JP2008220600A - Pigmented food for masticatory function test and masticatory function test method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a food and a masticatory function test method capable of simply testing the masticatory function at a sufficiently high accuracy. <P>SOLUTION: This pigmented food for the masticatory function test is formed by containing pigment such as carotene in a food material such as Gumi-jelly which is segmented into a plurality of masticated pieces by the mastication and, in the masticatory function test, provides a masticatory function evaluation value by measuring the concentration of the pigment eluted from the masticated pieces of the food for the masticatory function test after the mastication. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a food for testing a masticatory function and a masticatory function testing method using the food.

  Conventionally, a sieving method using peanuts has been used worldwide as a method for measuring masticatory efficiency. In the sieving method using peanuts, about 3 g of peanuts are chewed a prescribed number of times by the measurement subject, and then all the crushed pieces of peanuts are collected and sieved with a sieve having a roughness of 10 mesh. Subsequently, after the peanut crushed pieces remaining on the sieve are dried at 80 ° C. for 1 hour, the weight of the peanut crushed pieces is measured, and the weight of the peanut crushed pieces that have passed through the sieve is calculated from the measurement result. And the weight% of this peanut ground piece with respect to the peanut before mastication is computed from the calculation result as a masticatory efficiency evaluation value.

  However, in the masticatory function testing method using peanuts, peanuts, which are natural foods, vary in size and hardness, and thus there is a problem that the accuracy of measuring the masticatory efficiency is low. Moreover, since the peanut grind pieces after mastication must be dried, there is a problem that it takes a long time to measure the mastication efficiency.

Accordingly, the inventors have developed a masticatory function testing method using gummy jelly. Hereinafter, “gummy jelly” refers to a food containing gelatin that can be subdivided into a plurality of bite fragments by chewing.
In the masticatory function test method using gummy jelly, the test subject is allowed to chew the test gummy jelly for a specified number of times, and then all bite fragments of gummy jelly are collected and washed with tap water. Thereafter, the washed gummy jelly bite fragment is stirred in distilled water, and the glucose concentration eluted from the bite fragment surface into the water is measured using a simple blood glucose meter.

  According to the masticatory function testing method using gummy jelly, gummy jelly can be manufactured with a uniform shape and dimensions, and therefore, higher measurement accuracy can be obtained compared to a conventional measurement method using peanuts. Moreover, since it is not necessary to dry the gummy jelly bite piece after mastication, the measurement result can be obtained in a shorter time compared to the conventional measurement method using peanuts.

However, according to the inventors' research, the conventional masticatory function testing method using gummy jelly also improves the measurement accuracy compared to the masticatory function testing method using peanuts, but still provides sufficiently high measurement accuracy. It turned out not to be.
In addition, in the future masticatory function tests, the physiological significance of mastication will be considered in light of the recent diversification of test subjects such as healthy persons, patients with illness, care recipients, and persons undergoing rehabilitation. It is required to be a faithful test, to be able to test the mastication ability in a short time, and to be a highly versatile test for children to elderly people requiring care.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a food product and a masticatory function test method capable of easily testing the masticatory function with sufficiently high accuracy.

The food containing a pigment for masticatory function test according to the present invention is characterized in that it can be subdivided into a plurality of bite fragments by mastication or contains a pigment in a viscoelastic food material.
Specifically, gummy jelly containing gelatin can be adopted as the food. As the pigment, a carotene pigment, a marigold pigment, or a paprika pigment can be used. Among these, a carotene pigment is most suitable, and a paprika pigment is preferred next.

  The masticatory function test method according to the present invention uses the food for testing masticatory function as described above, and measures the concentration of the pigment eluted from the bite fragment of the food for testing masticatory function after mastication, thereby evaluating the masticatory function Is what you get.

More specifically, the masticatory function testing method according to the present invention is as follows.
A water washing step of washing the bite piece of the food for masticatory function test after mastication for a certain period of time;
A stirring step of stirring the bite piece after washing in water for a certain period of time;
A concentration measurement step for measuring the concentration of the pigment eluted from the surface of the bite fragment after stirring into the water;
An evaluation value deriving step for deriving a masticatory function evaluation value from the measured pigment concentration according to a relationship between a pigment concentration and a masticatory function evaluation value prepared in advance.

