JP2012000089A - Tea essence - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a material for a container-packed tea drink, enabling the container-packed tea drink having more natural flavor to be produced by improving the damage of the flavor caused by an undesirable flavor component contained in a raw material tea leaf.SOLUTION: The tea essence is produced by a method including the following steps 1 to 4: (step 1): the step for separating a distillate from tea leaves by fractionating the raw material tea leaves by reduced-pressure steam distillation; (step 2): the step for separating the distillate from the tea leaf residue by fractionating the tea leaves separated at the step 1 by normal-pressure steam distillation; (step 3): the step for obtaining an extract by extracting the tea leaf residue separated at the step 2 with water; and (step 4): the step for producing the tea essence by mixing the distillate separated at the step 2 with the extract separated at the step 3.

Description

  The present invention relates to a tea extract that imparts an excellent flavor to food and drink such as a packaged tea beverage and a method for producing the same.

  Tea drinks, typified by green tea, provide moisture for daily life and are essential for the lives of Japanese people. In recent years, the antioxidant properties of tea have attracted attention, and as a non-calorie healthy drink, tea drinks have become representative of sugar-free drinks. More recently, various tea beverages have been put on the market due to diversification of palatability.

For tea beverages, tea leaves are generally extracted with an aqueous solvent such as water to obtain a tea extract, and after adjusting the concentration of the tea extract to a beverage concentration, aluminum or iron cans, pets (PET) or glass It is sold in sealed containers such as made bottles. However, the extraction with an aqueous solvent does not sufficiently recover the aromatic components contained in the tea leaves, and the flavor of the tea beverage may be impaired by the undesirable aromatic components contained in the raw tea leaves.
Since tea beverages are beverages in which flavor, particularly aroma (fragrance), is important as quality, various methods for improving the flavor of packaged tea beverages have been proposed.

  For example, as a savory tea extract that collects and uses aroma components of tea leaves, Step 1 where tea leaves are immersed or moistened with warm water, Step 1 is a process of recovering distillate by steam extraction of tea leaves in Step 1 2 after extraction with water and recovering the extract, and after the sterilization step, which is obtained by a method comprising the step 3 of recovering the extract and the step 4 of mixing the distillate of step 2 and the extract of step 3 A tea extract having an aroma and flavor has been proposed (Patent Document 1).

  In addition, the matcha tea is made into a slurry with warm water, the slurry is treated with a counter-current contact device (SCC), and the flavor is recovered. And then the second step of obtaining the tea extract by removing the activated carbon by filtration, and the third step of mixing the flavor obtained in the first step and the tea extract obtained in the second step. A tea extract that gives a sweet taste of matcha tea obtained by a method comprising

  On the other hand, as a new flavor capable of imparting a balanced flavor to taste drinks such as green tea, oolong tea and black tea, the flavor (A) obtained by steam distillation of the taste drink ingredients and the taste drink ingredients A flavor (B) obtained by subjecting to a contact device (SCC) and a flavor (B) in a range of 0.01 to 100 parts by weight per part by weight of the flavor (A) It has been proposed (Patent Document 3).

In addition, as an additive for tea beverages for improving the flavor, an additive for tea beverages that gives a feeling of drinking made of 2,3-diethyl-5-methylpyrazine, 2-methylpyrazine or 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine Agent (Patent Document 4) 2,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3 (2H
) -Additives for tea beverages that give the sweetness of luxury tea leaves made of furanone (Patent Document 5), Additives for tea beverages that give the sweetness of luxury tea leaves made of activated charcoal-treated products of tea extracts (Patent Document 6) has also been proposed.

Japanese Patent No. 4104018 JP 2007-167005 A JP 2003-33137 A JP 2008-148604 A JP 2007-167003 A JP 2007-167004 A

The above-mentioned prior art mainly increases the amount of aroma components recovered during extraction, or supplements aroma components lost by heat sterilization during manufacture of packaged tea beverages, and is consistent in improving the flavor of packaged tea beverages Although there is an effect of the above, it has not led to an improvement in flavor damage caused by an unfavorable aroma component contained in the raw tea leaves.
An object of the present invention is to provide a container-packed tea beverage material that can improve a flavor loss caused by an unfavorable aroma component contained in a raw tea leaf and can manufacture a container-packed tea drink having a more natural flavor. It is.

