JP2007037467A - Stabilizer for oil and fat crystal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stabilizer for oil-and-fat crystals reducing processing time, having no need of any large preservation places, improved in controllability in temperature control, and enabling continuous processing while the whole of the device is downsized. <P>SOLUTION: The stabilizer for oil-and-fat crystals of solid oil-and-fat food via microwaves comprises a microwave-irradiating means irradiating the solid oil-and-fat food packaged in a box with microwaves, and a controlling means controlling the microwave-irradiating means. The controlling means controls the microwave-irradiating means so as to raise the temperature of the solid oil-and-fat food ranging from +3°C to +15°C via the microwaves irradiated by the microwave-irradiating means, and the temperature of the solid oil-and-fat food is raised ranging from +3°C to +15°C to heat the food so that the oil-and-fat crystals of the solid oil-and-fat food are stabilized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for stabilizing oil crystals, and more particularly, to an apparatus for stabilizing oil crystals, which stabilizes oil crystals by heating solid oil-based foods using microwaves.

  In general, solid fats and oils foods made from vegetable oils and animal fats are stored in a temperature controlled warehouse or thermostat, or in a thermostatic oven for several days to age. It was.

  Here, the aging of the solid fat-and-oil food specifically means stabilization of the fat and oil crystals, and the purpose is to stabilize the physical properties (in addition, “stabilization of physical properties” It means to shift to a stable form.) To improve its workability.

  In oily foods such as margarine, shortening or chocolate, the physical properties (melting point, processability) are governed by the oil crystal properties. In this case, the workability includes, for example, whipability and spreadability.

  By the way, the “crystal polymorph” phenomenon corresponding to the type of fat and oil occurs in the fat and oil crystal, and stabilization of the fat and oil crystal means stabilization of the crystal polymorph.

  The polymorphs are generally α-type, β ′ (beta-prime) type, and β-type from the lowest melting point, but more specifically, depending on the type of oil and fat.

  Specifically, in the case of chocolate, the fats and oils constituting it are cocoa butter, and six kinds of crystal polymorphs exist in cocoa butter. These six types of crystal polymorphs are called I-type, II-type, III-type, IV-type, V-type, and VI-type from the low melting point side. As it crystallizes.

In the conventional chocolate production line, V-type crystals are selectively deposited among the six types of crystal polymorphs in the production stage, but all cocoa butter in chocolate immediately after production is V. It is not a type, and partly IV type is mixed. Conventionally, by leaving it in a temperature-controlled warehouse at about 20 ° C. to 23 ° C. for about 1 to 2 weeks, all of the unstable polymorph IV type has been converted into the V polymorph.

  In addition, since margarine is β'-type stable, in the production of margarine, the melted fats and oils are rapidly cooled and the α-type is precipitated, and then in a temperature controlled warehouse of about 20 ° C to 23 ° C for 3 days to 2 weeks. By allowing it to stand to the extent, it was transferred to the β ′ type.

  That is, in the conventional production process of solid oily food, as shown above, it is necessary to leave it for several days to several weeks in a temperature-controlled warehouse in order to stabilize the fat crystal of the solid oily food. was there. For this reason, it is necessary to secure a place for installing the temperature control warehouse, and there are problems such as a long processing time.

  In other words, energy is required for the crystal polymorph transformation step, but conventionally, the energy is obtained from the outside of the solid oily food mainly from a heater or outside temperature mainly in a thermostatic bath. However, this method has a problem that it takes a long time to raise the temperature and the processing time is long, and a problem that a large storage space is required.

In view of these problems, for example, the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-267112 (see Patent Document 1) or “Food Processing Oil and Fat Technology Research Committee Bulletin 47” (see Non-Patent Document 2) is disclosed. Proposed methods have been proposed.

  Here, the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-267112 is a method in which a sheet-like solid fat is put in a box and irradiated with microwaves twice or more.

  However, according to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-267112, in the case of continuous processing, the solid oily food once irradiated with microwaves is passed through the furnace body of another microwave device. There is a problem that the temperature cannot be sufficiently controlled due to the influence of the ambient temperature under non-microwave irradiation, and the apparatus configuration becomes large.

  In addition, “Food Processing Oil Technology Research Bulletin No. 47” describes a device that irradiates microwaves while flowing solid oil into pipe piping.