In the concentration measurement step, the agitated bite piece is allowed to stand for a predetermined time, and then a voltage corresponding to the dye concentration is detected using a light emitting element and a light receiving element.
In the evaluation value deriving step, the surface area of the bite fragment is derived from the detected voltage according to the relationship between the voltage prepared in advance and the surface area of the bite fragment, and the derived surface area is used as the masticatory function evaluation value.
Here, since there is a high correlation between the amount (concentration) of the pigment eluted from the surface of the bite fragment after stirring into the water and the surface area of the bite fragment, it is prepared in advance if the pigment concentration is detected as a voltage value. According to the relationship between the voltage and the bite fragment surface area (regression equation), the surface area of the bite fragment can be accurately calculated from the detected voltage, and a highly accurate masticatory function evaluation value can be obtained.

  According to the masticatory function test pigment-containing food and the masticatory function test method according to the present invention, the masticatory function can be easily tested with sufficiently higher accuracy than before.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
The food containing a pigment for masticatory function testing according to the present invention contains a pigment in a food that can be subdivided into a plurality of bite fragments by chewing, and employs a gummy jelly containing gelatin as the food. ing. As the pigment, carotene pigment, marigold pigment, or paprika pigment is adopted as a pigment suitable for the masticatory function test from among many naturally derived pigments for foods on the market.

FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 show examples of components of a carotene dyed gummy jelly, marigold dyed gummy jelly, paprika dyed gummy jelly, cochineal dyed gummy jelly, and red cabbage dyed gummy jelly, respectively.
On the other hand, FIG. 6 shows components of a conventional general gummy jelly, and the present invention is obtained by adding other components including a dye as shown in FIG. 7 to such a general gummy jelly. It is the basis of such pigment-containing gummy jelly for masticatory function testing.

  The masticatory function test method according to the present invention obtains a masticatory function evaluation value by measuring the concentration of the pigment eluted from the bite fragment of the masticatory function test food after mastication using the food for masticatory function test as described above. Is.

Specifically, the pigment-containing gummy jelly (20 × 20 × 10 mm, about 5.5 g) of the present invention was freely chewed by the subject 30 times, and then, in the first step S1, as shown in FIG. The gummy jelly bite piece is washed with water for 30 seconds to remove saliva or blood adhering to the bite piece surface.
In the second step S2, the washed bite fragment is put into water (35 ° C., 25 ml), stirred for 20 seconds using a stirrer to elute the dye to be measured into water, and the concentration of the eluted dye Homogenize.

Subsequently, in the third step S3, the stirred bite piece is left in water for 1 second, and the pigment concentration in the upper layer is converted into a voltage using a light emitting element and a light receiving element.
Thereafter, in the fourth step S4, the surface area of the bite fragment is calculated from the converted voltage from the regression equation prepared beforehand (relationship between voltage and surface area), and the result is used as the masticatory function evaluation value.

Hereinafter, an experiment for selecting a pigment suitable for the masticatory function test will be described.
(1) Selection from normally distributed food-derived natural pigments (first selection)
The pigments used in the experiment were first selected in consideration of food safety among the naturally occurring pigments for foods currently on the market.
As a result, red sea bream, marigold, carotene, lycopene, spirulina, gardenia blue, red radish, turmeric, paprika, gardenia yellow, onion, purple corn, grape peel, red cabbage, cochineal, elderberry, kouliang, anato, safflower, And 20 types of red yeast rice.

(2) Selection based on familiarity with gummy jelly (secondary selection)
First, because of the necessity for inclusion in gummy jelly, secondary selection was performed using the situation when mixed with gummy jelly among the 20 types of dyes as a criterion.
As a result, grape peels and cucumbers were excluded from the pigments used in the present invention because they formed a lump of pigment when mixed and were difficult to mix uniformly.

