JP2013247928A - Method for producing macerated food - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain macerated foods in which taste and texture inherent in ingredients are not impaired, and which are used as foods for persons who have difficulty in chewing and for the elderly, and are used as ingredients for baby food, without soaking the food in a highly-alkaline aqueous solution.SOLUTION: Macerated food is produced by soaking tenderized food raw material in a low-alkaline (pH 7.5 to 8.5) macerating solution containing starch, curdlan and albumen.

Description

  The present invention relates to foods for persons with difficulty in chewing and elderly people, foods for baby food, and methods for producing them, which maintain the shape of the raw material and do not impair the original taste and texture of the ingredients.

  A method (Patent Documents 1 and 2) in which a fish body is immersed in a highly alkaline aqueous solution to obtain a frozen fillet fish has already been proposed, and the obtained frozen fish can be cooked while frozen. The effect of the invention is that the cooked product becomes juicy (not sticky) and soft. These inventions have been achieved by immersing in a highly alkaline aqueous solution. However, since it is soaked in a highly alkaline solution, the original taste of the fish meat is impaired after heating and the texture is also deteriorated. In addition, it may not be able to withstand eating by feeling an alkaline odor.

  Although it is a well-known fact that yield reduction due to heating is suppressed by using starch, curdlan, and egg white in combination, the effect when combined with immersion in an alkaline aqueous solution is not clear. The softness obtained from the invention is an effect obtained only from the immersion. There is no description of the study on the effects of physically damaging fish such as tenderization, and it cannot be said that the pursuit of softness has been made sufficiently.

  Currently, chopped meals, paste meals, and mousse meals are often employed for those who have difficulty chewing or swallowing with emphasis on safety and functionality (Non-patent Document 1). These are soft enough to be crushed by the gums and have a smooth texture, so it is suitable for those who are hard to eat and those that are difficult to swallow depending on the thing. However, in considering the feeding function, it is important to chew, taste and taste delicious food, and saliva secretion is promoted by chewing well (Non-patent Document 2). In other words, humans enjoy the delicious taste of their meals by biting, and the current foods for people with difficulty in chewing and swallowing are still developing from the viewpoint of quality of life (QOL). It is thought that it is important to have a moderate texture and to eat a chewable meal for those with a low degree of chewing difficulty and the elderly.

Patent No. 4282746 Patent No. 4616409

Journal of Japanese Society for Food Chemical Engineering, 55 (11), 522-528 Food and containers, 53 (1), 22-29

  An object of the present invention is to soften foods such as softened fish meat that is used as a material for foods for difficult chewing and elderly people and foods for weaning foods, without immersing the ingredients in a highly alkaline aqueous solution and without impairing the original taste and texture of the ingredients. There is in getting.

  The inventors of the present invention have intensively studied a method for producing a softened food such as the above softened fish meat. The present inventor immerses a food material that is a material of a softened food in a low alkaline solution having a pH of 7.5 to 8.5 containing starch, curdlan, and egg white, and permeates the solution into the food material, so that the original taste of the food material is obtained. The present inventors have found that a food with a softness that can be easily eaten even by persons with difficulty in chewing and the like is produced, and the present invention has been completed.

That is, the present invention is as follows.
[1] (a) A process of tenderizing food ingredients,
(b) impregnating a weakly alkaline solution having a pH of 7.5 to 8.5 containing starch, egg white and curdlan into the food material that has been subjected to the tenderization treatment;
A method for producing a softened food comprising:
[2] The step of allowing the weakly alkaline solution to penetrate into the tenderized food material of (b),
(i) a step of immersing the tenderized food material in a weakly alkaline solution having a pH of 7.5 to 8.5 containing starch, egg white and curdlan,
(ii) a step of subjecting the food material soaked in the weak alkaline solution to a reduced pressure treatment while being soaked;
(iii) a step of immersing the reduced pressure treated food material in the weak alkaline solution under normal pressure conditions;
The method for producing a softened food according to [1], comprising:

[3] The method for producing a softened food according to [1] or [2], wherein the tenderizing process is a process of perforating a food material using an instrument having a needle density of 1 / 7.5 mm × 7.5 mm or more.
[4] Manufacture of softened food according to [2] or [3], wherein the reduced pressure treatment is repeated from the normal pressure so that the residual pressure is 0.01 MPa or less and the pressure is maintained for 5 minutes or more twice. Method.
[5] The method for producing a softened food according to any one of [2] to [4], wherein the immersion in a weak alkaline solution under normal pressure is performed for 15 to 24 hours.