The present inventors examined a method for producing a tea extract in order to provide a material for improving the flavor of a packaged tea beverage.
The scent of tea varies depending on the cultivation method, the picking time of tea leaves, the processing method, etc., and this is considered to be due to the change in the balance of a large number of aroma components constituting the scent. For example, in the case of green tea, new tea contains a lot of components representing a blue fresh fragrance, but the fresh fragrance decreases as the picking time is later, and in the last picked autumn / winter bancha, an unpleasant fragrance called the so-called `` bancha odor '' Will increase.
The inventors of the present invention have studied various methods for producing a tea extract, wherein undesired aroma components are removed by subjecting autumn / winter bancha to steam distillation under reduced pressure, and autumn / winter bancha from which undesired aroma components have been removed to atmospheric steam distillation. It was found that a distillate having a sweet and high quality green feeling and a gorgeous floral scent like a new tea can be obtained.

  Based on this knowledge, after removing the aroma components recovered from the fall / winter bancha by vacuum steam distillation, atmospheric steam distillation is performed to recover the distillate, and the distillate and steam-distilled tea leaves are extracted with water. It was found that a green tea extract having a sweet and high quality green feeling and a gorgeous floral scent equivalent to the case of using new tea as a raw material can be obtained by mixing the obtained extract. Further, when a tea extract other than autumn / winter bancha was produced using this method, it was found that a tea extract having an excellent flavor was obtained from tea leaves containing an unfavorable aroma, and the present invention was completed.

That is, the present invention is as follows.
[1] A tea extract produced by a method comprising the following steps 1 to 4.
(Step 1) Step of fractionating raw tea leaves by vacuum steam distillation to separate the distillate and tea leaves (Step 2) Fractionation of tea leaves separated in step 1 by atmospheric steam distillation to distillate and tea leaves Step of separating the residue (Step 3) Step of extracting the tea leaf residue separated in Step 2 with water to obtain an extract (Step 4) The distillate separated in Step 2 and the extract separated in Step 3 Process of mixing and producing tea extract

[2] The conditions of the reduced-pressure steam distillation in step 1 are steam distillation with a degree of vacuum of −90 to −30 kPaG in gauge pressure and a space velocity (SV) of 50 to 450 h ⁻¹ , and the amount of distillate in the raw tea leaves The tea extract according to [1], which is 5 to 100% (mass ratio).

[3] The tea extract according to either [1] or [2], wherein the water extract of step 2 is purified by enzyme treatment and / or adsorbent treatment.
[4] The tea extract according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein ascorbic acid or a salt thereof is added.
[5] A food or drink comprising the tea extract according to any one of [1] to [4].

  Since the tea extract of the present invention has an unfavorable aroma contained in the raw tea leaves and has an excellent flavor reminiscent of a new tea, it can impart an excellent flavor to a packaged tea beverage. In addition, because of its rich aroma, it can be widely used in foods and drinks other than tea drinks as a material imparting tea flavor.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail according to embodiments.
(1) Raw Tea Leaves Tea leaves, which are the raw materials of the tea extract of the present invention, are obtained by pre-treating tea (Camellia sinensis) buds, leaves, and stems for drinks. Tea pretreatment methods include non-fermentation, semi-fermentation, and post-fermentation, and any treatment method may be used. Non-fermented tea is green tea (sencha, gyokuro, kabusecha, bancha, tamago green tea, matcha, hojicha, kettle roasted tea, tencha, etc.), semi-fermented tea such as oolong tea, bald tea, etc. Pu-erh tea can be mentioned. There are no restrictions on the type, grade, production area, and production method of tea leaves, and any tea leaves are possible. Alternatively, different types of tea leaves may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

(2) Step 1
In the production of the tea extract of the present invention, first, the above (1) raw tea leaves are subjected to steam distillation under reduced pressure to separate aroma components to be distilled. Undesirable aroma components contained in tea leaves can be effectively removed by this operation. The degree of reduced pressure of the reduced-pressure steam distillation is not particularly limited, and is usually performed in a gauge pressure range of −90 to −30 kPaG, and more preferably −71 to −31 kPaG. When the degree of vacuum exceeds -90 kPaG by gauge pressure, the titer of the fragrance component may be weak, and when the degree of vacuum is less than -30 kPaG by gauge pressure, a steamed scent may be generated. In the present invention, the gauge pressure means “atmospheric pressure standard”.

