JP2011182673A - Method for producing tea extract - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To produce tea extract having natural, fresh, and rich aroma, strongly clear sweet taste, and delicious taste, and refreshing flavor with less impure taste and free from unpleasantness from a tea raw material. <P>SOLUTION: A method for producing the tea extract includes the steps of (i) recovering aromatic odor from the tea raw material by a steam distillation method, (ii) obtaining enzyme-treated extract by enzyme-treating a distillation residue, and (iii) mixing the enzyme-treated extract obtained at the step (ii) with the recovered aromatic odor obtained at the step (i). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for producing tea extracts, and more specifically, it has a natural, fresh and rich fragrance, a refreshing sweetness and a strong umami taste, and a refreshing taste with little miscellaneous taste. The present invention relates to a method for producing a tea extract having a good flavor.

  Tea beverages such as green tea, black tea, oolong tea, and mixed tea that have been sterilized and filled in cans and plastic bottles have gained high consumer support from a health-oriented perspective, and production has been growing at a high rate. In particular, beverages with a natural, fresh and rich fragrance, a refreshing sweetness, a strong umami taste, a little miscellaneous taste, and an unpleasant taste tend to be preferred. Under such circumstances, in order to produce industrially stable and mass-produced products with the expected flavor, selection of raw materials for tea used, quality control of raw materials, mixing ratio and mixing method of raw materials, extraction method, etc. Various ideas have been devised.

  In the production of these beverages, in addition to the tea materials as described above, it is also common to add flavor improvers such as various tea extracts as part of the materials. The tea extract is obtained by extracting only necessary components according to the purpose from teas, and can be prepared in quality according to the form and flavor of the final product. The addition of a tea extract is a method that provides a simple and advantageous effect in tea beverage production because the desired effect can be easily obtained by adding a desired type of extract according to the purpose of the final beverage. is there.

As described above, various methods have been proposed as a method for producing tea extracts intended to reinforce the aroma and taste of teas. For example, tea raw materials can be used in the presence of protease and tannase. A method for producing a tea extract characterized by extraction (Patent Document 1), a flavor (A) obtained by steam distillation of a raw material for a favorite beverage, and a raw material for a favorite beverage are provided to a gas-liquid countercurrent contact device. The flavor (B) obtained by adding the flavor (B) in the range of 0.01 to 100 parts by weight per part by weight of the flavor (A) (Patent Document 2), at least cellulase, hemicellulase, A method for producing a tea leaf extract (Patent Document 3), comprising using an enzyme group containing pectinase and protopectinase, and subjecting the tea leaf to enzymatic decomposition extraction treatment, tea extract A method for producing an enzyme-treated tea extract (Patent Document 4) characterized in that an enzyme and / or enzyme group that produces a green-like aroma compound is allowed to act on tea slurry and / or tea leaves, and slurry of matcha tea in hot water The slurry is treated with a counter-current contact device (SCC), and the flavor is collected. Separately, the tea leaves are extracted with warm water, and after removing solids, the activated carbon treatment is performed, and then the activated carbon is removed by filtration. A second step of obtaining a tea extract, and a third step of mixing the flavor obtained in the first step and the tea extract obtained in the second step. Method for preparing extract (Patent Document 5), method for producing tea extract obtained by mixing distillate obtained by steam distillation of tea leaves and column extract from tea leaves after steam treatment (patent Reference 6), the following works : (1) A step of immersing or moistening tea leaves with warm water of 40 ° C. to 100 ° C., (2) A step of steam-extracting the tea leaves of step (1) and recovering a distillate, (3) of step (2) A tea extract comprising a step of extracting a distillation residue with water and recovering the extract, and (4) a step of mixing the distillate of step (2) and the extract of step (3) Using a saccharide-degrading enzyme (at least one selected from glucoamylase, hemicellulase, pectinase, mannanase, invertase and α-galactosidase) during and / or after extraction of tea raw materials Proposals have been made on a method for producing tea extracts (Patent Document 8) characterized by enzymatic decomposition. However, these methods are mainly aimed at either fragrance or taste, have a natural, fresh and rich fragrance, and have a strong sweet taste and a clear umami taste. In addition, it is difficult to obtain a tea extract having a refreshing flavor with little miscellaneous taste.

JP 2003-144049 A JP 2003-33137 A Japanese Patent No. 3779212 International Publication Pamphlet WO06 / 062133 JP 2007-167005 A JP 2007-295921 A Japanese Patent No. 4104018 JP 2008-86280 A

  The object of the present invention is a tea with a refreshing flavor that has a natural, fresh and rich fragrance, a refreshing sweetness, a strong umami taste, a little miscellaneous taste and no dislike. It is to provide a method for producing a kind extract.

  The aroma recovered by steam distillation has a natural and fresh feeling, but the overall flavor is insufficient. In addition, an aroma extract obtained by combining an aroma from which aroma has been recovered by steam distillation and a residue extract has a strong bitterness and astringency derived from the residue extract and cannot be said to have a good balance. Furthermore, the extract obtained by enzyme-treating tea leaves is excellent in sweetness and umami taste, but has a problem that the image of tea is not completely understood due to lack of aroma.

  As a result of diligent research to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have obtained a recovered incense by steam distillation of tea leaves, and on the other hand, an enzyme treatment by treating a distillation residue with a combination of specific enzymes. The tea extract obtained by obtaining the extract, mixing the enzyme-treated extract and the recovered scent obtained earlier, has a natural, fresh and rich fragrance, and has a refreshing sweetness and a refreshing taste. It has been found that it has a refreshing flavor that is strong and has little miscellaneous taste and is not disliked, leading to the completion of the present invention.

  Thus, the present invention provides: (i) recovering aroma from tea raw material by steam distillation, (ii) enzymatically treating the distillation residue to obtain an enzyme-treated extract, (iii) enzyme obtained in step (ii) The present invention provides a method for producing a tea extract characterized by mixing the treated extract with the recovered aroma obtained in step (i).

  The tea extract obtained according to the present invention has a natural, fresh and rich fragrance, has a refreshing sweetness and a strong umami taste, and has a refreshing flavor with little miscellaneous taste and no dislike. In addition, by adding the tea extract obtained by the present invention at the time of tea beverage production, it gives a natural, fresh and rich fragrance to the beverage by a simple method, and masks bitterness and astringency, neatly Sweet taste and clean umami can be imparted.

As tea materials used in the present invention, tea (scientific name: came), which is an evergreen tree of the camellia family
lia sinensis (L) O.I. Examples thereof include fresh leaves obtained from Kuntze's buds, leaves, stems, and the like, unfermented teas, semi-fermented teas, and fermented teas. Non-fermented tea such as green tea (sencha, gyokuro, kabuse tea, bancha, tama-green tea, matcha tea, hojicha, kettle roasted tea, tencha, etc.); semi-fermented tea such as oolong tea, baked tea; etc .; Examples include pu-erh tea. In addition, tea obtained by adding unfermented tea or semi-fermented tea with flowers can be used. Of these, green tea, oolong tea, jasmine tea, and the like that require a fresh and natural aroma, sweetness, umami, and the like are particularly suitable. If necessary, for example, roasted barley (barley tea), roasted malt, roasted barley (barley tea), roasted rice, roasted brown rice, roasted germinated rice, roasted buckwheat (Soba tea), roasted corn, roasted sesame, roasted quinoa, roasted amaranth, roast millet, roast millet, roasted millet, roasted soybeans; sage, thyme, marjoram, oregano, basil, peppermint , Perilla, lemon balm, verbena, savory, rosemary, lemongrass, blueberry leaf, bay leaf, yerba mate, eucalyptus leaf, sassafras, sandalwood, sagebrush, assembly, red pepper, cinnamon, casscia, star anise, wasabi, horseradish ( Horseradish), water garnish, mustard, tonka beans, fenegreek, salamander, black pepper -White Pepper, Allspice, Nutmeg, Mace, Clove, Seri, Angelica, Chervil, Anise, Fennel, Tarragon, Coriander, Cumin, Dill, Caraway, Galanga, Cardamom, Ginger, Gadget, Turmeric (Turmeric), Vanilla, Juniper Berry, Winter Green, German Chamomile, Roman Chamomile, Chrysanthemum Flower, Lavender, Hibiscus Flower, Saffron, Marigold, Orange Flower, Mallow Flower, Rosehip, Hawthorn, Longan, Kukosi, Sandu (Mousenoke), Orange Peel, Lemon Peel, Marshmallow root, Ginseng, Densit carrot, Ezokogi, Gymnema, Rooibos tea, Shiitake tea, Tochu, Dokudami, Ketsumei , Hub tea, Achacharu tea, Psyllium tea, Sakura tea, Sweet tea, Kashiwa leaf tea, Kelp tea, Matsuba tea, Asuka leaf tea, Guava tea, Biwa leaf tea, Aloe tea, Turmeric tea, Sugina tea, Safflower tea, Comfrey tea, wolfberry tea, mugwort tea, ginkgo leaf tea, karin tea, mulberry leaf tea, burdock tea, taranki tea, dandelion tea, green bean tea, elderberry tea, mud peach tea, loquat leaf tea, megsurinoki tea, rakan fruit tea You may add leaves, stems, roots, etc. of various plants.

  In the present invention, first, in the first step (i), the aroma is recovered from the tea raw material by the steam distillation method. After obtaining the recovered incense by this process, the recovered incense is added to the enzyme-treated tea extract obtained in the subsequent process, so that the tea extract has a fresh and natural aroma and has sweetness and umami. Is obtained.

