JP2003226701A - Method for dissolving chitosan - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for dissolving chitosan obtained by deacetylation of chitin of a polysaccharide, into a highly concentrated solution resulting in a high concentration chitosan solution in a brown rice vinegar, which is used not only for a seasoning and a food additive making good use of its functions such as coagulation, moisture retention and antimicrobe but also widely utilized for various industrial fields requiring such functions. <P>SOLUTION: This method for dissolving chitosan comprises dissolving chitosan in a brown rice vinegar brewed by using monascus purpureus containing amounts (glucosamine content) of fungi body 4 mg/g dry wt. or more. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a method for dissolving chitosan obtained by deacetylating chitin, which is a polysaccharide. 2. Description of the Related Art Chitosan obtained by deacetylating chitin obtained from crustaceans such as crabs and shrimps is a kind of polysaccharide and, in addition to coagulants, shampoos and cosmetics, and foods and agricultural chemicals. It has been widely used as an additive. However, such chitosan does not dissolve in common solvents such as water and alcohol, and dissolves in weakly acidic acids such as acetic acid, citric acid, and lactic acid, but has a solubility of at most about 5% by weight. Not so big. In this respect, the present applicant has compared the general rice koji (yellow koji) for brewing disclosed in JP-A-6-319517 with Monascus (Moji).
onascus) is 5 or more
Invented a method of dissolving chitosan in brown rice vinegar brewed to have a composition ratio of 50% by weight. However, there is still a problem that chitosan has a limited dissolving power and that the chitosan solution has a strong odor of acetic acid. Was. [0003] The present invention has been made in view of the above points.
An object of the present invention is to provide a dissolving method in which various functions of chitosan are dissolved at a high concentration in order to further facilitate the use in various fields, and the acetic acid odor of the dissolving solution is suppressed. [0004] However, the present invention uses brown rice vinegar brewed by adding red yeast rice having a cell mass (glucosamine content) of 4 mg / g dry wt or more for dissolving chitosan. And a method for dissolving chitosan. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the above, red yeast rice used in the present invention is a yeast obtained by propagating a filamentous fungus belonging to the genus Monascus on polished rice. The method of SAKURAI et al. (Agric. Biol. Chem.) ., 41, 619
(Glucosamine content) measured in (1977))
Is 4 mg / g dry wt or more. In addition, brown rice vinegar is made by adding brown rice to rice koji, brewing it by the usual method to make mash (sake), and reacting it with acetic acid bacteria to make vinegar. The protein contained in the bran in brown rice is As a vinegar that is decomposed and exists abundantly as amino acids,
It can also be used as a health-oriented drinking vinegar. [0006] The brown rice vinegar in the present invention is prepared by adding only red koji as rice koji to produce vinegar in the production of brown rice vinegar by the above-described method, or red koji and Aspergillus (A)
brewing rice brewed by adding rice koji (yellow koji) for brewing using a filamentous fungus belonging to S. spargillus as a seed fungus. Furthermore, yellow koji and red koji are added to brown rice alone and brewed separately. A mixture prepared by mixing brown rice vinegar can be used, but it is preferable to use a method in which both red koji and yellow koji are added from the viewpoint of ease of production. In addition, yellow koji has the advantage of shortening the brewing period of brown rice vinegar as the ratio increases, but in order to obtain brown rice vinegar having strong chitosan dissolving power, the ratio of red yeast rice is more desirable. [0007] In the present invention, the cell mass (glucosamine content) of red yeast rice is set to 4 mg / g dry wt or more,
If the amount is less than this, brown rice vinegar having strong chitosan dissolving power cannot be obtained. In addition, 4 mg / g dry wt means that the amount of bacterial cells per 1 g of dried red yeast rice is 4 mg, and such dried red yeast rice is dried, for example, with hot air at 60 ° C. for 3 hours or more. The water content was 5 to 10%. The high-concentration solution of chitosan thus obtained is used as a vinegar as a seasoning, and also as various food additives and chitosan-added raw materials. Is the lowest standard acidity of 3.6 specified as vinegar by the Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS).
% Is preferably used for the purpose of securing at least 100%. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by way of examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Example 1 (Adjustment of brown rice vinegar) Monascu for steamed rice
After inoculating S. pirosus (IFO4520),
After culturing at 30 ° C. for 8 days, red rice koji having a cell mass (glucosamine content) of 7.8 mg / g dry wt was obtained. On the other hand, another steamed rice sprouts for vinegar (Aspergi made by Ryokuroku Co., Ltd.)
lulus oryzae), and cultured for 43 hours to obtain rice koji (yellow koji) for brewing. The obtained red koji and yellow koji are mixed in a ratio of 2: 1 and added to brown rice,
Vinegar mash was prepared by the usual brewing method. Then, seed vinegar is added thereto, processed into vinegar by a top fermentation method, and after an aging period of 2 months, after adjusting the acidity, without adjusting the acidity, the rice red koji brown rice vinegar constituting the present invention ( Invention 1) was obtained. In addition, steamed rice is Monascus pirosus
After inoculating (IFO4520), the cells were cultured at 30 ° C. for 10 days, and the bacterial mass (glucosamine content) was 11.5 mg / g.
Dry wt rice red koji was obtained, and using it, rice red koji brown rice vinegar (the present invention 2) was obtained in the same manner as described above. On the other hand, control group 1
The amount of bacteria (glucosamine content) in koji is 3.2 mg /
Brown rice vinegar was obtained in the same manner using g dry wt mixed koji (2: 1) of red koji and yellow koji, and using only yellow koji as control group 2. (Solution test of chitosan) 5 g of bread crumb-like chitosan CLH (deacetylation degree: about 85%, molecular weight: about 1,000,000) manufactured by Yaizu Fisheries Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. was suspended in 60 ml of distilled water, and 20 ml of the brown rice vinegar was added. Was added and stirred at room temperature for 2 hours. Thereafter, 1 ml of brown rice vinegar was added every 10 minutes to determine the amount of vinegar required for complete dissolution of chitosan. Further, the irritating odor due to acetic acid was compared for each chitosan solution. Table 1 shows the results. [Table 1] As is apparent from these results, a chitosan solution having a significantly higher dissolving power of chitosan than that of the two control groups and having a weak pungent odor was obtained. As described above, the present invention provides a method for dissolving chitosan obtained by deacetylating chitin, which is an abundant natural resource, at a high concentration. The high-concentration dissolved brown rice vinegar of chitosan obtained by the present invention is widely used not only as a seasoning and a food additive, but also for various industrial uses requiring such a function, utilizing functions such as coagulation, moisturizing, and antibacterial. Things.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. The bacterial mass (glucosamine content) is 4 mg /
A method for dissolving chitosan, comprising dissolving chitosan in brown rice vinegar brewed using red yeast rice of g dry wt or more.