JP2013169152A - Tea beverage - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tea beverage, effectively imparting deep and thick taste without accompanying bitter taste.SOLUTION: A tea beverage includes 2-methylbutanal and/or 3-methylbutanal (component A) of 23-100 ppb and 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (component B) of 5-50 ppb.

Description

  The present invention relates to a tea beverage with improved flavor.

Container-packed tea beverages are generally obtained by extracting tea leaves with an aqueous solvent such as water to obtain a tea extract, adjusting the concentration of this tea extract to the drinking concentration, and then sealing containers such as cans and PET (PET) bottles. It is sold enclosed in. In order to prevent long-term storage, that is, contamination of microorganisms, such containered tea beverages are usually sterilized by heating suitable for the material of the container, but this sterilization significantly impairs the good flavor of tea. Therefore, various improvement methods have been proposed for improving the flavor of packaged tea beverages. For example, from the group consisting of 2,3-diethyl-5-methylpyrazine and 2-methylpyrazine, 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine and 2,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3 (2H) -furanone There has been proposed a method for enhancing the feeling of drinking of tea beverages by adding an additive for tea beverages comprising at least one selected compound to tea beverages at a concentration of 0.5 to 10000 ppb (Patent Literature). 1).

  On the other hand, a method for imparting a rich taste to food and drink such as consomme soup using a pyrazine compound (for example, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine or 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine) has also been proposed (Patent Document 2). ).

JP 2008-148604 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-313635

  With the diversification of consumer preferences for packaged tea beverages, the demand for developing tea beverages, such as higher-grade, higher-quality, more functional, and new aromas and flavors, is increasing. ing. Among the pyrazine compounds, the present inventors have particularly found that 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “dimethylpyrazine”) is effective in improving the flavor of tea beverages, particularly the drinking response. Found that there is.

  However, it must be said that dimethylpyrazine is difficult to be blended in a tea beverage at a high concentration from the point of taste that it has a very strong bitter taste resembling a burnt taste. Also, in tea beverages with low caffeine concentration, the bitter taste of dimethylpyrazine is particularly perceived, so adding dimethylpyrazine to such low caffeine concentration tea beverages to improve the flavor of tea beverages I have to say that it is difficult.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a beverage effectively imparted with the rich taste of dimethylpyrazine without causing bitterness.

  As a result of intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have surprisingly found that dimethylpyrazine is used in combination with 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal at a specific ratio. The present inventors have found that a tea beverage that can enhance the flavor improving effect of pyrazine and can provide a sufficient feeling of drinking even if the content of dimethylpyrazine is reduced, has led to the completion of the present invention.

That is, although not limited to this, the present invention relates to the following.
(1) A tea beverage containing 23 ppb to 100 ppb of 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal (component A) and 5 ppb to 50 ppb of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (component B).
(2) The tea beverage according to (1), wherein the content weight ratio (A / B) of the component A and the component B is 0.7 to 10.
(3) The tea beverage according to (1) or (2), further containing 80 ppm to 200 ppm of caffeine.
(4) The tea beverage according to (1) to (3), which is a packaged beverage.
(5) The amount of 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal (component A) contained in the tea beverage is adjusted to 23 ppb to 100 ppb, and the amount of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (component B) is adjusted to 5 ppb to 50 ppb. A method for producing a tea beverage.
(6) The amount of 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal (component A) contained in the tea beverage is adjusted to 23 ppb to 100 ppb, and the amount of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (component B) is adjusted to 5 ppb to 50 ppb. The method of improving the flavor of a tea drink including doing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the feeling of drinking of a tea beverage without increasing the bitterness.

It is a figure which shows the relationship between firing temperature and the content of various components (2-methylbutanal, 2, 5- dimethyl pyrazine) in manufacture of general roasted tea. In addition, the peak area in FIG. 1 is an area under the curve relating to the peak of the test substance when the test substance is analyzed.