  As a method of steam distillation, for example, a tea raw material is pulverized to an appropriate particle size and mixed with water to form a slurry, and the slurry is treated by a gas-liquid countercurrent contact method to recover aroma; As is, or after pulverizing, a container such as a column is filled, steam is fed into the column, the tea material is brought into contact with water vapor, and the water vapor after contact is condensed and recovered. The gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction method is particularly suitable.

The gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction method can be carried out by various methods known per se, and for example, a method of extraction using an apparatus described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-22646 can be adopted. The method for recovering aroma using this apparatus will be described in detail. On the rotating cone of the gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction apparatus having a structure in which rotating cones and fixed cones are alternately combined, a liquid or paste-like structure is used. An example is a method in which the tea raw material is caused to flow down from the upper part and the steam is raised from the lower part to recover the aroma component in which the tea raw material originally exists. The operating conditions of this gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction apparatus can be arbitrarily selected according to the processing capacity of the apparatus, the type and concentration of the raw material, the intensity of the aroma, and the like. Any ratio of tea raw material to water in the tea raw material slurry can be adopted as long as the tea raw material slurry is in a fluid state. 5 times to 30 times the amount, preferably 8 times the amount of water
The range of 20 times the amount can be exemplified. If the water is below this range, the fluidity is difficult to come out, and if the water is outside this range, the aroma of the resulting distillate tends to be weak.

An example of the operating conditions of the gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction device is as follows.
Raw material supply speed: 300 to 700 L / hr
Steam flow rate: 5-50 kg / hr
Evaporation amount: 3 to 35 kg / hr
Column bottom temperature: 40-100 ° C
Column top temperature: 40-100 ° C
Degree of vacuum: 1.3 KPa to atmospheric pressure.

  On the other hand, the steam distillation method using a column is a method in which steam is passed through a tea raw material packed in the column and the aromatic component distilled off accompanying the steam is condensed together with the steam. Pressurized steam distillation, atmospheric steam distillation Any distillation means of reduced-pressure steam distillation can be adopted. Specifically, for example, by blowing steam from the bottom of a steam distillation kettle charged with tea raw materials and cooling the distillate steam with a cooler connected to the upper distillate side, the volatile aromatic component as a condensate The distillate containing can be collected. If necessary, a volatile fragrance component having a lower boiling point can be reliably collected by connecting a cold trap using a refrigerant to the end of the fragrance collection device. Moreover, since deterioration by heating of a fragrance | flavor component can be prevented effectively, it is preferable to steam-distill in presence of inert gas, such as nitrogen gas, and / or antioxidants, such as vitamin C.

  The second step (ii) according to the present invention is a step of obtaining an enzyme-treated extract by enzymatic treatment of the steam distillation residue produced in the first step (i). The enzyme treatment can be performed, for example, by adding an enzyme to a mixture of water vapor distillation residue and water.

  When aroma is recovered by gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction as a steam distillation method, the distillation residue is already in the form of a slurry containing the extract, so it is cooled to an appropriate temperature for enzyme treatment, and the enzyme is used as it is. Can be added. Moreover, in the case of the residue of column steam distillation, as a quantity of water required for an enzyme treatment, 1 mass part-100 mass parts normally per 1 mass part of residue raw materials, Preferably 5 mass parts-50 mass parts of water are used for a column. In addition, the enzyme reaction can be carried out under stirring or standing conditions.

  Next, an enzyme is added to the mixture of water and distillation residue to perform an enzyme treatment. In the present invention, since the enzyme treatment is performed in a system containing the tea raw material itself, the structure of the distillation residue is decomposed, a large amount of taste components are produced, and an extract with a strong taste such as sweet taste and umami can be obtained. it can.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular as an enzyme which can be used for this enzyme treatment, For example, a saccharide-degrading enzyme, protease, lipase, tannase, chlorogenic acid esterase etc. can be illustrated. Furthermore, specific examples of saccharide-degrading enzymes include amylase, glucoamylase, pullulanase, cellulase, hemicellulase, xylanase, pectinase, arabanase, dextranase, glucanase, mannanase, α-galactosidase, etc. Can do. By using these enzymes in appropriate combinations, the sweetness and umami of the enzyme-treated extract can be enhanced. In particular, from the viewpoint of enhancing umami and sweetness, (1) a combination of protease and tannase, (2) a combination of glucoamylase and hemicellulase, (3) a combination of glucoamylase and pectinase, or (4) a combination of glucoamylase and cellulase A combination is preferred.

About 25% protein is contained in tea leaves (see the 5th Food Composition Table), and this composition does not change so much even in the steam distillation residue and is estimated to be the same level. If this protein is decomposed with protease, it is thought that a tea extract with strong umami taste can be obtained. However, since the protein in tea leaves is bound to tannin, even if the protease is allowed to act on the distillation residue alone, almost no amino acid is obtained. Does not generate. However, by causing protease and tannase to act on the distillation residue, a part of the protein in the distillation residue is decomposed, and a tea extract having a strong umami taste and a rich taste and less astringency can be obtained.

  Among the combinations of saccharide-degrading enzymes, (2) the combination of glucoamylase and hemicellulase, (3) the combination of glucoamylase and pectinase, or (4) the combination of glucoamylase and cellulase is used to treat the steam distillation residue. The reason for this is that the tea extract obtained by the above method is not clear for reasons, but it produces much stronger sweetness than expected from the tea extract obtained using a combination of other saccharide-degrading enzymes. Is preferred.

  Tannase is an enzyme that hydrolyzes a depside bond in which gallic acid is ester-bonded to a hydroxyl group in tannin, for example, an enzyme that hydrolyzes epigallocatechin gallate to epigallocatechin and gallic acid. Specific examples of tannase that can be used in the present invention include, for example, tannase-producing bacteria belonging to the genus Aspergillus, Penicillium, Rhizopus, Rhizomucor, Lactobacillus, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Ronepinela, etc. Can be obtained by subjecting a culture medium usually used for culturing these filamentous fungi to solid culture or liquid culture according to a conventional method, and purifying the resulting culture or its treated product by a conventional method. Also, commercially available tannase such as tannase (500 U / g; manufactured by Kikkoman), tannase (5,000 U / g; manufactured by Kikkoman), tannase (500 U / g; manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Foods), etc. You can also. The amount of tannase used cannot be generally specified depending on the titer, etc., but is usually about 0.1 to about 50 U / g, preferably about 0.5 to about 50 tons based on the mass of the original tea raw material of the distillation residue. A range of about 20 U / g can be exemplified.

Proteases are enzymes that hydrolyze peptide bonds of proteins and peptides. Examples of proteases that can be used in the present invention include protease A, protease M, protease P, equinezyme, peptidase R, newase (registered trademark) A, newase (registered trademark) F (above, Aspergillus manufactured by Amano Enzyme, Inc.) Derived protease); Sumiteam (registered trademark) AP, Sumiteam (registered trademark) LP, Sumiteam (registered trademark) MP, Sumiteam (registered trademark) FP, Sumiteam (registered trademark) LPL Protin (registered trademark) FN (manufactured by Koji mold manufactured by Daiwa Kasei Co., Ltd.); Denapsin 2P, Denateam (registered trademark) AP, XP-415 (above, Koji mold derived from Koji mold manufactured by Nagase ChemteX); Orientase ( (Registered trademark) 20A, orientase (registered trademark) ONS Tetorase (registered trademark) S (above, gonorrhoeae-derived protease manufactured by HIBI); Morsin (registered trademark) F, PD enzyme, IP enzyme, AO-protease (above, gonorrhoeae-derived protease manufactured by Kikkoman); Sakanase (Kaken Pharma) Pantodase (registered trademark) YP-SS, Pantidase (registered trademark) NP-2, Pantidase (registered trademark) P (above, Koji mold-derived protease manufactured by Yakult Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.); Flavorzyme (registered) (Trademark) (Protein-derived protease manufactured by Novozymes Japan); Cochlase (registered trademark) SS, Cochlase (registered trademark) P (Protein-derived protease manufactured by Sankyo Lifetech Co., Ltd.); VERON PS, COROLASE PN-L ( As described above, a gonorrhoeae-derived protease manufactured by AB Enzyme ); Protease N, Protease NL, Protease S, Proleather (registered trademark) FG-F (Bacteria-derived protease manufactured by Amano Enzyme); Protin P, Deskin, Depilace, Protin A, Samoaase (registered trademark) (and above) Biolase (registered trademark) XL-416F, Biolase (registered trademark) SP-4FG, Biolase (registered trademark) SP-15FG (bacteria-derived protease manufactured by Nagase ChemteX) Orientase (registered trademark) 90N, nucleicin (registered trademark), orientase (registered trademark) 10 NL, orientase (registered trademark) 22BF (bacteria-derived protease manufactured by HIBI), aloase (registered trademark) AP-10 (Bacteria manufactured by Yakult Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Protamex (registered trademark), Neutase (registered trademark), Alcalase (registered trademark) (bacteria-derived protease manufactured by Novozymes); COROLASE N, COROLASE 7089, VERON W, VERON P (above, AB Enzyme Bacterial Protease); Entilon NBS (Bacterial Protease Produced by Toto Kasei Kogyo Co., Ltd.); Alkaline Protease GL440, Purefect (registered trademark) 4000L, Protease 899, Protex 6L (above, Genecon Kyowa Bacteria) Actinase (registered trademark) AS, actinase (registered trademark) AF (protease derived from actinomycetes manufactured by Kaken Pharma); Tasinase (registered trademark) (protease derived from actinomycetes manufactured by Genencor Kyowa) Over zero); Papain W-40 (manufactured by Amano Enzyme Inc. of plant-derived protease); food-grade purified papain (Nagase Chemtex Corporation of plant-derived protease); the other, mention may be made of animal-derived pepsin, trypsin and the like. The amount of these proteases used varies depending on the titer, etc. and cannot be generally specified, but is usually about 0.01 U / g to about 100 U / g based on the mass of the original tea raw material of the distillation residue, preferably Can be exemplified within the range of about 1 U / g to about 80 U / g.

