JP3004193B2 - Green pigment substances of plants - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a green pigmentary substance obtained from the water-insoluble fraction of fresh, raw, edible green plants.

[0002] Fresh, raw, edible green plants are extremely important foods for maintaining health, but have a problem in that they are hard and indigestible and difficult to digest. On the other hand, in order to solve such a problem, conventionally, various proposals have been made to provide a vegetable green juice obtained by squeezing a fresh raw edible green plant or a dry powder thereof as a food, as a food. , Depending on the type of plant used as a raw material, the taste may be irritating,
There are problems such as entanglement, bitterness, and astringency, and there is also a problem with storage stability.

[0003] As a method for solving this preservability, the present inventor adjusted the pH of vegetable green juice obtained by squeezing fresh raw edible green plants within the range of 6 to 9, It has been proposed to produce a dry powder by a method such as spray drying or freeze drying (Japanese Patent Publication No. 46-54848;
-108469). Although the preservability of the vegetable green juice powder has been remarkably improved by this, there is still room for improvement in terms of palatability.

[0004] In view of the above, the inventor of the present invention has been conducting various studies on the improvement of palatability of vegetable green juice powder, and in the process of removing the water-soluble component from the vegetable green juice powder, the water-insoluble fraction has been further polarized. The inventors have found that a bright green pigment substance can be obtained by extraction with an organic solvent, and have completed the present invention.

Thus, the present invention provides a green pigment obtained by further extracting a water-insoluble fraction of a dry powder of plant green juice obtained by squeezing a fresh raw edible green plant with a polar organic solvent. To provide the substance.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail.

The edible green plant used as a raw material in the present invention is not limited to cultivated edible plants having green leaves or stems (hereinafter referred to as leaf stems), but also edible wild plants and medicinal plants having green leaf stems. Plants, usually fruits and vegetables with green leaf stems that do not eat the leaf stems, root vegetables, cereals, plants such as fruits, green edible algae and the like, specifically, green leaves of wheat, Spinach, lettuce, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, mizuna, cucumber, bitter melon, green pepper, carrot green leaf, radish green leaf, parsley, celery, ashitaba, comfrey leaf, alfa, clover, kale and other pasture green leaves, kumazasa leaf, persimmon Leaves, pine needles, spirulina, chlorella, seaweed, blue seaweed and the like. These plants can be used alone or in combination of two or more.

[0008] Among the green plants, wheat, for example, are suitable barley, wheat, barley, oats, oat, corn, millet, etc. Italian La Igurasu is, among others,
Barley, especially leaf stems before maturity, are optimal.

It is desirable to treat these green plants as fresh as possible, and when using stored products, discoloration such as inert gas storage, low-temperature storage, reduced-pressure dehydration storage, sulfurous acid gas or sulfite treatment, etc. It is preferable to use one provided with means for preventing deterioration. The raw material plants are thoroughly washed to remove extraneous matter, sterilized using a bactericide such as hypochlorous acid, if desired, further washed sufficiently with water, and in some cases, cut into appropriate sizes. When finely chopped, it may be immersed in a diluted saline solution (for example, 0.1 to 2.0% saline solution) and drained before use. Further, in an optional stage of the pretreatment, a blanching treatment is performed at a temperature of 100 to 140 ° C. for 2 to 10 seconds at normal pressure (in some cases under reduced pressure or pressure), and then quenched. Processing may be performed. This treatment makes it possible to inactivate enzymes (eg, chlorophyllase, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, etc.) that may cause undesired discoloration, deterioration, etc. of green plants.

The green plant thus pretreated is squeezed after appropriately adding water. Squeezing can be easily performed according to a method known per se, for example, by combining mechanical crushing means such as a mixer, a juicer and the like with solid-liquid separation means such as centrifugation and filtration. The green juice of the edible green plant thus obtained is then used with a base and has a pH of 6.2 to 9.5, preferably pH 6.5.
It is adjusted to be in the range of 5 to 8.5, more preferably in the range of about 6.5 to 7.5.

