JP2885535B2 - Hard candy and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an erythritol-containing hard candy and a method for producing the same, and more particularly, to a hard candy having an erythritol content of more than 80% by weight and a method for producing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hard candy is a sweet food made by using sucrose as a main ingredient and boiling it down at a high temperature. There are types,
Its consumption is also large. However, in recent years, in Japan, various adverse effects due to excessive intake of sugars (especially, sucrose) (for example, an increase in the incidence of dental caries, obesity, or an increase in the number of diabetic patients).
Consumers are becoming more and more interested in these sugars, and there is a tendency to avoid or avoid these sugars.

[0003] For this reason, the food industry, especially the confectionery industry, has made great efforts to develop low-calorie, low-cariogenic sweet products that do not contain sucrose. As a result, sugar alcohols and synthetic sweeteners are nowadays used. Many low-calorie, low-caries sweet foods have been developed, and some are already on the market. For example, hard candy can be mainly exemplified by those using sorbitol, which is a kind of sugar alcohol, as a main raw material (JP-A-50-46865, JP-A-59-63138), and maltitol as a main raw material. Those used (JP-B-47-13699, JP-B-57-48937), those using lactitol as the main raw material (JP-B-47
-42506 and 57-48937).

Furthermore, recently, a method for producing erythritol, a tetracarbon sugar alcohol, has been developed, and erythritol has been sold as a low-calorie, non-cariogenic sweetener. Attempts have been made to use it. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-18180 discloses a method for producing sugar-free candy using erythritol for use in candies and the like.
JP-47348 describes a method for producing a hard candy containing 30-80% by weight of erythritol.

[0005] However, among the hard candies according to these known methods, sorbitol,
Products that use maltitol, lactitol, etc. have a certain effect although they are not enough for low caries, but they are not enough for low calories and are not practically low calories. is there. In addition, products that use erythritol as the main raw material become very brittle when the erythritol content is high (especially when the erythritol ratio exceeds 80% by weight), and in the manufacturing process, distribution and sales processes. Therefore, there is a drawback that breakage is easily caused. For this reason, in the invention of JP-A-64-47348, the ratio of erythritol is suppressed to 80% by weight or less, and other sugar alcohols and the like are blended to improve the brittleness of the product. However, when the content of other sugar alcohols is increased in such a manner, there is a disadvantage that the low caloric property characteristic of erythritol is impaired.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides an erythritol-containing hard candy in which the known erythritol-containing hard candy has improved brittleness (fragility) and insufficient calorie reduction effect of the product. It is an object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing method thereof.

According to the present invention, the amount is at least about 70% by weight, preferably more than 80% by weight, more preferably at least 95% by weight.
Erythritol and residual sugar alcohol and / or
The raw material mixture prepared to contain saccharides is heated
Melts with part of it remaining as crystals
Or after the molten state substantially fully brought melted
Elis with crystal seeds added to make the seeds uniform
Make it a melt containing litol and pour this melt into a molding machine
Seen, the above improved erythritol-containing hard candy is prepared by solidifying in molding machine.

[0008] Erythritol used as a raw material in the present invention is a sugar alcohol of tetracarbon sugar, which is well soluble in water and very easily crystallized, and the crystals are white and have the appearance of granulated sugar. . 75-80% sweetness of sucrose
It has a mouthfeel close to the sweetness of sucrose, and is non-digestible and non-cariogenic. Commercially available products include crystalline powders and granules.

Examples of the sugar alcohol which can be used in the present invention include sugar alcohols which have been widely used for foods such as sorbitol, maltitol and lactitol, as well as dextrin reduced products and oligosaccharide reduced products. A reduced starch decomposed product containing a product can also be used.

[0010] In the present invention, low calorie content
Within the range that does not impair the low cariogenicity, sugars such as glucose, fructose, sucrose, syrup, syrup, isomerized sugar and / or neosugar, coupling sugar, It is also possible to use (combined use) so-called non-cariogenic saccharides such as palatinose, and to adjust the taste of candy as needed, aspartame, steviosides, saccharin Na, acesulfame K, thaumatin,
Synthetic or natural high-sweetness sweeteners such as glycyrrhizin, and organic acids (salts) such as citric acid and malic acid, as well as coloring agents and flavoring agents can also be blended.

Next, the method for producing a hard candy according to the present invention will be described in more detail. The required amounts of erythritol and sugar alcohol (and / or sugar) are blended so that the ratio of erythritol in the raw material mixture is about 70% by weight or more, preferably more than 80% by weight, and more preferably 95% by weight or more. If necessary, a small amount of water is added to the raw material mixture, and the mixture is heated to 120 ° C. or more to be in a molten state. Next, after adding a required amount of a high-intensity sweetener, a coloring agent, and a flavoring agent to the melt as needed, the temperature of the melt is maintained at a temperature equal to or lower than the melting point of erythritol, for example, 80 ° C to 130 ° C. Add the amount of crystal seeds and stir well, uniformly disperse the crystal seeds in the melt, then pour into a molding machine, cool to room temperature in the presence of crystal seeds, solidify, and die-cut, A desired hard candy having a high erythritol content can be produced.

In the present invention, mixing and melting of the raw material mixture
Operations such as boiling down and molding are the same as the methods conventionally used for manufacturing hard candy,
In any case, it is sufficient to carry out in accordance with a conventional method, and there is no particular difficulty.