Space velocity vacuum steam distillation (SV) is not limited, but usually is carried out in the range of 50～450H ^-1, more preferably in a range of 100～350H ^-1, also, distillate volume It is preferable to use a distillation apparatus having a structure capable of measuring and fractionating. When the space velocity is less than 50 h ⁻¹ , it is not appropriate because it takes a long time to extract commercially, and when it takes too much time, the steamed aroma becomes strong and may not be good, and the space velocity is 450 h. If it exceeds ^-1 , the obtained fragrance character may be weak and the titer may be insufficient.
The distillate amount is usually 5 to 100% by mass ratio with respect to the raw tea leaves, more preferably 5 to 15%. When the amount of distillate is 5% or less with respect to the raw tea leaves, unfavorable aroma components are not sufficiently removed. May be.

(3) Step 2
The distillate is recovered from the tea leaves from which the undesired aromatic components have been removed by subjecting the raw tea leaves to reduced-pressure steam distillation, and further subjected to atmospheric steam distillation. As the distillation conditions, the space velocity (SV) is preferably 60 to 100 h ⁻¹ , and it is preferable to use a distillation apparatus having a structure capable of measuring and distilling the distillate.
In general, the distillate amount is preferably 50 to 150% by mass ratio with respect to the raw tea leaves. The tea leaves from which undesired fragrance components have been removed in step 1 do not have a very strong fragrance, but when this is steamed at atmospheric pressure, a distillate having an excellent fragrance without an unpleasant odor can be obtained. The reason why the amount of aroma components increases due to atmospheric steam distillation is not clear, but high-quality aroma components exist in the form of glycosides in tea leaves, which are hydrolyzed by atmospheric steam distillation as aroma components. Distilled with water vapor.

(4) Step 3
In step 3, the tea leaf residue after atmospheric steam distillation is further extracted with water to obtain an extract. The water extraction treatment is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to use an apparatus that can measure and fractionate the extraction amount, and more preferably a drip method.
Although extraction temperature is not specifically limited, 30-100 degreeC is preferable.
Moreover, although there is no restriction | limiting in particular in the extraction amount, It is 100-1000% by mass ratio with respect to the raw material tea leaves before steam distillation, and 200-700% is more preferable.

  The extract obtained in step 3 can be directly mixed with the distillate from step 2 to obtain a tea extract (step 4). However, prior to step 4, an enzyme is added to the extract to perform enzyme treatment. As a result, a highly clear tea extract having a better flavor can be obtained. The enzyme is not particularly limited, and enzymes usually used for the production of tea beverages such as tannase, pectinase, cellulase, hemicellulase, and protease can be used, but in particular one or more selected from tannase, pectinase, and cellulase It is preferred to use an enzyme. The amount of the enzyme used varies depending on the titer and the like, but a range of 0.01 to 100 units / g can be exemplified based on the mass of the raw tea leaves.

Further, by further purifying the extract obtained in step 3 prior to step 4 with an adsorbent, an extract having an excellent color tone and further reduced bitterness and astringency can be obtained.
Examples of the adsorbent include activated carbon and synthetic adsorbent, and any of them can be used without any particular limitation. As the synthetic adsorbent, the matrix is a styrene polymer such as “Amberlite (registered trademark) XAD-16” (manufactured by Organo Corporation), or a styrene-divinylbenzene polymer such as “Diaion (registered trademark) HP-20”. (Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation), an acrylic polymer such as “Diaion (registered trademark) WK-10” (Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation), a methacrylic polymer such as “Diaion (registered trademark) HP-2MG” ( Mitsubishi Chemical Co., Ltd.), acrylate polymers such as “Amberlite (registered trademark) XAD-7” (manufactured by Organo Corporation), amide polymers such as “Amberlite (registered trademark) XAD-11” (organo) Co., Ltd.), silicon dioxide-based, for example, “Silo Pute (registered trademark) 202” (Fuji Siri Manufactured by A Chemical Co., Ltd.), dextran-based, such as “Sephadex (registered trademark) G-25” (manufactured by Amersham Pharmacia Biotech), polyvinyl-based, such as “Diaion (registered trademark) FP-II” (Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation) Can be used.

