JP2011072230A - Textured protein material, and method for producing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for producing a textured protein material having structure and texture close to protein material produced by a wet method in spite of being produced by a dry method. <P>SOLUTION: The method for producing the protein material having fiber texture includes using a bivalent metallic compound and organic acid together in a method for producing textured protein by using a raw material derived from soybean followed by extruding the material under pressure heating, using a twin-screw extruder. The protein material as protein structure having fiber texture, including a bivalent metallic compound and organic acid, is also provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention provides a textured protein material that is excellent in fiber texture and chewy.

Conventionally, many attempts have been made to produce protein materials having a fibrous structure using raw materials derived from soybeans. The manufacturing method is roughly classified into “wet method” and “dry method”.
The main wet method is the so-called spinning method, in which soy protein is dissolved in an alkaline solution, extruded from a fine hole into an acidic solution, solidified, and the fibers are spun. There is known a method of producing a fibrous protein material rich in fibril structure by dissolving at high temperature in an exchange pipe, applying back pressure and extruding to normal pressure through an orifice.
As a dry method, a method is known in which a structured protein is produced by adding water to soybean protein or other raw materials and extruding from a die under pressure and heating with an extruder.

  For example, as an example of a wet method for producing a fibrous protein having a fibril structure, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-25535, US Pat. No. 3,6626771) and Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-26625), (US Pat. No. 3,662,672) discloses a method in which a soybean protein slurry is given a molecular orientation under heat flow and released into a reduced pressure part.

A product produced by a wet method contains water, while a product produced by a dry method is a dried product and is often reconstituted with hot water when used.
The wet method and the dry method have different physical properties and textures, and each has its own unique characteristics.
The biggest feature of the wet method is that the fibrous structure is clear. And it has a firm texture that is similar to meat.
Thus, attempts have been made to devise a fiber texture that can be obtained by a wet method even in a dry method that is superior in productivity, although it is inferior to the fibrous structure of the product. For example, by using starch as a part of the raw material, when the product is reconstituted in hot water, the starch portion dissolves in hot water, so that the remaining protein portion exhibits fiber properties and expresses a fiber texture One of them is.
However, most of the products prepared by the dry method have not obtained a fiber texture like that prepared by the wet method when the hot water is reconstituted.

Another feature of the wet method is its excellent flavor. The applicant of the present application has also studied in the past in order to obtain a product having an excellent flavor in the dry method as in the wet method. Among them, an example using a calcium compound is shown.
First, Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-165644) discloses a method for producing a protein food product in which a soybean-derived raw material, a calcium compound, and water are heated by an extruder and reacted under pressure to be extruded from a die.

Patent Document 4 discloses a method for producing a protein food which is prepared by extruding a soybean-derived raw material and water by using a calcium compound and starch in combination when heated and pressurized with an extruder and extruding from a die. 279099).
A method for producing a protein food is characterized in that a soybean-derived material and a salt or hydroxide of magnesium or calcium are kneaded under heating and pressure to form a structure, and Patent Document 5 (JP 2001-2001) No. 275576, Japanese Patent No. 3543723).
The above Patent Documents 3 to 5 describe that a soybean protein material having an excellent flavor can be obtained. However, it does not reach the fibrous protein material prepared by the wet method in terms of texture such as crunch.

In the granular soybean protein material, a method using citric acid is also disclosed as a method for improving the flavor.
For example, Patent Document 6 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-58460) describes that citric acid is added to defatted soybean as a raw material as a method for producing a granular soybean protein material. However, in Patent Document 6, the addition of citric acid is only for the purpose of improving the flavor, and the effect of the citric acid on the “tissue” is not disclosed at all.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-25535 Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-26625 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-165644 JP 2000-279099 A JP 2001-275576 A JP-A-56-58460

The present invention is directed to a textured protein material having a fiber texture close to that obtained by a wet method (see Patent Documents 1 and 2) while being a dry method.
More specifically, the mouth feels a fibrous texture similar to the fibrous protein obtained by discharging under pressure from an orifice, which is one of the wet methods, and has a firm and chewy texture equivalent to the fibrous protein. A textured protein material having a certain texture was aimed.