  The enzyme treatment conditions by the combination of protease and tannase are, for example, (1) for the steam distillation residue slurry after the tea slurry is subjected to gas-liquid countercurrent contact treatment, or (2) after steam distillation in the column 8 to 50 parts by weight, preferably 10 to 20 parts by weight of water per 1 part by weight of distillation residue, sterilized at about 60 to about 121 ° C. for about 2 seconds to about 20 minutes, and then cooled with protease and Tannase is added and the enzyme treatment is performed at about 20 to about 60 ° C. for about 30 minutes to about 24 hours. After the enzyme treatment, the enzyme-treated extract can be obtained by heating at about 60 to about 121 ° C. for about 2 seconds to about 20 minutes to inactivate the enzyme, cooling, solid-liquid separation, and filtration.

  Amylase is an enzyme that converts amylose or amylopectin in starch into glucose, maltose, oligosaccharide and the like by hydrolyzing glycosidic bonds, and amylase includes α-amylase, β-amylase, and glucoamylase.

  α-Amylase is an enzyme that randomly cuts α-1,4 bonds of starch and glycogen to produce polysaccharides or oligosaccharides. β-amylase is an enzyme that breaks down starch and glycogen into maltose. Glucoamylase is an enzyme that produces glucose by decomposing α-1,4 bonds at the non-reducing ends of sugar chains.

As glucoamylase, commercially available products include, for example, Gluc (registered trademark) SG, Gluczyme (registered trademark) AF6, Gluczyme (registered trademark) NL4.2, and glucoamylase for brewing “Amano” SD (above, manufactured by Amano Enzyme). GODO-ANGH (manufactured by Godo Shusei Co., Ltd.); Cochlase (registered trademark) G2, Cochlase (registered trademark) M (above, manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Foods); Optidex L (manufactured by Genencor Kyowa); Sumiteam (registered trademark); Sumiteam (registered trademark) SG (above, Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.); Glucoteam (registered trademark) # 20000 (manufactured by Nagase ChemteX); AMG, Sun Super (above, manufactured by Novozymes Japan); Glutase AN (Manufactured by HIBI); UNIASE (registered trademark) K, UNIASE (registered trademark) 2K, UNIASE ( (Registered trademark) 30, UNIASE (registered trademark) 60F (above, manufactured by Yakult Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.); Magnax (registered trademark) JW-201 (manufactured by Toto Kasei Kogyo Co., Ltd.); ) And the like. The amount of glucoamylase used is usually within the range of about 0.1 U / g to about 1,000 U / g, preferably about 1 U / g to about 100 U / g, based on the mass of the original tea raw material of the distillation residue. It can be illustrated.

  Pectinase is also called polygalacturonase, pectin enzyme, polymethylgalacturonase, and pectin depolymerase, and is an enzyme that hydrolyzes α-1,4 bonds such as peclinic acid, pectin, and pectic acid. Pectinase is known to be contained in bacteria, molds, yeasts, higher plants, snails, etc., and pectinases collected from organisms including these can be widely used in the present invention. Commercially available pectinase preparations can also be used. Commercially available pectinase preparations include, for example, sucrase (registered trademark) A, sucrase (registered trademark) N, sucrase (registered trademark) S (manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Foods), Pectinex Ultra (registered trademark) SP-L ( Novo nordicus A / S), Meicelase (registered trademark) (manufactured by Meiji Seika Co., Ltd.), Ultrazyme (registered trademark) (manufactured by Novo nordicus A / S), Newase F (registered trademark) ( Amano Enzyme Co., Ltd.) can be exemplified. The amount of pectinase used is usually about 0.01% by mass to about 5% by mass with respect to the original tea raw material of the distillation residue because the pectinase preparation usually contains a plurality of types of enzymes and is difficult to express in terms of activity units. %, Preferably in the range of about 0.1% to about 2% by weight.

  Cellulase is an enzyme that hydrolyzes the glycosidic bond of β-1,4-glucan (for example, cellulose). Cellulose is a kind of polysaccharide in which D-glucose is linked without branching by β-1,4 bonds, and the number of glucose is said to be about 5,000. Cellulose is a major component of plant cell walls and is highly hydrophilic but insoluble in water. Cellulases include an endoglucanase that cleaves cellulose from the inside of the molecule and an exoglucanase (cellobiohydrolase) that decomposes from either the reducing end or non-reducing end of a sugar chain to release cellobiose. Also, commercially available cellulases often contain β-glucosidase and liberate glucose. Cellulase that can be used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it has an activity of degrading cellulose, and any cellulase can be used. Examples of commercially available cellulase preparations include cellulase T “Amano”. ”, Cellulase A“ Amano ”(manufactured by Amano Enzyme); Doricerase (registered trademark) KSM, Multifect (registered trademark) A40, Cellulase GC220 (manufactured by Genencor Kyowa); Cellulase GODO-TCL, Cellulase GODO TCD -H, Bessellex (registered trademark), cellulase GODO-ACD (manufactured by Godo Shusei Co., Ltd.); Cellulase (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.); Cellulizer (registered trademark), cellulase XL-522 (manufactured by Nagase ChemteX Corporation) ); Cellsoft (registered trademark), Denimax (registered) Trademark) (above, manufactured by Novozymes); Cellulosin (registered trademark) AC40, Cellulosin (registered trademark) AL, Cellulosin (registered trademark) T2 (above, manufactured by HIBI); Cellulase "Onozuka" 3S, Cellulase Y-NC (above Sumiteam (registered trademark) AC, Sumiteam (registered trademark) C (manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.); Enchiron CM, Enchiron MCH, Biohit (manufactured by Shinto Kasei Kogyo Co., Ltd.), etc. Can be mentioned. The amount of cellulase used is usually about 0.01% by mass to about 0.01% by mass with respect to the original tea raw material of the distillation residue, since commercially available cellulase preparations usually contain a plurality of types of enzymes and are difficult to express in terms of activity units. Examples thereof include 5% by mass, preferably in the range of about 0.1% by mass to about 2% by mass.

Hemicellulase is an enzyme that degrades hemicellulose. Hemicellulose is a polysaccharide other than cellulose and pectin among the polysaccharides that constitute the cell walls of land plant cells, and the sugars that constitute it are diverse and the binding mode is complex. Furthermore, it forms a hydrogen bond with cellulose and a covalent bond with lignin, and serves to reinforce the cell wall. There are many types of hemicellulases that have a structure in which sugars in the side chains are bound to sugars in the main chain that is the skeleton. Examples of hemicellulase include glucanase, mannanase, α-galactosidase, galactanase, xylanase, arabinase, polygalacturonase, etc., and they have a plurality of activities for decomposing these various types of sugar bonds. It can also be regarded as an enzyme. Examples of commercially available hemicellulases include, for example, hemicellulase “Amano” (manufactured by Amano Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), Bakezyme (registered trademark) HS2000, Bakezyme (registered trademark) IConc (referred to above as Nippon Sibel Hegner), Entilon LQ (Santo Kasei Kogyo Co., Ltd.) ), Cellulosin (registered trademark) HC100, cellulosin (registered trademark) HC, cellulosin (registered trademark) TP25, cellulosin (registered trademark) B, hemicellulase M (above, manufactured by HTV Corporation), Sumiteam (registered trademark) X (new) NIPPON CHEMICAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD.), VERON191, VERON393 (above, manufactured by Lame Enzyme) and the like. The amount of hemicellulase used is usually about 0.01% by mass with respect to the original tea raw material of the distillation residue, since commercially available hemicellulase preparations usually contain multiple types of enzymes and thus are difficult to express in activity units. It is possible to exemplify a range of about 5% by mass, preferably about 0.1% by mass to about 2% by mass.

  In the present invention, it is further preferable that the saccharide-degrading enzyme used has substantially no invertase activity. In general, tea raw materials often contain a certain amount of sucrose. In addition, the possibility of sucrose being released slightly from degradation from polysaccharides when combined with a saccharide-degrading enzyme cannot be denied. In the present invention, as described above, glucose is increased in tea extracts by a combination of saccharide-degrading enzymes. At this time, if sucrose is decomposed, sweetness is slightly reduced, and acidity and miscellaneousness are further reduced. It has been found that there is a negative effect that taste is generated. Accordingly, the enzyme used in the present invention preferably has substantially no invertase activity during its activity. Whether or not invertase activity is substantially present in the enzyme preparation to be used can be determined by confirming the production of glucose by allowing the enzyme to act using sucrose as a substrate. In addition, the production | generation of glucose can be confirmed using commercially available glucose test paper etc.

