JP2006325470A - Packaged tea beverage - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide packaged tea beverage suppressed in or prevented from occurrence of floc while retaining flavor inherent in tea. <P>SOLUTION: The packaged tea beverage contains quinic acid gallate as (A) component and aluminum as (B) component at a weight ratio [(A)/(B)] of 1.0-80. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a packaged tea beverage that suppresses or prevents the occurrence of cotton-like floating matters and / or precipitates (hereinafter referred to as “floc”) during storage while maintaining the original flavor of tea.

  When the tea leaves are extracted with warm or hot water and then the extract is cooled, white turbidity called cream-down or milk-down occurs immediately. This cream down is particularly likely to occur when black tea is extracted, and its main body is considered to be a complex of caffeine and polyphenols. On the other hand, when the tea beverage is stored for a long time, flocs are gradually observed. The floc gradually increases in size and amount with the passage of time, and eventually grows to particles of about several millimeters and becomes visually observable, giving an appearance having an undesirable turbidity. Although this floc occurrence phenomenon is found in tea beverages in general, it is particularly likely to occur in non-fermented tea and weakly fermented tea. As for the main body of floc, a report that it is a water-soluble polysaccharide component having a molecular weight of 20,000 or more (see Non-Patent Document 1), and strictinin, which is one of the tea components, is decomposed into ellagic acid by heating. Has been reported to be a substance formed by binding to proteins, etc. (see Patent Document 1), but the involvement of other components such as polyphenols, caffeine, organic acids, metal ions, etc. has been estimated, and the occurrence of flocs There are many unexplained parts about causes and components. In addition, this floc occurrence phenomenon is usually treated as an undesired change over time in tea drinks, together with changes that can be visually observed due to sedimentation or turbidity caused by a cause different from the cause of floc occurrence. Many.

  The occurrence of flocs in tea beverages occurs gradually in the product after production, so it did not pose a major problem for container-packed tea beverages that cannot be seen like traditional canned products. However, it has been regarded as a problem by moving to a transparent container that can see the contents like a plastic bottle. The occurrence of flocs is a product that is hermetically sealed in such a transparent container. Especially, the appearance of the product is impaired, and the shape and size of the product is easily mistaken for contamination by microorganisms (filamentous fungi). It is a factor that significantly deteriorates. In recent years, as a physiological activity of catechins, blood cholesterol elevation inhibitory action (see Non-Patent Document 2) and the like have been clarified, and a technique for blending catechins in tea beverages at a high concentration is desired. On the other hand, there is a problem that flocs are particularly likely to occur in tea beverages containing a high concentration of catechins. Therefore, suppressing or preventing the occurrence of flocs is one of the extremely important issues in improving the storage stability of packaged tea beverages, particularly packaged tea beverages where the contents can be seen.

  Examples of methods for suppressing or preventing the occurrence of flocs and secondary turbidity in tea beverages include, for example, a method of decomposing water-soluble polysaccharide components that are considered to be floc-causing substances by enzymatic treatment, and ultrafiltration. Or by physically removing by diatomaceous earth filtration, removing the components that cause floc after adsorbing to the adsorbent material, and performing treatment such as quenching the green tea leachate to generate floc Are known to those skilled in the art as a conventional technique, such as a method for removing the generated precipitate by filtration, a method for adding a component that suppresses the occurrence of flocs, and a method using a raw material with a low content of components that cause flocs. ing. To give specific examples of these conventional techniques, ascorbic acid or a salt thereof is added to a liquid obtained by clarification of a hot water extract of green tea by ordinary centrifugation or filtration, and an enzyme treatment is performed with an enzyme having hemicellulase activity. A method for producing a green tea beverage that is heat-sterilized if necessary (see Patent Document 2), water-soluble tea components obtained by extracting green tea or fresh or dried tea leaves are fractionated by ultrafiltration, and have a molecular weight of about 10,000 or more A method for producing a clear green tea beverage by substantially removing high molecular components (see Patent Document 3), a tea extract containing tannin and amino acid is brought into contact with a polyvinyl polypyrrolidone resin, and tannin in the tea extract is obtained. A method for producing a tea beverage (see Patent Document 4) in which the amino acid / tannin ratio is set to 0.2 to 3.0 by adsorbing and removing the extract. Binic acid is added to adjust to an acidic region, and after quenching, the extract is filtered by centrifugation, and the extract is clarified by filtration through a filter aid. Method for adjusting the pH of a green tea beverage to a neutral range (see Patent Document 5), a method for preventing the occurrence of flocs that occur during storage of tea beverages by adding fucoidan-containing materials to tea beverages or tea extracts (Refer to Patent Document 6), a method of controlling the ratio of water-insoluble solid content and aluminum ions derived from 0.2 to 0.8 μm tea leaves using an extract obtained from a specific green tea leaf (refer to Patent Document 7) ), A specific aluminosilicate is brought into contact with a green tea mixture obtained by mixing a green tea extract and a concentrate of green tea extract, and a specific component is adsorbed to obtain a ratio of non-epi catechins to epi catechins, and There is a method of adjusting the content of aluminum ions and silicon ions (see Patent Document 8). In addition to these methods, it is focused on strictinin, which is one of the substances causing flocs, and is selected by limiting the content of strictinin in tea beverages by selecting tea leaves using strictinin in tea leaves as an indicator. A method (see Patent Document 1) for preventing flocs that occur later has also been proposed.