(3) Analytical experiment using the absorbance curve of each dye (third choice)
The masticatory function test method according to the present invention optically detects the concentration of a dye eluting in water using a light-emitting diode, so that it is possible to know whether it has an absorbance characteristic suitable for the detection method. 18 kinds of dye-containing gummy jelly, all of which were unified to 0.5%, were divided into 4 parts, the surface area was set to 2400 mm ^2, and the absorbance curve peculiar to each dye was analyzed using a spectrophotometer.
The absorbance is a scale indicating the absorption intensity of a substance with respect to light having a specific wavelength, and the value increases as the dye concentration increases.

  Since the inspection method according to the present invention reads the change in absorbance due to the concentration of the dye eluted in water, it is difficult to measure the minute change in the concentration of the dye eluted in water with a dye having a low absorbance. Judged to be unsuitable for the inspection method.

  Absorbance was measured for all wavelengths of 300 to 900 nm. The reason for this is that the spectrophotometer used can be used with a single light source, and the wavelengths of the three primary colors RGB (R: (625 nm, G: 565 nm, B: 430 nm) is included in this range.

From this measurement, 18 types of absorbance curves were obtained as shown in FIG. 9, but when the influence (peak height and wavelength) due to the inclusion of the dye was taken into account, the absorbance of the peak was low. Except for red yeast rice, elderberry, lycopene, red kouji, purple corn, gardenia yellow, onion, the wavelength range of the blue detection range of the light-emitting diodes used is wide, and the order of priority for use is low. The blue lines of gardenia blue and spirulina, which are not visually acceptable as test foods, were excluded, except for safflower, turmeric and gardenia yellow, which had a peak at.
As a result, five types of carotene, marigold, paprika, cochineal and red cabbage were selected.

  In addition to the above five types of dyes, some have a certain level of absorbance, such as Spirulina, Gardenia Blue, etc., but as a food for testing, such as low transparency and blue color. It was decided to be excluded from the subject for reasons such as being visually unacceptable.

(5) Absorbance test for each concentration of 5 types of dyes (4th selection)
In order to examine the absorbance curve of the dye itself as a pre-stage for incorporating the dye into gummy jelly, measurements were carried out on a dilute solution of five kinds of dyes using a spectrophotometer. In this experiment, five types of dyes were diluted to various concentrations, and the relationship between the dilution and absorbance was examined. The results are shown in FIGS.

  From this measurement, it was found that for the four types excluding carotene (marigold, paprika, cochineal, red cabbage), the absorbance was substantially zero in the high wavelength region, and the solution was not suspended. Therefore, it can be determined that these four types of dyes are adapted to the basic conditions as the measurement target.

  However, in carotene, it is considered possible to use as a measurement target because the suspension tendency disappeared by further diluting the dye diluted solution. In addition, when carotene dyes are diluted to a lower concentration than other dyes, there is a merit that the absorbance can be measured with higher accuracy. Therefore, it is considered that carotene dyes have higher priority than other dyes. From this, it can be said that carotene is a more advantageous dye than other dyes from the viewpoint of increasing the sensitivity of the dye concentration in the inspection method of the present invention, that is, the measurement accuracy.

  On the other hand, when tap water was added in preparing a diluted solution of red cabbage and cochineal, the solution changed color. This is one of the important tasks adopted in this inspection method, because there is a step of washing the chewed and cut gummy jelly with tap water, so discoloration is accurate in the inspection method of the present invention. It can be said that this is a fatal phenomenon in which measured values cannot be obtained. Therefore, these two types of dyes were excluded from the subject.

(6) Measurement experiment of elution concentration of dye from gummy jelly surface containing each dye (5th selection)
Gummy jelly (2 x 2 x 1 cm, approx. 5.5 g) containing 0.5% of each of the three types (carotene, marigold, and paprika) that have been narrowed down as a result of the above selection is manufactured. With respect to the 4-division, 8-division, and 16-division samples, the concentration of each dye eluted in water was measured according to the procedure of the inspection method of the present invention, and the following items were examined.