However, according to the apparatus described in “Food Processing Oil Technology Research Bulletin No. 47”, there is a problem that the temperature rises partly and causes uneven heating, thereby causing poor liquefaction. there were.
JP 2004-267112 A Bulletin No. 47 of the Food Processing Oil and Fat Technology Research Group, All Japan Margarine Association Food Processing Oil and Fat Technology Study Group, September 18, 1987

  The present invention has been made in view of the various problems of the conventional techniques as described above. The object of the present invention is to shorten the processing time and does not require a large storage space. In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for stabilizing oil crystals using microwaves that improves the controllability of temperature control and enables continuous processing while reducing the size of the entire apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is such that energy for transferring fat crystals of a solid oily food is supplied by microwaves, and the temperature of the solid oily foods is between + 3 ° C. and + 15 ° C. by microwaves. The temperature of the solid oily food is controlled between + 3 ° C and + 15 ° C and heated to stabilize the fat and oil crystals of the solid oily food. It is.

  At this time, microwaves are continuously or intermittently irradiated in the same microwave furnace in a state where the solid oily food is housed in a box formed of a material containing a paper such as a cardboard box as a composition. You may make it do.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform polymorph transition of the fat crystals of the solid fat-based food in a short time.

  Moreover, since this invention can be comprised as a continuous type apparatus which can convey an oil-fat crystal continuously using a conveyance means, it becomes possible to process continuously with respect to an oil-fat crystal. .

  That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform the crystal transition of the solid fat-based food in a short time by using microwave energy, and it is possible to control the temperature rise temperature, which is a processing target. The processing can be performed continuously and with a small apparatus without causing liquefaction failure due to partial heating unevenness of the fat and oil crystals.

Here, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is a microwave irradiating apparatus for solid oily food packed in a box in a device for stabilizing oil crystals of solid oily food by microwave. A microwave irradiation means and a control means for controlling the microwave irradiation means, wherein the control means is configured such that the temperature of the solid oily food is + 3 ° C. to + 15 ° C. by the microwave irradiated by the microwave irradiation means. The microwave irradiation means is controlled so that the temperature of the solid oily food is increased, and the temperature of the solid oily food is heated between + 3 ° C. and + 15 ° C. and heated. The oil and fat crystals are stabilized.

  The invention according to claim 2 of the present invention is the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention, wherein the box is formed of a material containing paper as a composition, and the solid oily food is It is formed in a block shape or a sheet shape.

  The invention according to claim 3 of the present invention is the invention according to claim 1 or 2 of the present invention, wherein the microwave irradiation means is in the same microwave reactor. It is arranged to irradiate microwaves only to the box located at the position, and the control means controls the microwave irradiation means so that the microwave irradiation means irradiates microwaves intermittently. It is.

The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to any one of claims 1, 2, or 3, wherein the control means is the microwave irradiation. The irradiation power density of the microwave irradiated by the means is controlled to 0.8 kW / m ^{3 to} 8.0 kW / m ³ .

  Further, the invention according to claim 5 of the present invention is the invention according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, or 4 of the present invention, and further includes the microwave. An infrared radiation thermometer for measuring the temperature of the box is arranged so that the microwave irradiated by the irradiation means is not directly irradiated, and the control means is measured by the infrared radiation thermometer. The microwave irradiation means is controlled according to the temperature to control the temperature rise state of the solid oily food contained in the box.

  The invention according to claim 6 of the present invention is the invention according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 of the present invention. The microwave irradiation means irradiates the solid oily food contained in the box with microwaves from a predetermined direction or all directions.

  Further, the invention described in claim 7 of the present invention is described in any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 of the present invention. In the invention, the microwave irradiating means further includes a conveying means for continuously conveying the box to a region where the microwave is irradiated, and the box is transferred to the region where the microwave is irradiated by the conveying means. The solid fat-containing food contained in the box is continuously heated to stabilize the fat crystals.

