JP5806549B2 - Beverages containing microcrystalline cellulose - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a beverage using microcrystalline cellulose for stably dispersing ingredients in a beverage over a long period of time to prevent sedimentation. More specifically, the present invention relates to a beverage containing microcrystalline cellulose having storage stability and good flavor.

  Beverages containing milk such as milk coffee and milk tea produced through heat sterilization (hereinafter referred to as milk-containing beverages) adhere to the bottom of the container and precipitate a protein-containing precipitated component during long-term storage. There are problems such as non-uniformity (a lack of uniform and smooth texture).

  Therefore, it has been proposed to solve these problems by blending microcrystalline cellulose. For example, Patent Document 1 uses fresh cream with low protein content to prevent precipitation of milk protein and separation of fat by heat sterilization of coffee beverage, and sucrose fatty acid ester and microcrystal as emulsifier. The use of cellulose is described. Patent Document 2 discloses a weakly acidic beverage containing milk components, such as milk coffee and milk tea, containing 10 to 200 ppm (0.001 to 0.02% by weight) of microcrystalline cellulose.

  On the other hand, it is known to use erythritol in a low calorie beverage. For example, Patent Document 3 discloses a carbonated beverage in a sealed container containing erythritol and a high-intensity sweetener, and describes that erythritol is used to improve the flavor of the high-intensity sweetener.

JP-A-6-245703 JP 2001-292750 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-136953

  In recent years, the demand for zero- or low-calorie beverages has increased due to an increase in health consciousness. When microcrystalline cellulose was blended in a zero or low calorie beverage, the storage stability was improved, but the problem was that it was unpleasant when drunk due to its low solid content and the throat was uncomfortable.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a microcrystalline cellulose-containing beverage having improved taste such as mouthfeel and throat while maintaining storage stability.

  As a result of intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have found a quantitative synergistic effect of sugar alcohol that sugar alcohol synergistically enhances the precipitation suppressing effect of microcrystalline cellulose. This synergistic effect makes it possible to reduce the amount of microcrystalline cellulose having a predetermined concentration used conventionally. In addition, it has been found that by blending a sugar alcohol with a low calorie beverage, undesirable properties such as mouthfeel and throatiness of microcrystalline cellulose can be improved, that is, it has a qualitative synergistic effect, and the present invention has been completed.

That is, although not limited to this, the present invention relates to the following.
(1) A beverage containing 0.0001 to 0.04% by weight of microcrystalline cellulose and 0.1 to 7.0% by weight of sugar alcohol based on the whole beverage.
(2) The beverage according to (1), which is a milk-containing beverage containing milk and a sweetener.
(3) The beverage according to (1) or (2), wherein the sugar alcohol contains erythritol.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION By this invention, the drink (especially milk-containing drink) by which the tastes, such as mouthfeel and a throat, are improved with the microcrystalline cellulose containing drink of storage stability which is zero or a low calorie.

  The beverage of the present invention is a zero or low calorie beverage with improved flavor while maintaining the storage stability of microcrystalline cellulose. As used herein, “zero calorie beverage” refers to a beverage of less than 5 kcal per 100 mL of beverage, and “low calorie beverage” refers to a beverage of 5 kcal or more and less than 20 kcal per 100 mL of beverage. A “calorie beverage” refers to a beverage of 20 kcal or more per 100 mL of beverage.

  The microcrystalline cellulose in the present invention is crystalline cellulose obtained by hydrolyzing natural cellulose such as wood pulp, and refers to a crystalline part exceeding 10% by weight (crystallinity exceeding 10%). In order to make the dispersion stability effect expected for microcrystalline cellulose more remarkable, the crystallinity is preferably 30% or more, more preferably 50% or more. In addition, a crystalline part means the part which produces the peak of Bragg reflection with respect to the amorphous part which produces a background in X-ray diffraction. Examples of the microcrystalline cellulose include those defined by the description of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 42, pages 502 to 507 (1950).

  It is preferable to use the microcrystalline cellulose itself that is stably dispersed in water by homogenization or high-speed stirring because the effect of the dispersion stability of the microcrystalline cellulose can be exhibited more remarkably. As microcrystalline cellulose that is stably dispersed in water, there is a crystalline cellulose composite obtained by mixing a water-soluble gum or a relatively small amount of a water-soluble gum and a saccharide in advance and then drying. From the feature of the beverage of the present invention that is a zero or low calorie beverage, the mass ratio of each component of the crystalline cellulose composite is crystalline cellulose: water-soluble gum and saccharides = 50: 50 to 95: 5 (however, 100 in total) It is preferable to use those within the range. Examples of such microcrystalline cellulose include RC-591 (component: microcrystalline cellulose 89.0% and carboxymethylcellulose sodium 11.0%) manufactured by Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corporation under the trade name Theolas (registered trademark).

