JP2002281915A - Texture improver for food heated in microwave oven - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a texture improver capable of imparting characteristics that a food is soft and elasticity can be maintained with excellent texture such as a crispy feeling or mouth meltability and even excellent flavor without causing wrinkles in the surface, swelling or increasing firmness, when the food kept in a frozen state, a cold storage state, a preserved state at normal temperature or a thawed state after freezing is heated in a microwave oven. SOLUTION: This texture improver is characterized as comprising an alginic acid ester and is used to improve the texture when the food is heated in the microwave oven.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is intended to provide a soft and resilient material which does not wrinkle, swell or grind when heated in a microwave oven. The present invention relates to a texture improving agent for producing a food excellent in texture and flavor, and a food having resistance to microwave heating using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, foods such as breads and donuts are stored at room temperature, but when they need to be stored for a relatively long time, they are often refrigerated or frozen.
In recent years, the dough before baking or frying as bread or donut, or the dough molded from the dough has been increasingly refrigerated or frozen. Furthermore, in recent years, microwave ovens have rapidly spread, and foods can be easily heated, so that the opportunity to heat such breads or donuts at room temperature, refrigerated, or frozen in a microwave oven has increased. Have been.

However, when breads and donuts are heated in a microwave oven, the surface becomes wrinkled, swells, grinds, or becomes sticky, and the mouth dissolves poorly. There was a problem that became hard. Particularly, in a cooking pan such as a hot dock or a hamburger, it takes a long time to heat the ingredients in the microwave oven, which may result in excessive heating. For this reason, there has been a problem that the bread itself shrinks, or the moisture of the ingredients migrates to the bread, and the bread becomes bloated.

[0004] In order to solve such a problem, frozen bread suitable for heating in a microwave oven is prepared by mixing an emulsifier and an oil or fat with bread dough mainly composed of flour (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2222639/1990).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-172944) and a bread suitable for heating in a microwave oven prepared by baking a bread composition containing an oxidoreductase such as peroxidase or glucose oxidase.

[0005]

However, according to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-222639, the texture, such as stickiness and melting in the mouth, is not very good, and a relatively large amount of an emulsifier is added. Not good. Further, in the technique of JP-A-9-172944, the texture can be improved to some extent, but the effect is not always sufficient, and rapid hardening after heating cannot be sufficiently prevented. .

[0006] Therefore, the present invention is to provide a food, which is frozen, refrigerated, stored at room temperature, or thawed after freezing and heated in a microwave oven, wrinkles on the surface,
An object of the present invention is to provide a texture improver which can provide characteristics such as softness, elasticity can be maintained, excellent texture such as crispness and melting in a mouth, and excellent flavor without being softened or strengthened. . It is another object of the present invention to provide a food product produced using the texture improver and having resistance to microwave heating.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventors have conducted intensive studies to achieve the above object, and as a result, have found that alginic acid esters or polysaccharides, sugar alcohols, fibers, starches, proteins, etc. The above-mentioned problems are solved by using a mixture of one or more of dairy products, calcium agents, alkali agents, pH adjusters, emulsifiers, okara, and other food materials in food. The inventors have found that the present invention can be performed, and have completed the present invention.

[0008] That is, the present invention provides a texture improving agent for improving the texture when a food is heated in a microwave oven, characterized by containing an alginate ester. Texture modifiers of the present invention include polysaccharides, sugar alcohols, fibers, starches, proteins, dairy products, calcium agents, alkali agents, pH adjusters, emulsifiers, okara,
It may contain one or more of other food materials, and is suitably used for foods containing flour as a main component.

[0009] The present invention also provides foods having improved texture when heated in a microwave oven, particularly breads and donuts, comprising the above-mentioned texture improver. The food of the present invention preferably contains the texture modifier at 0.01% by weight or more, more preferably 0.01 to 50.0% by weight, and more preferably 0.10 to 10% by weight. More preferably, the content is 0.0% by weight.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the texture improving agent and food of the present invention will be described in detail. Alginate is used as an essential component in the texture modifier of the present invention. The “alginate” as used herein is a compound having a structure in which at least a part of the carboxyl group constituting alginic acid is converted to an ester.
The degree of esterification of the alginic acid ester is not particularly limited. Preferred alginate esters include propylene glycol alginate.

