JP2810830B2 - Production method of cacao mass - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing cocoa mass, and more particularly to a method for producing a roasted cocoa mass having a low viable count and a good flavor which can be used as a material for producing chocolates and cocoa. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The main process of cacao mass production is to first roast raw cocoa beans and crush them, then separate the crushed products into cocoa nibs and cocoa shells by a wind selection process.
It further comprises a step of grinding the cocoa nibs. However, there is a problem of accompanying live bacteria derived from raw cocoa beans, and in order to reduce the number of live bacteria, a method of heating roasted cocoa mass to about 130 to 160 ° C. using a heat exchanger, Sterilization technology using superheated steam has been implemented or studied.

After the cocoa beans are harvested, they are supplied to the market through a fermentation process. In the fermentation process, finally, heat-resistant spore-forming bacteria such as Bacillus genus predominate, so that raw cocoa beans contain many viable bacteria mainly of these bacterial species (JGGarr, PADavis and J. Dougan). , Proceeding of 7
th International Cocoa Research Conference p.573-5
76). In addition, most of these viable bacteria are present in the cacao shell, which is the outer skin of the cacao beans, and cacao nib, which is the endosperm part of the cacao beans, is said to be almost aseptic.

[0004]

The roasting temperature in the conventional cacao bean roasting process is at most about 150 ° C., and the roasting time is about 10 to 15 minutes. It has little effect on killing bacteria and there is no significant change in viable cell count. The wind selection method of separating roasted and crushed cocoa beans into cocoa nibs and cocoa shells is a method utilizing the specific gravity difference between the two, and the smaller the particle size, the smaller the specific gravity difference and the separation becomes difficult. . Therefore, the cacao nib fraction obtained by wind selection usually contains 2-3% by weight of cacao shell. Therefore, the number of viable bacteria in cacao mass obtained by grinding the cacao nib containing the cacao shell is about 30,000 to 100,000 per g, which is extremely large. In addition, even among foods manufactured using roasted cacao mass as a material, especially in the case of half-life or raw confectionery such as ganaches manufactured by adding water to chocolate, an increase in the number of viable bacteria during the storage process becomes a problem. There are many.

However, the viable bacteria in cacao mass are heat-resistant spore-forming bacteria, and the moisture of roasted cacao mass is 1
Since the heat treatment method using a heat exchanger is extremely low, such as ~ 2%, the sterilization efficiency is poor. Therefore, if heating is performed until a sufficient sterilizing effect is exhibited, an overheated state occurs, and the flavor generated in the roasting process is dissipated or an unpleasant flavor such as a burnt smell is generated, resulting in low-quality cocoa mass.

[0006] At present, the most effective sterilization technique in the production of cocoa mass and the method with less deterioration of flavor is sterilization by superheated steam. The present applicant has found that superheated steam is extremely effective in sterilizing raw soybeans in the production of aseptic filled tofu, and has previously proposed it (Japanese Patent Application No. 61-227171). However, as described above, raw cocoa beans contain many heat-resistant spore-forming bacteria and have a water content of 5-7.
% By weight and lower than raw soybean (water content: 12.5% by weight). Therefore, when raw cocoa beans are sterilized using superheated steam under conditions that do not change the flavor,
The lower limit of the viable cell count of the resulting roasted cocoa mass is about 1,000 to 2,000 per gram.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to reduce the number of viable bacteria and improve the flavor without performing a treatment that causes the flavor to deteriorate due to excessive heating. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a roasted cacao mass which can be widely used in the production of chocolate and cocoa, and in particular, can be used for the production of half-life or raw confectionery, and can have a longer storage period.

[0008]

Means and Action for Solving the Problems The present inventors have made intensive studies on solving the above problems. The live bacteria in the roasted cocoa mass were derived from the cocoa shell, and a test as described below was performed to confirm that the cocoa nibs were in an extremely sterile state.

Non-sterilized roasted cocoa beans, obtained by roasting West African cocoa beans for 15 minutes with a hot-air roaster until the product temperature reaches 145 ° C. without sterilization, 28
After sterilizing for 10 seconds with superheated steam of 0 ° C., it is roasted for 15 minutes with a hot-air roaster until the product temperature reaches 145 ° C., and the obtained roasted cocoa beans are sterilized in advance with ethanol and ultraviolet rays. Inside the clean bench
Similarly, cacao shells and cacao nibs were carefully separated using instruments such as tweezers that were also sterilized. Each of them was ground using a mortar together with quartz sand and sterilized water, and the viable cell count was measured. Similarly, the viable cell count was measured for five non-sterilized roasted cocoa beans of different lots. Table 1 shows the results.

