JP2543357B2 - Rice quality improvement equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a rice quality improving apparatus for improving the taste due to the difference in composition of rice grains, that is, the quality of rice.

[Conventional technology and its problems]

The quality of rice, especially its taste, is determined at the production stage such as quality, production area, cultivation method, harvesting method, drying, storage, etc.
There are various things such as those that are decided at the post-harvest processing stage such as milled rice processing, and those that are affected during rice cooking processing, but the taste of rice is most affected at the production stage. In addition, it is said that the variety has a large effect.

Traditionally, the quality evaluation of rice, especially the evaluation of taste, has been performed by multiple expert examiners using the comparison items such as the appearance, aroma, taste, stickiness, and hardness of rice, which are the targets of the taste evaluation, as criteria for evaluation. It is carried out by a so-called sensory test in which the superiority or inferiority of the standard rice is repeatedly tested and the average value is taken. In addition, the composition and physicochemical properties of rice are scientifically measured and analyzed, and the correlation with the taste evaluation value obtained by the sensory test is examined, and finally, the measurement obtained scientifically. As a result of researches conducted to evaluate the quality of rice from the values, among the components that make up rice, those that are particularly important for evaluating the quality of rice are amylose and amylopectin, which make up the starch quality of rice. It is becoming clear that they are the content ratio, the protein content rate, and the water content rate.

Next, it will be described how the content of each component of rice affects the quality of rice, especially its taste.

Generally, the most popular rice brands in Japan are Koshihikari and Sasanishiki. As an example, comparing the content ratio of protein contained in white rice of each standard milling degree of several brands of rice including Koshihikari and Sasanishiki with the content ratio of amylose in starch, the following table 1 It becomes as follows. In addition, the content rate of each component is not always the same as shown in the table if it is the same brand, and it depends on the geological conditions (soil and water quality) of the cultivated production area and also on the weather conditions (temperature and sunlight). Time and rainfall)
It goes without saying that the content ratio of each component also changes subtly.

From Table 1, the main factors that make Koshihikari and Sasanishiki tasty are that the content of protein is low and the content of amylose in starch is low compared to other general brand rice. Can understand.

(The protein content is the weight ratio, and the amylose content is the ratio relative to 100% of the starch quality.) As described above, the protein content and the amylose content ratio in the starch quality are the taste of rice, that is, that of rice. Apart from having a great influence on the quality, the moisture content of white rice also has a great influence on the taste in relation to the quality, particularly the viscosity and hardness of rice when cooking rice. When the moisture content of the white rice is about 15%, it will be cooked into perfect rice grains without cracks in the rice even if it is immersed in the water of the kettle when cooking rice, but in the case of white rice with a moisture content of less than 14% , The water absorption rate at the time of immersion is too fast to instantly cause cracks in the rice grains, and soon a through crack will occur in the inside of the rice grains, so water will be absorbed at the cracks and glue will be released from the cracks. It is known that crushed rice absorbs water all at once, so it is cooked into sticky cooked rice, and because the cooked rice collapses, it becomes a low-quality cooked rice that is neither chewy nor sticky. However, in order to improve the water content, a device for reversibly drying and humidifying has been developed, and the target water content can be improved, but the component content and the structure cannot be improved.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Focusing on the content ratio of amylose and protein, which are the factors that cause the difference in quality of rice, amylose elutes from the lake when rice is cooked, and the content ratio of protein is Due to the organizational structure, water absorption during immersion is affected, and rice with a lot of protein does not absorb water evenly in the inner part of the rice grain.

Therefore, in view of these matters, the present invention has a technical problem to provide a quality improving device for rice, which can improve the quality of brand rice which is generally poor in quality, that is, the taste. .

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is provided with an air passage and an exhaust passage in a humidifying tank that is provided with air shutoff valves at the rice grain supply port and the rice grain discharge port, respectively, and that are substantially sealed, and the air flow passage is While connecting to the air pressurizing device outside the humidifying tank, a water adding device was provided in the air passage or the humidifying tank, and a technical means was taken to connect a surfactant supplying device to the water adding device.

