JP2018108093A - Gel composition having improved physical property, and method for improving gel physical property - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gel composition improved in hard-to-swallow physical properties such as the resilience and brittleness of a gel.SOLUTION: Provided is an oral gel composition comprising water and at least one or more kinds from glucomannan, carrageenan, xanthan gum, locust bean gum and agar as gelatinizer, and in the case the composition has the physical properties that the distortion rate of the composition is below 25.6% or above 89.9%/or its adhesion properties is below 1,200 J/m^3 or above 2,600 J/m^3, it is composed of the components in the blending amount same as that of the above composition and grain components hardly soluble in water, the grain diameter of the hardly soluble grain components is close to spherical one, and its fracture stress as mastication force is 10,000 N/m^2 or higher.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

  The present invention is an invention in the field of foods and pharmaceuticals, and has high elasticity that makes it difficult to bite when taken orally, or is low in adhesion and is fragile and difficult to coagulate in the mouth (it is difficult to form a bolus) The present invention relates to a method for improving a physical property of a gel food or a gel-like pharmaceutical product having an improved property. More specifically, by providing water, a gelling agent, and a particle component that is hardly soluble in water, the gel elasticity and brittleness are suppressed, and a gel composition that is easy to unite in the mouth is provided. It provides a method for improving the physical properties.

  Nowadays said to be a super-aged society, many foods and medicines based on the concept of “friendly to the elderly” have been developed and marketed. This is thought to be due to an increase in the number of people who have swallowing disorders that lead to aspiration and suffocation due to a decline in swallowing function when taken orally. In addition, there are few foods with gel properties that are dangerous for consumers of certain ages, such as konjac jelly, where children and the elderly caused throat choking accidents in commercial confectionery. doing.

  Against this background, physical properties of gel foods or gel-like pharmaceuticals that are orally ingested are currently being actively studied, and good physical properties for ingestion or conversely, such physical properties are dangerous. Information such as high quality has become readily available from various studies.

  For example, according to Non-Patent Document 1, foods that are difficult to eat for the elderly are foods that are hard and require strong force to break, foods that are soft but difficult to bite, foods that require power to bite, fiber foods, bolus Foods that are difficult to form are mentioned. In Non-Patent Document 2, in order to provide products with appropriate physical properties as food for nursing care, the standards for classification according to the condition of patients who need nursing care are used as industry standards. It summarizes. In Non-Patent Document 3, a throat filling accident caused by konjac jelly is analyzed scientifically, and what kind of physical property value of food has high risk is verified.

  In order to provide a gel having physical properties that are safe and easily ingested by elderly people based on the information described in the above-mentioned non-patent literature, Patent Document 1 discloses that the prepared gel is extruded from a sieve. The technique which gives the physical property which is easy to swallow by cut | disconnecting to the magnitude | size of 1-3mm and making it granular is shown. Similarly, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique in which the prepared jelly is freeze-dried, cut into a size of 1 to 3 mm, and quickly restored to the original jelly by adding a certain amount of water. . All of these have been devised to reduce the elasticity of the gel by cutting the gel into a granular form, and to improve the ease with which the gels are united to obtain physical properties that are easy to swallow.

  However, the methods shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2 both use the technique of cutting and granulating the gel after preparation in order to obtain the desired physical properties in terms of safety. However, it is difficult to say that the method is highly convenient and versatile because it increases the number of work steps and thus increases costs.

  The inventor has conducted extensive research in view of this point, and as a result, when a gel having a breaking stress of 10,000 N / m ^ 2 or more is prepared, it is inherently ingested orally by adding a particle component that is hardly soluble in water. It has led to the inventing of a technology to improve the properties of gels with strong elasticity, which are said to be difficult, and gel properties that are fragile and difficult to consolidate in the mouth, and to provide the resulting composition. It is.

Kaoru Kamiyama, Food Industry, 44 (20), p18-24 (2001) Universal design food voluntary standard second edition Consumer Affairs Agency “Study Group Report on Improvement of Physical Properties and Shapes of Konjac-Containing Jelly”

Japanese Patent No. 3958130 Japanese Patent No. 3835544

  The present invention enables easy oral intake of gels that are strong and have a risk of throat filling, or gels that are very fragile and have physical properties that do not allow the formation of a bolus in the mouth when taken orally. It is an object to provide a method for improving physical properties and a composition obtained by the method.