The average molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of the alginate used in the present invention are not particularly limited, but the viscosity of a 1% solution at 20 ° C. (measured with a B-type viscometer) is 1.0 to 1%.
Those having a thickness of 000.0 mPa · s can be preferably used, and those having a viscosity of 10.0 to 600.0 mPa · s can be more preferably used. The raw material and production method of the alginate used in the present invention are not particularly limited. Therefore, the alginic acids used in the present invention may be derived from natural products or may be obtained by synthesis.

Alginic acid esters can be easily obtained by esterifying alginic acid according to a known method. High molecular alginic acid is abundantly contained between cells of brown algae. Therefore, after washing brown algae with, for example, diluted sulfuric acid, extracting with a sodium carbonate solution,
By using the method of precipitating with sulfuric acid, high molecular alginic acid can be obtained. The high molecular alginic acid thus obtained can be easily reduced in molecular weight by using any of known methods. For example, a method of reacting an enzyme with high molecular alginic acid, a method of reacting sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, and the like,
Low molecular weight alginic acid can be prepared by a method of thermal decomposition, a method of pressure decomposition, and the like. Alginic acid esters can be obtained by subjecting alginic acid obtained by these methods to an esterification reaction according to a conventional method.

The ratio and sequence of β-D-mannuronic acid and α-L-guluronic acid constituting the alginic acid ester used in the present invention are not particularly limited. Therefore, β-D-
A block containing only mannuronic acid, a block containing only α-L-guluronic acid, a block having both blocks mixed with each other, or a block containing any one or two of them may be used. May be used.

The texture improver of the present invention may contain one kind of alginic acid ester or may contain plural kinds of alginic acid esters. The alginate ester used in the present invention may have a functional group or a crosslinked structure as long as the desired effect is not excessively inhibited.

The texture improving agent of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it contains an alginate ester, as long as the desired effect is not excessively impaired. For example, one or two of polysaccharides, sugar alcohols, fibers, starches, proteins, dairy products, calcium agents, alkali agents, pH adjusters, emulsifiers, okara, and other food materials It may contain more than one species.

In the present invention, natural gums and processed ones thereof can be widely used as polysaccharides. For example,
Alginic acid, alginate, hyaluronic acid, carrageenan, mannan, pectin, pullulan, locust bean gum, xanthan gum, guar gum, agar, cassia gum, curdlan, tamarind gum, arabic gum, tragacanth gum, phaserelan, gellan gum, psyllium gum, karaya gum, chitin, One or two or more substances derived from seaweeds such as chitosan, seeds, resins, and microorganisms, or substances obtained by processing the same can be used. However, polysaccharides that can be used in the present invention are not limited to these specific examples.

In the present invention, as the sugar alcohols, those in which a reducing group of a sugar having a reducing group is reduced to an alcohol group can be widely used. For example, one or more substances derived from plants, animals, and microorganisms, or substances obtained by processing the same, such as maltitol, sorbitol, reduced palatinose, erythritol, lactitol, and reduced xylo-oligosaccharide can be used. However, sugar alcohols that can be used in the present invention are not limited to these specific examples.

In the present invention, indigestible or indigestible carbohydrates can be widely used as fibers. For example, cellulose, hemicellulose, microcrystalline cellulose,
One or more substances derived from plants, animals, microorganisms, or processed substances thereof, such as methylcellulose and carboxymethylcellulose, can be used. However,
The fibers that can be used in the present invention are not limited to these specific examples.

In the present invention, as starches, natural starch commonly used in foods and processed starch obtained by processing the same can be widely used. Examples of the natural starch include waxy corn starch, potato starch, tapioca starch, sago starch, high amylose corn starch, and mung bean starch. Examples of the modified starch include modified starches of a commercially available type, for example, bleached starch, soluble starch, crosslinked starch, esterified starch, etherified starch, esterified crosslinked starch, and etherified crosslinked starch. These can be used alone or in combination of two or more. However, starches that can be used in the present invention are not limited to these specific examples.

In the present invention, proteins commonly used in foods can be widely used as proteins. For example, one or more of plant, animal, microbial-derived substances or substances obtained by processing the same, such as soy protein, wheat protein, active gluten, egg white, egg yolk, gelatin, collagen, plasma, and blood protein, are used. be able to.
However, proteins that can be used in the present invention are not limited to these specific examples.