  As a result of intensive studies to solve the problems, the present inventors have studied a method for producing a textured protein having excellent fiber texture by extruding under pressure and heating using an extruder (for example, Patent Document 4). As a result, a tissue-like protein material with an excellent fiber texture can be obtained by using citric acid in combination with a divalent metal compound such as a calcium compound or a magnesium compound that has been found to have a flavor improving effect. Found to get. And the same effect was found not only with citric acid but in combination with other organic acids, and the present invention was completed.

That is, the present invention
(1) In a method for producing a textured protein material by adding water to a soybean-derived raw material and extruding it under pressure and heating using a biaxial extruder, a bivalent metal compound and an organic acid are used in combination. A method for producing a textured protein material having a fiber texture.
(2) The production method of (1), wherein the divalent metal compound is a calcium compound.
(3) The production method of (1), wherein the organic acid is citric acid.
(4) A textured protein material having a fibrous texture, characterized by containing a divalent metal and an organic acid.
(5) The textured protein material according to (4) comprising 0.01 to 2.5% by weight of a divalent metal and 0.2 to 3.5% by weight of an organic acid in a dry solid content of the textured protein material.
It is about.

According to the present invention, a fibrous protein produced by discharging a protein slurry from an orifice under a back pressure while being a method for producing a textured protein obtained by extruding under pressure and heating using an extruder (“dry method”). A product having a close texture can be obtained.
That is, it is possible to obtain a textured protein material having an excellent fiber texture and a crunchy texture.

  In the method for producing a textured protein material by adding water to a soybean-derived raw material and extruding under pressure and heating, using a biaxial extruder according to the present invention, a bivalent metal compound and an organic acid are used in combination. A method for producing a textured protein material having a fiber texture will be described.

As the biaxial extruder used in the present invention, a known one can be used.
Extruders include single-axis extruders and multi-axis extruders with two or more axes. It is difficult to produce a protein material having a fiber texture with a uniaxial extruder. A multiaxial extruder is preferred for forming a fiber texture. Practically, biaxial extruders are commercially available and are often used.
This extruder has a die attached to the tip barrel, having a feed mechanism, a feed, feed, mixing, compression, and heating mechanism inside the barrel.

The raw material described below is supplied to a biaxial extruder and extruded from a die under pressure and heating while adding water.
The tip barrel temperature is suitably 120 to 220 ° C (preferably 130 to 180 ° C).
For the pressurization, a barrel tip die pressure of 2 to 100 kg / square cm (preferably 5 to 40 kg / square cm) is appropriate.
The die can be a die that pushes in the screw feed direction or a die that pushes in the outer peripheral direction of the feed direction (so-called peripheral die).
The diameter of the die can be appropriately determined depending on the form of the desired product.

  When the raw material is supplied to the extruder, water is added appropriately. Water at that time can be adjusted with a valve while observing the state of the textured protein material extruded from the die. More specifically, the amount of water added is not particularly limited as long as the desired fiber texture can be obtained. Usually, the water content in the raw material is 12 to 50% by weight, preferably 20 to 44% by weight. Do as follows.

Although the raw material used for this invention has the raw material derived from a soybean as a main component, other animal protein and vegetable protein can be used together. Further, starches, grains and the like can be used in combination.
As a raw material derived from soybean as a main component, it is possible to use one kind or two or more kinds from among whole fat soybean powder containing oil, defatted soybean powder, soybean milk powder, concentrated soybean protein, separated soybean protein, etc. it can.
The “other protein” used in combination is preferably a protein derived from oil seeds such as peanut, rapeseed, cottonseed, or a heat-gel-forming vegetable protein such as protein derived from cereals such as wheat, corn, and rice. Proteins derived from microorganisms or microorganisms can also be used.
One of the features of the present invention is that the crude protein content in the raw material of the textured protein material is relatively higher than that of the conventional raw material used for producing the textured protein by an extruder.
Conventionally, relatively inexpensive defatted soybeans have been used as a main raw material from the viewpoint of productivity, and other grain proteins have been used in combination. Therefore, the crude protein content was relatively low.

