JP2019170365A - Agent-holding substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an agent-holding substrate used in a novel method that can easily impregnate agent into the inside of a food material.SOLUTION: The agent-holding substrate according to the present invention is an agent-holding substrate used in a method, in which, by simultaneously vacuum-treating an agent-holding substrate and a food material, an agent discharge driving force due to a change in the internal structure is generated in the agent-holding substrate, and an agent impregnation driving force due to a change in the gas volume in the inside of the food material is generated in the food material, and the agent is fed from the agent-holding substrate into the inside of the food material, and is characterized in that the agent-holding substrate contains a gas or a gas-generating liquid, and has a porous structure, and the agent-holding substrate has a maximum absorption performance of 5 g or more and a maximum discharge performance of 0.01 g or more per 1 g of weight of the substrate.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a substance-holding substrate used in a method of efficiently impregnating a substance in a food that has a shape recognizable by appearance using a substance-holding substrate as a supply source of the impregnated substance.

  With the background of a super-aged society, food development for the elderly and those requiring care is progressing. In particular, the shape-retaining softened food that has a good appearance of food and has an appetite, which is different from the mainstream foods such as kizami and paste, has attracted attention. Conventionally, as a method of processing foods softly, a method of heating for a long time under normal pressure and simmering softly, or a method of retorting by heating at high temperature and high pressure has been used. However, in recent years, a new production method has been devised and put into practical use, in which an enzyme is impregnated and processed as a method for realizing softness that cannot be achieved by conventional methods while maintaining its shape.

  So far, the present inventors have devised a freeze impregnation method in which a food material is freeze-thawed and then rapidly impregnated with an enzyme using a vacuum treatment (see Patent Document 1). The freeze impregnation method includes a pretreatment for freezing and thawing the food to relax the cell gap, and a vacuum treatment for rapidly replacing the air and moisture in the cell gap in the food with the enzyme outside the food. The food material in which the enzyme is soaked by the decompression process becomes soft as it looks as the enzyme reaction proceeds inside the food material and the fruit ripens. The degree of softness can be adjusted to any softness by controlling the enzymatic reaction, such as being crushed with a gum, crushed with a tongue, or not chewing.

  The present inventors have developed a freeze impregnation method and devised a method for rapidly impregnating an enzyme in a food material in a short time (see Patent Document 2). This is a method of decompressing a food material in a heated state and is characterized by a decompression process in which water vapor and water generated by vaporization in the food material and an enzyme outside the food material are rapidly replaced.

  The freeze impregnation method is one of so-called “substance impregnation techniques” in which a substance is soaked in a food material. So far, as the material impregnation technique, a dipping method typified by seasoning such as salting, pickling with miso, pickling with salmon has been used for a long time. It is only necessary to immerse the ingredients in the seasoning, and substances such as seasoning components soak in by diffusion and penetration. Seasoning ingredients soak in the ingredients and can be processed deliciously. However, the dipping method has a problem that it takes time until the substance soaks into the food. Therefore, a heating impregnation method that accelerates the penetration rate of a substance using heating energy, such as a heating method that simmers food in a dipped state, a retort heating that heats in a pressurized state, etc. are considered and are widely used. . Further, in recent years, a reduced pressure impregnation method such as the freeze impregnation method is also used as a material impregnation method different from immersion and pressure heating. Since the vacuum impregnation method does not require heating, it is useful when impregnating a substance that is easily denatured by heating such as an enzyme.

  As described above, various methods such as a dipping method, a heating method, a pressurized heating method, and a reduced pressure impregnation method are used as a method for impregnating a food material. In any method, the method of supplying the impregnated substance to the food is generally performed by immersing the food in a substance-containing solution. In addition, a method of directly sprinkling the impregnated substance on the food is also used.

  As a special method, put food on a water absorbent sheet such as nonwoven fabric impregnated or coated with seasoning, or wrap the food in the water absorbent sheet and leave it for several hours or days to spread the seasoning from the sheet to the food A method for seasoning food to be infiltrated has been proposed (see Patent Document 3).

  Further, a sheet for holding a natural fermented seasoning powder having protease activity has been developed, and a meat seasoning / softening sheet for seasoning and softening has been proposed (see Patent Document 4). ). These have the advantage that the impregnating substance can be applied evenly on the surface of the foodstuff by bringing the foodstuff and the sheet holding the impregnating substance into direct contact. In addition, after the material has been infiltrated, it is only necessary to remove the sheet. For example, there is an advantage in that it is possible to eliminate the trouble of removing and washing excess miso adhering to the food, such as pickled in miso.

  In the method of impregnating ingredients in ingredients, we began with impregnation of seasonings for seasoning.At present, various ingredients such as enzymes, nutrient ingredients, functional ingredients, and fragrance ingredients have been selected as impregnation substances, and processed foods rich in functionality have been developed. It is manufactured.

JP 2003-284522 A WO2016 / 199766 JP-A-3-259037 JP-A-2-42951

In the substance impregnation treatment of the food material, the treatment is usually performed in a state where the food material is immersed in the impregnation material solution. In order to impregnate the food material uniformly, an amount of the impregnated material solution in which the food material is sufficiently immersed is required. For example, in enzyme impregnation by the freeze impregnation method, the food material is completely immersed in the prepared enzyme solution and subjected to reduced pressure treatment, but in order to treat it in a completely immersed state, it may depend on the container shape to be used. The enzyme solution is required to be at least equal to the amount of the food weight. In vegetables whose shape of the food material is irregularly cut, the gap between the food materials is large, and the required amount of the enzyme solution further increases.
On the other hand, the amount of the enzyme solution actually impregnated in the food is about 1/5 to 1/10 times the weight of the food, and most of the prepared enzyme solution is discarded after use. Therefore, there is a problem that the usage cost of the enzyme solution affects the manufacturing cost. In other words, in the enzyme impregnation of foodstuffs, how to rapidly impregnate a sufficient amount of enzyme even inside the foodstuff while suppressing the amount of enzyme solution used is a problem in manufacturing low-cost products. .

In addition, in freeze-impregnation cooking in hospitals and nursing homes and households that are currently spreading widely, in addition to the enzyme usage cost due to the above enzyme usage, the use of the enzyme itself, that is, the difficulty of handling the enzyme is also present. It has become a challenge. Enzyme utilization requires engineers with knowledge of enzyme handling, and the use of enzymes by food processing workers in food factories as well as cooks in nursing homes and cooks in general households is a hurdle.
That is, in the production and cooking of shape-retaining softened foods that use enzyme impregnation in food processing and cooking for the elderly and care recipients, where demand will increase in the future super-aged society,
(1) Providing a method for impregnating enzymes uniformly and rapidly into food ingredients while reducing enzyme costs (2) Providing enzyme treatment means that anyone can easily perform without requiring knowledge of enzyme utilization It has become a challenge.
The problem of impregnating material cost related to the amount of impregnating material used is also a problem in impregnation of foodstuffs such as functional ingredients, nutritional ingredients, and fragrance ingredients used in the development of new foods. It can be said that this is a common problem in the case of impregnating a substance with a substance.

  As a result of intensive studies aimed at solving the above problems, the present inventors have found that an impregnation treatment using a “substance holding substrate” holding a substance to be impregnated in a food is useful. By simultaneously placing the substance holding substrate and the food under reduced pressure, the substance can be supplied uniformly and rapidly from the substance holding substrate into the food. At that time, it was found that the amount of the impregnating substance to be used can be reduced as compared with the conventional dipping method. Furthermore, if a substance holding substrate is prepared in advance, even a person who does not know how to handle the substance can easily impregnate the substance with the food, and the present invention has been completed. .

That is, the present invention is as follows.
[1] By simultaneously depressurizing the substance-holding base material and the food material, the substance-holding base material generates a substance discharge driving force due to the internal structure change, and the food substance generates a substance impregnation driving force due to the gas volume change inside the foodstuff. A substance holding base material used in a method of supplying a substance from the substance holding base material into the food,
The substance holding substrate contains a gas or a liquid that generates a gas and has a porous structure, and the substance holding substrate has a maximum absorption performance of 5 g or more and 0.01 g per 1 g of the weight of the substrate. A substance-holding substrate having the above-mentioned maximum discharge performance.
[2] The substance holding substrate according to [1], wherein the substance holding substrate has a maximum absorption performance of 7 g or more and a maximum discharge performance of 0.1 g or more per 1 g of the weight of the substrate.
[3] The substance holding substrate according to [1] or [2], wherein the substance holding substrate has a thickness of 0.05 to 30 mm.
[4] The substance-holding base material is made of a natural fiber material, a synthetic fiber material, a natural resin material, a synthetic resin material, a biodegradable plastic, or a composite material obtained by combining a plurality of these materials. 3] The substance holding substrate according to any one of [3].
[5] The substance holding substrate according to [4], wherein the substance holding substrate is a nonwoven fabric obtained by bonding or entanglement of the material or the composite material.
[6] The substance holding substrate according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the substance holding substrate further contains a thickener, saccharide, protein, fat or emulsifier as a binder.
[7] The substance holding substrate according to any one of [1] to [6], wherein the substance holding substrate is in a dry state or a wet state.
[8] The substance holding substrate according to any one of [1] to [7], wherein the substance holding substrate has a laminated structure made of a plurality of materials.
[9] The substance held on the substrate is at least one selected from the group consisting of proteins, fats and oils, enzymes, polysaccharides, thickeners, emulsifiers, starches, and microorganisms. ] The substance holding base material in any one of.
[10] The substance held on the base material is an enzyme that degrades proteins into amino acids and peptides, an enzyme that degrades polysaccharides into oligosaccharides, an enzyme that degrades fat, an enzyme that digests and degrades foods, and The substance holding substrate according to [9], which is at least one enzyme selected from the group consisting of enzymes that bind proteins.
[11] Substances retained on the base material include nutritional components, functional components, antibacterial components, aroma components, seasoning components, antioxidants, coloring agents, acidulants, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and medical care. The substance-holding substrate according to any one of [1] to [10], which is at least one food material selected from the group consisting of contrast agents for medical use.

The present invention can also provide the following [1] to [16].
[1] By simultaneously reducing the pressure of the substance holding substrate holding the substance to be impregnated and the food material, the substance holding substrate has a substance discharge driving force due to a change in the internal structure, and the food material is caused by a change in the gas volume inside the food material. A method for impregnating a food material, wherein a material impregnation driving force is generated to supply the material from the material holding substrate into the food material.
[2] The method for impregnating a food material according to [1], wherein the substance-holding substrate contains a gas or a liquid that generates a gas and has a porous structure.
[3] The substance impregnation into the food according to [1] or [2], wherein the substance-holding substrate has a maximum absorption performance of 5 g or more and a maximum discharge performance of 0.01 g or more per 1 g of the weight of the substrate. Method.
[4] The substance-holding base material is a base material made of a natural fiber material, a synthetic fiber material, a natural resin material, a synthetic resin material, a biodegradable plastic, or a composite material combining a plurality of these materials. The method for impregnating a food material according to any one of [1] to [3].
[5] The method of attaching the substance to the substance holding substrate is a papermaking method, dipping method, impregnation method, coating method, drip method, gravure printing method, chemical modification method, or a combination of one or more selected from them The method for impregnating a food material according to any one of [1] to [4].
[6] The method for impregnating a substance into a food according to [5], wherein in the method for attaching a substance to the substance holding substrate, a thickener, saccharide, protein, fat or emulsifier is used as a binder.
[7] The method of impregnating a food material according to any one of [1] to [6], wherein the substance holding substrate is in a dry state or a wet state.
[8] The method of impregnating a food material according to any one of [1] to [7], wherein the substance-holding substrate has a laminated structure composed of a plurality of materials.
[9] The method for impregnating a food material according to any one of [1] to [8], wherein the decompression treatment is performed at a pressure of 50 kPa or less.
[10] Any one of [1] to [9], wherein the substance discharge driving force and the substance impregnation driving force are further increased by pressing the substance holding base material and the foodstuff in a reduced pressure state. The substance impregnation method to the described foodstuff.
[11] Freezing, wet heat heating, dielectric heating, saturated steam heating, superheated steam heating, pressure heating, baking heating, joule heating, tenderization (slicing), tumbling, rolling, dehydration, drying, acid treatment, The method for impregnating a food material according to any one of [1] to [10], wherein at least one pretreatment selected from the group consisting of an alkali treatment and an enzyme treatment is performed.
[12] The method for impregnating a food material according to any one of [1] to [11], wherein the decompression process is performed in a state where the food material is heated.
[13] The substance retained on the base material is at least one polymer substance selected from the group consisting of proteins, fats and oils, enzymes, polysaccharides, thickeners, emulsifiers, starches, and microorganisms. ] The substance impregnation method to the foodstuff in any one of [12].
[14] The substance retained on the base material is a nutrient component, functional component, antibacterial component, aroma component, seasoning component, antioxidant, coloring agent, acidulant, vitamins, minerals, amino acid, and medical treatment. The method for impregnating a food material according to any one of [1] to [12], wherein the material is at least one food material selected from the group consisting of contrast agents for medical use.
[15] The method for impregnating a food material according to any one of [1] to [14], wherein the pressure reduction treatment is performed in a state where the material holding base material and the food material are placed in a soft container.
[16] Substance impregnation selected from the group consisting of chilled foods, frozen foods, dried foods, and room-temperature foods using the substance-impregnated foods obtained by the method according to any one of [1] to [15] A method for producing a substance-impregnated processed food, characterized by producing a processed food.

  Moreover, this invention can provide the substance holding base material used for the substance impregnation method to a foodstuff. The substance holding substrate holds a substance selected from a polymer substance and a food material, and can efficiently supply such a substance into a food having a shape recognizable by appearance. Such a substance-holding substrate contains a gas or a liquid that generates a gas in order to generate a substance discharge driving force due to a change in internal structure by a decompression process, has a porous structure, and further has a specific maximum. It can have absorption performance and maximum discharge performance.

  According to the method for impregnating a food material using the substance-holding substrate of the present invention, the amount of impregnated material used is compared with the conventional method of impregnating the material by reducing the pressure in a state where the food material is completely immersed in the impregnated material solution. It is possible to reliably and rapidly impregnate a sufficient amount of the impregnating substance into the food material while reducing the amount of the material. Moreover, the amount of the substance impregnated in the food can be arbitrarily adjusted by adjusting the amount of the impregnated substance to be held on the base material in advance. In addition, since the impregnated substance is held on the base material in advance, it is not necessary to prepare an impregnated substance solution such as accurately measuring the impregnated substance and a solvent such as water and dissolving it at a certain concentration. Therefore, the food can be easily impregnated with the substance.