  The adsorbent treatment method in the present invention may be carried out by a conventional method. For example, the adsorbent filled in the column is fed at a constant flow rate, or the extract charged in the extractor is used. There is a method of introducing an adsorbent and separating the adsorbent after stirring for a certain time. There is no particular restriction on the method, and it can be selected according to the purpose.

(5) Step 4
A tea extract is obtained by mixing the distillate obtained in step 2 and the extract obtained in step 3. Since this tea extract has an undesired aroma component removed from the raw tea leaves by steam distillation under reduced pressure, it has an excellent flavor even when unscented tea leaves are used as raw materials.
The tea extract obtained in the present invention is usually prepared so that the Brix is 50 or less, but preferably the Brix is 1-10. When the Brix exceeds 50, it is difficult to stably store the excellent flavor of the tea extract, and there is a possibility that the production efficiency is lowered due to the increase in viscosity. On the other hand, when the Brix is less than 1, the overall flavor tends to be weak, and it is inappropriate from an economic viewpoint.
The mixing method is not particularly limited, but it is desirable to complete the mixing in a closed system and in a short time as much as possible in order to prevent volatilization of the aromatic component contained in the distillate.

  Ascorbic acid or a salt thereof can be added to the tea extract of the present invention for pH adjustment and antioxidant purposes. Generally, ascorbic acid or a salt thereof is added to the tea extract before the heat treatment, but it may be added in advance to the water used for the extraction in step 2. The addition amount is not particularly limited, but is generally preferably 0.05 to 1% by mass ratio with respect to the tea extract.

The tea extract of the present invention obtained in step 4 is preferably subjected to heat treatment subsequent to step 4.
The heating conditions may be either a low temperature treatment performed at 100 ° C. or lower and a high temperature treatment performed at 100 ° C. or higher, but a high temperature treatment of 100 ° C. or higher is preferable from the viewpoint of sterilization of tea extract.

  The tea extract of the present invention can be sterilized by membrane filtration. In the case of sterilization by membrane filtration, ultrafiltration (filter pore size 0.002-0.1 μm), microfiltration (filter pore size 0.05-1 μm), etc. are used, but the filter pore size is 0 for the purpose of removing bacteria. It is preferable to use a film of .45 μm or less.

(6) Application of tea extract The tea extract of the present invention is a tea beverage obtained by extracting tea leaves with hot water, hot water or cold water by a conventional method, and a tea flavor obtained by appropriately blending tea flavor components. It can be added to tea beverages such as various mixed tea beverages obtained by adding various health ingredients to beverages and tea beverages.
Furthermore, since it has the same flavor as the extract using tea leaves having an excellent flavor without an unpleasant odor, foods and drinks having a tea flavor other than tea beverages, for example, snacks imparted with flavors such as green tea and tea, Nutrition food, ice cream, confectionery such as sherbet, dessert such as jelly, pudding, sheep cane, cookie, cake, chocolate, chewing gum, buns and other confectionery, confectionery bread, bread such as bread, ramune confectionery, tablets, tablets It can be added to confectionery. Specifically, candy containing tea extract, matcha ice cream, matcha pudding, milk drink containing matcha, green tea jelly, and matcha chocolate are exemplified.

The tea extract of the present invention is a tea extract in terms of solid content, usually from 0.0001 to
Add 5% by mass. When the added concentration is less than 0.0001% by mass, a fresh green feeling may not be felt. On the other hand, when the added concentration exceeds 5% by mass, the green feeling may be slightly felt. In order to sufficiently exhibit the effects of the present invention, it is most desirable that the addition amount be 0.0005 to 1% by mass in terms of tea extract solid content. Furthermore, when using the tea extract of this invention, it is suitable to formulate and use as a flavoring composition for drinks.

