JP2011206030A - Taste quality improving and fruit juice feeling imparting agent - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide low-calorie or non-calorie fruit juice flavor drink including fruit juice feeling (fruit juice real feeling), especially fresh and spreading refreshing citrus fruit juice feeling, despite low fruit juice or juice-free drink.SOLUTION: The fruit juice flavor drink is improved in taste quality and includes fruit juice feeling by mixing a taste quality improving and fruit juice feeling imparting agent containing gentio-oligosaccharide as the active ingredient, with low-calorie or non-calorie drink as low fruit juice or juice-free drink, containing sweetener with high sweetness.

Description

The present invention relates to a low-calorie or non-calorie fruit-flavored beverage having a fruit juice sensation (fruit juice sensation), in particular a fresh, fresh citrus fruit juice sensation, even though it is a low fruit juice content or no fruit juice beverage It is. More specifically, the present invention comprises a high-intensity sweetener and uses gentiooligosaccharide as an active ingredient, which is used in a low-fruit juice (hereinafter referred to as “low-fruit juice”) or fruitless low-calorie or non-calorie beverage. The present invention relates to an improved taste quality and a fruit juice feeling imparting agent, and further relates to a taste quality improvement method and a fruit juice feeling imparting method of the beverage.
In the present invention, “taste quality improvement” means improvement in taste quality of a high-intensity sweetener, and “fruit juice feeling imparting” means imparting and / or enhancing fruit juice texture. is there.

Fruit juice-containing beverages are characterized by a refreshing fruit juice feel and are very popular with many people. Sweet drinks are often added to fruit juice-containing beverages, and in particular, drinks with a fruit juice of 50% or less have been conventionally added with sweeteners such as sucrose and isomerized sugar for the purpose of supplementing sweetness.
Here, in recent years, there has been a strong demand for foods with lower calories and non-calories due to health awareness and diet-oriented, etc. In addition to the high calorie content of sweeteners, fruit juice beverages contain compounding ingredients The calories in the fruit juice itself is a problem.

  General sweeteners used in foods and drinks are roughly classified into sugar (sucrose), glucose, fructose, maltose, xylose and other natural sweeteners, sorbitol, maltitol and other sugar alcohols, glycyrrhizin, stevioside, etc. And its derivatives, amino acids and peptides such as aspartame and glycine, proteins such as monelin, various oligosaccharides and sugar alcohols by glycosyltransferases such as palatinose, fructooligosaccharides and palatinit, and other pure chemistry such as saccharin, sucralose and acesulfame potassium Of these, sugar (sucrose) is the most widely used as a sweetener because of its good sweetness, richness (body feeling), moisturizing properties, and imparting viscosity. It is what. However, in recent years, sugar has been avoided from the viewpoint of health such as obesity due to excessive intake of sugar, adult diseases associated with obesity, the occurrence of caries, etc., especially in luxury products such as beverages and desserts. The use of low-calorie sweeteners instead of low-calorie and non-calorie is progressing.

  Against this background, various low-calorie sweeteners have been proposed in place of sugar, among which aspartame, stevioside, saccharin, glycyrrhizin, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium are sweeteners that have an extremely high sweetness compared to sugar. For example, if the relative sweetness of sugar (sucrose) is 1, aspartame is 180 to 200, stevioside is 120 to 150, saccharin is 300, glycyrrhizin is 100 to 170, sucralose is 600, acesulfame potassium is 160 to 200 These are said to be so-called high intensity sweeteners. High-intensity sweeteners are suitable for non-calorie, diet sweeteners and are gradually being used in foods and drinks. However, since many of the above-mentioned high-intensity sweeteners have persistent sweetness, bitterness, and off-taste that draws aftertaste, when used in foods and drinks, especially in beverages and confectionery that require a high-quality taste. This is a cause of impairing the taste, and the amount and method of use thereof are limited.

Many improvement methods have been proposed for improving the taste of the above-mentioned high-intensity sweeteners, and several methods using saccharides have also been proposed. For example, erythritol (patent document 1), which is a sugar alcohol, nigerooligosaccharide (patent document 2), and beet oligosaccharide (patent document 3), which are oligosaccharides, have been reported to try to improve taste quality. . However, the conventional taste improvers including these saccharides have insufficient effect of improving the taste, and the amount and method of use are limited depending on the physical properties and tastes of the present invention, or Because it is relatively expensive, it can be used as a stable and economically inexpensive taste improver, even if it has a lasting sweetness, bitterness, and off-taste improvement effect that pulls the aftertaste of high-intensity sweeteners. We had problems such as being unable to use.
In this way, sugars such as oligosaccharides are also being studied for taste quality improvement and flavor improvement. In this study, gentio-oligosaccharides have a unique bitterness and the effect of improving the taste quality of high-intensity sweeteners. (Patent Document 3) and no effect of improving flavor (Patent Document 4).