  As enzyme treatment conditions, normal enzyme treatment conditions according to the enzyme used can be employed. For example, (1) The water is usually 8 parts by weight per 1 part by weight of the distillation residue obtained after steam-distillation residue slurry after the tea slurry is subjected to gas-liquid countercurrent contact treatment, or (2) steam distillation with a column. -50 parts by mass, preferably 10 parts by mass to 20 parts by mass, sterilized at about 60 ° C. to about 121 ° C. for about 2 seconds to about 20 minutes and then cooled, and then a predetermined amount of the necessary enzyme is added, In general, the enzyme reaction can be carried out by stirring or standing at pH 3 to 6, preferably pH 4 to 5.5. In order to prevent oxidative degradation during the enzyme reaction, ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate may be added in an amount of about 10 ppm to 500 ppm based on the total amount of the slurry. The enzyme does not need to be reacted at the optimum temperature of the enzyme, and it may be preferable to react at a slightly lower temperature. The temperature of the enzyme reaction is generally about 20 ° C to about 70 ° C, preferably about 25 ° C to about 60 ° C. C., particularly preferably in the range of about 30.degree. C. to about 50.degree. The reaction time is usually 5 minutes to 24 hours, preferably 1 hour to 20 hours, more preferably 4 hours to 18 hours. In the present invention, since the enzyme is reacted at a slightly lower temperature so as not to cause miscellaneous taste in the tea extracts, a relatively long time may be required as the reaction time. It is also possible to determine the reaction time while confirming the progress of the reaction by measuring the above, or to add an enzyme. After the enzyme treatment, the enzyme-treated extract can be obtained by heating at about 60 ° C. to about 121 ° C. for about 2 seconds to about 20 minutes, inactivating the enzyme, cooling, solid-liquid separation, and filtration. .

  The enzyme-treated extract thus obtained can be concentrated as necessary. Examples of the concentration method include appropriate concentration means such as vacuum concentration, reverse osmosis membrane (RO membrane) concentration, freeze concentration, and the like, and the concentration of the enzyme-treated extract according to the present invention can be obtained by concentration. it can. The degree of concentration is not particularly limited, but can be generally in the range of Bx3 ° to Bx80 °, preferably Bx8 ° to Bx60 °, more preferably Bx10 ° to Bx50 °.

The third step (iii) according to the present invention is a step of obtaining a tea extract by mixing the recovered aroma obtained in the first step (i) and the enzyme treatment liquid obtained in the second step (ii). is there. The mixing ratio of the recovered fragrance and the enzyme-treated solution at that time can be freely selected according to the flavor of the food or drink to which the enzyme-treated extract according to the present invention is added or the target flavor. The mass ratio of the recovered incense obtained in step (i) of the eye to the enzyme-treated solution obtained in step (ii) is generally from 1:10 to 10: 1, preferably from 1: 5 to 5: 1. Preferably, it can be in the range of 1: 3 to 3: 1. When the mass ratio of the recovered aroma exceeds 10: 1, sweetness is insufficient, and conversely, when the mass ratio of the enzyme-treated extract obtained in the second step (ii) exceeds 1:10, it is fresh and natural. Lack of aroma. Also, sweetness and umami tend to be good when the balance between the two is appropriate.

  The mixed liquid (tea extract) obtained in the third step (iii) can be used as a product as it is, but it can be further distributed in a sealed container by performing steps such as precipitation removal, filtration and sterilization. It is good also as a state.

  The tea extracts according to the present invention are usually added to foods and drinks such as green tea beverages, oolong tea beverages, black tea beverages or mixed tea beverages in a range of about 0.01% by mass to about 2% by mass. A natural, fresh and rich fragrance can be imparted to foods and drinks, and the bitterness and astringency can be masked to provide a refreshing sweetness and a refreshing umami.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples, comparative examples, and reference examples. However, these examples, comparative examples, and reference examples are merely examples, and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

Example 1 (Example in which green tea was aroma-recovered by gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction and the distillation residue was treated with protease and tannase)
40 kg of commercially available Shizuoka No. 1 tea 40 kg was pulverized with a hammer mill (screen 1.2 mm), 360 kg of water in which 0.24 kg of sodium ascorbate was dissolved was added to form a slurry, and the following conditions were obtained by gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction method. Thus, 16 kg of recovered incense (40% of green tea) was obtained (hereinafter referred to as recovered incense (a)).
Apparatus: SCC Model1000 (Flavor Tech)
Processing conditions Raw material supply rate: 700 L / Hr
Steam flow rate: 55kg / hr
Strip rate: about 4%
Column bottom temperature: 100 ° C
Column top temperature: 100 ° C
Vacuum degree: atmospheric pressure.

400 kg of residue slurry (equivalent to 40 kg of green tea) (hereinafter referred to as residue slurry (b)) is cooled to 45 ° C., and 2 kg (equivalent to 200 g of green tea) of the residue is uniformly sampled and immediately sterilized at 90 ° C. and immediately heated to 40 ° C. After cooling, 2 g of protease M (5,500 U / g; Amanoenzyme Co., Ltd.) and 2 g of tannase (500 U / g; Kikkoman Co., Ltd.) were added and stirred at the same temperature for 30 minutes, and the enzyme was mixed well The reaction was allowed to stand for 16 hours at the same temperature. After the reaction time had elapsed, 0.5 g of sodium ascorbate was added and mixed well, followed by solid-liquid separation, heating at 90 ° C. for 1 minute to deactivate the enzyme, cooling to 20 ° C., and then pre-coating with diatomaceous earth. Filtration was performed using a Nutsche to obtain 1721 g of a clear filtrate (Bx 7.2 °, pH 4.6). The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 247.8 g of Bx50.0 ° concentrate. Subsequently, 82.6 g of recovered fragrance (a) was added to the concentrate (2/3 of the Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate) and 0.46 g of sodium ascorbate (0.4% of the Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate) Amount) was added and mixed well, then water was added to adjust Bx to 35 °. Subsequently, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled in a container to obtain 333.3 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (product 1 of the present invention) (pH 4.9, yield of green tea 167.5). %).

Comparative Example 1 (example in which green tea is not aroma recovered and enzyme treatment is not performed)
200 g of commercially available No. 1 tea from Shizuoka is crushed with a hammer mill (screen 1.2 mm), 3600 g of water in which 2.4 g of sodium ascorbate is dissolved is added to form a slurry, heated to 90 ° C., extracted for 10 minutes, and immediately 30 After cooling to 90 ° C., solid-liquid separation, heat sterilization at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooling to 20 ° C., and filtration using a Nutsche pre-coated with diatomaceous earth, 1688 g of clear filtrate (Bx4.2 °, pH 5.3) was obtained. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 202.5 g of a Bx35 ° concentrate. Next, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled in a container to obtain 202.5 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (Comparative product 1) (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 101.3%) ).

Comparative Example 2 (Example of treating green tea with protease and tannase without aroma recovery)
200g of commercially available Shizuoka No.1 tea 200g was crushed with a hammer mill (screen 1.2mm), and 3600g of water in which 2.4g of sodium ascorbate was dissolved was added to form a slurry. 2 g of protease M (5,500 U / g; Amanoenzyme Co., Ltd.) and 2 g of tannase (500 U / g; Kikkoman Co., Ltd.) were added and stirred at the same temperature for 30 minutes. The reaction was allowed to stand at the same temperature for 16 hours. After the reaction time has elapsed, 0.5 g of sodium ascorbate was added and mixed well, followed by solid-liquid separation, heating at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooling to 20 ° C., and filtration using a Nutsche pre-coated with diatomaceous earth. And 1721 g (Bx 7.2 °, pH 4.6) of a clear filtrate was obtained. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 325.9 g of a Bx35 ° concentrate. Then, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled into a container to obtain 325.9 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (Comparative product 2) (pH 4.9, yield of green tea 163.0%) ).

Comparative Example 3 (Example in which green tea was aroma-recovered by gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction and the distillation residue was extracted without enzyme treatment)
2 kg of residue slurry (b) obtained in Example 1 (equivalent to 200 g of green tea) was uniformly collected, sterilized at 90 ° C., immediately cooled to 40 ° C., added with 0.5 g of sodium ascorbate and mixed well. Thereafter, it was separated into solid and liquid, heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 20 ° C., filtered using a Nutsche pre-coated with diatomaceous earth, and 1678 g of a clear filtrate (Bx4.1 °, pH 5.2). Got. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 138.0 g of a Bx50.0 ° concentrate. Subsequently, 46.0 g of recovered fragrance (a) was added to the concentrate (2/3 of the Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate) and 0.28 g of sodium ascorbate (0.4% of the Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate). Amount) was added and mixed well, then water was added to prepare Bx at 35 °. Then, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled into a container to obtain 197.1 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (Comparative product 3) (pH 5.5, yield of green tea 98.5%). ).

Example 2 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 is replaced with glucoamylase and hemicellulase)
In Example 1, 2 g of Sumiteam (glucoamylase activity: 2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shinnippon Chemical Co., Ltd.) and 2 g of Sumiteam X (hemicellulase manufactured by Shinnippon Chemical Co., Ltd.) were used as the enzymes. Exactly the same operation as in Example 1 was carried out to obtain 325.8 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (Product 2 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 162.9%).

Example 3 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 is replaced with glucoamylase and pectinase)
In Example 1, Example 1 was used except that 2 g of Sumiteam (glucoamylase activity 2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) and 2 g of sucrase N (pectinase manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Foods) were used as enzymes. The same operation was performed to obtain 328.4 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (Product 3 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 164.2%).

Example 4 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 is replaced with glucoamylase and cellulase)
In Example 1, it was carried out except that 2 g of Sumiteam (glucoamylase activity 2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) and 2 g of cellulase T “Amano” (cellulase manufactured by Amano Enzyme) were used as the enzymes. Exactly the same operation as in Example 1 was carried out to obtain 318.7 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (product 4 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 159.4%).

Example 5 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced with tannase only)
In Example 1, except that 2 g of tannase (500 U / g; Kikkoman Co., Ltd.) was used as the enzyme, the same operation as in Example 1 was performed to obtain 241.0 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (product 5 of the present invention). (PH 5.3, yield of green tea 120.5%).