In general, the flavor composition is often prepared so that about 0.1% by mass is added to the target food, and in such a case, the present invention is applied to the flavor composition. The tea extract is usually contained in an amount of 0.1 to 100% by mass, preferably 1 to 50% by mass.
The tea beverage of the present invention produced by adding a tea extract is characterized by having a good quality and rich aroma even after heat sterilization. Here, the heat sterilization conditions in the production of the tea beverage of the present invention preferably satisfy the F value of about 5 to 30.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[I] Production of steam distillation distillate and its evaluation <Experimental example 1>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After completion of the wetting, the pressure was reduced to −54 kPaG with a gauge pressure, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) 325 h ⁻¹ to distill 0.2 kg of distillate, which was removed. Subsequently, the inside of the container system was returned to normal pressure, steam distillation was performed under normal pressure, 2 kg of distillate was distilled, and the obtained distillate was used as the steam distillation unit 1.

<Experimental example 2>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After completion of wetting, the pressure was reduced to −54 kPaG with a gauge pressure, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) 585 h ⁻¹ to distill 0.2 kg of distillate, which was removed. Subsequently, the inside of the container system was returned to normal pressure, steam distillation was performed under normal pressure, 2 kg of distillate was distilled, and the resulting distillate was used as the steam distillation unit 2.

<Experimental example 3>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After completion of the wetting, the gauge pressure was reduced to -54 kPaG, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) of 325 h ^-1 to distill 0.08 kg of distillate, which was removed. Subsequently, the inside of the container system was returned to normal pressure, steam distillation was performed under normal pressure, 2 kg of distillate was distilled, and the obtained distillate was used as the steam distillation unit 3.

<Experimental example 4>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After completion of wetting, the pressure was reduced to −54 kPaG with a gauge pressure, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) 325 h ⁻¹ to distill 2.4 kg of distillate, which was removed. Subsequently, the inside of the container system was returned to normal pressure, steam distillation was performed under normal pressure, 2 kg of distillate was distilled, and the resulting distillate was used as the steam distillation unit 4.

<Experimental example 5>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After the completion of wetting, the gauge pressure was reduced to -54 kPaG, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) 325 h ^-1 to distill 2 kg of distillate. The resulting distillate was used as the steam distillation section 5. .

<Experimental example 6>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After completion of wetting, steam distillation was performed under normal pressure to distill 2 kg of distillate, and the resulting distillate was used as the steam distillation section 6.

<Test Example 1>
Sensory evaluation was performed about the steam distillation part obtained in Experimental Examples 1-6. The evaluation sample was prepared by adding a steam distillation part to distilled water. The amount added was 1% by mass in the steam distillation section. The evaluation was performed by four skilled sensory evaluation panels, and the overall strength of the flavor, sweet green feeling, gorgeous floral feeling, and bancha odor were evaluated in 7 levels from 1 (very weak) to 7 (very strong). . Table 1 shows the average score and Table 2 shows the comments.

As shown in Tables 1 and 2, when only vacuum steam distillation or atmospheric steam distillation was performed (steam distillation sections 5 and 6), the bancha odor could not be removed, whereas distillate was distilled by vacuum steam distillation. In the case where atmospheric steam distillation was performed after removing (steam distillation section 1 to 4), the bancha odor decreased.
Since the steam distillation part 1 had the highest evaluation, the tea extract was produced using the conditions of Experimental Example 1 in the following examples.

[II] Production of tea extract and its evaluation <Example 1>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After completion of the wetting, the pressure was reduced to −54 kPaG with a gauge pressure, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) 325 h ⁻¹ to distill 0.2 kg of distillate, which was removed. Subsequently, the inside of the container system was returned to normal pressure, and steam distillation was performed under normal pressure to distill 2 kg of distillate. The tea leaves were extracted with water at 80 ° C. without delay after steam distillation, and 10 kg (Brix 4.6) of an extract was obtained with respect to the raw tea leaves. This extract was clarified by enzyme treatment using tannase and pectinase and filtration, and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 0.47 kg of a concentrate (Brix43). 5 g of ascorbic acid was mixed and dissolved in the concentrate, and then 2 kg of the distillate was mixed and stirred and homogenized to obtain a green tea extract (Brix 8.4).

