JP2007075061A - Browning restraining agent, and food and drink - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a browning restraining agent capable of efficiently restraining browning of food and drink, and to provide hardly browning food and drink. <P>SOLUTION: This browning restraining agent is made from a tea leaf superheated steam extract which is obtained by bringing tea leaves into contact with superheated steam and collecting steam after the contact. The browning restraining agent has action which restrains browning of food and drink, caused from at least one kind selected from vitamin C decomposition, Maillard reaction and oxidation deterioration when added to the food and drink to restrain browning of the food and drink. The tea leaf is preferably leaf of green tea, oolong tea or black tea. The food and drink contains the browning restraining agent (a tea leaf superheated steam extract), and is preferably green tea, oolong tea, black tea, barley tea, adlay tea, jasmin tea, puerh tea, rooibos tea, herb tea or their blend tea. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a browning inhibitor added to the food or drink in order to suppress browning when the food or drink is stored, and a food or drink containing the browning inhibitor.

As a technique for suppressing quality deterioration when storing food and drink, for example, a method for producing a green tea beverage in a container excellent in color and flavor as disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. This production method is characterized by sterilizing green tea leaves using superheated steam, followed by extraction with sterile water in a sterile atmosphere, and filling and sealing the extract in a sterile atmosphere. Patent Document 2 discloses a volatile component obtained by steam extraction of tea leaves after tea making with superheated steam.
JP 2004-57074 A JP 2005-137269 A

  The present inventors have intensively studied from various aspects about the characteristics, properties, actions, uses, etc. of tea leaves superheated steam extract. As a result, it was surprisingly found that the superheated steam extract of tea leaves has the effect of suppressing browning of itself and also has the effect of suppressing the browning of beverages to which the superheated steam extract is added. . And based on these knowledge, it came to complete this invention.

  The object of the present invention is to provide a browning inhibitor capable of effectively suppressing browning of food and drink. Another object of the present invention is to provide a food or drink that is not easily browned.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a browning inhibitor added to the food or drink to suppress browning of the food or drink, and the browning inhibitor is a tea leaf overheating. The main point is that it consists of a steam extract.

The browning inhibitor according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, the tea leaves are green tea, oolong tea or tea tea leaves.
The browning inhibitor according to claim 3 suppresses browning of the food or drink resulting from at least one selected from the decomposition of vitamin C, Maillard reaction, and oxidative deterioration in the invention according to claim 1 or claim 2. The gist is to have an action.

The gist of the food and drink according to claim 4 is that it contains the browning inhibitor according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The food and drink according to claim 5 is the gist of the invention according to claim 4, wherein the food and drink is a tea beverage.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the browning inhibitor which can suppress the browning of food / beverage products effectively, and the food / beverage products which cannot be easily browned can be provided.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a browning inhibitor and a food or drink will be described.
The browning inhibitor of this embodiment consists of a superheated steam extract of tea leaves. This browning inhibitor is mainly used as an additive to be added to foods and drinks, and exhibits the effect of suppressing the progress of browning of foods and drinks due to vitamin C degradation, Maillard reaction, oxidative degradation, and the like. Therefore, the browning inhibitor of this embodiment is particularly effective when it is added to a food or drink containing a high proportion of ingredients that facilitate the progress of browning such as vitamin C, protein, and carbohydrate.

  The superheated steam extract of tea leaves is obtained by steam-extracting tea leaves using superheated steam. As the tea leaf, a tea leaf after tea production produced through a known tea making process such as steaming, tasting, and drying is usually used. It is also possible to use fresh tea leaves that have not undergone the tea-making process or tea leaves obtained by fermenting fresh tea leaves. Such tea leaves are usually subjected to steam extraction in a dry state. The dry tea leaves are those that have not been soaked in water or steamed with water. Examples of the tea leaves include those that can be used for beverages such as green tea, oolong tea, black tea, barley tea, pigeon tea, jasmine tea, puar tea, rooibos tea, and herbs. These tea leaves may be used alone or in combination with a plurality of types of tea leaves.