  However, these methods have at least the following drawbacks. For example, in the method of performing a special manufacturing process such as ultrafiltration treatment, contact (adsorption) treatment with aluminosilicate, filtration treatment after inducing precipitation, a new production facility is required, and the process is It becomes complicated. In addition, when using these methods to remove specific content components in tea infusion, or to change the content components by enzyme treatment or to add fucoidan-containing materials, tea infusion has inherently Since the balance of the ingredients is disturbed, the influence on the drinking feeling and flavor of the tea beverage is inevitable.

  In particular, water-soluble and insoluble polymer components (polysaccharides and proteins) may cause flocs, while having an important function of constituting the body feeling of tea drinks. Therefore, when adopting a method for decomposing or removing these, the purpose of imparting storage stability to the tea beverage can be achieved in order to significantly impair the tea throat unique to the tea beverage and make it a smooth drinking feeling. There was a problem that the resulting tea beverage would be different from full-fledged tea. In addition, the method using an enzyme treatment not only causes a significant hindrance to productivity, but also causes an undesirable change in content components such as loss of aroma components and coloring due to oxidation of catechins, etc. Cause. In the method of contacting a mineral containing aluminosilicate, there is a risk that metal ions other than aluminum cause discoloration of the tea beverage.

In addition, the method of selecting tea leaves using strictinin, an ingredient considered to cause floc, as an index, is an effective means in terms of preventing flocs from occurring, but is not a reliable method. In the long-term storage of beverages, it is impossible to completely prevent the occurrence of floc. In addition, this method has a drawback that tea leaves that can be used are inevitably limited. Harvest-time tea leaves (new tea, Ichibancha, etc.), which are considered to be of good quality, have a high strictinin content (see Non-Patent Document 3). According to this method, tea leaves at this time cannot be used. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve the purpose of providing a flavorful tea beverage, which is the original purpose. As described above, in the conventional technology, the two points of suppressing or preventing the occurrence of flocs and maintaining the original flavor of tea cannot be satisfied sufficiently at the same time.
JP 2003-235451 A JP-A-8-228684 JP-A-4-45744 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-220055 JP-A-4-31348 JP 2000-116327 A JP 2004-180574 A JP 2004-159665 A Takeo Teiichi, Soft Drinks Technical Data, No. 1, 1993, P85 K. Muramatsu, 2 others, J. Nutr. Sci. Vitaminol, 32, 1986, P613 M. Yamamoto, 4 others, Proceedings of 2004 International Conference on O-CHA (tea) Culture and Science, HB-P-45, 2005, P551

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a packaged tea beverage in which generation of flocs is suppressed or prevented while maintaining the original flavor of tea.

  As a result of intensive studies to solve the above problems, the present inventors have suppressed the occurrence of flocs over a long period of time by adjusting the weight ratio of quinic acid gallates and aluminum contained in tea beverages to a certain range. It was found that a container-packed tea beverage with good flavor that was prevented or was obtained, and the present invention was completed.