  For example, using the freeze impregnation method in which food is completely immersed in an enzyme solution and decompressed, the enzyme is impregnated with the enzyme, and used in the pressure reducing process in the process of manufacturing and cooking shape-retaining softened foods and cooked products. While reducing the amount of enzyme, a sufficient amount of enzyme can be reliably and rapidly impregnated into the food material. At this time, since the enzyme is supplied to the food from the enzyme holding substrate, it is only necessary to obtain the enzyme holding substrate in advance, and the enzyme solution is prepared by measuring the enzyme powder and a solvent such as water to a certain concentration. The work to do is unnecessary. The user only needs to prepare the food and enzyme holding base material to be softened, and does not require the user to have any special knowledge about enzyme utilization.

  In addition, if a substrate with an adjusted enzyme holding amount of the enzyme holding substrate is provided, an enzyme holding substrate to be used is appropriately selected based on the enzyme holding amount of the enzyme holding substrate according to the desired softness of the food. It can be adjusted to softness such as chewing easily, crushed with gums, crushed with tongue. Adjustment of the amount of enzyme retained on the substrate can be made by preparing enzyme solutions of different concentrations and absorbing them in a certain amount by the substrate, thereby preparing substrates having different amounts of enzyme. Alternatively, it is possible to adjust the amount of the enzyme solution to be held on the substrate using an enzyme solution having a constant concentration. In the conventional freeze impregnation method, it is difficult to adjust the amount of enzyme impregnated in the food material when impregnating with a certain concentration of enzyme solution, and the degree of softening is adjusted by adjusting the enzyme reaction time in the enzyme reaction step after impregnation. It was complicated because there was no other way to control it.

  Further, when the enzyme holding substrate is provided as a dry substrate, the substrate can be used by absorbing a solvent such as water and the amount of enzyme held on the substrate is constant. By simply adjusting the amount of water, the amount of enzyme impregnated in the food can be adjusted. As a result, the softness of the food can be adjusted as appropriate. Conventionally, the user needs to adjust the enzyme concentration of the enzyme solution to be used according to the desired softness, but it is not necessary to adjust the amount of enzyme used for the impregnation treatment, and it is not necessary to measure the enzyme in the first place. All you need to do is simply add the required amount of water or other solvent.

  In addition, in the conventional method of immersing in an enzyme solution and subjecting to a reduced pressure treatment, if left in the state of being immersed in the enzyme solution after the evacuation treatment, the enzyme diffuses and penetrates into the food material even after the evacuation treatment, and an excessive amount of the enzyme soaks. For this reason, there are problems such as excessive softening, bitterness and sourness due to excessive enzymatic degradation, and elution of nutritional components in the food. However, the enzyme-holding substrate of the present invention having excellent absorption performance allows the enzyme solution held on the substrate to be discharged out of the substrate by the generation of the substance discharge driving force under reduced pressure. Excess enzyme solution that has not been impregnated with food due to its performance is reabsorbed by the substrate and the enzyme solution is recovered. Therefore, the excessive penetration of the enzyme into the food after that is minimized, and the softness and the quality stability of the taste after production and cooking are high. That is, the food material and the enzyme-holding substrate may be subjected to a reduced pressure treatment and then left as it is to allow the enzyme reaction, and the user does not necessarily have to do the work and trouble of discarding the enzyme solution. Furthermore, since the enzyme solution is recovered on the base material after the decompression treatment, it is hygienic with few opportunities for the enzyme solution to come into contact with the user's hand, and since it is repeatedly reused as the enzyme holding base material, it is excellent in terms of cost.

  In addition, since the enzyme solution is used in a state of being held on the base material, if the base material surface has a sheet laminated structure coated with a waterproof material or the like, or if the base material is held in a soft container The enzyme solution rarely leaks from the base material, and the chance of the enzyme solution adhering to the user's hand can be minimized as compared with the case of directly handling the conventional enzyme solution. For example, rough hands due to proteolytic enzymes, dirt due to scattering of enzyme seasonings, and the like can be prevented, and enzymes can be used with peace of mind.

By using the material-impregnated food material obtained by the material impregnation method for the food material using the material-holding substrate of the present invention, a material-impregnated processed food can be easily produced.
The method of impregnating a food material using the material-holding substrate of the present invention is a method of supplying a material from the material-holding substrate to the food material, and can be impregnated into the food material reliably and rapidly with a small amount of material. The more expensive the component, the more significant the reduction in the impregnation cost with the conventional method. Even expensive functional components and fragrance components can be impregnated into food materials at low cost, and substance-impregnated processed foods using them can be easily and inexpensively manufactured.

It is a schematic cross section which shows embodiment of the substance holding base material and foodstuff at the time of implementing the substance impregnation method to the foodstuff using the substance holding base material of this invention. It is a schematic cross section which shows embodiment of the substance holding base material and foodstuff at the time of implementing the substance impregnation method to the foodstuff using the substance holding base material of this invention. It is a schematic cross section which shows embodiment of the substance holding base material and foodstuff at the time of implementing the substance impregnation method to the foodstuff using the substance holding base material of this invention. It is a schematic cross section which shows embodiment of the substance holding base material and foodstuff at the time of implementing the substance impregnation method to the foodstuff using the substance holding base material of this invention. It is a schematic cross section which shows embodiment of the substance holding base material and foodstuff at the time of implementing the substance impregnation method to the foodstuff using the substance holding base material of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows embodiment of the substance holding base material and foodstuff at the time of implementing the substance impregnation method to the foodstuff using the substance holding base material of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows embodiment of the substance holding base material and foodstuff at the time of implementing the substance impregnation method to the foodstuff using the substance holding base material of this invention. It is a photograph of the foodstuff surface which compares the seasoning liquid penetration | intensity of the seasoning radish produced in Test Example 14. FIG. It is a photograph of the foodstuff cross section which compares the seasoning liquid penetration of the seasoning radish produced in Test Example 14.

(Method for impregnating ingredients in food)
The present invention provides a method of efficiently impregnating a substance in a food having a shape recognizable in appearance by a reduced pressure treatment using the substance holding substrate of the present invention as a supply source of the impregnated substance.

(Base material)
The base material is not particularly limited as long as it can hold the substance impregnated in the food, and generates a substance discharge driving force due to a change in the internal structure by the decompression process. In order to exhibit such characteristics, the base material preferably contains a gas or a liquid that generates a gas and has a porous structure. Since the base material has a porous structure, it has excellent absorption performance under normal pressure, excellent discharge performance under reduced pressure and pressure, and can have a structure that has flexibility, and sufficiently retains the impregnated substance. Can do.

  The base material contains a gas or a liquid that generates a gas, thereby causing an internal structure change by a decompression process and generating a substance discharge driving force. That is, in the base material placed in a reduced pressure state, the internal structure of the base material changes due to the expansion of the gas contained in the base material. The base material whose internal structure has changed has a change in water retention performance, and the substance held on the base material is easily discharged outside the base material by direct pressure from the gas expanding inside the base material.

The substrate preferably has a maximum absorption performance of 5 g or more, more preferably 10 g or more, and further preferably 15 g or more, and preferably 0.01 g or more, more preferably 0.1 g or more, per 1 g of the weight of the substrate. More preferably, it has a maximum discharge performance of 0.5 g or more. Here, the maximum absorption performance and the maximum discharge performance can be measured by the following methods.
・ Maximum absorption amount: 1 g of the base material is completely immersed in water for 30 seconds at 20 ± 2 ° C. under normal pressure, then taken out and left on a 5 mm mesh net. The absorbed water naturally falls under the net. It left still until it was lost, and the weight increase amount of the base material was made into the maximum absorption performance of the base material.
・ Maximum discharge amount: The base material absorbed at 20 ± 2 ° C under normal pressure is placed on a 5mm mesh net, put in a vacuum container, depressurized to 2kPa, and kept under reduced pressure for 5 minutes in a sealed state. Then, the absorbed water was discharged, and then the pressure was restored to atmospheric pressure, and the weight loss before and after the pressure reduction was defined as the maximum discharge performance of the substrate.

  Examples of the substrate having such absorption / discharge performance include natural fiber materials such as pulp, cotton and cellulose, synthetic fiber materials such as polypropylene, polyethylene, rayon and nylon, or natural resin materials such as sponge, melamine, and the like. Or a synthetic resin material such as polyurethane, a biodegradable plastic using polylactic acid as a raw material, or a base material made of a composite material obtained by combining these materials can be used. As one form, paper such as water-absorbing paper or cotton-like pulp, a nonwoven fabric in which fibers are bonded or intertwined, a woven fabric in which fibers are woven, a sponge in which a resin is foamed, and the like can be used as the base material.

  Although the shape of a base material is not specifically limited, A sheet form may be sufficient and a bag form may be sufficient. The sheet may be wound in a roll shape, and may be cut freely as necessary, or the sheet may be easily divided on the cut line. The bag may be such that the bag mouth can be heat-sealed or may be provided with a chuck. The embodiment of the base material and the food material having such a shape will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. For example, as shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the food material 11 can be used so as to be sandwiched between two sheet-like substance holding substrates 12. You may suppress the clearance gap between foodstuffs to the minimum by binding the base material in the upper and lower sides of foodstuffs with adhesives, such as a tape, and making it into a bag shape. In addition, as shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. Also in this case, the open portion may be bound with an adhesive such as a tape to form a bag. In one embodiment, the frozen food can be put into a substance holding substrate, and then the substance holding substrate can be bound into a bag shape and then thawed, and decompressed as it is to impregnate the food with the substance. . When an enzyme holding substrate for impregnating an enzyme is used, an enzyme reaction treatment, an enzyme deactivation treatment, and the like can be subsequently performed. Using a bag-shaped substance holding substrate in this way is very simple because a series of treatments can be performed in the substance holding substrate.

  In addition, as shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a sheet-like substance holding substrate 32 is placed on the food 31 placed on the packaging container 30, and the food can be sandwiched between the substrate and the container. it can.

  The substrate may have a laminated structure, and at least one layer may have the absorption / discharge performance described above, or the absorption / discharge performance may be realized by the entire laminated structure. The base material may have a laminated structure made of a plurality of materials. In that case, the base material may have a laminated structure in which the absorbent material having the absorption / discharge performance is combined with a material having no absorption performance such as a quick-drying sheet. For example, when a material such as a polyethylene film that does not have water permeability and absorption performance is used as the outer surface material, it does not cause dripping or leakage when handled by the user, and is excellent in handling. Moreover, if a material (which may be perforated) that prevents the food material from adhering to the absorbent material is used as the surface material, the food material can be easily taken out. An embodiment of the base material and the food material having such a laminated structure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. For example, as shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the food material 41 may be sandwiched between two sheet-like substance holding base materials 42, and the substance holding base material 42 includes an absorbent material 43 and an outer surface material 44. It can be set as the laminated structure. Further, as shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the food 51 may be sandwiched between two sheet-like substance holding substrates 52, and the substance holding substrate 52 includes a surface material 55 and an absorbent material 53. And a laminated structure of the outer surface material 54. Further, the absorption performance may be adjusted as a laminated structure using different absorbent materials, or different absorbent materials may be held in each absorbent material to form a laminated structure.

You may use a base material in the state put into packaging containers, such as a hard container and a soft container. In that case, the base material may be adhered in the packaging container, or may be put in a removable state. Embodiments of such a substrate and food will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in the perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the food 61 is placed on a sheet-like substance holding substrate 62 put in a packaging container (pouch) 60. Further, as shown in the perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the food 71 is placed on a sheet-like substance holding substrate 72 on a packaging container (food tray) 76 placed in the packaging container (pouch) 70. ing. In the case of decompression processing using a seal-type vacuum packaging machine, the food 71 is finally tightly packed by the packaging container 70 together with the substance holding substrate 72 and the packaging container 76 and the food is pressed, It becomes vacuum packaging. When the foodstuff before or after the decompression process is easily deformed, the mold can be prevented from being deformed by performing the decompression process on the food tray as shown in FIG.
In FIGS. 6 and 7, only one sheet-like substance holding substrate 62 and 72 is shown as the substance holding substrate. However, the ingredients 61 and 71 are two sheet-like substances, respectively. It may be sandwiched between holding substrates 62 and 72, or may be wrapped with a single bag-like substance holding substrate 62 and 72. Further, the substance holding substrates 62 and 72 may have a laminated structure such as two layers or three layers as shown in FIGS.

  In the above-described base material embodiment, jigs such as weights and clasps that fix the contact between the base material and the food material, the base material, and the container and the food material as necessary so that the gap between the base material and the food material is reduced during the decompression process. Alternatively, an adhesive / seal mechanism may be provided. In addition, depending on the decompression method and the type of food, air or water vapor may spout out from the food, or lye or drip may elute from the food. Fine holes and cuts may be provided. It is also suitable as a function of increasing the discharge performance of the impregnated substance solution from the substance holding substrate and the reabsorption performance after decompression.

  A method for adhering the following impregnating substance to the substrate is not particularly limited, and for example, a papermaking method, a dipping method, an impregnation method, a coating method, a drip method, a gravure printing method, a chemical modification method, or the like can be used. For example, in the case of the dipping method, the substrate is immersed for a sufficient time until a sufficient amount of the impregnated material is retained on the substrate in a solution in which the material to be impregnated and, if necessary, the binder is dissolved. Since the substrate has a porous structure, it is absorbed by capillary action when immersed in the impregnating substance solution. At that time, a pressure operation such as depressurization or pressurization may be applied so that the substrate is more easily impregnated with the substance. In any material-carrying substrate obtained by either method, the impregnated material is gently applied to the substrate so that the impregnated material retained from the substrate is easily discharged together with the solvent contained in the substrate under reduced pressure. It is preferable to be held in The prepared substance-holding substrate may be stored in a wet state, and further may be stored after drying, refrigeration, or freezing treatment as long as the impregnated substance is not denatured.

  A substance may be attached to the substrate using a binder. The binder is not particularly limited as long as it can be used for food applications, and includes substances having adhesiveness or adhesiveness, and substances that form a coating on a substrate by solidifying a gelling agent or the like. Examples of binders include starches such as rice, wheat and corn, thickening polysaccharides such as xanthan gum and methylcellulose, saccharides such as monosaccharides, disaccharides and sugar alcohols, proteins such as casein and collagen, and fats and oils And the like. By using one or more of these as a binder, the impregnated material can be easily held on a hydrophilic or hydrophobic substrate. Furthermore, the binder containing the impregnating material is easily dissolved and dispersed in a solvent such as water added to the base material, or the impregnating material is easily released from the binder held on the base material and dissolved and dispersed. The impregnated material is easily discharged from the substrate under reduced pressure.

  The substance-holding substrate of the present invention may be in a wet state or a dry state when used in a method for impregnating a food material. If the substance-holding substrate is in a wet state, it can be used as it is in contact with the food, so that the method for impregnating the substance with the substance using the substance-holding substrate of the present invention is not affected by the moisture content of the food Can be implemented. In addition, if the substance holding substrate is in a dry state, the substance holding substrate can be used in a wet state by absorbing a solvent such as water, or without adding a solvent such as water to the substrate, It is also possible to absorb the moisture contained in the base material to facilitate the discharge of the impregnated substance from the base material, and to carry out the substance impregnation method for the foodstuff using the substance holding base material of the present invention. For example, a dry substance holding substrate is brought into contact with a frozen food, and drip eluted from the food by thawing is absorbed into the dry base material, thereby impregnating the food using the substance holding substrate of the present invention. The method can be carried out. In addition, these base materials can be used by heating in a range in which the quality of the impregnated material held on the base material does not change in order to increase the substance discharge driving force in the decompression process.

