JP2007209231A - Creatine-containing food composition - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a creatine-containing food composition favorably dispersed without precipitating at the bottom of a receptacle when mixed with a beverage to produce an easy-to-drink beverage, so as to prevent the beverage from getting hard to drink because of the precipitation of the creatine at the bottom of the receptacle or causing a heeltap of the creatine precipitated at the bottom of the receptacle. <P>SOLUTION: The creatine-containing food composition contains creatine and polysaccharide thickener. The polysaccharide thickener preferably comprises xanthan gum. Appropriately the compound ratio of the creatine to the polysaccharide thickener is 1:(0.02-0.4) at a mass ratio. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a food composition containing creatine having muscle strengthening action, body fat reduction action, and anti-fatigue action, and more specifically, to a creatine-containing food composition suitable for ingestion in a beverage.

  Creatine is a kind of amino acid that is synthesized in the human body by the liver, kidneys, etc., and plays an important role in energy production. In recent years, creatine has been ingested as a supplement because it has muscle strengthening action, body fat reduction action, and anti-fatigue action (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  The above-mentioned creatine is easily decomposed when mixed in water, so it can be stored in a powder form with high storage stability, and the powder can be mixed with water, teas, juices and other beverages when ingested. Appropriate. In addition, creatine is preferably taken with a lot of water in consideration of the possibility of placing a load on the kidney.

Japanese translation of PCT publication No. 2003-501057

  Creatine has a relatively large recommended intake of 1 to 20 g per day. However, creatine has a low solubility of 1.3% with respect to water at room temperature. For this reason, it is difficult to completely dissolve a large amount of creatine in a beverage at the time of ingestion, and normally creatine does not dissolve in the beverage and sinks to the bottom of the container, so it becomes difficult to drink and sinks to the bottom of the container There was a problem that creatine left over.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and is a food composition containing creatine, and when mixed with a beverage, the creatine is well dispersed without sinking to the bottom of the container to obtain a beverage that is easy to drink Providing a creatine-containing food composition that can prevent creatine from sinking to the bottom of the container and making it difficult to drink, or causing unreasonable creatine sinking to the bottom of the container With the goal.

  As a result of various investigations to achieve the above object, the present inventor, when creatine is mixed with a thickening polysaccharide in a beverage, the viscosity is imparted to the beverage by the thickening polysaccharide. It has been found that a beverage that is well dispersed and easy to drink can be obtained.

  The present invention has been made based on the above findings, and provides a creatine-containing food composition characterized by containing creatine and a thickening polysaccharide.

  The creatine-containing food composition according to the present invention, when mixed with a beverage, does not sink creatine into the bottom of the container and can be dispersed well in the beverage to obtain an easy-to-drink beverage, and thus creatine sinks to the bottom of the container. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the beverage from becoming difficult to drink and the creatine sinking from the bottom of the container from being left over.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail. In the present invention, creatine can be used in any form such as creatine monohydrate, creatine phosphate and the like. Although there is no limitation in particular in the compounding quantity of the creatine in the food composition of this invention, it is suitable to set it as 14-90 mass% of the whole composition, especially 35-80 mass%.

  In the present invention, the thickening polysaccharide refers to a polysaccharide that has an effect of imparting viscosity by dissolving in water to form a gel. There are no limitations on the type of thickening polysaccharide used in the present invention, and for example, xanthan gum, guar gum, fenugreek, carrageenan, locust bean gum, gellan gum and the like can be used. Among them, xanthan gum is preferable because it has high stability and creatine is well dispersed in the beverage. The blending amount of the thickening polysaccharide in the food composition of the present invention is not necessarily limited, but it is appropriate to set it to 0.8 to 25% by mass, particularly 2 to 10% by mass of the whole composition. In addition, a thickening polysaccharide may be used individually by 1 type, and may use 2 or more types together.

  Moreover, in this invention, it is preferable that the compounding ratio of creatine: thickening polysaccharide shall be 1: 0.02-0.4 by mass ratio. When the blending ratio of the thickening polysaccharide with respect to creatine is smaller than the above range, an appropriate viscosity may not be imparted to the beverage, and the dispersibility of creatine may deteriorate, and creatine may precipitate in the beverage. If the blending ratio of the thickening polysaccharide to creatine is larger than the above range, the beverage may become too viscous and difficult to drink. A more preferable range of the blending ratio of creatine: thickening polysaccharide is 1: 0.02-0.2 by mass ratio.

  L-carnitine can be mix | blended with the food composition of this invention, and, thereby, the food composition which was further excellent in the body fat reduction effect | action and anti-fatigue effect | action can be obtained. L-carnitine is a kind of amino acid and is synthesized in the human body by the liver, kidney, etc., and is deeply involved in fat metabolism. As L-carnitine, any form such as L-carnitine fumarate and L-carnitine tartrate can be used, but L-carnitine fumarate is particularly preferable in terms of low deliquescence. Although there is no limitation in the compounding quantity of L-carnitine, it is appropriate to set it as 0.2-21 mass% of the whole composition, especially 5-18 mass%.