Tea beverages The tea beverages referred to in the present invention are teas (scientific name: Camellia sinensis) mainly made of leaves and stems, such as green tea, black tea, oolong tea, puer tea, brown tea, and wheat. It is obtained by extracting with water-based solvent a blend of various other plant materials, or other materials other than tea trees, mainly leaves, stems, rhizomes, roots, flowers, fruits, and blends of them. A liquid beverage.

  The container-packed tea beverage of the present invention is used for the preparation of these beverages in addition to beverages that can be drunk over a long period of time by filling tea beverages in containers such as cans, PET (PET) bottles, and paper containers. Includes a beverage prepared from a concentrated type of tea extract used after dilution at the time of drinking.

  The tea beverages of the present invention include non-fermented tea (such as green tea), semi-fermented tea (such as oolong tea), and fermented tea (such as black tea). Specifically, sencha, bancha, hojicha, gyokuro, kabusecha, and tea Steamed unfermented tea (green tea); Ureshino tea, Aoyagi tea, non-fermented tea such as Kama fried tea such as various Chinese teas; Semi-fermented tea such as Baked tea, Iron Kannon tea, Oolong tea; Black tea, Awa Teas such as fermented tea such as bancha and puar tea can be listed. Moreover, as a tea leaf, if it is a site | part which can be extracted and drunk, it will not restrict | limit at all, A leaf, a stem, etc. can be used suitably. Also, the form is not limited to large leaves or powders. The harvest time of tea leaves can also be appropriately selected according to the desired flavor, but 3 to 4 teas are preferred.

  In the present invention, in particular, a green tea beverage prepared with a green tea extract as a main component can perceive the effects of the present invention remarkably, and is one of preferred embodiments. Examples of green tea include sencha, bancha, gyokuro, mochi tea, and roasted tea.

Active ingredient The tea beverage of the present invention contains 2-Methylbutanal and / or 3-Methylbutanal and 2,5-dimethylpyrazine as essential ingredients. Contained as. By incorporating 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal as an active ingredient in a tea beverage containing 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, the body taste enhancing effect of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine is synergistically It is to improve efficiently. That is, in the tea beverage of the present invention, both 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal (component A) and 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (component B) act cooperatively, so It functions as an active ingredient of a taste enhancer.

  The component (A) is a branched chain aldehyde and is known as a flavor component of brewed foods such as sake, miso and soy sauce (see Advances in Food Research, 1960. Vol. 10, 75-125). It is also known as an aroma component of coffee, and it has been reported that coffee beverages containing many of these have good taste and flavor (see Japanese Patent No. 4011097).

Moreover, the said component (B) is a heat | fever aromatic component of various foodstuffs including coffee and tea, and it is known that the content will generally increase, so that roasting becomes strong.
In the tea beverage of the present invention, the content weight of component (A), that is, the total amount of 2-methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal is 23 to 100 ppb, preferably 25 to 100 ppb, more preferably 27 to the tea beverage. It mix | blends so that it may become the range of -100ppb. If it exceeds 100 ppb, the flavor of the tea beverage may be somewhat artistic. Moreover, if it is less than 23 ppb, the effect | action which raises the enhancing effect of the rich taste of a dimethyl pyrazine synergistically may not be enough.

  In the tea beverage of the present invention, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine as the component (B) is blended with respect to the tea beverage so as to be in the range of 5 to 50 ppb, preferably 5 to 40 ppb, more preferably 5 to 30 ppb. When it exceeds 50 ppb, the burnt taste becomes strong, and the palatability as a tea beverage decreases. If it is less than 5 ppb, the effect of enhancing the rich taste may not be sufficiently exhibited.

  In the present invention, the content weight ratio (A / B) of component (A) 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal to component (B) 2,5-dimethylpyrazine is 0.7 to 10, preferably It is preferable to contain so that it may become 1.0-8.0. Thus, the flavor improvement effect of this invention is more effectively exhibited by containing a component (A) and a component (B) in a specific ratio. That is, even if the bitterness of dimethylpyrazine is reduced or the content of dimethylpyrazine is reduced to such an extent that no bitterness is involved, a sufficient rich taste can be imparted to the tea beverage.