  Although the thickness of a base material will not be specifically limited if it has said absorption performance, For example, Preferably it is 0.05-30 mm, More preferably, it is 0.1-20 mm. When the substrate has a laminated structure, the above thickness may be realized as a whole.

(Impregnated material)
The substance impregnated in the food material can be selected from either a polymer substance or a food material, and can be used alone or in combination of two or more. Specifically, examples of the polymer substance include proteins, oils and fats, enzymes, polysaccharides, thickeners, emulsifiers, starches, and microorganisms that are generally used for cooking and processing foods. In addition, food ingredients include nutritional ingredients, functional ingredients, antibacterial ingredients, aroma ingredients, seasoning ingredients, antioxidants, colorants, acidulants, vitamins, minerals (iron, calcium, zinc, iodine, etc.), Examples include amino acid (glycine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, etc.), iodic contrast medium (iopamidol, etc.) used for medical examination foods, and medical contrast agents such as barium contrast agent (barium sulfate, etc.). These impregnated substances are used as a substance holding substrate held on the substrate.

  For example, in the case of impregnating an enzyme using an enzyme-holding base material for the purpose of producing a shape-retaining softened food and further providing a water separation inhibiting function, the base material holding the enzyme and thickener, or the enzyme and processed starch, etc. Impregnating the target material with the target material. In addition, when making nutrition-enriched foods such as minerals and vitamins, these substances are supplied from the base material and impregnated. In addition, when the seasoning of the food is performed at the same time, it is supplied and impregnated from the base material holding the seasoning, amino acids and the like. Similarly, in the production of new foods, functional foods, and contrast inspection foods, foods can be prepared using a substrate that appropriately selects impregnated substances and holds them alone or in combination.

  Examples of the enzymes include enzymes that degrade proteins such as proteases and peptidases into amino acids and peptides, amylases, glucanases, cellulases, pectinases, pectinesterases, hemicellulases, β-glucosidases, mannases, xylanases, alginate lyases, chitosanases, inulinases, chitinases Enzymes that break down polysaccharides such as starch, cellulose, inulin, glucomannan, xylan, alginic acid and fucoidan into oligosaccharides, enzymes that break down fats such as lipase, enzymes that have digestive and degrading actions on foods such as pancreatin and pepsin, etc. Examples thereof include transglutaminase that binds proteins. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more as long as they do not interfere with each other.

  Examples of the fats and oils include oils and fats generally used as food such as salad oil, corn oil, soybean oil, sesame oil, rapeseed oil, rice oil, cottonseed oil, palm oil, pork oil, beef tallow, milk fat and the like. Oils and fats may be used alone or as emulsified oils and fats. Or you may impregnate only an emulsifier. As the emulsifier, for example, glycerin fatty acid ester, sucrose fatty acid ester, lecithin, sodium caseinate and the like can be used for food processing.

  Examples of the thickener and starch include wheat starch, rice starch, corn starch, potato starch, tapioca starch, sweet potato starch, curdlan, agar, gelatin, pectin, CMC, xanthan gum, guar gum, gellan gum, carrageenan, locust bean gum and the like. Can be illustrated. As the starch, for example, modified starch obtained by acetylation, esterification, etherification or phosphoric acid crosslinking can be used. Starch can be used in either an ungelatinized state or a gelatinized state.

  Examples of the aroma component include synthetic fragrances such as ethyl acetoacetate and acetophenone, natural fragrances extracted from plants and animal materials, and the like. These aromatic components can also be used as a masking component for food.

  Examples of the antibacterial substance include shelf life improvers such as fumaric acid, glycine, phytic acid, catechin, lysozyme, rosemary extract, wasabi extract, and grapefruit seed extract. Examples of microorganisms include microorganisms used in fermented foods such as lactic acid bacteria, Bacillus subtilis (natto), acetic acid bacteria, fungi (eg, mildew, blue mold), and yeast (beer yeast, sake yeast, baker's yeast, etc.) can do.

  When two or more impregnated substances are used in combination, a plurality of substances are used within a range that does not inhibit each other. Furthermore, in the case of impregnation with an enzyme, organic acids such as citric acid, malic acid, and acetic acid that adjust the pH of the food in the range of 2 to 10 and salts such as sodium salt and phosphate are used together with the enzyme. It can also be held on the material.

  These impregnating substances are impregnated in such a manner that they are held on the base material and then supplied from the base material to the foodstuff by a decompression process. The impregnated substance exists in a state of being dissolved or dispersed in a solvent under reduced pressure, receives a substance discharge driving force in the base material, is discharged out of the base material, and is impregnated into the food material.

(Foodstuff)
The food having a shape recognizable by appearance used in the method of impregnating the food using the present invention is a food having a shape capable of sufficiently recognizing what the food itself is from the appearance. Can do. It can be a shape-retaining food with the original structure of the food, and does not include liquid food or paste food that has been crushed with a mixer or the like and has collapsed. Shaped foods that can be eaten in a normal meal can be used, and the food can be used as it is, or can be cut and used. In the case of preparing by cutting, for example, it can be a food prepared by ginkgo cutting, ring cutting, half-moon cutting, strip cutting, slice cutting, random cutting and the like.

  Such food may be any of animal and vegetable ingredients, and raw ingredients, cooked ingredients such as boiled, baked, steamed and fried can also be used. Specifically, vegetables such as radish, carrot, beef bowl, salmon, ginger, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, asparagus, salmon, onion, spinach, komatsuna, broccoli, cauliflower, pepper, eggplant, herb, okra, tomato, vegetables, potatoes, Sweet potatoes, potatoes such as taro, pumpkins, beans such as soybeans, red beans, gold beans, black beans, peas, chickpeas, cereals such as rice, wheat, strawberries, oranges, apples, peaches, cherries, pears, pineapples Fruits such as banana, plum, salmon, chestnut, mushrooms such as shiitake mushroom, shimeji, enoki, sea cucumber, matsutake mushroom, eringi, salmon, persimmon, persimmon, persimmon, persimmon, persimmon, persimmon, persimmon, red fish, hockey, Foods such as seafood such as squid, octopus, scallops, clams, clams, meat such as chicken, pork, beef, horse meat, lamb, and salmon, and algae such as kombu, laver, and hijiki can be exemplified. Furthermore, the processed food which processed the said foodstuff may be sufficient. Processed foods include processed meat products such as meat dumplings, hamburgers and grilled foods, egg products such as fried eggs, omelettes and boiled eggs, fishery products such as salmon and bamboo rings, pickles, side dishes, noodles, and various confectionery. It may be food. Also, meat potatoes and side dishes such as Chikuzenni may be used. These processed foods can be formed into shape-retaining foods that are recognizable by appearance and having the structure of the present invention.

By subjecting such a food material to a decompression process described in detail below, a material impregnation driving force due to a change in gas volume inside the food material can be generated. More specifically, air expansion in the food material occurs due to the decompression process, and after the tissue gap of the food material is filled with the expanded air, the material is impregnated by contraction of the expanded air by returning the pressure. Furthermore, the impregnation effect can be further enhanced by generating a impregnation driving force by boiling and expanding the moisture in the food, shrinking and condensing the water vapor by subjecting the food to a reduced pressure in a heated state. The impregnation driving force due to the expansion and contraction of air in the food and the impregnation driving force due to the contraction and condensation of water vapor may be used in combination, and the impregnation effect can be further enhanced. The step of generating the impregnation driving force due to the expansion and contraction of the air in the food material and the step of generating the impregnation driving force due to the boiling and expansion of moisture in the food material, the contraction and condensation of water vapor may be performed a plurality of times. Can be set as appropriate.
Here, the tissue gap is, for example, a cell gap in which cells adhere to cells in the case of plant foods, or a protein fiber gap such as muscle fiber protein, myofibrillar protein, or binding fiber protein in the case of animal foods. Or a fat cell gap.

(Pretreatment of ingredients)
The food can be pretreated to relax the structure prior to the impregnation treatment of the substance. By relaxing the structure, it is possible to generate a stronger substance impregnation driving force in the food and efficiently impregnate the substance to the center of the food. Pretreatment methods for tissue relaxation include freezing, wet heat heating, dielectric heating, saturated steam heating, superheated steam heating, pressure heating, firing heating, joule heating, tenderization, tumbling, rolling, dehydration, drying, acid A treatment, an alkali treatment, an enzyme treatment, etc. are mentioned, It can process by combining 1 or 2 or more chosen from these groups.

  Freezing and thawing treatment can relieve the structure by the formation of ice crystals of water in the food and the melting phenomenon. For freezing, a general refrigeration apparatus can be used, and a quick freezing temperature zone such as −40 ° C. can be used from a slow freezing temperature zone such as −18 ° C. Ice crystals are difficult to grow by rapid freezing, and depending on the food, a sufficient tissue relaxation effect may not be obtained, but it can be used in combination with other tissue relaxation methods such as heating.

  As a thawing method, natural thawing, flowing water thawing, refrigerator thawing, heating thawing, dielectric heating thawing, and the like can be used. However, a method of minimizing the drip from the food is preferable from the viewpoint of quality, and is appropriately selected according to the food. On the other hand, when material impregnation from a substance holding substrate is performed using drip from foodstuffs, the thawing method can be selected and adjusted so that drip increases.

  The tissue relaxation method using heat treatment can relax the tissue by softening due to thermal decomposition. In particular, dielectric heating and superheated steam heating are effective in relaxing the structure synergistically because voids are generated by drying of the food material surface as well as softening by heating. In the case of animal foods such as meats, the protein can be relaxed by heating it to 65 ° C. or higher, for example, by heat denaturation and shrinkage. On the other hand, for example, by heating at a low temperature of 65 ° C. or lower, the tissue can be relaxed by leaving the tissue flexible.

  Tenderization, tumbling, and rolling can relax the structure by physical destruction of the food material. Especially, it is used for foods such as meat and seafood, and the tissue can be relaxed by increasing the flexibility of the tissue by muscle cutting by tenderization. As the tenderizer, either a stab type or a roll rotation type can be used, and the density and pitch width of the blades can be appropriately selected depending on the size and thickness of the food so that the shape does not collapse. In the tumbling process, the rotational speed can be set and processed so that the shape of the food does not collapse. In the tumbling treatment, the food can be seasoned at the same time, and vacuum tumbling can be used. In the rolling process, by processing the food using a meat hammer or the like, the structure can be partially broken and softened, and the structure can be relaxed.

  Dehydration can be mitigated by removing voids in the food material and creating voids in the tissue. As a dehydration method, a device such as a centrifugal separator may be used, or dehydration may be performed by contacting with a material having a water absorption function such as water absorbent paper. Further, salt such as salt may be used for dehydration by the osmotic pressure effect.

  Drying can relax the structure by creating voids by reducing the moisture content of the food. As the drying method, blow drying such as hot air or cold air, vacuum drying, freeze drying, microwave drying and the like can be used. In the method of impregnating a food material using the substance-holding substrate of the present invention, the phase transition of water in the food material is used. Therefore, the water content in the food material is dried and stored without being excessively dried. By homogenizing the moisture distribution in the food, voids increase in the food and the structure is relaxed.

  The acid and alkali treatment can be relaxed by modifying the food structure. Food additives such as citric acid, malic acid, acetic acid and phosphoric acid can be used for the acid treatment, and food additives such as carbonate, phosphate and citrate can be used for the alkali treatment. The enzyme treatment relaxes the food material structure by decomposing the tissue on the surface of the food material. In animal food materials such as meat and fish, the tissue is relaxed by pre-immersing in a protease enzyme solution, and vegetable or vegetable vegetable food materials in advance in a pectinase or cellulase enzyme solution and decomposing the surface of the food material.

  You may perform a heating process after performing the pre-processing which relaxes the structure | tissue of a foodstuff. As the heating temperature, the food material temperature is preferably heated to 50 ° C. or higher, and more preferably 60 ° C. or higher. As a method for heating ingredients, any method can be used as long as it is a method used for cooking and processing ingredients such as boiling, baking, steaming and frying. Examples of the heating method include wet heat heating, dielectric heating, saturated steam heating, superheated steam heating, firing heating, and Joule heating, and any heating principle by conduction, radiation, or convection may be used.

(Decompression treatment)
In the method of impregnating the foodstuff using the substance-holding substrate of the present invention, the substance discharge driving force due to the change in the internal structure of the substance-holding substrate by simultaneously subjecting the substance-holding substrate and the food to reduced pressure, A material impregnation driving force due to a change in gas volume inside the food is generated simultaneously. The substance is discharged from the substance holding substrate by the substance discharge driving force described above, the discharged substance comes into contact with the food, and is quickly supplied to the inside by the substance impregnation driving force described above.

  During the decompression treatment, the substance holding substrate and the food are preferably in contact with each other, but there may be a gap between them, and the impregnated substance solution discharged from the substance holding substrate is applied to the surface of the food. What is necessary is just to be in the state which was made or the surroundings of foodstuffs.

  The pressure reduction treatment may be a pressure that generates a sufficient substance discharge driving force and substance impregnation driving force. For example, the pressure is preferably 50 kPa or less, more preferably 40 kPa or less, and even more preferably 30 kPa or less. Even more preferably, it can be carried out at a pressure of 20 kPa or less. The time for the decompression treatment is not particularly limited as long as the substance can be sufficiently impregnated in the foodstuff. For example, it is preferably 10 seconds or longer and 60 minutes or shorter, more preferably 20 seconds or longer and 40 minutes or shorter, and further preferably 30 seconds or longer and 30 seconds or longer. Is less than a minute.

  In the method of impregnating a food material using the substance-holding substrate of the present invention, as a pressure reducing method for generating a material impregnation driving force in the food material, (1) generating a material impregnation driving force by expansion and contraction of air in the food material Any of the decompression process and (2) the decompression process in which the substance impregnation driving force is generated by the boiling and expansion of moisture in the food and the contraction and condensation of water vapor can be performed. The latter impregnation driving force using the pressure change of moisture in the food material is significantly larger than the material impregnation driving force using the pressure change of the air in the food material, which is the former pressure reduction impregnation method, and is supplied from the base material more rapidly. The impregnated material to be introduced can be introduced to the center of the foodstuff. It can be appropriately selected and used depending on the type and size of the food, the type of the decompression device, and the like. Hereinafter, the pressure treatment and the substance impregnation principle in the method for impregnating a food material using the substance holding substrate of the present invention will be described in detail.