That is, the packaged tea beverage of the present invention is as described in claim 1,
The following components (A) and (B):
(A) Gallates of quinates (B) Aluminum is contained, and the weight ratio [(A) / (B)] of the component (A) and the component (B) is 1.0 to 80.
The packaged tea beverage according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the packaged tea beverage according to claim 1, the content of quinic acid gallates is 0.20 to 10 mg / 100 ml.
The packaged tea beverage according to claim 3 is characterized in that, in the packaged tea beverage according to claim 1 or 2, the aluminum content is 0.070 to 2.0 mg / 100 ml.
A packaged tea beverage according to claim 4 is the packaged tea beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the content of catechins is 20 to 500 mg / 100 ml.
A packaged tea beverage according to claim 5 is characterized in that in the packaged tea beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 4, a tea extract is added.
A packaged tea beverage according to claim 6 is characterized in that in the packaged tea beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 5, a cyclic oligosaccharide is added.
A packaged tea beverage according to claim 7 is the packaged tea beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the tea beverage is green tea or jasmine tea.
In addition, the method for suppressing or preventing the occurrence of flocs in a packaged tea beverage according to the present invention is the weight ratio of (A) quinic acid gallate and (B) aluminum in the tea beverage [(A) / (B)] is adjusted to 1.0-80.
Moreover, the manufacturing method of the container-packed tea drink of this invention is the weight ratio [(A) / (B)] of (A) quinic acid gallates and (B) aluminum in a tea drink as described in Claim 9. It is characterized by adjusting to 1.0-80.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the container-packed tea drink by which generation | occurrence | production of the floc was suppressed thru | or prevented can be provided, hold | maintaining the original flavor of tea. Since the packaged tea beverage of the present invention does not require a special device and can be manufactured using existing equipment, the effect on productivity and manufacturing cost is very large.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.
The container-packed tea beverage of the present invention has a weight ratio [(A) / (B)] of quinic acid gallates as the component (A) and aluminum as the component (B) of 1.0 to 80. It is a feature. In the present invention, “tea beverage” means tea leaves (for example, sencha, gyokuro, kabusecha, bancha, tea leaves produced from leaves and stems of tea tree ( Camellia sinensis var. Sinensis and Camellia sinensis var. Assamica ) . As a raw material, non-fermented tea such as roasted green tea, non-fermented tea such as jasmine tea, flower tea with the scent of flower, weakly fermented tea such as white tea, semi-fermented tea such as oolong tea, fermented tea such as black tea, etc.) It means a beverage that has been extracted and processed. In addition to tea leaves as raw materials, tea drinks include brown rice, barley, wheat, pigeons, corn, amaranth, quinoa, arabic millet, mozuku, licorice, lotus, perilla, pine, psyllium, rosemary, mulberry, gymnema, ketsumeishi, It is obtained by using leaves, stems, roots, etc. of various plants such as soybean, kelp, ganoderma, bear reed, strawberry, sesame, safflower, ashitaba, chenba, aloe, gymnema, Tochu, dokudami, chicory, evening primrose, loquat, etc. May be used.

  The conditions for extracting tea leaves when preparing a tea beverage are appropriately selected according to the type of tea leaves, the type of extractor, the form of the final product, etc. For example, the temperature of the extraction liquid is unfermented tea or weakly fermented. For tea, 50 to 90 ° C is preferable, and 60 to 80 ° C is more preferable. In semi-fermented tea and fermented tea, 60-100 degreeC is preferable and 80-100 degreeC is more preferable. The extraction time is preferably 1 to 60 minutes. The amount of the extract is preferably 5 to 50 times the amount of tea leaves. After extracting the tea leaves under the above conditions, the tea extract is solidified by a filtration method such as a filter press using a cartridge filter, flannel filter cloth, filter plate, filter paper, and filter aid, or a centrifugal separation method. It can be obtained by liquid separation and removal of tea leaves and particles.