Examples of the base that can be used for adjusting the pH include alkali metals or alkaline earth metals such as sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, calcium carbonate, and sodium bicarbonate. Hydroxide, carbonate or bicarbonate; ammonium hydroxide; glutamate such as calcium glutamate; seaweed ash extract and the like.

The vegetable green juice to be treated according to the present invention is prepared by subjecting the green juice to an instantaneous heat treatment at any time after the separation of the green juice and before the drying treatment to remove an undesired enzyme involved in discoloration and alteration. degradation or inactivated and also can be carried out also as sterilization of bacteria which may be contaminated. This process, at normal pressure,
Alternatively, the treatment can be performed under reduced pressure or under increased pressure. For example, processing conditions of 90 to 150 ° C. for about 180 seconds to 2 seconds can be adopted. After this treatment, it is desirable to rapidly cool, particularly to 10 ° C. or less.

[0013] The vegetable green juice whose pH has been adjusted as described above,
Spray-dry or freeze-dry, preferably spray-dry as soon as possible. Spray drying or freeze drying can be carried out in a manner known per se.

For example, in the case of spray drying, 120 to 20
Heat spray drying using hot air at 0 ° C., preferably about 140 to 170 ° C., or room temperature spray drying in air dried with a suitable drying agent, for example, lithium chloride or the like. In freeze-drying, the temperature of the drying plate is 40 to 5
A condition of 0 ° C. and a degree of vacuum of about 1.0 to 0.01 mmHg is usually adopted.

The concentration of the green juice to be subjected to the drying step is 1.
Within the range of about 5 to 30%, the highest possible concentration is preferable. When concentrating for this purpose, a continuous thin film concentrator,
A vacuum concentrator or the like can be used. Furthermore, in the above operation, if necessary, air is replaced with an inert gas such as nitrogen, argon, or the like, an oxygen absorbent such as glucose oxidase is enclosed, or kept at a low temperature or shielded from light. The means alone or in combination,
It is also possible to prevent discoloration and deterioration in the transfer and storage of plant green juice until subjected to the drying step.

The plant green juice powder thus obtained is
Then, it is extracted with water to remove water-soluble components. This water extraction can be performed, for example, by suspending the vegetable green juice powder in water and stirring. At that time, the amount of water used for the plant green juice powder is not strictly limited and can be varied over a wide range. Usually, water is 2 to 50 l, especially 5 to 20 l per kg of vegetable green juice powder.
Is appropriate.

This water extraction can be repeated until the water-soluble components in the plant green juice powder are substantially completely removed. Verifying water-soluble components have been removed, for example, in the wash liquor ^{K +, Na +, Ca 2+} , Mg
Cations such as ²⁺ or NO ₃ ⁻ , Cl ⁻ , SO ₄ ²⁻
And the like can be determined by quantifying anions such as

The above-mentioned water extraction can be usually performed at room temperature, but may be performed under heating up to about 50 ° C. in some cases.

By the above-described water extraction operation, water-soluble components contained in the vegetable green juice powder, for example, Na ⁺ , K ⁺ , Mg
²⁺ , Ca ²⁺ , Cl ⁻ , NO ₂ ⁻ , SO ₄ ²⁻ , PO ₄ ³⁻ , Si
^{2- and} other cations and anions; acetic acid, formic acid, citric acid,
Organic acids such as tartaric acid and succinic acid; water-soluble proteins, sugars,
Amino acids and the like are removed to obtain a water-insoluble plant powder rich in chlorophyll, lipids, water-insoluble proteins, polysaccharides, fat-soluble vitamins, and bound minerals bound to proteins or sugars. When barley leaves before maturation are used as raw materials, n-hexacosyl alcohol and β-sitosterol having anticholesterol activity and 2 ″-having antioxidant activity are added in addition to the above components. A plant powder rich in O-glucosylisovitexin and the like is obtained.

