JP2021103956A - Method of producing softened food product - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a method of producing a softened food product capable of producing the softened food product which is made from meat which is a raw material and can be formed into any desired shape while having sufficient tenderness, and in which deterioration of a taste is restricted.SOLUTION: A method of producing a softened food product made from meat of this invention comprises: a preprocessing step of heating the meat to a predetermined temperature; a freeze-drying step of freeze-drying the heated meat; a pulverizing step of pulverizing the freeze-dried meat; an impregnation step of impregnating at least part of particle bodies consisting of the pulverized meat with a treatment solution including enzymes that decompose a specified substrate in the meat; and a heating step of heating the particle bodies impregnated with the treatment solution to an enzyme-activating temperature.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

The present invention relates to a method for producing a softened food product made of meat.

With the aging of the population in recent years, the number of people with dysphagia and those with reduced chewing ability is increasing, so the development of softened foods (so-called soft foods) that can be easily crushed with the gums and tongue is required. ing. Conventional softened foods have been manufactured by using techniques such as finely chopping foodstuffs and grinding them with a mixer or the like. However, in the softened foods produced by these methods, the ingredients do not remain in their original form, and the appearance and taste are worse than the original ingredients, so that the appetite of those who eat the softened foods is reduced. I was inviting.

Therefore, in recent years, in the food industry, attention has been focused on a method of softening a food material by decomposing a substrate such as a protein by an enzyme as one of the methods of softening the food material while maintaining the shape of the food material as much as possible.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for producing a processed food using fish and shellfish as a raw material, and according to the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, a predetermined degrading enzyme is used to decompose an enzyme substrate in fish and shellfish. By performing the step of decomposing by the action of the above, it is possible to produce a processed food having a soft texture while maintaining its shape.

Japanese Patent No. 4986188

By the way, when the substrate is decomposed too much by enzymatic treatment, meat has a taste and texture different from that of untreated meat, and those who eat softened foods have a difference from the taste of untreated meat. You will feel a sense of discomfort. In addition, when softened food is produced by heating meat that has been simply impregnated with the enzyme to the active temperature of the enzyme, the appearance and shape of the meat after the enzyme treatment deteriorates, and no one eats the softened food. The difference in appearance and shape from the processed meat will also make you feel uncomfortable. Then, there is a problem that the appetite of the person who eats the softened food is reduced due to such a feeling of strangeness.

Therefore, the softened foods produced by decomposing the substrate by enzymatic treatment and softening the meat have a shape in which deterioration of the taste is suppressed and those who eat the softened foods do not feel uncomfortable, and are moderately hard. Although it is desired that the food is softened, the method for producing such softened foods has not yet been established.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a softened food made from meat as a raw material, which has an arbitrary shape while having sufficient softness and in which deterioration of taste is suppressed. The purpose is to provide a method that can be manufactured.

The characteristic composition of the softened food manufacturing method according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a method for manufacturing softened food made of meat.
A pretreatment step of heating the meat to a predetermined temperature and
A freeze-drying step of freeze-drying the heated meat and
A crushing step of crushing the freeze-dried meat and
A permeation step in which a treatment liquid containing an enzyme that decomposes a predetermined substrate in the meat is permeated into at least a part of the granules made of the crushed meat.
The point is to carry out a heating step of heating the powder or granular material impregnated with the treatment liquid to the active temperature of the enzyme.

According to the above characteristic configuration, by heating the meat to a predetermined temperature in the pretreatment step, the predetermined substrate in the meat is appropriately decomposed. At this time, if the substrate is a protein, the protein is appropriately denatured in the pretreatment step, and the protein complex is appropriately decomposed into a plurality of subunits. Then, by freeze-drying the meat whose substrate is appropriately decomposed (if the substrate is protein, the meat is appropriately denatured and decomposed), the meat is dried while maintaining the state in which the substrate is appropriately decomposed. Then, the meat dried by freeze-drying is crushed, and then a treatment liquid containing an enzyme is impregnated into at least any part of the powder or granular material composed of the crushed meat, and the powder or granular material in which the treatment liquid is impregnated is obtained. Heat to the active temperature of the enzyme. As a result, the substrate in the meat is decomposed by the decomposition action by the enzyme to soften the meat, and the meat in the portion of the crushed meat that has been infiltrated with the treatment liquid is bound to each other. That is, in the permeation step, when the treatment liquid is permeated into the granules made of crushed meat, the softened food obtained after the heating step is sufficiently soft by adjusting the size and shape of the portion to be permeated with the treatment liquid. It has an arbitrary shape while being provided with the above.