[6] Production of softened food according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the weak alkaline solution contains 0.5 to 5% by mass of starch, 0.5 to 5% by mass of egg white, and 0.05 to 1% by mass of curdlan. Method.
[7] The method for producing a softened food according to any one of [1] to [6], wherein the food material is selected from the group consisting of seafood meat, livestock meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables, potatoes, grains, and seaweed.
[8] The method for producing a softened food according to [7], wherein the food material is seafood meat.
[9] The method for producing a softened food according to [8], wherein the food material is fish meat.
[10] A softened food produced by the production method of any one of [1] to [9].
[11] Characteristic that the load value when pushing a φ20mm cylindrical plunger to 70% of the sample thickness at a speed of 10mm / sec to softened food cooked using a texture analyzer is 500,000 N / m ² or less [10] The softened food according to [10].

[12] The softened food according to [10] or [11], wherein the food further has a characteristic that starch, egg white component and curdlan are detectable in the food.
[13] The softened food according to any one of [10] to [12], wherein the food is selected from the group consisting of seafood meat, livestock meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables, cereals, cereals, and seaweed.
[14] The softened food according to [13], wherein the food is meat of seafood.
[15] The softened food according to [14], wherein the food material is fish meat.
[16] The softened food according to any one of [10] to [15], which is used as a material for nursing food or baby food.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a softened food that maintains the shape of the material and does not impair the original taste and texture of the food. Since it is easy to eat even those with difficulty in chewing and elderly people, it becomes possible to enjoy the meal more.

  The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's “Care Prevention Manual” clearly states “Improvement of oral function”, and it is clear that the masticatory function should be maintained from the viewpoint of support and prevention of care. Therefore, even from the viewpoint of maintaining the eating function, the present invention can provide a softened food that can provide greater satisfaction to those with difficulty in chewing and the elderly.

1. Food raw material The food raw material to be applied may be a fresh raw material or a frozen and thawed raw material. In the present invention, the food material may be referred to as a food material. The target is foodstuffs that are raw materials for foods, which are all foodstuffs that are hard and difficult to chew, are not suitable for the elderly, infants, etc., and are edible. Preferred are seafood meat such as fish meat, livestock meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables, cereals, seaweed, and the like, more preferably seafood meat, particularly preferably fish meat. Vegetables and fruits refer to vegetables and fruits. There are no restrictions on seafood species, livestock species, varieties, and fruit and vegetable species. Specifically, for example, fish and shellfish such as red sea bream, mackerel, hoki, abalone, turban shell, shrimp, crab, octopus, squid, sea cucumber, jellyfish and other marine animals, etc. Examples of livestock meat include chicken, beef, pork, and lamb, and eggs include egg products. Examples of vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, carrot and radish, examples of fruits include apples and pears, examples of potatoes include potatoes and sweet potatoes, examples of cereals include soybeans and broad beans, and seaweed Examples include wakame and kombu. Moreover, there is no restriction | limiting in particular also about the form of a foodstuff raw material, Any forms, such as a fillet and a block, can be selected.

  Moreover, the food raw material softened by the method of the present invention using the food raw material as a raw material is referred to as a softened food raw material or a softened food. Specifically, for example, softened fish meat, softened livestock meat, softened fruit and vegetables, and the like.

2. Tenderization treatment In the present invention, a food raw material (foodstuff) such as fresh or frozen and thawed fish meat raw material is subjected to a tenderization treatment. The tenderizing process refers to a process of puncturing a needle-like instrument and causing physical damage such as cutting hard streaks or fibers of the food material while maintaining the original shape. The tenderizing treatment is performed for the purpose of efficiently introducing the soaking liquid from the damaged portion by the tenderizing treatment into the raw material in the subsequent vacuum impregnation treatment step and the soaking step in addition to physical damage to the fish meat. A thin needle-like instrument with a sharp point is used for the tenderization process. For example, it is possible to use a toothpick, a driver, a cone, a threader, or the like. Further, in order to open a plurality of holes at a time, a household fork used as tableware, a sword mountain for ikebana, a tenderizer, or the like can also be used. Further, it includes an automatic drilling machine including cutters, drills, sewing machines, etc., blades such as knives, scratching processing using laser, ultrasonic waves, wind pressure, water pressure, and the like. An instrument used for tenderizing is called a tenderizer. The perforation density in the tenderization process may be 1 hole / 7.5 mm × 7.5 mm or more. “One hole / 7.5 mm × 7.5 mm or more” means that one or more perforations are formed per unit area of 7.5 mm × 7.5 mm. In addition, the thickness of the portion of the thin needle-like instrument to be drilled in the fish meat is φ1.5 to 5 mm, preferably φ1.7 to 3.5 mm, and more preferably φ2 to 2.5 mm. In addition, the depth of the hole for the tenderization process is preferably a hole that is drilled from one side of the raw material to reach 3/4 of the thickness of the raw material, and the raw material has a skin on one side In order to prevent the skin from being scratched and the appearance after firing from getting worse, it is preferable to make a hole from the surface without the skin.