  Steam extraction is a process in which superheated steam is brought into direct contact with tea leaves and the steam after the contact is recovered. Superheated steam is steam generated by applying more heat to saturated steam without increasing the pressure. Incidentally, saturated water vapor is a vapor generated by the evaporation of boiling liquid water at the boiling point of water (100 ° C. at normal pressure). Therefore, superheated steam is obtained by heating saturated steam generated by boiling liquid water by boiler or electromagnetic induction heating with a burner, an electric heater or an electromagnetic induction heating device. When heating the saturated steam, it is possible to heat the saturated steam while pressurizing, but the temperature of the superheated steam by the reduced pressure after pressurization (when returning from the pressurized state to the normal pressure state) Since it is difficult to control, it is preferable to heat without applying pressure. The electromagnetic induction heating device normally heats a ceramic or metal heating element by electromagnetic induction heating with a frequency of 100 Hz to 100 kHz, and generates superheated steam by bringing saturated steam into contact with the surface of the heating element.

The temperature of superheated steam at the time of steam extraction is higher than 100 ° C. at normal pressure, preferably 105 ° C. or higher and lower than 200 ° C. at normal pressure, more preferably higher than 107 ° C. and lower than 200 ° C. at normal pressure. When the temperature of the superheated steam is 200 ° C. or higher, it is not preferable because a roasted tea-like heated odor (roast odor) is imparted to the superheated steam extract. Incidentally, superheated steam has a transition point at 107 ° C. at normal pressure (1.01325 × 10 ⁵ Pa, ie, 1 atm), and is extremely thermodynamically stable at a temperature higher than the transition point. It becomes a state.

  The amount of steam of superheated steam used for steam extraction is preferably 1 to 100 kg / h, more preferably 3 to 30 kg / h per 1 kg of tea leaves. When the amount of steam is less than 1 kg / h, it takes a long time to recover the superheated steam extract. On the other hand, when it exceeds 100 Kg / h, the internal pressure in the apparatus for generating superheated steam becomes high, so that the apparatus cost for performing pressure control becomes high and a large apparatus space is required.

  The extraction time when performing steam extraction with this preferable amount of steam is preferably 10 seconds to 30 minutes, more preferably 30 seconds to 10 minutes. When the extraction time is less than 10 seconds, the superheated steam extract having a browning inhibitory effect cannot be efficiently extracted from tea leaves. On the contrary, when it exceeds 30 minutes, when the superheated steam extract is added to the food or drink, the flavor of the food or drink is easily changed. In particular, when steam extraction is performed using superheated steam for more than 30 minutes, the tea leaves are likely to be roasted, and there is a risk of increasing the roasted tea-like odor (roast odor).

  Steam extraction is most preferably carried out in a closed container in order to reduce recovery loss due to scattering and diffusion of the superheated steam extract. Moreover, although steam extraction is normally performed at a normal pressure, it may be performed in a pressurized state. Furthermore, the steam extraction is most preferably performed in an inert gas atmosphere (so-called deoxygenated state) such as nitrogen gas or rare gas. In this case, since the oxidative degradation of the superheated steam extract itself can be suppressed, it becomes easy to obtain a superheated steam extract excellent in the action of suppressing browning caused by the oxidative degradation. Incidentally, oxygen is hardly dissolved in water vapor produced using water from which dissolved oxygen is removed (so-called deoxygenated water). For this reason, after replacing the inside of the sealed container filled with tea leaves with an inert gas, when steam extraction is performed using superheated steam produced from the deoxygenated water, the inert gas atmosphere in the sealed container is easily and continuously. Maintained.

  The recovery rate of the superheated steam extract by steam extraction varies greatly depending on the type of tea leaf, but it is generally appropriate that the solid content is 0.01 to 10% by weight (Brix 0.01 to 10) with respect to the tea leaf. . However, in view of quality, the solid content is preferably 0.05 to 5% by weight (Brix 0.05 to 5). When the recovery rate is less than 0.01% by weight, a sufficient amount of the superheated steam extract is not recovered, so that the browning suppressing effect cannot be sufficiently exhibited. Conversely, when it exceeds 10% by weight, it becomes easy to obtain a superheated steam extract with a flavor derived from tea leaves, and therefore, when added to a food or drink, the risk of hindering the original flavor of the food or drink increases. .

