JP6338968B2 - Composite pet food - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to pet food such as dogs and cats bred as pets (companion animals).

  Pet food for dogs and cats is roughly divided into dry type, semi-moist type, and moist type (wet type) in order of decreasing water content. The dry type with the lowest moisture content is a material that is dried after being formed into pellets by hydropressing the raw material using an extruder such as an extruder. In general, it is excellent in nutritional balance and preservability. The raw material components are decomposed by the heat treatment in the production process and the flavor is easily lost, and there is a problem that the pet bite is poor and the palatability is inferior to the moist type. On the other hand, the moist type with a relatively high moisture content generally has good pet taste, but because it has a lot of water, it tends to rot and is less storable than the dry type, making it difficult to store for a long time. There's a problem. Thus, in pet food, preservation and preference are in a trade-off relationship.

  Regarding pet food excellent in preservability and palatability, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a whole meat type pet food having a water content of 15 to 40% by weight and a water activity of 0.65 to 0.9, and a water content of 5 to 10%. %, And a dry pet food having a water activity of 0.6 or less in a predetermined weight ratio, and then aging to achieve water balance. The dry pet food has a water content of 12% by weight or less and a water activity of 0%. A composite pet food of 65 or less is described. In the Example of patent document 1, after mixing the whole meat type pet food and dry pet food of a pellet form with a mixer so that it may become predetermined | prescribed weight ratio, it seals in an airtight container, and normal temperature (5-30 degreeC). In this case, the mixture is aged for about 1 to 5 weeks to obtain a composite pet food. According to Patent Document 1, by aging the whole meat type pet food and dry pet food in a mixed state, the flavor of the whole meat type pet food is shifted to the dry pet food to some extent, and the moisture is completely removed. It is said that the water content of the dry pet food is 12% by weight or less and the water activity is 0.65 or less by shifting from the meat type pet food to the dry pet food to some extent and balancing the water in both pet foods.

  Patent Document 2 is a soft-type pet food that does not contain starch and is manufactured from raw materials containing soy protein, and has a product moisture content of 13 to 38% by weight and a water activity of 0.88 or less. Things are listed. According to Patent Document 2, since the pet food described in Patent Document 2 does not contain starch, it does not harden due to aging of the starch even after long-term storage and has a water activity of 0.88 or less. It is said that microorganisms such as these are hardly generated and can be stored for a long time.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-149664 JP 2010-29162 A

  The subject of this invention is related with the pet food excellent in preservability and palatability.

  The present invention includes a pet food A containing a humectant, having a water content of more than 10% by mass and not more than 20% by mass and having a water activity of 0.5 or less, and a water content of 5 to 10% by mass and having a water activity of 0.5 or less It is a composite pet food obtained by mixing pet food B.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the pet food excellent in preservability and palatability is provided.

  The composite pet food of the present invention is a mixture of two types of pet foods A and B. Pet foods A and B both have a water activity (Aw) of 0.5 or less. In order to increase the preservability of pet food and enable long-term storage, it is necessary to suppress the growth of microorganisms and the spoilage caused thereby, and the growth of microorganisms is closely related to the moisture content of pet food. What can be used for the survival and growth of microorganisms is water called free water in pet food, and the amount of free water contained in pet food is indicated by the value of water activity. If the water activity is low, microorganisms are difficult to grow and the preservability of pet food is improved. Therefore, by reducing the water activity of the pet food, the storage stability can be improved.

  Since the pet foods A and B both have a water activity of 0.5 or less, the microorganisms hardly grow and are excellent in storage stability. The water activity of the pet foods A and B is preferably from 0.35 to 0.50, more preferably from the viewpoint of the balance between the storage stability of the composite pet food obtained by mixing them and the taste and texture, i.e., palatability. Is 0.43 to 0.48. Pet food A and pet food B may have the same or different water activities. Water activity can be measured using a commercially available water activity measuring device (for example, AQUALAB Series-4TE manufactured by DECAGON, USA).

  In addition to having a water activity of 0.5 or less, the pet food A has a water content of more than 10% by mass and 20% by mass or less. In general, the water activity and the water content of pet food are not in a proportional relationship but have a close relationship. If the pet food is dried to reduce its water content, the water activity also decreases. The pet food A having a moisture content in the range of more than 10% by mass and not more than 20% by mass is classified as a so-called semi-moist type, and contains more moisture than a so-called dry type having a moisture content of 10% by mass or less. In this way, pet food A has a low water activity of 0.5 or less, although it does not necessarily have a low water content, and thus contributes particularly to the characteristics of such pet food A. Is a humectant. That is, pet food A contains a moisturizing agent as an essential component, and therefore has a water activity as low as 0.5 or less while having a moisture content of more than 10% by mass and 20% by mass or less. Yes. The water content of the pet food A achieves a water activity of 0.5 or less on the assumption that a humectant is contained, and improves the preservability of the composite pet food obtained by using this, and also improves the taste of the composite pet food. From the viewpoint of improving the texture and thus improving the palatability, it is preferably 11% by mass or more and 18% by mass or less, more preferably 14% by mass or more and 16% by mass or less, based on the total mass of the pet food A. is there.