  The term “kokumi” as used herein is a term used in the flavor industry to express characteristics such as sustainability, mouthfulness, richness and thickness. It refers to the umami taste with a rich feeling, especially the thick taste perceived in the latter half of drinking and the sense of drinking response. The rich taste can be clearly detected and identified by a sensory test by a trained panelist (hereinafter referred to as a specialized panelist).

  In the present invention, component (A) 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal, and (B) 2,5-dimethylpyrazine may be synthesized by ordinary methods or may be commercially available. A compound may be used. Moreover, you may use the natural or synthetic | combination solution which contains the said compound highly, or the compound which refined | purified or refine | purified this.

  The solution containing a high amount of the component (A) and the component (B) is, for example, impregnated with an aqueous solution containing at least one amino acid selected from the group consisting of leucine, valine and isoleucine in tea leaves, and then 100-200 ° C. It can be prepared by subjecting tea leaves obtained by heating and drying at a temperature of 5 to an extraction treatment with water. In general production of roasted tea, as the roasting becomes stronger, the content of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine increases exponentially and 2-methylbutanal increases proportionally (see FIG. 1 (1)). That is, a high correlation is recognized between the logarithm of the amount of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine and the amount of 2-methylbutanal (see FIG. 1 (2)). However, when a tea extract prepared using the above method (details will be described later) is used, component (A) 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal and the component, which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, are used. (B) A tea extract having a content ratio of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine in a ratio different from the conventional correlation and containing a component (A) at a specific high ratio with respect to component (B) Can be obtained. Moreover, when the tea extract prepared by this method is used, the flavor of the tea beverage becomes more natural and preferable as compared with the tea beverage produced by adding the active ingredient of the chemically synthesized product.

With the expansion of the market for caffeine- packed tea beverages, the development of tea beverages that satisfy the needs during and / or between meals is progressing. One of these is a tea beverage with reduced caffeine, a tea beverage that is less caffeine-stimulated and less bitter and easier to take on a daily basis, less caffeine bitterness, and is suitable for meals (drinking with meals and lunch boxes) Suitable tea beverages have been developed. However, this low caffeine tea beverage, specifically, a green tea beverage in which the caffeine content (by weight) in the tea beverage is adjusted to 80 to 200 ppm, preferably 80 to 160 ppm, more preferably about 80 to 130 ppm, has a bitter taste. However, there was a problem of lack of richness and feeling of drinking.

  However, according to the tea beverage of the present invention, such a low-caffeine tea beverage can effectively exhibit an effect and improve the flavor of the tea beverage. That is, in a green tea beverage in which caffeine is adjusted to 80 to 200 ppm, preferably 80 to 160 ppm, more preferably about 80 to 130 ppm, the total amount of components (A) 2-methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal is 23 to 100 ppb, preferably 25-100 ppb or more, more preferably about 27-100 ppb, so that component (B) 2,5-dimethylpyrazine is 5-50 ppb, preferably 5-40 ppb, more preferably 5-30 ppb. By containing a component (A) and a component (B), it can be set as the green tea drink which has a rich taste and drinking response.

Tea Leaf Treatment Method As described above, the flavor of tea leaves can be enhanced by impregnating the tea leaves with a solution containing a specific amino acid and heating and drying them under specific conditions. Specifically, raw material tea leaves are impregnated with an aqueous amino acid solution containing at least one amino acid selected from the group consisting of leucine, valine and isoleucine, and the impregnated tea leaves are heated and dried at a temperature of 100 to 200 ° C. Thus, tea leaves with enhanced flavor components can be obtained.