[Action]

When rice with a high amylose content, rice with a high protein content, or rice with a high amylose and protein content is mixed with an appropriate amount of a surfactant as an aqueous solution, it will become The quality of rice grains is improved because water is absorbed evenly in the quality part and the dissolution of soluble starch due to heating is suppressed and the gelatinization temperature of starch is increased.

Example of Invention

 A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

A rotary valve 2 as an air shutoff valve provided below the adjusting tank 1 is connected to a supply gutter 5 connected to a rice grain supply port 4 above the humidification tank 3 and is also interlocked with a variable speed electric motor 6. The supply gutter 5 may be provided with a rice grain detection sensor 7. In addition, the adjusting tank 1 has a rice grain moisture detector.
45 and the rice temperature detector 46 are attached.

On the other hand, a screw conveyor 8 as a grain raising device is erected at the lower end of the substantially closed humidifying tank 3. The shaft of the screw conveyor 8 is directly connected to the variable speed electric motor 9 fixed to the outer wall of the humidifying tank 3, and the inflow port 10 is opened at the lower end of the screw conveyor 8 and the discharge port 11 is opened at the upper part thereof. Further, a discharge port 12 is opened slightly below the discharge port 11, and the discharge port 12 is connected to a discharge gutter 13 that penetrates the tank wall of the humidification tank 3 and projects obliquely outside the humidification tank 3. A discharge path leading to the outside of the humidification tank 3 is formed. Further, the discharge gutter 13 is provided with a feeding device and a rotary valve 14 as an air cutoff valve, and a variable speed motor for driving the rotary valve 14 in the vicinity of the rotary hull 14.
15 are installed.

The humidifying tank 3 is erected by a supporting leg 16, and a level sensor 17 is provided on the wall of the humidifying tank 3 substantially at the height of the discharge port 11 of the screw conveyor 8, and a rice grain moisture detector 18 is located below the level sensor 17. Each one is equipped. Reference numeral 19 is an atmospheric pressure detector for measuring the atmospheric pressure in the humidifying tank 3.

Next, the water addition device 20 attached to the humidification tank 3 will be described. An air supply port 21 is provided in the lower part of the humidification tank 3, and an exhaust port 22 is opened in the upper part thereof, and an air supply pipe 23 is inserted from the air supply port 22 into the humidification tank 3, and an exhaust pipe 24 is connected to the exhaust port 22. Connect.
A blower thermometer 25 is attached to the air supply pipe 23, and the other end of the air supply pipe 23 is connected to the air outlet of a high-pressure turbo blower 26. Further, the suction port of the high-pressure turbo blower 26 and the exhaust pipe 24 are connected by a communication pipe 27, thereby forming an air circulation path. Reference numeral 28 is a variable speed electric motor for driving the high pressure turbo blower 26.

The exhaust pipe 24 is provided with an air opening / closing valve 29 for shutting off the air circulation path, and a branch pipe 30 is provided in a branched manner.The branch pipe 30 is provided with an air opening / closing valve 31, and the air opening / closing valves 29, 31 are respectively turned. Servo motors 32, 33 for moving the motors are provided. Also,
At the connecting portion between the communication pipe 27 and the exhaust pipe 24, an injector device 34 having different pipe diameters is provided in order to take in fresh air.

A heater 35 and a cooler 36 for controlling the temperature of the air supplied to the high-pressure turbo blower 26 are attached to the connecting pipe 27, and a fog generator 38 including an ultrasonic vibration element 37 is connected to the communication pipe 27. 56 is a supply device for a surfactant such as lecithin or sucrose fatty acid ester, which is a device for measuring and supplying a predetermined amount of a powdered or emulsified surfactant processed into an aqueous solution, In the embodiment, the water is supplied to a water tank 57 equipped with a stirring bar 58. The water tank 57 is a tank that supplies water to the fog generator 38.

The surfactant in the present invention means an edible surfactant composed of natural products, and is monoglyceride, lecithin, propylene glycol ester, sorbitan ester or sucrose fatty acid ester.