  The blending ratio of microcrystalline cellulose in the beverage of the present invention is preferably 0.0001 to 0.04% by weight, more preferably 0.0005 to 0.010% by weight, and more preferably 0.0005 to 0.003% by weight. If it exceeds 0.04% by weight, the effect of improving mouthfeel and throatiness may not be sufficiently exerted in a zero- or low-calorie beverage even if the sugar alcohol of the present invention or the water-soluble gum described below is used in combination. Contrary to the expected effect, dispersion stability may be deteriorated. If it is less than 0.0001% by weight, the dispersion stability expected for microcrystalline cellulose may not be obtained.

  In order to improve the taste of the above-mentioned microcrystalline cellulose-containing beverage, specifically, the mouthfeel and poor throat in a zero or low calorie beverage, a specific amount of sugar alcohol is used in the beverage of the present invention. Examples of the sugar alcohol include monosaccharide alcohols such as erythritol, sorbitol, xylitol, and mannitol, disaccharide alcohols such as maltitol, isomaltitol, and lactitol, and trisaccharides such as maltotriitol, isomaltitol, and panitol. Examples include alcohols, alcohols having four or more sugars such as oligosaccharide alcohol, and powdered reduced maltose starch syrup. These sugar alcohols may be used alone or in combination of two or more. In particular, when erythritol is used, a quantitative and / or qualitative synergistic effect with the microcrystalline cellulose of the present invention is remarkably exhibited. The blending ratio of the sugar alcohol in the beverage of the present invention is preferably 0.1 to 7.0% by weight, and more preferably 0.1 to 1.5% by weight. If it is less than 0.1%, a synergistic effect with microcrystalline cellulose may not be obtained. Moreover, even if it mix | blends exceeding 7.0%, a synergistic effect with a microcrystal cellulose will not be raised, but it is not efficient.

  When a water-soluble gum is blended in addition to the microcrystalline cellulose and the sugar alcohol, the effect of the dispersion stability of the microcrystalline cellulose and the sugar alcohol can be further enhanced. The water-soluble gum used here is preferably a polysaccharide having good compatibility with crystalline cellulose in water, such as guar gum, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, tamarind seed gum, tarragant gum, gatter gum, agar, alginic acid and its salts, carrageenan, Examples include karaya gum, gum arabic, gellan gum, pectin, and quince. Of these, carrageenan is preferred. What is necessary is just to select suitably the compounding quantity of water-soluble gum according to the kind of water-soluble gum to be used, for example, when carrageenan is used, it is 1-50 weight part with respect to 1 weight part of crystalline cellulose, Preferably it is about 10-40 weight part. Is preferable. When a water-soluble gum is used in this range, the improvement in dispersion stability becomes clear, while the increase in viscosity remains in an appropriate range.

  In general, drinks with milk have a “beverage feeling” (coffee feeling and tea feeling) that is characteristic of base drinks such as coffee and tea, a “milk feeling” such as richness and mellowness of milk, and a sweetness and thickness (body feeling) ) Is a beverage that places importance on the balance of “sweetness”. In the development of so-called zero calorie beverages, for example, coffee beverages have a calorific value of about 3 kcal / 100 mL even when sugars and milk are not added, so that sucrose and milk with good flavor are used. Minutes are high in calories and prescribing zero-calorie beverages is greatly limited. For this reason, coffee beverages with milk of zero calories are often prepared by blending a high-sweetness sweetener and, in some cases, a very small amount of milk in the coffee extract. There is a significant lack of a balance of coffee, milk and sweetness in beverages.

  The beverage of the present invention, even as a zero-calorie beverage containing milk, maintains the mouthfeel and throat feel and dispersion stability, which are the characteristics of the present invention, and further the flavor of the base beverage (beverage feeling), It can be provided as a zero calorie beverage similar to a full calorie beverage having a balance of milky feeling and sweetness.

  The “beverage containing milk” as used herein means a beverage using milk as a raw material. The milk-containing beverage of the present invention is preferably produced through a high-temperature sterilization process such as UHT sterilization or retort sterilization in order to enhance long-term storage. Moreover, as a preferable aspect of the present invention, for example, a container-packed beverage suitable for long-term storage filled in a storage container such as a can, a paper pack, or a PET bottle can be mentioned.

  The term “milk” used in the context of beverages in the present invention refers to a component added to give a beverage a milk flavor or a milky feeling, and is mainly defined by a ministerial ordinance such as milk, milk. And dairy products. For example, raw milk, cow milk, special milk, skim milk, processed milk, milk drinks, etc. are mentioned, and as dairy products, cream, prepared cream, concentrated whey, concentrated milk, skim concentrated milk, sugar-free condensed milk, sweetened skimmed condensed milk, Examples include whole milk powder, skim milk powder, cream powder, whey powder, buttermilk powder, and adjusted milk powder. The term “prepared cream” means a processed cream prepared with the amount of fat and protein. In the beverage of the present invention, a milk (cream or butter, etc.) with particularly low protein and sodium casein added thereto is preferably used. Milk can be added in an amount that results in a zero or low calorie beverage.