Further, in the method for producing a softened food according to the present invention, as described above, by carrying out a freeze-drying step after the pretreatment step, the substrate in meat is decomposed (if the substrate is a protein, a protein complex). Is appropriately decomposed into a plurality of subunits, and the protein is appropriately denatured) is maintained. Here, if the substrate is in a state of being appropriately decomposed, the decomposition of the substrate by the enzyme is likely to proceed. When the substrate is a protein, if the protein complex is decomposed into subunits, the decomposition of the protein by the enzyme is likely to proceed, and if the protein is appropriately denatured, the enzyme is added to the denatured protein. Since it does not act, the undenatured protein will be degraded by the enzyme. Therefore, by crushing meat in which the substrate is maintained in an appropriately decomposed state and allowing an enzyme to act on the crushed meat, the substrate is appropriately decomposed. Therefore, the softened food obtained after the heating step is a softened food. It has sufficient softness while suppressing deterioration of taste. In particular, when the substrate is a protein, the meat in which the protein complex is decomposed into subunits and the protein is maintained in an appropriately denatured state is crushed, and an enzyme is acted on the crushed meat. Will let you. Therefore, the amount of protein complex remaining in the meat is reduced, and the protein in the meat is appropriately decomposed. Therefore, the obtained softened food has a sufficient softness with less deterioration in taste as compared with a meat simply treated with an enzyme.

As described above, according to the method for producing a softened food according to the present invention, the softened food made of meat as a raw material has an arbitrary shape while having sufficient softness, and the deterioration of taste is suppressed. Can produce food.

Further, a further characteristic configuration of the softened food production method according to the present invention is that in the permeation step, the treatment liquid is atomized and sprayed at an arbitrary position in the powder or granular material, and the treatment liquid is sprayed at an arbitrary position in the powder or granular material. The point is to allow the treatment liquid to permeate.

According to the softened food manufacturing method having the above-mentioned characteristic composition, the treatment liquid is atomized and sprayed at an arbitrary position of the powder or granular material made of crushed meat by a so-called inkjet method, and the treatment liquid is permeated into an arbitrary position. Can be made to. Then, in this softened food manufacturing method, by performing a heating step on the meat in which the treatment liquid has permeated at an arbitrary position, a sufficiently soft softened food in which the portion in which the treatment liquid has permeated is bound is produced. Obtainable. As described above, in the softened food manufacturing method having the above-mentioned characteristic composition, when the treatment liquid is permeated into an arbitrary position of the crushed meat, the so-called inkjet method is used, so that the treatment liquid is simply dropped. Compared with the case, the position where the treatment liquid permeates can be finely adjusted. Therefore, it is possible to easily produce softened foods having a wide variety of shapes.

Further, a further characteristic configuration of the softened food production method according to the present invention is that in the crushing step, the freeze-dried meat is crushed so that the average particle size is 1 μm or more and 1 mm or less.

If the average particle size of the crushed meat is too small or too large, the treatment liquid may permeate too much between the crushed meat, or conversely, it may not permeate. Therefore, in the crushing step, it is preferable to crush the freeze-dried meat so that the average particle size is 1 μm or more and 1 mm or less. The inventor of the present application has a desired shape while having sufficient softness by performing a permeation step and a heating step on meat crushed so that the average particle size is 1 μm or more and 1 mm or less. , It has been experimentally confirmed that softened foods with suppressed deterioration of taste can be produced.

Further, a further characteristic configuration of the softened food production method according to the present invention is that the meat is heated to 70 ° C. or higher in the pretreatment step.