  This superheated steam extract is collected in the form of liquid, granular, powder, solid, semi-solid, and then stored in a container such as a sealed container, or added to food or drink. The The liquid superheated steam extract is obtained by collecting and cooling the steam after contacting the tea leaves in the steam extraction. The granular or powdery superheated steam extract can be obtained by drying the liquid superheated steam extract or the steam after contacting the tea leaves by freeze drying or spray drying. The solid or semi-solid superheated steam extract can be obtained by drying or concentrating the liquid superheated steam extract by a conventional method. At this time, by utilizing the chemical characteristics of the superheated steam extract, fractions having a high browning inhibitory effect are obtained by distillation, distillation under reduced pressure or fractional distillation, or components having a high browning inhibitory effect are obtained using a resin column Can also be purified.

  The food / beverage products of this embodiment are the drinks or foodstuffs containing the said browning inhibitor. Examples of the beverage include tea beverages such as green tea, oolong tea, black tea, barley tea, pigeon tea, jasmine tea, puar tea, rooibos tea, herbal tea, and blended tea. Also, citrus juice like lemon, orange, grapefruit, lime, yuzu, peach, grape, pineapple, apple, fruit juice like strawberry, carrot, spinach, vegetable juice like tomato, corn soup Food / beverage products containing dairy ingredients such as cereal juice, raw milk, pasteurized milk, processed milk, powdered milk (skim powdered milk, whole milk powder), milk fat, and cream are also included.

  Such foods and drinks contain proteins and sugars that can cause a Maillard reaction, but also vitamin C and the like, but are less likely to brown due to the browning inhibitory action of the browning inhibitor of this embodiment. As a result, in these foods and drinks, since the color change at the time of long-term storage is suppressed, the stability of quality is increased. Especially in foods and beverages such as tea beverages, nutritional drinks, and sports drinks, to which vitamin C as an antioxidant is artificially added, browning during storage is effectively suppressed, vitamin C and other It is also possible to reduce the content of an additive having a browning inhibiting action. In addition, since the browning inhibitor of this embodiment also contains a highly volatile aroma component derived from tea leaves, the flavor of food and drink is not significantly impaired by such an aroma component. It is preferable that the material selection of the product, the steam extraction condition of the browning inhibitor, the addition amount of the browning inhibitor, and the like are appropriately adjusted.

  When producing a tea beverage as a food or drink, it is particularly advantageous in terms of cost to produce a tea leaf after steam extraction of the browning inhibitor and then adding the browning inhibitor. is there. In this case, the tea leaves (first tea leaves) are brought into contact with superheated steam to steam extract the browning inhibitor, and then water at about 60 ° C. is immersed in the residue (first tea leaves) after the browning inhibitor is extracted. The browning inhibitor is added to the water extract of the first tea leaves obtained by water extraction.

  Moreover, it is also possible to produce by adding a browning inhibitor after water-extracting a tea leaf different from the tea leaf from which the browning inhibitor has been extracted. In this case, after the tea leaf (first tea leaf) is contacted with superheated steam and the browning inhibitor is steam-extracted, the tea leaf (second tea leaf) different from the tea leaf (first tea leaf) from which the browning inhibitor is extracted is extracted. ) Is immersed in water at about 60 ° C. and extracted with water, and the browning inhibitor is added to the obtained water extract of the second tea leaf. In such a tea beverage production method, the first tea leaf and the second tea leaf are composed of the same type of tea leaf, and the first tea leaf and the second tea leaf are composed of another type of tea leaf. Any method of configuring may be selected.

  In addition, when extracting tea leaves with water, all extractors generally used for water extraction of teas such as a kneader type, a drip type, a box type, and a multi-tower type can be used. Moreover, the temperature at the time of water extraction is not specifically limited. For tea beverages, pH adjusters such as baking soda, antioxidants such as vitamin C, emulsifiers such as sucrose fatty acid esters and glycerin fatty acid esters, stabilizers such as carrageenan, sugar, Additives such as sweeteners such as fructose, glucose, and sugar alcohol, various acidulants, and fragrances may be added. These additives may be added alone or in combination of a plurality of types. In addition, milk, powdered milk, skim milk powder, cream, vegetable oils and the like may be blended.