In the hard candy production method of the present invention, a method of adding and dispersing crystal seeds in a molten raw material mixture generally includes adding a crystal seed (eg, erythritol) to a molten raw material mixture. A method is used in which the raw material mixture is semi-molten or concentrated (boiled), and some of the crystals of the raw material mixture are left unmelted as crystal seeds. Etc. can also be used. In the above, as the crystal seed, erythritol crystal, sugar alcohol crystal, polymer powder such as starch and gum, etc. are used. There are no particular restrictions on the size of the crystal seeds, etc.
It is preferable that the amount is not less than% by weight and within a range where the fluidity of the raw sugar liquid after the addition of the crystal seed is not lost.

The thus obtained hard candy of the present invention has low calorie and low caries, as well as high transparency and improved brittleness of the product. It is hardly damaged and has a very high commercial value.

[0015]

The present invention will be further described with reference to the following examples.
It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

Example 1 100 g of erythritol (manufactured by Niken Kagaku Co., Ltd.) was placed in a boiled dish and heated to 150 ° C. to start melting. In a state where part of erythritol is melted and part is present as crystals,
When the fluidity comes out, stir evenly,
The mixture was poured into a round mold having a diameter of 15 mm and a diameter of 15 mm, and was cooled and solidified. After about 5 minutes, the melt solidified to obtain a translucent ice sugar-like candy.

Example 2 90 g of erythritol was placed in a boiled dish, heated to 150 ° C., and completely melted. The melt is cooled to 130 ° C., and 10 g of anhydrous lactitol (manufactured by Niken Kagaku Co., Ltd.) is added as a crystal seed (average size: 150 μm), and while uniformly stirring, a round having a thickness of 5 mm and a diameter of 15 mm is formed. The mixture was poured into a mold and cooled and solidified. After about 5 minutes, the melt solidified to obtain a translucent ice sugar-like candy.

Example 3 36 g of SE30 (registered trademark of Niken Kagaku Co., Ltd., 70% liquid product, sugar composition: degraded reduced starch) and 100 g of erythritol are placed in a boiled dish, concentrated to 170 ° C., completely melted, and Cooled to ° C. Thereto, 1.4 g of erythritol crystal seeds were added, mixed well so as to be uniform, poured into a 5 mm-thick, 15 mm-diameter round mold at 90 ° C., and cooled and solidified. About 5
After a lapse of minutes, the melt was solidified to obtain a translucent ice sugar-like candy.

Test Example A hard candy prepared according to the method of the above example was subjected to a quality comparison test using a hard candy product prepared by a known method as a control. Among the hard candies subjected to the test, the control product A was the Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-18180.
In accordance with the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 9-205, the method was prepared by completely melting erythritol, pouring it into a mold, and allowing it to cool to room temperature and solidify. In addition, control product B
According to the method of Example 1 of JP-A-64-47348, the raw material mixture (erythritol: maltitol = 7: 3 powder) is heated to 160 ° C. and melted, and then cooled to 110 ° C. It was prepared by pouring it into a mold as it is, cooling it to room temperature, and solidifying it.

The hardness test was carried out by applying a force to a sample of the hard candy prepared by each production method using a Kiya hardness meter until the sample collapsed, and measuring the pressure at the time of collapse.

The results are shown in Table 1. In the table, the numerical value of the hardness is
This is the average of the values obtained for 12 samples, and the calorie content of the candy is based on the literature (Caloric Evaluation of C
arbohydrates, published by the Japan Nutrition Food Association in 1990).

[0022]

[Table 1]

[0023]

Industrial Applicability The candy of the present invention has the same appearance as that of ice sugar, is hard, does not lose its shape, is non-hygroscopic, and has excellent storage stability, despite containing a high proportion of erythritol. I have.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-64-47348 (JP, A) JP-A-1-174332 (JP, A) JP-A-2-242656 (JP, A) JP-A-1- 225458 (JP, A) JP-A-64-55140 (JP, A) Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-18180 (JP, B2) Nagao Watanabe, 3 editors, "Encyclopedia of Confectionery", Asakura Shoten, October 30, 1981 , P. 226-230 "Sweet Reader", Meiji Seika Co., Ltd., July 25, 1977, p. 188-192 Masako Kawada, “The Science of Sweets“ Katsu ””, Shibata Shoten, February 1, 1987, pp. 62-63 (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A23G 3/00-3/32 JICST file (JOIS) WPI (DIALOG)

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. In a hard candy containing erythritol, the ratio of erythritol in the candy is
The amount Der exceeding 80 wt% is, uniformly present the pre Ji fit crystal seed
The erythritol-containing molten liquid is solidified by molding.
A hard candy that becomes . 2. Ratio of erythritol in candy
Is more than 80% by weight, and the balance is sugar alcohol and
The hard candy according to claim 1, wherein the hard candy is a saccharide . 3. The ratio of erythritol in candy
Is at least 95% by weight, the balance being sugar alcohol and
The hard candy according to claim 1, wherein the hard candy is a saccharide . 4. A composition containing substantially 100% by weight of erythritol.
The hard candy according to claim 1 . 5. heating the raw material mixture containing 70 wt% or more erythritol and residual <br/> excess of sugar alcohols and / or saccharides Shi melted in a state a part of which remains as crystals
Or after heating and melting the raw material mixture,
Erythri with seeds added to make the seeds uniform
Prepare a toll-containing melt and ensure that the crystal seeds are homogeneous
A method for producing a hard candy, comprising: pouring a molten liquid into a molding machine and solidifying it in the molding machine . 6. An erythritol content of the raw material mixture of 80
The method for producing a hard candy according to claim 5, wherein the amount is more than% by weight.