Insufficient heating of meat in the pretreatment step may result in the substrate not being properly decomposed. In such a case, in order to obtain a softened food having sufficient softness, it is necessary to take measures such as increasing the concentration of the enzyme or lengthening the time of the heating step. In particular, when the concentration of the enzyme must be increased, the taste of the enzyme itself appears strongly in the taste of the softened food, and the taste tends to deteriorate. Further, when the substrate is a protein, the protein may not be denatured or may not be in an appropriately denatured state, or the decomposition of the protein complex in meat may be insufficient. In such a case, the protein is decomposed more than necessary due to the decomposition action by the enzyme, or the residual amount of the protein complex is increased, so that the taste is deteriorated and the protein has sufficient softness. There is a risk that it will not become a thing.

However, according to the above-mentioned characteristic composition, by heating the meat to 70 ° C. or higher in the pretreatment step, the substrate is in a state of being appropriately decomposed, so that the concentration of the enzyme is increased or the time of the heating step is increased. There is no need to take measures such as lengthening. In addition, when the substrate is a protein, the amount of protein (non-denatured protein) that is decomposed by the enzyme can be adjusted to an appropriate amount, so that the protein in meat should be decomposed appropriately by the enzyme. Can be done. In addition, the protein complex can be appropriately decomposed.

Further, a further characteristic configuration of the softened food production method according to the present invention is that the concentration of the enzyme in the treatment liquid containing the enzyme is 0.001% by mass or more and 1% by mass or less.

If the concentration of the enzyme in the treatment liquid to be infiltrated into meat is too high, the taste of the enzyme itself appears too strongly in the taste of the softened food, or the substrate is decomposed too much, resulting in deterioration of the taste. On the other hand, if the enzyme concentration in the treatment liquid is too low, the decomposition action becomes too weak and the time required for the treatment increases. According to the method for producing softened foods having the above-mentioned characteristic composition, when the concentration of the enzyme in the treatment liquid is 0.001% by mass or more and 1% by mass or less, the taste of the enzyme itself appears strongly in the taste of the softened food. There is no such thing as meat being decomposed too much. Therefore, the obtained softened food has a desired shape while having sufficient softness, and deterioration of taste is suppressed. In addition, there is no problem that the time required for manufacturing is extremely increased.

Further, a further characteristic configuration of the softened food production method according to the present invention is that the enzyme is a protease.

According to the above characteristic composition, the protein in the meat can be decomposed to soften the meat, and the obtained softened food has sufficient softness.

Further, a further characteristic configuration of the softened food production method according to the present invention is that the meat is heated to a predetermined temperature by steaming in the pretreatment step.

According to the above-mentioned characteristic composition, by steaming the meat in the pretreatment step, the amount of drip during cooking is reduced, and the taste of the obtained softened food is less likely to deteriorate.

Hereinafter, the method for producing softened foods according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, although preferable examples are described below, each of these examples is described in order to more specifically exemplify the present invention, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to the following description.

[Softened food manufacturing method]
The method for producing a softened food according to the embodiment is a method for producing a softened food made of meat, which includes a pretreatment step of heating the meat to a predetermined temperature, a freeze-drying step of freeze-drying the heated meat, and freeze-drying. A crushing step of crushing meat, a permeation step of permeating at least a part of a powder or granule composed of crushed meat with a treatment liquid containing an enzyme that decomposes a predetermined substrate in the meat, and a permeation step of permeating the treatment liquid. A heating step of heating the powder to the active temperature of the enzyme is carried out. In the following, the case where the substrate is a protein will be described as an example, but the substrate is not limited to the protein.

In this method for producing softened foods, the protein in the meat is appropriately denatured and decomposed by heating the meat to a predetermined temperature (for example, 70 ° C.) in the pretreatment step. Then, the meat that has been appropriately denatured and decomposed by this protein is freeze-dried to dry the meat while maintaining the state in which the protein is denatured and decomposed. After that, the meat dried by freeze-drying is crushed, the treatment liquid containing the enzyme is impregnated into an arbitrary part of the powder or granular material composed of the crushed meat, and the powder or granular material in which the enzyme is impregnated is allowed to have the enzyme activity temperature. Heat up to. As a result, proteins in the meat are decomposed by the decomposition action by the enzyme to soften the meat, and at the same time, any part of the crushed meat that has been infiltrated with the treatment liquid is bound to each other. Therefore, according to this method for producing softened foods, the obtained softened foods have an arbitrary shape while having sufficient softness.

