JP2007222103A - Chocolate improver, and chocolate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a chocolate improver, and to provide chocolate improved in palate feeling, flavor and appearance. <P>SOLUTION: This chocolate improver contains unfermented tea leaves. The unfermented tea leaf is at least one kind selected from the group consisting of green tea, superior green tea and powdered tea. The size of the unfermented tea leaf is 10-25mm. The chocolate mixed with the improver is mixed with 1-15 wt.% of the unfermented tea leaves based on 100 wt.% of chocolate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a chocolate improving agent and chocolate having improved texture, flavor and appearance.

  Generally, chocolate with a different texture from chocolate, shell chocolate with cream, jam, nuts, fruits, etc. in chocolate, enrober (covering part or all of biscuits and wafers) There was chocolate etc.

  Moreover, the chocolate which improved the food texture of chocolate itself was chocolate which added the food texture improving agent which consists of fats and fats and an emulsifier to a chocolate composition.

  However, this chocolate changed the physical properties of the chocolate by changing the composition of the chocolate.

  By the way, most tea leaves are used for drinking, and most of them are processed into sencha. However, in recent years, active ingredients such as catechins and dietary fibers possessed by tea leaves have been reviewed, and attempts have been made to ingest them by processing them as food.

  Specifically, matcha tea, which is obtained by selecting the leaf part excluding the stem with much fiber of tea leaves and processing it into fine powder, is mixed with confectionery such as cookies and cakes, and the tea leaves themselves are powdery or granular It was finely crushed and added to other foods to be used for food.

  However, if the powdered green tea is evenly applied to the confectionery and mixed, the mixed confectionery will turn green or the green tea will turn brown when heated. The types and cooking methods were limited.

  In addition, powdered green tea is easy to get wet and easily discolored at room temperature, so it is difficult to store and handle it, and it is very difficult to use because it takes time and effort to mix with water before mixing. There was a face.

  On the other hand, as a food prepared by cooking tea leaves as they are without being powdered, there are tea mashes in which tea leaves are mixed with tempura powder and then mixed with fried tempura and rice.

  As a confectionery manufacturing technology using tea leaves, Patent Document 1 proposes a confectionery that can reliably ingest the active ingredients inherent to tea leaves and a method for manufacturing the same.

  Patent Document 2 proposes a baked confectionery containing tea, cyclodextrin, branched cyclodextrin, and cyclic starch, and a method for producing the baked confectionery.

  Further, Patent Document 3 proposes chocolate having chocolate and chocolate confectionery as a component of chocolate.

  And patent document 4 has proposed the method of adhering powdery tea leaves, such as matcha tea, on the surface of chocolate-like food.

JP 2002-182 A (Claim 1, Claim 2) JP 2000-41569 A (Claims 1 to 5) Japanese Patent No. 2609180 (Claim 1, Claim 2) Japanese Patent No. 3094209 (Claim 1, Claim 2)

  However, the confectionery described in Patent Document 1 is a confectionery in which the flavor of rice is added to the tea leaves by applying a required adhesive to the outer surface of the baked expanded rice to adhere the tea leaves closely, The powder was shredded and had no crispy texture.

  The tea-containing baked confection described in Patent Document 2 comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of tea leaves, kona tea, matcha tea, and tea extract, and cyclodextrin, branched cyclodextrin, and cyclic starch. A baked confectionery containing at least one selected from the group as a raw material composition, cyclodextrin, in order to prevent catechin alteration / discoloration during baking, discoloration during storage, and to improve peeling from the oven band, Since cyclodextrin is added to the baked confectionery to which at least one selected from the group consisting of branched cyclodextrin and cyclic starch is added, there is a problem that the production cost increases.

  In addition, the chocolate described in Patent Document 3 is a chocolate confectionery that contains matcha tea as a component and a confectionery body that is coated with powdered green tea, and has a crisp texture unique to tea leaves. There wasn't.

  The method described in Patent Document 4 is a method in which powdered tea leaves such as matcha tea are fixed on the surface of a chocolate-like food, and this also has no crispy texture peculiar to tea leaves.

