JP5536381B2 - Green tea-containing tea beverage - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a packaged tea beverage containing a cold water extract of strawberry tea, and more particularly to a packaged green tea beverage that is excellent in umami, richness and throat, and has a reduced bitter taste.

  In recent years, many container-packed tea beverages filled in containers such as cans and plastic bottles have been developed and marketed, and among tea beverages, the market for green tea beverages in particular is expanding. Consumers' preference for such tea beverages is increasing, and recently, green tea beverages with strong umami and richness and a refreshing feeling with reduced astringency tend to be preferred. Therefore, development of a method for extracting only umami components without extracting astringent catechins is desired.

  Several methods have been proposed as such methods. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for producing a green tea extract characterized by removing catechins by contacting polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) with an extract obtained by extracting tea leaves with low-temperature water at 0 to 30 ° C. Is disclosed. Patent Document 2 also discloses that a tea extract having umami and less astringency can be obtained by immersing and extracting tea leaves in still water from which dissolved oxygen is removed and maintained at 0 to 36 ° C. It is disclosed. Furthermore, in Patent Document 3, degassed water having a dissolved oxygen concentration of 1 ppm or less at 20 ° C. or more and less than 60 ° C. (preferably 50 ° C. or less) is used, and the total catechin concentration and gallic acid ester type catechin concentration are specified ranges. It is disclosed that a tea beverage with reduced astringency and astringency when sold and drunk in a state cooled to room temperature or lower can be produced by performing extraction so that

JP 2003-204754 A JP 2000-50799 A JP-A-6-343389

  As described above, various methods for producing green tea beverages with reduced astringency by not removing or leaching astringent catechins have been proposed, but are not necessarily satisfactory in terms of umami and richness. There was also a problem that the production was complicated. Moreover, in the green tea drink with few catechins, the unpleasant heating odor which generate | occur | produces by performing heat processing, such as a retort sterilization, is remarkable, and tea's original high quality aroma flavor may be inhibited.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a green tea beverage that has strong umami and richness, and has reduced astringency and miscellaneous taste, in a packaged tea beverage with heat sterilization and long-term storage.

  As a result of intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have found that a tea extract with reduced miscellaneous taste can be obtained by using strawberry tea as a tea leaf and extracting with cold water at 45 ° C. or lower. It was. And it was confirmed that the cold water extract of strawberry tea with less miscellaneous taste contains a low concentration of catechins which are astringent components and a high concentration of amino acids which are umami components.

  Further, the present inventors have suppressed the unpleasant heating odor generated by the heat sterilization treatment of the cold water extract of strawberry tea when the extract of sencha or kabusecha is blended, and the cold water extract of strawberry tea has. The present inventors have found that an excellent aroma and flavor with less miscellaneous taste can be maintained even by heat sterilization, and have completed the present invention.

That is, although not limited to this, this invention includes the following.
(1) A method for producing a packaged tea beverage, comprising a step of extracting strawberry tea with water of 45 ° C. or less to obtain a strawberry tea extract, and a step of subjecting the extract to a heat sterilization treatment.
(2) The method according to (1), wherein the extraction of strawberry tea is performed with water at 20 to 45 ° C.
(3) The method according to (1) or (2), wherein the ratio of the tea tea extract is 10 to 90% by weight relative to the whole tea beverage.
(4) The method according to any one of (1) to (3), further comprising a step of mixing a green tea extract.
(5) A packaged tea beverage containing a tea tea extract obtained by extracting tea tea with water of 45 ° C. or less, and containing 20 ppm or more of amino acids and 120 to 380 ppm of catechins.
(6) The container-packed tea beverage according to (5), wherein the ratio of the tea tea extract is 10 to 90% by weight relative to the whole tea beverage.
(7) Inhibition of heated odor, characterized by containing a sencha and / or kabusecha extract in a packaged tea beverage containing a strawberry tea extract obtained by extracting strawberry tea with water at 45 ° C. or lower. Method.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a packaged green tea beverage in which astringency and miscellaneous taste are suppressed and umami and richness are enhanced by a relatively simple method. The green tea beverage with suppressed astringency and miscellaneous taste component of the present invention has a refreshing light blue color and has high drinkability when it can be drunk at once, so that it is a beverage that heals thirst in hot seasons etc. Is preferred.