In the pretreatment step, specifically, the meat is heated by using a heating method such as steaming, baking, simmering, and frying, and the protein in the meat is appropriately denatured and decomposed. By steaming and heating the meat, the amount of drip during cooking is reduced, and the taste of the softened food is less likely to deteriorate. Therefore, in the pretreatment step, it is preferable to heat the meat to a predetermined temperature by steaming it. The predetermined temperature is preferably 70 ° C. or higher and 120 ° C. or lower in terms of appropriately denaturing and decomposing the protein.

Here, this softened food manufacturing method has the following advantages by carrying out the pretreatment step. That is, by carrying out the pretreatment step, the protein complex in the meat can be appropriately separated into a plurality of subunits in advance, so that the protein complex is less likely to remain in the softened food, and the post-step This facilitates the decomposition of proteins by enzymes. Furthermore, by carrying out the pretreatment step, the protein in the meat is in a state of being appropriately denatured in advance, and since the enzyme does not act on this denatured protein, the undenatured protein is decomposed by the enzyme. .. As described above, according to this method for producing softened foods, by carrying out the pretreatment step, the amount of the protein complex remaining in the meat is reduced, and the protein is appropriately decomposed. Therefore, the obtained softened food has sufficient softness and the deterioration of the taste is suppressed.

In the freeze-drying step, for example, the meat after the pretreatment step is frozen using an ultra-low temperature refrigerator, liquid nitrogen, or the like, and then the frozen meat is dried using a known freeze-drying device. As a result, the meat is dried while maintaining the state in which the protein is appropriately denatured and decomposed. The drying period is, for example, about several hours to 3 days.

In the crushing step, for example, the freeze-dried meat is crushed in a mortar or the like to obtain powder or granular material. The average particle size of the crushed meat is not particularly limited, but if it is less than 1 μm or more than 1 mm, the treatment liquid permeates too much between the crushed meat, or conversely. Since there is a risk that it will not penetrate, it is preferably 1 μm or more and 1 mm or less.

In the permeation step, specifically, the treatment liquid is dropped onto an arbitrary position (for example, the whole or a part of the powder or granular material, or the whole surface or a part of the surface) of the powder or granular material made of crushed meat. By infiltrating the liquid, the portion infiltrated by the treatment liquid is made into a liquid or paste. As a method of dropping the treatment liquid onto the powder or granular material and allowing it to permeate, it is preferable to adopt a method using a so-called inkjet method. That is, in the permeation step, the treatment liquid is atomized (for example, the volume of one drop is 1 pL or more and 1000 pL or less) at an arbitrary position of the powder or granular material (for example, the whole or a part, or the whole surface or a part of the surface). ) Is sprayed to allow the treatment liquid to permeate, and the portion sprayed with the treatment liquid is preferably made into a liquid or paste. According to this method, when the treatment liquid is permeated into an arbitrary position of the powder or granular material, the position where the treatment liquid is permeated is finely adjusted as compared with the case where the treatment liquid which is not simply added dropwise is dropped. can. Therefore, it is possible to easily produce softened foods having a wide variety of shapes. The powder or granular material to be subjected to the infiltration step may be in a state of being randomly placed, or may be in a state of being housed and filled in a mold (container) having a predetermined shape, for example. If the food is contained and filled in a mold, the treatment liquid is permeated into the entire powder or granular material to make it liquid or paste, and then the heating process is performed to obtain a softened food having the same shape as the mold. can get.

Further, as the treatment liquid used in the permeation step, one in which the enzyme is dispersed in an aqueous solvent containing water, alcohol or the like can be used. The treatment liquid may contain a pH adjuster and seasonings (salt, soy sauce, liquor, mirin, sugar, sauce, etc.) in addition to the enzyme, and when the inkjet method is adopted, the treatment liquid has a certain degree of viscosity. Since it is necessary, it is preferable to contain a binder or a surfactant.