  As long as the beverage of the present invention is a beverage containing the above milk as a raw material, the type thereof is not limited. For example, a coffee beverage containing milk containing coffee, a tea beverage containing milk containing tea, Includes cocoa and fermented milk flavored beverages. Here, the “coffee content” refers to a solution containing a component derived from coffee beans. For example, a coffee extract, that is, roasted and pulverized coffee beans are extracted using water or hot water. Examples thereof include a solution, a coffee extract obtained by concentrating a coffee extract, and an instant coffee obtained by drying the coffee extract to a suitable amount with water or warm water. The term “tea content” refers to a solution containing components derived from black tea leaves. For example, a black tea leaf extract, that is, a solution obtained by extracting black tea leaves with warm water or the like, or a black tea leaf extract is concentrated. Examples include a solution prepared by adjusting a suitable amount of dry tea extract, powdered tea obtained by drying a tea leaf extract, or the like with water or warm water.

  In one embodiment, if the beverage of the present invention is a beverage containing zero calories, by specifying the conditions of (1) the amount of energy of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, and (2) the sodium ion concentration in the beverage, A milk-containing beverage having a flavor similar to a full-calorie beverage can be obtained while being a zero-calorie milk-containing beverage. Specifically, if it is a coffee drink containing milk, a well-balanced coffee feeling, milky feeling, and sweet feeling are provided, and a zero-calorie beverage with good flavor in which a decrease in flavor caused by cellulose is suppressed is provided.

  In such a beverage, the energy amounts of lipid, protein and carbohydrate contained in the beverage are (a) lipid: 0.3 to 2.2 kcal / 100 mL, and (b) protein: 0.2 to 1.4 kcal /, respectively. 100 mL, (c) carbohydrate: 0.9-2.6 kcal / 100 mL (preferably (a) lipid: 0.5-1.8 kcal / 100 mL, (b) protein: 0.6-1.0 kcal / 100 mL, (c) Carbohydrate: 1.2 to 1.8 kcal / 100 mL) and adjusted so that the sodium ion concentration in the beverage is 30 to 70 mg / 100 mL (preferably 40 to 60 mg / 100 mL). The

  (A) The amount of lipid energy in the beverage is determined by the fat and oil components contained in the base beverage, the lipid component derived from milk, and other derived components such as emulsifiers added as needed, (b) the amount of protein energy. Is derived from protein components contained in the base beverage, other protein components contained in stabilizers added as necessary, and (c) the amount of carbohydrate energy is contained in the base beverage It can be adjusted by calculating each of the derived components such as a carbohydrate component, a carbohydrate component contained in milk, a carbohydrate component contained in a sweetener, etc., and determining the blending ratio. In addition, the sodium ion concentration in beverages is not limited to the amount of sodium ions contained in the base beverage and those derived from milk, but also other raw materials such as minerals such as sodium chloride and whey minerals, baking soda (Sodium hydrogen carbonate), pH adjusters such as trisodium phosphate, stabilizers such as sodium caseinate and the like can be blended and adjusted.

  In addition to the above components, the beverage of the present invention may also contain various vitamins, various minerals, dietary fiber, fragrance, colorant, emulsifier, stabilizer and the like.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated in detail based on an Example, this invention is not limited to these. In the present invention, the numerical range is described as including the end points.
In addition, the method for measuring the amount of lipid, the amount of protein and the method for calculating the amount of carbohydrate in Examples used the methods shown in Table 2 of the Nutrition Labeling Standards (Heisei 16 Thick Labor Decree, partially revised). . For energy calculation, the energy conversion factors listed in the 5th edition (enlarged) Japanese food standard composition table were used. However, tannin (measured by FOLIN-DENIS method), caffeine and sugar alcohol (erythritol) (measured by high performance liquid chromatographic method) were also taken into account according to the modified atwater method. The method for measuring the sodium concentration was the method shown in Table 2 of the Nutrition Labeling Standards (Heisei 16 Thick Labor Notification 126, partially revised).
<Test Example 1>
The roasted coffee beans were pulverized, drip extracted with hot water about 8 times the amount of beans, centrifuged and filtered through 500 mesh to obtain a coffee extract. Baking soda was added to this coffee extract so that the pH after sterilization was 6.1 to 6.5, sweetener (Sanet 0.16 g / L (Kirin Kyowa Foods Co., Ltd.) and sucralose 0.02 g / L (Sanei) FF), and then homogenized processed cream (milk fat 40%, protein 1.0%, nonfat milk solids 2.7%, ash 0.4%) 1.5 g / L, erythritol 7.5 g / L, and emulsifier (100% lipid) 0.18 g / L were added. Furthermore, whey mineral (ADEKA Co., Ltd., trade name: Milku Mineral) 6 g / L and microcrystalline cellulose preparation (Asahi Kasei Chemicals, trade name: Theolas (registered) with a microcrystalline cellulose concentration in beverages as shown in Table 1 (Trademark) RC-591 (components: microcrystalline cellulose 89.0% and carboxymethylcellulose sodium 11.0%)), stirred well, then homogenized, and various zero-calorie coffee drinks with milk Got.