  In view of the above-mentioned problems, unlike the conventional chocolate texture, flavor and appearance, a chocolate improving agent having a completely new texture, flavor and appearance using tea leaves themselves without pulverizing or pulverizing tea leaves. And aims to provide chocolate.

  In order to achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention is a chocolate improving agent containing non-fermented tea leaves.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the chocolate improving agent of the first aspect, the non-fermented tea leaves are at least one selected from the group consisting of sencha, gyokuro, and strawberry tea.

  According to a third aspect of the invention, in the chocolate improving agent of the first or second aspect, the size of the unfermented tea leaves is 10 to 25 mm.

  The structure of 4th invention is the chocolate formed by mixing an improving agent in any one invention of 1st-3rd invention.

  The configuration of the fifth invention is characterized in that in the chocolate of the fourth invention, 1 to 15% by weight of unfermented tea leaves is mixed with respect to 100% by weight of chocolate.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to confine the fresh fragrance of green tea in a thinly shaped chocolate for a long period of time, and a texture that harmonizes the crispy texture unique to tea leaves and the crispy texture unique to chocolate I can enjoy it.

  In addition, you can taste delicious chocolates that are not found in the past, with the astringency and bitterness of rich green tea and the sweetness of smooth chocolate. This is a chocolate with a new, health-oriented texture, flavor and appearance that the times demand by mixing green tea leaves with a Japanese-style flavor inside the Western-style chocolate. This product is mixed with green tea and condensed.

  When the chocolate of the present invention is eaten, the chocolate scent and sweetness are first felt, and the tea leaf scent and astringency spread in the mouth a little later, and the chocolate scent and sweetness and the tea leaf scent and astringency are sufficient. You can enjoy it.

  The chocolate used in the present invention is preferably chocolate mainly composed of cacao mass, cacao butter, milk powder, sugar, etc., for example, bitter chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, raw chocolate, couverture chocolate, pure chocolate / pure chocolate, etc. Can be used for

  In addition, the components of chocolate contain cacao, polyphenol and the like. The effects of chocolate include anti-oxidant action, anti-arteriosclerosis-inhibiting action, prevention of alcoholic gastric ulcer, anti-cancer action, anti-allergic action, diabetes prevention and anti-aging.

  The size of the unfermented tea leaves used in the present invention is preferably 10 to 25 mm. If the size of the tea leaves is less than 10 mm, the scent and texture of the tea leaves are not felt so much. Moreover, when the size of the tea leaves exceeds 25 mm, the scent of the tea leaves is felt, but the texture of the tea leaves becomes more prominent than that of chocolate. In addition, the tea leaves protrude from the chocolate and damage the appearance of the chocolate.

  The shape of the tea leaves is steamed with steam or heat from the picked fresh leaves, dried and trimmed, and the green tea in a state of being well twisted and elongated into needles or steamed fresh leaves is steamed. It is preferable to use flat and thin tea leaves that are dried and trimmed.

  And, the moisture content of tea leaves is dried to 1.0-2.9%, the ingredients such as vitamins and minerals are greatly improved, and the vivid green taste and aroma are also soft and soft Can be obtained.

  Furthermore, examples of the types of tea leaves include steamed teas such as sencha, gyokuro, mochi tea, kabusecha, and bancha, and general green teas such as kettle-fried tea such as tama green tea and Chinese green tea. These green teas can maintain the green color of the green tea without changing the active ingredients inherent in the tea leaves by inactivating the enzymes present in the tea leaves with heat in the steaming step of the production process.

  In particular, among green teas, sencha should have a refreshing fragrance and a harmony of astringency and sweetness. Also, gyokuro has a unique taste that the sweet taste of the theanine, which is a umami component, increases. In addition, strawberry tea should have a good aftertaste with a slight umami taste.

  In addition, the components of green tea contain catechins (a type of polyphenol), theanine (a type of amino acid), γ-aminobutyric acid (gaba), vitamin C, vitamin E, caffeine, carotene, etc., or dietary fiber. ing.

  And as for the effects of green tea, blood pressure rise inhibitory action, platelet aggregation inhibitory action, hypoglycemic action, antiallergic action, anticariogenic action (caries prevention), antibacterial / antitoxin / antiviral action, antioxidant action, anticancer action, Anti-arteriosclerosis inhibitory effect, prevention of adult diseases, diabetes prevention, enhancement of memory and concentration.