  As a result of intensive studies, the present inventors have found that the above-described problems can be overcome, and have completed the present invention.

That is, the embodiment of the present invention is as follows.
(1) With water
A composition comprising at least one of glucomannan, carrageenan, xanthan gum, locust bean gum and agar as a gelling agent,
The distortion of the composition is less than 25.6 percent or greater than 89.9 percent / or the adhesion is less than 1200 J / m ^ 3 or has a physical property greater than 2600 J / m ^ 3 In case
It consists of a component having the same blending amount as the composition and a particle component hardly soluble in water, the particle diameter of the hardly soluble particle component is almost spherical, and the breaking stress as a masticatory force is 10,000 N / m ^ 2 or more. An oral gel composition characterized by that.
(2) The oral gel composition according to claim 1, wherein the water-soluble particle component has an average particle size of 1 to 300 µm.
(3) The water-insoluble particle component contains at least one of activated carbon, crystalline cellulose, plastic polymer, microcapsule, and pharmaceutical crystal component, according to claim 1 or 2. Oral gel composition.
(4) A step of blending water and a gelling agent and others to obtain a composition,
Having a step of mixing a particle component hardly soluble in water into the composition obtained in the step,
A method for producing an oral gel composition having a breaking stress as a mastication force of 10,000 N / m ^ 2 or more,
The gel composition prepared by blending the same amount of ingredients as the composition described above has a distortion rate of less than 25.6 percent or greater than 89.9 percent / or adhesion of 1200 J / m ^. The manufacturing method of the oral gel composition characterized by having a physical property which is less than 3 or exceeds 2600 J / m ^ 3.
(5)
The method for producing an oral gel composition according to claim 4, wherein the water-insoluble particle component contains at least one of activated carbon, crystalline cellulose, plastic polymer, microcapsule, and pharmaceutical crystal component.
(6)
The gelling agent is formed by blending at least one of pectin, agar, carrageenan, gellan gum, gelatin, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, guar gum, tara gum, alginic acid or a salt thereof, and mannans. The method for producing an oral gel composition according to claim 4.

  According to the present invention, a gel having a physical property that has a high risk of being difficult to swallow with the mastication / swallowing force of elderly people, infants, patients who need care, etc. because of high fracture stress and elasticity and low adhesion. Even so, by blending a particle component that is sparingly soluble in water, the gel can be broken with a slight force (chewing force), and appropriate adhesion can be imparted, so that a bolus is easily formed, It can be changed to physical properties that can be easily swallowed.

  In addition, even in the case of gels that are fragile and easy to collapse, and that make it difficult to obtain a clump in the mouth (gels that do not easily form a bolus), the gel has a slight force due to the combination of water-insoluble particles. Since the inside of the broken gel is exposed on the surface, moderate adhesion is imparted, and the effect as if obtained by granulation as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 Thus, the formation of a bolus is facilitated, and a gel having physical properties that are easy to swallow can be provided.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, when preparing the gel, these characteristics can be obtained by simply blending a particle component that is hardly soluble in water. Since a gel composition having an effect can be obtained, it has an excellent advantage that a highly versatile technique can be provided.

  The gel composition according to the present invention is characterized by comprising water, a gelling agent, and particles hardly soluble in water. If the rupture stress of the gel composition is low, it can be chewed and swallowed relatively easily even when it has a strong elasticity or has physical properties that make it difficult to form a bolus. Therefore, in order to exert the characteristics of the present invention, the breaking stress is desirably 10,000 N / m ^ 2 or more, more preferably 30000 N / m ^ 2 or more, and 50000 N / m ^ 2 or more. Is more preferable.

  The water-insoluble particles used in the present invention are very important for exhibiting the characteristics of the present invention. In particular, with regard to the particle size, it suppresses the roughness that is felt in the mouth at the time of taking, and suppresses the elasticity of the gel with high elasticity, or adheres to the gel having the characteristics that the adhesiveness is low and it is difficult to form a bolus. It is an important element to achieve both purposes of granting. Therefore, in designing the formulation, it is important to control the particle diameter, and the average particle diameter (d50) is preferably 1 to 300 μm, more preferably 5 to 200 μm, and still more preferably 10 to 150 μm.