[0010]

[Table 1] Number of viable bacteria per g of cocoa nib and cocoa shell

[0011] Based on the test results, the present inventors
By sterilizing the raw cocoa beans with superheated steam and removing the cocoa shell almost completely, we believe that it is possible to produce cocoa mass with extremely low viable cell count,
The present invention could be reached. That is, the gist of the present invention is a step of roasting raw cocoa beans after sterilizing them with superheated steam, crushing the roasted cocoa beans and air-selection, separating them into a cocoa nib fraction and a cocoa shell fraction. The process of
A step of selecting a cocoa nib fraction coarser than 15 mesh by sieving from the cocoa nib fraction, crushing the cocoa nib fraction coarser than the 15 mesh again and air-separating, separating into a cocoa nib fraction and a cocoa shell fraction, A method for producing cocoa mass, comprising grinding the obtained cocoa nib fraction.

In the present invention, a technique for sterilizing raw cocoa beans with superheated steam is a known method (Nao Tsukada: Use of Pressurized Steam and Superheated Steam in Food Industry)
ol. 31, No. 8, 536-545 (1984)), for example, a sterilization treatment using superheated steam at 280 ° C. for about 10 seconds. The roasting of cocoa beans is performed by a method such as roasting for about 15 minutes until the product temperature reaches 145 ° C. using the hot air roaster as described above.

Next, the roasted cocoa beans are processed in a step of crushing and air-selecting. This air-selecting method is based on a usual method of separating and separating using the specific gravity difference between cocoa nibs and cocoa shells. . For example, Winnower RB-61 from Bauermeister
This is a method that uses a wind sorter. In this method of separating and separating by wind selection, the smaller the particle size of the two, the smaller the difference in specific gravity, so the separation becomes difficult. Therefore, in order to examine the particle size of the cocoa shell mixed in the cocoa nib fraction obtained by wind screening in a known manner,
The tests described below were performed.

The cocoa beans from West Africa are sterilized by the above-mentioned superheated steam and then roasted. The obtained roasted cocoa beans are crushed by a crusher (roll mill) so that the cocoa beans are finer than 3 meshes. Total air volume 3,600m3 /
This crushed material was put in at a rate of 1,000 kg per hour under Hr, and a wind screening was carried out.
The sieve was selected using a mesh sieve. For the cocoa nib fraction coarser than the 20 mesh obtained here, the cocoa shells that have been mixed are visually selected and the mixing ratio is measured,
Further, the particle size distribution was examined by sieving. On the other hand, since the fraction finer than 20 mesh cannot be visually identified, the oil content of each of the fraction, cocoa nib and cocoa shell was measured, and the mixing ratio of cocoa shell was calculated from the measured value. As a result, the mixing ratio of cocoa shell was 2.6% by weight, and the particle size distribution was as shown in Table 2. The oil content of cocoa nibs is 57.
2% by weight, that of the cocoa shell was 1.7% by weight.

[0015]

[Table 2] Particle size distribution of mixed cocoa shell

According to the test results, when the particle size of the cocoa shell and the cocoa nib is smaller than 15 mesh, it is extremely difficult to separate by the air screening method, and it is somewhat difficult to separate even the particle size coarser than 15 mesh and smaller than 8 mesh. You can see that. Therefore, in the present invention, the cocoa nib fraction obtained by crushing and air-screening is sieved with 15 mesh, preferably 8 mesh, the cocoa nib fraction passing therethrough is removed, and the roasted cocoa nib fraction on the sieve is removed. Sort out. By this sieving operation, the mixing ratio of cocoa shell is effectively reduced to about 0.6 to 0.8% by weight.

As the sieve used for this sieve selection is coarser than 15 mesh and closer to 8 mesh, the number of cocoa shells that can be removed increases, and as a result the number of viable bacteria decreases, but on the other hand, the yield decreases. It is preferable to select an appropriate size in the range of 8 to 15 mesh in consideration of the number of viable bacteria, yield and the like. Even if a sieve coarser than 8 mesh is used, the ratio of the cocoa shell mixed in the cocoa nib fraction on the obtained sieve does not change, and the yield simply decreases, which is not preferable. Also, with a sieve finer than 15 mesh,
Although the yield is not significantly different from that of the case of 15 mesh, the amount of cocoa shell that can be removed is significantly reduced, and the effect of the invention cannot be exhibited.

