JP3516298B2 - Coagulant composition for tofu - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a coagulant composition for tofu. Specifically, for example, by controlling the coagulation rate of an inorganic salt-based coagulant having a high coagulation rate of soymilk, such as magnesium chloride, the internal phase is fine and homogeneous, the water retention is good, and the tofu with excellent flavor can be produced. The present invention relates to a coagulant composition.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, inorganic salts such as magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, calcium chloride and calcium sulfate, or organic acids such as gluconodeltalactone have been used as coagulants for tofu. In particular, magnesium chloride has long been used as bitter juice in the production of tofu, and tofu using this has been preferred by consumers because it has a unique taste, but its coagulation rate is extremely fast, and "cotton tofu" is At any rate, it was difficult for "silk tofu," which is not subjected to secondary molding, to make tofu with a fine internal phase and without being highly skilled.

Therefore, bitter broth is only partially used in hand-made tofu stores and the like, and it was extremely difficult to use it in mass production on a factory scale. Magnesium sulfate and calcium chloride also have similar physical properties to magnesium chloride and have a fast solidification rate, and it is not easy to use them.
Therefore, since calcium sulfate has a relatively slow coagulation rate, it is widely used today, but the flavor of tofu using this does not reach the flavor of tofu using magnesium chloride,
It is hard to say that it is always accepted by consumers. On the other hand, glucono-delta-lactone has recently become a “silk tofu” because it is easy to coagulate and to obtain tofu with a homogeneous inner phase.
However, it has a problem in terms of flavor because the soybean curd remains in the finished tofu.

As described above, tofu using magnesium chloride as a coagulant is the most excellent in terms of flavor. Therefore, various methods have been proposed so far in order to control the solidification rate of magnesium chloride and easily make delicious tofu with a fine and homogeneous internal phase without special techniques.

For example, JP-A-60-248148 discloses a method of using magnesium chloride with a sequestering agent, and JP-A-61-88849 discloses a method of using magnesium chloride with an organic acid salt. ing.
However, these are still unsatisfactory in effect, and the taste of the combination is impaired in the flavor of tofu, which is not preferable. or,
JP-A-2-203758 discloses a method of coating a rapid-acting coagulant powder with pullulan.
In this method, the manufacturing process of the preparation is complicated and pullulan is water-soluble, so that the control of the coagulation rate is insufficient.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-5581 discloses a method in which bitter juice is homogenized by adding a small amount of water and a dispersant (a mixture of edible oil and fat, phospholipid, emulsifier and hot water in advance). However, the coagulation rate is still insufficiently controlled. Furthermore, JP-A-5-304923, JP-A-10-57002 and JP-A-10-1.
Japanese Patent No. 79072 discloses a method in which an inorganic salt-based coagulant is used in combination with a specific emulsifier such as polyglycerin fatty acid ester and fats and oils, but this method requires a special mechanical technique to control the coagulation rate and is practically used. There are restrictions in.

On the other hand, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 56-39177 discloses a method in which a coagulant in the form of powder particles is added to soymilk in a state of being dispersed in a water-insoluble or sparingly soluble liquid substance.
Although this method is simple, it is preferred 5
With a particle size of -100 mesh, the coagulant concentration in soymilk is uneven because the particles of the coagulant are coarse, and the whole tofu cannot be coagulated uniformly, and the internal phase of the finished tofu is rough and uneven. Will be things.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention controls the soy milk coagulation rate of a coagulant such as magnesium chloride, which cannot be solved by the prior art, and has a fine internal phase, good water retention, and excellent flavor. It is an object to provide an inorganic salt-based coagulant composition capable of producing tofu.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of intensive studies in view of the above problems, the present inventors have found that an inorganic fatty acid ester of a polyhydric alcohol which is poorly soluble in water such as fats and oils as an inorganic coagulant in powder form. In the method of coagulating soymilk by using it in a state of being dispersed therein, the particle size of the inorganic salt-based coagulant is an important factor, which is different from the content disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-39177. We found that when the particle size of the inorganic salt-based coagulant was smaller than a certain size, the coagulation rate slowed down, and based on this finding, the coagulation rate of soymilk was controlled, and the internal phase was fine and homogeneous with water retention and flavor. The present inventors have found a method for preparing a coagulant composition that makes it possible to produce good tofu.

[0010]

[0011]

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Examples of the inorganic salt-based coagulant used in the present invention include magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate and calcium chloride. These inorganic salts may be either anhydrous or containing water of crystallization. These inorganic salt-based coagulants may be used alone or as a mixture of two or more, but magnesium chloride is preferably used alone from the viewpoint of the flavor of tofu.

[0013]

Examples of the aliphatic fatty acid ester of a water-insoluble polyhydric alcohol used in the present invention include glycerin fatty acid ester, propylene glycol fatty acid ester, sorbitan fatty acid ester, polyglycerin fatty acid ester and polyglycerin condensed ricinoleic acid ester. Therefore, it is possible to use a poorly soluble one. As glycerin fatty acid ester, refined beef tallow, refined lard, palm oil, soybean oil, corn oil, rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil and other animal and vegetable oils and fats, fractionated oils thereof, transesterified or hydrogenated, or caprylic acid, capric acid. Esters of glycerin with fatty acids such as lauric acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid and erucic acid can be used.

