JP2007330155A - Cacao tea and method for producing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide new cacao tea good to drink without addition of sugar. <P>SOLUTION: The cacao tea is obtained by roasting (fermented) cacao beans containing at least 40 wt.% of cacao butter. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to cacao tea and a method for producing the same.

Cocoa powder and chocolate are produced from cocoa beans. This cocoa bean is rich in polyphenols. Polyphenols may have various biologically favorable functions such as antioxidant, anti-cariogenic, arteriosclerotic, anti-carcinogenic, anti-stress, antibacterial / antiviral, anti-allergic, etc. As is known, polyphenols exhibit astringency and bitterness, and thus cannot be said to be a preferred component in terms of flavor, and operations for removal have been performed in the production of cocoa powder.
For example, it is known that cacao nibs can be treated with an alkali to reduce acidity, astringency, bitterness, etc., and improve taste, color, and aroma (for example, Patent Document 1).
WO99 / 65322

However, only sweet foods and drinks such as cocoa and chocolate with a large amount of sugar added to suppress sourness, astringency and bitterness have been obtained from cocoa beans. Moreover, the method of carrying out the alkali treatment to reduce these acidity, astringency, bitterness and the like has been troublesome.
The object of the present inventors is to provide a novel cacao tea that can improve these flavors by a simple method and can be eaten and consumed without adding sugar.

As a result of intensive studies aimed at achieving the above object, the present inventors have reached the present invention.
That is, the present invention provides (1) a cocoa tea obtained by roasting cocoa beans containing at least 40% by weight of cocoa butter (fermented); and (2) a (fermented) cocoa beans containing at least 40% by weight of cocoa butter. A method for producing cocoa tea, which is dried, roasted at a temperature of 150 to 300 ° C. for 15 to 60 minutes, and then rounded or pulverized; and (3) The cocoa tea is processed into a tea bag. Tea bag products.

The cocoa tea of the present invention and the production method thereof have the following effects.
(1) Even without adding sugar, there is no bitterness, sweet aroma and mellow taste, and you can eat and drink cacao tea containing polyphenols.
(2) Since the roasting temperature can be controlled without involving an alkali treatment, it can be easily produced.

The cocoa tea of the present invention is obtained by roasting (fermented) cocoa beans containing at least 40% by weight of cocoa butter.
In the present invention, the (fermented) cocoa beans to be roasted are cocoa beans or fermented cocoa beans, and at least 40% (preferably 50% to 60% or more, particularly 53 to 58%) of cocoa butter. )contains. [In the above and below,% represents% by weight. When the content of cocoa butter is less than 40%, the cocoa tea having the sweet scent and mellow taste targeted by the present invention cannot be obtained.
Such (fermented) cocoa beans are obtained by removing seeds from pulp from cocoa pods (fruits) containing 30 to 40 seed cocoa beans usually wrapped in rugby ball-shaped sweet white pulp (pulp). , Cocoa beans, and fermented cocoa beans, but the latter (fermented cocoa beans) is preferred.
In the present invention, as cocoa beans containing at least 40% cocoa butter (fermented) cocoa beans, it is preferable to use unsqueezed oil (not squeezed cocoa butter) (fermented) cocoa beans. It is also possible to use a partially or lightly squeezed oil as long as the cocoa butter content of at least 40% is maintained as long as it is not inhibited.
Such (fermented) cocoa beans are obtained by removing seeds from pulp from cocoa pods (fruits) containing 30 to 40 seed cocoa beans usually wrapped in rugby ball-shaped sweet white pulp (pulp). , Cocoa beans, and fermented cocoa beans. The latter (fermented cocoa beans) is preferred. Fermented cacao beans are obtained by taking pulp and seeds from cacao pods and fermenting them in a conventional manner (under the same conditions and conditions as before).
The method for producing cocoa tea according to the present invention comprises drying (fermented) cocoa beans containing at least 40% cocoa butter, roasting them at a temperature of 150 to 300 ° C. for 15 to 60 minutes, and then rounding or pulverizing them. It is characterized by comprising.
(Fermentation) Drying of cocoa beans can be carried out by sun drying or hot air drying. It is preferable to dry until the water content is 6% or less (particularly 1 to 3%). The measuring method of moisture can be measured by gravimetric method. Since the cocoa nibs themselves in the cocoa bean shell contain 3-7% of the moisture, it is necessary to remove any excess moisture that has been absorbed. If the water content exceeds 6%, the amount of polyphenol after roasting is extremely reduced, but this is not preferable because the sweet aroma and mellow taste are reduced.

  (Fermentation) The roasting of cocoa beans is preferably performed at a temperature of 150 to 300 ° C. (particularly 230 to 250 ° C.) for 15 to 60 minutes (particularly 15 to 45 minutes). When the roasting temperature is lower than 150 ° C., the bitter taste of cacao tea is increased, the sweet aroma is reduced, and the mellow taste is reduced. On the other hand, when the temperature is higher than 300 ° C., the amount of polyphenol after roasting is extremely reduced, but there is no bitterness, and a sweet fragrance and a mild taste are reduced. A roasting time of less than 15 minutes is not preferable because the amount of polyphenol is not reduced so much that the bitterness is increased, resulting in a cacao tea with a sweet scent and a mild taste. If it exceeds 60 minutes, the amount of polyphenol after roasting is extremely reduced, but there is no bitterness and the sweet aroma and mellow taste are reduced. That is, by satisfying this roasting condition, cacao tea having an appropriate amount of polyphenol but having no bitter taste and a sweet aroma and a mild taste can be obtained. Conventionally, roasting at such a high temperature has been disadvantageous for cacao beans, but it has been found that roasting in an appropriate time can produce such cacao tea.