In the present invention, a packaged tea beverage is produced by a process of extracting strawberry tea with water at 45 ° C. or less to obtain a strawberry tea extract and a process of subjecting the extract to a heat sterilization treatment.
(Cold tea cold water extraction process)
Sencha is usually made as steamed green tea through at least a steaming process (steaming process), a kneading process (coarse koji process, a brewing process) and a drying process in order. As used herein, “boiled tea” refers to a tea leaf produced by steaming harvested fresh tea leaves and drying them without going through the process of brewing tea leaves such as the above-mentioned sencha. In addition, kabuse tea in the present specification refers to tea leaves obtained by subjecting fresh tea leaves harvested by covering cultivation that is shielded from light for a certain period of time before plucking tea leaves to the same manufacturing process as sencha.

  In the present invention, a tea beverage excellent in aroma and flavor with enhanced umami and richness and reduced astringency and miscellaneous taste is obtained by using, as a raw material, strawberry tea produced without going through the process of brewing tea leaves. . The reason why the extract of strawberry tea is excellent in aroma and flavor is not clear, but in sencha that has undergone the process of brewing tea leaves, the leaching of miscellaneous components contained in the cell walls of tea leaves is enhanced, and this miscellaneous component enhances astringency In addition, the tea leaves that have not undergone the process of brewing the tea leaves are not destroyed so much and the leaching of miscellaneous components is less, so the aroma is not astringent and the heat smell is suppressed. Inferred.

  In the present invention, the extraction of strawberry tea is performed using water of 45 ° C. or lower, preferably 40 ° C. or lower. When extraction is performed at a temperature exceeding 45 ° C., the leaching of miscellaneous components is increased, the flavor of the extract is deteriorated, and the generation of a heated odor becomes remarkable during heat sterilization. Further, if the extraction temperature is too low, miscellaneous components are not leached, but an unpleasant heated odor may be generated during heat sterilization, so the lower limit of the extraction temperature is 20 ° C. or higher, preferably 25 ° C. or higher. Preferably it is 30 degreeC or more. In addition, in this specification, the extract of strawberry tea extracted in this temperature range may be called cold water extract of strawberry tea.

  In this invention, it is good to make it contain about 10 to 90 weight% of the cold water extract of the said tea tea with respect to the whole tea drink. If the ratio of the cold water extract of strawberry tea exceeds 90% by weight, a heated odor may be generated, and if strawberry tea is less than 10% by weight, it has a rich aroma and rich taste with little astringency and miscellaneous taste. It is difficult to feel the features of the present invention.

  In order to contain about 10 to 90% by weight of the tea tea cold water extract with respect to the whole tea beverage, extraction is performed by blending 10 to 90% by weight of tea tea with respect to the whole raw tea leaves, or Extracts of tea leaves other than bud tea can be prepared separately and mixed so that the ratio of the chilled tea cold water extract is 10 to 90% by weight.

  Examples of tea leaves other than bud tea include, but are not limited to, for example, sencha, deep steamed sencha, gyokuro, kabusecha, bancha, tamago green tea, bud tea, stem tea, and stick tea. Or two or more types of tea leaves may be used in combination. Furthermore, in addition to non-fermented tea such as green tea, semi-fermented tea (for example, oolong tea), fermented tea (for example, black tea) and the like can be blended. In particular, when sencha or kabusecha is used, it is possible to effectively suppress the heating odor accompanying the heating of the cold water extract of strawberry tea.

  In the present invention, it is also possible to obtain an extract after mixing a plurality of raw tea leaves, and after obtaining a plurality of extracts from a plurality of raw tea leaves, mixing the extracts to obtain a tea beverage You can also.