  The amount of amino acid with respect to the tea leaves is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to impregnate 45 mg or more of the total amount of leucine, valine and isoleucine with respect to 1 kg of the raw tea leaves. In the case of 45 mg or more, the unique aroma (soy sauce-like aroma) targeted by the present invention can be sufficiently expressed, and a flavor improving effect can be obtained. Therefore, in the present invention, the total amount of leucine, valine and isoleucine is preferably about 0.005 to 0.25% by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the raw tea leaves, and about 0.05 to 0.1% by weight. More preferably.

  The method for impregnating the aqueous amino acid solution is not particularly limited as long as the amino acid can permeate or adhere to the raw tea leaves. For example, a method of spraying, spreading or applying an aqueous amino acid solution to the raw tea leaves, a method of immersing the tea leaves in an aqueous amino acid solution, and the like can be mentioned. From the viewpoint of allowing amino acids to uniformly impregnate tea leaves, a method of spraying and stirring an aqueous amino acid solution on tea leaves is preferred.

  After the tea leaves are impregnated in this way, the flavor of the tea leaves can be enhanced by heating and drying at 100 to 200 ° C. When a tea beverage is produced using such tea leaves, It becomes the outstanding tea drink by which the preferable fragrant scent without the taste was reinforced. In the case of drying by heating, with a little moisture remaining, heat is applied more than when drying, and this enhances the unique fragrant aroma (soy sauce-like aroma).

  The apparatus that can be used in the heating and drying process is not particularly limited, and for example, any type of heating and drying apparatus such as a direct-fire method or a far-infrared method may be used. The water content of the tea leaves obtained in the fired drying step is usually 5% or less, preferably about 1% or less.

Manufacture of tea beverages Container-packed tea beverages generally extract tea leaves with an aqueous solvent to obtain a tea extract, and after adjusting the concentration of this tea extract to the drinking concentration, cans, pet (PET) bottles, etc. It is manufactured in a sealed container. Also in the present invention, a tea extract can be obtained by using tea leaves as a raw material and subjected to an extraction step, and a tea beverage can be produced using this tea extract.

  The tea leaves used as the raw material for the tea extract may be the tea leaves of the present invention as the total amount of the raw tea leaves, or may be mixed with other tea leaves and used as a part of the raw tea leaves. In the extraction step of extracting from raw tea leaves with an aqueous solvent, extraction is performed with an arbitrary water such as tap water or deionized water, preferably at an extraction water temperature of 40 to 95 ° C, more preferably 70 to 95 ° C. A preferable extraction ratio (weight ratio) is about 10 to 100 parts, preferably about 25 to 50 parts, of extracted water with respect to 1 part by weight of raw tea leaves. At the time of extraction, it may be stirred or may not be stirred. In a preferred embodiment, the extracted tea extract is immediately filtered in stages using a wire mesh to remove residues such as tea husk and cooled to 10-40 ° C. using, for example, a plate-type exchanger. To do. Furthermore, it is preferable to remove insoluble components using a continuous centrifugal separator or flannel filtration, and the centrifugal conditions are usually 4000 to 9000G. The centrifuge may be of any type. Further, flannel filtration may be performed, for example, by using flannel cloth or the like. Thereafter, if necessary, an antioxidant or a pH adjuster such as L-ascorbic acid or sodium hydrogen carbonate is added to the obtained filtrate, and preferably the pH is adjusted to 5.0 to 7.0. Good. The pH-adjusted extract is diluted so that the soluble solid content (Brix) of the final preparation becomes a desired value (0.1 to 0.5, preferably 0.2 to 0.4). The partial concentration may be adjusted.

  In a preferred embodiment, the prepared liquid thus obtained is sterilized in order to enhance the storage stability. The sterilization treatment may be performed after the preparation liquid is filled into a sealed container, or may be filled into the container after sterilization. A container is not specifically limited, A paper pack, a bottle, a can, a plastic bottle etc. are used. Sterilization may be appropriately selected according to the type of container and storage conditions, such as UHT sterilization, retort sterilization, and plate sterilization. Specifically, if the container can be sterilized by heating after filling into a container such as a can or bottle, retort sterilization is adopted under the sterilization conditions stipulated in the Food Sanitation Law, and retort sterilization is performed like a plastic bottle or paper pack. For those that cannot, pre-sterilization conditions similar to the above, for example after sterilization at high temperature and short time in a plate heat exchanger, cooled to a certain temperature, and filled into a container by a method such as hot pack filling or aseptic filling Such a method is adopted.