Moreover, in a fruit juice containing drink, fruit juice itself has a calorie, for example, since a grape 100% drink (natural fruit juice) is 56Kcal / 100g, it is difficult to manufacture a low calorie or non-calorie drink. Although depending on the type of fruit juice, it is usually a low-fruit juice beverage of less than about 40% by weight in the case of a low calorie beverage and less than about 10% by weight in the case of a non-calorie beverage. Furthermore, there is a great demand for fruitless beverages that do not contain fruit juices, from the procurement of raw fruit juices, quality control of fruit juices themselves, and quality control of fruit juice drinks. However, such a low-fruit juice or non-fruit juice drink has a problem that even if it is adjusted with a fragrance, a sour agent, etc., only a beverage having a fragrance but a poor fruit juice feeling (fruit juice feeling) can be obtained.

JP-A 63-258557 JP-A-10-234331 JP 2000-197462 A JP 2000-316519 A Japanese Patent No. 2750374 Japanese Patent No. 3020583

The present invention is based on the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, contains a high-sweetness sweetener, and maintains the aftertaste of a high-sweetness sweetener for low-calorie or non-fruitful low-calorie or non-calorie beverages. The purpose is to improve taste quality and to provide a fruit juice sensation imparting agent that improves the taste quality such as sweetness and off-flavor, and gives or enhances fruit juice feeling (fruit juice feeling) while being low or no fruit juice Is.
Furthermore, the present invention aims to provide a method for improving the taste and imparting a fruit juice feeling of the low fruit juice or no fruit juice drink, and further providing a flavor reducing flavor or a non-calorie fruit juice containing the fruit taste improving and fruit juice feeling imparting agent. The purpose is to provide beverages. In particular, an object of the present invention is to provide a low-calorie or non-calorie fruit-flavored beverage having a refreshing citrus fruit juice feeling that is fresh and soaked while being fruitless.

As a result of intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventor unexpectedly found that high-sweetness contained in beverages by blending with gentio-oligosaccharides that had a specific bitterness and thus had a limited field of use. The sweetness, bitterness, and off-flavors that reduce the aftertaste of sweeteners can be reduced, and the taste quality can be improved. In addition, the fruit juice feel (fruit juice sense) is imparted and enhanced in low-fruit juice or non-fruit juice drinks. The present invention has been found to be extremely useful for improving the taste by increasing the fruit juice flavor, and the present invention has been completed based on this finding.

The gist of the present invention is the taste improving and fruit juice imparting agent described in the following (1) and (2).
(1) Taste containing gentiooligosaccharide as an active ingredient, containing a high-intensity sweetener, improving the taste of low-calorie or non-calorie beverages that are low or no fruit juice, and imparting a fruit juice sensation Improvement and fruit juice feeling imparting agent.
(2) The taste improving and fruit juice feeling imparting agent according to (1), wherein the fruit juice feeling is a citrus fruit juice feeling.

In addition, the gist of the present invention is the beverage taste improvement method and fruit juice imparting method described in (3) and (4) below.
(3) A method for improving the taste of a beverage and imparting a fruit juice sensation, characterized by containing a gentio-oligosaccharide in a low-calorie or non-calorie beverage that contains a high-intensity sweetener and is low or no fruit juice.
(4) The method according to (3), wherein a gentio-oligosaccharide is contained in an amount of 0.01 to 2% by weight.

Furthermore, this invention makes the summary the fruit-flavored drink as described in the following (5) and (6).
(5) A low-calorie or non-calorie fruit-flavored flavor containing a high-sweetness sweetener containing the taste-improving and fruit-juice imparting agent according to (1) or (2), and being low or no fruit juice Beverages.
(6) The fruit juice flavored beverage according to (5), wherein the beverage is any one selected from carbonated beverages, beverages containing fruit juice, and soft drinks.