  The obtained tea extract is appropriately adjusted in concentration to obtain a tea preparation, which is then commercialized as a tea beverage. At this time, a tea extract may be added in order to easily obtain a tea preparation liquid having a desired composition. Here, the “tea extract” is obtained by extracting tea leaves such as green tea with hot water, a water-containing organic solvent, and an organic solvent. Examples of commercially available products include “Polyphenone”, a trade name of Mitsui Norin Co., Ltd. , Itoen's trade name “Theafranc”, Taiyo Kagaku's trade name “Sunphenon”, and the like. In addition, for tea preparation liquids, as necessary, antioxidants such as ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate, fragrances, pH adjusters such as sodium bicarbonate, emulsifiers, preservatives, sweeteners, colorants, thickening stable Additives such as an agent, a seasoning, and a reinforcing agent can be used alone or in combination. Moreover, 3.0-7.0 are preferable at 25 degreeC conversion value, as for pH setting of a preparation liquid, 4.0-7.0 are more preferable, and 5.0-7.0 are further more preferable.

  In the present invention, “packed container” means a state in which an object is filled and sealed in a metal container, such as metal, glass, plastic, a paper container combined with a metal or plastic film. As containers for filling and sealing tea beverages prepared as described above, transparent glass bottles, molded containers mainly composed of polyethylene terephthalate (so-called PET bottles), multilayer molded containers provided with an oxygen barrier layer, etc. When the transparent plastic container is used, it is very important to suppress or prevent the occurrence of the floc because the tea beverage as the contents can be visually observed from the outside.

  The packaged tea beverage of the present invention is produced by sterilization at any stage of the production process as necessary. The sterilization conditions may be selected by a method that can achieve the same effect as the conditions defined in the Food Sanitation Law. For example, when a heat-resistant container is used as the container, retort sterilization may be performed. When a non-heat-resistant container is used as the container, the container-packed tea beverage of the present invention is, for example, pre-cooled to a predetermined temperature after preliminarily sterilizing the tea preparation liquid with a plate heat exchanger or the like, and filling with heat. It can be produced by performing aseptic filling at 30-50 ° C.

  The container-packed tea beverage of the present invention has a weight ratio [(A) / (B)] of quinic acid gallates as the component (A) and aluminum as the component (B) of 1.0 to 80. If the weight ratio exceeds 80, the occurrence of flocs in the packaged tea beverage may not be effectively suppressed or prevented. On the other hand, if the weight ratio is less than 1.0, the content of aluminum in the packaged tea beverage becomes too large, causing aluminum to react with tea components such as polyphenols to form precipitates, or quinic acid gallates. When there is little content, there exists a possibility that it may become the thing which lacks the flavor balance of tea. A weight ratio becomes like this. Preferably it is 1.0-60, More preferably, it is 2.0-45, More preferably, it is 2.0-30, Most preferably, it is 3.0-20. In particular, when the packaged tea beverage is a green tea beverage, the weight ratio is preferably 1.0 to 45, more preferably 1.0 to 40, still more preferably 1.0 to 30, and 2.0 to 20 Is particularly preferable, and 3.0 to 15 is most preferable. In addition, when the packaged tea beverage is a weakly fermented tea beverage such as a jasmine tea beverage, the weight ratio is preferably 1.0 to 50, more preferably 1.0 to 45, and even more preferably 2.0 to 40. 2.0 to 35 is particularly preferable, and 3.0 to 30 is most preferable.

In the present invention, the term “quinic acid gallates” means a general term that includes three types of quinic acid monogallate composed of quinic acid-3-gallate (theogaline), quinic acid-4-gallate, and quinic acid-5-gallate. . Therefore, the content of quinic acid gallates is defined as the total content of these three types of compounds. Here, quinic acid-3-gallate is a compound having a chemical abstract registration number (hereinafter CAS registration number) of 17365-11-6, and quinic acid-4-gallate has a CAS registration number of 53505-96-7. And quinic acid-5-gallate is a compound having a CAS registration number of 53584-43-3. All of these are known compounds, and these compounds contained in packaged tea beverages can be found in the bark of tea leaves and radish (scientific name: Quercus stenophylla ) (H. Nishimura if necessary, two others, Phytochemistry , Vol. 23, Vol. 11 (1984, p. 2621)) can be used as a raw material, and a standard substance isolated and purified by a method known per se can be used for quantitative analysis using HPLC.

