JP4131505B1 - Tofu buffer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tofu buffer capable of preserving tofu for a long period of time, preventing the tofu from being deformed during transportation, and reducing the cost for production and distribution.
SOLUTION: A tofu buffer solution filled in a container for storing tofu, which contains a protective liquid mainly composed of water containing water-soluble dietary fiber and polysaccharide, and the protective liquid is heat-sterilized. Has been.
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Description

  The present invention relates to a tofu buffer solution, and more particularly, to a buffer solution used to keep tofu filled in a container such as a packed container.

Conventionally, tofu sold in supermarkets and the like is often placed in a plastic pack container such as polypropylene or polyethylene containing water. Tofu is a food that has moisture as its main component and is only sterilized at low temperatures, and thus is a food that tends to rot.
In addition, when transporting the tofu contained in the container, the tofu absorbs the impact with the water in the container, but when transported over a long distance, it cannot absorb the impact and is easily deformed. As the number of days elapses, there are various problems such that the umami component of tofu dissolves in water and lowers the taste of tofu.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-116904 discloses an invention of “tofu product and method for producing the same”, and the invention includes a gelled layer such as gelatin gel or carrageenan gel in a container, By immobilizing the tofu, the shape of the tofu caused by shock and vibration during transportation is prevented.
JP-A-8-116904

However, the invention of the “tofu product and method for producing the same” disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-116904 is to eat tofu together with the gelled layer. In addition, when tofu alone is edible, it is unsuitable for texture and form.
In addition, it is difficult to delay the progress of tofu degradation simply by fixing the tofu to the gelled layer, and the shelf life is still short, so the time of each period from tofu production, distribution to consumption is difficult. I can't escape the constraints. For this reason, daily small-volume production has been forced, and there has been a limit to the reduction in manufacturing costs.

The present invention has been proposed in order to deal with the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to enable to preserve tofu for a long period of time and to prevent the tofu from being deformed during transportation. The present invention is to provide a tofu buffer solution that can reduce the production and distribution costs.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 is a tofu buffer solution filled in a container for storing tofu , comprising mannan contained in konjac and water containing trehalose as main components. And a protective liquid which is sterilized by heating.

Invention of Claim 2 adds the freshness maintenance agent to said protection liquid in said 1st, and this freshness preservation agent is one kind of allyl mustard oil, citric acid, herb, vinegar, tea catechin, bamboo extract, or It is characterized by a mixture of a plurality of them .

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, since the protective liquid mainly containing water containing a stabilizer and a polysaccharide is contained, the impact resistance of tofu is improved, and the shape of tofu is improved. Collapse can be prevented. Moreover, since the molecular weight in the liquid is increased by the polysaccharide added to the protective liquid, it is possible to prevent the umami component in the tofu from flowing into the buffer solution and to prevent the tofu from deteriorating. .

In particular, according to the invention described in claim 2 or 3, since a freshness-preserving agent is added to the protective liquid, it becomes possible to prevent the decay of tofu over a long period of time and to preserve the tofu for a long period of time. become.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the tofu buffer according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The buffer solution for tofu according to the present embodiment is composed mainly of a stabilizer, a protective solution mainly containing water containing a polysaccharide, and a freshness-keeping agent.

Examples of the stabilizer contained in the water of the protective liquid include water-soluble dietary fiber such as pectin contained in mannan and fruits contained in konjac, fucoidan and sodium alginate contained in seaweed, corn starch, starch, and the like. , Viscous seeds such as wheat flour, guar gum, tamarind, locust bean gum, sesbania gum, resin viscous materials such as agar, carrageenan, gum arabic, and tragacanth gum, plant viscous materials such as arabinogalactan, and microbial viscosity such as xanthan gum and pullulan Products, gelatin, protein such as casein soda, natural polymer derivatives such as sodium carboxymethylcellulose and carboxymethyl starch, and synthetic polymers such as sodium polyacrylate, and these can be used alone or in combination of two or more. .

In this embodiment, 1 to 10 weight percent of the sterilized mannan solution is added to water. Thus, by adding a stabilizer such as mannan to the protective liquid, the viscosity of the buffer solution increases, so that when the tofu stored in the pack container moves, the buffer solution receives viscous resistance by receiving the viscous resistance. The movement is attenuated and reduced, and as a result, the impact resistance of the tofu can be improved, and the deformation that tends to occur during transportation can be prevented.

In addition, a polysaccharide is added to the protective solution, and trehalose is preferably used as the polysaccharide. The protective liquid containing mannan and trehalose is heat sterilized. In addition, the trehalose as a polysaccharide added to the protective solution is preferably about 3 to 10 weight percent with respect to water.
Thus, since the molecular weight in the protective liquid is greatly increased by containing a polysaccharide such as trehalose in the protective liquid, the entire buffer solution and the molecular weight of the water-soluble component in the tofu are balanced, As a result, it is possible to prevent the umami component in tofu from flowing into the liquid.
In addition to trehalose, the polysaccharide may be a polysaccharide having a high molecular weight such as reduced starch syrup, glucose, maltose, normal starch syrup, special starch syrup, sugar-bound starch syrup, maltodextrin, and natural polysaccharide.