As the propylene glycol fatty acid ester, sorbitan fatty acid ester and polyglycerin fatty acid ester, an ester obtained by a known technique such as an esterification reaction of the above fatty acid with propylene glycol, sorbitan and polyglycerin can be used.

The polyglycerin condensed ricinoleic acid ester is obtained by an esterification reaction of polyglycerin and a condensate of ricinoleic acid.

In the present invention, the aliphatic fatty acid ester of these polyhydric alcohols is selected from among them.
The fatty acid may be used in the form of one kind or a mixture of two or more kinds, and the constituent fatty acid may be saturated or unsaturated, but from the viewpoint of practicality, it is preferably liquid at room temperature.

The blending ratio of the inorganic salt type coagulant in the coagulant composition of the present invention is in the range of 5 to 70% by weight, preferably 10 to 50% by weight. If the blending ratio of the inorganic salt-based coagulant is 70% by weight or more, it becomes difficult to prepare the composition, and if it is less than 5% by weight, the coagulant composition needs to be used in a large amount with respect to soymilk, which is not economical. It also has an unfavorable effect on the physical properties and flavor of tofu.

[0019]

It is essential that the maximum particle size of the inorganic salt-based coagulant in the coagulant composition used in the present invention is 50 μm or less, more preferably 30 μm or less. As described above, in JP-B-56-39177, 5 to 100 mesh (4,000 to 150 µm) is used.
m) is a preferable particle, and it is stated that the smaller the particle size, the faster the solidification rate. On the other hand, the present invention is characterized in that the inorganic salt coagulant is made into fine particles. Adsorption of the aliphatic fatty acid ester of a polyhydric alcohol to the surface of the inorganic salt-based coagulant by finely pulverizing effectively occurs, and as a result, the coagulant uniformly dispersed in soymilk is gradually dissolved to promote coagulation, It is speculated that tofu with a fine internal phase and good water retention can be obtained.

The use of a wet pulverizer is suitable for atomizing the inorganic salt-based coagulant in the present invention. The inorganic salt-based coagulant used in the present invention has a high hygroscopicity, and since the crystal is soft, it is difficult to make the inorganic salt-based coagulant into fine particles by a dry pulverizer, and in addition, it is difficult to make fine particles of the pulverized fine particles. Sub-aggregation is also likely to occur, and dry pulverization is not suitable for producing the coagulant composition of the present invention. As the wet pulverizer, it is preferable to use an existing wet pulverizer generally referred to as a sand mill, a bead mill or a dyno mill, which pulverizes a slurry of a pulverized material in a pulverizing chamber using glass beads, zirconia beads or the like as a medium. When a slurry in which an inorganic salt-based coagulant is dispersed in an aliphatic fatty acid ester of an oily polyhydric alcohol is crushed using these crushers, secondary aggregation does not occur due to the presence of these oily substances, and the inorganic salt-based coagulant is used. The particle size of the coagulant follows a natural law and has a distribution close to a normal distribution. The pulverization is repeated until the maximum particle size of the inorganic salt-based coagulant becomes 50 μm or less, preferably 30 μm or less.
A general-purpose precision analysis instrument such as a laser diffraction particle size distribution measuring instrument is used for measuring the particle size distribution.

The amount of the inorganic salt coagulant composition of the present invention to be used for soymilk is the amount of the inorganic salt coagulant generally used for soymilk, that is, 0.05 to 0.5 as the inorganic salt coagulant.
A weight% range is suitable. Within this range, good tofu can be produced, and can be arbitrarily used for producing silken tofu, soft tofu, cotton tofu, baked tofu, deep-fried tofu, deep-fried tofu, and the like.

[0023]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.
(Samples of Examples and Comparative Examples)

[Example 1] 2,100 g of rapeseed white squeezing oil (Toyoen Seiyaku Co., Ltd.) powdered bittern (Naruto Salt Industry Co., Ltd.)
Magnesium chloride content 95%, particle size 100-1,20
0 μm) 900 g was added and uniformly dispersed, and then Dyno Mill (WAB, Switzerland, zirconia beads 1.5 mm)
Used) 6 times and the particle size distribution of the coagulant is 0.1 to 2
A composition in the range of 0 μm (average particle size 1.3 μm) was obtained.

[Example 2] Polyglycerin condensed ricinoleic acid ester (Riken Vitamin Co., Ltd., Poem PR-3)
00) 1,200 g and propylene glycol oleic acid diester (Riken Vitamin Co., Ltd., Riquemal PO-
200) 1,200 g of powder bittern (Naruto Salt Industry Co., Ltd.,
Magnesium chloride content 95%, particle size 100-1,20
0 μm) 600 g was added and uniformly dispersed, and then Dyno Mill (WAB, Switzerland, Zirconia beads 2.0 mm).
Used) 5 times, the particle size distribution of the coagulant is 5 to 50μ
A composition in the range of m (average particle size 21.6 μm) was obtained.