The present invention has the effect of leading to a new use of gentio-oligosaccharides whose field of use has been limited due to its bitter taste. That is, by blending gentio-oligosaccharides, it is possible to improve the quality of taste by reducing the persistent sweetness and off-taste etc. that pull the aftertaste of high-intensity sweeteners contained in beverages. It has the effect of producing and providing a low-calorie or non-calorie fruit-flavored beverage that imparts and enhances the fruit juice feeling (fruit juice substance feeling), enhances the fruit-flavor flavor, and improves palatability.
In particular, the fruitless flavored beverage of the present invention is stable and economical because it does not use fruit juice. Furthermore, it is known that the essential component gentio-oligosaccharide is also contained in a small amount in honey and the like, and since it is considered as a natural product, the juice-flavored beverage of the present invention is also safe in terms of safety. It can be drunk. In addition, gentio-oligosaccharides consisting of β-1,6 glucoside bonds are low-calorie carbohydrates that cannot be digested by the human intestine and are not easily assimilated by harmful bacteria in the intestine. Since it is often used and also has a function of activating the growth thereof, the juice-flavored beverage of the present invention has a great effect of contributing to health.

The gentio-oligosaccharide, which is an essential component of the present invention, means an oligosaccharide having 2 or more sugars in which glucose is β-1,6 glycosidic, and preferably has a polymerization degree of glucose of 2 to 10, and a polymerization degree of 2 to 4 More preferred are gentibiose, gentiotriose, and gentiotetraose. The gentio-oligosaccharide used in the present invention has no problem even if these gentio-oligosaccharides are used alone or in combination of two or more. In a commercially available product or a gentio-oligosaccharide-containing product prepared by a method as described later, monosaccharide glucose other than gentio-oligosaccharide may be contained, but if gentio-oligosaccharide is contained, The effect of the present invention can be exhibited.

As the gentio-oligosaccharide-containing material, a commercially available product (for example, gentose # 45: manufactured by Nippon Shokuhin Kako Co., Ltd .; including gentio-oligosaccharide having a polymerization degree of 2 to 4 (about 20 to 45%), glucose and the like (about 55%)) is used. Alternatively, β-glucosidase is allowed to act on D-glucose and / or gentibiose to cause condensation and transfer reaction, followed by rough purification and purification with an appropriate resin, membrane, or acid glucose condensation reaction (MLWolfrom .A.Thompson and AMBrawnstein.J.Am.Chem.Soc., 80
2015 (1958)) or the like may be used.

The production method (enzyme method) for causing β-glucosidase to act is known (see Patent Document 5 and Patent Document 6). To explain the outline, β-glucosidase is derived from various microorganisms. For example, the filamentous genera Trichoderma viride, Aspergillus niger
Niger) and other microorganism-derived enzymes are preferably used. All of these enzymes are known and can be easily obtained and the enzymes can be prepared. As the substrate, low-polymerization gentio-oligosaccharides such as D-glucose and / or gentibiose are used.
When a gentio-oligosaccharide is used as a substrate, a gentio-oligosaccharide having a higher degree of polymerization can be obtained by this enzyme reaction. Particularly preferably, at least one selected from D-glucose and gentibiose is used as a substrate.
As the enzyme reaction conditions, the substrate concentration is not particularly limited, but usually 1 to 90% (solid amount / volume) is preferable, and 5 to 80% is more preferable. The enzyme concentration relative to the substrate is preferably as high as possible, but it is usually preferable to use 100 mg or more per gram of substrate. What is necessary is just to perform reaction temperature and reaction pH on the optimal conditions of the enzyme to be used. Usually, the reaction temperature is preferably 30 to 80 ° C, more preferably 50 to 70 ° C. The reaction pH is preferably about 3 to 8. The reaction time may be a time during which the target gentio-oligosaccharide is sufficiently produced and accumulated, but usually about 2 minutes to 72 hours is appropriate. The reaction may be performed by adding an enzyme to the substrate, or may be carried out by a continuous reaction method using the immobilized enzyme by adsorbing the enzyme to an appropriate immobilizing agent.
The gentio-oligosaccharide obtained by the reaction is usually present as a mixture with glucose in many cases, but can be separated and purified by a method such as carbon celite columnography if necessary.

The gentio-oligosaccharide composed of β-1,6 glucoside bonds obtained in this way has a unique bitterness not found in ordinary saccharides, and is a low-calorie carbohydrate that humans cannot digest in the intestine, Although it is difficult to be assimilated by harmful bacteria in the intestine, it is also known to have a function of activating the growth of such beneficial bacteria because it is often used for intestinal bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria (Patent Literature) 6).

