JP2008118940A - Method and apparatus for producing citrus fruit beverage - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To propose a method and an apparatus for producing a citrus fruit beverage having improved taste such as bitterness and sweetness and/or a highly functional food having active ingredients abundantly contained in sarcocarp by effectively utilizing the sarcocarp of mandarins etc., including the pericarp thereof. <P>SOLUTION: The method for producing the highly functional food and/or beverage comprises carrying out a treatment with high-temperature and high-pressure water without dividing the citrus fruits into the pericarp and sarcocarp. The method comprises steps 10 and 12 of primarily washing the citrus fruits, separating the citrus fruits from foreign materials such as branches or leaves and/or removing stains, a step 14 of adding water, as necessary, to the washed citrus fruits and slurrying the citrus fruits until the pump-pressing in can be carried out, a step of pressurizing the slurried material to a prescribed pressure, a step of heating the slurried material to a prescribed temperature, steps 18 and 20 of reacting the slurried material at 100-300°C temperature under 0.1-15 MPa pressure for a prescribed time of 0.01-60 s, a step 26 of cooling the resultant high-temperature and high-pressure product after the reaction and a step 22' of decompressing the high-pressure product after the reaction to atmospheric pressure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing a citrus beverage, and more particularly, a method and apparatus for producing a highly functional food and / or beverage using citrus fruits without dividing them into a skin and a flesh, particularly by high-temperature and high-pressure treatment and preferably subcritical or The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for producing a citrus beverage and / or a high-functional food with improved taste such as bitterness and sweetness using supercritical water.

  Satsuma mandarin, which is representative of citrus fruits, contains a lot of useful components such as β-cryptoxanthin that suppresses human colon carcinogenesis about 60 times in the pericarp compared to orange and grapefruit. According to the research report of the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Food Industry, β-cryptoxanthin is contained more in the skin (8 mg / 100 g) than in the pulp part (1 mg / 100 g). Further, the peel of mandarin orange contains many useful components such as pectin, vitamin E, and dietary fiber, and it is known that the peel is almost the same as the peel of summer oranges used as marmalade. Accordingly, there is a demand for product development that incorporates useful ingredients including the skin.

  Although the method of grind | pulverizing citrus fruit pulp with a peel and manufacturing a drink is known by patent documents 1-3, in the case of a mandarin orange, utilization of a fruit peel is hardly performed including a drink process in fact.

  Although the method of manufacturing a foodstuff etc. is known by processing using subcritical or supercritical water by patent documents 4-7, it is not what was applied to citrus fruits, such as a mandarin orange.

  Patent Document 8-9 discloses a method of treating a solution and collecting it by separating it into a high-boiling substance and a low-boiling substance. According to the present invention, the fragrance component and the concentrate are collected separately in the high-boiling substance and the low-boiling substance, but these documents do not mention anything about such points.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-300866 JP 2006-121950 A Japanese Patent Publication No.57-58152 Japanese Patent No. 3664486 JP-A-9-268166 JP 2002-101841 A JP-A-2005-34808 Japanese Patent No. 3469519 JP 2000-8073 A

  The object of the present invention is to provide a highly functional citrus beverage and / or an active ingredient that is contained in a large amount of fruit skin, such as mandarin oranges, and the fruit skin of the citrus fruit and the like and improved in taste such as bitterness and sweetness. It is to propose a method and an apparatus for producing a food.

  One of the problems described above is a method for producing a highly functional food and / or beverage by subjecting citrus fruits to high temperature and high pressure water treatment without dividing the citrus fruits into pericarp and flesh. A step of separating from foreign substances and / or removing dirt, a step of adding water to the washed citrus fruits as needed to make a slurry until pumping is possible, and a step of pressurizing the slurry to a predetermined pressure A step of heating the slurry to a predetermined temperature, a step of reacting the slurry at a pressure of 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa and a temperature of 100 ° C. to 300 ° C. for a predetermined time of 0.01 seconds to 60 seconds, and after the reaction This is achieved by comprising a step of cooling the high-temperature and high-pressure product of the present invention and a step of reducing the pressure of the high-pressure product after the reaction to atmospheric pressure.