[0026]

[Comparative Example 1] 1,500 g of corn salad oil (Nikko Oil Co., Ltd.) and 600 g of refined beef tallow (Miyoshi Yushi Co., Ltd.) powder powder bittern (Naruto Salt Industry Co., Ltd., magnesium chloride content 95%, particle size) 100-1,200μ
m) 600 g was added and uniformly dispersed, and then Dyno Mill (WAB Co., Switzerland, using zirconia beads 2.0 mm)
And then sieved using an ASTM type standard sieve to obtain a composition having a coagulant particle size distribution in the range of 60 to 120 μm (average particle diameter 72 μm).

[Comparative Example 2] 600 g of soybean white squeezing oil (Nikko Oil Co., Ltd.) powder bittern (Naruto Salt Industry Co., Ltd., magnesium chloride content 95%, particle size 100 to 1,200 μ)
m) 500 g was added, and TK homomixer MARK-II was added.
(Special Kika Kogyo Co., Ltd.), 1 at 6,000 rpm
The mixture was homogenized for 5 minutes and then sifted using an ASTM type standard sieve to obtain a composition having a coagulant particle size distribution in the range of 80 to 160 μm (average particle diameter 104 μm).

[Comparative Example 3] 600 g powder of rapeseed white squeezing oil (Toyoen Oil Co., Ltd.) powder bittern (Naruto Salt Industry Co., Ltd., magnesium chloride content 95%, particle diameter 100 to 1,200 μ)
m) 400g is added, and three one motor (HEIDO
N company) and stirred at 800 rpm for 30 minutes, and the particle size distribution of the coagulant is 100 to 1,200 μm (average particle size 72
A composition in the range of μm) was obtained.

[Comparative Example 4] Powdered bittern (Naruto Salt Industry Co., Ltd., magnesium chloride content 95%, particle size 100-)
1,200 μm).

[Comparative Example 5] Gluconodelta lactone (Riken Vitamin Co., Ltd., gluconodelta lactone content 99)
%).

(Test and evaluation method)1. Measurement of particle size distribution of coagulant Obtained in Examples 1, 2 and 3 and Comparative Examples 1, 2 and 3.
0.2g of each of the prepared compositions
Co., Ltd.) Evenly dispersed in 200 g, laser diffraction particle size
Distribution meter HORIBA LA-910 (Horiba Seisakusho)
Co., Ltd.).

[0033]2. Measuring the coagulation rate of soymilk Soymilk for silken tofu prepared by a conventional method (liquid temperature 90 ° C,
Brix12^○ ) Pick 2L into a 3L beaker and three
200 using one motor (using propeller type stirring blade)
Coagulant compositions of Examples and Comparative Examples with stirring at rpm
Or add a coagulant, stir for 10 seconds, then stop stirring,
Time until the solidification of soy milk starts from that point
(Sec) was measured. The amount of sample added was set as the coagulant
To 6 g. The coagulation rate of soymilk by this test method is 25-
30 seconds is enough effective in actual manufacturing
Can be determined.

[0034]3. Evaluation of internal phase and flavor of tofu Measure the soy milk that has started to solidify by measuring the soy milk coagulation rate.
Transfer to a rectangular container and age for 30 minutes.
After cooling for an hour, silken tofu was obtained. Next, tofu
Then, a sensory test was conducted by 10 in-house specialized panels, and beans were
The internal phase and flavor of rot are evaluated on a scale of 5 and the evaluation points of each person are summed up.
did. Score 5 Very good Score 4 Good Rating 3 Normal Score 2 Bad Score 1 Very bad

[0035]4. Measurement of water separation rate of tofu Silken tofu obtained by the above method is 70 × 70 × 40 m
Cut into m, put in a closed container and store at 5 ℃ for 24 hours.
It was Next, the tofu weight (A) and the water produced by separating from the tofu
(B) was measured, and the water separation rate was calculated by the following formula.

[0036]5. Evaluation results Table 1 shows the results of measurement and evaluation by the above test.

[0037]

[0038]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, an inorganic salt-based coagulant composition preparation having good storage stability can be prepared, and by using the coagulant composition, no special technique is required, It is possible to make tofu with a fine internal phase, good homogeneity, good water retention, and excellent flavor.

Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-5-304923 (JP, A) JP-A-53-133653 (JP, A) JP-A-60-192564 (JP, A) JP-A-62-175147 (JP , A) JP-A-51-76452 (JP, A) JP-A-60-248148 (JP, A) JP-B-56-39177 (JP, B1) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB) Name) A23L 1/20

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. Magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate,
And a mixture of two or more of calcium chloride
An inorganic salt-based coagulant consisting of a composition obtained by grinding in a wet pulverizer were dispersed in a polyhydric alcohol aliphatic fatty acid esters of poorly water-soluble, inorganic salt-based in the composition A maximum particle diameter of the coagulant is 50 μm or less, a coagulant composition for tofu. 2. The inorganic salt coagulant is magnesium chloride.
The coagulant composition for tofu according to claim 1 , characterized in that