The water-insoluble fraction of the plant green juice thus obtained is then extracted with a polar organic solvent. Examples of polar organic solvents that can be used in this extraction include alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, n-propanol and 2-propanol; ketones such as acetone and methyl ethyl ketone; ethers such as ethyl ether; ethyl acetate and methyl acetate. And the like, and these can be used alone or in combination of two or more. Among them, a mixed solvent of alcohols and ketones, particularly a mixed solvent of ethanol and acetone, is optimal. The weight ratio of ethanol / acetone in the mixed solvent is usually 10/1 to 1/10.
It is preferably in the range of 0, especially 2/1 to 1/10.

The amount of the polar organic solvent used in the above extraction is not strictly limited, and can be varied over a wide range depending on the type of the solvent to be used. For example, an optimal ethanol / acetone mixed solvent (weight Ratio 1 /
When 100 to 100/1) is used, the mixed solvent is generally 50 parts per 100 g of the water-insoluble fraction of the vegetable green juice powder.
It is suitably used at a rate of 0 to 5000 ml, especially 700 to 2000 ml.

The extraction can be carried out at a temperature of about 5 ° C. to about 70 ° C., usually at room temperature (about 15 ° C.).
約 25 ° C.) is sufficient. The extraction time can be about 30 minutes to about 20 hours, preferably about 2 to about 15 hours under the above conditions. Further, the extraction may be performed with stirring, or may be performed with standing.

After extraction, insoluble solids are removed by a usual solid-liquid separation operation, for example, filtration, centrifugation, etc., to obtain an extract. The organic solvent is removed from the obtained extract by distillation under reduced pressure (under vacuum), distillation, or the like to obtain a green extract.

This extract may be added with dextrin, cyclodextrin, starch, maltose, maltitol, glucose, fructose and other excipients, if necessary, and then dried under reduced pressure, spray-dried, freeze-dried, etc. by drying, it is possible to obtain a coloring matter substance powder vivid green.

The pH of the aqueous dispersion of the above extract is about 6.5, but after adding the above-mentioned base to the extract or the extract to adjust the pH to about 7.5, the pH is adjusted to about 7.5. When dried as described above, a dry powder can be obtained which completely dissolves in water to give a bright green transparent solution.

The above as to a green pigment substance powder obtained contains as a main component Kurorofui Le, its addition to and contains the fat-soluble vitamins, etc., a further leaf and stem before maturity of barley as a raw material When used, it also contains n-hexacosyl alcohol having anticholesterol activity, β-sitosterol, 2 ″ -O-glucosylisovitexin having antioxidant activity, and the like.

As described above, the pigment substance powder of the present invention comprises:
It is excellent in storage stability, contains a large amount of chlorophyll, and has a bright green color, so that it can be used as a food coloring material for coloring various foods, for example.

Further, the coloring matter substance of the present invention has a refreshing sweet taste and can be used for eating and drinking as it is.
If necessary, inclusion with cyclodextrin, crown ether or the like can be performed. In addition, excipients, extenders, binders, thickeners, emulsifiers, coloring agents, flavors, food additives, mixed with seasonings, etc., depending on the application, powder, granules,
It can also be formed into pellets, tablets, oils and the like.

Thus, the coloring matter substance of the present invention can be used for various foods and drinks, for example, various processed foods such as processed products of barley young leaves, processed vegetables, processed seaweeds, canned foods, bottled foods, processed meats and the like; It can be blended with soups, snacks, drinks, breads, noodles, etc. and provided for eating and drinking.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples.

[0031]

Example 1 Green leaves of young barley leaves (leaves and stems of barley before the maturation stage) were thoroughly washed, crushed and squeezed with a mixer, and fiber residue was filtered off to obtain green juice. Sodium hydroxide was added to 100 liters of the green juice to adjust the pH of the green juice to 7.2, and then spray-dried at a blowing temperature of 170 ° C. to obtain 4.3 kg of green juice powder.