  The content of quinic acid gallates in the packaged tea beverage of the present invention is preferably 0.20 to 10 mg / 100 ml. If the content of quinic acid gallates exceeds 10 mg / 100 ml, it may be impossible to effectively suppress or prevent the occurrence of flocs in a packaged tea beverage. On the other hand, if the content of quinic acid gallates is less than 0.20 mg / 100 ml, the packaged tea beverage may lack the original flavor balance of tea. The content of quinic acid gallates is more preferably 0.20 to 5.0 mg / 100 ml, further preferably 0.30 to 4.0 mg / 100 ml, particularly preferably 0.30 to 3.0 mg / 100 ml, 0.40 -2.0 mg / 100 ml is most preferred.

  The content of aluminum in the packaged tea beverage of the present invention is preferably 0.070 to 2.0 mg / 100 ml. If the aluminum content exceeds 2.0 mg / 100 ml, aluminum may react with tea components such as polyphenols to form a precipitate, and there may be a noticeable metal odor characteristic of aluminum. On the other hand, if the aluminum content is less than 0.070 mg / 100 ml, the occurrence of flocs in the packaged tea beverage may not be effectively suppressed or prevented. The content of aluminum is more preferably 0.10 to 1.5 mg / 100 ml, further preferably 0.15 to 1.0 mg / 100 ml, particularly preferably 0.20 to 1.0 mg / 100 ml.

  The container-packed tea beverage of the present invention can be produced by preparing a tea beverage using tea leaves that can have the desired gallate gallate content and aluminum content. The content of quinic acid gallates and the content of aluminum can be adjusted by preparing a tea beverage by appropriately blending a plurality of tea leaves and the tea leaf leachate. For example, if you want to increase the aluminum content of tea beverages, you can use Chinese tea, Nibancha-4th tea, etc. as tea leaves with high aluminum content, or if you want to reduce the content of quinic acid gallates As a tea leaf having a low content of quinic acid gallates, Nibancha to Nibancha may be used. Moreover, the content of quinic acid gallates and the content of aluminum in a tea beverage can also be adjusted by adding auxiliary materials for adjusting the contents of both when preparing a tea beverage. These adjustment methods can be appropriately selected or combined according to the situation. Examples of the auxiliary material for adjusting the aluminum content of the tea beverage include natural products containing aluminum in addition to inorganic aluminum compounds and organic aluminum compounds. Specifically, in addition to aluminum-containing mineral substances such as activated clay, acid clay, zeolite, kaolin, and bentonite, ammonium sulfate aluminum, potassium aluminum sulfate, sodium aluminum sulfate, aluminum chloride, aluminum bromide, aluminum borate, phosphoric acid Examples thereof include inorganic aluminum compounds and organic aluminum compounds such as aluminum, aluminum nitrate, aluminum sulfate, aluminum trifluoride, aluminum acetate, aluminum lactate, aluminum laurate, aluminum oleate, and aluminum stearate. Various aluminum salts may be in the form of hydrates. Among these, ammonium aluminum sulfate (baked ammonium alum), potassium aluminum sulfate (baked alum) and their hydrates ammonium aluminum sulfate 12 water (ammonium alum), potassium aluminum sulfate 12 water (alum or potash alum) Can be suitably used because it is approved as a food additive. In addition, extracts of animals and plants such as tea, leaf vegetables, seaweeds and shellfish containing aluminum can also be used. Especially, it is preferable to use a plant extract at the point which is excellent in compatibility with a tea drink, and it is more preferable to use a tea extract. The tea extract preferably has an aluminum content of 0.15 to 10% by weight, more preferably 0.28 to 8.0% by weight, and further 0.35 to 5.0% by weight. 0.42 to 3.0% by weight is particularly preferable, and 0.50 to 1.0% by weight is most preferable. If the content of aluminum in the tea extract exceeds 10% by weight, the occurrence of floc in the tea beverage can be effectively suppressed or prevented, but the cause of aluminum reacting with tea components such as polyphenols to form precipitates It is not desirable because it may cause adverse effects on the human body. On the other hand, if the aluminum content of the tea extract is less than 0.15% by weight, the occurrence of flocs in the tea beverage may not be effectively suppressed or prevented, which is not desirable. Examples of the method for increasing the aluminum content of the tea extract include per se known methods such as a solvent extraction method and a method using chromatography using a carrier such as silica gel or a synthetic adsorption resin. By adopting, the aluminum content of the tea extract can be appropriately adjusted.

