JP3138418B2 - Plant freshness preserving agent and plant freshness preserving method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a highly safe freshness preservative which delays automatic deterioration of fruits and vegetables to enhance preservability, and is also effective in preventing quality deterioration due to contaminating bacteria.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for maintaining the freshness of fruits, vegetables and flowers, it is considered that the most effective means is to remove ethylene, which is a cause of deterioration of freshness, and various ethylene removing agents have been studied. However, some lose their effects in the presence of moisture, some have a short duration of effect, some exhibit significant toxicity, and are safe and crucially effective ethylene under more universal conditions. Removers have not yet been developed. In addition, antibacterial agents (preservatives) have been used to remove contaminating bacteria that cause quality deterioration, but all are highly toxic,
It is hard to say that it is an eco-friendly and safe substance, and leaves a problem.

[0003]

As effective means for maintaining freshness, firstly, removal of ethylene which is considered to be a cause of deterioration of freshness, and secondly, preventive measures against contaminating bacteria can be considered.
It is considered that the main cause of freshness deterioration is ethylene generated by fruits and vegetables. In addition, the occurrence of contaminating bacteria accompanying the deterioration of freshness significantly lowers the commercial value.
In order to maintain freshness and prevent a reduction in commercial value, it is necessary to use a substance which has the effect of removing ethylene, suppressing the generation of ethylene, and suppressing the contamination of microorganisms such as molds and bacteria. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a safe and safe freshness preserving agent having both an ethylene removing effect, an ethylene generation suppressing effect, and an antibacterial effect.

[0004]

The above object is achieved by the present invention described below. That is, the present invention relates to cinnamic acid, cinnamic acid.
Methyl ester, ethyl ester of cinnamic acid, caffeic acid and Vanilj down or selected at least a plant for freshness keeping agent characterized by containing one or freshness holding method of the plant is.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to embodiments of the present invention. In the present invention, a plant freshness preserving agent
To that of compound used as the Ke torquecontrol acid, copolymers Hi acid, Ba two <br/> phosphorus,及 Beauty derivatives thereof. These are lignin components
All of these are known compounds as decomposed products, and particularly preferred is cinnamic acid or a derivative thereof (such as methyl ester or ethyl ester ) . Of course, these substances can be used alone or as a mixture.

The use form of the freshness preserving agent of the present invention is not particularly limited, but at least one of the above-mentioned substances may be powdered or granulated together with various additives as necessary, or may be supported on a suitable carrier. Or as a solution. To maintain the freshness of plants such as fruits and vegetables, it is necessary to co-exist in the same atmosphere and freshness retaining agent of the freshness-preserving plants and the present invention. The mode of coexistence of the freshness-preserving plant and the freshness-preserving agent is also not particularly limited. An embodiment is mentioned. In any of the coexisting aspects, the amount of the freshness preserving agent of the present invention is not particularly limited.

[0007] Lignin hydrolyzate, which has attracted attention as a freshness maintaining substance, has an effect of suppressing various contaminating bacteria such as fruits and vegetables in addition to an effect of maintaining freshness. Therefore, by using this substance as a freshness preserving agent, the generation of bacteria and fungi can be suppressed, and the freshness preserving effect can be further ensured together with the ethylene generation suppressing effect.

[0008] The maintenance of plant freshness by lignin decomposition products
It is thought to be performed by the following mechanism. Ethylene is generated by phenylalanine ammonia lyase (P
AL). PAL is also referred to as an enzyme that causes aging in plants. When the activity of PAL increases, the production of various secondary metabolites accumulated during the maturation and aging processes such as polyphenols and anthocyanin pigments is promoted. . Ethylene is known to enhance the activity of various enzymes including PAL, but when ethylene switches on the gene responsible for aging, the ethylene biosynthesis-related enzyme [1-aminocyclopropane 1 -Carboxylic acids (AC
C) synthase and ACC oxidase] are also activated, and the biosynthesis of ethylene of the plant is promoted. That is, ethylene further promotes the biosynthesis of ethylene.

On the other hand, lignin degradation products such as cinnamic acid and its derivatives are considered to inhibit PAL activity contrary to the action of ethylene. Inhibition of PAL activity suppresses the formation of aging-related compounds such as polyphenols and anthocyanin dyes, and reduces ACC.
The synthesis process and the ACC oxidation process are affected, and the ethylene biosynthesis of the plant is suppressed.