  As the humectant used in the pet food A, a compound having a moisturizing effect that can be contained in food can be used without particular limitation. For example, polyhydric alcohols such as glycerin and propylene glycol; sorbitol, maltitol and the like Sugar alcohol; collagen, gelatin, sodium lactate and the like can be mentioned, and one of these can be used alone or in combination of two or more. Among these humectants, glycerin, propylene glycol, and sodium lactate are particularly preferably used in the present invention because of their excellent ability to reduce water activity.

  The content of the humectant in the pet food A is preferably 10 to 20% by mass, more preferably 12 to 15% by mass, based on the total mass of the pet food A. If the content of the moisturizing agent in the pet food A is too small, the above-described effects of the moisturizing agent are not sufficiently achieved, and if the content of the moisturizing agent is too large, the pet food may be poorly molded.

  On the other hand, the pet food B has a water content of 5 mass% or more and 10 mass% or less in addition to the water activity of 0.5 or less. The pet food B having a moisture content in such a range is classified as a so-called dry type, and therefore has a low water activity of 0.5 or less. That is, since the water content of the pet food B is inherently low, the water activity of 0.5 or less is achieved even when the pet food A does not contain a humectant. The water content of pet food B achieves a water activity of 0.5 or less without containing a humectant, and improves the preservability of the composite pet food obtained by using this, while also improving the taste and texture of the composite pet food. From the viewpoint of improving the palatability and, in turn, the palatability, it is preferably 6.5% by mass or more and 9.5% by mass or less, more preferably 7.0% by mass or more and 8% by mass based on the total mass of the pet food B. .5% by mass or less.

  Each of the pet foods A and B is mainly composed of a pet food raw material. As the raw material for pet food, those normally used as raw materials in this kind of pet food can be used without any particular limitation. For example, animal protein raw materials (for example, chicken, turkey, cow, pig, horse, sheep) , Fish, egg products, dairy products); vegetable protein materials (eg, soy protein, potato protein); animal oils such as fish oil; corn oil, salad oil, soybean oil, sesame oil, cottonseed oil, rapeseed oil, linseed oil, saury Vegetable oils such as flower oil, olive oil, sunflower oil; carbohydrate raw materials such as potatoes, wheat flour, corn pulverized material, corn flour; nutritional supplements or health enhancers [vitamins, minerals, amino acids, amylase inhibitors, lipases Inhibitor, wheat gluten hydrolyzate, chondroitin sulfate, polyphenol-containing material, lactic acid bacteria, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), coenzyme Q10, fiber component], seasoning (salt, sugar, sodium glutamate, etc.), spice (basil, glove, rosemary, etc.), flavoring (fish extract, etc.), thickener (gum etc.), gelling agent, A fiber component etc. are mentioned, These 1 type can be used individually or in combination of 2 or more types.

  As described above, the pet food A is a so-called semi-moist type, and the pet food B is a dry type, both of which are solid bodies having a predetermined shape. The shape of pet food A and B is not particularly limited, and can be a small piece of any shape such as a columnar shape, a spherical shape, a donut shape, a star shape, or a dog bone shape, and the size of the small piece is not particularly limited.

  Pet food A and B can be manufactured in accordance with a conventional method using the raw material for pet food, and about pet food A further using a moisturizing agent. A general method for producing a pet food includes a step of pulverizing a pet food raw material and molding (granulating) the pulverized product into a predetermined shape. For molding of pulverized products, extruder, front screw type extrusion granulator, horizontal screw type extrusion granulator, extrusion granulator such as pellet mill, drum type rolling granulator, dish type rolling granulator A known apparatus such as a rolling granulator such as a vibration type rolling granulator, a compression granulator such as a tableting machine or a pre-ketter machine can be used.