However, the present inventor has realized that it is necessary to increase the crude protein content in order to obtain a firm texture comparable to the fibrous protein material by the wet method by the “dry method”.
The raw material of fibrous protein obtained by discharging under pressure from an orifice, which is one of wet methods, is acid-precipitated soybean protein, so the crude protein content is about 90% by weight in terms of dry solids. However, it may be produced by adjusting the crude protein content to make the texture soft. However, it is very rare that the crude protein content is still below 75% by weight.
In order to increase the crude protein content in the raw material of the textured protein material of the present invention, separated soybean protein or egg white having a high crude protein content can be used in combination.

However, in the method using an extruder, when the crude protein content of the raw material is increased as in the wet method, it tends to be difficult to form a material that can suppress swelling and obtain a fiber texture.
As a result of research, by using a divalent metal compound and an organic acid in combination, the crude protein content in the dry solid content in the raw material of the textured protein material is preferably 60 to 80% by weight, more preferably 65 to 75%. It has been found that a textured protein material having the desired fibrous structure can be obtained by adjusting the weight percentage.
In addition, when the content of the crude protein in the raw material of the textured protein material is too high, not only the swelling is suppressed and the texture becomes hard, but it may be difficult to form a fibrous structure. If the crude protein content is too low, the texture of the fiber becomes weak, which is extremely weak compared to the texture of the fibrous protein.

As a means of adjusting the crude protein content in the raw material of the textured protein material, among the soybean-derived raw materials, a combination of a high and low crude protein content, or an animal protein with a high crude protein content such as egg white is used. It can also be used together.
For example, separated soybean protein having a high crude protein content (about 90% by weight) and defatted soybean, full fat soybean, okara, concentrated protein (concentrate), etc. having a low crude protein content can be combined. Concentrated proteins include acid concentrates and alcohol concentrates, both of which can be used. Since the acid concentrate has a low pH, the divalent metal compound can be converted to a carbonate or the amount of organic acid can be reduced.
Moreover, a starch raw material can also be used together, and it can be set as the textured protein raw material which was further excellent in the fibrous structure by this. However, if too much starch raw material is used, the ratio of protein in the raw material becomes too low, and the fiber texture may be weakened.

In addition, fats and oils can be used if necessary.
By using a pressed soybean that has not been defatted as a soy-derived raw material, the fats and oils contained in the raw material can be used.
As fats and oils, vegetable oils and fats such as soybean, rapeseed, goma, palm and palm, animal fats and oils from fish, cattle, pigs, etc., oils and fats obtained by sorting, curing and transesterifying them can be used.
By using an appropriate amount of fats and oils, swelling of the textured protein material extruded from the extruder is suppressed. If the swelling is suppressed, the texture becomes harder, but moderate hardness has the effect of bringing the texture of the fibrous protein material by the wet method closer to that.
The amount of the oil to be added is not particularly limited, but it is usually less than 6% by weight, and can be contained in a large amount when the oil is added as an emulsion, and can be less than 12% by weight. When there is too much quantity of the fats and oils to add, expansion may be suppressed too much and it may become hard too much.

A feature of the present invention resides in that a divalent metal compound and an organic acid are used in combination.
Whichever is missing, it is extremely difficult to obtain a textured protein material that is excellent in target fiber texture.
First, the divalent metal compound will be described. A divalent metal compound has the effect | action which expresses the fiber texture of this invention.
The content of the divalent metal compound in the solid protein material in the dry solid content is preferably 0.01 to 2.5% by weight, more preferably 0.25 to 1.0% by weight as a metal. If the amount of the divalent metal compound is too large or too small, it may be difficult to obtain the desired fiber texture.
As the divalent metal compound, one or two or more kinds of calcium compounds and magnesium compounds can be used. When one kind of divalent metal compound is used, a calcium compound is preferable.

The calcium compound used in the present invention is preferably a calcium salt. For example, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, calcium chloride and the like can be preferably used. More preferably, it is calcium sulfate. Calcium hydroxide can also be used.
Conventionally, since the main purpose was to improve the flavor as well as swelling, calcium compounds having a swelling action such as calcium carbonate have been preferred. However, in the present invention, a calcium compound that does not promote swelling such as calcium sulfate is preferable in order to have a firm texture while having a fiber texture.