  In the present invention, the tenderizing process can also be referred to as a boring process or physical processing including a boring process.

3. Dipping solution permeation treatment A low alkaline solution with a pH of 7.5 to 8.5 containing at least starch, egg white, and curdlan is permeated into the food material that has been subjected to the tenderization treatment. In the present invention, this solution is called a soaking solution. In the immersion liquid infiltration treatment, in order to obtain the maximum effect by fully infiltrating the immersion liquid into the food raw material, vacuum impregnation treatment is performed with the food raw material immersed in the immersion liquid, followed by the immersion treatment. .

Use of highly alkaline soaking solutions that exceed pH 8.5 can cause physical and chemical changes that reduce the quality of the food. For example, due to the high alkali of the pickled solution, the original preferable food texture as well as the hardness is lost. In addition, the lipid component is decomposed, and as a result, the production of free fatty acids and peroxides is promoted. These are direct causative substances of fat deterioration and toxicity. Since elderly people and infants who are subjects in the implementation of the present invention have lower resistance than normal healthy people, a high degree of safety is also required. In addition, there is a possibility that eating may be impossible due to alkaline odor, and it is also targeted for those who have difficulty chewing, so it is necessary to make the method capable of satisfying the original quality of food ingredients with sufficient softness, moisture retention without using high alkali There is.
Moreover, it is not necessary to use protease in this pickling liquid permeation treatment.

3-1. Pickling liquid preparation The pickling liquid is a liquid that penetrates into the fish meat in the pickling liquid permeation treatment. The pickled liquid contains at least starch, curdlan and egg white. Further, it may contain sodium chloride (NaCl), a buffering agent or a buffer, and sugar.

The starch-derived plant is not limited, and any starch derived from corn starch, wheat starch, potato starch or the like can be used. A commercially available starch may be used. Starch also includes starch derivatives. Examples of starch derivatives include those in which various functional groups are introduced into starch, such as carboxymethyl starch, hydroxyalkyl starch, starch acetate, and phosphate starch. Cross-linked starch is also included. Curdlan is a fermented polysaccharide produced by microorganisms. It is a non-ionic linear chain in which D-glucose represented by (C ₆ H ₁₀ O ₅ ) _n is β-glucoside bonded at the C1 and C3 positions. It is a polysaccharide (β-1,3 glucan). The curdlan can be manufactured by a known method. A commercially available curdlan preparation containing about 90% by weight of β-1,3 glucan may also be used. Examples of commercially available curdlan preparations include Kirin Kyowa Foods “Cardlance NS”. Egg white refers to a substance on the sol between the yolk membrane and eggshell membrane of avian eggs, preferably chicken egg white. A commercially available dried product can also be used for the egg white. Buffers or buffers are added to adjust the pH of the immersion liquid. Although it is not limited as long as it is a buffer which can adjust a pickling liquid to pH7.5-8.5, For example, what is necessary is just to add a citric acid and trisodium phosphate so that a pickling liquid may be pH7.5-8.5. For example, trehalose can be used as the sugar. Further, sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, maltitol, mannitol, erythritol may be used instead of trehalose. Trehalose and these sugar alcohols can suppress protein denaturation during freezing when the treated fish meat is frozen.

  The immersion liquid is prepared by adding the above substances to water and dissolving them. For example, in 0.5% by weight (parts by weight) of the pickled solution, 0.5% to 5% by weight (parts by weight) of starch, 0.05 to 1% by weight (parts by weight) of curdlan, and 0.5 to 5% by weight (parts by weight) of egg white In addition, it is possible to use an immersion liquid having a composition containing 1 to 10% by weight (parts by weight) of trehalose and 0.5 to 5% by weight (parts by weight) of sodium chloride. Specifically, an immersion liquid consisting of sodium chloride, trisodium phosphate, citric acid, starch, curdlan, egg white, trehalose and water is prepared, and the pH is adjusted to 7.5 to 8.5. For example, by mixing 1 part by weight of salt, 1 part by weight of starch, 1 part by weight of egg white, 0.1 part by weight of curdlan, 1 part by weight of trisodium phosphate, 0.4 part by weight of citric acid, 2.5 parts by weight of trehalose, and 95.1 parts by weight of water A dipping solution with a pH of 8.4 can be produced.

