JP5836579B2 - Citrus flavored acidic tea beverage containing high-intensity sweetener - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage, and more particularly, to a citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage containing a high-intensity sweetener.

  Due to the recent increase in health and diet orientation, low-calorie beverages have become preferred. The use of high-intensity sweeteners is increasing for reasons such as low calories compared to sugars. However, high-intensity sweeteners have problems in taste quality, such as lack of thickness, lack of richness (body feeling), unnatural aftertaste (unpleasant aftertaste), bitterness, and taste. For this reason, consumers are often dissatisfied with products that use high-intensity sweeteners. In particular, in tea beverages such as black tea and tea, the disadvantages of these sweeteners are conspicuous and are difficult to use as substitutes for sugars.

There have been many reports on improving the taste quality of high-intensity sweeteners. As what improves a taste quality by combining a high sweetness degree sweetener, for example, patent document 1 describes that a taste quality can be improved by combining sucralose and another sweetener. Patent Document 2 describes that the taste of sucralose can be improved by adding a specific amount of acesulfame potassium. Patent Document 3 describes that the taste of acesulfame potassium can be improved by adding a specific amount of sucralose. However, none of these reports are fully satisfactory in improving the taste quality of high-intensity sweeteners.
Tea drinks include neutral tea drinks typified by straight tea and acidic tea drinks containing citrus flavors typified by lemon tea. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the technology individually, and improvement of the technology suitable for each has been desired.

JP 2010-42021 A JP 2002-101844 A JP 2001-333729 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage having a taste close to that of a case in which the taste of a high-intensity sweetener is improved and sucrose is contained.

That is, the present invention relates to the following (1) to (6).
(1) Containing citrus flavor, comprising acesulfame potassium, stevia extract, and aspartame or sucralose, each having a sweetness ratio of 2.5 to 3.5: 0.8 to 1.2: 1 Acid tea drink.
(2) The beverage according to (1), comprising a citrus flavor and / or citrus juice.
(3) The beverage according to (1) or (2), wherein the tea beverage is a black tea beverage.
(4) The beverage according to (1), wherein the citrus flavor is lemon flavor or lemon juice and the tea beverage is black tea.
(5) To citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage, acesulfame potassium, stevia extract, and aspartame or sucralose have a sweetness ratio of 2.5 to 3.5: 0.8 to 1.2: 1, respectively. A method for imparting sweetness to a citrus-flavored acidic tea beverage, characterized by comprising:
(6) The method according to (5), wherein the citrus flavor is lemon flavor or lemon juice, and the tea beverage is a black tea beverage.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention is advantageous at the point which can provide the acidic tea drink containing a citrus-type flavor in which the taste quality of the high sweetness degree sweetener was improved.

Detailed description of the invention

  Citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage of the present invention is a citrus flavor-containing tea beverage that is an original beverage, acesulfame potassium as a high-intensity sweetener, stevia extract, and aspartame or sucralose, each sweetness ratio Is contained in an amount of 2.5 to 3.5: 0.8 to 1.2: 1, and the pH is adjusted to an acidic region as necessary, usually less than pH 4.6, preferably pH 3.0 to 3.9. It can manufacture by adjusting so that it may become.

  Examples of the citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage include a tea beverage containing a flavor derived from citrus fruits by means such as addition.

  “Tea drinks” include tea leaves (tea leaves), which are evergreen trees of the camellia family, or drinks for decocting and drinking leaves or grains of plants other than tea trees, such as fermented tea, semi-fermented tea, and non-fermented tea. Any fermented tea is included. Specific examples of tea beverages include Japanese tea (for example, green tea, barley tea), black tea, herbal tea (for example, jasmine tea), Chinese tea (for example, Chinese green tea, oolong tea), hoji tea, and the like. In the present invention, a preferred tea beverage is a black tea beverage.