(1) Decompression treatment for generating a material impregnation driving force by expansion and contraction of air in the foodstuff By subjecting the foodstuff to a decompression treatment, the air in the foodstuff expands in inverse proportion to the pressure drop. When the expansion air reaches an expansion force that is greater than the strength of the tissue structure in the food, the expansion air expands while expanding between tissues such as cell gaps. The expanded air that has increased more than the interstitial space volume in the food is discharged out of the food. If the reduced pressure state is maintained after the tissue gap in the food material is filled with the expanded air, the substance holding group present on the surface of the food material rather than the expansion force of the expanded air remaining in the food material after a certain time has elapsed. The osmotic pressure of the impregnating substance solution discharged and supplied from the material is excellent, and the material permeation into the food starts. Finally, when the pressure is restored from the reduced pressure to the normal pressure state, the expanded air contracts as the pressure increases, so that a pressure difference between the inside and outside of the food material occurs, and the impregnated substance solution supplied to the food material surface further enters the food material. And the material impregnation is completed.
During the decompression process, the air contained in the base material similarly expands in the base material within the material holding base material, and the impregnated material solution held on the base material is discharged out of the base material by the air expansion pressure. Is done. Therefore, since the discharge amount of the impregnating substance solution to the outside of the base material is affected by the amount of air contained in the base material, the water affinity of the base material, and the like, the material discharge performance varies depending on the base material. On the other hand, in foodstuffs, the expansion force of air in the foodstuff varies depending on the hardness of the structure of the foodstuff, the direction of the tissue fibers, the components constituting the foodstuff, and the like, so the impregnation driving force generated in the foodstuff also varies depending on the foodstuff. However, in the method of impregnating a food material using the substance-holding substrate of the present invention, the impregnation driving force and the discharge drive are applied to the food material and the substrate under reduced pressure regardless of the magnitude of the substance impregnation driving force and the substance discharge driving force, respectively. If force is generated at the same time, substance impregnation from the substance holding substrate under reduced pressure into the food material is rapidly performed. In the material impregnation by this reduced pressure treatment, the impregnation time is shorter and the effect is higher as the food material shape is larger than in the case where the food material is simply immersed in the impregnated material solution and permeated by the diffusion movement of the material. In addition, the difference between the impregnation driving force and the discharge driving force generated by the decompression process is large compared with the case where the substance holding sheet soaked in the substance is brought into contact with the food, and the impregnation time is shortened. Is done.
In addition, the generation of impregnation driving force in the food during the reduced pressure treatment does not change compared to the case where the reduced pressure treatment is performed by completely immersing in a conventional impregnated substance solution (freeze impregnation method). In the freeze impregnation method, a sufficient amount of the impregnating substance solution is present on the surface of the food material, so that the food material is rapidly impregnated with the material. In the method of impregnating a food material using the material holding substrate of the present invention, the impregnated material solution hardly exists on the surface of the food material, unlike the conventional method, before the pressure reduction treatment. However, the impregnation driving force is generated in the food by the decompression process, and at the same time, the impregnating substance solution is discharged from the substance holding substrate, and the impregnating substance solution is quickly and uniformly filled around the food. The discharged impregnating substance solution is filled in the space between the food and the base material, but the substance holding base material is flexible, so the impregnation is sufficient to fill a small amount of space between the base material and the food material. If the substance solution is discharged from the base material, uniform and rapid substance impregnation into the food can be achieved, and the amount of the impregnated substance solution required is much less than the conventional method of reducing the pressure in the impregnated substance solution. .

(2) Decompression treatment that generates a material impregnation driving force by boiling and expansion of moisture in the food, shrinkage and condensation of water vapor The point of depressurizing the food is the same as the method of (1), but the heated food It differs from (1) in that it is used. Under atmospheric pressure, water boils at 100 ° C., but under reduced pressure, it boils below 100 ° C. and becomes water vapor. The relationship between the temperature and pressure at which the phase transition where the substance changes from liquid to gas is uniquely determined. For water, it can be obtained by the following formula (I) (Antoine formula), for example.

  When the heated food is placed under reduced pressure, the theoretical value is about 20 kPa for the food temperature (center temperature of the food) of 60 ° C. (333 K), about 31 kPa at 70 ° C. (343 K), and about 47 kPa at 80 ° C. (353 K). Boils under. The volume of water in the food material increases significantly by boiling and vaporizing. Although the volume increase differs depending on the boiling temperature, the volume can theoretically be increased 1,000 times or more. The amount of increase in water vapor volume in (2) is much larger than the amount of increase in air volume due to the expansion of air in foodstuffs in (1). For this reason, in the food with relaxed tissue, the water in the tissue gap is remarkably increased in volume while the tissue gap in the relaxed food can be quickly filled with water vapor, and is generated in the food compared to (1). The impregnation driving force is large and the time required for the material impregnation is short.

  It is preferable that the boiling of water in the food material is continuously generated until the entire tissue gap is filled with water vapor. The water in the food material boils rapidly when it reaches the water vapor pressure of the food material temperature, but the temperature of the food material decreases due to the heat of vaporization. Therefore, after reaching the water vapor pressure of the food temperature, if the pressure is kept constant at that pressure, or if the pressure reduction rate is slow even if the pressure is further reduced, boiling of water does not continue in the food, resulting in the food Only a part of the water stays in the boil. In order to boil the water in the tissue gap in the food and fill it with water vapor throughout the food gap, the pressure on the food is further reduced as the temperature of the food decreases due to the heat of vaporization, and the moisture in the food continues. Therefore, it is required to control the pressure so as to boil. Or the foodstuff under pressure reduction may be heated from the exterior with a heat-transfer heater, a microwave oven, etc., the fall of foodstuff temperature may be suppressed, and the water | moisture content in a foodstuff may be boiled continuously.

  In the method in which the pressure applied to the food material reaches the water vapor pressure of the food material temperature and further controls the pressure to continuously boil the water in the food material, specifically, the temperature of the food material decreases due to the heat of vaporization of water. In addition, the pressure applied to the food (for example, the internal pressure of the decompression tank) may be controlled so as to be equal to or lower than the water vapor pressure (pressure at which the water in the food boils) calculated by the Antoine equation of the vapor pressure curve. That is, after reaching the pressure at which the food material boils under reduced pressure, the pressure P (kPa) applied to the food material is changed to the water vapor pressure P ′ (calculated by the above Antowan equation at the food material temperature T ′ (K) that decreases with the heat of vaporization. It may be controlled so that P <P ′ with respect to kPa) to maintain the boiling state of water in the foodstuff.

In this pressure control, from the P> P ′ state at the start of the decompression process, P = P ′ at the decompression process time t ₁ , and boiling of water in the food starts. After that, P <P ′ and the boiling state of water in the food continues. By decreasing the product temperature or increasing the pressure applied to the food material, P = P ′ at t ₂ , and the boiling of water in the food material is terminated, so that P> P ′. In the pressure section where P <P ′ from the boiling start time t ₁ to the boiling end time t ₂ , the greater the sum of the pressure differences between P and P ′, the more reliably the water in the food boils over the whole, which will be described later. In (iii), a strong substance impregnation driving force can be obtained. The sum of the pressure differences between P ′ and P can be obtained from the difference between the integrated values of the pressure values from time t ₁ to time t ₂ .

That is, in the graph of time and pressure where the x-axis is the pressure reduction processing time t and the y-axis is the pressure p, the pressure reduction processing time t of the water vapor pressure P ′ calculated by the Antoine equation at the pressure P applied to the food material and the food material temperature T ′. Assuming that p = P (t) and p = P ′ (t), respectively, as a function of the pressure change with respect to the pressure, the area surrounded by the pressure change curves of P and P ′ from t = t ₁ to t = t ₂ is the pressure. It is the sum of the differences and can be calculated by the following formula (II).

  The total pressure difference value S is preferably 115 kPa · s or more, more preferably 120 kPa · s or more and 5000 kPa · s or less, still more preferably 130 kPa · s or more and 3000 kPa · s or less, and even more preferably 150 kPa · s or more and 1000 kPa · s or less. It is most preferable that the design be 170 kPa · s or more and 850 kPa · s or less. This pressure difference sum value S is obtained from the difference from the pressure applied to the food by calculating the water vapor pressure of the water in the food center from the change in the food center temperature. Therefore, if the pressure difference total value S satisfies the above condition, the substance impregnation process of the present application is sufficiently performed at the center of the food, and the substance is sufficiently impregnated regardless of the size of the food. Is done.

  One method for satisfying the above conditions of the pressure difference sum S is to set the boiling start pressure in the decompression process to be 10 kPa or more and then control the pressure so that P <P ′. It is done. By boiling at 10 kPa or more and subsequently reducing the pressure, the boiling state of P <P ′ can be continued, and the generated water vapor can be expanded to quickly fill the tissue gap with water vapor. This steam expansion occurs in inverse proportion to the pressure drop according to Boyle-Charles' law. As the pressure is reduced from the boiling pressure, the expansion rate increases as the pressure decreases. Therefore, the higher the boiling start pressure, the better.

  For example, the boiling start pressure can be set to 10 kPa or more by rapidly reducing the pressure using a food previously heated to 50 ° C. or higher, more preferably 60 ° C. or higher. Here, the average decompression speed of the rapid decompression process (the average decompression speed obtained by “(set pressure−atmospheric pressure) / hour” from the time taken to reach the set pressure from the atmospheric pressure) is an absolute value. For example, 0.7 kPa / s or more, preferably 1.0 to 101 kPa / s, more preferably 1.5 to 101 kPa / s. When the food heated to 80 ° C. is rapidly depressurized, the water in the food boils at about 40 kPa, the volume rapidly increases due to the phase transition (theoretical value is about 1,500 times), and fills the tissue gap. Water vapor is discharged from inside the food. When the pressure is further reduced to 1 kPa, vaporized water vapor rapidly expands by volume according to Boyle-Charle's law (theoretical value is about 40 times), and the tissue gap is more quickly filled with water vapor. In actual foods, the volume increase and expansion of the theoretical value (about 60,000 times) cannot be obtained due to the structure of the food material, but it occurs due to the increase in water volume due to boiling, the expansion of water vapor, and the contraction and condensation. The material impregnation driving force is significantly larger than the impregnation driving force in the expansion and contraction of the air in the food material so far. In the conventional reduced pressure impregnation treatment, the air in the tissue gap expands about 100 times by the pressure reduction from atmospheric pressure to 1 kPa, and fills the tissue gap with air. The volume increase rate accompanying the phase transition of water is significantly larger than the expansion of air in the food material, and the tissue gap can be quickly filled with gas.

  Next, after filling the tissue gap with water vapor, pressurization processing to return to atmospheric pressure with the impregnated material in contact with the food material, and contracting or condensing the water vapor, the material impregnation driving force in the food material The substance brought into contact with the food material can be quickly impregnated. At the same time, since the impregnated substance solution is discharged from the substance holding base material subjected to the decompression process due to the expansion of the air inside the base material and supplied to the surface of the food material, the material is quickly impregnated in the food material. In addition, depending on the state of the tissue relaxation treatment performed in advance, the substance is impregnated not only in the tissue gap but also in the food tissue (inside the cells and fibers).

  The impregnation of the substance into the food is performed by changing the state of water vapor filled in the tissue gap. After filling the tissue gap with water vapor, the process proceeds to a re-pressure process, and by increasing the pressure, the water vapor in the tissue gap is contracted, and the volume of the food tissue gap is reduced by phase transition (condensation) to reduce the volume. A significant pressure difference between the internal pressure and the external pressure is generated, and the tissue gap is impregnated with the substance.

  The return pressure of the food is performed by increasing the pressure after the tissue gap of the food is filled with water vapor. The pressure P (kPa) applied to the food is increased to a pressure (P> P ′) that exceeds the water vapor pressure P ′ (kPa) calculated by the Antoine method using the food temperature T ′ (K). In the section, the pressure is slowly increased at 1 kPa / s or less, and the volume is reduced by the volume contraction and condensation of the water vapor in the food, so that a strong substance impregnation driving force can be generated and impregnated.

  The substance impregnation driving force utilizing the pressure change of moisture is large, and the substance can be impregnated to the inside of the food by a slight pressure increase without completely returning to normal pressure. This means that if the pressure is rapidly increased, the tissue gap may be crushed before the substance is impregnated, and the substance may not be sufficiently impregnated to the center of the food material, and the food material may shrink or collapse. For this reason, in the pressure interval until P> P ′, it is desirable to increase the pressure by setting the pressure increase rate to be slow. In the pressure-returning step to the atmospheric pressure after this slow pressure-up section, it is not always necessary to set the pressure-up speed, but for example, the pressure is rapidly increased at 1.0 to 101 kPa / s or 10 to 101 kPa / s. Can do. Also, if the impregnated material is more impregnated or if the impregnated material is viscous and changes in the shape of the food can be seen in the decompression process, after the slow pressurization section, a pressure section where the pressurization speed is further set is set. One or a plurality of pressures may be set and the pressure may be gradually restored to atmospheric pressure. For example, when the pressure at which P = P ′ is 5 kPa, it is possible to further set up to 10 kPa or up to 20 kPa as the second slow boosting section. As the second slow boosting section, the average boosting speed is set to 20 kPa / s or less, preferably 0.01 to 15 kPa / s. In addition, depending on the foodstuff, after the slow pressurization period, it is possible to increase the impregnation effect by repeating the pressure operation using the expansion and contraction phenomenon of the conventional air in the foodstuff in a short time after re-depressurization and re-pressurization. . That is, by using together the impregnation driving force due to the expansion and contraction of air in the food material of (1) and the impregnation driving force due to the boiling and expansion of water in the food material and the contraction and condensation of water vapor in (2), The impregnation effect can also be enhanced. The step of generating the impregnation driving force due to the expansion and contraction of the air in the food material and the step of generating the impregnation driving force due to the boiling and expansion of moisture in the food material, the contraction and condensation of water vapor may be performed a plurality of times. Can be set as appropriate.

  In addition, after reducing the pressure to the set pressure, the pressure of the food is not carried out until the temperature of the food is lowered by the heat of vaporization, the impregnated substance, the external contact material such as equipment, and the water vapor pressure at the temperature of the food becomes equal to the set pressure. A holding method is also possible. In that case, instead of setting the pressure holding section for a fixed time such as 5 minutes or 10 minutes, the pressure holding section is set until the water vapor pressure at the food temperature becomes equal to the holding pressure, and then the pressure is rapidly restored to the normal pressure. It is possible to carry out the pressure-recovery step, and it is possible to efficiently design the decompression time required for the material impregnation. However, in order to efficiently perform the entire impregnation process in a shorter time, it is preferable to perform a slow pressure increase of 1 kPa / s or less immediately after the pressure reduction in order to satisfy P> P ′.

  As described above, either (1) or (2) can be used in the decompression treatment using the substance holding substrate of the present invention. In (1) and (2), the substance discharge driving force and the substance impregnation driving force can be further increased by pressing the substance holding substrate and the food during the decompression process. In the pressing process, pressure may be applied by a mechanical operation from the outside, or may be pressure by atmospheric pressure.