The concentration of the enzyme in the treatment liquid used in the permeation step is not particularly limited, but if it is less than 0.001% by mass, the decomposition action of the enzyme becomes too weak and the time required for the treatment increases, while 1 If it is higher than% by mass, the taste of the enzyme itself may appear too strongly in the taste of the produced softened food, or the decomposing action of the enzyme may become too strong and it may be difficult to maintain the shape. Therefore, the concentration of the enzyme in the treatment liquid is preferably 0.001% by mass or more and 1% by mass or less.

The enzyme used is not particularly limited as long as it can decompose any substrate in meat, but when the substrate is a protein, a protease is used. Examples of the protease include bromeline F (active temperature 65 to 75 ° C.), papaine W-40 (active temperature 70 to 90 ° C.), alloase (registered trademark) XA-10 (active temperature 60 to 75 ° C.), and alloase AP-. 10 (active temperature 50-65 ° C), Protin NY100 (active temperature 50-55 ° C), Protin SD-AY10 (active temperature 70-80 ° C), Nucresin® (active temperature 55-65 ° C), Alcalase ( Registered trademark), Bioplase (registered trademark) OP (active temperature 50-60 ° C), Bioprase SP-20 (active temperature 60-70 ° C), Orientase (registered trademark) 22BF (active temperature 60-70 ° C), Orientase AY (active temperature 50-60 ° C), Orientase OP, protease A "Amano" SD (active temperature 40-50 ° C), protease P "Amano" SD (active temperature 40-50 ° C), protease M "Amano" G , Sumiteam® AP, Sumiteam ACP-G, Sumiteam LP-G, Sumiteam FP-G, Sumiteam FLAP-G, Sumiteam DPP-G, Denapsin 2P, Denateam® protease YP-SS, Denateam AP (Activity) Temperature 45-55 ° C), Denateam PMC SOFTER (active temperature 40-60 ° C), Punchdase® NP-2 (active temperature 50-60 ° C), Samoase (active temperature 50-60 ° C), Collagenase (active temperature 50-60 ° C) 30 to 50 ° C.), neurase F3G (active temperature 40 to 50 ° C.) can be exemplified. In addition, one type of enzyme or a combination of two or more types that do not mutually inhibit each other may be used. Further, the enzyme may be derived from a plant or a microorganism, and a combination of a plant-derived enzyme and a microorganism-derived enzyme may be used.

In the heating step, specifically, the powder or granular material impregnated with the treatment liquid is heated to a predetermined temperature (for example, 60 ° C.), and then the predetermined temperature is maintained for a certain period of time (for example, 30 minutes), thereby decomposing by an enzyme. The reaction decomposes the substrate (for example, protein) to soften the meat and binds the crushed meat to each other. As a method of heating meat to a predetermined temperature and maintaining the predetermined temperature for a certain period of time, a method of putting powders and granules impregnated with a treatment liquid in an oven and heating at 60 ° C. for 30 minutes can be exemplified.

In the present application, the term "meat" is a concept that includes meat of birds and beasts such as chicken, duck meat, beef, horse meat, mutton, and indigo meat, and meat of seafood such as fish and shellfish.

[Examples and Comparative Examples]
Hereinafter, specific examples and comparative examples will be described.