<Example 2>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After completion of the wetting, the pressure was reduced to −54 kPaG with a gauge pressure, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) 325 h ⁻¹ to distill 0.2 kg of distillate, which was removed. Subsequently, the inside of the container system was returned to normal pressure, and steam distillation was performed under normal pressure to distill 2 kg of distillate. The tea leaves were extracted with water at 80 ° C. without delay after steam distillation, and 10 kg (Brix 4.6) of an extract was obtained with respect to the raw tea leaves. The extract was clarified by filtration and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 0.47 kg of a concentrate (Brix43). 5 g of ascorbic acid was mixed and dissolved in the concentrate, and then 2 kg of the distillate was mixed and stirred and homogenized to obtain a green tea extract (Brix 8.4).

<Example 3>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After completion of the wetting, the pressure was reduced to −54 kPaG with a gauge pressure, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) 325 h ⁻¹ to distill 0.2 kg of distillate, which was removed. Subsequently, the inside of the container system was returned to normal pressure, and steam distillation was performed under normal pressure to distill 2 kg of distillate. The tea leaves were extracted with water at 80 ° C. without delay after steam distillation, and 10 kg (Brix 4.6) of an extract was obtained with respect to the raw tea leaves. 0.46 kg of activated carbon (“Taiko S” Phthamura Chemical Co., Ltd.) is added to this extract, and after stirring for 1 hour at a liquid temperature of 5 ° C., it is clarified by centrifugation and filtration, and concentrated under reduced pressure. And 0.47 kg of concentrated liquid (Brix43) was obtained. 5 g of ascorbic acid was mixed and dissolved in the concentrate, and then 2 kg of the distillate was mixed and stirred and homogenized to obtain a green tea extract (Brix 8.4).

<Example 4>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After completion of the wetting, the pressure was reduced to −54 kPaG with a gauge pressure, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) 325 h ⁻¹ to distill 0.2 kg of distillate, which was removed. Subsequently, the inside of the container system was returned to normal pressure, and steam distillation was performed under normal pressure to distill 2 kg of distillate. The tea leaves were extracted with water at 80 ° C. without delay after steam distillation, and 10 kg (Brix 4.6) of an extract was obtained with respect to the raw tea leaves. The extract was clarified by filtration and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 0.47 kg of a concentrate (Brix43). 2 kg of the distillate was blended into the concentrated liquid and homogenized with stirring to obtain a green tea extract (Brix 8.4).

<Comparative Example 1>
0.1 kg of fall / winter bancha tea was added to 3 kg of water adjusted to 60 ° C., followed by extraction by stirring and immersion for 5 minutes. After extraction, tea leaves were separated with 100 mesh and cooled to obtain 2.5 kg (Brix 0.38) of an extract. The extract was clarified by filtration, concentrated under reduced pressure, and 0.2 g of ascorbic acid was added to the concentrate and dissolved to obtain a green tea extract (Brix 8.4).

<Comparative example 2>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After completion of wetting, steam distillation was performed under normal pressure to distill 2 kg of distillate. The tea leaves were extracted with water at 80 ° C. without delay after steam distillation, and 10 kg (Brix 4.6) of an extract was obtained with respect to the raw tea leaves. This extract was clarified by enzyme treatment using tannase and pectinase and filtration, and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 0.47 kg of a concentrate (Brix43). 5 g of ascorbic acid was mixed and dissolved in the concentrate, and then 2 kg of the distillate was mixed and stirred and homogenized to obtain a green tea extract (Brix 8.4).