  Another problem is that in a device for producing high-functional foods and / or beverages by treating citrus fruits with high-temperature and high-pressure water without separating them into pericarp and flesh, the citrus fruits are first washed to remove foreign matter such as branches and leaves. Means for separating and / or removing dirt, means for adding water to the washed citrus fruits as needed to make a slurry until pumping is possible, means for pressurizing the slurry to a predetermined pressure, Means for heating the slurry to a predetermined temperature, means for reacting the slurry at a pressure of 0.1 MPa-15 MPa and a temperature of 100 ° C.-300 ° C. for a period of 0.01 seconds-60 seconds, and a high temperature after the reaction This is achieved by providing means for cooling the high-pressure product and means for reducing the pressure of the high-pressure product after the reaction to atmospheric pressure.

  According to the present invention, citrus beverages that are effectively used including fruit skins such as mandarin oranges, have reduced bitterness, and are improved in various tastes such as sweetness, sourness, astringency, and salty taste. On the other hand, foods of useful components such as a carcinogenic inhibitory effect contained in a large amount in the pericarp are obtained separately.

FIG. 1 is a block float chart showing the basic configuration of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block float chart in which cooling and depressurization are atmospheric pressure flashes. FIGS. 3A and 3B are detailed flow sheet examples when putting FIG. 2 into practical use.
First washing / separation (10) to remove dirt and foreign matters by administering pre-purified water to the citrus fruits including their skins along with the flesh, and secondary washing / removal of pesticides using warm water (supercritical CO2) Separation (12) is performed, and water is used as necessary to make a slurry by coarse crushing, fine pulverization, and homogenization until further pumping is possible (14), pressure of 0.1 MPa-15 MPa, 100-300 Hydrolysis is carried out by reacting at a temperature of 0.degree. C. for a period of 0.01 seconds to 60 seconds (18B, 20), and then cooled (26) and decompressed (22 ') to recover the product. Detailed processes or devices (means) are as follows.

  Receipt / selection of raw materials: Similar to the conventional method, mandarin oranges transported by truck etc. are stored and temporarily stored in containers, etc., and moved to the subsequent selection conveyor. Unripe fruits, deformed fruits and spoiled fruits are manually removed from the oranges on the fruit selection conveyor. Thereafter, the selected citrus fruits (mandarin oranges) enter the primary washing / separating apparatus 10.

  Primary cleaning / separation device 10: The outer skin is cleaned by mechanically cleaning a mandarin orange on a device composed of a high-pressure spray and a rotating roll with a brush.

Secondary cleaning / separation device 12: The raw mandarin orange may be contaminated with the agricultural chemical spray. In this case, a cleaning agent may be used in addition to the above cleaning operation. In this case, a fatty acid detergent or the like is generally used as the cleaning agent. In the cleaning operation, this cleaning agent is dropped on a rotating brush to remove the pesticides adhering to the surface of the outer skin. After that, the fresh detergent is applied to remove the attached detergent. If necessary, pure water may be used instead of fresh water to increase the cleaning effect.
In a special case, it is also possible to remove the pesticide using the dissolving power of supercritical carbon dioxide. In this case, the target orange is filled in a pressure vessel and washed under conditions above the critical point of carbon dioxide (31 ° C. · 7 MPa). If necessary, ethanol or water may be added to increase the cleaning effect.

  Slurry device 14: Slurry is required for press-fitting the pump. The situation of slurrying depends on the performance of the press-fitting device in the latter stage, but if a coarse slurry is acceptable, a mechanical crushing device (eg crushing with a rotary blade) is sufficient, and if a finer slurrying is required In addition to the above rough crushing, grinding means (mill, stone mill, etc.) and various homogenizing means (homogenizer) are used. As the homogenizer, a high-speed rotation type homogenizer (for example, a clear mix manufactured by M Technique Co., Ltd.), a high-pressure high-speed type homogenizer, a cavitation type ultrasonic homogenizer, or the like is used. In the above-mentioned grinding means and homogenizing means, it is possible to add fresh water or pure water.

  Press-fitting device 16: A high-pressure pump or an extruder (extruder) is used as the press-fitting device, but press-fitting with a pump is adopted except in special cases. As a pump type, a reciprocating pump is generally used, and a plunger pump, a diaphragm pump, and a piston pump are used. However, when a required discharge pressure is 10 MPa or less, it is based on a mono type pump composed of a rotating rotor and a stator. Press-fitting is also possible. If it is a MONO type pump, a rough crushing degree is sufficient for slurrying in the previous stage.