In the present invention, as dairy products, milk-related products such as milk and partially purified or processed products thereof can be widely used. For example, fat milk powder, low fat milk powder, whey protein, casein, casein sodium,
One or more substances derived from dairy products such as acid casein, rennet casein, and lactalbumin or substances obtained by processing the same can be used. However, the dairy products that can be used in the present invention are not limited to these specific examples.

In the present invention, as the calcium agent, natural calcium and those prepared by calcining them can be widely used. For example, one or more of natural or synthetic products such as calcined calcium, calcium chloride, calcium lactate, calcium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, and calcium phosphate, or substances obtained by processing them can be used. However, calcium agents that can be used in the present invention are not limited to these specific examples.

In the present invention, phosphoric acids and sodium salts often used in food processing can be widely used as alkaline agents. For example, monosodium phosphate, disodium phosphate, trisodium phosphate, sodium pyrophosphate, sodium polyphosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, potassium pyrophosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium metaphosphate, potassium metaphosphate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, carbonate One or more commonly used alkaline agents such as sodium, potassium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate can be used. However, the alkaline agents that can be used in the present invention are not limited to these specific examples.

In the present invention, acids often used in food processing can be widely used as pH adjusters.
For example, one or more commonly used pH adjuster substances such as hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, citric acid, gluconic acid, succinic acid, tartaric acid, fumaric acid, ascorbic acid and salts thereof can be used. . However, pH adjusters that can be used in the present invention are not limited to these specific examples.

In the present invention, natural or synthetic emulsifiers often used in food processing can be widely used as emulsifiers. For example, one or more commonly used emulsifier materials such as egg white, lecithin, sorbitan fatty acid ester, sucrose fatty acid ester, glycerin fatty acid ester, and calcium stearoyl lactate can be used. However, emulsifiers that can be used in the present invention are not limited to these specific examples.

In addition to the above-mentioned components, the texture modifier of the present invention may be used in foods such as salts, spices, coloring agents, sweeteners, sour agents, okara, and manufacturing agents. One or more of all food-related substances that can be used can be used. The okara is usually preferably added as dry okara.

The texture modifier of the present invention can be used by mixing it with a food material. The type of food to which the texture modifier of the present invention can be applied is not particularly limited, but it can be effectively used for food containing wheat flour as a main component. In the present invention, the flour may be any of flour, medium flour, strong flour, and durum flour obtained from ordinary wheat usually used in the manufacture of bakery products, but among them, those having excellent flavor, texture, etc. From the viewpoint of obtaining, it is preferable to use strong powder. Raw material powders other than wheat flour include, for example, barley flour, rye flour, corn flour, rice flour, soy flour and the like.

The present invention can be particularly preferably applied to breads and donuts. The breads and donuts to which the present invention can be applied may be any bread such as bread, special bread, cooked bread, confectionery bread, steamed bread, fried bread, and yeast donut. As bread, for example, white bread, black bread, French bread, variety bread,
Table rolls, buns, butter rolls and the like can be mentioned. As the special bread, for example, grissini, muffin, rusk and the like can be mentioned. Examples of the cooking pan include a hot dog, a hamburger, a pizza pie, and a sandwich. Examples of the sweet bread include jam bread, anpan, cream bread, raisin bread, melon bread, sweet roll, croissant, Danish pastry and the like. Examples of the steamed bread include meat bun and an bun. As fried bread, for example, curry bread, fried bean bread, fried sausage bread,
American dock and the like. Examples of the yeast donut include various donuts obtained by a so-called yeast method.

The breads and donuts having resistance to microwave heating according to the present invention include, in addition to flour and the texture modifier of the present invention, yeasts, ammonium salts and calcium salts generally used for bread production. , Oxidizing agent, reducing agent,
Yeast foods such as surfactants, liquid sugars, added sugars, sugars such as starch sugars, fats and oils such as salt, butter, shortening, lard, and dairy products such as eggs, milk, condensed milk, fresh cream, etc. are appropriately mixed. Then, it can be produced according to a straight method, a sponge method, a liquid method, or the like.

As a method of adding the texture-improving agent in the process of producing breads and donuts having resistance to microwave heating according to the present invention, the texture-improving agent of the present invention may be prepared by mixing the flour or auxiliary ingredients such as egg, salt, Yeast, used water etc. as powder,
Alternatively, water can be used after mixing, sprinkling, dusting, sliding, immersing, or pouring. The amount of the texture modifier of the present invention is preferably 0.01 to 50.0% by weight, more preferably 0.10 to 10.0% by weight, based on the total weight of the food.