The control unit of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. Input / output circuit 39, central processing unit (CP
U) 40, a storage device (ROM, RAM) 41, and a microcomputer 43 composed of a calculation device 42 are provided on the input side of an operation panel 44 with a display and a rice grain moisture detector 18 attached to the humidifying tank 3.
And a rice grain moisture detector 45 and a rice temperature detector 46 mounted on the adjusting tank 1, and a thermometer 25 for measuring the temperature of the air blown to the humidifying tank 3.
An atmospheric pressure detector 19 for measuring the atmospheric pressure in the humidifying tank 3, a rice grain detecting sensor 7 mounted on the supply gutter 5, and a level sensor 17 provided in the humidifying tank 3 are connected to each other. On the other hand, a drive circuit is provided on the output side of the microcomputer 43.
Variable speed electric motors 6 and 15 for driving the rotary valves 2 and 14 via 47 to 55, an ultrasonic vibration element 37 of the fog generator 38,
A heater 35, a cooler 36, a variable speed electric motor 28 for rotating the high pressure turbo blower 26, servo motors 32, 33 for opening and closing the air opening / closing valves 29, 31, and a variable speed electric motor 9 for driving the screw conveyor 8, Are connected respectively.

 The operation of the above configuration will be described below.

When the start button on the operation panel 44 is pressed, the variable speed electric motor 6
Is activated to rotate the rotary valve 2, and rice grains supplied into the adjustment tank 1 by a chute pipe or the like are sequentially charged into the humidification tank 3 via the supply gutter 5. At this time, when the signal “rice grain is present” is input from the rice grain detection sensor 7 of the supply gutter 5, a command from the microcomputer 43 is output to the drive circuit 55, the variable speed electric motor 9 is activated, and the screw conveyor 8 is activated. Rotates at a predetermined speed. This allows
The rice grains fed from the rice grain supply port 4 flow in from the inflow port 10 of the screw conveyor 8 and are pumped up, and flow down the discharge gutter 13 from the discharge port 12. However, since the rotary valve 14 is not rotating, the rice grains are discharged from the discharge port 11 to the bottom of the humidification tank 3 without flowing out from the end of the discharge gutter 13.
It again flows into the screw conveyor 8 from the inflow port 10, is pumped, and is discharged from the discharge port 11. This circulation of rice grains (mixing) is repeated until the rice grains accumulate to some extent, that is, until the level sensor 17 operates.

On the other hand, the high-pressure turbo blower 26 and the fog generator 38 are started by the "rice grain present" signal of the rice grain detection sensor 7, and the moist air mixed with the surfactant is supplied into the humidification tank 3. Prior to this, the moisture content of the raw rice and the rice temperature were measured by the rice grain moisture detector 45 and the rice grain detector 46 of the adjusting tank 1, and by the rotation speed of the variable speed electric motor 6,
The rice grain supply amount is measured and these detected values are input to the microcomputer 43 and averaged.For this average value, the target moisture content and the maximum humidification rate preset in the storage device 41, and The addition amount of the surfactant is calculated, the supply amount of the surfactant is controlled to be supplied to the water tank, and the vibration frequency of the ultrasonic vibration element 37 or the vibrating vibration element number (moisture addition amount) is determined. . Then, if necessary, the heater 35 or the cooler 36 is operated to adjust the temperature of the moist air and supply it.

Thus, when the moist air mixed with the surfactant is supplied from the water adding device 20 into the humidifying tank 3, the atmospheric pressure in the humidifying tank 3 rises, and when the atmospheric pressure detector 19 detects a predetermined atmospheric pressure, the servo motor 32 starts and the air on-off valve 29 gradually opens,
Exhaust is performed through the exhaust pipe 24 to maintain the humidification tank 3 at a constant high pressure. Further, when the air opening / closing valve 29 is fully opened, normal pressure humidification can be added.

