JP6936659B2 - Binders, molded foods, and methods for manufacturing them - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a binder, a binder-molded food, and a method for producing the same, and more specifically, a binder having excellent binding force for binding small pieces or granular food materials to each other. The present invention relates to a binder-molded food product obtained by using the above, and a production method for producing the binder-molded food product on an industrial scale with good yield.

In recent years, for example, a binder-molded food such as granola bar has been attracting attention, but in the production of a binder-molded food, a binder is usually used to bind small pieces or granular food materials to each other. Is used.

In the binding molded food, the binder used for the production thereof is not only the binding property between the food materials but also the ease of manufacturing the binding agent, and the shape retention and storage stability of the obtained bound molded food. It plays an extremely important role in greatly affecting the yield and product life of molded foods through its handleability and impact resistance. Conventionally, as the binder, those mainly composed of saccharides containing polysaccharides (pullulan, starch, dextrin, agar, etc.), gums, thickeners, alginic acid, proteins, etc. have been used. Binders mainly composed of pullulan, which is a polysaccharide, are attracting attention because they are superior in binding properties and moldability as compared with other binders. However, the pullulan-based binders that have been proposed so far may have insufficient binding power depending on the application target. Proposal to enhance the binding force of pullulan by adding other components such as viscous polysaccharides and plasticity-imparting substances to pullulan, or by adding cohesive force improvers and viscosity modifiers in order to eliminate such drawbacks. (See Patent Document 1). However, as described in Patent Document 2, as proposed in Patent Document 1, even if pullulan and other components are used in combination, the binding force of the pullulan-based binder does not always increase. However, there is still room for improvement. On the other hand, Patent Document 2 proposes a binder containing saccharides having an average degree of polymerization of 4 or less together with pullulan, but the content of the proposed saccharides is extremely high and the sweetness caused by these saccharides is present. In addition, the binder disclosed in Patent Document 2 has problems such as affecting the taste of the final product, and its use is restricted.

Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a binder mainly composed of one or more selected from pullulan, dextrin, agar, gum, alginic acid, protein and the like, and a molded food using the same. The binder is a powder binder, and in order to obtain a molded food with a light texture, a dried edible material piece that has been hydrated and a powder binder are mixed to form a powder binder. Only techniques for moistening the agent and eliciting the desired binding force are disclosed.

In any case, the binding force of the pullulan-based binder proposed so far is not sufficient, and before the application of the present application, the pullulan-based binder has excellent binding force, and this is applied to the production of molded foods. When this is done, it is possible to bind and mold small pieces or granular food materials with high bulk density, and industrially bind molded foods with excellent shape retention, storage stability, and impact resistance. No binder has yet been provided that can be manufactured on a scale and with good yield.

JP-A-61-246239 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-306350 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-91748

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, has excellent binding force, can bind small and / or granular food materials to each other with high bulk density, and has shape retention. -A binder mainly composed of pullulan, which has excellent storage stability, handleability, impact resistance, and a long product life, and can easily provide a binder-molded food, and a small piece using the binder. An object of the present invention is to provide a binder-molded food obtained by binding and molding a granular food material and / or a method for producing the same.

As a result of various studies on a binder that firmly binds food materials to each other, the present inventors have made a binder mainly composed of pullulan, which is a water-soluble dietary fiber material with respect to the pullulan and will be described later. A binder containing a branched α-glucan mixture having specific properties in a specific ratio in terms of mass ratio in terms of anhydride has excellent binding force and substantially changes the taste of the food material to be bound. It was newly found that it has no excellent characteristics. Furthermore, the present inventors have excellent workability when the binder is used to fill a mold with small pieces and / or granular food materials, and the binder has a high bulk density and is fine pieces and / or granular. Not only can the food material be filled in the mold, but it is also excellent in the workability of taking out the binder-molded small and / or granular food material from the mold, and further, the binder can be used. For example, a binder-molded food product having excellent shape retention, storage stability, handleability, impact resistance, and a long product life can be obtained relatively easily, and the binder has excellent properties. It was newly discovered that the prepared binder-molded food can be produced on an industrial scale with good yield.

That is, the present inventors have about the pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture having the following characteristics (A) to (C) in a mass ratio [pullulan / branched α-glucan mixture] in terms of anhydride. The above problem is solved by providing a binder containing in the range of 1.5 to about 4, a binder molded food obtained by using the binder, and a method for producing the same.

<Characteristics of branched α-glucan mixture>
(A) Glucose is a constituent sugar, and
(B) A non-reducing terminal glucose residue located at one end of a linear glucan having a glucose polymerization degree of 3 or higher linked via an α-1,4 bond was linked via a bond other than the α-1,4 bond. It has a branched structure with a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more, and has a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more.
(C) Isomaltose is produced by digestion with isomalt dextranase in an amount of 5% by mass or more per solid content of the digest.