As a freshness-preserving agent added to the protective liquid, for example, 0.05 to 1.0 weight percent of allyl mustard oil extracted from wasabi may be added. In addition to allyl mustard oil, it is possible to use general shelf life improvers such as citric acid, herb, vinegar, tea catechins, and sect of bamboo shoots, which are effective in keeping freshness.

(Example)
FIG. 1 is a graph showing the amount of change in Brix in one embodiment. The tofu buffer of the present example is obtained by adding 2% by weight of a sterilized mannan solution to water and adding 0.1% by weight of allyl mustard oil to a protective solution to which 4% by weight of trehalose is added. Is.

  A specific method for producing the buffer solution of this example is as follows. First, city water is poured into a container such as a kettle, and then a predetermined amount of mannan and trehalose according to the amount of city water to be poured into the container is dispersedly charged into the city water of the container. Then, it is sterilized by heating at 85 ° C. while mixing mannan and trehalose. Then, it cools to 30 degrees C or less, and a buffer solution is completed by throwing in allyl mustard oil which is a freshness maintenance agent.

As shown in the graph of FIG. 1, the buffer solution thus produced has a brix (concentration) in the buffer solution of about 5.0 even after days from 4.7 on the first day. It turns out that it is in a state. Moreover, although the tofu Brix in the buffer solution still rises slightly from 4.5 on the first day, it maintains a stable equilibrium state around 5.0 even after the number of days.
Brix is a value indicating the content of a water-soluble substance such as sucrose contained in 100 grams of a solution with a refractometer, and is measured by a refractometer.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the amount of change in Brix when tofu is stored in conventional ordinary water. As shown in the graph of the figure, the normal water brix filled around the tofu gradually rises from 2.5 on the first day and is about 3.5 on the 21st day. Moreover, the tofu preserve | saved in normal water once raises from 4.0 of the 1st day, falls to about 4.0 as the number of days passes, and is in the equilibrium state. This indicates that in the first few days, the umami component in the tofu flows into the water and the water Brix rises, and then the water Brix becomes generally constant.

From the graphs of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 above, each value of Brix is the tofu buffer solution of this example, and the tofu stored in the same buffer solution is stored as conventional ordinary water. Compared with tofu, it is understood that the value is almost constant over time and is very stable. Thus, the ability to maintain the Brix value of the tofu as well as the buffer solution that is the preservation solution is that the molecular weight of both is balanced and the savory components from tofu can be prevented from flowing out. Yes, the tofu preserved in the buffer solution of this example is superior in taste and texture compared to normal tofu.

  FIG. 3 is a graph showing the transition of the number of bacteria in the tofu stored in the buffer solution of this example and the tofu normally stored in water. As shown in the figure, the number of bacteria in normal tofu has increased rapidly since the 7th day, whereas in the tofu with buffer solution of this example, even on the 30th day, the bacteria It is understood that the number remains almost zero. Thus, it became clear from experiments that the tofu in the buffer solution of this example was not spoiled even after 30 days or longer and could be stored for a long time. The number of bacteria is measured by the standard agar medium method.

As described above, according to the tofu buffer solution of the present embodiment, since it contains a stabilizer such as a sterilized mannan solution, the impact resistance of tofu stored in a pack container or the like is improved. ing. In addition, since a freshness-keeping agent such as allyl mustard oil is added to the buffer solution, it is possible to suppress the propagation of stored tofu miscellaneous bacteria, and it is possible to prevent decay over a long period of time. Long-term storage of tofu has become possible.

In the above examples, 4% by weight of mannan and 0.1% by weight of allyl mustard oil are added to water, but the addition amount is within the range of 1 to 10% by weight of mannan, and allyl mustard oil. Can be appropriately changed within the range of 0.05 to 1 weight percent.
Further, instead of trehalose, other polysaccharides such as reduced starch syrup can be added. Furthermore, in addition to allyl mustard oil, citric acid, herbs, vinegar, tea catechins, sect bamboo extract and the like having an effect of keeping freshness can be used as the freshness keeping agent.

According to the present invention, the impact resistance of tofu stored in a pack container or the like is improved.
In addition, since the tofu can be stored for a long period of time, the time restriction from production and distribution to consumption of the tofu is eliminated, and long-distance and long-time transportation becomes possible. Furthermore, since the outflow of the umami component in tofu can be prevented, it is possible to provide a tofu with good taste.

It is the graph which showed the variation | change_quantity of the brix of tofu and a buffer solution, when tofu was preserve | saved in the container with the tofu buffer solution of this invention. It is the graph which showed the variation | change_quantity of the brix of tofu and a buffer solution when tofu was preserve | saved in the conventional normal water. It is the graph which showed transition of the number of bacteria in the tofu preserve | saved in the buffer solution of a present Example, and the tofu normally preserve | saved in water.

Claims (2)

A tofu buffer filled in a container for storing tofu,
A tofu buffer solution comprising a protective liquid mainly composed of mannan contained in konjac and water containing trehalose , wherein the protective liquid is heat sterilized. A freshness-keeping agent is added to the protective solution, and the freshness-keeping agent is one type of allyl mustard oil, citric acid, herb, vinegar, tea catechin, bamboo extract, or a mixture thereof. The tofu buffer solution according to claim 1.

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