  The tea beverage produced in this manner is preferably enclosed in a container for enhancing the storage stability such as a can, a bottle, a PET bottle, a paper container, or a plastic container. In addition, tea beverages sealed in these containers are subjected to sterilization treatment (such as hot pack filling after UHT sterilization, container filling by aseptic filling, retort sterilization after container filling, etc.) to enhance storage stability. Preferably it is.

The effects exhibited by the embodiment will be described below.
-The browning inhibitor of this embodiment consists of a superheated steam extract of tea leaves. The superheated steam extract has an effect of suppressing browning of itself, and also has an effect of suppressing browning of food and drink to which the superheated steam extract is added. For this reason, the browning inhibitor which consists of a superheated steam extract can be utilized as an additive for adding to food-drinks. In this case, since the browning inhibitor can effectively suppress the color change during long-term storage of the food and drink, it facilitates long-term storage while suppressing deterioration in the quality of the food and drink. Moreover, since this browning inhibitor suppresses browning of food and drink caused by decomposition of vitamin C, Maillard reaction, oxidative degradation, etc., it reduces the content of vitamin C and other additives having a browning inhibitory effect. It is also useful when providing food and drink.

  -Since the food / beverage products of this embodiment contain the said browning inhibitor, it is hard to brown at the time of long-term storage, and even if it preserve | saves for a long period of time, it is possible to reduce deterioration of quality. In particular, the tea beverage containing the water extract of the tea leaves (first tea leaves) used for the production of the browning inhibitor, or the same type of tea leaves (second tea leaves) as the first tea leaves, Since it can suppress browning during long-term storage while maintaining a good flavor and the original color of the material, it is excellent in that it can be an extremely preferable food and drink.

<Manufacture of green tea beverage 1>
(Test Example 1)
3 kg of green tea leaves were charged into a sealable extraction container. Subsequently, the superheated steam was brought into direct contact with the tea leaves by injecting 120 ° C superheated steam at a steam volume of 30 kg per hour for 3 minutes from below the tea leaves in the extraction container. And the steam which flows out from the upper end part of an extraction container was cooled immediately, and liquid superheated steam extract 1.2Kg was obtained. Next, the tea leaves after extracting the superheated steam extract were subjected to water extraction with a kneader for 12 minutes using 60 ° C. warm water. After adjusting the obtained tea leaf water extract to a tannin amount of 61 mg / 100 mL, sodium bicarbonate as a pH adjuster is 0.3 g / L, and vitamin C as an antioxidant is 0.4 g / L. Then, a green tea beverage was produced by adding the whole amount of the superheated steam extract. The green tea beverage was UHT sterilized at 138 ° C. for 30 seconds and then hot-packed into a 500 mL PET bottle.

(Test Example 2)
3 kg of green tea leaves were charged into a sealable extraction container. Subsequently, superheated steam was directly brought into contact with the tea leaves by injecting 120 ° C superheated steam at a steam volume of 30 kg per hour for 9 minutes from below the tea leaves in the extraction container. And the vapor | steam which flows out from the upper end part of an extraction container was cooled immediately, and liquid superheated steam extract 3.8Kg was obtained. Next, the tea leaves after extracting the superheated steam extract were subjected to water extraction with a kneader for 12 minutes using 60 ° C. warm water. After adjusting the obtained tea leaf water extract to a tannin amount of 61 mg / 100 mL, sodium bicarbonate was added to 0.3 g / L, vitamin C was added to 0.4 g / L, and the superheated steam extraction was further performed. A green tea beverage was produced by adding all of the product. The green tea beverage was UHT sterilized at 138 ° C. for 30 seconds and then hot-packed into a 500 mL PET bottle.

(Comparative Example 1)
3 kg of green tea leaves were extracted with water at 60 ° C. using a kneader for 12 minutes. After adjusting the water extract of the obtained tea leaves to a tannin amount of 61 mg / 100 mL, a green tea beverage was prepared by adding sodium bicarbonate 0.3 g / L and vitamin C 0.4 g / L. Manufactured. The green tea beverage was UHT sterilized at 138 ° C. for 30 seconds and then hot-packed into a 500 mL PET bottle.