  In the case of using a magnesium compound, it can be used as a salt such as sulfate, carbonate, chloride, and hydroxide in the same manner as the calcium compound, and magnesium sulfate is more preferable. It is even more preferable to use a magnesium compound and a calcium compound in combination.

Next, the organic acid will be described.
The content of the organic acid in the solid protein material used in the present invention in the dry solid content is preferably 0.2 to 3.5% by weight, more preferably 0.4 to 2% by weight. If the amount of the organic acid is too small, the protein material to be obtained has a texture that is less crunchy and may not reach the firmness of the fibrous protein. On the other hand, if the amount is too large, swelling of the resulting protein material is suppressed and it becomes difficult to obtain a fiber texture, which may result in a fine porous hard texture. That is, the organic acid has a great influence on the “texture” in the present invention.
The organic acids used in the present invention are preferably approved as food additives, and specifically include lactic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, oxalic acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid, sorbic acid, benzoic acid, and citric acid. Can do. Citric acid is preferred.
The textured protein material obtained as described above has a fiber texture containing a divalent metal and an organic acid. Although the said fiber texture was obtained by the dry method, it was comparable with the wet method and the flavor was also favorable.

Examples and comparative examples are illustrated below. All parts mean weight basis.
Example 1, Comparative Example 1, Comparative Example 2
As Example 1, 40 parts by weight of defatted soybean (from Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. degreased with n-hexane), 60 parts by weight of powdered soybean protein ("Fuji Pro R" from Fuji Oil Co., Ltd.) , 5 parts by weight of corn starch (“Corn Star Y” manufactured by Sanwa Starch Co., Ltd.), 0.7 parts by weight of palm oil (“Palm Ace 10” manufactured by Fuji Oil Co., Ltd.), calcium sulfate (“sulfuric acid manufactured by Kishida Chemical Co., Ltd.) Calcium A ") 1 part by weight (0.3 parts by weight as calcium) and citric acid (" Citric acid (anhydrous) regular "manufactured by Fuso Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) 0.5 part by weight under the following conditions while adding water Organized using an extruder.
As Comparative Example 1, the same treatment was carried out using a blend obtained by removing citric acid from the blend.
As Comparative Example 2, the same treatment was carried out with the formulation obtained by removing calcium sulfate from the above formulation.

The extruder used is KEI-45-25 type twin screw extruder manufactured by Kowa Kogyo Co., Ltd., the diameter of the die used is 6.5 mm × 1 hole, the processing amount: powder raw material flow rate: 30 kg / h, screw rotation Number: Manufactured under the condition of 200 rpm.
The obtained protein material was cut with a cutter immediately after the die exit so as to have a length of about 1.5 cm, and dried with hot air at 80 ° C. so that the water content was 8 wt%.
This protein material was hydrated at 25 ° C. for 30 minutes, and a fibrous protein having a fibril structure (“Fuji Pure SP-300” manufactured by Fuji Oil Co., Ltd.) with a water content of about 65% and a crude protein content of 78 wt. %) Was compared by 20 panelists. The results are shown below.
The evaluation was performed for two items of “fiber texture” and “crunchy”, respectively. The fiber texture means a supple (strong and smooth) and dense texture peculiar to fibrous soy protein, and also has a texture that feels good by touching and touching the fiber. Chewy means the feeling of returning to the teeth when chewed, and is similar to hardness.

  The evaluation score is a five-point evaluation, and it is very close to “Fuji Pure SP-300” and has a suppleness and a fineness. Scoring was performed with 3 points that were slightly inflexible and dense and slightly different in texture, and 1 point that was not flexible and dense and extremely different in texture. Similarly, with regard to the texture, compared to the fibrous soy protein “Fuji Pure SP-300”, it is 5 points if it is very close, 3 points if it is slightly different, 3 points if it is slightly different, and it is too hard or soft If the texture is extremely different, it was scored as one point. Among the scored points, the highest evaluation score was used as the evaluation score of the sample.