(Heat sterilization process)
In the present invention, the tea extract is subjected to a heat sterilization treatment in order to produce a container-packed tea beverage with excellent storage stability. As a heat sterilization method, a known method can be employed. For example, a retort sterilization method, a high temperature short time sterilization method (HTST method), an ultra high temperature sterilization method (UHT method), or the like can be suitably performed. A heat sterilization method can be appropriately selected according to the container of the packaged beverage. For example, when a PET bottle is used as a beverage container, UHT sterilization is preferable. Also, there is no particular limitation on the heating device and heating method, for example, a direct injection method such as a steam injection method in which water vapor is directly blown or a steam infusion method in which a beverage is injected into water vapor, a surface heat such as a plate or a tube. It can be performed by a known method such as an indirect heating method using an exchanger. The temperature of the heat sterilization is not particularly limited as long as the purpose can be achieved, but it is preferably 90 ° C. or higher. The cold tea extract of strawberry tea according to the present invention is particularly excellent as a container-packed beverage because the generation of an unpleasant odor is suppressed even after heat sterilization.

(Packed green tea beverage)
The container-packed green tea beverage of the present invention is characterized in that it contains the cold water extract of the above tea. Below, an example of a preferable manufacturing method is shown.

  First, the ratio of strawberry tea in the raw tea leaves in the present invention is about 10 to 100% by weight, preferably about 10 to 90% by weight, preferably about 15 to 60% by weight, and more preferably about 20 to 40% by weight. If the ratio of strawberry tea is small, there may be a problem that there are few umami components, there are many catechins, and if the ratio of strawberry tea is large, a heated odor may be generated during heat sterilization. The mixing of tea leaves can be performed by a known method.

  In the present invention, an extract is obtained from strawberry tea using water. The temperature of water as the extract is 45 ° C. or lower, preferably 40 ° C. or lower. This is because extracting miscellaneous tea containing tea leaves at a temperature exceeding 45 ° C. leaches a lot of miscellaneous components and lowers the aroma and flavor. The ratio of the extraction solvent (cold water) is usually 5 to 500 parts by weight, preferably 5 to 100 parts by weight, based on the dry weight of the raw tea leaves. The extraction method may be a batch method (kneader extraction or the like), a column method (drip extraction or the like), and the extraction time is 3 to 60 minutes, preferably about 5 to 30 minutes.

  From the extract thus obtained, tea leaves are separated using a known solid-liquid separation means such as mesh separation, filtration or centrifugation, and a green tea extract is obtained. When extracted at a temperature of 25 ° C. or higher, it is preferable from the viewpoint of microorganism control that the extract is immediately cooled to 25 ° C. or less, preferably 5 to 25 ° C., more preferably about 15 to 25 ° C. When the temperature of the extract or the temperature of the extract after cooling is 20 to 25 ° C., it is within 7.5 minutes, and when the temperature of the extract or the temperature of the extract after cooling is 15 to 20 ° C., 13 It is important from the viewpoint of microbial control that it is subjected to heat sterilization within 5 minutes. Note that an extraction aid such as a pH adjuster such as ascorbic acid or sodium bicarbonate may be added during or after extraction.

  The heat sterilization conditions may be appropriately selected from UHT sterilization, retort sterilization, and the like according to the type of container, storage conditions, and the like. Specifically, if the container can be heated and sterilized after filling into a container such as a can or bottle, retort sterilization is adopted under the sterilization conditions stipulated in the Food Sanitation Law, and retort sterilization is performed like a plastic bottle or paper container. For those that cannot, pre-sterilize the same conditions as above, for example, sterilize at high temperature and short time in a plate heat exchanger, cool to a certain temperature, and fill the container by hot pack filling or aseptic filling. Such a method is adopted.

  The container-packed beverage of the present invention is not limited to the above-described production method, that is, not limited to a method in which strawberry tea is mixed with other tea leaves to obtain a cold water extract and manufactured as a tea beverage. A tea beverage obtained by mixing with tea leaf extract is also included. In any case, in order to make use of the aroma and flavor of the cold water extract of strawberry tea, the catechins should be adjusted to 380 ppm or less, preferably 350 ppm or less, more preferably 300 ppm or less with respect to the whole tea beverage. . If the catechins exceed 380 ppm, the astringent taste derived from the catechins is noticeably felt, and the umami and rich taste derived from strawberry tea are inhibited. The lower limit of catechins is about 120 ppm. When catechins are less than 120 ppm, the original flavor of tea (appropriate astringency) cannot be obtained, and the taste becomes watery. Moreover, when 20 ppm or more of amino acid exists with respect to the whole tea drink, the umami | savory taste and rich taste derived from strawberry tea will be felt notably, and it will become a drink excellent in aroma flavor.