  The composition of particles that are hardly soluble in water is not particularly limited, but it is sufficient that at least one of activated carbon, crystalline cellulose, plastic polymer, microcapsule, and pharmaceutical crystal component is blended. However, when it is intended to reduce roughness in the mouth, the particle diameter is preferably close to a sphere, and crystalline cellulose is more preferable in terms of availability.

  In the present invention, the particle component that is hardly soluble in water is formulated mainly for improving the physical properties of the gel composition, but the composition with the functionality can be obtained by blending the functional component. It can also be provided as a product. For example, spherical adsorbent charcoal, polystyrene sulfonate, sevelamer hydrochloride applied to patients with renal diseases, and cholestyramine, colestimide, and crystalline cellulose can be used for the purpose of adsorbing and eliminating cholesterol and bile acids. Furthermore, it is also possible to aim for a taste-enhancing effect by containing a refreshing agent or sweetener in the microcapsule, and when the gel composition is chewed, the capsule breaks and the inclusions appear. is there.

  The container for containing the composition of the present invention is not particularly limited, but a cup-shaped, envelope-shaped or stick-shaped container can be used. In general, since the gel composition can be crushed to some extent by devising the shape of the opening in the envelope shape and stick shape, it is possible to intentionally reduce the size of the composition. Although it is possible, in the case of a cup shape, it is difficult to aim for the crushing effect of jelly, because the contents are taken out by pushing the bottom or side of the container, or the contents are scooped out with a spoon, This is particularly preferred in that the effect of improving the physical properties according to the present invention can be enjoyed.

  The gelling agent used in the present invention is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include pectin, agar, carrageenan, gellan gum, gelatin, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, guar gum, tara gum, alginic acid or a salt thereof, and mannans. It is good to mix | blend at least 1 type or more, and it can be used together depending on the case. When used in combination, for example, kappa carrageenan and iota carrageenan, a combination of these carrageenan and locust bean gum, and xanthan gum are exemplified. In addition, because of the characteristic of making a highly elastic gel, it is more suitable for blending mannans, or in combination with xanthan gum and locust bean gum, and it is also fragile and fragile like Kanten and gellan gum. It is also preferable to use a gelling agent that forms a texture and has physical properties that make it difficult to form a bolus.

  In producing the gel composition of the present invention, it can be produced according to a conventional method for producing a general jelly. However, the viscosity of the jelly liquid according to the particle diameter (specific gravity) is ensured so that the particle component does not become non-homogeneous in the preparation liquid, for example, because the particle component is hardly soluble in water. There is a need. Therefore, it is desirable to adjust the viscosity of the jelly liquid by adjusting the viscosity of the gelling agent to be mixed or by separately adding a thickener or the like.

  Preparation Examples, Examples, Test Examples and the like are shown below to describe the present invention in more detail. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these Examples.

  According to the formulation of the following examples, jelly was prepared by a conventional method. That is, various gelling agents were mixed in powder with powdered reduced maltose syrup and gradually added to purified water with stirring to prevent splicing. Subsequently, it was confirmed that the gelling agent was completely dissolved or uniformly dispersed, and after the crystalline cellulose was added, stirring was continued until it became uniform again. Furthermore, the liquid is heated in a water bath and heated until the product temperature reaches 85 ° C. (quantity formula is 95 ° C.). After dissolving the gelling agent, sterilization is performed at 85 ° C. for 30 minutes or longer to obtain the jelly liquid. Prepared.

  About 10 mL each of the jelly solution was filled into a physical property measurement container (a plastic container having a capacity of about 26 mL: a taper container having an upper part of 40 mm, a bottom part of 35 mm, and a height of 30 mm), and was solidified overnight at room temperature. Thereafter, texture measurement was performed according to Test Condition 1.

(Test condition 1)
Texture measuring method apparatus: Yamaden RHEONER RE-3305 type load cell: 200N
Plunger: Cylindrical type with φ3, 8, and 16mm (Selected according to the breaking stress of the sample)
Sample compression speed: 1 mm / s
Clearance: 5% of sample thickness
The compression operation by linear motion was repeated twice, and the breaking stress (N / m ^ 2), the breaking strain rate (%), and the adhesion (J / m ^ 3) were evaluated.