  The tea beverage can be produced by using a production technique known in the art, and for example, “Revised New Version Soft Drinks” (Kotsu Co., Ltd.) can be referred to. Commercially available tea beverages, preferably citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverages may also be used.

  Examples of the flavor derived from the citrus fruit to be contained in the tea beverage include citrus fragrance or citrus fruit juice.

  The citrus fragrance is a fragrance reminiscent of citrus fruits, and can be defined by substantially including citral. Examples of citrus fruits include lemon, mandarin orange, orange, lime, grapefruit, yuzu, and summer mandarin. The citrus fragrance is preferably a lemon fragrance.

  As the flavor derived from the citrus fruit to be contained in the tea beverage, the citrus flavor contained in the citrus fruit juice can also be used. The citrus fruit juice is a citrus fruit juice, and examples of the citrus fruit include lemon, mandarin orange, orange, lime, grapefruit, citron, and summer mandarin orange. Lemon juice is preferably used as the citrus fruit juice.

  Moreover, you may use the cam cam fruit juice (cam cam is a fruit which belongs to Myrtaceae), acerola fruit juice, etc. which have acidity like citrus. When using Cam Come fruit juice, Acerola fruit juice or the like in the beverage of the present invention, the citrus flavor and / or citrus fruit juice may be added to obtain a citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage.

  The high-intensity sweetener in the present invention may be produced and used according to a known method, or a commercially available product may be used. Any stevia extract may be used as long as it contains 80% by mass or more of steviol glycosides, and may contain enzyme-treated stevia.

  The high-intensity sweetener has a sweetness that is ten to several thousand times higher than that of sucrose when the same amount (weight) as sucrose is included in the mouth, so that a small amount of sweetener gives sufficient sweetness to food. it can.

  The sweetness ratio of acesulfame potassium, stevia extract and aspartame or sucralose in the citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage of the present invention is 2.5 to 3.5: 0.8 to 1.2: 1. , Preferably 2.6 to 3.4: 0.8 to 1.2: 1, more preferably 2.7 to 3.3: 0.9 to 1.1: 1, and even more preferably 2 0.8-3.2: 0.9-1.1: 1, even more preferably 2.8-3.1: 0.9-1.1: 1, and even more preferably 2.9- 3.1: 0.95 to 1.05: 1. By setting it as these ranges, the citrus flavor containing acidic tea drink in which the taste quality of the high sweetness degree sweetener was improved can be provided.

  The concentration of the high-sensitivity sweetener in the citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage of the present invention can be appropriately determined according to the intended beverage, but is usually 3 to 15% by mass, preferably 5 to 12% by mass. More preferably, the concentration is adjusted so as to have a sweetness equivalent to that of a 6-10% by mass sucrose solution.

  In order to adjust the concentration of the high-intensity sweetener so as to have sweetness equivalent to the sweetness of the sucrose solution of the target concentration, the concentration can be calculated using the sweetness of the high-intensity sweetener used. it can. Specifically, the concentration of a high-intensity sweetener that has a sweetness equivalent to the sweetness of a sucrose solution at a target concentration is a high-intensity sweetness using a target sucrose concentration with a sweetness level of 1. It can be obtained as a value divided by the sweetness of the material.

  Here, “sweetness” means the degree of sweetness when the sweetness of sucrose is used as a standard, and is generally a sucrose solution (for example, sucrose) having a constant concentration by a sensory test by a panel (subject). It can be determined by comparison with the concentration of the test sweetener showing the same sweetness intensity as that of the 10% sugar solution.

  The concentration of sucrose and a high-intensity sweetener (acesulfame potassium, aspartame, or sucralose) can be quantified using, for example, high performance liquid chromatography. Each condition in the determination is well known, and can be performed, for example, by the method described in the 8th edition Food Additives Official Document (Japan Food Additives Association).

The concentration of stevia extract is quantified by the method described in the 8th edition Food Additives Official Document (Japan Food Additives Association) and the total amount of steviol glycosides and α-glucosyl steviol glycosides. Can be calculated.
Stevia extract concentration = (total amount of steviol glycoside and α-glucosyl steviol glycoside) × 1.25

  In addition, the sweetness degree of a high sweetness degree sweetener is known to those skilled in the art, for example, it can refer to "Latest soft drinks" (Hikari Co., Ltd.). For example, when the sweetness level of a 3% by mass solution of sucrose is 1, the sweetness level of acesulfame potassium is about 200, and the sweetness level of sucralose is about 600. Therefore, the concentration of sucralose having sweetness equivalent to that of a 3% sucrose solution can be calculated by dividing 3 by 600, that is, 0.005% by mass.

  Although the addition time of a high sweetness degree sweetener is not specifically limited, For example, you may add during manufacture of an original drink, or after manufacture of an original drink. In the beverage provided in the present invention, since a plurality of high-intensity sweeteners are added, each component may be added together or separately. It may be added first.

  Citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage of the present invention is used in the usual beverage formulation design, flavors, fruit juices, fats and oils, extracts from animals and plants, acidulants that do not exhibit acidity, colorants, various vitamins, minerals, Preservatives, thickeners, antioxidants, stabilizers, antifoaming agents, and the like may be appropriately contained. These additives may be added during the production of the original beverage or after the production of the original beverage. When a plurality of additives are added, each component may be added together or separately, and when added separately, any of them may be added first.

  The pH of the citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage of the present invention is less than 4.6, and preferably the pH is 3.0 to 3.9.

  Adjustment of pH is usually performed using an organic acid or an inorganic salt and salts thereof, but may be performed using the citrus flavor or citrus juice.

  The citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage of the present invention can be subjected to a sterilization treatment after adjustment. The conditions for heat sterilization can be performed, for example, at 60 to 130 ° C. for 3 seconds to 30 minutes.

  The citrus flavor-containing acidic tea beverage of the present invention may be prepared at a restaurant or a cup bender device at the time of drinking, or may be an industrially produced containerized beverage or a cup vendor device syrup.

  This invention shall also include the aspect which adds alcohol suitably to the manufactured non-alcoholic drink, and provides as alcohols on liquor tax law.

  Acesulfame potassium, stevia extract, and aspartame or sucralose are added to the citrus flavor-containing tea beverage as described above so that the respective sweetness ratios are 2.5 to 3.5: 0.8 to 1.2: 1. By the method of making it contain, the taste quality of a citrus flavor containing tea drink can be made into the taste quality close | similar to the case where it contains sucrose. Moreover, since the usage-amount of sugars, such as sucrose, is zero or reduced, the citrus flavor containing tea drink of this invention obtained by this method can be provided as a low-calorie drink. Here, the “low calorie beverage” means a beverage of 20 kcal / 100 ml or less.

  The present invention will be specifically described based on the following examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Example: Evaluation of sweetness expression and compatibility when using high-intensity sweeteners alone and in combination . Preparation of beverages Various high sweetness sweeteners and other ingredients (lemon flavor, etc.) were added to commercially available powdered black tea, and the pH was adjusted to 3.7 to prepare lemon tea. Tables 1, 3, and 5 show the test groups and combinations when each high-intensity sweetener was used.

2. About the sweetness of the high-intensity sweetener used in the beverage The sweetness of the high-intensity sweetener used was calculated by the following formulas (I) to (V). “ACK” represents acesulfame potassium “Sanet” (registered trademark) (Kirin Kyowa Foods), “APM” represents aspartame (Kirin Kyowa Foods), and “SUC” represents sucralose (San-Eigen F.F. "NTM" represents the neotame formulation "Milassy 200" (Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma), and "EST" represents Stevia extract "SK Sweet FZ" (enzyme-treated product, Nippon Paper Chemicals) . X represents mass (%). As used herein, “sweetness ratio” refers to a sweetness ratio.
・ ACK: (Sweetness) = 24.491 × X ^0.5083 (I)
・ APM: (Sweetness) = 45.619 x X ^0.6589 (II)
・ SUC: (Sweetness) = 108.24 x X ^0.6789 (III)
・ NTM ^{* 1} : (Sweetness) = 15.1 / (9.18 x 1 / (X x 10000) + 1)-1 ... (IV)
・ EST : (Sweetness) = 72.006 x X ^0.7694 (V)
^{* 1} : Concentration is the neotame concentration in “Milasie 200”.

  As described above, the test groups 1-1 to 1-5 are test groups using each of the high-intensity sweeteners, and the test groups 2-1 to 2-10 have the high-intensity sweeteners. Two test groups were used, and test groups 3-a-1 to 3-c-3 were test groups using three kinds of high-intensity sweeteners.

  In test groups 1-1 to 1-5, the original sweetness of the base sample is about 7.0, but it is difficult to increase to the same level by using a high-intensity sweetener alone, so the sweetness should be 4.5-5.0. Prepared.

  In Test Groups 2-1 to 2-10, the sweetness was adjusted to about 7.0 (approximately sweetness ratio = 1: 1), which was the original value of the base sample.

  In the test groups 3-a-1 to 3-c-3, the sweetness was adjusted to 7.0. In the test plots containing NTM (test plots 3-a-2, 3-a-4 and 3-a-6), the sweetness was adjusted to about 8.0. Table 6 shows the degree of sweetness in each test section.

  Moreover, the sweetness ratio of the high-intensity sweetener in the test groups 3-a-1 to 3-a-6 is approximately ACK: X: Y = 2: 1: 1. However, X and Y represent high-intensity sweeteners other than ACK.

  Moreover, the sweetness ratio of the high-intensity sweetener in the test groups 3-b-1 to 3-b-3 is approximately ACK: X: Y = 3: 1: 1. However, X and Y represent high-intensity sweeteners other than ACK.

  Moreover, the sweetness ratio of the high-intensity sweetener in the test groups 3-c-1 to 3-c-3 is approximately ACK: X: Y = 1: 1: 1. However, X and Y represent high-intensity sweeteners other than ACK.

3. Sensory evaluation The sensory evaluation was performed about the sweetness quality of each prepared drink.
The evaluation was conducted by 5 to 7 panelists, and the height of the preference for sweetness suitable for lemon tea containing lemon flavor was evaluated. The results are shown in Tables 2, 4, and 6.

From the highest evaluation in the order of straight tea, it is shown in the order of ◎>○>▲>Δ> × (◎ indicates the one with the most improved taste quality).

  As shown in Tables 2, 4, and 6, acesulfame potassium, stevia extract, and aspartame or sucralose, each having a sweetness ratio of 2.5 to 3.5: 0.8 to 1.2: The beverages No. 1 (test groups 3-b-2 and 3-b-3) were evaluated as having good overall balance, although the overall taste was thick, but the sweetness was not strong.

Claims (6)

And acesulfame potassium, and Stevia extract, comprises a Asuparute arm, each sweetness ratio 2.9 to 3.1: 0.95 to 1.05: 1 is, citrus flavor containing acidic tea beverage.   The beverage according to claim 1, comprising a citrus flavor and / or citrus juice.   The beverage according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the tea beverage is a black tea beverage.   The beverage according to claim 1, wherein the citrus flavor is a lemon flavor or lemon juice, and the tea beverage is black tea. A citrus flavor containing acidic tea drinks, and acesulfame potassium, and Stevia extract, and Asuparute arm, respectively 2.9 to 3.1: 0.95 to 1.05: to contain to be 1 sweetness ratio A method for imparting sweetness to a citrus-flavored acidic tea beverage characterized by the above.   6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the citrus flavor is a lemon flavor or lemon juice, and the tea beverage is a black tea beverage.