  By making the soaking liquid low alkaline, it is possible to prevent the pH inside the food material (foodstuff) from changing greatly, and to obtain a softened food that does not impair the original taste and texture of the foodstuff. The prepared soaking solution is well suspended and used for soaking and subjected to vacuum impregnation treatment.

3-2. Reduced pressure impregnation treatment The food material that has been subjected to the tenderization treatment is immersed in the above-described immersion liquid 3-1 and placed under reduced pressure to perform the reduced pressure impregnation treatment. Here, the reduced pressure impregnation treatment refers to the penetration of the above-described 3-1 immersion liquid into the food material under reduced pressure more than when it is simply immersed. The vacuum impregnation treatment is sometimes referred to as vacuum impregnation treatment. Further, “immersing a food material in a dipping solution” means that the whole food material is dipped in the dipping solution, and the dipping solution and the food material may be put together in a container used for dipping. The reduced pressure impregnation treatment of the food material is performed by repeating the reduced pressure treatment and the treatment under normal pressure. The decompression treatment is performed at a residual pressure of 0.01 MPa or less, preferably 0.004 MPa or less for 5 minutes or more, that is, 5 to 30 minutes, preferably 5 to 15 minutes, more preferably 5 to 10 minutes, particularly preferably 5 minutes. The operation is performed by maintaining the pressure under reduced pressure and then returning to normal pressure. Here, the residual pressure refers to the absolute pressure when the inside of the vacuum desiccator is decompressed. The depressurizing operation for depressurizing and returning to normal pressure is performed twice or more, preferably three times or more, more preferably four times or more. By this treatment, when the reduced pressure state is returned to the normal pressure, the pickled liquid penetrates a large amount into the food material.

3-3. Immersion treatment under normal pressure in immersion liquid After impregnation under reduced pressure, it is immersed in immersion liquid under normal pressure at room temperature (1-30 ° C), normal temperature (15-25 ° C), refrigerated (less than 10 ° C) or chilled ( (5 ° C. or lower)) so that the food material is immersed in the immersion liquid. In addition, chilled (5 degrees C or less) is contained in refrigeration (10 degrees C or less). That is, fish meat is dipped in a dipping solution under normal pressure conditions. At this time, the immersion liquid may be the same as that used for the immersion of the food raw material before the decompression treatment, but the immersion liquid may be replaced and immersed. By the immersion treatment under atmospheric pressure after the decompression treatment, the penetration of the soaking solution into the food material proceeds, and the softening of the food material further proceeds accordingly. In order to sufficiently bring out the softening effect of the food material, the immersion treatment of the fish meat material under normal pressure may be performed for about 15 to 24 hours, preferably about 20 hours, after the reduced pressure impregnation treatment. As described above, the immersion treatment under normal pressure may be performed in a state where the food material is immersed in the immersion liquid.

  The softened fish meat produced by the above method is pulled up from the pickling solution and then frozen and packaged.

  The softened food, which is the final processed product obtained by performing the immersion liquid infiltration treatment including the above-mentioned tenderization treatment, the reduced pressure impregnation treatment and the normal pressure immersion treatment, becomes softer than the raw food that has not been softened. ing. However, the food material (food material) is not easily broken, and the original shape of the food material is maintained. For example, even when put into the oral cavity for eating, the food texture of the food raw material not subjected to the treatment of the present invention remains moderately, and the hardness that requires chewing is maintained. Here, the texture refers to the skin sensation in the oral cavity including the teeth, tongue, gums, etc. when eating food, and it is chewy, adherent, recoverable, the degree of destruction of food, the moisture and oil content of the food Change, touch of the tongue, ease of formation of the bolus, spread of the bolus into the oral cavity, throat scrubbing, ease of swallowing, residual feeling in the oral cavity and throat, and the like. The texture may be expressed by expressions such as softness and moistness. The softened food of the present invention retains the taste inherent to unprocessed food ingredients, and maintains a certain texture such as chewy texture, texture, and throat, and the taste and texture are not impaired. Therefore, it is possible to feel the texture of the original food material. People with difficulty in chewing and elderly people have a reduced ability to chew and eat food, and it is not easy to eat ordinary food, and it is necessary to eat soft food. Traditionally, methods for softening foods for those who have difficulty eating or for the elderly have been known, but the conventional methods focus only on softening and the foods that the original unprocessed food has Since maintaining the feeling was not considered, there was a problem that the eaters did not feel delicious and could not enjoy the meal. The softened food obtained by the method of the present invention maintains the texture of the original unprocessed food ingredients to a certain extent, so that it can make the eater feel tasty and give pleasure to eat. Is possible. That is, the softened food produced by the method of the present invention can be used as a material for care food. Here, the care food means a meal that is easy to chew and swallow for a person who needs care for an elderly person or a sick person and who is difficult to chew or swallow. In addition, the softened food produced by the method of the present invention has an appropriate crunch and can be used as a material for baby food of infants in the weaning period of about 5 to 6 months to 1 year and a half.