(Pressure device)
For the decompression process in the method of impregnating a food material using the substance-holding substrate of the present invention, as a decompression device, for example, a general-purpose decompression device such as a vacuum can equipped with a vacuum pump, a vacuum packaging machine, or a vacuum cooler is used. it can. It may be for home use or business use. The decompression apparatus preferably includes an apparatus that can arbitrarily set the decompression and decompression speed, and may be capable of controlling the temperature such as heating the substance-holding substrate and the food under decompression. The depressurization treatment of the food can be carried out by installing it in a vacuum chamber that can be sealed in the state of being put in the container, or can be carried out by depressurization in a container such as a hard container or a soft container containing the food. As a hard container, a can, a bottle, earthenware, porcelain, a resin molding container, etc. can be used, for example. As the soft container, for example, a flexible pouch, a film molding container, or the like can be used. A material holding substrate may be laminated on these containers, and the container and the substrate may be integrally formed.

(Substance impregnated food)
According to the method for impregnating a food material using the material-holding substrate of the present invention, a food material impregnated with the material can be obtained while maintaining a shape recognizable by appearance. If the impregnated substance is a softening enzyme, the food material can be softened by an enzymatic reaction to obtain a shape-retaining softened food material. The hardness of the shape-retaining softened food is determined by using a physical property measuring device such as a creep meter (manufactured by Yamaden) or a tensipresser (manufactured by Taketomo Electric) as the hardness suitable for foods for people with difficulty in chewing or swallowing The breaking strength (maximum stress) obtained by compressing 70% of the thickness of the food at 10 mm / s using a plunger having a diameter of 3 mm and a shape-retaining softened food adjusted to 20 ° C. ± 2 ° C. is preferably 1. 0 × 10 ³ N / m ² or more and 2.0 × 10 ⁶ N / m ² or less, more preferably 3.0 × 10 ³ N / m ² or more and 1.0 × 10 ⁶ N / m ² or less, more preferably It is preferable to adjust to 5.0 × 10 ³ N / m ² or more and 5.0 × 10 ⁵ N / m ² or less.

(Substance-impregnated processed food)
According to the method of impregnating a food material using the substance-holding substrate of the present invention, the material-impregnated food material can be further processed to obtain a processed food. As processing, for example, heating, freezing, drying, etc. can be applied to the substance-impregnated food to produce processed food with good shelf life, or new processed food can be manufactured using the impregnated food as a processing raw material. Examples of substance-impregnated processed foods include chilled foods, frozen foods, dried foods, and foods distributed at room temperature.

  Although the substance impregnation method to the foodstuff using the substance holding base material of this invention is demonstrated concretely by the following examples, this invention is not limited by these Examples.

[Test Example 1]
Example 1
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: Non-woven fabric made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangle of 9 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 0.655 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: Maximum absorption performance was 20.94 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 3.57 g / 1 g base material.

<Food preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. Commercial chicken fillets were frozen at -20 ° C overnight or longer.
2. Thawed chicken fillet was sliced to a thickness of 1 cm.
3. The sliced chicken fillet was cut into a rectangular parallelepiped having a length of 5 cm, a width of 2.5 cm, and a height of 1 cm. The weight of the cut chicken fillet was about 17 to 20 g.
4). The cut chicken fillet was tenderized with a scissor (manufactured by JACCARD) to prepare a material-impregnated food.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in 1% saline and prepared to 0.05% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
A substance holding substrate was prepared by the following procedure.
1. The base material prepared above was immersed in an impregnating substance solution (enzyme solution) for 30 seconds.
The enzyme solution taken out onto a 2.5 mm mesh net and excessively soaked was allowed to fall naturally.
3. The base material that absorbed the enzyme solution to the maximum was used as the substance holding base material. The amount of the enzyme solution absorbed was about 13 g with respect to the substrate weight of 0.655 g.

<Pressure reduction device>
A vacuum impregnation apparatus in which a vacuum pump (manufactured by ULVAC Kiko Co., Ltd., GLD-050) was connected to a vacuum disk (manufactured by ASONE, VZ type) was used as the decompression apparatus.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. The substance-holding substrate prepared above was folded in half to obtain a length of 9 cm and a width of 4.25 cm.
2. The food material prepared above was sandwiched between substance-holding substrates to prepare a sample.
3. The sample was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size equivalent to that of the substrate.
4). An aluminum vat containing a sample was set in a vacuum impregnation apparatus connected to a vacuum pump, and decompression was performed.
5. After the pressure in the vacuum impregnation apparatus reached 2 kPa, the pressure reducing valve was closed and sealed for 5 minutes.
6). The pressure reducing valve was opened to return to atmospheric pressure, the impregnation process was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. for 30 minutes to carry out an enzyme reaction.
2. The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 20 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 80 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Comparative Example 1-1)
Without using the enzyme-holding substrate, the food material was immersed in 13 g of enzyme solution in the same amount as in Example 1 for 5 minutes. Then, the softening foodstuff was obtained like Example 1 except not having performed the pressure reduction process. When the material-impregnating food material was immersed in 13 g of the enzyme solution, the food material was immersed in about 3 mm.

(Comparative Example 1-2)
Without using the enzyme-holding substrate, the food material was immersed in 13 g of enzyme solution in the same amount as in Example 1 for 5 minutes. Then, in the state which immersed the foodstuff in the enzyme liquid, the reduced pressure process, the enzyme reaction, and the enzyme deactivation process were performed like Example 1, and the softened foodstuff was obtained.

(Comparative Example 1-3)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the food material and the enzyme-holding base material were brought into contact with each other for 5 minutes under normal pressure without performing a vacuum treatment, and the enzyme was permeated into the food material from the substance-holding base material. .

(Comparative Example 1-4)
-The cut food prepared in Example 1 was heat-treated at 80 ° C for 20 minutes without enzyme treatment. The obtained food was used as a control.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured using a tensipresser (manufactured by Taketomo Electric Co., Ltd.). The hardness was defined as the value of the maximum stress (N / m ² ) obtained by 70% penetration of a hollow plunger having a diameter of 5 mm at a speed of 10 mm / s. In addition, it calculated | required by the average value which measured five places of 1 sample. The results are shown in Table 1.

(result)
As a result of comparing Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1-1 to 1-3 with Comparative Example 1-4, Example 1 was the most tender and easy to eat chicken fillet. It was possible to adjust the hardness to be easy to eat even for elderly people who are hard to bite hard things.
On the other hand, in the case where only the immersion in the enzyme solution (Comparative Example 1-1) and the contact with the substance-holding substrate (Comparative Example 1-3) were not performed, the food did not soften, and Comparative Example 1 No difference was felt between the control of -4 and the sensory evaluation.
In Comparative Example 1-2 in which the enzyme was impregnated by performing pressure reduction treatment in the state of being immersed in the enzyme solution, the lower part immersed in the enzyme solution was felt soft, but the upper part was hard. Therefore, the hardness differs between the top and bottom of the ingredients, making it difficult to eat with a non-uniform texture.
As described above, a softened chicken fillet in which the whole chicken fillet was soft could be produced by the method of performing a decompression treatment using the substance holding substrate of the present invention. That is, under reduced pressure, a substance discharge driving force was generated from the substance holding substrate and the enzyme liquid was discharged, and the food material was impregnated with the enzyme liquid by generating a substance impregnation driving force. Conventionally, the whole food is immersed in the enzyme solution and the enzyme impregnation treatment is performed. However, if the substance impregnation method for the food using the substance holding substrate of the present invention is used, the amount of the enzyme solution that cannot completely immerse the whole food Even so, it was found that the enzyme can penetrate into the food in a short time. As a result, the amount of the enzyme solution can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.
In the test between the two groups, a significant difference was observed between Example 1 and Comparative Example 1-4.

[Test Example 2]
(Example 2-1)
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangle of 6 cm in length and 3 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 0.11 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: Maximum absorption performance was 20.94 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 3.57 g / 1 g base material.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. Commercial chicken fillets were frozen at -20 ° C overnight or longer.
2. Thawed chicken fillet was sliced to a thickness of 1 cm.
3. The sliced chicken fillet was cut into a rectangular parallelepiped having a length of 5 cm, a width of 2.5 cm, and a height of 1 cm. The weight of the cut chicken fillet was about 17 to 20 g.
4). The cut chicken fillet was tenderized with a scissor (manufactured by JACCARD) to prepare a material-impregnated food.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in 1% saline and prepared to 0.05% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
A substance holding substrate was prepared by the following procedure.
1. The base material prepared above was immersed in an impregnating substance solution (enzyme solution) for 30 seconds.
The enzyme solution taken out onto a 2.5 mm mesh net and excessively soaked was allowed to fall naturally.
3. A substrate on which the maximum amount of enzyme solution was absorbed was used as a substance holding substrate. The amount of the enzyme solution absorbed was about 2.2 g with respect to the substrate weight of 0.11 g.

<Pressure reduction device>
A vacuum impregnation apparatus in which a vacuum pump (manufactured by ULVAC Kiko Co., Ltd., GLD-050) was connected to a vacuum disk (manufactured by ASONE, VZ type) was used as the decompression apparatus.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. The food material prepared above was placed on the substance-holding base material, and another substance-holding base material was placed on the top surface of the foodstuff, and the foodstuff was sandwiched between the two substance-holding base materials to prepare a sample.
2. The sample was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width.
3. An aluminum vat containing a sample was set in a vacuum impregnation apparatus connected to a vacuum pump, and decompression was performed.
4). After the pressure in the vacuum impregnation apparatus reached 2 kPa, the pressure reducing valve was closed and sealed for 5 minutes.
5. The pressure reducing valve was opened to return to atmospheric pressure, the impregnation process was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. for 30 minutes to carry out an enzyme reaction.
2. The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 20 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 80 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Example 2-2)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 2-1, except that the substance holding substrate was placed only on the upper surface of the food material.

(Example 2-3)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 2-1, except that the food material was placed on the substance-holding base material and the substance-holding base material was not placed on the top surface of the food material.

(Comparative Example 2-1)
The food material prepared in Example 2-1 was heat-treated at 80 ° C. for 20 minutes without enzyme treatment. The obtained food was used as a control.

(Comparative Example 2-2)
Without using the substance-holding substrate, the substance-impregnated food material was immersed in 4.4 g of enzyme solution in the same amount as Example 2-1 for 5 minutes. Thereafter, with the substance-impregnating material immersed in the enzyme solution, a reduced pressure treatment, an enzyme reaction and an enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain a softened food. When the substance-impregnating food material was immersed in 4.4 g of the enzyme solution, the food material was immersed in about 1 mm.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 2.

(result)
Example 2-1 was soft enough to be crushed with gums, and was of sufficient quality as a food for care.
The result of Example 2-2 was harder than that of Example 2-1, but there was no non-uniformity, and the softness increased uniformly and it was easy to bite easily.
Example 2-3 was harder than Example 2-2, but was significantly softer than Comparative Example 2-1, easy to chew, and improved in ease of eating.
In Example 2-2 and Example 2-3, the contact surface of the base material and the food material is different between the upper and lower sides, but it was found that it is more preferable to cover the upper surface of the food material and the food material is sealed with the container and the base material. .
Although Comparative Example 2-2 became softer than Comparative Example 2-1, it was as soft as Example 2-1 despite using the same amount of enzyme as Example 2-1. Did not reach. Comparative Example 2-2 showed physical property values close to those of Example 2-2 and Example 2-3. However, in sensory evaluation, the upper surface not touching the enzyme solution remained hard and a non-uniform feeling was felt. It was.
Even when the physical property values were the same, the use of the base material was superior in texture and softened with a small amount of enzyme solution.

[Test Example 3]
(Example 3-1)
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangle of 10 cm in length and 7 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 0.5 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: Maximum absorption performance was 20.94 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 3.57 g / 1 g base material.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. Commercial chicken fillets were frozen at -20 ° C overnight or longer.
2. Thawed chicken fillet was sliced to a thickness of 1 cm.
3. The sliced chicken fillet was cut into a rectangular parallelepiped having a length of 5 cm, a width of 3.5 cm, and a height of 1 cm. The weight of the cut chicken fillet was about 23 to 25 g.
4). The cut chicken fillet was tenderized with a scissor (manufactured by JACCARD) to prepare a material-impregnated food.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in 1% saline and prepared to 0.00625% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
A substance holding substrate was prepared by the following procedure.
1. The base material prepared above was immersed in an impregnating substance solution (enzyme solution) for 30 seconds.
The enzyme solution taken out onto a 2.5 mm mesh net and excessively soaked was allowed to fall naturally.
3. A substrate on which the maximum amount of enzyme solution was absorbed was used as a substance holding substrate. The amount of the enzyme solution absorbed was about 10 g with respect to the substrate weight of 0.5 g.

<Pressure reduction device>
A vacuum impregnation apparatus in which a vacuum pump (manufactured by ULVAC Kiko Co., Ltd., GLD-050) was connected to a vacuum disk (manufactured by ASONE, VZ type) was used as the decompression apparatus.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. The food material prepared above was placed on the substance-holding base material, and another substance-holding base material was placed on the top surface of the foodstuff, and the foodstuff was sandwiched between the two substance-holding base materials to prepare a sample.
2. The sample was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width.
3. An aluminum vat containing a sample was set in a vacuum impregnation apparatus connected to a vacuum pump, and decompression was performed.
4). After the pressure in the vacuum impregnation apparatus reached 2 kPa, the pressure reducing valve was closed and sealed for 5 minutes.
5. The pressure reducing valve was opened to return to atmospheric pressure, the impregnation process was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. for 30 minutes to carry out an enzyme reaction.
2. The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 20 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 80 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Example 3-2)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 3-1, except that the concentration of the proteolytic enzyme in the impregnated substance solution was changed to 0.0125% (w / v).

(Example 3-3)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 3-1, except that the concentration of the proteolytic enzyme in the impregnated substance solution was changed to 0.025% (w / v).

(Example 3-4)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 3-1, except that the concentration of the proteolytic enzyme in the impregnated substance solution was changed to 0.05% (w / v).

(Comparative Example 3)
The food material prepared in Example 3-1 was heat-treated at 80 ° C. for 20 minutes without enzyme treatment. The obtained food was used as a control.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 3.

(result)
The higher the enzyme concentration in the substance-holding substrate, the softer the food. Example 3-1 was easy to chew, Example 3-2 was easily chewed, Example 3-3 was easily chewed, and Example 3-4 was soft enough to be crushed. Therefore, the amount of impregnated substance solution to be retained on the base material is constant, and the amount of enzyme impregnation into the food is adjusted by changing the enzyme concentration in the material-supported base material, so that it is necessary for the healthy person to eat easily. We were able to produce soft meals for caregivers. In any of the examples, the enzyme was uniformly impregnated in the food material.

