JP3253483B2 - Method for producing erythritol crystal powder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used for producing erythritol crystal powder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Erythritol has a molecular weight of 122 and a melting point of 1.
It is a 4-carbon sugar alcohol that is a crystal or powder at 19 ° C., soluble in water, has good sweetness, and has a sweetness of about 80% of sugar. Erythritol, unlike other sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, is well absorbed from the small intestine, so it is unlikely to cause osmotic diarrhea in the large intestine, is non-cariogenic, and does not cause browning with amino acids and proteins It is a carbohydrate-based material with properties.
It is found in lichens, mushrooms, and other fruits, such as pears, grapes, watermelons, and melons, and is also included in fermented foods such as wine, sake, and soy sauce. It is an extremely safe material.

Erythritol is well absorbed from the small intestine, but is excreted in urine as it is without any metabolism in the living body. Therefore, its effective energy value is extremely low and its physiological energy value is at most 0.3 Kcal / g. It has been reported (Journal of the Japanese Society of Clinical Nutrition 11 (2), 13-19, 1990). Utilizing its high-quality sweetness, non-cariogenic, and ultra-low energy properties, it is widely used for foods such as beverages and confectionery, and recently as a pharmaceutical additive. . Erythritol is known to be produced by a chemical synthesis method or a fermentation method using a certain kind of yeast strain (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 60-110295 and 63-196298). The commercial production method of erythritol is carried out by a fermentation method using glucose as a raw material, and a crystal powder as a final product is produced from an aqueous solution by a crystallization method (JP-A-5-32570, JP-A-5-32570). 6-
No. 9455).

[0004] However, although the crystallization method is excellent for the purpose of obtaining erythritol of high purity, the loss to the mother liquor is large and a decrease in the erythritol yield cannot be avoided. The decrease in yield has a significant effect on cost, and the crystallization method itself must be carried out by strictly controlling and controlling the concentration of erythritol, crystallization temperature, temperature at the time of seeding, and seeding amount. No. As a powdering method instead of the crystallization method, for example, there is a method by spray drying described in JP-A-4-335870. According to this method, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the yield of erythritol,
A considerable amount of thermal energy is required for drying, and the running cost is increased. Further, since the mechanical equipment of the spray dryer itself is expensive, a large amount of expense is required for the equipment. Furthermore, because the obtained crystals are fine powder,
Not only does the dust cause poor workability, but the bulk of the product also increases, which increases the size of the packaging container and affects the cost. As described above, the spray-drying method has the advantage of not lowering the yield of the product, but on the whole, it is not a preferable method because it greatly affects the cost.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a simple and easy method other than the crystallization method, which tends to reduce the yield, and the spray drying method, which causes high costs due to equipment costs and drying costs. Another object of the present invention is to find a method for producing erythritol crystal powder at low cost.

[0006]

As a result of intensive studies, the present inventor has found that this problem can be solved by using a kneading method. That is, the present invention kneads a high-purity, high-concentration erythritol aqueous solution,
This is a method for producing erythritol crystal powder, which comprises crushing or drying a solidified product obtained as required.

The erythritol used in the present invention is usually produced by a fermentation method using erythritol-producing bacteria, but may be produced by other chemical synthesis methods or other methods. Can be used. The kneading method according to the present invention means that a high-purity, high-concentration erythritol aqueous solution or a slurry-like liquid in which crystals are slightly precipitated is crystallized while kneading or stirring and mixing while cooling without separating the mother liquor. Is a method for producing an erythritol crystal powder by pulverizing or drying a solidified product obtained by the above method. The mechanical device for kneading does not require a special kneading device because the viscosity of a highly concentrated aqueous solution of erythritol or a slurry-like liquid in which crystals are partially deposited is low, and any device capable of heating, cooling, keeping warm, stirring and mixing can be used. Such a device may be used. Single-screw and twin-screw extruders (extruders) are particularly suitable for the practice of the present invention because they can easily control the temperature and have a strong kneading force. In this case, if the production conditions are appropriate, erythritol can be obtained as a crystalline powder from the outlet.

In the present invention, the erythritol aqueous solution has a purity of usually at least 80%, preferably 90%, based on the solid content.
Above, particularly preferably 95% or more is provided for kneading. If the purity is less than 80%, stable crystalline powder may not be obtained unless honey separation (separation of crystals and mother liquor) is performed in some cases, which is not preferable. Further, the glycerin content contained as an impurity is preferably 1% or less, more preferably 0.5% or less. If it exceeds 1%, the crystal powder becomes sticky,
Moreover, it is not preferable as a product, for example, the hygroscopicity is increased. Adjustment of purity is usually performed by a chromatographic separation apparatus. In the present invention, the erythritol aqueous solution has a solid content of 80%.
% Or more, preferably 90% or more, particularly preferably 95%
The above is provided for kneading. If it is less than 80%, the purity of erythritol may cause the necessity of nectar, resulting in a decrease in yield. When the concentration of the aqueous solution is 90% or less, the generated crystal powder may have a high moisture content and may be wet. In such a case, it may be dried. The dryer does not require any special equipment, and a normal dryer such as a hot air dryer is sufficient. Further, depending on the purity of erythritol and the concentration of the aqueous solution, the obtained crystals may be in a lump. In such a case, the lump of erythritol is not so strong and can be easily pulverized by a pulverizer or the like.