The present invention also solves the above-mentioned problems by providing a binder-molded food product produced by using the binder of the present invention and a method for producing the same.

According to the binder of the present invention, small pieces and / or granular food materials can be firmly bonded to each other with a high bulk density, and the shape retention / storage stability, handleability, and impact resistance can be improved. It has the advantage of being able to produce a binder-molded food product that is excellent and has a long product life. Further, according to the binder of the present invention, when the food material is bound and formed using the mold, there is an advantage that the filling work into the mold and the removal work from the mold can be performed with good workability. In addition, the molded food product produced by using the binder has excellent features such as shape retention, storage stability, handleability, impact resistance, and long product life. .. Furthermore, according to the method for producing a bound molded food of the present invention, there is an advantage that the bound molded food having the above-mentioned excellent characteristics can be easily provided with a good yield on an industrial scale.

The binder according to the present invention is a binder containing pullulan and a branched α-glucan mixture having specific properties in a specific mass ratio.

The pullulan used in the present invention has a structure in which a plurality of maltotrioses are regularly linked via α-1,6 bonds, is easily soluble in water, hardly dissolves in ethanol, and pullulanase (EC 3.2.1). It means a polysaccharide that mainly produces maltotriose when hydrolyzed by the action of .41). In carrying out the present invention, those having a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of less than about 5,000,000 are preferably about 1,000,000 from the viewpoints of binding force, adhesive force, viscosity, handleability and the like. Less than, more preferably 10,000 to 700,000, even more preferably about 50,000 to 600,000, even more preferably about 150,000 to 500,000 are preferably used. For example, the trade name "Food Additive Pullulan" (pullulan content of about 94% by mass, water content of about 2% by mass, manufactured by Hayashihara Co., Ltd.) is a commercially available pullulan as a food additive, and its weight average molecular weight is about about. Since it is in the range of 150,000 to 500,000, it can be suitably used in the practice of the present invention.

The branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention means, for example, a branched α-glucan mixture disclosed in International Publication No. WO 2008/136331 pamphlet (hereinafter, simply referred to as “branched α-glucan mixture”). .. The branched α-glucan mixture is obtained by reacting starch with various enzymes, and is usually a mixture mainly composed of a plurality of types of branched α-glucan having various branched structures and glucose polymerization degrees. In morphology. As a method for producing the branched α-glucan mixture, α-glucosyltransferase disclosed in the International Publication No. WO2008 / 136331 pamphlet may be allowed to act on starch, or in addition to the α-glucosyltransferase, maltotetra. Amylases such as aus-producing amylase (EC 3.21.60), starch debranching enzymes such as plulanase (EC 3.21.41), isoamylase (EC 3.21.68), and even , Cyclomaltodexstring lucanotransferase (EC 2.4.1.19) (hereinafter referred to as "CGTase"), starch branching enzyme (EC 2.4.1.18), or JP-A-2014-0542221. One or more of an enzyme having an activity of transferring α-1,6 glucan having a degree of polymerization of 2 or more to a glucose residue inside starch, which is disclosed in the publications, is used in combination to make starch. An example of how to make it work. In carrying out the present invention, the branched α-glucan mixture disclosed in the above-mentioned International Publication No. WO2008 / 136331, among them, derived from Bacillus circulance PP710 (FERM BP-10771) and / or Arslovacter globiformis PP349 A branched α-glucan mixture obtained by reacting an α-glucosyltransferase derived from (FERM BP-10770) alone or in combination with a starch debranching enzyme such as pullulanase or isoamylase and / or CGTase on a starch raw material. A branched α-glucan mixture having a water-soluble dietary fiber content of about 75% by mass or more, preferably about 80% by mass or more per solid content in terms of anhydride is particularly preferably used. Be done. In addition, the culture of Bacillus Circulance PP710 (FERM BP-10771) contains α-glucosyltransferase and amylase, and such an enzyme mixture has a maltose and / or glucose polymerization degree. When it is allowed to act on 3 or more α-1,4 glucans, it has a feature that the branched α-glucan mixture having a high water-soluble dietary fiber content is stably produced. These branched α-glucan mixtures described above have a basic structure of α-1,4 bonds derived from the raw material starch, but contain many various bonds other than α-1,4 bonds, and thus are complicated at the pullulan and molecular levels. As a result, compared to the binder of pullulan alone, for example, when dried foods are bound to each other, the binding force is increased and the moldability is improved, and the shape retention, storage stability and impact resistance are excellent. It is presumed that a binding molded food can be obtained. By the way, the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention is usually in the form of a mixture of a large number of branched α-glucans having various branched structures and glucose polymerization degrees (molecular weight). It is technically impossible to isolate branched α-glucan and determine or quantify its structure. However, even if the structure of the individual branched α-glucans, that is, the binding mode and binding order of glucose residues, which are the constituent units thereof, cannot be determined by today's technology, the branched α-glucan mixture can be used. The mixture as a whole can be characterized by the various properties required by the various physical, chemical, or enzymatic methods commonly used in the art.