  185 g of this beverage was filled into a 190 g beverage can and sterilized by retort to produce a container-packed beverage. The amount of energy derived from each nutritional component in this beverage ((a) lipid, (b) protein, (c) carbohydrate) is (a) derived from lipid: 0.5 kcal / 100 ml, (b) protein. Origin: 0.8 kcal / 100 ml, (c) Carbohydrate origin: 2.6 kcal / 100 ml. Moreover, the sodium ion concentration of the beverage of Example 1 was about 50 mg / 100 ml.

  The flavor of these beverages was evaluated by a specialized panel. Evaluation is carried out in three stages (◯ Δ ×), with ○ being the best. As is clear from Table 1, the beverages of the present invention were all beverages excellent in the balance of coffee feeling, milky feeling, and sweet feeling, as in the case of full-calorie beverages, but the amount of microcrystalline cellulose was 500 ppm. When it mixes exceedingly, it was suggested that the mouth feel and the feeling over the throat deteriorate, and the flavor of the beverage is lowered. The zero calorie beverage should have an upper limit of 400 ppm, preferably 100 ppm or less, particularly preferably about 10 ppm.

  Each beverage was allowed to stand at a temperature of 70 ° C. for 2 weeks to evaluate the state of precipitation. The shape of the precipitate was evaluated in three stages of △ Δ × (◯ is the best), and the amount of precipitation was evaluated in three stages of + to +++ (+ is the smallest amount of precipitation). Table 1 shows the results. In Comparative Example 1 in which no microcrystalline cellulose was added, white precipitates of about 2 mm were generated. On the other hand, when microcrystalline cellulose was used (Examples 1 to 5), precipitation occurred, but very fine particles were observed. It was formed and was not conspicuous and dispersed when lightly vibrated. However, when the amount of microcrystalline cellulose added was large (Comparative Examples 2 and 3), the shape of the precipitate became a large lump like a cloud and deteriorated. From this, the blending amount of microcrystalline cellulose should be 1 ppm to 400 ppm (= 0.0001 to 0.04 wt%), preferably 5 ppm to 100 ppm, particularly preferably 5 ppm to 30 ppm. It was.

<Test Example 2>
A milk-containing coffee beverage was prepared in the same manner as in Test Example 1 except that the concentration of erythritol was changed to the concentration shown in Table 2. The amount of energy derived from each nutritional component ((a) lipid, (b) protein, (c) carbohydrate) in the beverage of this test example is (a) derived from lipid: 0.5 kcal / 100 ml, (b) Protein origin: 0.8 kcal / 100 ml, (c) Carbohydrate origin: 2.6 kcal / 100 ml. Moreover, the sodium ion concentration of the beverage was 50 mg / 100 ml.

As in Test Example 1, the flavor of each beverage and the state of storage stability after being allowed to stand at a temperature of 70 ° C. for 2 weeks were evaluated.
The results are shown in Table 2. With respect to storage stability, Examples 5 to 9 to which erythritol was added exhibited a remarkable effect of suppressing the precipitation of microcrystalline cellulose as compared with Comparative Example 4 to which erythritol was not added. That is, it was confirmed that when microcrystalline cellulose and sugar alcohol (especially erythritol) were combined, there was a quantitative synergistic effect on the precipitation suppression effect. In addition, compared with Comparative Example 4, the flavor of the beverage was improved in this example. That is, it has been confirmed that when microcrystalline cellulose and sugar alcohol (especially erythritol) are combined, there is a qualitative synergistic effect on the taste improving action that can improve undesirable properties such as mouthfeel and throat.

Claims (3)

A coffee drink with milk containing milk and sweetener,
The said drink containing 0.0001-0.04 weight% microcrystalline cellulose and 0.1-7.0 weight% erythritol with respect to the whole drink. The beverage according to claim 1, comprising 0.1 to 1.5% by weight of erythritol relative to the whole beverage. The beverage according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the calorie per 100 mL of beverage is less than 20 kcal.