  It goes without saying that the form of the taste improving and fruit juice sensation-imparting agent containing the gentio-oligosaccharide of the present invention as an active ingredient may be any form such as lyophilized, lyophilized, powdered or granular. .

When the taste improving and fruit juice sensation imparting agent of the present invention is added to a beverage, the amount of gentio-oligosaccharide itself in the whole beverage is 0.01 to 2% by weight, preferably 0.02 to 1.4% by weight. Furthermore, it is preferable to add so that it may become 0.07 to 1.4 weight%. If the addition amount is less than 0.01% by weight, the masking effect of the high-intensity sweetener will be poor, and if the addition amount exceeds 2% by weight, the bitterness and off-taste derived from gentio-oligosaccharide will be felt, and the taste as a beverage Falls.
And, when using gentose # 45 (trade name; manufactured by Nippon Shokuhin Kako Co., Ltd.) as a taste improving and fruit juice feeling imparting agent containing gentio-oligosaccharide as an active ingredient, 0.05 to 4% by weight of gentose # 45, Preferably, it is added in an amount of 0.1 to 3% by weight, more preferably 0.3 to 3% by weight.

Although the high-intensity sweetener used in the present invention has a very high sweetness compared to sugar, it has a low bitterness because it has a unique bitterness and off-flavor, and its use is remarkably limited. However, it is not particularly limited, and preferred examples include aspartame (aspartylphenylalanine methyl ester), stevioside, saccharin, glycyrrhizin, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium.

  In the low-calorie or non-calorie fruit juice flavored beverage of the present invention, flavors, acidulants, and hesperidin and derivatives that have been tried for the purpose of improving taste quality have been tried so far without departing from the object of the present invention. Alum, naringin, sodium glutamate, glycine, alanine or serine, ascorbic acid, organic acid, flavone derivative, erythritol, etc. may be added and blended as desired, and conventionally known glucose, fructose, Other additive components such as sweeteners such as sugar, other oligosaccharides and sugar alcohols, fiber components, lactic acid bacteria, and salts may be blended.

Examples of the low-calorie or non-calorie fruit-flavored beverage of the present invention include carbonated beverages, fruit-containing beverages, and soft drinks. Examples of the added fruit juice include beverages containing less than 40% by weight of fruit juice and less than 10% by weight of fruit juice and beverages that do not contain fruit juice. And even if it does not contain fruit juice, especially citrus fruit juice at all, it can be preferably mentioned a citrus fruit juice flavor drink with a low calorie or non-calorie that is fresh and has a refreshing citrus fruit juice feeling.

In general, for soft drinks, the sweetness is designed to be about 4 to 12, and for citrus beverages, the sweetness is designed to be about 4 to 9. In order to impart and enhance the fruit juice sensation with respect to these sweetness levels, it is preferable to add gentio-oligosaccharides in a proportion of 0.002 to 0.4% by weight, preferably 0 with respect to the sweetness level 1 of the beverage. It is preferable to add 0.005 to 0.3% by weight, more preferably 0.01 to 0.3% by weight.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically by way of examples, including the effects of the present invention. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the contents of the examples.

The following tests were conducted using Gentose # 45 (trade name; manufactured by Nippon Shokuhin Kako Co., Ltd.) as a taste improving and fruit juice imparting agent containing gentiooligosaccharide as an active ingredient.
(1) About taste improvement and fruit juice feeling, citrus feeling impartation A high-intensity sweetener (mixture of aspartame and sucralose) and acidulant were added to water to prepare a test solution having an acidity of 0.16 and a sweetness degree of 5. .
Gentose # 45 (trade name; main component gentio-oligosaccharide), taste oligo (trade name; main component nigerooligosaccharide), cluster dextrin (trade name; main component highly branched cyclic dextrin), malminose (trade name; main) Ingredient liquid maltooligosaccharides) and Fujioligo (trade name: main component powdered maltooligosaccharides) are added in an amount of 0.3% by weight to improve the taste (masking effect), fruit juice, and citrus. It was evaluated by a sensory test.
(Evaluation: Average) ○: Feel the effect
Δ: Slightly felt
X: The results which are not felt are shown in Table 1.

(Examination of results)
Gentose # 45 (gentio-oligosaccharide) and taste oligo (nigero-oligosaccharide) blends have been found to improve the taste of high-intensity sweeteners, but gentio-oligosaccharide blends are superior in giving fruit juice and citrus. It was.