  Heating unit 18: As a heating device, an indirect heating method using a double tube heat exchanger or a direct mixing heating method using direct mixing of high-temperature high-pressure water can be employed. Indirect heating by a double tube heat exchanger generally causes the mandarin slurry to flow on the inner tube side and the heating medium to flow on the annular portion side. In this case, if necessary, a high-temperature product after the reaction can be used as a heat medium on the low temperature side (heat exchanger inlet side), which is advantageous in terms of energy. (The former stage of the heat exchanger is used as a regenerative heat exchanger, and the latter stage is heated with a heat medium such as steam.) The direct mixing heating method by direct mixing of high-temperature and high-pressure water is in principle the temperature rise time to the reaction temperature. This is a very short time and may prevent heat denaturation of useful substances such as vitamins. In addition, this method has advantages such as a very simple system configuration compared to the indirect heating method, prevention of burns due to overheating, and the prevention of dirt and clogging. Has the disadvantage of being diluted.

  Reactor 20: In the reactor, solubilization of the mandarin orange raw material and molecular weight reduction occur by hydrolysis. Optimum operating conditions (temperature, pressure, time) are those required for foods, such as useful ingredient composition (sugar composition, acid composition, flavonoid composition, dietary fiber content ...), color and aroma, and of course taste (Sweetness, bitterness, acidity ...) and texture also affect the reaction conditions. In terms of apparatus, there is also a tube reactor constituted by simple high-pressure piping from a Bessel reactor having an internal stirring mechanism. In particular, in the case of a short-time reaction, it is advantageous to employ a tube reactor.

  Cooler 26: The cooling mechanism is the same as that of the heating device, and an indirect cooling method or a direct mixing cooling method by direct mixing of cooling water can be adopted. Usually, an indirect cooling method is used to avoid excessive dilution of the product. Is used. Like the heater, the high-temperature product is flowed to the inner tube side, but since the solubilization is sufficiently progressed in the cooler, a thin film flow type heat exchange system that flows down the inner wall surface of the inner tube is also possible. In this method, the inner film heat transfer coefficient can be increased, and the apparatus can be downsized and cooled in a short time. Moreover, since the fluidity | liquidity of a high temperature product is improved in the cooler, it is not limited to a double tube type heat exchanger, A multi-tube type heat exchanger can also be adopted.

  Pressure reducing device 22 ': As the pressure reducing device, there are a continuous pressure reducing method using a pressure control valve and a batch pressure reducing method using a collection container. A continuous decompression system is advantageous if mass processing is intended, and if an orifice or capillary tube is installed before and after the control valve as necessary, the durability of the control valve is improved, which is practically advantageous.

  Atmospheric pressure flash 22 (see FIG. 2): As a method of performing the above cooling and decompression at the same time, it is possible to flush a high temperature and high pressure product to the atmospheric pressure. In this method, the high-temperature and high-pressure product after the reaction is decompressed at once with a control valve, and the enthalpy of the product is converted into the enthalpy of 100 ° C vapor and 100 ° C liquid. Can be separated into high-boiling products.

  As a method of performing the above cooling and decompression at the same time, it is possible to flush the high temperature and high pressure product to the atmospheric pressure, and its configuration example is shown in FIG. 2. Here, the heating unit 18 is connected to the supercritical water production apparatus 18W. Although supercritical water is directly mixed from the above, an indirect heating method may be used.

  Also in FIG. 2, 10 shows a primary washing / separation process in which pre-purified water is administered to citrus fruits including their skins together with the flesh to remove dirt and foreign matters, and 12 shows hot water (supercritical CO2) depending on the case. The process 12 of the secondary washing | cleaning and isolation | separation which removes an agrochemical using is shown. Reference numeral 14 denotes a slurrying step in which water is used as needed to perform slurrying until rough pumping, fine pulverization, and homogenization are possible until pump press-fitting is possible. Reference numeral 16 denotes a press-fitting step using a pump or the like. 18 and 20 show the steps of performing hydrolysis by reacting at a temperature of 100 to 300 ° C. for a predetermined time of 0.01 to 60 seconds using a pressure of 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa, preferably subcritical water or supercritical water. , 22 indicates a pressure reduction process in which a flash tank or the like for reducing the pressure to atmospheric pressure is used. The vaporized product and the liquefied product are separated by this process, and both are cooled by a condenser (cooler) 24 or a cooler 26. The former is a low-boiling product as an aroma component, and the latter is a high-concentration product. Collect the boiling product.