なお、乾燥固形分中の粗蛋白質含量は、コントロールの「フジピュアＳＰ−３００」が７８重量％であったのに比べ、実施例１、比較例１、比較例２の蛋白素材は７３重量％であった。

The crude protein content in the dry solids was 73% by weight for the protein materials of Example 1, Comparative Example 1 and Comparative Example 2, compared to 78% by weight for the control “Fuji Pure SP-300”. there were.

As described above, the protein material of Example 1 combined with calcium sulfate and citric acid had a firm and fleshy texture. This texture was a texture with a crunchy texture similar to the fibrous protein obtained by the wet method.
In comparison, the protein material of Comparative Example 1 that uses only calcium sulfate and does not use citric acid has poor texture such as chewy texture compared to fibrous protein.

Example 2
A sample was made in accordance with the following composition in the same manner as in Example 1.

The results of evaluating the obtained samples in the same manner as in Example 1 are as shown in the table below.

Although Test Example 1 was soft, it had a fiber texture and a chewy texture.
Test Example 2 had a firmer texture and texture than Test Example 1.
Test Example 3 had a more firm fiber texture than Test Example 2.
Test Example 4 had a firmer texture than Test Example 3.
Test Example 5 had almost the same texture as Test Example 4.
In Test Example 6, although there was a slight fiber texture and a crunchy texture, there was a tendency to be slightly hard overall.

Example 3
A sample was made in accordance with the following composition in the same manner as in Example 1.

The results of evaluating the obtained samples in the same manner as in Example 1 are as shown in the table below.

Although Test Example 7 was slightly soft, it had a fiber texture and a crunchy texture.
Test Example 8 had a firmer texture and texture than Test Example 5.
In Test Example 9, the fibers were too dense, and although there was a fiber texture and texture, there was a tendency to be somewhat hard overall.
Test Example 10 was slightly soft, but had a fiber texture and crunch.
Test Example 11 had a firm fiber texture and chewy texture.
In Test Example 12, although there was a slightly fibrous texture and a crunchy texture, the swelling was slightly insufficient and the whole was apt to be slightly hard.

Example 4
A sample was made in accordance with the following composition in the same manner as in Example 1.

The results of evaluating the obtained samples in the same manner as in Example 1 are as shown in the table below.

Since Test Example 13 used calcium carbonate instead of calcium sulfate, swelling was promoted more than in Example 1, so that the fiber texture was weak and the texture was slightly weak.
Even when malic acid was used instead of citric acid as in Test Example 14, a fiber texture excellent in fibrous structure and a chewy texture were shown.
Even when lactic acid was used in place of citric acid as in Test Example 15, a fiber texture excellent in fibrous structure and a chewy texture were shown.

The protein material produced by the wet method has a high crude protein content and is distributed in a state of containing moisture, which requires a distribution cost.
Further, although it has a fibrous structure and a texture that has a firm texture that is very close to that of meat, it is expensive and difficult to say that its productivity is high.
Thus, productivity can be improved if a protein material having the same firm texture and excellent fiber texture can be obtained by a dry method.
By the dry method of the present invention, a protein material having a firm texture not inferior to the wet method can be obtained.
In terms of fiber properties, it is difficult to obtain a clear fiber such as a fiber by a wet method, but it is possible to obtain a protein material with an excellent fiber texture that can be loosened into the fiber by hand when reconstituted with hot water. It is.
Since the protein material of the present invention is distributed in a dry state and can be used as a protein material that is reconstituted when used and has an excellent fiber texture, the distribution cost can also be reduced.
Moreover, since the crude protein content is lower than that of the fibrous protein material obtained by the wet method, the productivity is also improved.
The production method of the present invention having such merits of productivity and distribution cost greatly contributes to industrial development.

Claims (5)

In a method for producing a textured protein material by adding water to a soybean-derived raw material using a biaxial extruder and extruding it under pressure and heating, a divalent metal compound and an organic acid are used in combination. A method for producing a textured protein material having a texture. The manufacturing method of Claim 1 whose divalent metal compound is a calcium compound. The production method according to claim 1, wherein the organic acid is citric acid. A textured protein material having a fibrous texture, comprising a divalent metal and an organic acid. The textured protein material according to claim 4, comprising 0.01 to 2.5% by weight of a divalent metal and 0.2 to 3.5% by weight of an organic acid in the dry solid content of the textured protein material.