (11).

[0008] The food extract according to the invention of claim 7 is provided with a heat pipe (13, 14, 1) in a drying chamber (2).
5) and collected by drying with a dehumidifier (11). In the food extract extracting apparatus according to the invention of claim 8, the heat pipe (13, 1) is provided in the drying chamber (2).
4, 15) and a dehumidifier (11) were installed.

[0009]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. <Outline of Apparatus 1 Combining Food Drying and Food Extract Extraction> The drying chamber 2 of the apparatus 1 has a front wall 4, a rear wall 5, a left wall 6, a right wall 7, and a top wall 8 (a ceiling) having a door 3. Wall 3) and the lower wall 9 (floor wall), and the door 3 can be closed and sealed. Inside the drying chamber 2, a drying heat source 10 (detailed by * below) and a dehumidifier 11
(Detailed by * below) and a drying rack 12 (food storage rack) are provided respectively.

The drying heat source 10 includes a plurality of heat pipes 13 arranged vertically in the lower half inside the right wall 7 and the rear wall 5.
And a plurality of heat pipes 15 arranged vertically in the lower half of the inside of the left wall 6. Each of the heat pipes 13, 14, 15 is connected in series to form a single flow path. The steam inlet 16 (heat medium inlet) disposed outside the right wall 7 connects a valve 17 and a solenoid valve 18 to the first one of the heat pipes 13 inside the right wall 7. Connected through. The steam outlet 19 (heat medium outlet) disposed outside the right wall 7 is
The last one of the heat pipes 13 inside the right wall 7 is connected via a steam trap 20.

The heat pipes 13, 14, and 15 themselves are conventionally known, and as shown in FIG. 3, a mother pipe 21 in which a working fluid is sealed in a vacuum and a core pipe passing through the mother pipe 21. 22 form a double structure. When steam as a heat medium moves from the steam inlet 16 to the steam outlet 19 in the core pipe 22, heat transfer is performed by transfer of latent heat of evaporation, and heat energy is converted with a slight temperature difference, and the mother pipe 21 is transferred. The heat is dissipated from

* Dehumidifier 11 The dehumidifier 11 itself is a conventionally known one. In addition to the dehumidifier main body 23 installed inside the upper wall 8 (ceiling wall), the dehumidifier main body 23 has An outdoor unit 24 and a dehumidification drain 25 are connected. When the dehumidifier body 23 sucks the air in the drying chamber 2, the air contacts the surface of the evaporator (cooler) (not shown), and the moisture in the air is dehumidified as water droplets, not shown. The dehumidified air is heated to near room temperature by the condenser and returned to the drying chamber 2. These water droplets are collected by the dehumidification drain 25.

<Examples of Foods to be Dried> Examples of foods to be dried include all foods that can be dried now and can be used in the future. For example, vegetables include tomato, pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, eggplant, shiitake mushroom, green onion, Fruits are grapes, apples, pears, figs, oysters, plums, apricots, pineapples, etc. In addition, there are fish and shellfish, and not necessarily food, but also dried flowers (dry flowers) etc. . By the way, the reason why the food was made to be dried is because, for the time being, only various foods were made to be researched, including those that require drying, and the food to be dried was made to be dried. It should be interpreted in a broad sense.

<Food drying method and food extract extraction method>
A large number of the above-mentioned foods to be dried (for example, tomatoes cultivated without organic pesticides and washed with a mixed solution of fresh water and strongly acidic water and electrolyzed water, for example, about 50 grams of 2 to 4 pieces) are prepared. . The drying target foods are placed on the respective shelves of the drying rack 12 in the drying chamber 2 of the apparatus 1 and accommodated therein, and the drying chamber 2 is sealed.

Next, the processing conditions of the drying heat source 10 and the dehumidifier 11 are set in the operation box 26 (see FIG. 1) in accordance with the type of the food to be dried, and then they are operated. During the operation, it is possible to observe what is being dried from the glass window 27 of the door 3 (see FIG. 1). In addition, you may change the position of each shelf of the drying rack 12 during drying, and may change the position of the foodstuffs to be dried.