<Confirmation 1 of browning suppression effect>
The green tea beverages of Test Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Example 1 were stored at 60 ° C. The color tone of the green tea beverage after storage for 4 days, 7 days and 14 days was measured. The color tone was measured by measuring the yellowness YI value using a colorimetric color difference meter ZE2000 manufactured by Nippon Denshoku Industries Co., Ltd. The results are shown in Table 1. In addition, the numerical value shown in Table 1 shows the result of having calculated the browning degree (YI value increase rate) of the green tea drink after preservation | save for a predetermined period on the basis (100%) of YI value of an unaged product.

  From Table 1, the degree of browning (yellowness YI value) increased with time in the green tea beverage of Comparative Example 1. On the other hand, in the green tea beverages of Test Examples 1 and 2, the change in the degree of browning was clearly suppressed to be lower than that in Comparative Example 1.

<Manufacture of green tea beverage 2>
(Test Example 3)
3 kg of green tea leaves were charged into a sealable extraction container. Subsequently, the superheated steam was directly brought into contact with the tea leaves by injecting 170 ° C superheated steam at a steam amount of 25 kg per hour for 6 minutes from below the tea leaves in the extraction container. And the steam which flows out from the upper end part of an extraction container was cooled immediately, and liquid superheated steam extract 1.75Kg was obtained. Next, the tea leaves after extracting the superheated steam extract were subjected to water extraction with a kneader for 12 minutes using 120 L of hot water at 60 ° C. After adjusting the obtained tea leaf water extract to a tannin amount of 61 mg / 100 mL, sodium bicarbonate was added to 0.3 g / L, vitamin C was added to 0.4 g / L, and the superheated steam extraction was further performed. A green tea beverage was produced by adding all of the product. The green tea beverage was UHT sterilized at 138 ° C. for 30 seconds and then hot-packed into a 500 mL PET bottle.

(Test Example 4)
3 kg of green tea leaves were charged into a sealable extraction container. Subsequently, the superheated steam was directly brought into contact with the tea leaves by injecting 170 ° C superheated steam at a steam amount of 25 kg per hour for 6 minutes from below the tea leaves in the extraction container. And the steam which flows out from the upper end part of an extraction container was cooled immediately, and liquid superheated steam extract 1.75Kg was obtained. Next, 3 kg of another tea leaf not subjected to superheated steam treatment was subjected to water extraction with a kneader for 12 minutes using 120 L of hot water at 60 ° C. After adjusting the obtained tea leaf water extract to a tannin amount of 61 mg / 100 mL, sodium bicarbonate was added to 0.3 g / L, vitamin C was added to 0.4 g / L, and the superheated steam extraction was further performed. A green tea beverage was produced by adding all of the product. The green tea beverage was UHT sterilized at 138 ° C. for 30 seconds and then hot-packed into a 500 mL PET bottle.

(Test Example 5)
3 kg of green tea leaves were charged into a sealable extraction container. Subsequently, the superheated steam was directly brought into contact with the tea leaves by injecting 170 ° C superheated steam at a steam amount of 25 kg per hour for 6 minutes from below the tea leaves in the extraction container. And the steam which flows out from the upper end part of an extraction container was cooled immediately, and liquid superheated steam extract 1.75Kg was obtained. Next, the tea leaves after extracting the superheated steam extract were subjected to water extraction with a kneader for 12 minutes using 120 L of hot water at 60 ° C. After adjusting the obtained tea leaf water extract to a tannin amount of 61 mg / 100 mL, sodium bicarbonate was added to 0.3 g / L and vitamin C was added to 0.2 g / L, and the superheated steam extraction was further performed. A green tea beverage was produced by adding all of the product. The green tea beverage was UHT sterilized at 138 ° C. for 30 seconds and then hot-packed into a 500 mL PET bottle.