  The stuffed tea beverage of the present invention preferably has a catechin content of 20 to 500 mg / 100 ml, more preferably 40 to 400 mg / 100 ml, still more preferably 40 to 200 mg / 100 ml, 60 -200 mg / 100 ml is particularly preferred, and 100-200 mg / 100 ml is most preferred. A tea beverage having a catechin content in this range has a weight ratio [(A) / (B)] of quinic acid gallates as the component (A) and aluminum as the component (B) of 1.0 to By setting it to 80, in addition to effectively suppressing or preventing the occurrence of flocs, it is possible to easily enjoy the excellent physiological action of catechins. If the content of catechins in the tea beverage exceeds 500 mg / 100 ml, it may be difficult to control astringency even if astringency reduction technology using cyclodextrin or the like is used. Here, “catechins” is a general term for epicatechin, catechin, epigallocatechin, gallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, catechin gallate, epigallocatechin gallate, gallocatechin gallate, and these are generally HPLC. Quantitative analysis is possible.

  Furthermore, in the packaged tea beverage of the present invention, when catechins are blended in a large amount (for example, 100 mg / 100 ml or more), means for effectively suppressing or preventing the occurrence of flocs and suppressing bitterness and astringency It is preferable to blend a bitter and astringent taste inhibitor. As the bitter and astringent taste inhibitor, for example, it is preferable to use a cyclic oligosaccharide. Examples of the cyclic oligosaccharide include α-, β-, and γ-cyclodextrin, among which β-cyclodextrin is preferable. For example, when β-cyclodextrin is used, the amount of bitter and astringent taste inhibitor added to the tea beverage is preferably blended in the tea beverage at a ratio of 0.020 to 2.5% by weight. The bitter and astringent taste inhibitor may be added according to the content of catechins when the tea beverage is non-fermented tea or weakly fermented tea, and when the tea beverage is semi-fermented tea or fermented tea, tea polyphenol ( What is necessary is just to add according to the content of tannin. For example, when the tea beverage is a green tea beverage and a cyclic oligosaccharide is used as a bitter and astringent taste inhibitor, the cyclic oligosaccharide should be added in an amount of 0.2 to 5 times by weight with respect to the content of catechins in the tea beverage. Is preferred.

  In addition, although the suppression thru | or prevention effect of generation | occurrence | production of the flock in the container-packed tea drink of this invention is sufficient in itself, in order to supplement or reinforce the effect, well-known flock is needed as needed. For example, a method for inhibiting or preventing the generation of water, for example, a method for decomposing water-soluble polysaccharide components by enzyme treatment, a method for physically removing causative substances and precipitates by ultrafiltration or diatomaceous earth filtration, and the like may be used in combination.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example demonstrates this invention further in detail, this invention is not limited to this.