[0010]

Next, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples. In the following, "parts" and "%" are based on weight unless otherwise specified.

Example 1 A 0.03% cinnamic acid solution 5 was placed in a brown wide-mouthed bottle (600 ml).
0 ml was added, and 5 g of absorbent cotton was further added to the cinnamic acid solution. A paper cup with a hole in the side wall was attached to the mouth of the jar, and a quarter of an apple (50 g) was put in the mouth. The mouth of the jar was sealed with parafilm, and the lid was tightly closed. In this state, the mixture was allowed to stand at room temperature for a predetermined period, and the ethylene concentration in the wide-mouthed bottle was measured using a gas detection tube manufactured by Gastech (the same applies to the following examples), and at the same time, the state of the apple was observed. The same set using 50 ml of distilled water instead of the cinnamic acid solution was prepared as a control. Table 1 shows the above results. From these results, it was revealed that the cinnamic acid solution suppressed the generation of ethylene from apples and prevented the mold contamination of apples.

[0012]

Table 1 Table 1 Effect of cinnamic acid solution on the generation of ethylene and antifungal effect on apple The numbers in the table indicate the ethylene concentration. The symbols in parentheses indicate the contamination of apple pieces by mold. -: Mold colonies were not confirmed. +: Mold colonies were confirmed. ++: The surface was considerably contaminated with mold.

Example 2 40 g of mini tomatoes (3
2 g of cinnamic acid or vanillin wrapped in Kimwipe (manufactured by Jujo Kimberly) was placed in this conical beaker, the mouth of the beaker was sealed with parafilm, and left at room temperature. Three days after this, the ethylene concentration in the beaker was measured. The result is compared with the result of the control using only Kimwipe without adding the sample, and is shown in Table 2 . As is clear from these results, it is understood that cinnamic acid and vanillin have an effect of suppressing the generation of ethylene from mini tomatoes.

[0014]

TABLE 2 cinnamic acid and ethylene generation suppression effect from vanillin mini tomatoes

Example 3 A conical beaker containing the mini tomato used in Example 2 was allowed to stand at room temperature for 17 days (20 days after the sample was added) after measuring the ethylene concentration. The mini tomatoes in the beaker to which cinnamic acid or vanillin was added and the mini tomatoes in the control beaker were observed and compared. Table 3 shows the results. As is clear from these results, it is understood that cinnamic acid and vanillin have the effect of suppressing the contaminating bacteria of mini tomato and delaying the quality deterioration.

[0016]

[Table 3] Table 3 Status of mini tomatoes 20 days after sample addition

Example 4 Escherichia coli (IAM1268) and Staphylococcus aureus (IAM1011)
NB (meat nutrition) liquid medium (composition:
10 g of meat extract, 10 g of peptone, 5 g of NaCl, 1 liter of distilled water, pH 7.2) were cultured with shaking at 37 ° C. for 16 hours.
A cell suspension was prepared. 5 ml of a 200-fold diluted solution of this cell suspension was placed in a 25-ml L-shaped tube, and 0.005 g of each of cinnamic acid and caffeic acid as a sample was added thereto, followed by shaking culture at 37 ° C. for 24 hours. The number of viable bacteria in the diluent was measured by the plate dilution method. The survival rate of each bacterium at the time of adding the sample was calculated by comparing the value of the viable cell count of the control performed in the same manner as described above except that the sample was not added. Table 4 shows the results. As evident from the results, cinnamic acid and caffeic acid significantly reduced the viability of the bacteria Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus,
It turns out that it has an antibacterial effect against these bacteria.

[0018]

[Table 4 antibacterial effect of cinnamic acid and caffeic acid

[0019]

According to the present invention described above, the freshness of plants is maintained, and contamination by molds and bacteria is suppressed, so that the effect of maintaining freshness can be surely exhibited.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI A23B 7/153 A23B 7/156 (56) References Chemical Abstracts, (1993) Vol. 119, No. 1, p. 790 (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A23B ⁷ /00-7/16 A01G 5/06 CA (STN) JICST file (JOIS)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. Cinnamic acid, methyl ester of cinnamic acid,
Ethyl ester of cinnamic acid, caffeic acid and Vanilj down or <br/> et selected at least a plant for freshness keeping agent and freshness holding method of a plant characterized in that it contains one element. 2. A method for maintaining freshness of a plant, wherein a freshness maintaining plant and the freshness maintaining agent according to claim 1 coexist in the same atmosphere.