(Comparative Example 2)
3 kg of green tea leaves were extracted with water using 120 L of hot water at 60 ° C. for 12 minutes. After adjusting the water extract of the obtained tea leaves to a tannin amount of 61 mg / 100 mL, a green tea beverage was prepared by adding sodium bicarbonate 0.3 g / L and vitamin C 0.4 g / L. Manufactured. The green tea beverage was UHT sterilized at 138 ° C. for 30 seconds and then hot-packed into a 500 mL PET bottle.

(Comparative Example 3)
3 kg of green tea leaves were extracted with water using 120 L of hot water at 60 ° C. for 12 minutes. After adjusting the water extract of the obtained tea leaves to a tannin amount of 61 mg / 100 mL, by adding sodium bicarbonate 0.3 g / L and vitamin C 0.2 g / L, a green tea beverage was obtained. Manufactured. The green tea beverage was UHT sterilized at 138 ° C. for 30 seconds and then hot-packed into a 500 mL PET bottle.

<Confirmation 2 of browning suppression effect>
Each green tea beverage of Test Examples 3 to 5 and Comparative Examples 2 and 3 was stored at 60 ° C. The color tone (yellowness YI value) of the green tea beverage after storage for 3 days, 10 days, 15 days and 21 days was determined in the same manner as in Example 1. The results are shown in Table 2.

  From Table 2, when the test examples 3 and 4 and the comparative example 2 are compared, the green tea beverage after filling the hermetic container (PET bottle) by adding the tea leaf superheated steam extract to the tea leaf water extract. It was shown that browning is effectively suppressed. Furthermore, comparing Test Example 3 and Test Example 4, the browning of the green tea beverage is improved by adding the tea leaf superheated steam extract to the water extract of the tea leaf extracted with water after steam extraction. It has also become clear that it can be prevented more effectively.

  Moreover, when the test example 5 and the comparative examples 2 and 3 are compared, the addition amount of the vitamin C which is antioxidant is reduced to 1/2 by adding the superheated steam extract of a tea leaf to a green tea drink. Moreover, the effect which suppresses browning was fully able to be improved. Moreover, from the results of Test Example 1 and Test Example 3, it was found that the temperature of superheated steam is effective in the range of 120 to 170 ° C., and the extraction time in steam extraction is also effective in 3 to 6 minutes. .

  Furthermore, for the superheated steam extract of tea leaves of each test example, when reduced vitamin C was analyzed by the iodine method and tannin (catechins) was analyzed by the iron tartrate method, all of these components were detected. There wasn't. Moreover, all the superheated steam extracts of the tea leaves of each test example showed neutral pH. Therefore, it became clear that the browning prevention effect by the superheated steam extract of tea leaves is not the browning prevention effect by ascorbic acid or catechins which are usually used as an antioxidant.

<Manufacture of lemon juice containing browning inhibitor>
(Test Example 6)
3 kg of green tea leaves were charged into a sealable extraction container. Subsequently, superheated steam was brought into direct contact with the tea leaves by injecting superheated steam at 120 ° C. for 14 minutes at a steam volume of 36 kg per hour from below the tea leaves in the extraction container. And the liquid which flows out from the upper end part of an extraction container was cooled immediately, and liquid superheated steam extract 8.4Kg was obtained. Using this superheated steam extract as the reduced water of concentrated lemon juice (Brix37), the concentrated lemon juice was diluted 4-fold (W / W) to produce Brix9.3 lemon juice. This lemon juice was instantly sterilized at 93 ° C. for 3 seconds and then filled into a PET bottle in a hot pack.

(Comparative Example 4)
A lemon juice of Brix 9.3 was produced by diluting concentrated lemon juice (Brix37) four times (W / W) with ion-exchanged water. This lemon juice was instantly sterilized at 93 ° C. for 3 seconds and then filled into a PET bottle in a hot pack.

<Confirmation of browning suppression effect>
Each lemon juice of Test Example 6 and Comparative Example 4 was stored at 45 ° C. The color tone of each lemon juice after storage for 1 week and 2 weeks was measured. The color tone was measured by measuring the yellowness b value using a colorimetric color difference meter ZE2000. The results are shown in Table 3. In addition, the numerical value shown in Table 3 shows the result of calculating the degree of browning of lemon juice (b value increasing rate) after storage for a predetermined period using the b value of the untimed product as a reference (100%). Further, using the iodine method, the residual ratio of vitamin C in each lemon juice after storage for a predetermined period was calculated using the amount of vitamin C contained in the untimed product as a reference (100%). The results are shown in Table 3.