  The degree of softening of the softened food produced by the method of the present invention can be expressed by the hardness as a physical property. Hardness can be measured, for example, by the universal design food voluntary standard method of the Japan Nursing Food Council or a method according thereto. The method of the universal design food voluntary standard of the Japan Nursing Food Council is as follows.

  A sample is filled into a container with a diameter of 40 mm to a height of 15 mm, and measured with a plunger with a diameter of 20 mm at a compression speed of 10 mm / sec and a clearance of 5 mm. The measurement is performed at 20 ± 2 ° C. However, confirm that there are no obstacles to the measurement of those whose physical properties change, those that cannot be transferred to the measuring container, and those that are indeterminate by moving to a measuring container, and measure the clearance directly at a sample thickness of 30%. May be. The material of the plunger is not specified, and as the measuring instrument, a device capable of measuring the compressive stress of the substance by linear motion is used.

For example, using a texture analyzer (for example, TA Xt plus (manufactured by Eiko Seiki Co., Ltd.)) as a device capable of measuring the compressive stress of a substance by linear motion, a φ20mm cylindrical plunger is 10 mm / It may be performed by measuring the load value when the sample is pushed to 70% of the sample thickness at a speed of sec. Here, the cooking is performed by, for example, steam heating under the condition that the center temperature of food such as fish meat is 70 ° C. The load value can be expressed as N / m ² , and when the softened food of the present invention is cooked, the hardness when measured by the above method is 500,000 N / m ² or less, preferably 100,000 N / m ² or less. More preferably, 50,000 N / m ² or less, more preferably 30,000 N / m ² or less, more preferably 28,000 N / m ² or less, more preferably 26,000 N / m ² or less, more preferably 24,000 N / m ² Hereinafter, it is particularly preferably 22,000 N / m ² or less.

The Japan Nursing Food Council has divided nursing food into four categories according to the ease of chewing. That is, “Easy to bite” is classified as Category 1, “Crushable with gums” is classified as Category 2, “Things that can be crushed with the tongue” are classified as Category 3, and “Can be bitten” are classified as Category 4. The upper limit of hardness when measured by the above methods for Category 1 to Category 4 is 5 × 10 ⁵ N / m ² for Category 1, 5 × 10 ⁴ N / m ² for Category ² , and 1 × 10 ⁴ N for Category 3. / m ² (for sol), Category 4 is 3 × 10 ³ N / m ² (for sol). The softened food produced by the method of the present invention belongs to the above category 1.

  The softness of the softened food, which is the final processed product obtained by performing the above-mentioned tenderizing treatment and the soaking liquid permeation treatment, is uniform.For example, when the hardness of the softened food is measured by the above method, the measured value varies. For example, the coefficient of variation (standard deviation / average × 100) of measured values at a plurality of points is 20% or less, preferably 15% or less.

  Moreover, the pickling liquid is sufficiently permeated into the softened food, which is the final processed product obtained by performing the above-described tenderization treatment and the pickling liquid permeation treatment. Moreover, the pickling liquid penetrates uniformly throughout the food and remains.

In the present invention, the degree of penetration of the pickled liquid into the softened food that is the final processed product subjected to the above-described tenderization treatment and the pickled liquid penetration treatment is referred to as a product yield, for example, when the processed food is cooked by heating The product yield can be expressed by the following equation. Here, heat cooking refers to, for example, steam heating so that the center temperature of food such as fish meat is 70 ° C. or higher. It can be determined that the higher the product yield is, the better the tenderizing process and the soaking liquid permeation process are performed, and the product yield when the food is processed by the method of the present invention and cooked is the yield when the process is not performed. For example, 105% or more, preferably 110% or more.
Product yield (%) = 100 x Weight after cooking (g) / Raw material before tenderization treatment and soaking liquid permeation treatment (g)