Method for improving flavor of tea beverage According to the present invention, the amount of 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal (component A) contained in tea beverage is 23 ppb to 100 ppb, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (component B). By adjusting the amount of 5 to 50 ppb, a tea beverage with improved flavor can be produced. By using 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal (component A) and 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (component B) in accordance with the present invention, the effect of improving body taste by component A is improved by component B. An enhanced tea beverage having a favorable flavor can be obtained. Such an aspect of the present invention can be understood as a method for improving the flavor of tea beverages from one viewpoint.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated in detail based on an Example, this invention is not limited to these. In the present invention, the numerical range is described as including the end points.
<Test Example 1>
First, 2-methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal-rich tea leaves (hereinafter also referred to as MB tea leaves) were prepared. This MB tea leaf was produced by preparing a tea leaf extract containing a specific amino acid at a high concentration, impregnating the tea leaf extract into a raw tea leaf, and performing heating and drying. Specifically, 10 g of green tea leaves (heating degree: medium) were sealed in a sealed container with a stirrer, and 180 mL of ion exchange water at 40 ° C. was added to immerse the green tea leaves. Thereto was added 0.2 g of protease preparation (Mitsubishi Chemical Foods Co., Ltd. “Coclase P”), and the mixture was stirred for 16 hours while being kept at 40 ° C. to perform enzyme treatment. Thereafter, the obtained enzyme treatment liquid was heated at 90 ° C. for 10 minutes to deactivate the enzyme, thereby obtaining an enzyme extract. The enzyme extract was concentrated under reduced pressure so that the total concentration of leucine, valine and isoleucine was 0.2% by weight.

  The tea leaf extract containing this amino acid at a high concentration is 0.2: 1 (raw tea leaves) with a weight ratio of aqueous amino acid solution: raw tea leaves to unburned raw tea leaves (green tea, rough tea; No. 3 tea, yabukita). The total amount of valine, isoleucine and leucine with respect to 1 kg: 460 mg / kg) was sprayed, stirred and impregnated uniformly.

Subsequently, the amino acid-impregnated tea leaves were subjected to fire-drying using a heat-fired machine. The conditions for heat drying are as follows. Here, the firing time refers to the time from the introduction of the amino acid-impregnated tea leaves into the firing machine until the removal, and the firing temperature refers to the final temperature reached by the tea leaves.
・ Fire-filling machine: Terada Seisakusho, TR-10
・ Drum temperature: 200 ℃
・ Drum rotation speed: 12rpm
・ Taking time: 15-20 minutes ・ Taking temperature: 150 ° C.
Using this MB tea leaf, a container-packed green tea beverage was produced as follows. First, 50 g of tea leaves were weighed and extracted with 40 times the amount of hot water for 5 minutes to remove the tea husk, then cooled to 30 ° C. or lower and clarified by centrifugation to obtain a tea extract. The tea extract was adjusted to pH 6.1 by adding L-ascorbic acid as an antioxidant and sodium bicarbonate as a pH adjuster. This pH-adjusted extract was diluted with water so as to have a soluble solid content (Brix) shown in Table 1 to obtain a preparation solution. The resulting prepared liquid was filled in a can, sterilized by retort at 130 ° C. for 1 minute, and cooled in a refrigerator at 5 ° C. to obtain a packaged green tea beverage. Moreover, the container-packed tea drink was manufactured in the same procedure using 2 types of commercially available sencha and roasted tea.

<Test Example 2>
Various component analyzes were performed on the obtained four types of green tea beverages (samples 1 to 4) and three types of commercially available tea beverages (samples 5 to 7). HPLC was used for the analysis of caffeine and catechin, and GC / MS was used for the analysis of 2-methylbutanal (2MB), 3-methylbutanal (3MB), and 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (DM). Each analysis method is described below.