  On the other hand, the soluble components of tea leaves are the first one, and 60% of the soluble components contained in tea leaves are eluted, and the remaining 40% of fat-soluble vitamins, fibers, bound minerals, etc. are not eluted and remain as they are. It remains in the tea leaves.

  Therefore, if the entire tea leaves are eaten and eaten, the active ingredients of the tea leaves that are discarded as tea husks are ingested without losing them, which is very effective nutritionally.

  The amount of tea leaves mixed is preferably 1 to 15% by weight, more preferably 3 to 10% by weight, with respect to 100% by weight of chocolate. If the tea leaf is less than 1% by weight, the bitterness and aroma of the tea will be defeated by the sweetness and aroma of the chocolate, and if it exceeds 15% by weight, the bitterness of the tea will be too thick and too bitter.

  In this invention, the raw material component of chocolate is preferably composed of an emulsifier such as cacao mass, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, sugar, lecithin, etc. If necessary, a flavor such as vanilla or a malt extract may be added. .

  The chocolate of the present invention was produced by the following procedure for chocolate tempering (temperature adjustment).

  (1) A commercially available chocolate bar was finely chopped in advance and placed in a bowl and overlaid on another bowl containing hot water at 50 ° C. to make a hot water bath.

  (2) Next, the chocolate completely dissolved at 40 to 50 ° C. is cooled while being uniformly stirred. When the temperature becomes 32 to 33 ° C., which is slightly lower than the melting point, 27 to 29 ° C. while stirring as much as possible. When it was lowered to a crystal, it began to solidify. Here, cooling was stopped, stirring was continued, and crystals were grown.

  (3) Since crystals produced at 27 to 29 ° C. take time to form stable crystals even if hardened as they are, in order to grow stable crystals, care should be taken at 2 to 3 ° C. While heating and maintaining at 30 to 32 ° C., the mixture was sufficiently stirred to grow fine and stable crystals. In order to make the crystals uniform, the longer the stirring time at 30 to 32 ° C., the more stable the crystals became, and the glossy, soft mouthfeel and smooth melted chocolate was finished.

  (4) The heating temperature varies somewhat depending on the type of fats and oils contained in the chocolate, and milk chocolate and white chocolate contain milk fat from whole milk powdered milk, so they were set lower by 2 to 3 ° C. than the above. .

  (5) The tempered chocolate was poured into a bowl containing tea leaves and mixed evenly with a spatula so that the tea leaves did not break.

  (6) Next, the chocolate mixed with the tea leaves was put into a nylon squeeze bag with a 7 mm diameter cap and squeezed out into a circular rubbing type (also called a chablon type) having a diameter of 40 mm and a thickness of 2 mm. And on the chocolate squeezed out so that air may not enter, the acrylic resin board of length 50mm x width 50mm x thickness 0.5mm was quickly mounted, and the chocolate was pressed and made flat.

  (7) The flattened chocolate was cooled in a refrigerator set at a temperature of 15 to 18 ° C. for 3 to 4 hours, and the gloss and solidity of the surface were confirmed to produce a chocolate with tea leaves.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing chocolate with tea leaves produced by the above-described manufacturing method.

  Hereinafter, the chocolate with tea leaves in the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Fig.1 (a) is a perspective view of the chocolate with the tea leaf of Example 1 produced by the composition of Table 1 described later, and Fig.1 (b) was cut along the AA line of Fig.1 (a). It is an expanded sectional view.

  In the present embodiment, the shape of the chocolate is a disk shape in FIG. 1A. However, the shape is not particularly limited to this shape, and may be an arbitrary shape.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (a), 1 is a chocolate with tea leaves, and 3% by weight of candy tea tea leaves 3 having a size of 10 mm is irregularly mixed inside a disc-shaped (diameter 40 mm) white chocolate 2. . Since the white chocolate 2 molded to a thickness of 2 mm has translucency, the mixed tea leaves 3 could be visually confirmed from the outside.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG.1 (b), since the tea leaf 3 was completely enclosed by the disk shaped white chocolate 2 and was interrupted | blocked with air, the oxidation of the tea leaf 3 was able to be prevented.