Moreover, the softened food which is the final processed product obtained by performing the above-mentioned tenderization process and the dipping liquid infiltration process suppresses moisture release during cooking. For this reason, the immersion liquid remains uniformly in the entire food as described above. In the present invention, when the softened food, which is the final processed product subjected to the above-described treatment, is cooked and cooked, the degree to which moisture is released from the food is referred to as a heating yield and can be expressed by the following equation. The higher the heating yield is, the more moisture is not released from the food that has been subjected to the tenderization treatment and the immersion liquid infiltration treatment, and the product yield when the food is processed by the method of the present invention and cooked is not processed. The yield is higher than, for example, 91% or more, preferably 92% or more.
Heating yield (%) = 100 x Weight after cooking (g) / Raw material after tenderization treatment and immersion liquid infiltration treatment (g)

Since the pickled liquid remains in the softened food, which is the final processed product obtained by performing the above-described tenderization treatment and the pickled liquid infiltration treatment, the softened food contains the components of the pickled liquid, the starch component, the egg white. Components and curdlan components are included in a detectable manner. Specifically, a polymer in which α-glucose, which is starch or a fragment thereof, is polymerized by a glycosidic bond is detected, and egg white proteins such as ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, ovomucoid, ovomucin, etc. are detected, and (C ₆ H ₁₀ O ₅ ) β-1,3 glucan represented by _n is detected. Furthermore, sugar contained in a pickling solution such as trehalose is also detected. Here, “detectable” means that each component can be detected when it is measured by a physicochemical measurement method such as chromatography or a biochemical measurement method such as an antigen-antibody reaction.

  Furthermore, the softened food, which is the final processed product obtained by performing the above-mentioned tenderization treatment and immersion liquid infiltration treatment, can be subjected to an evaluation test by performing a sensory test using a plurality of panelists, and is softened by other methods. It can be distinguished from processed food ingredients.

  For sensory evaluation, for example, the food produced by the method of the present invention is cooked and cooled to room temperature, then the odor after cooking (whether it is unpleasant) or the deterioration of fat (both smell and taste are comprehensive) Judgment), taste (whether it is the original taste of fish, bitterness), and texture (softness, moist feeling) may be evaluated by a panelist. For example, ten panelists are used, and each evaluation item is given a score of 1 to 5, and the scores of the ten people may be averaged. Under the present circumstances, what cooked the foodstuff which is not manufactured with the method of this invention may be made into a comparison object, and the score of this comparison object may be set as 3, and a score may be attached. By such sensory evaluation, the fish meat produced by the method of the present invention has a texture score of 4 or more, preferably 4.5 or more, and other scores of 3 or more.

  The food processed by the method of the present invention can be further processed by baking, heating such as steam heating, canning, and the like. For example, a processed fish meat product can be obtained by subjecting the fish meat to a baking process, a heating process such as steam heating, and a canning process. That is, the present invention includes a method for producing a processed product of softened food such as softened fish meat.

(Example 1) Effect of a dipping solution containing starch, egg white and curdlan in the production of softened fish meat according to the method of the present invention (Trout)
<Processing>
Each of the pickling solutions was prepared with the following composition and had a pH of 8.4. Under the present circumstances, the immersion liquid which added starch, egg white, and curdlan, and the immersion liquid which does not add these were used. In this example, starch, egg white, examination using a soaking solution added with curdlan is called starch, egg white, curdlan addition zone, starch, egg white, examination using a soaking solution without adding curdlan, starch, It is called egg white or curdlan-free.
Starch, egg white, curdlan added section: salt 1 part by weight, starch 1 part by weight, egg white 1 part by weight, curdlan 0.1 part by weight, trisodium phosphate 1 part by weight, citric acid 0.4 part by weight, trehalose 2.5 part by weight, water 93.1 parts by weight Starch, egg white, no curdlan added: Salt 1 part by weight, trisodium phosphate 1 part by weight, citric acid 0.4 part by weight, trehalose 2.5 parts by weight, water 95.1 parts by weight

  As the fish raw material, 50-70 g of frozen trout fillet was used. Processing process: fillet raw material thawing (1) → tenderization processing (needle density 7.5 mm x 7.5 mm or more) → decompression impregnation processing → immersion under normal pressure → freezing → thawing (2) → cooking (steam heating, center temperature 70 ° C) Above). The immersion time by the immersion treatment under normal pressure was 20 hours.

  The tenderization process was performed using a tenderizer with one hole / 7.5 mm × 7.5 mm or more, and the surface was not peeled. In the vacuum impregnation treatment, trout (red bean paste) that has been subjected to the tenderization treatment is immersed in the soaking solution, placed in a vacuum desiccator for 5 minutes under a reduced pressure of 0.01 MPa or less, and then returned to normal pressure four times. It was. The heat treatment was performed by heating for 8 minutes in a steamer set at 95 ° C.