  The invention according to claim 8 of the present invention is the invention according to claim 7 of the present invention, wherein the conveying means comprises a conveyor belt, and the conveyor belt comprises glass fiber and polytetrafluoroethylene. It is made to form with the material which mixed these, or the aramid fiber.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, the processing time can be shortened, a large storage space is not required, and the controllability of temperature control is improved. In addition, there is an excellent effect that continuous processing can be performed while downsizing the entire apparatus.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of an apparatus for stabilizing oil crystals according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration explanatory diagram of an apparatus for stabilizing oil crystals according to an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

  The oil crystal stabilization device (hereinafter simply referred to as “stabilization device”) 10 according to an example of the embodiment of the present invention cools molten oil using vegetable oil or animal oil as a raw material. Or a microwave power source 14 as a microwave irradiation means for generating a microwave to be irradiated to a cardboard box (hereinafter simply referred to as “cardboard box”) 12 containing solid oily food produced by rapid cooling; A waveguide 18 for transmitting the microwave generated by the microwave power source 14 into a single microwave furnace body 16 and the microwave transmitted into the microwave furnace body 16 by the waveguide 18 is diffused. For this purpose, a stirrer blade 20 rotatably disposed in the microwave furnace body 16, a motor 22 for rotating the stirrer blade 20, and microwaves from the microwave furnace body 16 to the outside. In order to prevent leakage, microwaves are prevented from leaking outside from the microwave reactor body 16 and the inlet-side radio wave absorption zone 24a disposed adjacent to the inlet side of the microwave furnace body 16 to prevent leakage. An exit-side radio wave absorption zone 24b disposed adjacent to the exit side of the microwave furnace body 16 and the corrugated cardboard box 12 from the entrance-side radio wave absorption zone 24a through the microwave furnace body 16 to the exit-side radio wave absorption zone 24b. An endless conveyor belt 26 for conveying the conveyor belt, a driven roller 28 positioned at an end of one side (inlet side) into which the cardboard box 12 is inserted to stretch the conveyor belt 26, and a conveyor belt 26. The tension roller is stretched by an idle roller 30 located at the end of the other side (exit side) from which the cardboard box 12 is discharged for stretching, a driven roller 28 and an idle roller 30. Drive roller for conveying the conveyor belt 26 by driving the driven roller 28 connected to the guide roller 31 and the driven roller 28 through an endless chain 32 for tightly stretching the conveyor belt 26 34, a non-contact type inlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36a disposed adjacent to the driven roller 28 so as to be positioned on the lower surface side of the cardboard box 12 conveyed by the conveyor belt 26, and conveyed by the conveyor belt 26 A non-contact type outlet-side infrared radiation thermometer 36b disposed adjacent to the idle roller 30 so as to be positioned on the lower surface side of the corrugated cardboard box 12 and the lower surface side of the cardboard box 12 conveyed by the conveyor belt 26 A non-contact type intermediate position infrared radiation thermometer 36 disposed on the lower surface side of the region where the microwave furnace body 16 extends so as to be located at c, and a microwave power supply control device 38 that is a control means for controlling on / off of the microwave power supply 14 so as to switch between continuous irradiation and intermittent irradiation of microwaves as appropriate. ing.

  In this embodiment, a microwave furnace which is an area irradiated with microwaves by the conveyor belt 26, the driven roller 28, the idle roller 30, the guide roller 31, the chain 32, and the drive motor 34. A belt conveyor is configured as a conveying means for continuously conveying the cardboard box 12 into the body 16.

  The conveyor belt 26 can be formed of, for example, a material obtained by mixing glass fibers and polytetrafluoroethylene such as Teflon (registered trademark) or aramid fibers.

In the above configuration, the cardboard box 12 containing the solid oily food is put into the conveyor belt 26 from the entrance side radio wave absorption zone 24a side. At the time when the cardboard box 12 is put into the conveyor belt 26, the fat and oil crystals of the solid oily food contained in the cardboard box 12 are unstable crystals.

  When the cardboard box 12 is put into the conveyor belt 26, the temperature of the lower part of the cardboard box 12 is measured by the inlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36a.

  In addition, it is known that there is a correlation between the temperature of the lower part of the cardboard box 12 and the temperature of the contents accommodated in the cardboard box 12 (in this embodiment, it is a solid oily food). It has been.

  The cardboard box 12 put into the conveyor belt 26 is introduced into the microwave furnace body 16 through the entrance-side radio wave absorption zone 24a. Further, the temperature of the lower part of the cardboard box 12 is measured by the intermediate position infrared radiation thermometer 36c.