(Test condition 2)
Sensory evaluation 4 experienced panelists (2 males and 2 females) have the gel compositions (Examples 1-8, Comparative Examples 1-4, and Reference Examples) according to the present invention in their mouths to chew and swallow. Sensory evaluation was carried out for ease of chewing (hardness, elasticity) and ease of swallowing (ease of forming a bolus, adhesion).

Example 1
Ingredient name Compounding amount (% by weight)
Glucomannan 0.45
κ-Carrageenan 0.45
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 40.00
Crystalline cellulose (particle size: about 106 μm) 4.54
Purified water
100

(Example 2)
Ingredient name Compounding amount (% by weight)
Glucomannan 0.45
κ-Carrageenan 0.45
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 40.00
Crystalline cellulose (particle size: about 106 μm) 6.74
Purified water
100

(Example 3)
Ingredient name Compounding amount (% by weight)
Glucomannan 0.45
κ-Carrageenan 0.45
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 40.00
Crystalline cellulose (particle size about 150 μm) 6.72
Purified water
100

Example 4
Ingredient name Compounding amount (wt%)
Glucomannan 0.45
κ-Carrageenan 0.45
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 40.00
Crystalline cellulose (particle size about 150 μm) 10.00
Purified water
100

(Example 5)
Ingredient name Compounding amount (% by weight)
Glucomannan 0.45
κ-Carrageenan 0.45
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 40.00
Crystalline cellulose (particle size about 300 μm) 15.00
Purified water
100

(Example 6)
Ingredient name Compounding amount (% by weight)
Glucomannan 0.45
κ-Carrageenan 0.45
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 40.00
Crystalline cellulose (particle size about 300 μm) 22.30
Purified water
100

(Example 7)
Ingredient name Compounding amount (wt%)
Xanthan gum 0.50
Locust bean gum 0.50
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 40.00
Crystalline cellulose (particle size: about 106 μm) 4.54
Purified water
100

(Example 8)
Ingredient name Compounding amount (% by weight)
Kanten 0.50
Xanthan gum 0.30
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 40.00
Crystalline cellulose (particle size about 150 μm) 10.00
Purified water
100

(Comparative Example 1)
Ingredient name Compounding amount (% by weight)
Glucomannan 0.45
κ-Carrageenan 0.45
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 40.00
Purified water
100

(Comparative Example 2)
Ingredient name Compounding amount (wt%)
Xanthan gum 0.50
Locust bean gum 0.50
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 40.00
Purified water
100

(Comparative Example 3)
Ingredient name Compounding amount (% by weight)
Kanten 0.50
Xanthan gum 0.30
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 40.00
Purified water
100

(Comparative Example 4)
Ingredient name Compounding amount (% by weight)
KANTEN 0.28
Xanthan gum 0.10
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 16.00
Purified water
100

(Reference example)
Ingredient name Compounding amount (% by weight)
Kanten 0.35
Xanthan gum 0.10
Powdered reduced maltose syrup 16.00
Polystyrene sulfonate calcium (particle diameter: about 50 μm) 20.00
Purified water
100

(Result 1)
About Examples 1-8, Comparative Examples 1-4, and a reference example, it tested according to the test condition 1, and obtained the following results.

  Formulated to have a breaking stress of 10000 N / m ^ 2 or more in order to make it a hard jelly that is very elastic, hard to bite, and has a high breaking stress, such as a throat filling accident in a konjac jelly of food This was manufactured as Comparative Example 1. Examples 1 to 6 were prepared by changing the blending amounts of crystalline cellulose having various particle sizes as the hardly soluble particle component with respect to the formulation of Comparative Example 1. In addition, as Comparative Example 4 and Reference Example, a jelly having a breaking stress lower than 10000 N / m ^ 2 was also prepared. As a result of sensory evaluation, there was a clear difference between the physical properties in terms of ease of chewing and ease of swallowing. None of these were recognized, and it was possible to chew and swallow very easily. Therefore, it was judged that physical properties lower than the breaking stress of 10000 N / m ^ 2 do not meet the object of the present invention.

  The characteristics of Comparative Example 1 were that the physical properties were that the breaking stress and the strain rate were very high and the adhesion was low. On the other hand, in the system containing crystalline cellulose, the breaking stress tends to decrease, the strain rate also decreases, and the adhesiveness increases.