<Product yield>
The product yield was calculated from the formula shown below, and the retention of the pickled liquid on the fish meat was evaluated.
Product yield (%) = 100 x Weight after cooking (g) / Thaw (1) After fish raw material (g)

<Heating yield>
The heating yield was calculated from the formula shown below, and the degree to which water was released from the fish meat was evaluated.
Heating yield (%) = 100 x Weight after cooking (g) / Defrosting (2) After fish raw material (g)

<Measurement of physical properties>
For physical property measurement (hardness measurement), using a texture analyzer (TA XT plus, manufactured by Eiko Seiki Co., Ltd.), the load value when the φ20mm cylindrical plunger attached to the analyzer is pushed down to 70% of the sample thickness at 1mm / sec. Recorded. This measurement method is based on the universal design food voluntary standard measurement method of the Japan Nursing Food Council.

<Result>
Table 1 shows the product yield, heating yield, and hardness of each test section (n ≧ 3). In the starch, egg white, and curdlan added areas, both the product yield and the heated yield were larger than those in the non-added area. By adding these, it was thought that the release of water due to heating was suppressed and the pickling solution remained in the fish meat. . Hardness became a smaller value in the starch, egg white and curdlan addition sections, and it was confirmed that the fish meat after heating became soft by adding these. However, since the hardness exceeding 20,000 N / m ² is maintained, the texture that the fish meat not softened by the method of the present invention originally has is maintained to some extent.

(Example 2) Comparison by sensory evaluation (Trout and domestic mackerel) between the treated product by the method of the present invention (the product of the present invention) and the product of another company treated by the conventional method (the product by Patent Document 1 (Patent No. 4282746))
<Processing>
Trout fillets and domestic mackerel fillets were about 50 g, and were treated in the same manner as the “starch, egg white, curdlan added section” shown in Example 1.

  The other company's products processed by the conventional method used “Trout” and “Nippon Saba” of “Easy Cook Series” of Daisaku Co., Ltd., and those with a weight of less than 60 g were used. The treatment process was thawing (2) → cooking (steam heating, center temperature 70 ° C. or higher), and the heat treatment was performed in the same manner as the treated product according to the method of the present invention.

<Sensory evaluation>
Evaluation is 30 minutes after cooking (when the fillet has returned to room temperature), smell after cooking (whether it tastes unpleasant), deterioration of fat (determined comprehensively for both smell and taste) The taste (whether it was a fish's original taste, bitterness) and the texture (softness, moistness) were evaluated by 10 panelists. The evaluation was based on 3 products from other companies that were processed by the conventional method, as shown in Table 2, and the average value of 10 people was rounded to the first decimal place. At the same time, the hardness was also evaluated.

<Result>
Table 3 shows the sensory test results and hardness. Both trout and domestic mackerel were evaluated to be softer and moister than other companies processed by conventional methods. This result was supported by the measured physical properties, and a clear difference was observed in texture. In addition, it was found that in domestic mackerel, where fat deterioration is generally more likely to occur than trout, it is felt that the fat is not deteriorated. It was found that the taste of fish was similar to that of other companies processed by the conventional method, and the original taste of fish was retained.

(Example 3) Comparison of the uniformity of softness between the treated product by the method of the present invention (the product of the present invention) and the product of another company treated by the conventional method (the product according to Patent Document 1) (Trout and domestic mackerel)
<Processing>
The texture analyzer of Example 1 (TA XT plus, Eiko Seiki Co., Ltd.) for the treated product of the method of the present invention used in Example 2 and the competitor's product treated by the conventional method (product of Patent Document 1 (Patent No. 4282746)) The hardness was measured for multiple fillets at 3 locations per fillet. Table 4 shows the average hardness, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation of each test section.

<Result>
As shown in Table 4, in any fish species, the processed product according to the method of the present invention has a small variation in hardness compared to the products of other companies processed by the conventional method. Moreover, since the average value was small and the coefficient of variation was lower than that of other companies, it was found that the entire fillet became more uniform and soft.

(Example 4) Effect of reduced pressure impregnation treatment in production of softened fish meat (Hoki)
<Processing>
Hoki fillet of about 50g was used. The treated product of the present invention (the product of the present invention) was subjected to the treatment shown in Example 2, and “no impregnation under reduced pressure” was subjected to the dipping treatment without undergoing the reduced pressure impregnation treatment among the treatments shown in Example 2. The physical properties and moisture content of the heated product were measured.
Table 5 shows the yield of each test section, the water content after heating, and the average value of hardness.