* Consideration on Food Drying In the drying heat source 10, each heat pipe 13, 14,
The heat radiation (heat ray) from 15 is generally a wide-range infrared ray including a lot of near-infrared rays. In particular, when large energy cannot be stored in the substance of the mother tube 21 itself due to the material of the mother tube 21 or the like, near infrared rays due to early emission are likely to be included. The near-infrared ray is a radiation having a short wavelength and a high energy level, and thus easily causes a self-induced heat phenomenon and a defensive immune reaction of the food to be dried. Here, the self-induced heat phenomenon (induced heat generation phenomenon) means that when high frequency such as ultrasonic vibration is applied to a food to be dried, molecules and atoms constituting the food to be dried vibrate, causing friction or collision between the foods. The defensive immune response is a phenomenon such as shrinkage or expansion of the surface boundary that occurs in the early stage of heating the food to be dried, where molecules and atoms move or vibrate. This is a state in which vibration is transmitted by resonance or resonance with each other. In general, vibration (high frequency) generated in the mother pipe 21 induces vibration outside the mother pipe 21, and the vibration is transmitted to the periphery of the heat radiation (heat wire), although it depends on the material and the internal structure of the mother pipe 21. Is exerted, and is resonated by vibration in the food to be dried itself, causing a self-induced heat phenomenon (induced heat generation phenomenon). The self-induced heat phenomenon is further exerted by the synergistic effect of vibration and near infrared rays.

Environmental particles having high kinetic energy other than convection elements (molecules in the air, water vapor, etc.) scatter and collide with each other to achieve a thermal layer distribution other than convection, and this scattering is carried out in all directions. In addition, the temperature distribution tends to be uniform over a wide area in the drying chamber 2. These scattered particles do not have directional convergence or fluid regularity, and do not need the momentum required for fluid regularity such as warm air. Time loss is small, saving energy input.

When such a drying treatment is performed, the food to be dried is a dried food finished to a desired moisture content from half dry to perfect dry. * Consideration on extraction of food extract When the food to be dried is dried as described above, the food extract is released to some extent from the food to be dried and is contained in the moisture in the drying chamber 2. As described above, this moisture is collected by the dehumidifier 11 as water drops in the dehumidification drain 25.
The recovered water droplets contain a food extract.

<Features of the present embodiment>
(Other than the other technical ideas described below). * As mentioned above, the food to be dried is
When dried by 3, 14, and 15, the near-infrared rays tend to cause self-induced thermal phenomena and defensive immune response of the food to be dried. Therefore, the food to be dried is gradually dried from the inside, leaving the softness of the food outside by adjusting the drying time, and decomposing pigments, aroma components, and nutrients (such as minerals and antioxidants) during drying. It is hard to escape inside by keeping it inside. Therefore, it is possible to produce a good dry food which has a color and a fragrance in a state close to raw with the softness on the surface side.

* The dehumidifier 11 can enhance the dehumidifying function in the drying chamber 2 and shorten the drying time. Therefore,
Good dry foods can be produced quickly. * As described above, the dehumidifier 11 has not only a drying assisting function but also a function of collecting water droplets containing a food extract. Therefore, not only good dry foods but also good food extract extracts extracted from the dry foods can be effectively used.

* As described above, the heat pipe 13,
Since the temperature distribution is likely to be uniform over a wide area in the drying chamber 2 by using the components 14 and 15, it is possible to uniformly produce good dried food.

[0022]

According to the method for drying a food according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to produce a good dry food which has a softness on the surface side and a color and a fragrance.

According to the dried food according to the third or fourth aspect of the present invention, the dried food has good softness on the surface side and good color and fragrance. According to the food drying apparatus (1) according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to produce a good dried food which has a softness on the surface side and a color and a fragrance.

According to the method for extracting a food extract according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the extract extracted from the dried food can be effectively recovered. According to the food extract according to the invention of claim 7, the extract is excellent from the dried food.

According to the food extract extracting apparatus (1) according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the extract extracted from the dried food can be effectively recovered.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a front view showing a food drying device also serving as a food extract extraction device according to the present embodiment, and FIG.
Is a plan view, and (c) is a side view.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a food drying device also serving as a food extract extraction device according to the present embodiment, as viewed from a plane side;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a function of a heat pipe.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the food drying apparatus as viewed from the front side.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the food drying apparatus as viewed from a side.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... drying room, 11 ... dehumidifier, 13, 14, 15 ... heat pipe.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4B022 LA05 LB06 LF04 LF16 LR01 LT05 4B061 AA01 CA25 CA40 4B069 BA09 HA01 HA17

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A method for drying food, comprising drying a food contained in a drying chamber with a heat pipe. 2. A method for drying food, comprising drying a food contained in a drying chamber with a heat pipe and a dehumidifier. 3. A dried food product which has been dried by a heat pipe in a drying chamber. 4. A dried food product which has been dried in a drying chamber with a heat pipe and a dehumidifier. 5. A food drying apparatus, wherein a heat pipe and a dehumidifier are installed in a drying chamber. 6. A method for extracting a food extract, comprising extracting an extract from the food produced when the food contained in the drying chamber is dried by a heat pipe through a dehumidifier. 7. A food extract, wherein the extract is dried and recovered by a heat pipe and a dehumidifier in a drying chamber. 8. A food extract extraction apparatus, wherein a heat pipe and a dehumidifier are installed in a drying chamber.