(HPLC)
Analytical apparatus: Tosoh Corporation, TOSOH HPLC system LC8020 model II [multi-station: LC-8020, pump: CCMC-II, autosampler: AS-8021, detector: UV-8020, column oven: CO-8020, online degasser : SD-8023]
Analysis conditions: [Column: TSKgel ODS-80Ts QA, eluent A: 10% acetonitrile / water 0.05% TFA, eluent B: 80% acetonitrile / water 0.05% TFA, flow rate: 1.0 ml / min, Temperature 40 ° C., detection: UV 275 nm]
(GC / MS)
5 ml of the sample solution is put in a 20 ml glass bottle with a screw (diameter: 18 mm, manufactured by Gestel), sealed with a metal lid with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) septum (manufactured by Gestel), and solid phase microextraction method (SPME) The fragrance component was extracted at The quantification was performed by the standard addition method after correcting the peak area detected in the SIM mode of GC / MS using the detected value of n-butanal as an added internal standard.

The sources for the reagents used are as follows.
・ 2-methylbutanal: Wako Pure Chemical Industries ・ 3-methylbutanal: Sigma-Aldrich ・ 2,5-dimethylpyrazine: Tokyo Chemical Industry ・ n-butanal: Kanto Chemical
SPME fiber: StableFlex / SS, 85 μm, Carboxen / PDMS (manufactured by Spelco), fully automatic volatile component extraction and introduction device: MultiPurposeSampler MPS2 (manufactured by Gester)
Analysis conditions: Preheating: 70 ° C. for 5 minutes, stirring: None, volatile component extraction: 70 ° C. for 50 minutes, volatile component desorption time: 10 minutes, equilibration after desorption: 300 ° C. for 20 minutes, GC oven: Agilent 6890N (Manufactured by Agilent Technologies), column: HP-5MS, 30 m × 0.25 mm i. d. , 1 μm (manufactured by Agilent Technologies), GC temperature condition: 40 ° C. (5 minutes) → 10 ° C./minute→100° C. → 5 ° C./minute→160° C. → 20 ° C./minute→280° C. (6 minutes), carrier gas : Helium, 1.6 ml / min, constant flow mode, injection: splitless method, inlet temperature: 250 ° C., mass spectrometer: Agilent 5973inert (manufactured by Agilent Technologies), measurement method: simultaneous scan & SIM measurement, scan range: m / z35 to 300, SIM parameters: m / z57 (for detecting 2-methylbutanal), 58 (for detecting n-butanal and 3-methylbutanal), 108 (for detecting 2,5-dimethylpyrazine), 109 (2 -Acetylpyrrole detection), analysis software: ChemStation (Agilent Techno) THESE Co., Ltd.).

  Table 1 shows the analysis results of various components. Tea beverages prepared using tea leaves (MB tea leaves) that have been impregnated with an amino acid-containing aqueous solution and then fired are 2-methylbutanal (2MB) and 3-methylbutanal (3MB), which are the active ingredients of the present invention. Contained a lot.

<Test Example 3>
Tea drinks of Samples 1 to 7 were blended to prepare tea drinks having different contents of 2-methylbutanal, 3-methylbutanal, and dimethylpyrazine (Samples 8 to 10). About this tea drink, the amount of the mixed tea drink and various components is shown in Table 2. Various component analyzes were performed in the same manner as in Test Example 1.

  About the tea drink of samples 1-4 and 8-10, the sensory evaluation by a specialized panelist was performed. Evaluation is 4 levels (4 points: feel strong, 3 points: feel, 2 points) about ease of drinking (no peculiarity), drinking response (kokumi), bitter astringency, taste (total preference) : Not felt very much, 1 point: not felt at all), and the average score was calculated (Table 3).