Test Example 1:
The relationship between the weight ratio of quinate gallates and aluminum contained in tea beverage and the effect of inhibiting or preventing floc generation was examined by the following method.
100 g each of 40 randomly selected tea leaves (20 each of green tea (sencha) and jasmine tea) were added with 3000 g of ion-exchanged water at 60 ° C. with sodium L-ascorbate added to 557 ppm for 5 minutes. After extraction and separation of tea leaves with a 100 mesh stainless steel filter, the mixture was filtered using filter paper (No. 26, manufactured by Advantech Co., Ltd.) to obtain 2700 g of tea extract. After diluting with ion-exchanged water so that the tannin content of this tea extract is 55 mg / 100 ml for green tea and 50 mg / 100 ml for jasmine tea (tannin content is iron tartrate reagent) Law, ie, according to the official method described in the Japan Food Analysis Center, “Explanation of the 5th edition Japanese Food Standards Component Analysis Manual”, Central Law, July 2001, p.252), L-ascorbic acid and carbonic acid Sodium hydrogen was added in an amount of 0.3 g per 1000 g of tea extract to prepare a tea preparation. After heating this tea preparation liquid to about 80 degreeC, it filled with a hot pack 300g at a time in a heat-resistant glass container, it sealed, the retort sterilization process (121 degreeC, 10 minutes) was performed, and it was set as the container-packed tea drink. The container-packed tea beverage produced in this way is cooled to room temperature and then stored in a 55 ° C. thermostatic chamber. The occurrence of floc is visually observed until 14 days later, and the occurrence of floc is observed after 14 days. The case where no floc was observed after 5 days was evaluated as “appropriate”, and the case where floc was observed after 5 days was evaluated as “unsuitable”. Moreover, the content of quinic acid gallates in the packaged tea beverage was measured using HPLC, and the content of aluminum was measured using ICP-AES. The measurement was performed under the following conditions after filtering the packaged tea beverage or a diluted solution thereof with a 0.45 μm membrane filter (DISMIC-13HP; ADVANTEC).

(Quinic acid gallate content)
Apparatus: Alliance HPLC / PDA system (Nippon Waters)
Column: Mightysil RP-18 GP, particle type 5 μm, 4.6 mmφ × 150 mm (Kanto Chemical)
Mobile phase (solution A): acetonitrile / 0.05% phosphoric acid water = 1/40 by volume
Mobile phase (liquid B): acetonitrile / methanol / 0.05% aqueous phosphoric acid = 1: 20: 40 by volume
Gradient: Linear gradient flow rate reaching from 100% of solution A to 100% of solution B 25 minutes after injection 3 minutes: 1 ml / min
Detection: UV275nm
Sample injection volume: 10 μl
Column temperature: 40 ° C

(Aluminum content)
Device: ICP-AES CIROS CCD-M (Rigaku)
Plasma power: 1400W
Pump flow rate: 1 ml / min
Plasma gas flow rate: Ar, 13.0 L / min
Auxiliary gas flow rate: Ar, 1.0 L / min
Nebulizer gas flow rate: Ar, 1.0 L / min
Analysis line: 396.152 nm
Standard solution: Uses standard solution for chemical analysis manufactured by Kanto Chemical.

  The results are shown in Table 1. The weight ratio [(A) / (B)] of quinic acid gallates as the component (A) and aluminum as the component (B) in the packaged tea beverage is closely related to the presence or absence of the occurrence of flocs. Is clear from Table 1, and it was found that when [(A) / (B)] is 80 or less, the occurrence of floc is effectively suppressed or prevented. In addition, the container-packed tea beverages (Examples) of the present invention are extremely excellent in preservability because the generation of flocs is suppressed or prevented even when stored at 55 ° C. for 5 days at room temperature for 5 days. It turned out to be a thing.

Test example 2:
The tea extracts obtained in the same manner as in Test Example 1 using Green Tea-4,5,18 and Jasmine Tea-3,4,18 used in Test Example 1 were diluted stepwise with ion-exchanged water. After adjusting and adjusting the tannin content to various values (measurement of the tannin content was performed according to the iron tartrate reagent method described above), a tea preparation solution was prepared in the same manner as in Test Example 1, A beverage was produced. Moreover, when manufacturing a container-packed tea drink using green tea-5 and jasmine tea-4, this was mix | blended so that the content of koji-cyclodextrin might become various values, and the tea liquid mixture was produced. The container-packed tea beverage thus produced was examined for the number of days until the occurrence of flocs in the same manner as in Test Example 1, and sensory evaluation (flavor evaluation) was conducted by five panelists. The evaluation method is based on a score of 4 points (4 points: very good, 3 points: good, 2 points: good, 1 point: neither can be said, 0 points: bad), and obtained from all panelists 3.1-4.0 points based on the average points obtained, ◎ 2.1-3.0 points ◯, 1.1-2.0 points △, 0.0-1.0 points Expressed as: The results are shown in Tables 2-7.

  As apparent from Tables 2 to 7, it was found that the container-packed tea beverage (Example) of the present invention was extremely excellent in storage stability. In addition, as the catechin content of the packaged tea beverage increases, the flavor tends to be adversely affected, but by adding β-cyclodextrin, the flavor can be improved and the occurrence of flocs is also effectively suppressed. It was found that it can be prevented.