  From Table 3, it is possible to effectively suppress browning that progresses over time by using the superheated steam extract of tea leaves as the reduced water of concentrated lemon juice, that is, by adding the superheated steam extract of tea leaves to food and drink. In addition, it was shown that the degradation of reduced vitamin C that progresses with time can be suppressed. In addition, it is considered that the browning over time was suppressed in Test Example 6 because the oxidative deterioration was suppressed.

<Manufacture of orange juice containing browning inhibitor>
(Test Example 7)
By using the superheated steam extract of the tea leaves obtained in Test Example 6 as reducing water for turbid concentrated orange juice (Brix66), the concentrated orange juice was diluted 6 times (W / W) to obtain an orange of Brix7.6. Juice was produced. This orange juice was instantly sterilized at 93 ° C. for 3 seconds and then filled in a PET bottle in a hot pack.

(Comparative Example 5)
Brix 7.6 orange juice was prepared by diluting turbid concentrated orange juice (Brix 66) 6 times (W / W) with ion-exchanged water. This orange juice was instantly sterilized at 93 ° C. for 3 seconds and then filled in a PET bottle in a hot pack.

<Confirmation of browning suppression effect>
Each orange juice of Test Example 7 and Comparative Example 5 was stored at 45 ° C. for 2 weeks. After adding an equal amount of 100% ethanol to each orange juice before and after storage, removing the insoluble pulp by centrifugation, and measuring the absorbance at 420 nm for each of the obtained supernatants, the degree of browning can be determined. Examined. The results are shown in Table 4.

  From Table 4, it was shown that the color tone (light blue) of the food and drink immediately after production can be improved by adding the superheated steam extract of tea leaves to the food and drink, and that browning with time can be suppressed. In Test Example 7, it is considered that the browning over time was suppressed because the Maillard reaction of sugars contained in orange juice at a high concentration was suppressed and the oxidative deterioration was suppressed.

Further, the technical idea that can be grasped from the embodiment will be described below.
The superheated steam extract is obtained by bringing the tea leaves into contact with superheated steam and then collecting the steam after the contact. Browning inhibitor.

The food and drink according to claim 5, wherein the tea beverage is green tea, oolong tea, black tea, barley tea, pigeon tea, jasmine tea, puar tea, rooibos tea, herbal tea, or a blended tea thereof.
The superheated steam extract is obtained by steam extraction in which superheated steam is brought into contact with the tea leaves, and then the steam after the contact is recovered, and the food or drink further contains the tea leaves after the steam extraction. The food / beverage product of Claim 5 containing the water extract of the tea leaf obtained by water-extracting.

  The superheated steam extract is obtained by steam extraction in which the tea leaves are brought into contact with superheated steam, and the steam after the contact is recovered, and the food or drink is further subject to steam extraction. The food / beverage product of Claim 5 containing the water extract of the tea leaf obtained by carrying out the water extraction of the tea leaf which is not.

  The superheated steam extract is obtained by steam extraction in which the tea leaves are brought into contact with superheated steam, and the steam after the contact is recovered, and the food or drink is further subject to steam extraction. The food / beverage products of Claim 5 containing the water extract of the tea leaf obtained by carrying out the water extraction of another tea leaf of the same kind as the tea leaf.

Claims (5)

A browning inhibitor added to the food or drink to suppress browning of the food or drink,
The browning inhibitor comprises a superheated steam extract of tea leaves.   The browning inhibitor according to claim 1, wherein the tea leaves are tea leaves of green tea, oolong tea, or black tea.   The browning inhibitor of Claim 1 or Claim 2 which has the effect | action which suppresses the browning of the said food-drinks resulting from at least 1 type chosen from decomposition | disassembly of a vitamin C, Maillard reaction, and oxidative degradation.   Food-drinks containing the browning inhibitor as described in any one of Claims 1-3.   The food / beverage product according to claim 4, wherein the food / beverage product is a tea beverage.