A wind separator used in industry is a device that can be used in combination with sieving, and can separate the obtained cocoa nibs into several fractions having different particle sizes. Therefore, if the sieve in the air sifter is appropriately selected, the air sifting and the sieving can be performed simultaneously. And, in the present invention, since the cacao shell is still mixed with the cacao nib fraction in a cacao nib fraction on a sieve coarser than 15 mesh obtained by the above-mentioned step, as a means for peeling it off from the cacao nib, After the cocoa nib fraction is crushed again by the above-mentioned method, cocoa nib is obtained without further sieving without further sieving, and the cocoa nib is ground to produce a roasted cocoa mass having a small number of viable bacteria. The cocoa shell finally mixed into the cocoa mass is at most 0.3.
%, Which is about 1/10 of the conventional method. Therefore, the viable cell count of this cacao mass is also about 1
Thus, the number is extremely reduced to about 100 to 200 per gram.

In the present invention, crushing and air selection are performed twice, but even if crushing and air selection are repeated for the purpose of further reducing the number of viable bacteria, a decrease in the number of viable bacteria can hardly be expected. This is because the cocoa shell is turned into a fine powder by the twice crushing and wind-selection operations, and as a result, the live bacteria on the cocoa shell adhere to the cocoa nibs.

The mixture of cocoa nib and cocoa shell under the sieve obtained by the above-mentioned operation can be used as it is for producing cocoa butter or cocoa pigment, or they can be used again in the aforementioned Winnower RB-61 made by Bauermeister. Since it can be used for the production of cacao mass in a production process in which the mixing ratio of cacao shells is a normal level, it can be used for cocoa shells. In addition to the conventional cacao mass production equipment, the apparatus required for carrying out the present invention is only a sieving device (a sieve screening device in a wind separator), a storage tank for accumulating sifted cocoa nibs, and an associated cocoa nib transport device. These are all very common devices in the production of chocolate. Therefore, the present invention can be easily implemented.

[0021]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples. Example 1 Raw cocoa beans from West Africa were sterilized using superheated steam at 280 ° C. for 10 seconds, and then roasted for 15 minutes using a hot air roaster until the product temperature reached 145 ° C. .
The obtained roasted cocoa beans are put into a crusher (roll mill) at 1,000 kg per hour, and a mixture of cocoa nibs and cocoa shells finely crushed from 3 meshes is put into a wind separator at the same processing amount, and the cocoa nib fraction is obtained. And cocoa shell fraction. 5, 8, 15 mesh sieve is installed in the wind separator, the cocoa nib fraction is coarser than 5 mesh fraction, 5 finer than 8 mesh coarser fraction, 8 mesh finer than 15 mesh coarser fraction, Fractions smaller than 15 mesh were separated into four fractions. Next, among the cocoa nib fractions, all those coarser than 15 mesh were temporarily stored in a storage tank, and crushing and air selection were performed again at a throughput of 1,000 kg / hr in the same manner as above, and all the obtained cocoa nib fractions were obtained. Was ground using a blade mill and a ball mill to produce cacao mass. The mixing ratio of the shell in the cacao mass was 0.3% by weight, and the number of viable bacteria was 200 per g of the cacao mass, and the flavor was good.
And the final yield is 75.8 per 100 kg of raw cocoa beans
kg.

Example 2 Same as Example 1 except that the sieve in the air filter was set to 5, 12, and 15 mesh, and the cocoa nib fraction obtained by the first air filter was a fraction coarser than 12 mesh. Each operation was performed in the same procedure using raw cocoa beans, and the shell mixing rate was 0.2% by weight, and the viable cell count was 130 g / g cocoa mass.
An individual flavorful cocoa mass was obtained. And the final yield was 65.3 kg per 100 kg of raw cocoa beans.

Example 3 Same as Example 1 except that the sieve in the air filter was set to 5, 8, and 15 mesh, and the cocoa nib fraction obtained by the first air filter was a coarser fraction than 8 mesh. Using the raw cocoa beans, the same procedure was carried out to obtain cocoa mass with a good taste having a shell mixing rate of 0.1% by weight and a viable cell count of 70 per g of cocoa mass. And the final yield was 53.5 kg per 100 kg of raw cocoa beans.