Now, the rice grains circulating and flowing by the screw conveyor 8 are exposed to moist air and are placed in a high pressure state while flowing, so that the atomized water of ultrafine particles penetrates into the rice grain inner layer without dew condensation on the rice grain surface. The moisture content proceeds to reach the target moisture content at a high rate of safe water absorption of rice grains (about 0.2% / Hr.).

When the rice grains fed from the rice grain supply port 4 are accumulated and the level sensor 17 is activated, the variable speed electric motor 15 is activated by the signal of the level sensor 17 and the rotary valve 14
The rice grains that are rotated and are lifted by the screw conveyor 8 flow down the discharge gutter 13 from a discharge port provided at a high place, are discharged to a supply unit such as a bucket elevator, and are conveyed to the next step.

During this time, raw rice is being fed from the rice grain supply port 4, and the rice grains that have fallen to approximately the height of the level sensor 17 in the humidification tank 3 are flowing downward toward the inlet 10 at the bottom of the humidification tank 3. It receives a humidifying action, is finished to a predetermined water content, is pumped by the screw conveyor 8, and sequentially flows out from the discharge gutter 13. In this way, in the early stage until the rice grain reaches the level sensor, it is possible to reach the target moisture content evenly by circulating the rice grain in the humidifying tank, which is particularly effective in the single-pass type humidifier. Is.

Although the present embodiment has described the so-called pressure humidifier, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and when humidification is not necessary, a predetermined amount of powdered or emulsified aqueous solution surfactant is humidified. It is also possible to supply from the upper part of the tank 3 and add with stirring. In addition, the addition of a surfactant to brown rice is worse than the addition of white rice because the surface texture of brown rice is waxy, but the efficiency can be increased by using it together with pressure humidification.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, a water content is made appropriate by adding a surfactant and water to rice, which is generally considered to be of poor quality, and its quality, that is, the taste, is determined by absorbing water produced during rice cooking. It can be improved by suppressing the unevenness of sex and the release of glue. Moreover, the addition of this surfactant
By performing the treatment as an aqueous solution under pressure, it can be performed safely and quickly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a control block diagram thereof. 1 ... adjusting tank, 2 ... rotary valve, 3 ... humidifying tank,
4 ... Rice grain supply port, 5 ... Supply gutter, 6 ... Variable speed electric motor, 7 ...
Rice grain detection sensor, 8 ... Screw conveyor, 9 ... Variable speed electric motor, 10 ... Inlet, 11 ... Discharge port, 12 ... Discharge port, 13
… Exhaust gutter, 14… Rotary valve, 15… Variable speed electric motor,
16 ... Support legs, 17 ... Level sensor, 18 ... Rice grain moisture detector,
19 ... Atmospheric pressure detector, 20 ... Moisture adding device, 21 ... Air inlet, 22 ...
Exhaust port, 23 ... Air supply pipe, 24 ... Exhaust pipe, 25 ... Thermometer, 26 ... High pressure turbo blower, 27 ... Communication pipe, 28 ... Variable speed electric motor, 29 ...
Air on-off valve, 30 ... Branch pipe, 31 ... Electric on-off valve, 32, 33 ... Servo motor, 34 ... Injector device, 35 ... Heater, 36 ...
Cooler, 37 ... Ultrasonic vibration element, 38 ... Fog generator, 39 ... Input / output circuit, 40 ... Central processing unit, 41 ... Memory device, 42 ... Arithmetic unit, 43 ... Microcomputer, 44 ... Operation panel with display, 45… rice grain moisture detector, 46… rice temperature detector, 47-55
… Drive circuit, 56… Surfactant supply device, 57… Water tank,
58 ... Stirrer.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A ventilation passage and an exhaust passage are provided in a humidification tank which is provided with air shut-off valves at the rice grain supply port and the rice grain discharge port, respectively, and which are substantially sealed, and the ventilation passage is air outside the humidification chamber. A rice quality improving device characterized in that, while being connected to a pressurizing device, a moisture adding device is provided in the air passage or the humidifying tank, and a surfactant supplying device is connected to the moisture adding device.