Example 6 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced with protease only)
In Example 1, except that 2 g of protease M (Amanoenzyme Co.) was used as an enzyme, the same operation as in Example 1 was performed to obtain 321.8 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (Product 6 of the present invention) ( pH 5.3, green tea yield 160.9%).

Example 7 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 is replaced with glucoamylase only)
In Example 1, except that 2 g of Sumiteam (2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the enzyme, the same operation as in Example 1 was carried out to obtain a Bx35 ° green tea extract (product of the present invention). 7) 268.4 g was obtained (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 134.2%).

Example 8 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced with hemicellulase only)
In Example 1, the same operation as in Example 1 was carried out except that 2 g of Sumiteam X (hemicellulase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the enzyme, and 322.4 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (Product 8 of the present invention). (PH 5.3, yield of green tea 131.2%).

Example 9 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced with pectinase only)
In Example 1, exactly the same operation as in Example 1 was conducted except that 2 g of sucrase N (Mitsubishi Chemical Foods pectinase) was used as an enzyme to obtain 263.8 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (present product 9). (PH 5.3, yield of green tea 131.8%).

Example 10 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 is replaced with cellulase only)
In Example 1, the same operation as in Example 1 was performed except that 2 g of cellulase T “Amano” 4 (cellulase manufactured by Amano Enzyme) was used as an enzyme, and Bx35 ° green tea extract (product of the present invention 10) 268. 1 g was obtained (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 134.1%).

Example 11 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 is replaced only with glucanase)
In Example 1, except that 2 g of tunica FN (Daiwa Kasei) was used as an enzyme, the same operation as in Example 1 was performed to obtain 264.0 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (Product 11 of the present invention) (pH 5.3). , Yield of green tea 132.0%).

Example 12 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced only with mannanase)
In Example 1, except for using 2 g of cellulosin GM5 as an enzyme, the same operation as in Example 1 was performed to obtain 259.0 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (product 12 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, Green tea yield 129.5%).

Example 13 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced only with α-galactosidase)
The same operation as in Example 1 was performed except that 2 g of Sumiteam AGS (Shin Nippon Chemical Industry) was used as an enzyme in Example 1, to obtain 263.2 g of a Bx35 ° green tea extract (present product 13) (pH 5). .3, yield of green tea 131.6%).

Example 14 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced only with invertase)
In Example 1, except for using 2 g of Sumiteam INV (Shin Nippon Chemical Co., Ltd.) as an enzyme, exactly the same operation as in Example 1 was carried out to obtain 252.6 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (present product 14) (pH 5). .3, Yield to green tea 126.3%).

Example 15 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced with cellulase and hemicellulase)
In Example 1, 2 g of cellulase T “Amano” 4 (cellulase manufactured by Amano Enzyme) and 2 g of Sumiteam X (hemicellulase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) were used as the enzymes. And 324.3 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (product 15 of the present invention) was obtained (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 162.2%).

Example 16 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced with cellulase and mannanase)
In Example 1, the same operation as in Example 1 was carried out except that 2 g of cellulase T “Amano” 4 (cellulase manufactured by Amano Enzyme) and 2 g of cellulosin GM5 (Hibiii) were used as enzymes, and a Bx35 ° green tea extract ( Invention product 16) 327.4 g was obtained (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 163.7%).

Example 17 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced with cellulase and α-galactosidase)
In Example 1, the same operation as in Example 1 was carried out except that 2 g of cellulase T “Amano” 4 (cellulase manufactured by Amano Enzyme) and 2 g of Sumiteam AGS (Shin Nihon Chemical Industry) were used as the enzymes. 325.3 g of green tea extract (Invention product 17) was obtained (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 162.7%).

Example 18 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced with cellulase and protease)
In Example 1, the same operation as in Example 1 was carried out except that 2 g of cellulase T “Amano” 4 (cellulase manufactured by Amano Enzyme) and 2 g of protease M (Amanoenzyme Co., Ltd.) were used as enzymes. 321.4 g of green tea extract (Product 18 of the present invention) was obtained (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 160.7%).

Example 19 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced with hemicellulase and glucanase)
In Example 1, exactly the same operation as in Example 1 was performed except that 2 g of Sumiteam X (manufactured by Shinnippon Chemical Co., Ltd.) and 2 g of Tunicase FN (Yamato Kasei) were used as enzymes, and a Bx35 ° green tea extract ( Invention product 19) 322.9 g was obtained (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 161.5%).

Example 20 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced with glucoamylase, hemicellulase and invertase)
In Example 1, 2 g of Sumiteam (glucoamylase activity: 2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shinnippon Chemical Co., Ltd.), 2 g of Sumiteam X (hemicellulase manufactured by Shinnippon Chemical Co., Ltd.) and Sumiteam INV (Shin Nihon) Chemical Industry) Except for using 2 g, the same operation as in Example 1 was performed to obtain 328.1 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (Product 20 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, yield of green tea 164.1%). .

Example 21 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 1 was replaced with glucoamylase, cellulase and protease)
In Example 1, 2 g of Sumiteam (glucoamylase activity 2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.), 2 g of cellulase T “Amano” 4 (cellulase manufactured by Amano Enzyme) and protease M (5 , 500 U / g; Amano Enzyme Co., Ltd.) was used in exactly the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain 324.5 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (Product 21 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, Green tea yield 162.3%).

Sensory evaluation of the extract Products 1 to 21 of the present invention and Comparative products 1 to 3 were each diluted 50 times with ion-exchanged water, and a well-trained panel of 10 people gave a natural feeling, freshness, sweetness, umami, and miscellaneous About taste and a refreshing feeling, sensory evaluation was performed as very good: 10 points, good: 8 points, slightly good: 6 points, slightly bad: 4 points, bad: 2 points, and very bad 0 points.

  The types of enzymes and sensory evaluation are shown in Table 1 below.

  As shown in Table 1, the comparative product 1 in which neither the recovered fragrance nor the enzyme treatment is used has almost no natural feeling or fresh feeling, and it is somewhat difficult to recognize that it is tea. In addition, the sweetness and umami were few, and the miscellaneous taste and clean feeling were poor. On the other hand, all the products of the present invention were highly evaluated in all of natural feeling, fresh feeling, sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling.

  In particular, the product 1 of the present invention treated with protease and tannase had particularly strong umami, strong sweetness, little miscellaneous taste, and good refreshing feeling.

In addition, the present product 2 treated with glucoamylase and hemicellulase, the present product 3 treated with glucoamylase and pectinase, and the present product 4 treated with glucoamylase and cellulase are both very sweet and delicious. There was little miscellaneous taste and the refreshing feeling was good.

  Comparative product 2 is an extract that has been treated with protease and tannase without using recovered fragrance, and sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling are improved compared to comparative product 1, but natural and fresh. Some panelists also evaluated that it was somewhat difficult to recognize what kind of tea it was, and the evaluation was low compared to the products 1 to 4 of the present invention.

  Comparative product 3 is an extract that uses recovered aroma, but has not been subjected to enzyme treatment, and its natural and fresh feels are improved compared to comparative product 1, but it has less sweetness and umami, and is less miscellaneous. The taste and the refreshing feeling were poor, and the evaluation was far inferior compared with the products 1 to 4 of the present invention.

  On the other hand, the products 7 to 13 according to the present invention in which glucoamylase, hemicellulase, pectinase, cellulase, glucanase, mannanase, and α-galactosidase each act independently use the enzyme for sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling. It was improved as compared with no comparative product 3. In addition, all of the present product 5, the present product 6 and the present product 14 treated with tannase alone, protease alone and invertase alone have sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste and refreshing feeling, and no enzyme is used. Compared with the comparative product 3, it was slightly improved.

  In addition, the products 16-18 of the present invention treated with a combination of two enzymes, cellulase and mannanase, cellulase and α-galactosidase, cellulase and protease, had the same flavor as the products 7-13 of the present invention.

  On the other hand, the present invention product 15 and the present invention product 19 which were subjected to enzyme treatment by combining two kinds of enzymes, cellulase and hemicellulase, hemicellulase and glucanase, compared with the present invention products 7 to 13, had sweetness, umami and miscellaneous taste. The taste and refreshing feeling were slightly good.

  Further, in addition to glucoamylase and hemicellulase, invented product 20 in which invertase is further added, that is, invertase is further added to invented product 2, sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, refreshing, as compared with product 2 of the present invention. The feeling was slightly low.

  Furthermore, in the product 21 of the present invention in which protease is added in addition to glucoamylase and cellulase, that is, the protease 4 is further added to the product 4 of the present invention, the sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling are slightly higher than those of the product 4 of the present invention. It was low.

Reference Example 1 Confirmation of Invertase Activity The inventive product 20 and the inventive product 21 are obtained by using another enzyme in combination with the inventive product 2 and the inventive product 4, respectively. The umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling were slightly lower than those of the inventive product 2 and the inventive product 4. Also in Table 1, invertase alone did not show much improvement in sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling. Therefore, since it was considered that the invertase activity had some negative effect, the presence or absence of the invertase activity of the enzymes used in the above examples was measured.

Method for measuring the presence or absence of invertase activity:
Dissolve 0.005 g of enzyme in 100 ml of 0.5% aqueous solution of sucrose, and leave it at 40 ° C. for one day to produce glucose in the reaction solution using commercially available glucose test paper (Uriase®).
Ga (manufactured by Terumo Corporation), determination: −: less than 50 mg / 100 ml, ±: about 50 mg / 100 ml, +: about 100 mg / 100 ml, ++: about 500 mg / 100 ml, ++: about 2000 mg / 100 ml). The results are shown in Table 2 below.