[0009] The temperature of the erythritol aqueous solution at the start of kneading is usually 50 ° C to 150 ° C, preferably 80 ° C to 150 ° C.
° C, more preferably 85 ° C to 140 ° C. 50 ℃
Below, a large amount of erythritol crystals are precipitated,
Depending on the type of kneading machine, it is difficult to make the crystal grain size uniform. On the other hand, when the temperature exceeds 150 ° C., it causes coloring. At the time of kneading, even if the seed crystal is not added, the crystallization is hardly affected even if it is not added. However, when it is added as needed, the addition amount may be extremely small and may be added to several% or less.

The method of producing erythritol crystal powder by the kneading method has not been reported so far, and its operation is simpler and less costly than conventional techniques such as crystallization and spray drying. This is a very industrially useful method, for example, because erythritol crystal powder can be produced by the method described above.

[0011]

EXAMPLES Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to the examples. Example 1 (a) 15 L of a sterilized liquid medium containing 40% glucose and 6.8% corn steep liquor is placed in a 30 L fermenter, and the pH of the medium is adjusted to 4.2 with sodium hydroxide. Erythritol-producing bacteria (Microtechnical Research Institute No. 1430 (Microtechnical Research Laboratories)
Transferred from Bacillus No. 8940)) Seed culture grown
Add 900ml, temperature 35 ℃, ventilation rate 1vvm, rotation speed 400rpm
For 4 days. Remove the cells from the fermentation broth,
Then, erythritol purity was 96% by chromatographic separation.
After the adjustment, an activated carbon treatment is performed after the deionization treatment with the ion exchange resin. This treatment solution is concentrated under reduced pressure by a concentrator at a bath temperature of 130 ° C., and a 96% (W / W) concentration hot aqueous solution (temperature 112
° C). (B) 3 kg of the hot aqueous solution obtained in (a) was transferred to a confectionery mixer (manufactured by Aiko Mixer, manufactured by Aikosha), and stirred at room temperature for 18 hours.
The mixture is stirred and kneaded at 0 rpm. Crystals are gradually precipitated, but the kneading is continued as it is to completely crystallize in the kneading machine to obtain 2.84 kg of erythritol crystal powder. The composition of the crystal powder is erythritol content 98.1%, glycerin content 0.2
%, The oligosaccharide content was 1.7%, and the loss on drying was 0.6%.

Example 2 The content per solid content was composed of 85% erythritol, 0.5% glycerin and 14.5% of other oligosaccharide components.
Transfer 5 kg of a 2% (W / W) hot aqueous solution (liquid temperature 100 ° C) to a kneading machine for crystal precipitation (tabletop batch kneader, manufactured by Irie Shokai), and knead at room temperature with a stirring speed of 90 rpm. I do. Immediately after the stirring is started, the slurry is formed, but the stirring is further continued, and the stirring and kneading are continued until the temperature reaches room temperature. The obtained bulk crystals were pulverized to obtain 4.56 kg of erythritol crystal powder. The loss on drying was 0.7%.

Example 3 5 kg of an erythritol aqueous solution (liquid temperature: 85 ° C.) having a purity of 92% and a concentration of 85% (w / w) is charged into a confectionery mixer, 50 g of seed crystals are added, and the mixture is stirred and kneaded at 180 rpm. Kneading was continued until the temperature reached room temperature to obtain erythritol crystals. Since this crystal was in a slightly wet state, it was dried with a hot air drier at 55 ° C. to obtain 4.07 kg of crystal powder having a loss on drying of 0.2%.

[0014]

According to the present invention, a high-purity and high-concentration erythritol aqueous solution can be entirely converted into a crystal powder without separating a mother liquor, and therefore, compared with the conventional methods such as crystallization and spray drying. Thus, cost reduction including improvement in yield can be realized, which is suitable as an industrial production method.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A23L 1/22-1/24

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] Claims: 1. An erythritol containing at least 80% of a solid content.
Glycerin content in solid content is 1% or less
A method for producing erythritol crystal powder, comprising kneading a high-purity and high-concentration erythritol aqueous solution having a solid content of 80% or more, and pulverizing or drying a solidified product obtained as required. 2. A composition containing at least 80% erythritol in the solid content.
Glycerin content in solid content is 1% or less
A method for producing an erythritol crystal powder, comprising adding a seed crystal to a high-purity and high-concentration erythritol aqueous solution having a solid content of 80% or more, kneading the resultant, and pulverizing or drying a solid obtained as required. . 3. The erythritol aqueous solution having a high purity and a high concentration is erythritol having a solid content of 90% or more and containing erythritol in a solid content of 90% or more. The method for producing erythritol crystal powder of the present invention. 4. The high-purity, high-concentration erythritol aqueous solution is erythritol having a solid content of 95% or more and containing erythritol in a solid content of 95% or more. The method for producing erythritol crystal powder of the present invention. 5. The temperature of the erythritol aqueous solution at the start of kneading is 80 ° C. to 150 ° C.
5. The method for producing an erythritol crystal powder according to claim 4 . 6. The temperature of the aqueous erythritol solution at the start of kneading is 85 ° C. to 140 ° C.
A method for producing erythritol crystal powder according to claim 5 .