Comparative Example 1 Using the same raw cocoa beans as in Example 1, sterilization, roasting and crushing were carried out in the same procedures as in Example 1, and the obtained crushed mixture of cocoa shell and cocoa nibs was used for 1,000 hours / hour. The resulting cocoa nibs were crushed by a blade mill and a ball mill without sieving, and the cocoa shell content was 2.5% by weight and the number of viable bacteria was 1
1,600 roasted cocoa masses per g were obtained. And the final yield is 84.4k per 100kg of raw cocoa beans
g.

Comparative Example 2 Same as Example 1 except that the sieve in the air filter was set to 5, 8, and 18 mesh, and the cocoa nib fraction obtained by the first air filter was a fraction coarser than 18 mesh. Each operation was performed in the same procedure using the raw cocoa beans of
78.3 kg of roasted cocoa mass was obtained from 0 kg, the shell mixing ratio was 0.6% by weight, and the viable cell count was 1 g of cocoa mass.
At a rate of 410 cells per cell, the viable cell count was about twice that of Example 1.

Comparative Example 3 Same as Example 1 except that the sieve in the air filter was set to 5, 8, and 15 mesh, and the cocoa nib fraction obtained by the first air filter was a fraction coarser than 5 mesh. The same procedure as in Example 3 was carried out using fresh cocoa beans to obtain a flavorful cocoa mass having the same level of shell content of 0.1% by weight and a viable cell count of 100 per gram of cocoa mass. However, the final yield was 11.5k per 100kg of raw cocoa beans.
g, significantly less than in Example 3.

Comparative Example 4 In Example 1, the cocoa nib fraction having a shell mixing ratio of 0.3% by weight obtained in the second wind screening was subjected to a third crushing and wind screening in the same procedure. All the obtained cocoa nib fractions were ground with a blade mill and the raw cocoa beans 1
70.1 kg of cocoa mass with a good taste was obtained from 00 kg, the shell mixing ratio was 0.3% by weight, and the number of viable bacteria was 200 per g of cocoa mass, which was the same as in Example 1.

Comparative Example 5 In order to compare the flavor of the cacao mass obtained in Example 1 and Comparative Example 1, 40 parts by weight of cacao mass and sugar 4
3.45 parts by weight, cocoa butter 16 parts by weight, lecithin 0.2
Chocolate consisting of 5 parts by weight and 0.05 part by weight of flavor was prepared by a known method, and the taste was evaluated by 30 specialized panels. The results are shown in Tables 3 and 4. According to this evaluation, the chocolate of Example 1 had less astringency and was preferred by many panels.

[0029]

[Table 3] Comparison of astringency of cacao trout of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 (Note) Preferred Example 1 at 5% significance level

[0030]

[Table 4] Comparison of palatability of cacao mass in Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 (Note) Preferred Example 1 at 5% significance level

[0031]

The cocoa mass produced by the present invention is
The number of viable bacteria per gram is 1 or less per 10 minutes,
Moreover, since there is little cocoa shell which causes astringent taste, off-flavor, etc., the flavor is better than roasted cocoa mass obtained by a conventional method, and it can be widely used for production of chocolate and cocoa. In particular, when used in the production of half-life or raw confectionery, the storage period can be lengthened. The equipment required to carry out the present invention is very common in chocolate production and relatively inexpensive, and can be easily implemented, so that its practical value is large.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (72) Inventor Yumoto Kato 5-3-1 Chiyoda, Sakado-shi, Saitama Meiji Seika Co., Ltd. Food Research Institute (72) Inventor Tadahiko Murata 2-4- Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 16 Meiji Seika Co., Ltd. (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A23G 1/00-9/30

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A step of roasting raw cocoa beans after sterilizing them with superheated steam, crushing and roasting the roasted cocoa beans to separate them into a cocoa nib fraction and a cocoa shell fraction. A step of screening the cocoa nib fraction to a cocoa nib fraction coarser than 15 mesh by sieving, and crushing the cocoa nib fraction coarser than the 15 mesh again and air-selecting,
A method for producing cocoa mass, comprising separating into a cocoa nib fraction and a cocoa shell fraction and grinding the resulting cocoa nib fraction. 2. The method for producing cocoa mass according to claim 1, wherein the size of the sieves used in the step of sifting from the cocoa nib fraction is 8 to 15 mesh.