  That is, a tea beverage containing a cold water extract of strawberry tea and adjusted to have an amino acid content of 20 ppm or more and a catechin content of 120 to 380 ppm is exemplified as one preferred embodiment of the tea beverage of the present invention. Here, the term “catechin” as used herein refers to eight general names of catechin, gallocatechin, catechin gallate, gallocatechin gallate, epicatechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epigallocatechin gallate. In this invention, what is necessary is just to contain 1 or more types among these catechins so that it may become the said range.

  Furthermore, it is preferable to mix a green tea extract with the tea beverage of the present invention. Matcha tea is refined by grinding tea with a stone mill. By blending the matcha tea extract, glyceroglycolipids that are hardly contained in the cold water extract of strawberry tea can be contained in the tea beverage. According to the study by the present inventors, glyceroglycolipid is an effective component for enhancing the body taste of tea beverages, particularly green tea beverages. In tea beverages with few catechins, such as the tea beverage of the present invention, the presence of glyceroglycolipid is effective for imparting a body feeling to the beverage.

  In addition, it is preferable that extraction of matcha is performed using cold water. The cold water extract of matcha has a strong umami and rich taste and astringency is suppressed, as in the case of strawberry tea. The specific temperature of the cold water is preferably equal to or lower than the extraction temperature of strawberry tea, and is 45 ° C. or lower, preferably 40 ° C. or lower, more preferably 35 ° C. or lower. Matcha tea is preferably extracted at a lower temperature because cell wall components, i.e., miscellaneous components, tend to leach out from tea.

  The green tea cold water extract is prepared by suspending green tea in cold water, but if necessary, the cold water suspension of the green tea may be subjected to a high-pressure homogenizer treatment to enhance leaching of glyceroglycolipid. Good. The pressure of the high-pressure homogenizer is about 5 to 30 MPa, preferably about 10 to 20 MPa.

  It is preferable that a chilled water suspension of matcha (including those subjected to a high-pressure homogenizer treatment) is subjected to a clarification treatment such as centrifugation. This is because the insoluble solid content derived from Matcha affects the throat, and the miscellaneous taste of cell wall components in the insoluble solid affects the aroma flavor of the tea beverage, particularly the aroma flavor in the heat sterilization treatment.

  The green tea extract thus obtained may be blended so that the glyceroglycolipid is 0.2 μg / ml or more, preferably 0.4 μg / ml or more based on the whole tea beverage.

  The present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the following examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the present specification, the blending ratio and the like are based on weight, and the numerical range is described as including the end points.

Experiment 1: Influence of extraction temperature 30 parts by weight of water was used as an extraction solvent with respect to the dry weight of 碾 茶 (Fukujuen). The temperature of the extraction solvent was 30 ° C. (Example 1), 40 ° C. (Example 2), 45 ° C. (Example 3), and 50 ° C. (Comparative Example 1). After extraction for 8 minutes, the tea leaves were separated, Centrifugation (6000 rpm, 10 minutes) removed solids such as coarse crushed tea tissue and tea particles to obtain a cold water extract of strawberry tea. Sodium bicarbonate and ascorbic acid were mixed with this to adjust the pH to 6 to 7, and then filled into a can container and sterilized by heating (130 ° C., 2 minutes) to obtain a packaged tea beverage.

  About this tea drink, sensory evaluation was carried out by eight expert panelists. Evaluation was carried out in five stages for the refreshing taste, umami, aftertaste, miscellaneous taste, body feeling (drinking response), and preferred aroma (bluish fragrance), and the average value was obtained. The evaluation criteria are as follows. 5 points: feel strong 4 points: feel 3 points: feel a little 2 points: hardly feel 1 point: feel no

  The results are shown in Table 1. As is clear from Table 1, there was a tendency for the miscellaneous taste to decrease as the extraction temperature decreased. The tea beverage obtained by extracting strawberry tea at 50 ° C. (Comparative Example 1) does not have a refreshing feeling and has a miscellaneous taste, whereas the tea beverage obtained by extraction with cold water of 45 ° C. or less (Examples 1 to 3) ) Was evaluated as having a rich taste, umami, drinking response, and a lush fragrance, but without any miscellaneous taste.