A low distortion corresponding to elasticity means that the jelly can be easily broken by mastication in the mouth, and the broken jelly is easily collected by increasing adhesion, that is, a bolus. It means that it becomes easy to form. In Examples 1 to 6, the improvement in the above-mentioned points is recognized with respect to the comparative example, and the particle size of the hardly soluble particle component is large and the blending amount is increased, so that the breaking stress and the distortion rate are increased. It was also found that the rate of decline was particularly high.
From the above, it was confirmed that the physical properties are easy to chew and swallow.

  Subsequently, a locust bean gum-xanthan gum mixed gel, which is known to make a very strong gel such as konjac jelly, was similarly evaluated (Comparative Example 2).

  Similarly to Comparative Example 1, Comparative Example 2 was a gel having a high breaking stress and a high distortion rate and low adhesion. However, by adding crystalline cellulose, which is a hardly soluble particle component, the distortion ratio was reduced and the adhesion was reduced. The result was that the sex increased (Example 7).

On the other hand, another example of gel properties that are difficult to chew and swallow is agar gel. Kantengel is characterized by low elasticity and brittleness, and is expressed by the word “sakusai”. It is said that due to this “sakui” texture and low adhesiveness, the jelly does not settle well in the mouth, and it is difficult to swallow because a bolus is difficult to form.

  It was evaluated whether the physical properties of this canten gel could be improved in the present invention. In Example 8 in which the hardly soluble particle component was blended with respect to Comparative Example 3 not containing the hardly soluble particle component, the distortion rate was increased (elasticity was increased), and the adhesion was also increased.

  This indicates that the “scrubbing” physical property peculiar to agar can be improved to a physical property that easily forms a bolus by adding a hardly soluble particle component.

The result evaluated in test condition 1 is shown.

Table 1

(Result 2)
According to the test condition 2, the sensory evaluation of the sample by an experienced panelist was performed (Table 2). In Comparative Example 1, 4 out of 4 people answered that chewing is difficult and swallowing is difficult, but in Examples 1 to 6 in which hardly soluble fine particles are blended, most of them are moderately chewable. From the sensory evaluation, it was said that the texture was improved and the texture was improved.

  Furthermore, it is the same result also about Example 7 with respect to the comparative example 2, and Example 8 with respect to the comparative example 3, The result which can be understood that the food texture was improved also in the sensory evaluation surface was able to be obtained.

Table 2

Claims (6)

water and,
A composition comprising at least one of glucomannan, carrageenan, xanthan gum, locust bean gum and agar as a gelling agent,
The distortion of the composition is less than 25.6 percent or greater than 89.9 percent / or the adhesion is less than 1200 J / m ^ 3 or has a physical property greater than 2600 J / m ^ 3 In case
It consists of a component having the same blending amount as the composition and a particle component hardly soluble in water, the particle diameter of the hardly soluble particle component is almost spherical, and the breaking stress as a masticatory force is 10,000 N / m ^ 2 or more. An oral gel composition characterized by that. 2. The oral gel composition according to claim 1, wherein the water-soluble particle component has an average particle size of 1 to 300 μm. The oral component according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the water-insoluble particle component contains at least one of activated carbon, crystalline cellulose, plastic polymer, microcapsule and pharmaceutical crystal component. Gel composition. A step of blending water and a gelling agent to obtain a composition;
And a step of mixing a hardly soluble particle components in water in the composition obtained by the process,
A method for producing an oral gel composition having a breaking stress as a mastication force of 10,000 N / m ^ 2 or more,
The gel-like composition prepared by blending components having the same blending amount as the above composition has a distortion rate of less than 25.6 percent or greater than 89.9 percent / or adhesion of 1200 J / m ^. The manufacturing method of the oral gel composition characterized by having a physical property which is less than 3 or exceeds 2600 J / m ^ 3.   The method for producing an oral gel composition according to claim 4, wherein the water-insoluble particle component contains at least one of activated carbon, crystalline cellulose, plastic polymer, microcapsule, and pharmaceutical crystal component. The gelling agent is formed by blending at least one of pectin, agar, carrageenan, gellan gum, gelatin, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, guar gum, tara gum, alginic acid or a salt thereof, and mannans. The method for producing an oral gel composition according to claim 4.