  In the measurement under the above conditions, cellulase T “Amano” 4, Sumiteam X, Sumiteam and Tunicase FN did not show invertase activity, but other enzymes showed invertase activity.

  Therefore, in Table 1, among the products 2 to 4 and 15 to 21 of the present invention in which two or more types of saccharide-degrading enzymes were combined and treated, the enzymes used for the products 2 to 4 of the present invention that were particularly evaluated well Were found to be combinations of those that do not contain invertase activity.

Sensory evaluation of green tea beverage to which tea extracts were added 1 kg of green tea leaves from Shizuoka Prefecture were added to 20 kg of ion-exchanged water heated to 80 ° C., and stirred slowly for 5 minutes, and then the tea leaves were separated using a 40 mesh wire net, The separated liquid was cooled to 20 ° C. to obtain 14 kg of an extract, and 7.0 g (500 ppm) of sodium ascorbate was added. 2 filtered paper (manufactured by ADVANTEC Co., Ltd .: retention particle size 5μ) to obtain a green tea beverage stock solution (analyzed value of green tea beverage stock solution; Bx: 2.22 °, pH: 6.4, tannin content (iron tartrate method) ): 0.44%, amino acid content: 0.071%). This was subdivided, diluted 10 times (mass ratio) with ion-exchanged water, and prepared by adding 0.3% of each of the inventive products 1-21 and comparative products 1-3 to the diluted solution. After sterilization by heating for 30 seconds at 50 ° C., the solution was cooled to 88 ° C. and filled into a 500 ml plastic bottle, held for 2 minutes, then cooled to room temperature (25 ° C.) to obtain a green tea beverage containing a plastic bottle. Each green tea beverage was evaluated by 10 panelists using a tea extract-free product as a control. The evaluation criteria are very good: 10 points, good: 8 points, slightly good: 6 points for natural feeling, fresh feeling, sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling when the additive-free product is 5 points. Slightly bad: 4 points, bad: 2 points, very bad 0 points.

  The types of enzymes and sensory evaluation are shown in Table 3 below.

  As shown in Table 3, the green tea beverage to which the comparative product 1 in which neither the recovered fragrance nor the enzyme treatment is used is added is improved in sweetness, umami, refreshing feeling and miscellaneous taste, but has a natural feeling and fresh feeling. Was the panelist's evaluation that it hardly contributed.

  In addition, the green tea beverage added with the comparative product 2 that has been treated with protease and tannase without using recovered scent, has a natural feeling and freshness that is almost the same as the additive-free product, and has a sweet, umami, miscellaneous, and refreshing feeling. Although it was improved as compared with Comparative Product 1, the evaluation was low.

  In addition, the green tea beverage to which the comparative fragrance 3 to which the recovered fragrance was added but the enzyme was not used at all was low in evaluation of umami, miscellaneous taste, refreshing feeling, etc. especially in taste. .

  In contrast to the green tea beverages added with these comparative products, the green tea beverages added with the product of the present invention all have a natural feeling, freshness, sweetness, umami, and a refreshing feeling, with less miscellaneous taste and good flavor. It was evaluation that there was.

  Among the products of the present invention, the green tea beverage to which the product of the present invention 1 treated with protease and tannase was added had particularly strong umami, strong sweetness, little miscellaneous taste, and good refreshing feeling.

  Also added is a green tea beverage to which the present product 2 treated with glucoamylase and hemicellulase is added, a green tea beverage to which the present product 3 treated with glucoamylase and pectinase is added, and a present product 4 treated with glucoamylase and cellulase All of the green tea beverages had a very strong sweetness and umami, little miscellaneous taste, and a refreshing feeling.

  On the other hand, the green tea beverage to which the products 7 to 13 of the present invention in which glucoamylase, hemicellulase, pectinase, cellulase, glucanase, mannanase, and α-galactosidase are individually acted is added has sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling. Compared with the green tea drink to which the comparative product 3 which does not use the enzyme was added, it was somewhat improved. In addition, the green tea beverages to which the present invention product 5, the present invention product 6 and the present invention product 14 treated with tannase alone, protease alone and invertase alone all have sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and a refreshing feeling. It was slightly improved compared to the green tea beverage to which the comparative product 3 which was not used at all was added.

  The other enzyme-treated products were reflected in almost the same manner as the evaluation when the tea extract was diluted as it was.

Example 22 (Example in which aroma was recovered from jasmine tea by gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction and the distillation residue was treated with protease and tannase)
Jasmine tea 40 kg from Fujian Province is crushed with a hammer mill (screen 1.2 mm), and 360 kg of water in which 0.24 kg of sodium ascorbate is dissolved is added to form a slurry, which is subjected to the following conditions by gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction method. A recovery flavor of 16 kg (40% jasmine tea) was obtained (hereinafter referred to as recovered aroma (c)).
Apparatus: SCC Model1000 (Flavor Tech)
Processing conditions Raw material supply rate: 700 L / Hr
Steam flow rate: 55kg / hr
Strip rate: about 4%
Column bottom temperature: 100 ° C
Column top temperature: 100 ° C
Vacuum degree: atmospheric pressure.

400 kg of residue slurry (equivalent to 40 kg of jasmine tea) (hereinafter referred to as residue slurry (d)) is cooled to 45 ° C., 2 kg (corresponding to 200 g of jasmine tea) of which is uniformly sampled and immediately sterilized at 90 ° C. and then immediately 40 Cool to 0 ° C., add 2 g of protease M (5,500 U / g; Amanoenzyme) and 2 g of tannase (500 U / g; Kikkoman), stir at the same temperature for 30 minutes, and mix the enzymes well Then, the reaction was allowed to stand at the same temperature for 16 hours. After the reaction time had elapsed, 0.5 g of sodium ascorbate was added and mixed well, followed by solid-liquid separation, heating at 90 ° C. for 1 minute to deactivate the enzyme, cooling to 20 ° C., and then pre-coating with diatomaceous earth. Filtration was performed using a Nutsche to obtain 1724 g of a clear filtrate (Bx 7.1 °, pH 4.6). The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 244.8 g of a Bx50.0 ° concentrated solution. Subsequently, 81.6 g of recovered fragrance (c) was added to the concentrate (2/3 of the Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate) and 0.49 g of sodium ascorbate (0.4% of the Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate) 2) g of water was added, and Bx was adjusted to 35 °. Then, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled into a container to obtain 349.7 g of Bx35 ° jasmine tea extract (Product 22 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, yield of jasmine tea 174). .9%).

Example 23 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 22 was replaced with glucoamylase and hemicellulase)
In Example 22, it was carried out except that 2 g of Sumiteam (glucoamylase activity 2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) and 2 g of Sumiteam X (hemicellulase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) were used as enzymes. Exactly the same operation as in Example 22 was carried out to obtain 342.3 g of Bx35 ° jasmine tea extract (Product 23 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, jasmine tea yield 171.1%).

Example 24 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 22 was replaced with glucoamylase and pectinase)
In Example 22, Example 22 was used except that 2 g of Sumiteam (glucoamylase activity 2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) and 2 g of sucrase N (pectinase manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Foods) were used as the enzymes. The same operation was carried out to obtain 338.9 g of Bx35 ° jasmine tea extract (Product 24 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, yield of jasmine tea 169.5%).

Example 25 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 22 was replaced with glucoamylase and cellulase)
In Example 22, 2 g of Sumiteam (glucoamylase activity: 2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) and 2 g of cellulase T “Amano” (cellulase manufactured by Amano Enzyme) were used as enzymes. Exactly the same operation as in Example 22 was carried out to obtain 342.6 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (product 25 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, yield of jasmine tea 171.3%).

Comparative example 4 (example in which jasmine tea is not aroma-recovered and does not undergo enzyme treatment)
200 g of the same jasmine tea used in Example 22 was pulverized with a hammer mill (screen 1.2 mm), 3600 g of water in which 2.4 g of sodium ascorbate was dissolved was added to form a slurry, heated to 90 ° C. for 10 minutes. Immediately after the extraction, the mixture was cooled to 30 ° C., separated into solid and liquid, sterilized by heating at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 20 ° C., filtered using a Nutsche pre-coated with diatomaceous earth, and a clear filtrate of 1685 g ( Bx 4.1 °, pH 5.2). The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 197.2 g of a Bx35 ° concentrate. Then, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled in a container to obtain 197.2 g of Bx35 ° jasmine tea extract (Comparative Product 4) (pH 5.3, yield of jasmine tea 98. 6%).

Comparative Example 5 (Example in which jasmine tea was treated with protease and tannase without aroma recovery)
200g of Jasmine tea produced in Fujian Province is pulverized with a hammer mill (screen 1.2mm), and 3600g of water in which 2.4g of sodium ascorbate is dissolved is added to form a slurry. 2 g of protease M (5,500 U / g; Amanoenzyme) and 2 g of tannase (500 U / g; Kikkoman) were stirred at the same temperature for 30 minutes, and the enzyme was mixed well. The reaction was allowed to stand at temperature for 16 hours. After the reaction time had elapsed, 0.5 g of sodium ascorbate was added and mixed well, followed by solid-liquid separation, heating at 90 ° C. for 1 minute to deactivate the enzyme, cooling to 20 ° C., and then pre-coating with diatomaceous earth. Filtration was performed using a Nutsche to obtain 1721 g of a clear filtrate (Bx 7.2 °, pH 4.6). The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 325.9 g of a Bx35 ° concentrate. Subsequently, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled into a container to obtain 325.9 g of Bx35 ° jasmine tea extract (Comparative Product 5) (pH 5.3, yield of jasmine tea 163. 0%).