The food using the texture-improving agent of the present invention does not wrinkle or spread on the surface when heated in a microwave oven, has no strong scratching, can maintain elasticity, and has a crisp feeling. It has excellent texture such as melted mouth and mouth, and excellent flavor, and in the case of donut, has excellent characteristics of suppressing oil absorption and not sticky. Such a feature can be imparted to a food in any state such as a frozen state, a refrigerated state, a room-temperature storage state, and a state of being thawed after freezing.

[0032]

The present invention will be described more specifically below with reference to examples. Materials, procedures, proportions, as shown in the following examples
Operations and the like can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following specific examples.

Production Example 1 20% by weight of alginate ester (Dacloid manufactured by Kibun Food Chemifa Co., Ltd.) having a viscosity of 45 to 55 mPa · s measured by a B-type viscometer, 60% by weight of calcium carbonate, and 10% by weight of glucose Then, 10% by weight of the processed starch was mixed with the powder as it was to produce the texture improving agent 1 of the present invention.

Production Example 2 Alginic acid ester having a viscosity of 10 to 20 mPa · s measured by a B-type viscometer (Dacloid manufactured by Kibun Food Chemifa Co., Ltd.) 20% by weight, calcium carbonate 30% by weight,
9.9% vegetable protein, 10% glucose, 20% processed starch, 10% gluten, 0.1% vitamin C
The texture improver 2 of the present invention was produced by mixing the weight% of the powder as it was.

Production Example 3 8% of alginic acid ester (Dacloid manufactured by Kibun Food Chemifa Co., Ltd.) having a viscosity of 10 to 20 mPa · s measured by a B-type viscometer, and calcium stearoyl lactate 8
%, Powdered egg white 42%, and dried okara 42% were mixed as powder to produce texture improver 3.

Production Example 4 8% of alginic acid ester (Dacloid manufactured by Kibun Food Chemifa Co., Ltd.) having a viscosity of 10 to 20 mPa · s measured by a B-type viscometer, and calcium stearoyl lactate 8
%, Powdered egg white 63%, and dried okara 21% were mixed as powder to produce texture improver 4.

Example 1 The ingredients for the medium seeds listed in Table 1 were blended,
The mixture was mixed at a medium speed for 2 minutes, kneaded at 25 ° C., and fermented for 3 hours. The kneaded material thus obtained is added with the materials for kneading shown in Table 1 (excluding shortening), and 3
The mixture was mixed for 2 minutes at a high speed and mixed for 2 minutes at a high speed. The kneading temperature was 27 ° C. After taking the floor time for 30 minutes, it was divided into 50 g portions, and the bench time was taken for 15 minutes. After fermentation (air heating) at 37 ° C. for 55 minutes, 180
The dough was fried at 2 ° C. for 2 minutes on each side for a total of 4 minutes to produce an yeast donut. As the texture improving agents described in Table 1, three kinds of yeast donut were produced, one using the above texture improving agent 1, one using the above texture improving agent 2, and one using none.

[0038]

[Table 1]

Each of the obtained yeast donut was put in a packaging film, sealed, and stored frozen at -15 ° C. overnight. Thereafter, when heated in a microwave oven (500 W) for 30 seconds, the yeast donut to which texture modifier 1 or 2 had been added was able to reproduce the same plump state as at the time of production. Eight panelists evaluated the texture and mouth melting of each yeast donut immediately after heating in a microwave oven. The evaluation was performed by setting the yeast donut to which the texture improving agent was not added to 0 and the yeast donut to which the texture improving agent 1 or 2 was added by +3 to -3. Table 2 shows the average value of the evaluations of the eight persons. In addition, eight panelists selected one of the most preferable yeast donut, and the result is shown in Table 2 as the “preference”.

[0040]

[Table 2]

Example 2 A mixture of the materials for sponge as described in Table 3 was prepared at 26-27 ° C.
And fermented for 2.5 hours. The kneaded seeds thus obtained were added with the materials for main kneading described in Table 3, and 26-
The mixture was kneaded at 27 ° C., and the floor time was 15 to 20 minutes. Curry donut was manufactured with a punch time of 90 seconds (50 seconds without a texture modifier). As the texture improving agents described in Table 3, three types of curry donut were produced, one using the above texture improving agent 1, one using the above texture improving agent 2, and one using none.