(2) About preferred blending range of gentio-oligosaccharide Using the same test solution as the above (1), the amount of gentose added was changed and each sensory test was conducted to examine the preferred blending range.
(Evaluation: Average) ○: Feel the effect
Δ: Feel the effects and bitterness slightly
●: No problem (no bitterness or nasty taste)
X: Table 2 shows the results of feeling bitter and unpleasant.

(Examination of results)
Addition of gentose # 45 to 0.05 to 4% by weight, preferably 0.1 to 3% by weight, more preferably 0.3 to 3% by weight, improves the taste of high-intensity sweeteners This is preferable in view of the balance between the (masking effect) and the bitterness and off-flavor derived from gentio-oligosaccharides. If the addition amount is less than 0.05% by weight, the masking effect of the high-intensity sweetener will be poor, and if the addition amount exceeds 4% by weight, the bitterness and off-taste derived from gentio-oligosaccharide will be felt and the overall beverage This affects the palatability.

According to the following formulation, a fruitless flavored beverage containing lactic acid bacteria was produced according to a conventional method.
Raw material content rate (%)
Citric acid and citrate 0.29
Sucralose and aspartame 0.014
Gentose 0.3
Grapefruit flavor 0.10
Salts 0.12
Other lactic acid bacteria 0.38
The remaining water should be 100%.

The resulting fruitless flavored beverage (grapefruit) is a non-calorie, fresh, and refreshing citrus fruit juice, masking the sweetness of high-intensity sweeteners (good sharpness), etc. The taste quality improvement was also excellent.

According to the following formulation, a fruit-free juice-flavored beverage was produced according to a conventional method.
Raw material content rate (%)
Citric acid and citrate 0.29
Acesulfame potassium 0.017
Gentose 0.3
Grapefruit flavor 0.10
The remaining water should be 100%.

The obtained fruit juice-flavored beverage (grapefruit type) was non-caloric, fresh and fresh, with a refreshing citrus fruit juice feeling as in Example 2. Although a high-intensity sweetener different in type from Example 2 was used, taste quality improvements such as sweetness masking (good sharpness) were similarly excellent.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention has high industrial applicability to provide a new application of gentio-oligosaccharide whose field of use is limited due to its bitter taste. That is, by blending gentio-oligosaccharides, it is possible to improve the quality of taste by reducing the persistent sweetness and off-taste etc. that pull the aftertaste of high-intensity sweeteners contained in beverages. It can produce and provide a low-calorie or non-calorie fruit-flavored beverage that imparts and enhances a fruit juice feeling (fruit juice substance feeling), enhances the fruit juice flavor and improves palatability, and has great industrial applicability.
In particular, the fruitless flavored beverage of the present invention is stable and economical because it does not use fruit juice.
Furthermore, it is known that the essential component gentio-oligosaccharide is also contained in a small amount in honey and the like, and since it is considered as a natural product, the juice-flavored beverage of the present invention is also safe in terms of safety. It can be drunk. In addition, gentio-oligosaccharides consisting of β-1,6 glucoside bonds are low-calorie carbohydrates that cannot be digested by the human intestine and are not easily assimilated by harmful bacteria in the intestine. Since it is often used and also has a function of activating the growth thereof, the juice-flavored beverage of the present invention has a great effect of contributing to health and has a large industrial applicability.

Claims (6)

Taste improvement and fruit juice containing gentio-oligosaccharide as an active ingredient, improving the taste of low-calorie or non-calorie beverages that contain high-sweetness sweeteners and that are low-calorie or non-calorie beverages Sensation agent. The taste improving and fruit juice feeling imparting agent according to claim 1, wherein the fruit juice feeling is a citrus fruit juice feeling. A method for improving the taste of a beverage and imparting a fruit juice sensation, comprising adding a gentio-oligosaccharide to a low-calorie or non-calorie beverage that contains a high-intensity sweetener and is low or no fruit juice. The method according to claim 3, wherein the gentio-oligosaccharide is contained in an amount of 0.01 to 2% by weight. A low-calorie or non-calorie fruit-flavored beverage containing a high-sweetness sweetener containing the taste-improving and fruit-juice sensation-imparting agent according to claim 1 or 2, and comprising low or no fruit juice. The fruit juice flavored beverage according to claim 5, wherein the beverage is any one selected from carbonated beverages, beverages containing fruit juice, and soft drinks.