[Test Example 4]
(Example 4-1)
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangle of 10 cm in length and 7 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 0.5 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: Maximum absorption performance was 20.94 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 3.57 g / 1 g base material.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. Commercial chicken fillets were frozen at -20 ° C overnight or longer.
2. Thawed chicken fillet was sliced to a thickness of 1 cm.
3. The sliced chicken fillet was cut into a rectangular parallelepiped having a length of 5 cm, a width of 3.5 cm, and a height of 1 cm. The weight of the cut chicken fillet was about 23 to 25 g.
4). The cut chicken fillet was tenderized with a scissor (manufactured by JACCARD) to prepare a material-impregnated food.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in 1% saline and prepared to 0.05% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
A substance holding substrate was prepared by the following procedure.
1. The two substrates prepared above were immersed in the impregnating substance solution (enzyme solution) for 30 seconds.
The enzyme solution taken out onto a 2.5 mm mesh net and excessively soaked was allowed to fall naturally.
3. A substrate on which the enzyme solution was absorbed was used as a substance holding substrate. The amount of the enzyme solution absorbed per substrate weight of 0.5 g (1 sheet) was 10.47 g, respectively.

<Measurement of enzyme solution discharge>
1. Two substance-holding base materials having the same enzyme solution retention amount (for 1 g of the base material used) were placed on a 5 mm mesh net and placed in a small vacuum vessel, and the pressure was reduced to 2 kPa.
2. Under reduced pressure for 5 minutes in a sealed state, the pressure was released to atmospheric pressure. The amount of decrease in the substrate weight was defined as the enzyme solution discharge amount. The results are shown in Table 4.
The same amount of enzyme solution as that contained in 1 g of the base material was placed in an aluminum vat, and the change in weight when subjected to a reduced pressure treatment was used as a blank. The discharge amount under reduced pressure was a value obtained by subtracting the blank value from the measured value.

<Pressure reduction device>
A vacuum impregnation apparatus in which a vacuum pump (manufactured by ULVAC Kiko Co., Ltd., GLD-050) was connected to a vacuum disk (manufactured by ASONE, VZ type) was used as the decompression apparatus.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. The food material prepared above was placed on the substance-holding base material, and another substance-holding base material was placed on the top surface of the foodstuff, and the foodstuff was sandwiched between the two substance-holding base materials to prepare a sample.
2. The sample was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width.
3. An aluminum vat containing a sample was set in a vacuum impregnation apparatus connected to a vacuum pump, and decompression was performed.
4). After the pressure in the vacuum impregnation apparatus reached 2 kPa, the pressure reducing valve was closed and sealed for 5 minutes.
5. The pressure reducing valve was opened to return to atmospheric pressure, the impregnation process was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. for 30 minutes to carry out an enzyme reaction.
2. The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 20 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 80 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Example 4-2)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 4-1, except that the amount of the enzyme solution contained in the substance-holding substrate was changed to 87.5% of Example 4-1.
The substance holding substrate was produced by the following method. Prepared by the drip method in which two base materials having a weight of 0.5 g prepared in the same manner as in Example 4-1 were prepared, and 9.165 g was absorbed by dropping the prepared impregnating substance solution (enzyme solution). Using.

(Example 4-3)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 4-1, except that the amount of the enzyme solution contained in the substance holding substrate was changed to 75% of Example 4-1. The substance holding substrate was produced in the same manner as in Example 4-2, except that the amount of the substance liquid to be dropped and absorbed was 7.855 g.

(Example 4-4)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 4-1, except that the amount of enzyme solution contained in the substance-holding substrate was changed to 50% of Example 4-1. The substance holding substrate was produced in the same manner as in Example 4-2, except that the amount of the substance liquid to be dropped and absorbed was 5.235 g.

(Example 4-5)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 4-1, except that the amount of the enzyme solution contained in the substance-holding substrate was changed to the 40% amount of Example 4-1. The substance holding substrate was produced in the same manner as in Example 4-2, except that the amount of the substance liquid to be dropped and absorbed was 4.19 g.

(Comparative Example 4)
The foodstuff prepared in Example 4-1 was heat-treated at 80 ° C. for 20 minutes without enzyme treatment. The obtained food was used as a control.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 4.

(result)
In Examples 4-1 to 4-5, as the amount of enzyme solution retained decreased, the amount of enzyme solution discharged under reduced pressure also decreased. In addition, chicken fillet softened as the amount of enzyme solution discharged increased. The hardness of the chicken fillet of Example 4-4 and Example 4-5 was not significantly different in the test, but it was easier to chew compared with Comparative Example 4 in the sensuality.
From the measured physical properties and sensory evaluation, the enzyme solution discharge amount is at least 0.01 g / 1 g substrate, preferably 0.1 g / 1 g substrate, more preferably 0.5 g / 1 g substrate under reduced pressure. It is desirable to use a substance holding substrate.
In the method of impregnating a food material using the substance-holding substrate of the present invention, if one kind of enzyme concentration solution is prepared, the substance impregnation amount in the food material can be adjusted only by adjusting the enzyme holding amount of the substrate. The degree of softening of the food can be adjusted arbitrarily.

[Test Example 5]
(Example 5-1)
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangle of 10 cm in length and 11 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 0.8 mm and a weight of 0.5 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of substrate: Maximum absorption performance was 10.52 g / 1 g substrate, and maximum discharge performance was 0.65 g / 1 g substrate.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. Commercial chicken fillets were frozen at -20 ° C overnight or longer.
2. Thawed chicken fillet was sliced to a thickness of 1 cm.
3. The sliced chicken fillet was cut into a rectangular parallelepiped having a length of 5 cm, a width of 3.5 cm, and a height of 1 cm. The weight of the cut chicken fillet was about 23 to 25 g.
4). The cut chicken fillet was tenderized with a scissor (manufactured by JACCARD) to prepare a material-impregnated food.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in 1% saline and prepared to 0.05% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
5.26 g of the impregnated substance solution (enzyme solution) was dropped and absorbed on each of the two base materials prepared above to prepare a substance holding base material.

<Measurement of enzyme solution discharge>
1. The two substance-holding substrates prepared above (for 1 g of the used substrate) were placed on a 5 mm mesh net and placed in a small vacuum container, and the pressure was reduced to 2 kPa.
2. Under reduced pressure for 5 minutes in a sealed state, the pressure was released to atmospheric pressure. The amount of decrease in the substrate weight was defined as the enzyme solution discharge amount. The results are shown in Table 5. For reference, the result of Example 4-3 having the same enzyme solution discharge amount is also shown.
The same amount of enzyme solution as that contained in 1 g of the base material was placed in an aluminum vat, and the change in weight when subjected to a reduced pressure treatment was used as a blank. The discharge amount under reduced pressure was a value obtained by subtracting the blank value from the measured value.

<Pressure reduction device>
A vacuum impregnation apparatus in which a vacuum pump (manufactured by ULVAC Kiko Co., Ltd., GLD-050) was connected to a vacuum disk (manufactured by ASONE, VZ type) was used as the decompression apparatus.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. The food material prepared above was placed on the substance-holding base material, and another substance-holding base material was placed on the top surface of the foodstuff, and the foodstuff was sandwiched between the two substance-holding base materials to prepare a sample.
2. The sample was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width.
3. An aluminum vat containing a sample was set in a vacuum impregnation apparatus connected to a vacuum pump, and decompression was performed.
4). After the pressure in the vacuum impregnation apparatus reached 2 kPa, the pressure reducing valve was closed and sealed for 5 minutes.
5. The pressure reducing valve was opened to return to atmospheric pressure, the impregnation process was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. for 30 minutes to carry out an enzyme reaction.
2. The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 20 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 80 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Comparative Example 5)
The foodstuff prepared in Example 5-1 was heat-treated at 80 ° C. for 20 minutes. The obtained food was used as a control.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 5.

(result)
Even if the performance of the base material is different, if the amount of enzyme solution discharged under reduced pressure is the same, the amount of substance impregnation into the food is the same, and the degree of softening of the food is also the same.

[Test Example 6]
(Example 6-1)
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangle of 10 cm in length and 7 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 0.5 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: Maximum absorption performance was 20.94 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 3.57 g / 1 g base material.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. Commercial chicken fillets were frozen at -20 ° C overnight or longer.
2. Thawed chicken fillet was sliced to a thickness of 1 cm.
3. The sliced chicken fillet was cut into a rectangular parallelepiped 4 cm long, 3 cm wide and 1 cm high. The weight of the cut chicken fillet was about 11 to 15 g.
4). The cut chicken fillet was tenderized with a scissor (manufactured by JACCARD) to prepare a material-impregnated food.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in 1% saline and prepared to 0.05% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
10 g of impregnated substance solution (enzyme solution) was dropped and absorbed on the base material prepared above to produce a substance holding base material.

<Pressure reduction device>
A household vacuum packaging machine (Wide System Co., Ltd., Vacuum Packed PLUS, with canister) was used as a decompression device.
-The vacuum pump capacity of this machine was a degassing pressure of 663 mmHg as a catalog value, and the maximum ultimate pressure reduction was about 14 kPa as a measured value.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. The food material prepared above was placed on a substance-holding base material, the base material was folded, and the upper and lower sides of the food material were wrapped with the base material to prepare a sample.
2. The sample was transferred to a canister container (700 mL capacity) attached to the home vacuum packaging machine.
3. The home vacuum packaging machine was connected to the canister container with the attached hose.
A pressure gauge was installed on the connection hose so that the pressure in the canister could be measured.
4). The canister pressure reducing switch was turned on to reduce the pressure. The pump was operated four times (about 5 seconds × 4 times) (batch type vacuum treatment).
5. After the pressure in the canister reached 15 kPa, the open / close switch of the canister lid was closed.
After holding for 6.5 minutes, the open / close switch was opened to return to normal pressure, the impregnation treatment was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. for 30 minutes to carry out an enzyme reaction.
2. The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 20 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 80 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Example 6-2)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 6-1 except that the pressure in the canister was changed to 20 kPa in the decompression treatment.

(Example 6-3)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 6-1 except that the pressure in the canister was changed to 30 kPa in the decompression treatment.

(Example 6-4)
A softened food was obtained in the same manner as in Example 6-1 except that the pressure in the canister was changed to 40 kPa in the decompression process.

(Example 6-5)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 6-1 except that the pressure in the canister was changed to 50 kPa in the decompression treatment.

(Comparative Example 6)
The foodstuff prepared in Example 6-1 was heat-treated at 80 ° C. for 20 minutes without enzyme treatment. The obtained food was used as a control.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 6.

(result)
In Examples 6-1 to 6-5, when the pressure in the canister was changed in the range of 15 kPa to 50 kPa and the pressure reduction treatment was performed, the food was softened as compared with the control of Comparative Example 6.
Also in sensory evaluation, the inside of the chicken fillet was smooth and easy to chew, and it was confirmed that the enzyme was impregnated in the center of the food.
In Example 6-5 (decompression treatment pressure: 50 kPa), the maximum stress is lower than in the other examples. This is considered to be due to the variation of the ingredients. Examples 6-1 to 6-6 In No. 5, it was the same ease of chewing in sensory evaluation.

[Test Example 7]
(Example 7-1)
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangle with a length of 12 cm and a width of 9.5 cm. The base material had a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 0.8 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: Maximum absorption performance was 20.94 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 3.57 g / 1 g base material.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. Commercial pork fillet was frozen at -20 ° C overnight or longer.
2. The thawed pork fillet was sliced to a thickness of 1 cm.
3. The sliced pork fillet was cut into a rectangular parallelepiped having a length of 4.5 cm, a width of 3.5 cm, and a height of 1 cm. The weight of the cut pork fillet was about 20-25 g.
4). The cut pork fillet was tenderized with a muscle cutter (manufactured by JACCARD) to prepare a material-impregnated food.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in 1% saline and prepared to 0.2% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
A substance holding substrate was prepared by the following procedure.
1. 20 g of the impregnated substance solution (enzyme solution) was dropped on the base material prepared above to absorb the maximum absorption amount (about 16 g).
2. The substrate was allowed to stand in a constant temperature dryer at 50 ° C. for 2 hours to dry the substrate, thereby obtaining a dry substance holding substrate.

<Pressure reduction device>
A commercial vacuum packaging machine (TOSEI V-380G) was used as a decompression device.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. 20 g of water was added to the dry substance-holding substrate to return to the wet state.
2. The food material prepared above was placed on a substance-holding base material, the base material was folded, and the upper and lower sides of the food material were wrapped with the base material to prepare a sample.
3. The sample was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width.
4). An aluminum vat containing a sample was set in a commercial vacuum packaging machine and subjected to decompression treatment.
5. After reaching a vacuum degree of 98%, it was held for 5 minutes.
6). The decompression was released and the pressure was returned to atmospheric pressure, the impregnation treatment was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. for 30 minutes to carry out an enzyme reaction.
2. The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 20 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 80 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Example 7-2)
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 7-1 except that the dried substance-holding substrate was used after being stored at room temperature for 6 months.

(Comparative Example 7)
The foodstuff prepared in Example 7-1 was heat-treated at 80 ° C. for 20 minutes. The obtained food was used as a control.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured using a tensipresser (manufactured by Taketomo Electric Co., Ltd.). The hardness was defined as the value of the maximum stress (N / m ² ) obtained when a cylindrical plunger having a diameter of 3 mm was penetrated by 70% at a speed of 10 mm / s. In addition, hardness was calculated | required by the average value which measured 10 places of 1 sample. The results are shown in Table 7.

(result)
Even when the dried substance-holding substrate was used in a wet state immediately before use, the substance could be impregnated with the substance, and a softened food could be obtained. Even when the dry substance-holding substrate was used after long-term storage, the food could be impregnated with the substance.
Each of Examples 7-1 and 7-2 was sufficiently soft as compared with the control of Comparative Example 7, and softened to a softness that could be easily chewed and crushed by gums.

[Test Example 8]
(Example 8)
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangle of 11.5 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 0.75 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: Maximum absorption performance was 20.94 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 3.57 g / 1 g base material.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. A raw 1 cm thick carrot (half moon cut) and a 1 cm thick radish (half moon cut) were prepared.
The carrot was heated for 30 minutes and the radish was heated for 40 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Maruzen Co., Ltd.) set at 2.98 ° C.
3. After allowing to cool to room temperature, it was frozen overnight at -20 ° C. to prepare a food material for material impregnation.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Plant tissue disintegrating enzyme (derived from mold, manufactured by Yakult Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in the 1.0% (w / v) citrate buffer solution, and it prepared to 0.5% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
A substance holding substrate was prepared by the following procedure.
1. The base material prepared above was immersed in an impregnating substance solution (enzyme solution) for 30 seconds.
The enzyme solution taken out onto a 2.5 mm mesh net and excessively soaked was allowed to fall naturally.
3. A substrate on which the maximum amount of enzyme solution was absorbed was used as a substance holding substrate. The amount of the enzyme solution absorbed was about 15.5 g with respect to the substrate weight of 0.75 g.