[Example 1]
100 g of beef thigh meat was used as a sample, and the sample was steamed in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes, heated to at least 100 ° C. or higher (pretreatment step), and then dried for 2 days using a freeze-drying device (freeze-drying step). The dried sample was crushed using a mortar (crushing step). The average particle size of the crushed sample (granular material made of crushed meat) was estimated to be about 200 μm by measuring the length from the observation image of a scanning electron microscope (SU3500 manufactured by Hitachi, Ltd.). Then, 0.25 g of the crushed powder or granular material was filled into a mold having a bottom surface having a side length of 30 mm and a depth of 0.5 mm. Then, water (treatment liquid) in which papaine W-40 (manufactured by Amano Enzyme Co., Ltd.) was dissolved so as to be 0.1% by mass was added to a circular region having a diameter of 20 mm from the upper surface of the powder or granular material by an inkjet method. , 0.07 ml was applied and the treatment liquid was infiltrated (penetration step). After that, the sample was placed in an oven and heated at 60 ° C. for 30 minutes (heating step). The hardness of the heated sample was measured by performing a fracture test with a texture meter (RE2 33005B manufactured by Yamaden Co., Ltd.). In addition, the shape is evaluated as "good" when it has an arbitrary shape, and it is evaluated as "bad" when it does not have it, and the taste is "good" when the deterioration of the taste is suppressed. If it was not suppressed, it was evaluated as "bad".
[Examples 2 to 4]
Examples 2 to 4 are the same as in Example 1 except that meat other than beef (shrimp meat in Example 2, octopus meat in Example 3, and duck meat in Example 4) was used as a sample. I went there.

[Comparative Examples 1 to 4]
Comparative Examples 1 to 4 were carried out in the same manner as in Examples 1 to 4 except that a treatment liquid containing no enzyme (papain W-40 and aloase) was used in the permeation step. In Comparative Example 1, beef thigh meat was used, Comparative Example 2 used shrimp meat, Comparative Example 3 used octopus meat, and Comparative Example 4 used duck meat.

[Test results]
The hardness, shape, and taste of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 are summarized in Table 1 below. "Category 1", "Category 2", and "Category 3" in Table 1 are included in the four categories in the category table established by the Japan Nursing Care Food Council, which is one of the indicators related to softened foods. Is. Specifically, "Category 1" is "easily chewed (upper limit of hardness: 500 kPa)", "Category 2" is "crushable with gums (upper limit of hardness: 50 kPa)", and "Category 3" is It is defined as "can be crushed with the tongue (upper limit of hardness: 20 kPa)".

Comparing Examples 1 to 4 with Comparative Examples 1 to 4, no particular difference was observed in the shape depending on the type of sample, and the softened foods obtained in any of the Examples and Comparative Examples had an arbitrary shape. Had had. On the other hand, regarding the hardness, although there are differences depending on the sample, the examples are softer than the comparative examples in all the samples, and the softened food obtained in the examples has sufficient softness. It has become a thing. Regarding the taste, the softened foods obtained in the examples had a good taste, and the softened foods obtained in the comparative examples had a bad taste in all the samples.

From these facts, by carrying out the pretreatment step, freeze-drying step, crushing step, infiltration step and heating step, the softened food made from meat can be made into an arbitrary shape while having sufficient softness. It was confirmed that it was possible to produce a softened food having a suppressed deterioration of taste.

The method for producing softened foods of the present invention can be used when producing softened foods made from meat as a raw material.

Claims (7)

It is a method of producing softened foods made of meat.
A pretreatment step of heating the meat to a predetermined temperature and
A freeze-drying step of freeze-drying the heated meat and
A crushing step of crushing the freeze-dried meat and
A permeation step in which a treatment liquid containing an enzyme that decomposes a predetermined substrate in the meat is permeated into at least a part of the granules made of the crushed meat.
A method for producing a softened food product, which comprises a heating step of heating the powder or granular material impregnated with the treatment liquid to the active temperature of the enzyme. The softened food production method according to claim 1, wherein in the permeation step, the treatment liquid is atomized and sprayed at an arbitrary position on the powder or granular material to permeate the treatment liquid at an arbitrary position on the powder or granular material. .. The softened food production method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein in the crushing step, the freeze-dried meat is crushed so that the average particle size is 1 μm or more and 1 mm or less. The method for producing a softened food according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the meat is heated to 70 ° C. or higher in the pretreatment step. The softened food production method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the treatment liquid containing the enzyme has a concentration of the enzyme of 0.001% by mass or more and 1% by mass or less. The method for producing a softened food according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the enzyme is a protease. The softened food production method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein in the pretreatment step, the meat is steamed to heat it to a predetermined temperature.