[0042]

[Table 3]

Each curry donut obtained was put in a packaging film, sealed, stored under the following conditions, and then heated in a microwave oven (500 W). Texture improver 1 or 2
The curry donut to which was added was able to reproduce the same plump state as at the time of production after heating in a microwave oven. Condition 1: After storage at room temperature for 3 days, heat in microwave oven (1
Min) Condition 2: After freezing at -15 ° C for about 2 weeks, once thawed and heated in a microwave oven (1 minute) Condition 3: After freezing and storing at -15 ° C for about 2 weeks, use a microwave in a frozen state Heating (2 minutes)

With respect to each curry donut immediately after being heated in the microwave oven, the texture, dissolution in the mouth, and palatability were evaluated by four panelists in the same manner as in Example 1. Table 4 shows the results
Shown in

[0045]

[Table 4]

Example 3 The materials for direct kneading described in Table 5 were mixed, mixed at low speed for 3 minutes, at medium speed for 3 minutes, and further mixed with shortening for 2 minutes at low speed and 5 minutes at high speed. . The kneading temperature was 26 ° C. After the primary fermentation was performed at 28 ° C. for 1 hour, degassing was performed, and the time was divided into 80 g portions to set a bench time of 15 minutes. After that, roll forming is performed, fermentation is performed for 45 minutes at a temperature of 38 ° C. and a humidity of 85%.
It was baked for 8 minutes in an oven at 00 ° C. As the texture improving agents described in Table 5, a total of three types were prepared, one using the above texture improving agent 3, one using the above texture improving agent 4, and one using none. Three types of rolls were produced using the modifier.

[0047]

[Table 5]

Each of the obtained roll pans was placed in a packaging film, sealed, stored under the following conditions, and then heated in a microwave oven (1500 W). The roll bread to which the texture improver 3 or 4 had been added could not reproduce the plump state similar to that at the time of production without increasing the sawing or wrinkling the surface after heating in a microwave oven. Condition 1: After storage at room temperature for 1 day, heat in microwave oven (15
(00W, 15 seconds) Condition 2: Refrigerated at 4 ° C for one day and then directly heated in a microwave oven (1500W, 15 seconds) Condition 3: After frozen storage at -15 ° C for one day, heated in a frozen state in a microwave oven (1500W) , 20 seconds)

With respect to each roll bread immediately after being heated in the microwave oven, the same method as in Example 1 was used to evaluate the prevention of wrinkling on the surface, the elasticity, and the preference of eight panelists. Table 6 shows the results.

[Table 6]

[0050]

The food using the texture improving agent of the present invention becomes swelling or grinds when heated in a microwave oven, and has a sticky and poorly melted mouth. It does not become hard, is soft and can maintain elasticity, has excellent texture such as crispy and melted mouth, and has excellent flavor. Especially for cooking pans such as hot dogs and hamburgers, the bread itself did not shrink, wrinkled on the surface, or fluffed even when the ingredients inside were heated sufficiently by microwave heating. We can provide all kinds of cooking bread. For this reason, using the texture modifier of the present invention, foods such as breads and donuts having resistance to microwave heating can be produced.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiromi Sugitani 2-1-1 Irifune, Chuo-ku, Tokyo F-term in Kibun Food Chemifa Co., Ltd. 4B032 DB01 DB24 DK12 DK14 DK21 DK33 DK41 DL01 DP72 4B035 LC03 LG02 LG15 LG19 LG20 LG21 LG33 LG44 LP16

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A texture improving agent for improving the texture when a food is heated in a microwave oven, characterized by containing an alginate ester. 2. One or more of polysaccharides, sugar alcohols, fibers, starches, proteins, dairy products, calcium agents, alkali agents, pH adjusters, emulsifiers, and okara The texture modifier according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The texture-improving agent according to claim 1, which is used for foods containing wheat flour as a main component. 4. A food with improved texture when heated in a microwave oven, comprising the texture improver according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. A bread and a donut.
Foods described in. 6. The food according to claim 4, wherein the food is in a frozen state, a refrigerated state, a state of storage at room temperature, or a state of being thawed after freezing. 7. The food according to claim 4, wherein the food texture improving agent is contained in an amount of 0.01% by weight or more. 8. The food according to claim 7, comprising 0.10 to 10.0% by weight of the texture modifier.