JP2003038093A - Packed frozen vegetables and fruits - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To freeze fruits and vegetables and retain the quality of the frozen products for a long period of time. SOLUTION: The frozen fruits and vegetables and an oxygen scavenger are placed into a vessel of <=6,000 ml/m<2> .24 hours oxygen permeability at 25 deg.C and they are sealed tightly to keep the oxygen concentration <=1% and they are stored at a temperature lower than their freezing points.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a package for maintaining the quality of fruits and vegetables, especially frozen fruits and vegetables.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of maintaining the freshness of fruits and vegetables,
The following preservation methods are known. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-12098 discloses a method of circulating a gas in which oxygen is reduced or removed in a refrigeration system containing food (temperature of 4 to 10 ° C.). No. 1-5448. Further, a method for packaging fruits and vegetables using a film having an oxygen permeability of 100 to 30,000 ml / m ² · 24 hr and a deoxidizer having a carbon dioxide gas generating ability is disclosed in JP-A-2-154637, and also fruits and vegetables. Is packaged with a plastic film to adjust the oxygen concentration to 2 to 10%.
No. 71 publication.

[0003]

These methods are intended to suppress respiration, physiological activity and microbial activity by keeping them in a low temperature state and suppress respiration and physiological activity by adjusting the gas concentration in the system. It is a method of carrying out or suppressing transpiration and wilting by packaging, adjusting the gas composition in the package, but both are methods of storing without freezing, and depending on the type of fruits and vegetables, any of the above methods Even if it was adopted, there were cases where the freshness could not be maintained for a sufficiently long period of time.

On the other hand, it is also known to freeze fruits and vegetables to maintain their freshness. However, even if the fruits and vegetables were frozen, the quality deterioration could not be sufficiently suppressed for a long period of time.

Therefore, the present invention freezes fruits and vegetables,
Moreover, it is intended to maintain the quality for a long period of time.

[0006]

According to the present invention, frozen fruits and vegetables and an oxygen scavenger have an oxygen permeability of 6000 at 25 ° C.
Since the above problem was solved by putting it in a container of ml / m ² · 24 h or less and sealing it, keeping the oxygen concentration in this container at 1% or less, and storing it at a temperature lower than the freezing point of the fruits and vegetables, is there.

Further, the frozen fruits and vegetables are put in a container having an oxygen permeability of 250 ml / m ² · 24 h or less at 25 ° C. and sealed, and the oxygen concentration in the container is kept at 1% or less. By storing at low temperature,
The above problems have been solved.

Frozen fruits and vegetables are sealed in a container having a predetermined oxygen permeability, if necessary, together with an oxygen scavenger to maintain a predetermined oxygen concentration and a frozen state, so that the quality of the fruits and vegetables can be prolonged. It can be held for a period of time.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below. The frozen fruit and vegetables package according to the present invention contains frozen fruits and vegetables and, if necessary, an oxygen absorber in a container having a predetermined oxygen permeability and hermetically sealed, and the oxygen concentration in the container is kept at 1% or less. However, it was stored at a temperature lower than the freezing point of the above-mentioned fruits and vegetables.

The above-mentioned fruits and vegetables are agricultural products which are the objects whose quality is to be maintained by the present invention. Such fruits and vegetables include grapes, plums, strawberries, blueberries,
Peach, plum, orange, pear, apple, pineapple, mandarin orange, melon, avocado, cherry, fig, loquat, chestnut and other fruits, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, nameko, fresh shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushroom,
Mushroom, corn, green peas, carrot, cauliflower, cabbage, bamboo shoot, burdock, parsley, broad bean, lotus root, Chinese cabbage, leek, leek, celery, turnip, cabbage, radish, onion, garlic, wasabi, matsutake, pepper, edamame, pumpkin, Peas, watermelons, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, kidney beans, cucumbers, taro, lettuce, shimeji, bean sprouts, chrysanthemums, root vegetables, sprouts, mushrooms, legumes, grains and the like can be mentioned.

The deoxidizing agent is for adsorbing and removing oxygen in the container, and is not particularly limited as long as it has deoxidizing ability. Examples thereof include those containing a ferrous compound as a main component (registered trademark, AGELESS: manufactured by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co., Inc.) and those containing ascorbic acid as a main component.

The above-mentioned container is a container having a predetermined oxygen permeability. When the above oxygen absorber is used, the oxygen permeability of the container at 25 ° C. is 6000 ml / m ² · 2.
4 hours or less is preferable, and 2000 ml / m ² · 24 hours or less is preferable. If it exceeds 6000 ml / m ² · 24 h, the inflow of oxygen from the outside of the container will increase, and even if the above oxygen scavenger is used, it may not be possible to maintain the oxygen concentration in the container below 1%. Is.

The oxygen permeability at 25 ° C. of the above-mentioned container when the above oxygen absorber is not used is 250 ml / m 2.
² / 24h or less is preferable, and 100 ml / m ² / 24h or less is preferable. If it exceeds 250 ml / m ² · 24 h, the inflow of oxygen from the outside of the container increases, and it may not be possible to keep the oxygen concentration in the container below 1% unless the above oxygen absorber is used. Is.