<Result>
As shown in Table 5, it was found that the final yield (yield after heating = weight after heating / weight of fillet) and heating yield increased through the low-pressure impregnation (vacuum impregnation) step. As a result, the water content was increased and the fillet after heating was thought to be soft.

(Example 5) Production of softened meat <processing>
Chicken thigh was used as livestock meat. About 50 g of meat lump or about 30 g cut into strips were used for processing.

  The control product was only subjected to the tenderization treatment, and the treatment product according to the method of the present invention (the product of the present invention) was subjected to the treatment shown in Example 2. All of the processed products subjected to the danarization treatment and the processed products according to the method of the present invention were measured for the physical properties of the heated products.

<Result>
Table 6 shows the product yield, heating yield, and hardness of each test section. Product yield and heating yield were produced by the method described in Example 1, and the hardness was measured by the method described in Example 1.

  As shown in Table 6, regardless of the form of the meat to be processed, the processed product by the method of the present invention had a higher product yield and heating yield than the control product, and became much softer. It was found that the softening effect by the method of the present invention can be obtained with livestock meat as well as seafood meat.

(Example 6) Production of softened fruit and vegetables <Processing>
Tomatoes and eggplants were used as fruits and vegetables. The tomato was cut in half vertically and the spatula was removed, and the eggplant was cut into a 2 cm thick ring at the center. The control product was only subjected to the tenderization treatment, and the treatment product according to the method of the present invention (the product of the present invention) was subjected to the treatment shown in Example 2.

  Regarding physical property measurement (hardness measurement), the tomato was measured on the outer skin side, and the eggplant was measured on the center of the surface. Hardness was measured by the method described in Example 1.

<Result>
As shown in Table 7, regardless of the type of vegetable to be treated, the treated product according to the method of the present invention was significantly softer than the control product. It was found that the softening effect by the method of the present invention can be obtained with vegetables as well as with seafood meat.

Claims (16)

(a) a process of tenderizing food ingredients;
(b) impregnating a weakly alkaline solution having a pH of 7.5 to 8.5 containing starch, egg white and curdlan into the food material that has been subjected to the tenderization treatment;
A method for producing a softened food comprising: (b) the step of infiltrating the weakly alkaline solution into the tenderized food material,
(i) a step of immersing the tenderized food material in a weakly alkaline solution having a pH of 7.5 to 8.5 containing starch, egg white and curdlan,
(ii) a step of subjecting the food material soaked in the weak alkaline solution to a reduced pressure treatment while being soaked;
(iii) a step of immersing the reduced pressure treated food material in the weak alkaline solution under normal pressure conditions;
The manufacturing method of the softened foodstuff of Claim 1 containing these.   The method for producing a softened food according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the tenderizing process is a process of perforating a food material using an instrument having a needle density of 1 / 7.5 mm x 7.5 mm or more.   The method for producing a softened food according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the decompression treatment is repeated twice or more under the condition that the residual pressure is reduced to 0.01 MPa or less from normal pressure and maintained under reduced pressure for 5 minutes or more.   The method for producing a softened food according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the immersion in a weak alkaline solution under normal pressure is performed for 15 to 24 hours.   The method for producing a softened food according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the weak alkaline solution contains 0.5 to 5% by mass of starch, 0.5 to 5% by mass of egg white, and 0.05 to 1% by mass of curdlan. .   The method for producing a softened food according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the food material is selected from the group consisting of seafood meat, livestock meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables, potatoes, grains, and seaweed.   The method for producing a softened food according to claim 7, wherein the food material is seafood meat.   The method for producing a softened food according to claim 8, wherein the food material is fish meat.   The softened food manufactured by the manufacturing method of any one of Claims 1-9. Using a texture analyzer, it has the characteristic that the load value when pushing a φ20 mm cylindrical plunger to 70% of the sample thickness at a speed of 10 mm / sec is 500,000 N / m ² or less to the cooked softened food, The softened food according to claim 10.   Furthermore, the softened food of Claim 10 or 11 which has the characteristic that starch, an egg white component, and a curdlan are included in food so that detection is possible. The softened food according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the food is selected from the group consisting of seafood meat, livestock meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables, potatoes, grains, and seaweed.   The softened food according to claim 13, wherein the food is seafood meat.   The softened food according to claim 14, wherein the food material is fish meat.   The softened food according to any one of claims 10 to 15, which is used as a material for nursing food or baby food.