Experiment 2: Influence of amino acids and catechins In the same manner as in Example 1, strawberry tea was extracted at each temperature zone of 40 ° C. or less, and water was appropriately added so that the catechins and amino acid contents shown in Table 2 were obtained. pH adjustment and heat sterilization were performed to produce a packaged tea beverage.

The tea beverage was subjected to sensory evaluation in the same manner as in Experiment 1. The methods for measuring catechins and amino acids are as follows.
<Measurement of catechins>
The catechins were measured by subjecting the tea beverage to be a sample to HPLC analysis after removing the solid content with a membrane filter (pore size: 0.45 μm, Toji Field Corporation, water-based non-sterile 13A).
(HPLC analysis conditions)
・ Analyzer: Tosoh Corporation, TOSOH HPLC system LC8020 model II
[Multi-station: LC-8020, pump: CCMC-II, autosampler: AS-8021, detector: UV-8020, column oven: CO-8020, online degasser: SD-8023]
Analysis conditions: [Column: TSKgel ODS-80Ts QA (TOSOH, inner diameter 4.6 mm × length 150 mm), eluent A: [10% acetonitrile / water] + 0.05% TFA (trifluoroacetic acid), eluent B : [80% acetonitrile / water] + 0.05% TFA, flow rate: 1.0 ml / min, temperature 40 ° C., detection: UV 275 nm]
・ Gradient condition:

<Measurement of amino acids>
For amino acids, amino nitrogen in the beverage was measured. Amino nitrogen was measured by the TNBS method (trinitro benzen sulfanic acid method). First, a phosphate buffer solution and a 0.1% 2,4,6-Trinitro Benzenesulfanic acid Na salt aqueous solution are mixed in a tea beverage as a sample, reacted at 45 ° C. for 90 minutes, and then the fluorescence intensity (OD 340 nm) is measured. It was measured. A calibration curve was prepared from the glycine standard solution, and the amino nitrogen content in the data was calculated as glycine equivalent.

  Table 3 shows the results. Evaluation that amino nitrogen is 20 ppm or more, and catechins are 120 ppm to 380 ppm (Examples 4 to 7), the rich taste, umami, drinking response, and lush aroma are retained, but there is no miscellaneous taste and refreshing Met.

Experiment 3: A tea extract was prepared using 40 ° C water using blended sencha (Fukujuen) or kabusecha (Fukujuen) with a cold water extract other than tea. This sencha extract / kabuse tea extract was mixed with the strawberry tea extract (extraction temperature: 40 ° C., 5 ° C.) extracted in the same manner as in Experiment 1, so that the catechins and amino acid contents shown in Table 4 were obtained. Water was appropriately mixed, pH was adjusted, and heat sterilization was performed to produce a tea beverage.

  Table 4 shows the results of measurement and sensory evaluation of catechins and amino nitrogen. Even when the cold water extract of strawberry tea was mixed with the cold water extract of sencha or kabusecha, a preferred tea beverage could be obtained. In particular, the amino nitrogen contained in the tea beverage is 20 ppm or more, and the catechins are 120 ppm to 380 ppm (Examples 11 to 14). There was no evaluation, and it was an evaluation that it could be refreshed.

Experiment 4: Evaluation of heating odor A mixture of strawberry tea extract extracted at 40 ° C (Example 4), 75% strawberry tea extract extracted at 40 ° C and 25% sencha extract extracted at 40 ° C (implementation) Example 11), a mixture of 75% of a tea extract extracted at 20 ° C. and 25% of an extract of 25% sencha extracted at 20 ° C. (Example 17) 75% of a tea extract extracted at 5 ° C. and 5 ° C. In the same manner as in Experiment 1, the mixed liquid of 25% sencha extracted in the above (Example 18) was subjected to pH adjustment and heat sterilization to obtain a packaged tea beverage, and each was subjected to sensory evaluation.