  FIG. 3 is a detailed flow sheet substantially corresponding to the configuration of FIG. 2, and the primary cleaning / separation process 10 is performed by the coarse cleaning device 10m, and the secondary cleaning / separation process 12 is performed by the pesticide cleaner 12m. After removing dust and the like by rough washing, the attached pesticide is washed with warm water (pure water) at 60-80 ° C. In that case, depending on the case, it carries out by supercritical CO2. A surfactant may be added during washing with warm water to remove agricultural chemicals. In that case, hot water washing is further performed in the latter stage.

  The slurrying step 14 is mainly performed by a homogenizer 14m equipped with a mixer. The washed citrus fruits are put into a fine machine and finely divided (0.5-100 μm) with a high-speed homogenizer 14 m while roughly crushing with a crushing high-speed mixer. The slurry (fruit juice) that has passed through the high-speed homogenizer 14m is sent from the valve V-1 to the upper part of the tank and is refined while repeating the circulation. The refined slurry is sent to the heating unit 18A by the high-pressure pump 16m. Although the heating unit 18A is a heating method by direct mixing of subcritical water or supercritical water, an indirect heating method using an 18B heating medium or an indirect heating method using 18C electricity may be employed.

  The heated slurry is sent to the reactor 20 by a high-pressure pump 16m, in which case a pressure of 0.1-15 MPa, preferably subcritical water or supercritical water, is used at a temperature of 100-300 ° C. and 0.01- Hydrolysis is carried out by reacting for a fixed time of 60 seconds.

  Usually, hydrolysis is performed by using an acid catalyst such as sulfuric acid or an alkali catalyst such as sodium hydroxide as a method for hydrolysis, but according to the present invention, the catalyst is not used only in a high-temperature and high-pressure water field. Solubilization (hydrolysis) can be performed, and since no chemicals such as sulfuric acid or sodium hydroxide are used, there is no problem of residual chemicals.

  The high-temperature and high-pressure product after the reaction is depressurized to atmospheric pressure at a stretch before and after the pressure control valve, and is ejected into the flash tank 22m. The product is divided into a gas component and a liquid component in the flash tank, both of which are cooled by a condenser (cooler) 24m or a cooler 26m, the former being a low-boiling product as an aroma component and the latter being a high concentrate as a concentrate. Collect the boiling product. Although not shown, it is proposed to use the energy recovered from the cooling process for the heat source of the heating process. Detailed devices are as follows.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

The flow sheet of the entire apparatus is shown in FIG. 4, the conditions for slurrying are shown in Table 1, and the experimental conditions are shown in Table 2.
After cleaning the surface of Satsuma mandarin with pure water, remove the foreign matter and spoilage, and then remove the sticky portion of Satsuma mandarin. Put Satsuma mandarin into the preparation tank, add the same amount of pure water, and roughly crush using a hand mixer. Then, a stirrer and a crusher (high-speed rotation type homogenizer) are operated at the same time to further finely crush the roughly crushed mandarin orange in the adjustment tank. After operation for a predetermined time, the slurryed mandarin orange in the tank is collected. The conditions for slurrying are shown in Table 1.

  In this apparatus, the mandarin orange slurry finely pulverized in advance is pressurized with a plunger pump and pressed into the heating section. As the heating unit, heating can be performed by two methods, a heating method by direct mixing of subcritical and supercritical water and an indirect heating method (double pipe heat exchanger) by heat medium oil. The reaction part is a metal thin tube itself, and a 1/8 inch commercial SUS316 tube (SUB316L) having an inner diameter of 1.175 mm, an outer diameter of 3.175 mm, and a length of 186 mm was used. The cooler was a double-pipe heat exchanger, and a high-temperature product was passed through the inner pipe and cooling water from the chiller unit was passed through the outer pipe. The cooled product passed through a filter and was reduced to atmospheric pressure by a spring-type holding valve.

  Using a slurry of mandarin orange, a direct mixing and heating experiment using high-temperature and high-pressure water was conducted, and reaction products under each condition were collected. Using a high-pressure pump, preheat water with a supercritical water generator at a predetermined pressure (15 Mpa), supply slurryed mandarin orange with nitrogen pressure from another high-pressure pump at 0.1 Mpa, and mix directly with high-temperature and high-pressure water After the mandarin orange slurry was heated and the reaction tube was retained, the reaction tube was cooled, and then cooled using a double tube heat exchanger, and the pressure was reduced to atmospheric pressure via a back pressure valve, and the reaction product was recovered.