<Comparative Example 3>
2 kg of autumn / winter bancha tea was charged in a steam distiller, and 1 kg of water at 35 ° C. was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand and wet for 10 minutes. After completion of the wetting, the pressure was reduced to −54 kPaG with a gauge pressure, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) 325 h ⁻¹ to distill 2 kg of distillate. The tea leaves were extracted with water at 80 ° C. without delay after steam distillation, and 10 kg (Brix 4.6) of an extract was obtained with respect to the raw tea leaves. This extract was clarified by enzyme treatment using tannase and pectinase and filtration, and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 0.47 kg of a concentrate (Brix43). 5 g of ascorbic acid was mixed and dissolved in the concentrate, and then 2 kg of the distillate was mixed and stirred and homogenized to obtain a green tea extract (Brix 8.4).

<Test Example 2>
Sensory evaluation was performed about the green tea extract obtained in Examples 1-4 and Comparative Examples 1-3. The evaluation sample prepared what added the green tea extract to the commercially available green tea drink. The amount added was 0.5% by mass. The evaluation was performed by six skilled sensory evaluation panels, and the control of commercial green tea beverages with no added green tea extract was performed for the overall flavor strength, sweet green feeling, gorgeous floral feeling, bancha odor, burnt aroma, bitterness and taste (4 As a point), it was evaluated in 7 stages from 1 (very weak) to 7 (very strong). Table 3 shows the average score and Table 4 shows the comments.

  From the results of Tables 3 and 4, the green tea extracts prepared in Examples 1 to 4 have a sweet green color reminiscent of new tea, while reducing the unfavorable flavor contained in autumn / winter bancha called bancha odor compared to the comparative example The feeling and gorgeous floral scent were strong, and the potency of the overall flavor was also strong. In particular, this effect was remarkably observed in the green tea extract of Example 1. The green tea extract of Example 2 showed almost the same effect as Example 1 except that it had a slightly bitter taste. The green tea extract of Example 3 had the same effect as that of Example 1, and the same effect as Example 1 was obtained except that the green tea extract of Example 4 felt a slightly steamed scent.

<Example 5>
2 kg of Pu-erh tea was charged into a steam distiller, and 1 kg of 35 ° C. water was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand for 10 minutes to be wet. After completion of wetting, the pressure was reduced to -54 kPaG with a gauge pressure, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) 325 h ^-1 to distill off 0.2 kg of the distillate, which was removed. Subsequently, the inside of the container system was returned to normal pressure, and steam distillation was performed under normal pressure to distill 2 kg of distillate. The tea leaves were extracted with water at 80 ° C. without delay after the steam distillation, and 10 kg (Brix7) of an extract was obtained from the raw tea leaves. This extract was clarified by enzyme treatment using tannase and pectinase and filtration, and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 0.5 kg of a concentrate (Brix40). 5 g of ascorbic acid was mixed and dissolved in the concentrated liquid, and then 2 kg of the distillate was mixed and stirred and homogenized to obtain a Pu-erh tea extract (Brix 8.4).

<Comparative example 4>
2 kg of Pu-erh tea was charged into a steam distiller, and 1 kg of 35 ° C. water was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand for 10 minutes to be wet. After completion of wetting, steam distillation was performed under normal pressure to distill 2 kg of distillate. The tea leaves were extracted with water at 80 ° C. without delay after the steam distillation, and 10 kg (Brix7) of an extract was obtained from the raw tea leaves. This extract was clarified by enzyme treatment using tannase and pectinase and filtration, and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 0.5 kg of a concentrate (Brix40). Add 5g of ascorbic acid to the concentrate and dissolve it.
The mixture was stirred and homogenized to obtain a pu-erh tea extract (Brix 8.4).

<Test Example 3>
Sensory evaluation was performed on the pu-erh tea extract obtained in Example 5 and Comparative Example 4. The evaluation sample prepared what added the puer tea extract to the commercially available mixed tea drink. The amount added was 0.2% by mass. The evaluation was conducted by six skilled sensory evaluation panels, and a commercial mixed tea beverage with no extract was used as a control (4 points) for the strength of the overall flavor, mature aroma, sweetness, burnt aroma and earthy odor. The evaluation was made on a scale of 1 (very weak) to 7 (very strong). The average evaluation points are shown in Table 5, and the comments are shown in Table 6.