(6-1) Examination in absorbance curve As shown in FIGS. 15 to 17, in any of the above three types of dyes, the absorbance curve clearly rises according to the number of divisions (increase in surface area).
Further, the relationship between the eluted glucose concentration and absorbance was examined for the above three types of dyes. As the absorbance, numerical values at R: 625 nm, G: 565 nm, and B: 430 nm were used. The results are shown in FIGS. In the figure, an equation for linear regression is shown. For any dye, a high coefficient of determination is recognized between the glucose concentration and the absorbance, and it is effective to use such a dye as a new test method. Sex was shown.

(6-2) Relationship between the surface area of the gummy jelly and the voltage of the light receiving section In order to investigate the relationship between the surface area of the gummy jelly bite fragment and the voltage of the light receiving section, three types of pigments (carotene, marigold, paprika) containing gummy jelly Experiments were conducted to examine the interrelationships between the light receiving part voltage, the elution concentration of each dye, the surface area of the gummy jelly, etc. for RGB as the characteristics of The results are shown in FIGS. In addition, the voltage of 3 points | pieces of RGB in distilled water was adjusted to 2.00V.

In any of the dyes, a high correlation is observed between the absorbance and the light receiving unit voltage at two wavelengths (G and B). 21 to 23 show an approximate expression and a determination coefficient (R ² ). Among the three types of dyes, the determination coefficient of carotene is the largest, and the determination coefficient of paprika is the next largest, so these two dyes are considered to be more suitable.

(7) Experiments on adaptive concentrations of carotene and paprika Since the suspension of the solution at the time of elution of the pigment is suppressed by increasing the water solubility, various pigment-containing concentrations (0 for carotene and paprika having high water solubility) 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.7%, 0.9%) gummy jelly was manufactured, and the light receiving part voltage by RGB was measured. The results are shown in FIGS.

Regarding carotene, at a concentration of 0.1%, the elution of the dye is small and measurement is difficult. On the other hand, when the concentration is 0.9%, the dye concentration is high, so the upper limit (voltage value) of the measured value is low, and the measurable range of 0 to 2 V cannot be used effectively.
On the other hand, at the concentrations of 0.3%, 0.5%, and 0.7%, the absorbance increases as the concentration increases, and the voltage range increases, and measurement within this range is effective. .
A suitable carotene concentration range of 0.3 to 0.7% is 0.0075 to 0.0175% in terms of the concentration of β-carotene contained in the carotene pigment.

As shown in FIG. 33, in the case of carotene, when the relationship between the light receiving portion voltage and the absorbance for RGB is observed, there is little variation in the measurement voltage for RGB, and a voltage value sufficiently corresponding to a slight difference in surface area can be obtained. It was shown that.
In particular, when the relationship between the absorbance and the light receiving portion voltage is verified for green (G), as shown in FIG. 34, linearity is obtained in the relationship between the absorbance and the logarithmically transformed voltage, and yet a high determination coefficient is obtained. It was. Therefore, it has been found that the examination method based on the relationship between the light receiving part voltage and the absorbance of G in carotene can be sufficiently utilized clinically.

  In addition, when carotene was diluted with both distilled water and tap water, it was examined whether or not the difference in the data appeared. Therefore, it can be said that there is no problem even if tap water is used at the time of inspection.

  On the other hand, for paprika, although there is a difference in measured values between different concentrations, at the same concentration, the change in voltage with respect to the increase in surface area of gummy jelly is small, and it can be said that it is slightly inferior to carotene in terms of measurement accuracy. .

  As described above, regarding the selection of the pigment to be included in the gummy jelly, a voltage change with respect to the surface area of the gummy jelly bite fragment can be seen for all the pigments. . Also, a measurement voltage value with less variation is more suitable. In addition, the voltage value range is wide due to the difference in the surface area of the gummy jelly bite piece, and it is necessary to obtain a value that sufficiently corresponds to the voltage even for a slight difference in the surface area.