The collected reaction product was analyzed for pH and sugar content using a pH meter and a saccharimeter. The measurement results are shown in Table 3.

  From Table 3, in the said experiment, although the fluctuation | variation of pH value in each reaction condition was not seen, sugar content was improved by 175 degreeC and 200 degreeC process.

The reaction product (100 ° C./150° C./200° C.) collected in the experiment was analyzed using a taste recognition device (SA402B) developed by Intelligent Sensor Technology Co., Ltd. In order to compare with the reaction product, analysis was performed by combining commercially available juice and fruit juice obtained by squeezing the fruit portion of the citrus fruit of the same material as the slurry mandarin orange. The analysis results are shown in Table 4, and the radar chart of each evaluation item is shown in FIG.

  From Table 4 and FIG. 5, sweetness and umami richness were improved by performing a high temperature / high pressure treatment.

The schematic flowchart which showed the example of a structure. A detailed flow sheet showing another configuration example. The detailed flow sheet concerning the first half which showed the other structural example. The detailed flow sheet concerning the second half showing another embodiment. Flow sheet of experimental equipment. Radar chart of each evaluation item of analysis result.

Explanation of symbols

10 Primary cleaning / separation process 12 Secondary cleaning / separation process 14 Slurry process 16 Press-in process 18 Heating process 20 Reactor 22 Depressurization process 24 Cooling process 26 Cooling process

Claims (12)

In a method for producing a highly functional food and / or beverage by subjecting citrus fruits to high temperature and high pressure water treatment without separating the skin and pulp,
A step of primarily washing citrus fruits to separate them from foreign matters such as branches and leaves, and / or removing dirt;
Adding water to the washed citrus fruits as necessary and slurrying them until pumping is possible,
Pressurizing the slurry to a predetermined pressure;
Heating the slurry to a predetermined temperature;
Reacting the slurry into a pressure of 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa and a temperature of 100 ° C. to 300 ° C. for a period of 0.01 seconds to 60 seconds;
Cooling the high-temperature and high-pressure product after the reaction;
A method for producing a highly functional food and / or beverage from citrus fruits, comprising the step of reducing the pressure of the high-pressure product after the reaction to atmospheric pressure. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of removing the pesticide adhering to the skin after the primary washing. The method according to claim 2, wherein the pesticide removing step is hot water cleaning and / or supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of heating the slurry to a predetermined temperature is direct mixing of subcritical water or supercritical water. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of cooling and depressurizing the high-temperature and high-pressure product after the reaction is performed by atmospheric pressure flash, and is divided into a fragrance component of the low-boiling product and a concentrate of the high-boiling product. . The method according to claim 1, wherein the heat source of the heating step is recovered energy from the cooling step. In an apparatus for producing high-functional foods and / or beverages by treating citrus fruits with high-temperature and high-pressure water without dividing them into pericarp and pulp,
Means for primarily washing citrus fruits to separate them from foreign matter such as branches and leaves, and / or removing dirt;
Means for adding water to the washed citrus fruits as needed and making it into a slurry until pumping is possible,
Means for pressurizing the slurry to a predetermined pressure;
Means for heating the slurry to a predetermined temperature;
Means for reacting the slurryed product at a pressure of 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa and a temperature of 100 ° C. to 300 ° C. for a period of 0.01 seconds to 60 seconds;
Means for cooling the high-temperature and high-pressure product after the reaction;
An apparatus for producing a highly functional food and / or beverage from citrus, characterized by comprising means for reducing the pressure of the high-pressure product after the reaction to atmospheric pressure. 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising means for removing agricultural chemicals adhering to the skin after the primary cleaning. 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the pesticide removing means is hot water cleaning and / or supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning. 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the means for heating the slurry to a predetermined temperature is direct mixing of subcritical water or supercritical water. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the means for cooling and decompressing the high-temperature and high-pressure product after the reaction is by atmospheric pressure flash, and is divided into a fragrance component of the low-boiling product and a concentrate of the high-boiling product. . 8. A device according to claim 7, characterized in that the heat source of the heating means is recovered energy from the cooling means.

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