  All had richness, umami, refreshing feeling, drinking response, and less miscellaneous taste, but the heated odor was mixed with sencha extract extracted from strawberry tea compared to tea drink made only with strawberry tea (Example 4). There were fewer tea beverages produced (Example 11). Moreover, when comparing the extraction temperature, the tea beverage produced by extracting at 20 ° C. (Example 17) or 40 ° C. (Example was less) than the tea beverage produced by extracting at 5 ° C. (Example 18). From this, it was suggested that the extraction temperature of strawberry tea is about 20 to 40 ° C. is suitable for suppressing heated odor, and that odor is suppressed when sencha is combined with strawberry tea.

Experiment 5: Cold water extract of ground tea tea Matcha tea (Fukujuen, grain size: 10,000 ± 2,000cm ² / g) made from ground tea is suspended in 80 times the amount of 30 ° C water, and this suspension is used as a high-pressure homogenizer. Was processed at a pressure of 15 MPa and centrifuged (6000 rpm, 2 minutes) to remove solid components such as coarse crushed tea tissue and tea particles, thereby preparing a green tea cold water extract.

  This green tea cold water extract was mixed in various proportions with the tea tea cold water extract (extraction temperature: 40 ° C.) prepared in the same manner as in Experiment 1, and then filled in a container and sterilized by heating. did. The tea tea extract and matcha tea extract are mixed so that the glyceroglycolipid in the tea beverage is 0 μg / ml, 0.1 μg / ml, 0.2 μg / ml, 0.4 μg / ml, and 0.8 μg / ml. did. About the obtained tea beverage, 6 points (5 points: feel significantly stronger than the control, 4 points: feel more sufficiently than the control, 3 points, based on the product 4 of the present invention which is not mixed with the green tea cold water extract) : Feeling from control, 2 points: Feeling slightly from control, 1 point: Feeling slightly from control, 0 point: Equivalent to control.

The measurement method of glyceroglycolipid is as follows.
<Method for measuring glyceroglycolipid>
The conditions for quantitative analysis of glyceroglycolipid are as follows.
-Reversed phase column: TSKgel ODS-80Ts QA (TOSOH, inner diameter 4.6 mm x length 150 mm)
Sample injection volume: 10 μl
-Flow rate: 1.0 ml / min.
・ RI detector: SHIMADZU RIA-10A
-Eluent: 95% methanol-Temperature: 40 ° C
As a standard for quantitative analysis, MGDG and DGDG manufactured by Lipid Products were used. Analyzing the MGDG sample, it was roughly divided into two peaks, and the peak found in the tea beverage was the peak after the retention time, so the concentration was proportionally distributed based on the ratio of the peak area of the sample, and the analysis concentration It was. The concentration of glyceroglycolipid in the present specification was expressed as the total value of MGDG and DGDG unless otherwise specified.

  The results are shown in Table 5. It was found that the inclusion of 0.2 μg / ml or more of glyceroglycolipid can further enhance the richness, umami, and drinking response without changing the refreshing feeling and miscellaneous taste.

Claims (6)

Extracting the tea with water at 45 ° C. or less to obtain a tea tea extract;
Mixing the sencha extract and the tea extract so that the ratio of the tea extract is 10 to 90% by weight;
A step of heat sterilizing the mixed liquid;
The manufacturing method of the container-packed green tea drink containing 20 ppm or more of amino acids and 120-380 ppm catechins .   The method according to claim 1, wherein the extraction of bud tea is performed with water at 20 to 40 ° C.   The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of mixing the matcha tea extract. A packaged green tea beverage containing a tea tea extract and a sencha extract obtained by extracting tea with water at 45 ° C. or less, and containing 20 ppm or more of amino acids and 120 to 380 ppm of catechins. The container-packed green tea beverage according to claim 4 , wherein the ratio of the tea tea extract is 10 to 90% by weight relative to the whole green tea beverage. The green tea beverage according to claim 4 or 5 , further comprising a matcha tea extract.