Comparative Example 6 (Example in which jasmine tea was aroma-recovered by gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction and the distillation residue was extracted without enzyme treatment)
2 kg of the residue slurry (d) obtained in Example 22 (equivalent to 200 g of jasmine tea) is uniformly collected, sterilized at 90 ° C., immediately cooled to 40 ° C., and 0.5 g of sodium ascorbate may be added. After mixing, the mixture was separated into solid and liquid, heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 20 ° C., and then filtered using a Nutsche pre-coated with diatomaceous earth to obtain 1679 g of a clear filtrate (B × 4.0 °, pH 5. 2) was obtained. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 134.3 g of a Bx50.0 ° concentrated solution. Subsequently, 44.8 g of recovered fragrance (c) was added to the concentrate (2/3 of the Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate) and 0.27 g of sodium ascorbate (0.4% of the Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate). Amount) was added and mixed well, then water was added to prepare Bx at 35 °. Then, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled into a container to obtain 191.4 g of Bx35 ° jasmine tea extract (Comparative Product 6) (pH 5.5, yield of jasmine tea 95. 7%).

Sensory evaluation of tea extracts Products 22 to 25 of the present invention and Comparative products 4 to 6 were each diluted 50 times with ion-exchanged water, and 10 people were trained well to feel natural, fresh, sweet and umami. The sensory evaluation was carried out with the following points: very good: 10 points, good: 8 points, slightly good: 6 points, slightly bad: 4 points, bad: 2 points, and very bad 0 points.

  The types of enzymes and sensory evaluation are shown in Table 4 below.

As shown in Table 4, the results for jasmine tea were almost the same as for green tea. In other words, the comparative product 4 in which neither the recovered fragrance nor the enzyme treatment was used was evaluated by the panelists that almost no natural feeling or fresh feeling was felt, and there was little sweetness and umami, and poor taste and clean feeling. However, all the products of the present invention were highly evaluated in all of natural feeling, fresh feeling, sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling.

  The product 22 of the present invention treated with protease and tannase had particularly strong umami, strong sweetness, little miscellaneous taste, and good refreshing feeling.

  In addition, the present product 23 treated with glucoamylase and hemicellulase, the present product 24 treated with glucoamylase and pectinase, and the present product 25 treated with glucoamylase and cellulase are both very sweet and delicious. There was little miscellaneous taste and the refreshing feeling was good.

  Comparative product 5 is a tea extract that has been treated with protease and tannase without using recovered fragrance, and sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling are improved compared to comparative product 4, but natural feeling Some panelists evaluated that it was somewhat difficult to recognize what kind of tea it was, and the evaluation was low compared to the products 22 to 25 of the present invention.

  Comparative product 6 is a tea extract that uses recovered aroma, but has not been subjected to enzyme treatment, and has a natural and fresh feel that is improved compared to comparative product 4, but has less sweetness and umami. In addition, the taste and refreshing feeling were poor, and the evaluation was far inferior to the inventive products 22-25.

Sensory evaluation of jasmine tea beverage with added tea extract 1 kg of Fujian jasmine tea leaf was added to 20 kg of ion-exchanged water heated to 80 ° C, stirred slowly for 5 minutes, and then the tea leaf was separated using a 40 mesh wire mesh. The separated liquid was cooled to 20 ° C. to obtain 14 kg of an extract. To the obtained extract, 7.0 g (500 ppm) of sodium ascorbate was added. 2 Filter paper (manufactured by ADVANTEC Co., Ltd .: retention particle size 5μ) was obtained to obtain a jasmine tea beverage stock solution (analyzed value of jasmine tea beverage stock solution; Bx: 2.43 °, pH: 6.3, tannin content (tartaric acid) Iron method): 0.38%, amino acid content: 0.055%). This was subdivided, diluted 10 times (mass ratio) with ion-exchanged water, and prepared by adding 0.3% of each of inventive products 22 to 25 and comparative products 4 to 6 to the diluted solution. After sterilization by heating at 30 ° C. for 30 seconds, the solution was cooled to 88 ° C., filled into a 500 ml plastic bottle, held for 2 minutes, then cooled to room temperature (25 ° C.) to obtain a jasmine tea beverage containing a plastic bottle. Each jasmine tea beverage was evaluated by 10 panelists using a tea extract-free product as a control. The evaluation criteria are very good: 10 points, good: 8 points, slightly good: 6 points for natural feeling, fresh feeling, sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling when the additive-free product is 5 points. Slightly bad: 4 points, bad: 2 points, very bad 0 points.

  The types of enzymes and sensory evaluation are shown in Table 5 below.

  As shown in Table 5, in the jasmine tea beverage, the result was almost the same as that of the green tea beverage. In other words, the jasmine tea beverage to which the comparative product 4 in which neither the recovered fragrance nor the enzyme treatment is used is added improves sweetness, umami, refreshing feeling and miscellaneous taste, but contributes almost to the natural feeling and fresh feeling. It was the panelist's evaluation that it was not.

  In addition, Jasmine tea beverage with the addition of Comparative Product 5 that has been treated with protease and tannase without using recovered scent, has a natural and fresh feel almost unchanged from the additive-free product, and has a sweet, umami, miscellaneous, and refreshing feel. Was improved compared with the jasmine tea beverage to which the comparative product 4 was added, but its evaluation was low.

  In addition, the jasmine tea beverage to which the recovered fragrance was added but the comparative product 6 in which no enzyme was used was added, particularly in terms of taste, the evaluation of umami, miscellaneous taste, refreshing feeling, etc. was all low. It was.

  In contrast to jasmine tea beverages added with these comparative products, all jasmine tea beverages added with the present invention have a natural feeling, freshness, sweetness, umami, refreshing feeling, less miscellaneous taste, and flavor. It was evaluation that it was favorable.

  The jasmine tea beverage to which the product 22 of the present invention treated with protease and tannase was added had particularly strong umami, strong sweetness, little miscellaneous taste, and good refreshing feeling.

  In addition, the jasmine tea beverage to which the present product 23 treated with glucoamylase and hemicellulase was added, the jasmine tea beverage to which the present product 24 treated with glucoamylase and pectinase was added, and the present product 25 treated with glucoamylase and cellulase Each of the jasmine tea beverages to which was added had a very strong sweetness and umami, little miscellaneous taste, and a refreshing feeling.

Example 26 (Example in which oolong tea was aroma-recovered by column steam distillation and the distillation residue was treated with protease and tannase)
Iron kannon (K-103) as oolong tea was pulverized with a hammer mill (screen 1.2 mm), 1 kg of the mixture was filled into a 3 liter column, the inside of the system was purged with nitrogen gas, and steam was discharged from the bottom of the column under atmospheric pressure. The steam containing the fragrance obtained from the upper part of the column was condensed in a cooling tube to obtain 400 g of a fragrant distillate (40% oolong tea, hereinafter referred to as recovered fragrance (e)). The obtained aroma distillate was sealed with nitrogen, cooled to about 4 ° C. and hermetically sealed. After the residue in the column was transferred to a stirring kettle, 9 kg of water in which 6 g of sodium ascorbate was dissolved was charged and stirred at 40 ° C. for 30 minutes, and then 10 g of protease M (5,500 U / g; Amanoenzyme) and tannase (500 U / g; Kikkoman Co., Ltd.) 10 g was added, stirred for 30 minutes at the same temperature, mixed well with the enzyme, and then allowed to stand at the same temperature for 16 hours. After the reaction time had elapsed, 2.5 g of sodium ascorbate was added and mixed well, followed by solid-liquid separation, heating at 90 ° C. for 1 minute to deactivate the enzyme, cooling to 20 ° C., and then pre-coating with diatomaceous earth. Filtration was performed using a Nutsche to obtain 8029 g of a clear filtrate (Bx 7.6 °, pH 4.7). The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 1097.4 g of Bx50.0 ° concentrated solution. Subsequently, 365.8 g of recovered fragrance (e) was added to the concentrate (2/3 of the Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate) and 2.2 g of sodium ascorbate (0.4% of the Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate). Amount) was added and mixed well, then water was added to adjust Bx to 35 °. Then, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled into a container to obtain 1567 g of Bx35 ° oolong tea extract (Product 26 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, yield of oolong tea 156.7%). .

Example 27 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 26 was replaced with glucoamylase and hemicellulase)
In Example 26, it was carried out except that 10 g of Sumiteam (glucoamylase activity 2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) and 10 g of Sumiteam X (Hemicellulase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) were used as the enzymes. Exactly the same operation as in Example 26 was performed to obtain 987.6 g of Bx35 ° oolong tea extract (Product 27 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, yield of oolong tea 98.8%).

Example 28 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 26 was replaced with glucoamylase and pectinase)
In Example 26, Example 26 was used except that 10 g of Sumiteam (glucoamylase activity: 2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shinnippon Chemical Co., Ltd.) and 10 g of sucrase N (pectinase manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Foods) were used as the enzymes. The same operation was performed to obtain 977.6 g of Bx35 ° oolong tea extract (Product 28 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, yield of oolong tea 97.8%).

Example 29 (Example in which the enzyme of Example 26 was replaced with glucoamylase and cellulase)
In Example 26, 10 g of Sumiteam (glucoamylase activity: 2,000 U / g; glucoamylase manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) and 10 g of cellulase T “Amano” (cellulase manufactured by Amano Enzyme) were used as enzymes. Exactly the same operation as in Example 26 was carried out to obtain 985.3 g of Bx35 ° green tea extract (Product 29 of the present invention) (pH 5.3, yield of oolong tea 98.5%).