Oxygen permeability at 25 ° C. is 250 ml /
Materials that compose a container of m ² · 24 h or less include aluminum foil-laminated plastic films, aluminum-deposited plastic films, silica-deposited plastic films, nylon, vinylidene chloride, polyester, vinyl chloride, polyvinyl alcohol, and ethylene-vinyl alcohol. Examples thereof include a film made of a polymer and the like, a laminated film thereof, and the like. In addition, the oxygen permeability at 25 ° C exceeds 250 ml / m ² · 24h, and 6000 ml / m ²
Examples of the material forming the container of m ² · 24 h or less include thermoplastic resins such as polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene. The oxygen permeability is JIS K
It can be measured by the method described in 7126.

The fruits and vegetables are frozen and, if necessary, sealed in the container together with the oxygen scavenger. If the above oxygen scavenger is not added, it is preferable to replace the inside of the container with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas or carbon dioxide gas before sealing the container to reduce the oxygen concentration in the container as much as possible. . Then, the fruits and vegetables are stored at a temperature lower than the freezing point. Storage below the freezing point is to maintain the frozen state of fruits and vegetables. The oxygen concentration in the container in this storage is preferably 1% or less, and preferably 0.5% or less. This is because if the oxygen concentration in the container exceeds 1%, the nutrients and pigments in the fruits and vegetables are oxidized by oxygen, which affects the quality of the fruits and vegetables.

In the container, in addition to the fruits and vegetables and the oxygen scavenger that is added as necessary, a water absorbent and an ethylene gas removing agent can be added individually or simultaneously. The water absorbent is preferably used when dew condensation is significant before the fruits and vegetables are frozen, and the ethylene gas removing agent is used when fruits and vegetables with a large amount of ethylene gas are stored. Is preferred.

[0017]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described more specifically with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples below. The abbreviations used below and their meanings are shown below. KOP: Vinylidene chloride coated stretched polypropylene LLDPE: Linear low density polyethylene PET: Polyethylene terephthalate LDPE: Low density polyethylene

(Example 1) Broccoli was frozen at -80 ° C, and the frozen broccoli and oxygen scavenger (registered trademark AGELESS manufactured by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co., Inc., referred to as "AGELESS" in Tables 1 and 2). ) To KOP / LLDP
E film (oxygen permeability at 25 ° C: 2 ml / m ² ·
It was put in a bag prepared for 24 hr) and stored at -20 ° C.
The oxygen concentration in the bag was measured by gas chromatography every time a predetermined time elapsed. After 30 days, the residual rate of vitamin C in broccoli was measured. The results are shown in Table 1.
Shown in.

(Examples 2 to 9 and Comparative Examples 1 to 9) The oxygen absorbers shown in Table 1 were used, or the inside of the bag was replaced with nitrogen or carbon dioxide, and films made of the materials shown in Table 1 were used. The oxygen concentration in the bag and the residual rate of vitamin C in broccoli were measured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the above bag was used. The results are shown in Table 1.

[0020]

[Table 1]

(Example 10) Grapes were frozen at -80 ° C, and the frozen grapes and an oxygen scavenger (registered trademark Ageless manufactured by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co., Inc.) were used as KNY (K-coated nylon: manufactured by Murakami Kogyo Co., Ltd.). , Oxygen permeability at 25 ℃ 6ml / m ² · 24hr) put in a bag made, -20
Stored at ° C. The oxygen concentration in the bag was measured by gas chromatography every time a predetermined time elapsed. Also, one month and two
The residual rate of vitamin C in the grapes after months was measured. The results are shown in Table 2.

Comparative Example 10 The oxygen concentration in the bag and the residual rate of vitamin C in grapes were measured in the same manner as in Example 10 except that the oxygen absorber was not used. The results are shown in Table 2.

(Comparative Example 11) Frozen grapes were stored in a bag at -20 ° C without being put in a bag, and the oxygen concentration and the residual ratio of vitamin C in the grapes were measured. The results are shown in Table 2.

[0024]

[Table 2]

[0025]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The frozen fruit and vegetables package according to the present invention contains frozen fruit and vegetables together with an oxygen scavenger, if necessary.
It is sealed in a container having a predetermined oxygen permeability and kept at a predetermined oxygen concentration, and because it is kept in a frozen state, it is possible to suppress contact between fruits and vegetables and oxygen in the atmosphere, and nutrients and pigments in fruits and vegetables. Can be suppressed. Therefore, the quality of fruits and vegetables can be maintained for a long period of time.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Frozen fruits and vegetables and an oxygen scavenger are placed in a container having an oxygen permeability of 6000 ml / m ² · 24 h or less at 25 ° C. and sealed, and the oxygen concentration in the container is kept at 1% or less. Package of frozen fruits and vegetables stored at a temperature lower than the freezing point of. 2. Oxygen permeation of frozen fruits and vegetables at 25 ° C.
Excessive 250 ml / m ²・ Put in a container of 24h or less and seal
Keep the oxygen concentration in this container below 1%, and
Packaging of frozen fruits and vegetables stored below the freezing point of the fruits.
body.