  In order to permeate the tea leaves mixed in the white chocolate 3, the thickness of the white chocolate 3 is 1 to 10 mm, more preferably 2 to 8 mm.

(Sensory test 1)
Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 in which the thickness of the chocolate and the blending amount of green tea leaves were changed according to the formulation of Table 1, and the texture, flavor and appearance of each chocolate were sensory by panelists The test was conducted, and the answers were given in three grades: ◎: good, ○: normal, ×: bad.

  The results of sensory test 1 are shown in Table 1.

  Example 1 of white chocolate having a thickness of 2.0 mm and a tea leaf content of 3% by weight finished with a smooth and smooth mouthfeel, and the texture, flavor and appearance of chocolate and tea leaves were all good. . In particular, the appearance (appearance) of the white chocolate can be confirmed at a glance that green tea leaves are randomly scattered and mixed, and the chocolate has a novel design with excellent design.

  Example 2 of bitter chocolate having a thickness of 5.0 mm and a tea leaf content of 5% by weight and Example 3 of bitter chocolate having a thickness of 10.0 mm and a tea leaf content of 10% by weight are as follows: Although the green color of the tea leaf was hidden behind the chocolate brown color and could not be confirmed, the texture and flavor of the chocolate and tea leaf were very easy to eat.

  In Comparative Example 1 of the milk chocolate having a thickness of 15.0 mm and a tea leaf content of 0.5% by weight, the bitterness and aroma of the tea leaf were defeated by the sweetness and aroma of the chocolate and did not feel much. Moreover, the green tea leaf was hidden behind brown chocolate and could not be confirmed. I feel the texture of chocolate but not the texture of tea leaves.

  In Comparative Example 2 of the milk chocolate having a thickness of 20.0 mm and a tea leaf content of 25% by weight, the bitterness of the tea was too thick and too bitter. The texture of chocolate is better than that of tea leaves. In addition, there were many tea leaves and the chocolate surface was uneven.

  As shown in the results of Sensory Test 1, when 1 to 15% by weight of tea leaves are mixed with 100% by weight of chocolate, the astringency and bitterness of rich green tea and the sweetness of smooth touched chocolate moderately harmonize. It was eaten deliciously like never before. Therefore, it was found that this amount of tea leaves is easy to eat.

(Sensory test 2)
Sensory test on the texture, flavor and appearance of Examples 4 and 5 and Comparative Examples 3 and 4 in which the amount of tea leaves mixed in the white chocolate used in Example 1 was 3% by weight and mixed with tea leaves of different sizes Evaluation was performed in the same manner as in Example 1, and the results of Sensory Test 2 are shown in Table 2.

  In Example 4 in which the size of the tea leaf was 10 mm and Example 5 in which the size of the tea leaf was 20 mm, the texture, flavor and appearance, that is, the balance of appearance were all good.

  On the other hand, in Comparative Example 3 in which the size of the tea leaves was less than 10 mm, the scent and texture of the tea leaves were not felt so much.

  On the other hand, in Comparative Example 4 in which the size of the tea leaves exceeds 25 mm, the color of the whole chocolate looks green, and the appearance balance is not good.

  As the results of Sensory Test 2 show, when the size of the tea leaves is 10 to 25 mm, the astringent taste and bitter taste of rich green tea and the sweetness of smooth touch chocolate are moderately harmonized and eaten deliciously. It was. Therefore, it was found that tea leaves of this size are easy to eat.

It is the perspective view and AA line expanded sectional view of the chocolate with a tea leaf which showed the 1st Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Chocolate with tea leaves 2 ... White chocolate 3 ... Tea leaves

Claims (5)

A chocolate improving agent comprising non-fermented tea leaves. The improving agent according to claim 1, wherein the non-fermented tea leaves are at least one selected from the group consisting of sencha, gyokuro, and bud tea. The size of the non-fermented tea leaves is 10 to 25 mm, The improver according to claim 1 or 2. Chocolate which mixes the improvement agent of any one of Claims 1-3. The chocolate according to claim 4, wherein 1 to 15% by weight of unfermented tea leaves is mixed with 100% by weight of chocolate.

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