<Pressure reduction device>
A vacuum impregnation apparatus in which a vacuum pump (manufactured by ULVAC Kiko Co., Ltd., GLD-050) was connected to a vacuum disk (manufactured by ASONE, VZ type) was used as the decompression apparatus.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. Carrots and radish were thawed in running water.
2. Place 2 thawed carrots (24.3 g in total) and 2 radish (36.6 g in total) on the substance-holding base material, and then put another substance-holding base on the top of the food. The material holding substrate was sandwiched between. A sample was prepared by fastening four sides of the substance-holding substrate with staples into a bag shape.
3. The sample was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width.
4). An aluminum vat containing a sample was set in a vacuum impregnation apparatus connected to a vacuum pump, and decompression was performed.
5. After the pressure in the vacuum impregnation apparatus reached 2 kPa, the pressure reducing valve was closed and sealed for 5 minutes.
6). The pressure reducing valve was opened to return to atmospheric pressure, the impregnation process was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food material was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand for 16 hours in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. to carry out the enzyme reaction.
The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 10 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 2.95 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Comparative Example 8-1)
The frozen carrots and radish were thawed in running water, and then subjected to heat treatment for 10 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Maruzen Co., Ltd.) set at 95 ° C. without subjecting the material to impregnation. The obtained food was used as a control.

(Comparative Example 8-2)
Without using the substance-holding substrate, the substrate was immersed for 5 minutes under normal pressure in a sufficient amount of the enzyme solution in which the food was completely immersed. The container used for the immersion of the food was an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width, and required 75 g of an enzyme solution to be sufficiently immersed.
A softened food material was obtained in the same manner as in Example 8 except that the food material after the immersion treatment was not subjected to a reduced pressure treatment.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured in the same manner as in Test Example 7. The results are shown in Table 8.

(result)
The carrots and radish of Example 8 are both softer than the control of Comparative Example 8-1, have a hardness of 5.0 × 10 ⁴ N / m ² or less, and conform to the category of UDF “Can be crushed by gum”. It was soft enough to be used as food for the elderly.
On the other hand, just immersing in an enzyme solution as in Comparative Example 8-2 did not allow the enzyme to penetrate to the center of the food, and did not change from the same softness that was easy to eat as in the control, and almost no effect of using the enzyme was obtained.
Not only meat animal foods but also vegetables could be impregnated to the center using enzyme-holding substrate.
By using the substance-holding substrate, the enzyme could be efficiently impregnated in the food with an enzyme solution amount of 31 g, which is about half the weight of the food (total of about 61 g of carrot and radish).

[Test Example 9]
(Example 9-1)
<Base material preparation>
-Type of base material: Two-layer structure of surface material (polyolefin film) and absorbent material (pulp nonwoven fabric).
-Base material size: Cut into a rectangle of 16 cm in length and 8 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 0.9 mm and a weight of 1.0 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: maximum absorption performance was 14 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 1.29 g / 1 g base material.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. Commercial pork fillet was frozen at -20 ° C overnight or longer.
2. The thawed pork fillet was sliced to a thickness of 1 cm.
3. The sliced pork fillet was cut into a rectangular parallelepiped having a length of 4.5 cm, a width of 3.5 cm, and a height of 1 cm. The weight of the cut pork fillet was about 20-25 g.
4). The cut pork fillet was tenderized with a muscle cutter (manufactured by JACCARD) to prepare a material-impregnated food.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in 1% salt solution and prepared to 0.1% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
14 g of impregnated substance solution (enzyme solution) was dropped and absorbed on the base material prepared above to obtain a substance holding base material.

<Pressure reduction device>
A household vacuum packaging machine (Wide System Co., Ltd., Vacuum Packed PLUS, with canister) was used as a decompression device.
-The vacuum pump capacity of this machine was a degassing pressure of 663 mmHg as a catalog value, and the maximum ultimate pressure reduction was about 14 kPa as a measured value.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. The food material prepared above was placed on the surface material of the substance-holding base material, the base material was folded, and the upper and lower sides of the food material were wrapped with the base material to prepare a sample.
2. The sample was transferred to a canister container (700 mL capacity) attached to the home vacuum packaging machine.
3. The home vacuum packaging machine was connected to the canister container with the attached hose.
A pressure gauge was installed on the connection hose so that the pressure in the canister could be measured.
4). The canister pressure reducing switch was turned on to reduce the pressure. The pump was operated four times (about 5 seconds × 4 times) (batch type vacuum treatment).
5. After the pressure in the canister reached 15 kPa, the open / close switch of the canister lid was closed.
After holding for 6.5 minutes, the open / close switch was opened to return to normal pressure, the impregnation treatment was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food material was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand for 16 hours in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. to carry out the enzyme reaction.
2. The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 20 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 80 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Example 9-2)
<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. After the sample prepared in Example 9-1 was placed in a vacuum packaging bag, the canister was not used, the vacuum packaging bag was set in the sealer part, and the inside of the bag was directly decompressed and vacuum packed.
2. About 10 seconds after the start of the decompression treatment, the foodstuff and the substrate were pressed by applying atmospheric pressure through the vacuum packaging bag (pack-type impregnation treatment).
3. The food material was taken out from the vacuum packaging bag to obtain a material-impregnated food material.

  Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation were performed in the same manner as in Example 9-1 to obtain a softened food material.

(Comparative Example 9)
The foodstuff prepared in Example 9-1 was heat-treated at 80 ° C. for 20 minutes. The obtained food was used as a control.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured in the same manner as in Test Example 7. In addition, hardness was calculated | required by the average value which measured 5 places of 1 sample. The results are shown in Table 9.

(result)
The reduced pressure treatment method can be impregnated with the substance in the batch type (Example 9-1) or the pack type (Example 9-2) using a vacuum packaging bag, when compared with the control, The inside of the food was sufficiently soft and soft enough to bite easily.
In Example 9-2, the material discharge driving force of the base material and the impregnation driving force to the food material are generated simultaneously by the start of the decompression process, but atmospheric pressure starts to be applied through the vacuum packaging bag as it is deaerated. Although a further substance discharge driving force is exerted on the base material due to pressing by the atmospheric pressure, it is considered that the atmospheric pressure is finally applied to the food material, and the impregnation driving force due to air expansion inside the food material is reduced. Therefore, it is thought that Example 9-2 was inferior in the softening degree of foodstuffs compared with Example 9-1 without a press process.

[Test Example 10]
(Example 10-1)
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangular shape with a length of 14 cm and a width of 10 cm. The base material had a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 1.0 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: Maximum absorption performance was 20.94 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 3.57 g / 1 g base material.

<Sample preparation>
1. A raw 1 cm thick radish (half-month cut) was prepared.
The radish was heated for 40 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 2.98 ° C.
3. After cooling to room temperature, it was frozen at -20 ° C. Then, it immersed in ice water for 1 minute, the foodstuff surface was glaze-treated, and it frozen and stored overnight at -20 degreeC, and prepared the foodstuff for substance impregnation.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Plant tissue disintegrating enzyme (derived from mold, manufactured by Yakult Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in the 1.0% (w / v) citrate buffer solution, and it prepared to 0.5% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
A substance holding substrate was prepared by the following procedure.
1. 20 g of impregnating substance solution (enzyme solution) was dropped onto the base material prepared above and absorbed.
2. The substrate was left to stand in a constant temperature dryer at 30 ° C. for 10 hours to dry the substrate, thereby obtaining a dry substance holding substrate.

<Pressure reduction device>
A vacuum impregnation apparatus in which a vacuum pump (manufactured by ULVAC Kiko Co., Ltd., GLD-050) was connected to a vacuum disk (manufactured by ASONE, VZ type) was used as the decompression apparatus.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. Three radishes treated with glaze were placed on a substance-holding substrate, the substrate was folded, and the top and bottom of the food were wrapped with the substrate to prepare a sample.
2. The sample was heated in a steam convection oven set at 60 ° C. for 15 minutes to thaw the food.
3. The glaze on the surface of the radish melted by thawing, and the substrate became wet. In addition, the amount of glazes of the three radish used was 10 g, and the drip amount was 6 g.
4). The sample after thawing was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width.
5. An aluminum vat containing a sample was set in a vacuum impregnation apparatus connected to a vacuum pump, and decompression was performed.
6). After the pressure in the vacuum impregnation apparatus reached 2 kPa, the pressure reducing valve was closed and sealed for 5 minutes.
7. The pressure reducing valve was opened to return to atmospheric pressure, the impregnation process was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food material was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand for 16 hours in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. to carry out the enzyme reaction.
The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 10 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 2.95 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured in the same manner as in Test Example 7. In addition, hardness was calculated | required by the average value which measured the total 10 places of three samples. The results are shown in Table 10.

(Example 10-2)
A sample was prepared in the same manner as in Example 10-1, except that the glaze treatment was not performed, and it was thawed by heating for 300 W for 4 minutes in a microwave oven (center temperature: 55 ° C.). Due to the drip generated from the radish by thawing, the substance holding substrate became wet. The drip amount was 11 g. The sample after thawing was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width and subjected to reduced pressure treatment, enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation in the same manner as in Example 10-1, to obtain a softened food.

(Comparative Example 10)
The frozen radish was thawed in running water, and then heated in a steam convection oven set at 95 ° C. (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) for 10 minutes. The obtained food was used as a control.

(result)
Both Examples 10-1 and 10-2 were sufficiently soft up to the center of the food, and could be impregnated with a sufficient amount of substance in the food regardless of the presence or absence of the glaze treatment, and the radish could be softened. . Example 10-1 was soft enough to be crushed by a gum, and Example 10-2 was soft enough to be easily chewed and soft enough to be used as a nursing food. In each of Examples 10-1 and 10-2, the substance holding substrate in the dry state does not absorb water in advance, but is made wet by absorption of water from the food, thereby driving substance discharge during the decompression process. Force was generated and the impregnation material could be supplied.

[Test Example 11]
(Example 11-1)
<Base material preparation>
-Base material type: Made of nylon-Base material size: Cut into a rectangle of 16 cm in length and 7 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 6.5 mm and a weight of 5.0 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of substrate: Maximum absorption performance was 8.2 g / 1 g substrate, and maximum discharge performance was 1.0 g / 1 g substrate.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. Commercial pork fillet was frozen at -20 ° C overnight or longer.
2. The thawed pork fillet was sliced to a thickness of 1 cm.
3. The sliced pork fillet was cut into a rectangular parallelepiped having a length of 5 cm, a width of 4 cm, and a height of 1 cm. The weight of the cut pork fillet was about 11-15 g.
4). The cut pork fillet was tenderized with a muscle cutter (manufactured by JACCARD) to prepare a material-impregnated food.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in 1% saline and prepared to 0.05% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
A substance holding substrate was prepared by the following procedure.
1. The base material prepared above was immersed in an impregnating substance solution (enzyme solution) for 30 seconds.
The enzyme solution taken out onto a 2.5 mm mesh net and excessively soaked was allowed to fall naturally.
3. A substrate on which the enzyme solution was absorbed was used as a substance holding substrate. The amount of the enzyme solution absorbed with respect to the substrate weight of 5.0 g was 40.5 g.

<Measurement of enzyme solution discharge>
1. Two substance-holding base materials having the same enzyme solution retention amount (for 1 g of the base material used) were placed on a 5 mm mesh net and placed in a small vacuum vessel, and the pressure was reduced to 2 kPa.
2. Under reduced pressure for 5 minutes in a sealed state, the pressure was released to atmospheric pressure. The amount of decrease in the substrate weight was defined as the enzyme solution discharge amount. The results are shown in Table 11.
The same amount of enzyme solution as that contained in 1 g of the base material was placed in an aluminum vat, and the change in weight when subjected to a reduced pressure treatment was used as a blank. The discharge amount under reduced pressure was a value obtained by subtracting the blank value from the measured value.

<Pressure reduction device>
A vacuum impregnation apparatus in which a vacuum pump (manufactured by ULVAC Kiko Co., Ltd., GLD-050) was connected to a vacuum disk (manufactured by ASONE, VZ type) was used as the decompression apparatus.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. The food material prepared above was placed on a substance-holding substrate, the substrate was folded in two and covered on the top surface of the food material, and the food material was wrapped with one substance-holding substrate to prepare a sample.
2. The sample was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width.
3. An aluminum vat containing a sample was set in a vacuum impregnation apparatus connected to a vacuum pump, and decompression was performed.
4). After the pressure in the vacuum impregnation apparatus reached 2 kPa, the pressure reducing valve was closed and sealed for 5 minutes.
5. The pressure reducing valve was opened to return to atmospheric pressure, the impregnation process was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. for 30 minutes to carry out an enzyme reaction.
2. The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 20 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 80 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Example 11-2)
Except having used the base material made from cotton, it implemented similarly to Example 11-1. In addition, the thickness of the base material used after cutting into a rectangle of 16 cm in length and 7 cm in width is 3.9 mm, the weight is 0.79 g, its maximum absorption performance is 24.7 g / 1 g base material, and the maximum discharge performance. Was 0.2 g / 1 g substrate.

(Example 11-3)
It implemented similarly to Example 11-1 except having used the base material made from a rayon polypropylene. In addition, the thickness of the base material used by cutting into a rectangle of 16 cm in length and 7 cm in width is 1.2 mm, the weight is 1.26 g, the maximum absorption performance is 12.8 g / 1 g base material, and the maximum discharge performance. Was 1.4 g / 1 g substrate.

(Example 11-4)
Except having used the base material made from rayon pulp, it implemented similarly to Example 11-1. In addition, the thickness of the base material used by cutting into a rectangle of 16 cm in length and 7 cm in width is 1.2 mm, the weight is 0.93 g, its maximum absorption performance is 20.7 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance Was 2.3 g / 1 g substrate.

(Example 11-5)
The same procedure as in Example 11-1 was performed except that a base made of rayon, polypropylene, and polyethylene was used. In addition, the thickness of the base material used by cutting into a rectangle of 16 cm in length and 7 cm in width is 0.2 mm, the weight is 1.41 g, the maximum absorption performance is 10.9 g / 1 g base material, and the maximum discharge performance Was 0.1 g / 1 g substrate.

(Example 11-6)
Except having used the base material made from a cellulose, it implemented similarly to Example 11-1. In addition, the thickness of the base material used by cutting into a rectangle of 16 cm in length and 7 cm in width is 2.2 mm, the weight is 0.98 g, its maximum absorption performance is 11.9 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance Was 7.5 g / 1 g substrate.

(Example 11-7)
Example 11-1 except that a food material was placed on the surface of the absorbent material of the base material using a base material having a two-layer structure of an absorbent material (pulp) and an outer surface material (polyethylene film). Implemented. In addition, the thickness of the base material used by cutting into a rectangle of 16 cm in length and 7 cm in width is 1.3 mm, the weight is 0.81 g, the maximum absorption performance is 7.0 g / 1 g base material, and the maximum discharge performance. Was 0.1 g / 1 g substrate.

