JP2990620B2 - How to prevent deterioration of liquid packaged food - 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 and an apparatus for improving the preservability of a liquid food which is aseptically filled in a soft packaging material container (hereinafter simply referred to as a container) such as a bag-in-box, a pouch or a standing pouch. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Aseptic filling technology is applied to a part of foods such as juices, coffees and soups, and has less heat history given to foods than retort sterilization used for sterilization of cans. It is a feature.

[0003] However, in the case of a sterile filled package that is filled at room temperature, air remains in the container even in a bag-in-box type or a pouch type soft packaging material. Oxidative degradation of the product may be caused, and the shelf life of the food may not be maintained.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The present invention minimizes the oxygen remaining in a container when producing aseptically filled liquid food, thereby preventing the filled liquid food from being oxidized and degraded in the distribution stage, and the shelf life of the product. The purpose is to keep.

[0005]

Therefore, the present inventors degas the air remaining in the container before aseptic filling, or replace the inert gas with an inert gas to degas the air, thereby removing the air remaining in the container. The inventors have invented a method and an apparatus for minimizing the amount of oxygen therein, thereby preventing oxidative deterioration of a liquid food packaged in a container and extending the expiration date.

[0006] The liquid food mentioned here is not particularly limited in its object and type. For example, dried bonito, mackerel, horse mackerel,
Soybean soup stock such as iriko or kelp, shiitake mushrooms, and soybean soups, beef, pork, chicken and other animal extracts and mixtures thereof, consommé soup, potage soup, coffee, tea, green tea,
Extracts of favorite drinks such as oolong tea, fruit juices squeezed from fruits such as apples and mandarins, and mixtures thereof, or, if necessary, sweeteners such as sugar, seasonings such as salt, amino acids, nucleic acids, organic acids, etc. It may be seasoned using a sour agent or the like. If necessary, these may be blended with each other.

[0007] The term "liquid" as used herein means having fluidity, and there is no particular limitation on the viscosity of the liquid. Further, the liquid may contain solids such as knotted meal, fish meat, powdered green tea, and pulp.

[0008] The container to be aseptically filled is made of a soft packaging material made of a material such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, nylon, or the like, aluminum, paper, etc., which are bonded together as necessary. The shape is not particularly limited. For example, a bag made of a soft wrapping material inserted into a paper box called a bag-in-box type, a bag made of a soft wrapping material called a pouch, or a bottom called a standing pouch It is an open-ended bag-shaped product having an independent shape.

The filling method of the aseptic filling machine has a structure in which the filling port of the soft packing material and the filling nozzle of the filling machine are in close contact with each other. Any material can be used as long as it can be injected or the remaining air inside can be degassed. The method for reducing the amount of residual oxygen inside the bag, which is a feature of the present invention, is as follows.
In the process of aseptic filling, by a predetermined method and procedure,
The soft packaging material is attached to a predetermined attachment so that the liquid food to be filled can be filled. When filling with an inert gas after that, the inert gas is injected into the packaging material from the gas injection port through a charging nozzle. The inert gas used at this time may be selected from nitrogen gas, carbon dioxide gas and other gases as needed. The gas to be injected is subjected to an aseptic treatment due to the characteristics of aseptic filling, and an appropriate method such as a method of passing through a sterilization filter may be selected.

The amount of the inert gas to be injected is determined from the amount of oxygen in the residual air inside the bag, the amount of residual gas after degassing thereafter, and the maximum amount of oxygen allowed for the liquid food to be filled inside. Good. In other words, if the liquid food has the property of being oxidatively degraded even by a small amount of oxygen, it is necessary to inject a large amount of inert gas to dilute the oxygen remaining inside and deaerate it, If the permissible amount is large, less inert gas may be injected. Also, in order to reduce the amount of oxygen remaining inside to an allowable amount or less, if it is sufficient to simply degas remaining air and reduce its volume, omit the step of injecting inert gas. Alternatively, the degassing may be simply performed.

Next, the mixed gas of the gas injected into the packaging material and the air remaining in the packaging material, or the air remaining in the packaging material when no gas injection is performed, is deaerated. Deaeration is performed through a deaeration port provided in the charging nozzle to a vacuum source or a low pressure source. That is, by operating a vacuum pump or an exhaust blower and opening an exhaust valve for a predetermined time, gas or residual air inside the packaging material can be removed.