  Sodium bicarbonate can be blended with the food composition of the present invention. That is, creatine is less stable under acidic conditions, but by adding sodium bicarbonate to the food composition, the food composition is made alkaline or the pH of the beverage mixed with the food composition is increased. Thus, the stability of creatine can be increased. Further, by increasing the pH of the beverage mixed with the food composition as described above, it is possible to protect the stomach when the beverage is ingested. Although there is no limitation in the compounding quantity of sodium hydrogencarbonate, it is suitable to set it as 0.5-30 mass% of the whole composition, especially 1-15 mass%.

  The food composition of the present invention can be blended with a high-sensitivity sweetener, whereby a drink that is easy to drink can be obtained. The high-sensitivity sweetener means a sweetener having a sweetness 100 to several hundred times that of sugar. As the high-sensitivity sweetener, for example, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, stevia and the like can be used, and the combined use of sucralose and acesulfame potassium is particularly preferable. The blending amount of the high-sensitivity sweetener is not limited, but is suitably 0.05 to 1% by mass, particularly 0.1 to 0.6% by mass of the entire composition. Moreover, in the combined use of sucralose and acesulfame potassium, the blending amount of sucralose is 0.01 to 0.08% by weight of the whole composition, and the blending amount of acesulfame potassium is 0.1 to 0.8% by weight of the whole composition. It is preferable to do.

  A flavor (fragrance) can be blended in the food composition of the present invention, whereby a drink that is easy to drink can be obtained. As the flavor, for example, a grapefruit flavor, a yogurt flavor, or the like can be used. Although there is no limitation on the blending amount of the flavor, it is appropriate that the amount is 5 to 60% by mass, particularly 10 to 40% by mass of the whole composition.

  The form of the food composition of the present invention is suitably in the form of powder (including granules). In this case, since the food composition of the present invention has a high proportion of creatine, it is preferable to perform a granulation step to make the components uniform in order to prevent the components from being biased in the composition. Any granulation method may be used in the granulation step, but a fluidized bed granulation method or an extrusion granulation method is preferable, and a fluidized bed granulation method is particularly preferable. The fluidized bed granulation method is a method in which a powder bed is kept in a fluidized state, a solution containing a binder is sprayed, and powders are aggregated and granulated with the binder. When the food composition of the present invention is produced by a fluidized bed granulation method, a solution obtained by dissolving a thickening polysaccharide in water can be used as the solution containing the binder. The extrusion granulation method is a method in which water (liquid) is added to a powder and kneaded, and pressure is applied with a screw, a roller or the like, and the powder is extruded from a screen or a die.

  The food composition of the present invention is usually mixed with beverages such as water, teas and juices when ingested. In this case, for example, 5 to 15 g of the food composition of the present invention can be mixed with 150 to 300 ml of beverage and drunk once a day. The viscosity of the beverage mixed with the food composition of the present invention is suitably 150 to 250 mPa · s.

  The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples. However, the present invention is not limited to these examples. Using creatine, xanthan gum, L-carnitine, sodium bicarbonate and grapefruit flavor, creatine-containing food compositions A to E were produced by a fluidized bed granulation method. The blending ratio is shown in Table 1. In this case, as the solution containing the binder in the fluidized bed granulation method, a solution in which xanthan gum was dissolved in water was used.

  Next, the obtained food compositions A to E were mixed with the amount of water shown in Table 2, and the ease of drinking the obtained mixed water and the state of creatine precipitation were subjected to sensory evaluation. Further, the viscosity of the mixed water was measured using a single cylindrical rotational viscometer (Bismetron VS-A1 manufactured by Shibaura System Co., Ltd.). The results are shown in Table 2.

As a result of the sensory evaluation, the mixed water mixed with the food composition A has a low viscosity, so that the precipitation of creatine is large. The mixed water mixed with the food composition E is too high in viscosity and difficult to drink. The mixed water in which B to D were mixed had a very small amount of creatine precipitate, and was moderately thick and easy to drink. In particular, the mixed water in which the food composition C was mixed had a very small amount of creatine precipitate, and was optimally thick.

Claims (8)

  A creatine-containing food composition comprising creatine and a thickening polysaccharide.   The creatine-containing food composition according to claim 1, wherein the thickening polysaccharide is xanthan gum.   The creatine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the blending amount of creatine is 14 to 90% by mass of the whole composition, and the blending amount of the thickening polysaccharide is 0.8 to 25% by mass of the whole composition. Containing food composition.   The creatine-containing food composition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the mixing ratio of creatine: thickening polysaccharide is 1: 0.02 to 0.4 by mass ratio.   The creatine-containing food composition according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising L-carnitine.   The creatine-containing food composition according to claim 5, wherein the compounding amount of L-carnitine is 0.2 to 21% by mass of the whole composition.   The creatine-containing food composition according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a high-sensitivity sweetener. The creatine-containing food composition according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the creatine-containing food composition is formed into a powder form by a fluidized bed granulation method.