Here, in the single microwave furnace body 16, the microwave generated by the microwave power source 14 is irradiated through the waveguide 18, and the irradiation power density and irradiation pattern (irradiation pattern is There are two types, continuous irradiation and intermittent irradiation). The microwave irradiation power density is preferably, for example, 0.8 kW / m ^{3 to} 8.0 kW / m ³ .

  When the irradiation power density and the irradiation pattern are controlled by the microwave power supply control device 38, the temperature data measured by the inlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36a and the intermediate position infrared radiation thermometer 36c is also controlled. do it.

  That is, the microwave power source control device 38 controls the microwave power source 14 in accordance with the temperature measured by the inlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36a and the intermediate position infrared radiation thermometer 36c, so that the solid oily and fat property accommodated in the cardboard box 12 is used. Control the temperature rise of food.

  The solid oily food housed in the cardboard box 12 is preferably heated to a temperature between + 3 ° C. and + 15 ° C. by microwave irradiation in the microwave furnace body 16. When the temperature of the oily food is raised between + 3 ° C. and + 15 ° C. and heated, the fat crystals of the solid oily food are stabilized.

  Then, the cardboard box 12 irradiated with microwaves in the same microwave furnace body 16 passes through the outlet side radio wave absorption zone 24b and measures the temperature of the lower part of the cardboard box 12 by the outlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36b. And is discharged from the conveyor belt 26.

Next, the results of experiments conducted by the inventors will be described. In addition, two experiments, experiment 1 and experiment 2, were performed.

[Experiment 1]
A cardboard box 12 containing 10 kg of margarine as a solid oily food was irradiated with microwaves at 3.2 kW / m ³ continuously for 2 minutes. The results are as follows.

  The temperature rise ΔT average was 7 ° C. (the temperature variation in the cardboard box 12 was 3 ° C.). Moreover, when the workability (whipping property) after heat processing was investigated, it turned out that it has sufficient workability and the fat crystal was stabilized.

[Experiment 2]
The cardboard box 12 containing 10 kg of margarine as a solid oily food was irradiated with microwaves intermittently at 3.2 kW / m ³ for 4 minutes. In addition, the intermittent irradiation of the microwave for 4 minutes specifically repeats 1 minute on (microwave irradiation) and 1 minute off (no microwave irradiation), and the processing time is 4 in total. It was to be a minute. The results are as follows.

  The average temperature increase ΔT was 7 ° C. (the temperature variation in the cardboard box 12 was 1 ° C.). Moreover, when the workability (whipping property) after heat processing was investigated, it turned out that it has sufficient workability and the fat crystal was stabilized.

  When the workability (whipping property) after the heat treatment was investigated, it was found that the workability was more satisfactory than that of Experiment 1 described above, and the crystallinity was further stabilized.

That is, since the stabilization device 10 is configured as described above, it is possible to perform the crystal transition of the fat crystal of the solid fat-based food in a short time using the microwave energy, and the temperature rise It becomes possible to control the temperature, and it is possible to process continuously and with a small apparatus without causing liquefaction failure due to partial heating unevenness of the fat crystals of the solid fat-based food to be processed.

  In other words, by using the stabilizing device 10, the processing time of the stabilization process of the fat crystals of the solid fat-based food, which conventionally required several days to several weeks, can be remarkably shortened. This can be realized while downsizing the entire apparatus, and the stabilization process can be continuously performed with good temperature control.

In the above-described embodiment, solid oily food produced by cooling or rapid cooling of molten oil made from vegetable oil or animal oil is stored in the cardboard box 12. Of course, the material of the box containing the oily food is not limited to corrugated paper, and the material of the box is a material containing various papers as a composition such as cardboard paper or other papers. Can be used.