  A tea beverage prepared using general sencha leaves (Sample 1) had a lot of caffeine, but had a bitter and astringent taste, but lacked ease of drinking. On the other hand, when the content of caffeine was small as in Sample 2, the ease of drinking was improved, but the drinking response disappeared, and the overall palatability decreased. Moreover, although the tea beverage prepared using roasted tea leaves (Sample 3) has a low caffeine content, it contains abundant 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, is rich, and compensates for drinking. However, it had a flavor similar to a unique burnt bitterness, a bitter and astringent taste was perceived, and the palatability as a green tea beverage decreased.

  On the other hand, a tea beverage (sample 4) prepared using MB tea leaves obtained by immersing specific amino acids and drying by heating is 2-methylbutadiene, although it contains less 2,5-dimethylpyrazine and less burnt bitterness. The contents of nar and 3-methylbutanal were high, the drinking response was sufficiently felt, and high palatability was obtained.

  Comparing the results of Samples 8 to 10, even if the caffeine content was lowered, the tea beverage was given richness by appropriately containing 2,5-dimethylpyrazine. Since dimethylpyrazine can cause burnt bitterness, it is better to reduce the amount of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine in order not to perceive the burning bitterness derived from dimethylpyrazine. It turned out that sufficient drinking response is not provided only by the action (samples 8 and 9). Sample 10, which is an example of the present invention, has a higher content of 2-methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal than those of Samples 8 and 9, and even if the dimethylpyrazine content is 50 ppb or less, He was able to balance both responses and gained high palatability.

<Test Example 4>
It was verified that 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal enhances the body taste enhancing effect of dimethylpyrazine. That is, 1 ppb of commercially available 2-methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal are added to the tea beverage of sample 9, and four types of tea beverages having different concentrations of 2-methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal are obtained. Prepared (Table 4).

  Table 5 shows the sensory evaluation results. From Table 5, it was confirmed that a specific amount of 2-methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal was used in combination with dimethylpyrazine to enhance the effect of improving the response to drinking of dimethylpyrazine. In particular, it was confirmed that when the total amount of 2-methylbutanal and 3-methylbutanal used in combination is 23 ppb or more, the effect of improving drinking response by dimethylpyrazine can be effectively enhanced.

<Test Example 5>
From the results of Test Examples 4 and 5, a methylbutanal of 23 ppb or more (2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal: component A) and 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (component B) of 50 ppb or less are used in combination. Therefore, it was considered that tea drinks (especially green tea drinks) can be both drinkable and drinkable.

  Thus, using the MB tea leaves prepared in Test Example 1 and commercially available sencha leaves, tea beverages were prepared so that the content weight of each component in the beverage was within the above range (Table 6).

  Table 7 shows the sensory evaluation results. Surprisingly, the tea beverage in which the combined ratio of component A and component B (A / B) is 1.0 or more has particularly high palatability. In addition, as can be seen from the results of Samples 15 and 16, even when 2,5-dimethylpyrazine is contained in an amount of the lower limit value that exhibits the richness imparting effect, 2-methylbutanal and / or 3- It was confirmed that by containing 23 ppb or more of methylbutanal, it was possible to enhance the drinking response of the beverage and to obtain high palatability.

Claims (6)

  A tea beverage containing 23 ppb to 100 ppb of 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal (component A) and 5 ppb to 50 ppb of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (component B).   The tea beverage according to claim 1, wherein a content weight ratio (A / B) of the component A and the component B is 0.7 to 10.   The tea beverage according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising 80 ppm to 200 ppm of caffeine.   The tea drink according to claims 1 to 3, which is a container-packed drink.   Adjusting the amount of 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal (component A) contained in the tea beverage to 23 ppb to 100 ppb and the amount of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (component B) to 5 ppb to 50 ppb A method for producing a tea beverage.   Adjusting the amount of 2-methylbutanal and / or 3-methylbutanal (component A) contained in the tea beverage to 23 ppb to 100 ppb and the amount of 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (component B) to 5 ppb to 50 ppb A method for improving the flavor of a tea beverage.