  From the results of Tables 5 and 6, the Pu-erh tea extract produced in Example 5 has a markedly reduced aroma and earthy unpleasant odor compared to Comparative Example 4, while an aged scent peculiar to Pu-erh tea becomes stronger. The mellow sweetness felt when drinking was also strong.

<Example 6>
2 kg of black tea was charged into a steam distiller, and 1 kg of 35 ° C. water was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand for 10 minutes to be moistened. After completion of wetting, the pressure was reduced to -54 kPaG with a gauge pressure, and then steam distillation was performed at SV (space velocity) 325 h ^-1 to distill off 0.2 kg of the distillate, which was removed. Subsequently, the inside of the container system was returned to normal pressure, and steam distillation was performed under normal pressure to distill 2 kg of distillate. The tea leaves were extracted with water at 80 ° C. without delay after the steam distillation, and 11 kg (Brix 6) of an extract was obtained with respect to the raw tea leaves. This extract was clarified by enzyme treatment using tannase and pectinase and filtration, and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 0.5 kg of a concentrate (Brix40). 5 g of ascorbic acid was blended and dissolved in the concentrate, and then 2 kg of the distillate was blended and stirred and homogenized to obtain a black tea extract (Brix 8.4).

<Comparative Example 5>
2 kg of black tea was charged into a steam distiller, and 1 kg of 35 ° C. water was uniformly sprayed thereon, and then allowed to stand for 10 minutes to be moistened. After completion of wetting, steam distillation was performed under normal pressure to distill 2 kg of distillate. The tea leaves were extracted with water at 80 ° C. without delay after the steam distillation, and 11 kg (Brix 6) of an extract was obtained with respect to the raw tea leaves. This extract was clarified by enzyme treatment using tannase and pectinase and filtration, and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 0.5 kg of a concentrate (Brix40). 5 g of ascorbic acid was blended and dissolved in the concentrate, and then 2 kg of the distillate was blended and stirred and homogenized to obtain a black tea extract (Brix 8.4).

<Test Example 4>
Sensory evaluation was performed about the black tea extract obtained in Example 6 and Comparative Example 5. The evaluation sample prepared what added the black tea extract to the commercially available tea drink. The amount added was 0.2% by mass.
The evaluation was conducted by 6 skilled sensory evaluation panels. The strength of the whole flavor, sweet fragrance, gorgeous floral fragrance, and burnt fragrance were controlled by using a commercially available mixed tea beverage with no extract as a control (4 points). To 7 (very strong). Table 7 shows the average score and Table 8 shows the comments.

  From the results of Tables 7 and 8, the black tea extract produced in Example 6 has a strong sweet aroma and a gorgeous floral aroma that is felt in freshly brewed tea, while the burnt aroma is reduced compared to Comparative Example 5. became.

  Since the tea extract of the present invention has a less unfavorable aroma contained in the raw tea leaves and has an excellent flavor reminiscent of a new tea, an excellent flavor can be imparted to a packaged tea beverage. In addition, because of its rich aroma, it can be widely used in foods and drinks other than tea drinks as a material imparting tea flavor.

Claims (5)

A tea extract produced by a method comprising the following steps 1 to 4.
(Step 1) Step of separating raw tea leaves by vacuum steam distillation to separate the distillate and tea leaves (Step 2) Fractionation of tea leaves separated in step 1 by atmospheric steam distillation to distillate and tea leaves Step of separating the residue (Step 3) Step of obtaining the extract by water extraction of the tea leaf residue separated in Step 2 (Step 4) The distillate separated in Step 2 and the extract separated in Step 3 Process of mixing and producing tea extract The conditions of the reduced-pressure steam distillation in step 1 are steam distillation with a degree of vacuum of -90 to -30 kPaG in gauge pressure and a space velocity (SV) of 50 to 450 h ^-1 , and the amount of distillation is 5 with respect to the raw tea leaves. The tea extract according to claim 1, which is ˜100% (mass ratio).   The tea extract according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the water extract of step 2 is purified by enzyme treatment and / or adsorbent treatment.   Ascorbic acid or its salt is added, The tea extract of any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The food / beverage product which added the tea extract of any one of Claims 1-4.