From this point of view, carotene can be said to be more advantageous than other dyes because of the wide range of absorbance in the change in voltage with respect to absorbance.
In addition, since the determination coefficient when regressing the surface area of the bite fragment from the value of the light receiving unit voltage at each wavelength for the three primary colors RGB has the largest value for green among the three primary colors, the light receiving unit voltage using green is used. The method of detecting the bite and deriving the bite fragment surface area from the value is optimal.

As described above, the masticatory function testing method using the food containing the pigment for masticatory function testing according to the present invention is capable of chewing function such as the bite fragment surface area by optically measuring the concentration of the pigment eluted from the bite fragment after mastication. Since an evaluation value is obtained and the test is faithful to the physiological significance of mastication, a highly accurate test result can be obtained.
In addition, after about 90 seconds after chewing the pigment-containing food, the surface area of the bite fragment can be obtained as a numerical value, so that the chewing ability can be examined in a short time, and it is versatile for children and elderly people requiring care. A high masticatory function test is realized.

Therefore, the pigment-containing food for masticatory function test and the masticatory function test method according to the present invention can be used as a masticatory ability test before treatment and evaluation of dental treatment effect, and the degree of understanding of dental treatment by sharing information Is expected to increase.
It can also be used for group oral examinations of children and school children, and it is possible to accurately evaluate the developmental state of individual chewing ability according to age. In addition, the ability to chew adults, elderly people, and outpatients and residents in nursing homes can be evaluated, and meals according to individual chewing ability, feeding, chewing, swallowing guidance, etc. are effectively performed. It becomes possible.

In addition, each part structure of this invention is not restricted to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible within the technical scope as described in a claim. For example, as a food to which a pigment to be measured should be added, not only gummy jelly, but also marshmallow, chewing gum, soft candy, caramel, and other foods (confectionery) manufactured using various gelling agents should be adopted. I can do it. Here, as a gelling agent, pectin, gellan gum, carrageenan, agar, ferceleran, alginic acid and other seaweed extracts, locust bean gum, tara gum, guar gum, tamarind seed polysaccharide, gum arabic, tragacanth gum, karaya gum, starch, soy protein, One or more of plant natural polymer substances such as wheat protein, xanthan gum, pullulan, dextran, curdlan-produced natural polymer substances, animal natural polymer substances such as casein and albumin, and processed starch A gelled mixture of seeds can be employed.
Moreover, as a pigment | dye, not only the above-mentioned natural colorant but a synthetic colorant can also be employ | adopted.

It is a chart which shows an example of a component of gummy jelly containing a carotene pigment. It is a graph which shows an example of the component of the gummy jelly containing a marigold pigment. It is a chart which shows an example of a component of gummy jelly containing paprika pigment. It is a graph which shows an example of the component of a gummy jelly containing a cochineal pigment | dye. It is a chart which shows an example of a component of gummy jelly containing a red cabbage pigment. It is a chart which shows the component of a common gummy jelly. It is a graph which shows the component of the gummy jelly with a pigment | dye used as the basis of this invention. It is process drawing which shows the masticatory function test | inspection method which concerns on this invention. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the wavelength in a several pigment | dye, and a light absorbency. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the wavelength about a carotene pigment | dye, and a light absorbency by using dilution as a parameter. It is a graph same as the above about a marigold pigment | dye. It is a graph same as the above about a paprika pigment | dye. It is a graph same as the above about a cochineal pigment | dye. It is a graph same as the above about a red cabbage pigment | dye. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the wavelength and light absorbency about gummy jelly containing a carotene pigment, using the surface area as a parameter. It is a graph same as the above about the gummy jelly containing a marigold pigment. It is a graph same as the above about the gummy jelly containing a paprika pigment | dye. It is a graph which shows the correlation of glucose concentration and light absorbency about the gummy jelly containing a carotene pigment. It is a graph same as the above about the gummy jelly containing a marigold pigment. It is a graph same as the above about the gummy jelly containing a paprika pigment | dye. It is a graph which shows the correlation of a surface area and light-receiving part voltage about gummy jelly containing a carotene pigment. It is a graph same as the above about the gummy jelly containing a marigold pigment. It is a graph same as the above about the gummy jelly containing a paprika pigment | dye. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the surface area and light-receiving part voltage for every three primary colors, and the relationship between a wavelength and a light absorbency about the gummy jelly containing a carotene pigment having a predetermined pigment concentration. It is a graph same as the above in other pigment | dye density | concentrations. It is a graph same as the above in other pigment | dye density | concentrations. It is a graph same as the above in other pigment | dye density | concentrations. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the surface area and light-receiving part voltage for every three primary colors, and the relationship between a wavelength and a light absorbency about the gummy jelly containing the paprika pigment | dye which has a predetermined pigment | dye density | concentration. It is a graph same as the above in other pigment | dye density | concentrations. It is a graph same as the above in other pigment | dye density | concentrations. It is a graph same as the above in other pigment | dye density | concentrations. It is a graph same as the above in other pigment | dye density | concentrations. It is a graph which shows the correlation of the light absorbency and voltage value for every three primary colors about the gummy jelly containing a carotene pigment. It is a graph which shows the correlation of the green light absorbency and logarithmic voltage value about the gummy jelly containing a carotene pigment.