The composite pet food of the present invention is formed by mixing the two kinds of pet foods A and B described above. In the composite pet food of the present invention, the pet foods A and B are present independently with their shapes basically maintained. Therefore, the pet food A or B is selectively selected from the composite pet food of the present invention. It is possible to take it out.
The mass mixing ratio of pet food A and pet food B (pet food A: pet food B) is preferably 5:95 to 50:50, more preferably 10:90 to 30:70. By setting the mass mixing ratio of the pet food A and the pet food B within the above range, the composite pet food of the present invention has excellent storage stability and palatability.

  The composite pet food of the present invention is suitable as a food for small animals that can be reared at home, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and junior birds, and is particularly suitable as pet food for dogs and cats.

  Examples will be given to specifically describe the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the examples. In addition, regarding the pet food in the examples and comparative examples (pet food constituting the composite pet food), those belonging to the pet food A are indicated with “A” like “A1”, and the pet food B Those to which it belongs are shown with “B” appended, such as “B1”.

[Example 1]
A pet food A1 having the composition shown in Table 1 below was produced. Specifically, the raw material stirred using a mixer is rolled and formed using a rolling mill, steamed with a steamer, and then cut to granulate cylindrical particles having a diameter of 10 mm and a length of 5 mm, A pet food A1 having a water content of 14.3% by mass and a water activity of 0.48 was produced.
Moreover, pet food B1 having the composition shown in Table 1 below was produced. Specifically, after sufficiently mixing each raw material using a mixer, the mixture is supplied to an extruder (Wenger, X-185) and pressurized under conditions of a temperature of 120 ° C. and a pressure of 12 kg / cm ^2. Heat-extruded, expanded and foamed, cut with a cutter, granulated cylindrical particles having a diameter of 5 mm and a length of 10 mm, dried with a drier, a moisture content of 8.3% by mass, moisture A pet food B1 having an activity of 0.49 was produced.
And the manufactured pet food A1 and pet food B1 were mixed by the mass mixing ratio of former: latter = 15: 85, and the composite pet food as dog food was manufactured.

[Comparative Example 1]
Pet food A2 was produced in the same manner as pet food A1, except that the formulation was changed to that shown in Table 1 below. Pet food A2 does not contain a humectant and has a moisture content similar to that of pet food A1. And the composite pet food as dog food was manufactured like Example 1 except having replaced with pet food A1 and using pet food A2.

[Comparative Example 2]
Pet food A3 was produced in the same manner as pet food A1, except that the formulation was changed to that shown in Table 1 below. Pet food A3 contains a humectant, but has a moisture content similar to that of pet food B1 by overdrying than pet food A1. And the composite pet food as dog food was manufactured like Example 1 except having replaced with pet food A1 and using pet food A3.

[Evaluation of preservability]
The dog food to be evaluated was put in a packaging material having no moisture permeability and sealed, and the packaging material was stored in a thermostatic bath at 25 ° C. for 1 week. After the storage period, the packaging material was opened and the contents were visually confirmed. The case where mold was not observed in the dog food was marked with ◯, and the case where mold was observed was marked with x. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

[Evaluation of palatability]
For 10 healthy dogs under 1 year of age, the dog food to be evaluated was fed, and all the dog food that was fed was consumed (no leftovers). Very little leftovers ( ○ if the dog food is less than 20% by weight, △ if the amount of leftovers is small (more than 20% and less than 50% by weight of the dogfood you have fed) △, if you have a large amount of leftovers (50 The case of more than% by mass was marked with x. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

As is clear from the results shown in Table 1, the dog food (composite pet food) of Example 1 was excellent in both storage and palatability.
The dog food (composite pet food) of Comparative Example 1 has a relatively high moisture content of 14.8% by mass, and the pet food A2 having a high moisture content is relatively high. Since the moisturizing agent was not included, the water activity exceeded 0.5, which resulted in poor storage stability.
Since the dog food (composite pet food) of Comparative Example 2 has the same water content as the pet food B1 (5% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less) of the pet food A3 constituting the dog food, The dog food as a whole had a relatively low water content and excellent storage stability, but the results were inferior in palatability.

Claims (4)

Contains a humectant and has a moisture content of 14 % by mass or more (excluding 14% by mass ) 20% by mass or less, a pet food A having a water activity of 0.5 or less, and a moisture content of 7 % by mass or more and 8.5 % by mass or less A composite pet food obtained by mixing pet food B having a water activity of 0.5 or less.   The composite pet food according to claim 1, wherein the mass mixing ratio of the pet food A and the pet food B is the former: the latter = 5: 95 to 50:50.   The composite pet food according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the content of the humectant in the pet food A is 10 to 20% by mass. The composite pet food according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the humectant is at least one selected from the group consisting of glycerin, propylene glycol and sodium lactate.