Test Example 3:
Tea extracts obtained in the same manner as in Test Example 1 using Green Tea-4 and Green Tea-18 used in Test Example 1 were diluted with ion-exchanged water so that the tannin content was 150 mg / 100 ml. After (the measurement of the tannin content was carried out according to the iron tartrate reagent method described above), tea preparation liquids were prepared by the same method as in Test Example 1, and each tea preparation liquid was mixed in various proportions, then Test Examples A containerized tea beverage was produced in the same manner as in Example 1. In addition, each tea preparation solution and the trade name “Polyphenon KN” of Mitsui Norin Co., Ltd. were used as the tea extract, and this tea was extracted instead of tea leaf extraction to obtain a tea extract solution. Tea extract prepared by the same method as in Test Example 1 after dilution with ion-exchanged water so that the tannin content is 150 mg / 100 ml (the tannin content was measured according to the iron tartrate reagent method described above) After mixing the preparation liquid at various ratios, a container-packed tea beverage was produced in the same manner as in Test Example 1. Further, a container-packed tea beverage was produced in the same manner using jasmine tea-3 and jasmine tea-18 used in Test Example 1. About the container-packed tea drink manufactured in this way, the days until the occurrence of flocs were examined by the same method as in Test Example 1, and the same evaluation as in Test Example 1 was performed. The results are shown in Tables 8-10.

  As is apparent from Tables 8 to 10, even when tea leaves that produce flocks when used alone, such as green tea-18 and jasmine tea-18, are produced in combination with other tea leaves, quinic acid gallate It has been found that by adjusting the weight ratio of sucrose and aluminum to a predetermined value, it is possible to produce a packaged tea beverage in which generation of flocs is effectively suppressed or prevented. In addition, the combined use of tea extract makes it easy to adjust the weight ratio of quinic acid gallates to aluminum to a predetermined value, making it easy to make a packaged tea beverage in which the occurrence of floc is effectively suppressed or prevented. It was found that it can be manufactured.

Test Example 4:
Alum (potassium aluminum sulfate, 12 hydrate) solution was added to the tea extract obtained in the same manner as in Test Example 1 using Green Tea-18 and Jasmine Tea-18 used in Test Example 1. After adjusting the aluminum concentration to various values, a packaged tea beverage was produced in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The container-packed tea beverage thus produced was examined for the number of days until the occurrence of flocs by the same method as in Test Example 1, and sensory evaluation was performed by the same method as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Tables 11-12.

  As is clear from Tables 11-12, aluminum is added to tea leaves that produce flocs when used alone to produce a packaged tea beverage such as green tea-18 or jasmine tea-18. It was found that by adjusting the weight ratio of aluminum to a predetermined value, it is possible to produce a packaged tea beverage in which generation of flocs is effectively suppressed or prevented.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention has industrial applicability in that it can provide a packaged tea beverage in which generation of flocs is suppressed or prevented while maintaining the original flavor of tea.

Claims (9)

The following components (A) and (B):
(A) Quinic acid gallates (B) Containerized tea beverage containing aluminum and having a weight ratio [(A) / (B)] of component (A) to component (B) of 1.0 to 80.   The packaged tea beverage according to claim 1, wherein the content of quinic acid gallates is 0.20 to 10 mg / 100 ml.   The packaged tea beverage according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the aluminum content is 0.070 to 2.0 mg / 100 ml.   The packaged tea beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the content of catechins is 20 to 500 mg / 100 ml.   The packaged tea beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a tea extract is added.   The packaged tea beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a cyclic oligosaccharide is added.   The packaged tea beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the tea beverage is green tea or jasmine tea.   Suppression or prevention of floc generation in packaged tea beverages by adjusting the weight ratio [(A) / (B)] of (A) quinic acid gallates and (B) aluminum in the tea beverage to 1.0-80. Method.   A method for producing a containerized tea beverage by adjusting the weight ratio [(A) / (B)] of (A) quinic acid gallates and (B) aluminum in a tea beverage to 1.0-80.