Claims (17)

  A pigment-containing food for testing masticatory function, wherein the pigment is contained in a food material that can be subdivided into a plurality of bite fragments by mastication or has viscoelasticity.   The pigment-containing food for masticatory function testing according to claim 1, wherein the food contains gelatin.   The said foodstuff is a gummy jelly, The pigment | dye containing food for a masticatory function test | inspection of Claim 2.   The said pigment | dye is a carotene pigment | dye, The pigment | dye containing food for a masticatory function test | inspection in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3.   5. The pigment-containing food for masticatory function test according to claim 4, wherein the content concentration of the carotene pigment is 0.2% to 0.8%.   6. The pigment-containing food for masticatory function testing according to claim 5, wherein the content concentration of the carotene pigment is 0.3% to 0.7%.   The food containing pigment for masticatory function test according to claim 4, wherein the content concentration of β-carotene in the carotene pigment is 0.0075% to 0.0175%.   The said pigment | dye is marigold pigment | dye, The pigment | dye containing food for a masticatory function test | inspection in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3.   The said pigment | dye is a paprika pigment | dye, The pigment | dye containing food for a masticatory function test | inspection in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3.   A method for examining masticatory function using foods containing pigments in foods that can be subdivided into multiple bite fragments by mastication, and eluting from the bite fragments of the food for masticatory function test after mastication A masticatory function test method characterized by obtaining a masticatory function evaluation value by measuring a concentration of a pigment. A water washing step of washing the bite piece of the food for masticatory function test after mastication for a certain period of time;
A stirring step of stirring the bite piece after washing in water for a certain period of time;
A concentration measurement step for measuring the concentration of the pigment eluted from the surface of the bite fragment after stirring into the water;
The masticatory function test method according to claim 10, further comprising an evaluation value deriving step of deriving a masticatory function evaluation value from the measured pigment concentration according to a relationship between a pigment concentration and a masticatory function evaluation value prepared in advance. .   In the concentration measurement step, after the agitated bite piece is allowed to stand for a certain period of time, a voltage corresponding to the pigment concentration is detected using a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and in the evaluation value deriving step, a voltage prepared in advance is detected. The masticatory function testing method according to claim 11, wherein a surface area of the bite fragment is derived from the detected voltage according to a relationship between the surface area of the bite fragment and the bite fragment, and the derived surface area is used as a masticatory function evaluation value.   The masticatory function testing method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the food contains gelatin.   The masticatory function testing method according to claim 10, wherein the pigment is a carotene pigment.   The masticatory function inspection method according to claim 14, wherein when detecting a voltage corresponding to a dye concentration using a light emitting element and a light receiving element in the concentration measuring step, a light receiving part voltage for green is detected.   The masticatory function testing method according to claim 10, wherein the pigment is a marigold pigment.   The masticatory function testing method according to claim 10, wherein the pigment is a paprika pigment.

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