1 kg of this green juice powder was suspended in 20 l of water, stirred for 30 minutes with a paddle-type stirrer, and then centrifuged (3500 rpm) to collect solids, dispersed in water and sent at a blowing temperature of 170 ° C. Spray dry with water insoluble barley powder 450
g was obtained.

The water-insoluble barley powder 200 thus obtained
g in acetone-ethanol (4: 1 by weight) mixed solvent 1
2,000 ml was added, and the mixture was extracted with stirring for 2 hours, and then filtered to obtain 980 ml of a filtrate (pH 6.8).
To the filtrate, 5 ml of a 10% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution was added and mixed, and the mixture was kept at 50 ° C. for 1 hour (the pH of the solution was 9.3 at this time).
50 g of a paste-like concentrate were obtained.

200 g of lactose was mixed with the concentrate and dried under reduced pressure to obtain 210 g of a dry powder. This dry powder had a bright green color and contained 1.25% chlorophyll.

Example 2 700 ml of a mixed solvent of acetone and ethanol (weight ratio 5: 1) was added to 200 g of the barley powder obtained in Example 1, stirred for 5 hours, and filtered to obtain 870 ml of an extract. The extract is vacuum-concentrated at 32 to 35 ° C., and dextrin (120 g) is added to the obtained concentrate, which is spray-dried under the conditions of a solid concentration of 25% by weight, an inlet temperature of 170 ° C., and an outlet temperature of 120 ° C. 145 g of a dry powder were obtained. The chlorophyll content was 1.52%.

Example 3 In Example 2, acetone-ethanol (weight ratio: 5:
1) The same operation as in Example 2 was performed except that an acetone-ethanol (weight ratio: 1: 1) mixed solvent was used instead of the mixed solvent. As a result, 120 g of a green dry powder was obtained. Chlorophyll content 1.38%.

Example 4 100 kg of kale was washed and squeezed in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain 95 l of juice, and the juice was spray-dried to obtain 4.1 kg of kale green juice powder. . After suspending this green juice powder in 10 l of water and stirring for 30 minutes with a paddle-type stirrer, the solid content was collected by centrifugation, dispersed in water and spray-dried at a blowing temperature of 170 ° C. Less pungent,
2.3 kg of green kale powder containing fat-soluble vitamins such as chlorophyll, carotene and vitamin E was obtained. The obtained kale powder was subjected to a solvent extraction treatment in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain 187 g of a dry powder. The dried powder was bright green and contained 0.43% chlorophyll.

Example 5 2 g of the green coloring matter obtained in Example 1 was replaced with granulated sugar 70
g, 30 g of starch syrup and 0.5 g of fragrance were obtained to obtain a novel candy having a bright green color and being stable and excellent in palatability.

Example 6 2 g of the green coloring matter obtained in Example 2 and dextrin 88
g, fish oil refined substance 150 g and beeswax 2 as dispersant
5 g were mixed and 270 mg each was filled in a soft capsule in a conventional manner to produce a green fish oil food.

Example 7 The green coloring matter obtained in Example 1 was used as a raw material for bread (strong flour 300
g, granulated sugar 20 g, yeast 3.4 g, salt 50
g, 250 g of water, and 20 g of butter), and the bread was manufactured by a normal bread manufacturing formula and method.

The obtained bread has a bright green color and is aromatic.
Was a good quality bread product. Example 8 0.5 parts of the green pigment substance obtained in Example 1 (weight basis, hereinafter
The same is used for the following ingredients which are ingredients for ice cream:In the ice cream manufacturing process.
An ice cream was produced. The resulting ice cream is fresh
It had a bright green color.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for extracting a green plant juice obtained by squeezing a fresh raw leaf stem of barley before maturation with water.
The water-insoluble fraction obtained by removing the water-soluble component to obtain a ethanol / acetone weight ratio of 2/1 to 1
Chlorophyll obtained by extraction with a mixed solvent of ethanol and acetone within 1/10 of the range
A bright green pigment substance contained as a component.