(Example 11-8)
Except having used the base material made from a pulp, it implemented similarly to Example 11-1. In addition, the thickness of the base material used by cutting into a rectangle of 16 cm in length and 7 cm in width is 1.4 mm, the weight is 0.82 g, its maximum absorption performance is 20.9 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance Was 3.09 g / 1 g substrate.

(Comparative Example 11-1)
After the food material prepared in Example 11-1 was immersed in the above impregnated substance solution (enzyme solution) for 5 minutes, the enzyme reaction was carried out at 4 ° C. for 30 minutes, and heat treatment was carried out at 80 ° C. for 20 minutes. . The obtained food was used as a control.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 11.

(result)
In Examples 11-1 to 11-8, various types of base materials were used, but a softening effect was obtained as compared with the control of Comparative Example 11-1 immersed in an enzyme solution.

[Test Example 12]
Example 12
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangle of 10 cm in length and 7 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 0.5 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: Maximum absorption performance was 20.94 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 3.57 g / 1 g base material.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. Commercial pork fillet was frozen at -20 ° C overnight or longer.
2. The thawed pork fillet was sliced to a thickness of 1 cm.
3. The sliced pork fillet was cut into a rectangular parallelepiped having a length of 5 cm, a width of 4 cm, and a height of 1 cm. The weight of the cut pork fillet was about 11-15 g.
4). The cut pork fillet was tenderized with a muscle cutter (manufactured by JACCARD) to prepare a material-impregnated food.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-It melt | dissolved in the commercially available salt-boiled dashi (made by Hanamaruki Co., Ltd.) diluted 5 times, and prepared to 0.05% (w / v).

<Production of substance holding substrate>
A substance holding substrate was prepared by the following procedure.
1. The base material prepared above was immersed in an impregnated substance solution (salt salmon enzyme solution) for 30 seconds.
The enzyme solution taken out onto a 2.5 mm mesh net and excessively soaked was allowed to fall naturally.
3. A substrate on which the maximum amount of enzyme solution was absorbed was used as a substance holding substrate. The amount of the enzyme solution absorbed was about 10 g with respect to the substrate weight of 0.5 g.

<Pressure reduction device>
A vacuum impregnation apparatus in which a vacuum pump (manufactured by ULVAC Kiko Co., Ltd., GLD-050) was connected to a vacuum disk (manufactured by ASONE, VZ type) was used as the decompression apparatus.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. The food material prepared above was placed on a substance-holding base material, folded in half, and the substance-holding base material was placed on the top surface of the food material, and the food material was wrapped with one substance-holding base material to prepare a sample.
2. The sample was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width.
3. An aluminum vat containing a sample was set in a vacuum impregnation apparatus connected to a vacuum pump, and decompression was performed.
4). After the pressure in the vacuum impregnation apparatus reached 2 kPa, the pressure reducing valve was closed and sealed for 5 minutes.
5. The pressure reducing valve was opened to return to atmospheric pressure, the impregnation process was terminated, and a substance-impregnated food was obtained.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. for 30 minutes to carry out an enzyme reaction.
2. The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 20 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 80 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Comparative Example 12)
The same procedure as in Example 12 was performed, except that a substrate was prepared using a 5-fold diluted salted dashi without enzyme addition. The obtained food was used as a seasoned pork fillet control without enzyme treatment.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 12.

(result)
In Example 12, by using the base material in which the salt-holding dashi is held together with the enzyme in the substance-holding base material, the pork fillet is sufficiently softened, and the flavor of the salt-boiled dashi is felt and the taste is improved. did. It was confirmed that seasoning can be performed simultaneously with the enzyme of the impregnated material.

[Test Example 13]
(Example 13-1)
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangle of 9 cm in length and 12 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 0.77 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: Maximum absorption performance was 20.94 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 3.57 g / 1 g base material.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. Commercially available snapper was frozen at -20 ° C overnight or longer.
2. The thawed snapper was cut to a thickness of 1.5 cm. The weight of the cut red snapper was about 30 to 35 g. The material was used as it was for impregnation.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used as the impregnating substance.
-Prepared at 0.05% (w / v) in a Japanese-style dashi diluted 7 times with water (Tatsuyu Koji, manufactured by Mitsukan Co., Ltd.). Furthermore, 1.0% (w / v) of modified starch (manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) and 0.1% (w / v) of xanthan gum (manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Foods Co., Ltd.) are added to impregnate the substance. It was set as the solution.

<Production of substance holding substrate>
14.6 g of the impregnated substance solution (Japanese-style seasoning enzyme solution) was dropped into the base material prepared above and absorbed to prepare a substance holding base material.

<Pressure reduction device>
The decompression device used was a small vacuum packaging machine “FVCII-LAB” manufactured by Furukawa Seisakusho. This vacuum packaging machine is equipped with a valve in the middle of the connection between the vacuum pump and the vacuum box, and the pressure reduction speed in the warehouse can be adjusted arbitrarily, and the pressure release valve is provided to adjust the pressure increase speed from reduced pressure to atmospheric pressure as well. it can.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. The foodstuff prepared above was placed in boiling water for 5 minutes, heated and taken out. The central temperature of the red snapper was 85 ° C.
2. Immediately, the heated authenticity was placed on the substance holding substrate, the substance holding substrate was folded in two, and the upper and lower sides of the authenticity were sandwiched between the substrates. The sample was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width, and immediately subjected to reduced pressure treatment.
3. The pressure was reduced to 2 kPa at a reduced pressure rate of −9.5 kPa / s (absolute value: 9.5 kPa / s). Water vapor was generated from the food material due to the vaporization and expansion of water in the food material.
4. The inside of the vacuum chamber was sealed and held under reduced pressure for 10 seconds. During the holding, the generation of water vapor from the food was stopped.
It opened slowly to 5.5 kPa. The slow release rate was 0.039 kPa / second, and after reaching 5 kPa, the product was rapidly opened and returned to normal pressure to obtain an enzyme-impregnated food. It was 102 seconds from the start to the end of pressure reduction.

<Enzyme reaction and enzyme deactivation>
Enzymatic reaction and enzyme deactivation treatment were performed in the following procedure.
1. The substance-impregnated food was taken out from the base material and allowed to stand in a refrigerator at 4 ° C. for 60 minutes to carry out an enzyme reaction.
2. The food after the enzyme reaction was heated for 20 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 80 ° C. to inactivate the enzyme completely.
3. It naturally cooled to room temperature (20 degreeC), and the softening foodstuff was obtained.

(Example 13-2)
Implemented except that proteolytic enzyme (plant-derived protease, manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was dissolved in 1% saline to prepare 0.05% (w / v) as the impregnating substance solution. Treated as in Example 13-1.

(Comparative Example 13-1)
The red snapper prepared in the same manner as in Example 13 was heated in boiling water for 5 minutes. After cooling to room temperature, the enzyme impregnation process by a pressure reduction process was not performed, but it left still for 60 minutes in a 4 degreeC refrigerator. In the same manner as in Example 13, heat treatment was performed at 80 ° C. for 20 minutes. The obtained food was used as a control.

(Comparative Example 13-2)
The red snapper prepared in the same manner as in Example 13 was heated in boiling water for 5 minutes. It was immersed in 100 g of the impregnating substance solution for 102 seconds. After removing from the solution, it was allowed to stand at 4 ° C. for 60 minutes to carry out the enzyme reaction in the same manner as in Example 13, followed by heat treatment at 80 ° C. for 20 minutes.

<Measurement of physical properties>
The hardness of the softened food material obtained above was measured in the same manner as in Test Example 7. The results are shown in Table 13.
(result)
Example 13-1 and Example 13-2 were softened so as to be crushed by the gums. In Comparative Example 13-1, the muscle fiber of the fish was felt and hard, and Comparative Example 13-2 had the same hardness as Comparative Example 13-1. The impregnated substance solution of Comparative Example 13-1 was viscous due to the addition of xanthan gum, and it was considered that the substance hardly penetrated into the food simply by immersing the food for 110 seconds. On the other hand, in Example 13-1, since the heated cinnamon was decompressed and rapidly decompressed, a strong impregnation driving force was generated by the phase transition of moisture in the food, and at the same time, the substance holding substrate Impregnating substance discharging power was generated, and the substance penetrated to the center of the food regardless of the viscosity of xanthan gum addition. It was also thought that the modified starch was impregnated and gelatinized in the food material by enzyme deactivation heating. Actually, Example 13-2 was also soft enough, but Example 13-1 felt more juicy, soaked in Japanese-style soup and felt more delicious.

[Test Example 14]
(Example 14)
<Base material preparation>
-Type of substrate: made of pulp-Size of substrate: Cut into a rectangle of 24 cm in length and 9 cm in width and used. The base material had a thickness of 1.4 mm and a weight of 1.46 g.
-Absorption / discharge performance of base material: Maximum absorption performance was 20.94 g / 1 g base material, and maximum discharge performance was 3.57 g / 1 g base material.

<Sample preparation>
Food ingredients were prepared by the following procedure.
1. A raw 1cm thick radish (half-month cut) was prepared.
It was heated for 40 minutes in a steam convection oven (manufactured by Marusen Co., Ltd.) set at 2.98 ° C.
3. After allowing to cool to room temperature, it was frozen overnight at -20 ° C. to prepare a food material for material impregnation.

<Preparation of impregnating substance solution>
-Japanese-style soup stock (Kyoto soup, manufactured by Mitsukan Co., Ltd.) was diluted 3 times with water to make a seasoning liquid.

<Production of substance holding substrate>
25 g of impregnated substance solution (Japanese-style seasoning liquid) was dropped into the base material prepared above and absorbed to prepare a substance holding base material.

<Pressure reduction device>
The decompression device used was a small vacuum packaging machine “FVCII-LAB” manufactured by Furukawa Seisakusho.

<Decompression treatment>
A reduced pressure treatment was performed according to the following procedure, and the food material was impregnated with the substance.
1. The radish was thawed in running water.
2. Three thawing radish (42 g in total) was heated in boiling water for 5 minutes to obtain a heated radish. The center temperature was 90 ° C. It was placed on the substance holding substrate and folded in half, and the top and bottom of the radish were sandwiched between the substance holding substrates.
3. The sample was transferred to an aluminum bat having a bottom size of 12 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width, and immediately subjected to reduced pressure treatment.
3. The pressure was reduced to 2 kPa at a reduced pressure rate of −7.8 kPa / s (absolute value: 7.8 kPa / s). Water vapor was generated from the food material due to the vaporization and expansion of water in the food material.
4. The inside of the vacuum chamber was sealed and held under reduced pressure for 10 seconds. During the holding, the generation of water vapor from the food was stopped.
It opened slowly to 5.5 kPa. The slow opening speed was 0.039 kPa / s, and after reaching 5 kPa, it was quickly opened and returned to normal pressure to obtain seasoned radish. It was 103 seconds from the start to the end of pressure reduction.

(Comparative Example 14-1)
After the radish prepared in Example 14 was thawed in running water, a radish heated in boiling water for 5 minutes was produced. The obtained food was used as a control for radish.

(Comparative Example 14-2)
After the radish prepared in Example 14 was thawed in running water, a radish heated in boiling water for 5 minutes was produced. Immediately, three daikons were placed on the material holding substrate produced in the same manner as in Example 14, and were folded in two and sandwiched. Unlike Example 14, the seasoning radish was produced by sandwiching the substrate for 103 seconds without performing the decompression treatment.

(Comparative Example 14-3)
After the radish prepared in Example 14 was thawed in running water, the radish heated in boiling water for 5 minutes was immersed in 100 g of a seasoning liquid in an amount sufficient to immerse the radish for 103 seconds to prepare seasoned radish.

  The appearance of the seasoning radish prepared above (including control without seasoning) and photographs of the surface of the food and the cross section of the food showing the penetration of the seasoning into the interior are shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, respectively. The sensory test results are shown in Table 14.

(result)
In Example 14, the seasoning liquid penetrated to the center of the radish, and a delicious seasoning radish that was seasoned to the inside in a short time could be produced. On the other hand, in Comparative Example 14-2 in which the food was sandwiched between the base materials, there was no decompression treatment, and neither impregnation driving force nor discharge driving force was generated. In Comparative Example 14-3, since it was immersed in a sufficient amount of seasoning liquid, the seasoning liquid permeated a part of the surface of the radish. However, in the sensory test, the part where the taste was soaked was uneven, the seasoning was light, and sufficient taste was not felt.

11, 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71 Food 12, 22, 32, 42, 52, 62, 72 Substance-holding substrate 30, 60, 70, 76 Packaging container 43, 53 Absorbent 44, 54 Outer material 55 Surface material

Claims (11)

By simultaneously depressurizing the substance-holding base material and the foodstuff, the substance-holding base material generates a substance discharge driving force due to a change in internal structure, and the foodstuff generates a substance impregnation driving force due to a gas volume change inside the foodstuff. A substance holding substrate used in a method of supplying a substance from the substance holding substrate into the food,
The substance holding substrate contains a gas or a liquid that generates a gas and has a porous structure, and the substance holding substrate has a maximum absorption performance of 5 g or more and 0.01 g per 1 g of the weight of the substrate. A substance-holding substrate having the above-mentioned maximum discharge performance.   The substance holding substrate according to claim 1, wherein the substance holding substrate has a maximum absorption performance of 7 g or more and a maximum discharge performance of 0.1 g or more per 1 g of the weight of the substrate.   The substance holding substrate according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the substance holding substrate has a thickness of 0.05 to 30 mm.   The material holding substrate is made of a natural fiber material, a synthetic fiber material, a natural resin material, a synthetic resin material, a biodegradable plastic, or a composite material obtained by combining a plurality of these materials. The substance holding substrate according to one item.   The substance holding substrate according to claim 4, wherein the substance holding substrate is a nonwoven fabric obtained by bonding or entanglement of the material or the composite material.   The substance-holding substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the substance-holding substrate further contains a thickener, sugar, protein, fat or emulsifier as a binder.   The substance holding substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the substance holding substrate is in a dry state or a wet state.   The substance holding substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the substance holding substrate has a laminated structure made of a plurality of materials.   The substance held on the substrate is at least one selected from the group consisting of proteins, fats and oils, enzymes, polysaccharides, thickeners, emulsifiers, starches, and microorganisms. The substance holding substrate according to Item.   Substances held on the substrate bind enzymes that break down proteins into amino acids and peptides, enzymes that break down polysaccharides into oligosaccharides, enzymes that break down fat, enzymes that digest and decompose foods, and proteins. The substance holding substrate according to claim 9, which is at least one enzyme selected from the group consisting of enzymes to be attached.   The substance retained on the base material is a nutrient component, functional component, antibacterial component, aroma component, seasoning component, antioxidant, coloring agent, acidulant, vitamins, minerals, amino acid, and medical contrast agent The substance holding substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 10, which is at least one food material selected from the group consisting of: