JP5872187B2 - Salt enhancer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a salty taste enhancer that can be used for foods and drinks containing salt, and in particular, to enhance the salty taste of foods and drinks by containing a mixture of extracts from specific spices. It relates to the agent.

Salt (sodium chloride) is an essential ingredient in the food industry, such as adjusting the taste by imparting a salty taste to foods and beverages, and improving the storage and physical properties. Therefore, it is desired to reduce the intake of sodium chloride with the aging of the population.
However, low-salt foods in which the amount of sodium chloride used is simply reduced do not have a clear taste, and the foods are not very tasty. Therefore, various countermeasures have been studied.

For example, as an old method of eating low-salt foods, a method of cooking low-salt dishes using the stimulation of spicy spices has been proposed. (Non-Patent Document 1)
In addition to this, methods of using potassium chloride or using protein hydrolysates have been proposed as an alternative to sodium chloride (Patent Documents 1 to 9). Taste) and unpleasant tastes such as aroma have been pointed out, and it cannot necessarily be a general-purpose technology that can be used for all foods.
In particular, Japanese-style dishes characterized by delicate seasoning, which are preferred by elderly people, have many disadvantages such as the loss of the original taste and enjoyment of meals.
Therefore, in order to enhance only the salty taste while respecting the original flavor of food and drink (Patent Document 10), and further presenting umami and richness other than salty taste, etc. In order to impart taste, a taste enhancer characterized by containing spirantol and a charlotte extract has been proposed (Patent Document 11), and a certain effect has been achieved.

However, since the salt used as a seasoning is very inexpensive, naturally, an inexpensive and highly versatile material and method are desired even if it is a substitute for salt.
Thus, there has been a strong demand for a salty taste enhancer derived from spices, which is a relatively inexpensive seasoning that has high versatility and safety as is the case with salt.
Here, spices are intended to give foods a special flavor, and are used in relatively small amounts of various plant flavors or aromatic leaves, stems, bark, roots, rhizomes, flowers, persimmons, seeds, It refers to fruits or peels and is broadly divided into spices used for flavoring foods and herbs used as flavorings for foods.

JP 2009-148216 A JP 2011-4668 A JP 2011-10657 A JP 2011-62167 A JP 2011-62168 A JP 2011-62169 A JP 2011-62170 A JP 2011-62171 A JP 2011-62172 A Japanese Patent Publication No. 48-35465 Japanese Patent No. 4508932

Takemasa Mitsuo's "Science of Spice" Bunensha p214

  Despite reducing the salt content added to the food, it can maintain the original taste of salty, umami, and richness of the food, and at the concentration actually added to the food. Because it is tasteless and odorless, it has a versatility that can be used for various foods, a high level of safety backed by abundant food experiences, and a salty taste enhancer that has the advantages of inexpensive raw materials that can be easily obtained on a daily basis. Is to provide.

  Since spices are seasonings that have been used for a long time for the purpose of adding aroma to foods, they have a unique aroma and taste. Therefore, even though the purpose is to reduce salt, it has been considered that the use of spices for salt replacement is unsuitable for Japanese-style dishes that enjoy a delicate fragrance and taste. In particular, it has been considered that the spice flavoring action has little versatility because most of it is used with the expectation of imparting a pungent taste.

However, it is possible to minimize the flavor and taste of the spices alone by using a wide variety of spice extracts having stimulating ingredients at low concentrations, and the original flavor of the food material to be added may be impaired. It is thought that it can be used as a seasoning.
In general, the “pungent” taste of spices is not uniform and has various ways of feeling. For example, peppers and peppers are expressed as hot and painful hotness by stimulating the tongue and mouth, and ginger and yam have a refreshing hotness such as wasabi and wasabi. Spicy is expressed as a spiciness (sharpness) that goes through the nose.

Therefore, the present inventors considered that the stimulation of salt can be faithfully reproduced by combining these spices having different pungent tastes. Furthermore, a synergistic masking effect by each spice can be expected by using a plurality of spices in combination.
Based on such an idea, the present inventors have completed the present invention by finding an optimal combination of spice extracts that enhance saltiness while being almost tasteless and odorless.

That is, the present invention
(1) A salty taste enhancer characterized by containing a mixture of spice extracts of pepper, ginger, clove and cinnamon,
(2) A salty taste enhancer characterized by containing a mixture of spice extracts of pepper, ginger, clove, cinnamon and pepper,
(3) The salty taste enhancer according to (1) or (2), further comprising an emulsifier.
Moreover, this invention is the method of enhancing the salty taste of the food / beverage products characterized by adding the said salty taste enhancer (1)-(3) to salt containing food / beverage products.

Since the salty taste enhancer of the present invention exhibits an effect by adding a trace amount of tasteless and odorless, the salty taste can be naturally enhanced without impairing the original flavor and palatability of food and drink.
The salty taste enhancer of the present invention is a low-sodium food required for patients with high blood pressure, kidney disease, heart disease, etc., that is, a patient reserve army. It is suitable for salt-containing foods and beverages in which the salt reduction rate is limited in terms of the decrease in sex.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail according to embodiments.
(A) Constituents of salty taste enhancer The salty taste enhancer of the present invention contains pepper, ginger, clove and cinnamon spices, and optionally, pepper spices as a raw material, and contains a mixture of extracts of these spices as active ingredients. To do.

(1) Pepper spice extract Spice pepper (Pepper) is a spice that uses fruits such as Piper nigrum L., Piper longum L., Piper officinarum DC, which are vine herbs of the family Pepperaceae. It is a spice with a refreshing fragrance and a strong spiciness, but this pungent component is piperine and its isomer Shavin, and the strength of the pungent taste is determined by the amount of these contents.
There are white pepper (black pepper), black pepper (black pepper) and green pepper (green pepper), but these are not different varieties, but the same fruit, but only in the way they are processed after harvest. In the present invention, any of them can be extracted.

The active ingredient is extracted using a suitable solvent from powdered pepper spices obtained by grinding dried pepper fruit.
The solvent used for the extraction treatment is preferably water or a polar organic solvent, and the organic solvent may be a hydrate. Examples of the polar organic solvent include alcohol, acetone, ethyl acetate and the like. Among these, water or an aliphatic alcohol having 2 to 4 carbon atoms such as ethanol, propanol, and butanol is desirable from the viewpoint of safety to the human body and handleability. Water or ethanol or a mixture thereof is particularly desirable.
Although the quantity of the solvent used for extraction can be selected arbitrarily, generally 10-50 weight part of solvent is used with respect to 1 weight part of pepper spices.

Various extraction methods can be employed depending on the type and amount of the solvent. For example, powdered pepper can be put in a solvent and extracted by a dipping method or a heating reflux method. In the case of the immersion method, any of heating conditions, room temperature or cooling conditions may be used.
Next, the solid insoluble in the solvent is removed to obtain an extract, and various solid-liquid separation means such as centrifugation, filtration, and pressing can be used as the solid removal method.
The obtained extract can be used as it is for the production of a salty taste enhancer, but may be appropriately diluted with a liquid diluent such as water, ethanol, glycerin, triethyl citrate, dipropylene glycol, or propylene glycol. . Alternatively, dextrin, sucrose, pectin, chitin and the like can be added. These may be further concentrated to obtain a paste-like extract, or may be used as a powder after treatment such as freeze-drying or heat-drying.

The extract obtained by the above method can be directly blended into the salty taste enhancer, but can be further subjected to purification treatment such as decolorization and deodorization. For the purification treatment, activated carbon or a synthetic resin adsorbent made of porous styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer can be used. As the synthetic resin adsorbent for purification, for example, “Diaion HP-20 (trade name)” manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation or “Amberlite XAD-2 (trade name)” manufactured by Organo Corporation can be used.
In addition, in this invention, if it is a pepper extract obtained based on the said manufacturing method, a commercial item can be purchased and used.

(2) Ginger spice extract Spice Ginger (Ginger) is a perennial herbaceous Zingiber offic.
It is a spice that uses the rhizome of inale Roscoe. It has both a sweet and refreshing fragrance and a refreshing pungent sensation, but the unique pungent ingredients are non-volatile gingeron and shogaol.
A resinous or viscous substance extracted from ginger with an organic solvent and concentrated is called ginger oleoresin (oleo-resin), which contains components such as gingeron, gingerol, and shogaol.

An active ingredient is extracted from a ginger rhizome finely cut or a dry powdered ginger spice using an appropriate solvent. The solvent used for the extraction process is preferably a supercritical fluid of carbon dioxide.
For example, carbon dioxide in a supercritical state in a region where the pressure is 7.4 to 60.0 MPa, preferably 15 to 40 MPa, and the temperature is 32 to 100 ° C., preferably 35 to 70 ° C. is used. The amount of supercritical fluid used is 1.0 to 3.0 times, preferably 1.7 to 2.5 times the volume of ginger spice, and the extraction time is 2.0 to 6.0 hours. , Preferably 2.5 to 4.0 hours.

Furthermore, in the present invention, it is preferable to use a cosolvent together with the supercritical fluid in order to increase the extraction efficiency. As the cosolvent, an aqueous ethanol solution is preferable from the viewpoint that it can be used in foods. The ethanol concentration is 10 to 80 (w / w)%, preferably 20 to 50 (w / w)%. The amount used is 0.1 to 2.0 times, preferably 0.3 to 1.0 times the amount of ginger.
A co-solvent such as an aqueous ethanol solution in the extract obtained by supercritical fluid extraction is removed by a concentration operation using an evaporator or the like.

The obtained ginger spice extract can be blended in the salty taste enhancer as it is, but in some cases, after the same purification treatment as the pepper spice extract, it is used for the production of the salty taste enhancer.
In addition, in this invention, if it is a ginger extract obtained based on the said manufacturing method, a commercial item can be purchased and used.

(3) Clove spice extract The spice clove (Clove) is a spice made from dried buds before flowering of Syzygium aromaticum Merrill et Perry or Eugenia caryophyllata THUMBERG. .
It has an exciting and refreshing fragrance, but it also has a sweet vanilla-like flavor. The main ingredient of this flavor is not only scented by eugenol, but also has a high flavoring effect that removes the odor of meat.

The extraction treatment is preferably performed by dry steam clove spice by atmospheric steam distillation or vacuum steam distillation. The distillation conditions are preferably such that the space velocity (SV) is 60 to 100 h ⁻¹ .
The pressure reduction degree of the vacuum steam distillation is not particularly limited, and is usually performed in a gauge pressure range of −90 to −30 kPaG. In the present invention, the gauge pressure means “atmospheric pressure standard”.
The distillate amount is usually 5 to 100% by mass ratio with respect to the raw material clove spice powder, more preferably 5 to 15%.

The obtained ginger spice extract can be blended in the salty taste enhancer as it is, but in some cases, after the same purification treatment as the pepper spice extract, it is used for the production of the salty taste enhancer.
In addition, in this invention, if it is a clove extract obtained based on the said manufacturing method, a commercial item can be purchased and used.

(4) Cinnamon spice extract Cinnamon (Cinnamon) is a spice that uses bark and leaves of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume, Cinnamomum loureirii NEES, which is an evergreen tree of the camphor family. is there. Cinnamon is characterized by a refreshing feeling with a slight pungent taste and sweetness and a unique aroma. The main aromatic component is synamic aldehyde, which also contains eugenol, benzaldehyde and caryophyllene. You can also use cassia (Cassia) instead of cinnamon.

The extraction treatment is preferably carried out by subjecting the dry powdered cinnamon spice to atmospheric steam distillation or vacuum steam distillation. Distillation conditions and distillate purification conditions are the same as those for the clove spice extract.
In addition, in this invention, if it is a cinnamon extract obtained based on the said manufacturing method, a commercial item can be purchased and used.

(5) Capsicum spice extract The spice capsicum (Red Pepper: red pepper) is a spice using the fruits of Capsicum annuum L. and Capsicum frutescens L., which are perennial herbs of the solanaceous family. The chili pepper itself has almost no fragrance and is somewhat sweet and sour. The pungent component is mainly due to capsaicin, and the pungent taste varies depending on the content.
The fatty resin extracted from the pepper plant is called capsicum oleoresin.

In the present invention, the active ingredient is preferably extracted from a dry powdered red pepper spice using an appropriate solvent.
The solvent used for the extraction treatment is preferably water or a polar organic solvent, and the organic solvent may be a hydrate. Examples of the polar organic solvent include alcohol, acetone, hexane, and ethyl acetate. Of these, water or an aliphatic alcohol having 2 to 4 carbon atoms such as ethanol, propanol, and butanol is desirable from the viewpoint of safety to the human body and handleability. Water or ethanol or a mixture thereof is particularly desirable.
Although the quantity of the solvent used for extraction can be selected arbitrarily, generally 50-100 weight parts of solvent is used with respect to 1 weight part of red pepper spices.

Various extraction methods can be employed depending on the type and amount of the solvent. For example, powdered pepper can be put in a solvent and extracted by a dipping method or a heating reflux method. In the case of the immersion method, any of heating conditions, room temperature or cooling conditions may be used.
The obtained pepper spice extract can be blended in the salty taste enhancer as it is, but in some cases, after the same purification treatment as the pepper spice extract, it is used for the production of the salty taste enhancer.
In addition, in this invention, if it is a pepper extract obtained based on the said manufacturing method, a commercial item can be purchased and used.

(6) Emulsifier By adding an emulsifier to the salty taste enhancer, the salty taste enhancing effect can be further improved. As emulsifiers, emulsifiers for foods can be widely used. Examples of synthetic additives include glycerin fatty acid esters, sorbitan fatty acid esters, propylene glycol fatty acid esters, and sucrose fatty acid esters. As natural additives and existing additives, Examples include lecithin taken from soybeans and egg yolk, saponin taken from Kiraya, and sodium caseinate made from milk.
Of these, glycerin fatty acid esters are preferable, and decaglycerin monolaurate is particularly preferable in terms of the salty taste enhancing effect.

(B) Production of salty taste enhancer Each of the above-mentioned spices extract of pepper, ginger, clove and cinnamon, or each spice extract of pepper, ginger, clove, cinnamon and capsicum, optionally further added with an emulsifier and mixed. The salty taste enhancer of the present invention can be produced.
Specifically, the liquid or powdered solid components are simultaneously or sequentially placed in a mixer and stirred until a uniform state is obtained.

In this case, the blending amount of each spice extract, that is, the mass ratio of pepper, ginger, clove and cinnamon spice extract is preferably 10 to 50: 1 to 25: 1 to 10: 1, respectively, where cinnamon is 1. 30: 10: 5: 1 is preferred.
The blending amount of each spice extract when the pepper spice extract is blended, that is, the mass ratio of pepper, ginger, clove, cinnamon and pepper spice extract is 10 to 50: 1 to 25: 1, respectively, with cinnamon as 1. -10: 1: 1 to 20 is preferable, and 30: 10: 5: 1: 10 is particularly preferable.
Furthermore, the amount of the emulsifier is preferably 0.05 to 1 part by mass as 100 parts by mass of the salty taste enhancer.

Specifically, the salty taste enhancer of the present invention is formulated as follows.
For example, dissolved in an appropriate concentration in a (mixed) solvent such as water, alcohol, glycerin, propylene glycol (specifically, a mixed solvent of water / ethanol, water / ethanol / glycerin, water / glycerin, etc.) To do. Alternatively, dextrin, sucrose, pectin, chitin or the like can be added, and these can be further concentrated to form a paste. It is also possible to add an excipient (such as dextrin) to each solution and form a powder by spray drying. Furthermore, an oil-soluble liquid agent can be obtained by adding and dispersing the liquid agent together with an emulsifier in an oil or the like, and various dosage forms can be adopted depending on the application.

(C) Food / beverage products and usage to which salty taste enhancer is applied The salty taste enhancer of the present invention can be used for various foods / beverages containing salt without any particular limitation. For example, fruits or processed products thereof, vegetables or processed products thereof, seafood or processed products thereof, paste products, cooked foods, prepared vegetables, snacks, delicacies, processed foods, nutritional foods, tea drinks, coffee drinks, etc. Taste drinks, fruit juice drinks, carbonated drinks, soft drinks, functional drinks, alcoholic drinks, ice cream, confectionery such as sherbet, desserts such as jelly, pudding, sheep cane, cookies, cakes, chocolate, chewing gum, buns, etc. , Breads such as confectionery bread and bread, jams, ramunes, tablets and tablet confectionery.

  In addition, Japanese soup stock, for example, broth, seafood, kelp, shiitake, chicken, vegetables, soup stock, noodle soup, miso soup and Japanese seasoning, or western soup stock, eg beef, chicken, pork , Soup stocks such as seafood, vegetables, consomme soup and Western-style seasonings, or Chinese food tongue (hot water), for example, soup and Chinese seasonings taken from beef, chicken, pork, seafood, vegetables, etc. Can be given.

The salty taste enhancer of the present invention can be appropriately added during the production process of food and drink.
About addition amount, although it changes with kinds of addition object, in order to strengthen the salty taste of food / beverage products, 0.02-300 mass parts with respect to 100 mass parts of salt in food / beverage products, Especially 5-15 mass parts. It is preferable to add to food and drink so that it becomes.

  EXAMPLES Next, although an Example is shown and this invention is demonstrated further more concretely, this invention is not limited to these Examples.

  In the following examples, the following commercially available products were used as the spice extracts of pepper, ginger, clove, cinnamon and pepper, which are active ingredients of the salty taste enhancer.

[Examples 1 to 4]
Pepper, ginger, clove, cinnamon and red pepper spice extracts were weighed and mixed in the amounts shown in Table 2, and ethanol was added thereto to prepare 100 parts by weight of a salty taste enhancer.
Next, a sample for evaluation consisting of 0.1 part by weight of each salty taste enhancer and 99.9 parts by weight of 0.8% NaCl aqueous solution was prepared, and a 0.8% NaCl aqueous solution was controlled by 10 expert panelists. As above, the flavor of spices, the salty taste enhancing effect and the overall taste characteristics were evaluated. The results are shown in Table 2.

[Comparative Examples 1-5]
Each spice extract of pepper, ginger, clove, cinnamon and pepper was weighed and mixed in the blending amounts shown in Table 3, and ethanol was added thereto to prepare 100 parts by mass of each salty taste enhancer.
Next, a sample for evaluation consisting of 0.1 part by weight of each salty taste enhancer and 99.9 parts by weight of 0.8% NaCl aqueous solution was prepared, and a 0.8% NaCl aqueous solution was controlled by 10 expert panelists. As above, the flavor of spices, the salty taste enhancing effect and the overall taste characteristics were evaluated. The results are shown in Table 3.

[Examples 5 to 6]
The salty taste enhancer prepared in Examples 1 and 3 was 0.1% by mass in each food of 0.8% NaCl aqueous solution, commercially available tomato sauce (salt 0.5%) and commercially available noodle soup. A food for evaluation was prepared by addition. The noodle soup was diluted with water so that the salt concentration would be 1% during the tasting.
About each evaluation foodstuff, the expert panelist of 10 persons evaluated the salty taste enhancement effect and the characteristic of the whole taste. The results are shown in Table 4.

[Example 7]
Pepper, ginger, clove, cinnamon and red pepper spice extracts and emulsifier (decaglycerin monolaurate) were weighed and mixed in the blending amounts shown in Table 5, and ethanol was added thereto to add 100 parts by mass as a salty taste enhancer. Was prepared.

  When the salty taste enhancer of the present invention is used for foods and drinks, the effect of enhancing the salty taste can be imparted without impairing the taste of the foods and drinks more naturally.

Claims (7)

It contains a mixture of spice extracts of pepper, ginger, clove and cinnamon, and the mass ratio of spice extract is 1 for cinnamon, 10 to 50 for pepper, 1 to 25 for ginger, and 1 to 10 for clove A salty taste enhancer characterized by The salty taste enhancer according to claim 1, wherein the spice extract has a mass ratio of 1 for cinnamon, 30 for pepper, 10 for ginger, and 5 for cloves. It contains a mixture of spice extracts of pepper, ginger, clove, cinnamon and pepper, and the mass ratio of each spice extract is 1 to 50 for cinnamon, 1 to 25 for ginger, and 1 to 10 for clove. A salty taste enhancer characterized in that the pepper is 1-20 . 4. The salty taste enhancer according to claim 3, wherein the spice extract has a mass ratio of 1 for cinnamon, 30 for pepper, 10 for ginger, 5 for cloves, and 10 for pepper. The salty taste enhancer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an emulsifier. The salty taste enhancer according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the emulsifier is a glycerin fatty acid ester. Per 100 parts by weight sodium chloride in foods and drinks, characterized by adding to claim 1-6 or food or drink so that 0.02 to 300 parts by weight of salty taste enhancer according to one of A method of enhancing the salty taste of food and drink.