The degree of vacuum at this time is for removing the mixed gas of the inert gas and air injected into the soft packaging material or the air remaining in the packaging material by suction. There is no need to provide such a condition, and a vacuum degree or a reduced pressure state that achieves the purpose of suction may be used. Also, the time during which the degassing valve is open may be determined based on the pressure of the vacuum source and the degassing rate, and the residual oxygen amount obtained from the residual gas amount or air amount after degassing.

[0013] After the amount of oxygen in the soft packaging material is reduced as compared with that before injecting and degassing or before degassing, the liquid food is put into the packaging material by a predetermined aseptic filling method. Filling may be performed, and the filling port may be sealed by a predetermined method.

[0014]

[Operation] When filling a soft packaging material for aseptic filling by the above method, fill with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas in advance, or deaerate the air remaining in the packaging material without filling. As a result, it is possible to prevent oxidative deterioration of the liquid food that has been aseptically filled, and to obtain an effect of maintaining the quality of the liquid food.

[0015]

Example 1 1 part by weight of ground bonito flakes was heated with 5 parts by weight of hot water added thereto, and then the bonito residue was removed. 0.1 parts by weight of sodium glutamate and 0.01 parts by weight of sodium inosinate were added thereto. Was added to obtain a mixture of thick bonito dashi.

The aseptic filling machine used was an aseptic filling machine of the intercept type, and the soft packaging material used was a 1.8-liter standing pouch type packaging material made of polyethylene terephthalate, aluminum, nylon and polyethylene.

When filling the preparation into the packaging material, 600 ml of nitrogen gas was previously injected into the packaging material, and then the gas in the packaging material was removed by suction at a vacuum of 200 mm of mercury for 3 seconds. .

After deaeration of the packaging material, the preparation liquid is filled therein,
The filling port was sealed by a predetermined method to obtain a sterile filled food.
For comparative evaluation, a product which was not subjected to any of nitrogen filling and degassing was produced, and both were stored at room temperature, and sensory evaluation of changes in flavor and flavor was performed.

As a result, the fragrance and the flavor deteriorated in two months when the packaging material was directly filled with the preparation liquid, while the fragrance and flavor after filling with nitrogen gas and then degassed for 11 months Good aroma and flavor were retained.

[0020]

EXAMPLE 2 A pulverized product of 0.5 parts by weight of Saba-bushi, 0.5 parts by weight of Muro-Aji-bushi and 0.5 parts by weight of kelp was extracted with 4 parts by weight of hot water in the same manner as in Example 1. Further, a mixture prepared by extracting 0.5 parts by weight of kelp and 0.5 parts by weight of dried shiitake with 10 parts by weight of hot water was prepared, and both were mixed in equal amounts to prepare a preparation.

The aseptic filling machine used was the same as in Example 1,
Using a bag-in-box type packaging material made of polyethylene terephthalate, aluminum, and polyethylene and having a capacity of 10 liters, only the residual air inside the packaging material was degassed, and the mixture was filled. A storage test was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 by using the same preparation liquid, using the same packaging material, and filling the remaining air therein without deaeration.

[0022] As a result, in the case of degassing only, no deterioration of taste and flavor was observed even after storage for 8 months, whereas in the case of not degassing, an unpleasant odor was observed in 4 months. Occurrence was observed.

[0023]

Example 3 6 parts by weight of water was added to 1 part by weight of beef, and the extract was extracted while heating. After the extraction, the meat portion was ground and mixed again with the liquid, and 0.05 part by weight of sodium chloride was added to prepare a prepared liquid.

Using the same aseptic filling machine and packaging material as in Example 1,
After the residual air inside the packaging material was degassed, the obtained preparation liquid was aseptically filled. Using the same preparation liquid and the same packaging material, aseptic filling was performed without degassing the remaining air inside.

As a result, those without degassing showed a decrease in flavor in one week, whereas those with degassing could maintain the flavor for three months.

[0026]

According to the present invention, when aseptically filling a liquid food which is liable to deteriorate in quality due to oxidation, the amount of oxygen remaining in the container is reduced, thereby preventing quality deterioration during the storage period after aseptic filling. And the effect of extending the shelf life of the food was obtained.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for producing a liquid food aseptically packed in a container made of a soft packaging material, wherein air remaining in the container is degassed before filling the liquid food. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein an inert gas is previously filled in the container before filling the liquid food, and then a mixed gas of the inert gas and air in the container is degassed. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein nitrogen gas is used as the inert gas.