Comparative Example 7 (Example in which oolong tea is not aroma-recovered and does not undergo enzyme treatment)
1 kg of the same oolong tea pulverized product used in Example 26 was charged in 9 kg of water in which 6 g of sodium ascorbate had been dissolved, heated to 90 ° C., extracted for 10 minutes, immediately cooled to 40 ° C., solid-liquid separated, 90 The mixture was sterilized by heating at 0 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 20 ° C., and then filtered using a Nutsche pre-coated with diatomaceous earth to obtain 7835 g (B × 3.8 °, pH 5.2) of a clear filtrate. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 850.7 g of a Bx35 ° concentrate. Subsequently, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled into a container to obtain 850.7 g of Bx35 ° oolong tea extract (Comparative Product 7) (pH 5.3, yield of oolong tea 85.1%) ).

Comparative Example 8 (Example in which oolong tea was treated with protease and tannase without aroma recovery)
1 kg of the same oolong tea pulverized product used in Example 26 was charged in 9 kg of water in which 6 g of sodium ascorbate had been dissolved, heated to 90 ° C., extracted for 10 minutes, immediately cooled to 40 ° C., and protease M (5,500 U / G; 10 g of Amanoenzyme Co., Ltd. and 10 g of tannase (500 U / g; Kikkoman Co., Ltd.) were added, stirred at the same temperature for 30 minutes, mixed well with the enzyme, and then allowed to stand at the same temperature for 16 hours. Reacted. After the reaction time had elapsed, 2.5 g of sodium ascorbate was added and mixed well, followed by solid-liquid separation, heating at 90 ° C. for 1 minute to deactivate the enzyme, cooling to 20 ° C., and then pre-coating with diatomaceous earth. Filtration was performed using Nutsche to obtain 7983 g (Bx7.6 °, pH 4.7) of a clear filtrate. The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 1733.4 g of a Bx35 ° concentrate. Subsequently, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled into a container to obtain 1733.4 g of Bx35 ° oolong tea extract (Comparative product 8) (pH 5.3, yield of oolong tea 177.3%). ).
Yield 156.7%).

Comparative Example 9 (Example in which oolong tea was aroma-recovered by column steam distillation and the distillation residue was extracted without enzyme treatment)
1 kg of the same oolong tea pulverized product used in Example 26 was packed into a 3 liter column, the system was purged with nitrogen gas, water vapor was sent from the bottom of the column under atmospheric pressure, and steam distillation was performed. The steam containing the fragrance was condensed in a cooling tube to obtain 400 g of a fragrant distillate (40% oolong tea, hereinafter referred to as recovered fragrance (e)). The obtained aroma distillate was sealed with nitrogen, cooled to about 4 ° C. and hermetically sealed. After the residue in the column was transferred to a stirring vessel, 9 kg of water in which 6 g of sodium ascorbate was dissolved was charged, heated to 90 ° C., extracted for 10 minutes, immediately cooled to 40 ° C., separated into solid and liquid, and 1 at 90 ° C. After heat sterilization for 30 minutes and cooling to 20 ° C., filtration was performed using a Nutsche pre-coated with diatomaceous earth to obtain 7923 g of a clear filtrate (B × 3.8 °, pH 5.2). The filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator to obtain 602.1 g of Bx50 ° concentrate. Subsequently, 200.7 g of recovered fragrance (e) (2/3 amount of Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate) and 1.2 g of sodium ascorbate (0.4% amount of Bx equivalent solid content of the concentrate) were added to the concentrate. ) Was added and mixed well, then water was added to prepare Bx at 35 °. Then, the mixture was heated at 90 ° C. for 1 minute, cooled to 30 ° C., and filled into a container to obtain 860.1 g of Bx35 ° oolong tea extract (Comparative Product 9) (pH 5.3, yield of oolong tea 86.0% ).

Sensory evaluation of tea extracts The present invention products 26 to 29 and comparative products 7 to 9 were each diluted 50 times with ion-exchanged water, and natural, fresh, sweet, and umami tasted by 10 well-trained panelists. The sensory evaluation was carried out with the following points: very good: 10 points, good: 8 points, slightly good: 6 points, slightly bad: 4 points, bad: 2 points, and very bad 0 points.

  The types of enzymes and sensory evaluation are shown in Table 6 below.

  As shown in Table 6, the oolong tea from which the aroma was recovered by the column steam distillation method was almost the same as the above-mentioned green tea and oolong tea. That is, the comparative product 7 using neither the recovered fragrance nor the enzyme treatment is evaluated by the panelists that the natural feeling and the fresh feeling are hardly felt, and the sweetness and umami are little, and the miscellaneous taste and the refreshing feeling are poor. However, all of the products of the present invention were highly evaluated in all of natural feeling, fresh feeling, sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling.

  The product 26 of the present invention treated with protease and tannase had particularly strong umami, strong sweetness, little miscellaneous taste, and good refreshing feeling.

  In addition, the present product 27 treated with glucoamylase and hemicellulase, the present product 28 treated with glucoamylase and pectinase, and the present product 29 treated with glucoamylase and cellulase are both very sweet and delicious. There was little miscellaneous taste and the refreshing feeling was good.

  Comparative product 8 is a tea extract that has been treated with protease and tannase without using recovered fragrance, and sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling are improved compared to comparative product 7, but natural. Some panelists evaluated that it was somewhat difficult to recognize what kind of tea it was, and the evaluation was low compared with the products 26 to 29 of the present invention.

  Comparative product 9 is a tea extract that uses recovered incense but has not been subjected to enzyme treatment, and its natural and fresh feelings are improved compared to comparative product 7, but it has less sweetness and umami. In addition, the taste and refreshing feeling were poor, and the evaluation was far inferior to the products of the present invention 26-29.

Sensory evaluation of oolong tea drink with added tea extract 1 kg of oolong tea leaves (color type S-103) was added to 20 kg of ion-exchanged water heated to 80 ° C., and stirred slowly for 5 minutes. And the separated liquid was cooled to 20 ° C. to obtain 14 kg of an extract. To the obtained extract, 7.0 g (500 ppm) of sodium ascorbate was added. 2 Filter paper (manufactured by ADVANTEC: reserved particle size 5μ
) To obtain a oolong tea beverage stock solution (analytical values of oolong tea stock solution; Bx: 2.43 °, pH: 6.2, tannin content (iron tartrate method): 0.41%, amino acid content: 0.00). 031%). This was subdivided, diluted 10 times (mass ratio) with ion-exchanged water, and prepared by adding 0.3% of each of the inventive products 26 to 29 and comparative products 7 to 9 to the diluted solution. After sterilization by heating for 30 seconds, cooled to 88 ° C., filled into a 500 ml plastic bottle, held for 2 minutes, cooled to room temperature (25 ° C.), and a oolong tea beverage with a plastic bottle was obtained. Each Oolong tea beverage was evaluated by 10 panelists using an extract-free product as a control. The evaluation criteria are very good: 10 points, good: 8 points, slightly good: 6 points for natural feeling, fresh feeling, sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling when the additive-free product is 5 points. Slightly bad: 4 points, bad: 2 points, very bad 0 points.

  The types of enzymes and sensory evaluation are shown in Table 7 below.

  As shown in Table 7, the results of oolong tea drinks were almost the same as those of green tea drinks and jasmine tea drinks. In other words, Oolong tea beverage added with comparative product 7 using neither recovered scent nor enzyme treatment is improved in sweetness, umami, refreshing feeling and miscellaneous taste, but contributes almost to natural feeling and fresh feeling. It was the panelist's evaluation that there was no.

  In addition, the oolong tea beverage added with the comparative product 8 that has been treated with protease and tannase without using recovered scent, has a natural feeling and freshness almost the same as the additive-free product, and the sweetness, umami, miscellaneous taste, and refreshing feeling Although it was improved as compared with Oolong tea drink to which Comparative product 7 was added, the evaluation was low.

  In addition, the oolong tea beverage to which the recovered fragrance was added but the comparative product 9 which did not use any enzyme was added, and the evaluation of umami, miscellaneous taste, refreshing feeling, etc. was particularly low in taste. .

  In contrast to Oolong tea drinks with these comparative products, Oolong tea drinks with the addition of the present invention all have a natural feeling, freshness, sweetness, umami, refreshing feeling, less miscellaneous taste and good flavor. It was evaluation that there was.

  The oolong tea beverage to which the product 26 of the present invention treated with protease and tannase was added had particularly strong umami, strong sweetness, little miscellaneous taste, and good refreshing feeling.

  In addition, Oolong tea beverage to which the inventive product 27 treated with glucoamylase and hemicellulase was added, Oolong tea beverage to which the inventive product 28 treated with glucoamylase and pectinase was added, and an inventive product 29 treated with glucoamylase and cellulase were added Each of the oolong tea beverages had a very strong sweetness and umami, little miscellaneous taste, and a refreshing feeling.

Claims (9)

  (I) Aroma is recovered from tea materials by steam distillation, (ii) Enzymatic treatment of the distillation residue to obtain an enzyme-treated extract, (iii) Enzyme-treated extract obtained in step (ii) and step (i) A method for producing a tea extract characterized by mixing the recovered incense obtained in (1).   The process according to claim 1, wherein the steam distillation is carried out by gas-liquid countercurrent contact extraction.   The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the enzyme comprises a protease and tannase.   The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the enzyme comprises glucoamylase and hemicellulase.   The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the enzyme comprises glucoamylase and pectinase.   The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the enzyme comprises glucoamylase and cellulase.   The method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the enzyme has substantially no invertase activity.   The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the tea is at least one selected from unfermented tea, semi-fermented tea, and fermented tea.   The tea extract obtained by the method of any one of Claims 1-8.