  Moreover, although detailed description about the shape of the solid oily food accommodated in the corrugated cardboard box 12 was abbreviate | omitted, as a shape of a solid oily food, various kinds, such as a block shape with a high height direction and a sheet shape with a thin height direction, are carried out. Shapes can be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, detailed description of the arrangement locations of the non-contact type inlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36a, the outlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36b, and the intermediate position infrared radiation thermometer 36c is omitted. The inlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36 a, the outlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36 b, and the intermediate position infrared radiation thermometer 36 c may be provided inside the stabilization device 10, or may be provided outside the stabilization device 10. Good. In short, the inlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36a, the outlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36b, and the intermediate position infrared radiation thermometer 36c are directly irradiated with microwaves so that the accuracy of the measured temperature does not deteriorate. In other words, it may be disposed in a place where the microwave irradiation is not directly received, for example, below the cardboard box 12.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where microwaves are applied to the cardboard box 12 from one direction, specifically, the cardboard box 12 from above is shown in FIG. Of course, the direction of irradiation is not limited to this. For example, microwaves may be irradiated from an appropriate direction such as two directions above and below the cardboard box 12 or all directions with respect to the cardboard box 12. It may be.

  The present invention can be used mainly in the field of fats and oils production, specifically in the production of commercial or household margarine shortening or chocolate.

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory diagram of an apparatus for stabilizing oil crystals by microwaves according to an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Stabilizer for oil crystals by microwave (stabilizer)
12 Corrugated cardboard box containing solid oily food
14 microwave power source 16 microwave furnace body 18 waveguide 20 stirrer blade 22 motor 24a inlet side radio wave absorption zone 24b outlet side radio wave absorption zone 26 conveyor belt 28 driven roller 30 idle roller 31 guide roller 32 chain 34 drive motor 36a inlet side Infrared radiation thermometer 36b Outlet side infrared radiation thermometer 36c Intermediate position infrared radiation thermometer 38 Microwave power supply control device

Claims (8)

In an apparatus for stabilizing oil crystals of solid oily foods by microwaves,
Microwave irradiation means for irradiating the solid oily food packed in a box with microwaves;
Control means for controlling the microwave irradiation means,
The control means controls the microwave irradiation means so that the temperature of the solid oily food is raised between + 3 ° C. and + 15 ° C. by the microwave irradiated by the microwave irradiation means,
An oil crystal stabilization apparatus characterized in that the oil crystal of the solid oily food is stabilized by raising the temperature of the solid oily food between + 3 ° C. and + 15 ° C. and being heated. . In the stabilization apparatus of the fat crystal of Claim 1,
The box is formed of a material containing paper as a composition,
The solid oil-based food is formed in a block shape or a sheet shape. In the stabilization apparatus of the fat-and-oil crystal of any one of Claim 1 or Claim 2,
The microwave irradiation means is arranged so as to irradiate microwaves only to the box located in the same microwave furnace body,
The said control means controls the said microwave irradiation means so that the said microwave irradiation means may irradiate a microwave intermittently. The stabilization apparatus of the fat crystal characterized by the above-mentioned. In the stabilization apparatus of the oil-fat crystal of any one of Claim 1, Claim 2, or Claim 3,
Wherein, stabilizer of fat crystals, characterized in that the microwave irradiation means controls the irradiation power density of the microwave irradiated to ^{0.8kW / m 3 ~8.0kW / m 3} . The apparatus for stabilizing a fat crystal according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, or 4,
An infrared radiation thermometer that is arranged so that the microwave irradiated by the microwave irradiation means is not directly irradiated and measures the temperature of the box;
The control means controls the microwave irradiation means according to the temperature measured by the infrared radiation thermometer, and controls the temperature rising state of the solid fat-and-oil food contained in the box. Crystal stabilization device. In the stabilization apparatus of the fat crystal of any one of Claim 1, Claim 2, Claim 3, Claim 4, or Claim 5,
The said microwave irradiation means irradiates a microwave with respect to the said solid fat-containing food accommodated in the said box from a predetermined | prescribed direction or all directions. The stabilization apparatus of the fat crystal characterized by the above-mentioned. In the oil crystal stabilization apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6,
The microwave irradiating means has a conveying means for continuously conveying the box to a region where microwave irradiation is performed,
The box is transported to an area irradiated with microwaves by the transport means, and the solid fat-containing food contained in the box is continuously heated to stabilize the fat crystal. Stabilizer. In the apparatus for stabilizing a fat crystal according to claim 7,
The transport means includes a conveyor belt,
The said conveyor belt was formed with the material which mixed glass fiber and polytetrafluoroethylene, or the aramid fiber. The stabilization apparatus of the fat-and-oil crystal characterized by the above-mentioned.

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