  In order to leave a large amount of polyphenols present in the cocoa beans, it is preferable that the roasting time is short, but the above-mentioned fragrances depending on the types of cocoa beans and the types of cocoa beans to bring out the taste It is necessary to examine and select conditions such as temperature and time during the roasting treatment within the range. The water content in the roasted cocoa beans is preferably 1% or less, and within this water range, the polyphenol content hardly decreases during the subsequent pulverization step. There is no particular limitation on the amount of polyphenol, and even if it contains a large amount of polyphenol, the resulting cocoa tea may have a sweet scent and a mild taste without bitterness. The amount of polyphenol in cacao tea is preferably 2 to 10%. The amount of polyphenol can be measured, for example, by the following method.

(Polyphenol measurement method)
The total polyphenol content was extracted according to the polyphenol analysis method stipulated by the National Chocolate Industry Fair Trade Council and measured using a spectrophotometer according to the Folin Ciocalteu method.

The roasted (fermented) cocoa beans are then rounded or crushed to produce the cocoa tea of the present invention.
The pulverization step can be performed under the same method and conditions as in the production of cocoa powder. In this way, a powder of cacao tea containing polyphenols and having a sweet scent and a mild taste without a bitter taste without adding sugar can be obtained. The particle diameter and the like of the powder may be the same as those of a commercially available cocoa powder, and are not particularly limited. Since the cacao tea powder of the present invention contains at least 40% of oil, no oil extraction step is necessary. It is preferable not to perform the oil extraction process.

  In the production method according to the present invention, cocoa beans of all kinds and origins can be used. In order to obtain a cacao tea having a bitter taste, a sweet scent, a mild taste and a higher polyphenol content, it is preferable to use a cacao bean having a high polyphenol content and a production area as much as possible. For example, the polyphenol content of Ghanaian cocoa beans, which are widely used in the production of cocoa powder, is usually about 3.3% for raw beans, whereas Ecuadorian cocoa beans are usually about 3.6-6.3%. Due to the high polyphenol content, it is advantageous to use cocoa beans with a higher polyphenol content, such as Ecuadorian cocoa beans. Examples of cocoa beans having a high polyphenol content other than Ecuadorian cocoa beans include Venezuelan cocoa beans.

  The cacao tea powder thus obtained can be drunk by dissolving it in hot water or milk as it is, but it can also be drunk in a tea bag, boiled, poured out, or drunk. The size, shape, material, etc. of the tea bag are not particularly limited, and those conventionally used for black tea or Japanese tea can be used. The flavor of this cacao tea is a tea that has the flavor of roasted cacao drawn, has no bitterness, has a slight sweetness, and is balanced with polyphenols. Further, blending with other raw materials such as coffee, teas (barley tea, green tea, black bean tea, buckwheat tea, etc.), health tea (herb tea, etc.) and the like is also possible.

  EXAMPLES Next, although an Example, a comparative example, and a test example demonstrate this invention further in detail, it is not limited to these.

Example 1
Ghanaian cocoa beans were fermented by a conventional method and dried by hot air drying for 1 hour to adjust the water content to 5%. The fermented cocoa beans were roasted using a direct heating roaster, and roasted so that the final product temperature reached 150 ° C. in about 40 minutes after reaching 230 ° C. The roasted cocoa beans were ground and then pulverized to produce the cocoa tea of the present invention.

Test example 1
About cacao tea obtained in Example 1 and a commercially available black cocoa powder as a comparative example, the following (1) to (4) were eaten and consumed by 30 people, and the flavor was evaluated.
(1) Boiled cacao tea and then chilled in a refrigerator for half a day
(2) A cup of cacao tea (3) A cocoa powder boiled and then cooled in a refrigerator for half a day (4) A cocoa powder dissolved in hot water in a cup The results are shown in Table 1. The numbers indicate the number of people corresponding to the content of the following flavor determination.

(Content of judgment of flavor)
A: There was no bitter taste, a sweet scent, and a mild taste was felt.
B: Although there was some bitterness, there was a sweet fragrance and a mellow taste was felt.
C: Although there was no bitterness, a sweet fragrance and a mild taste were not felt.
D: There was a bitter taste, and a sweet scent and a mild taste were not felt.

  From Table 1, it can be seen that the cacao tea of the present invention has a sweet scent and a mild taste compared to commercially available cocoa powder.

The cacao tea and its production method of the present invention are suitably used as a food or drink for tea containing polyphenols.

Claims (4)

A cocoa tea obtained by roasting (fermented) cocoa beans containing at least 40% by weight of cocoa butter. The cocoa tea according to claim 1, wherein the cocoa beans are fermented cocoa beans. A method for producing cocoa tea comprising drying (fermented) cocoa beans containing at least 40% by weight of cocoa butter, roasting at a temperature of 150 to 300 ° C. for 15 to 60 minutes, and then rounding or pulverizing . A tea bag product obtained by processing the cacao tea according to claim 1 or 2 into a tea bag.