That is, the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention is characterized by the above-mentioned characteristics (A) to (C) as a whole mixture. That is, this branched α-glucan mixture is a glucan having glucose as a constituent sugar (characteristic (A)), and is attached to one end of a linear glucan having a glucose polymerization degree of 3 or more linked via α-1,4 bonds. It has a branched structure with a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more linked to a located non-reducing terminal glucose residue via a bond other than α-1,4 bond (characteristic (B)). The "non-reducing terminal glucose residue" in the characteristic (B) means a glucose residue located at the terminal which does not show reducibility in the glucan chain linked via α-1,4 bond. , "Binding other than α-1,4 bond" means a bond other than α-1,4 bond such as α-1,2 bond, α-1,3 bond, α-1,6 bond.

Furthermore, the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention is characterized in that isomaltose is produced in an amount of 5% by mass or more per solid content of the digested product by digestion with isomalt dextranase (characteristic (C)). Isomalt dextranase digestion in the property (C) means that the branched α-glucan mixture is allowed to act on isomalt dextranase and hydrolyzed. Isomaltodextranase is an enzyme to which the enzyme number (EC) 3.2.1.94 has been assigned by the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and is adjacent to the reducing end side of the isomaltose structure in α-glucan. It is an enzyme that hydrolyzes any of the binding modes of α-1,2, α-1,3, α-1,4, and α-1,6. Preferably, isomalt dextranase from Arthrobacter globiformis (eg, Sawai et al., "Agricultural and Biological Chemistry", Vol. 52, No. 2). See pages 495-501 (1988)).

The ratio of isomaltose per solid in the digest produced by isomalt dextranase digestion is an isomaltose structure that can be hydrolyzed with isomalt dextranase in the structure of the branched α-glucans that make up the branched α-glucan mixture. The structure of the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention can be characterized by an enzymatic method as a whole mixture.

In addition to having the above-mentioned properties (A) and (B), by digestion with isomaltodextranase, isomaltos is added in an amount of 5% by mass or more, preferably 10% by mass or more, more preferably, based on the solid matter of the digest. Branched α-glucan produced in an amount of 15% by mass or more, more preferably 20% by mass or more and 70% by mass or less, further preferably 20% by mass or more and 60% by mass or less, and further preferably 20% by mass or more and 50% by mass or less. The mixture has good compatibility with pullulan, and when used in combination with pullulan at a specific mass ratio, the binding property between food materials is effectively improved as compared with the case of pullulan alone, and the food materials are bound to each other. It is suitably used as an active ingredient of the binder of the present invention because it exhibits excellent properties such as good workability.

Further, as a more preferable example of the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention, the characteristic (D) that the water-soluble dietary fiber content determined by high performance liquid chromatography (enzyme-HPLC method) is 40% by mass or more is exhibited. What you have is mentioned.

The "high performance liquid chromatograph method (enzyme-HPLC method)" (hereinafter, simply referred to as "enzyme-HPLC method") for determining the content of water-soluble dietary fiber is the Ministry of Health and Welfare Notification No. 146 dated May 20, 1996. It is the method described in item 8 "Dietary fiber" in the nutrition labeling standard, "Analysis method of nutritional components, etc. (method listed in the third column of the attached table 1 of the nutrition labeling standard)", and the outline is explained. Then, it is as follows. That is, a sample for gel filtration chromatography is decomposed by a series of enzymatic treatments with a heat-stable α-amylase, protease and glucoamylase, and proteins, organic acids and inorganic salts are removed from the treatment liquid with an ion exchange resin. Prepare the solution. Next, it was subjected to gel filtration chromatography, and the peak areas of undigested glucan and glucose in the chromatogram were determined, and the respective peak areas and glucose in the sample solution separately determined by the glucose oxidase method by a conventional method were separately obtained. The amount is used to calculate the water-soluble dietary fiber content of the sample. As used herein, the term "water-soluble dietary fiber content" means the water-soluble dietary fiber content determined by the above-mentioned "enzyme-HPLC method" unless otherwise specified.

The water-soluble dietary fiber content indicates the content of α-glucan that is not decomposed by α-amylase and glucoamylase, and the characteristic (D) is the structure of this branched α-glucan mixture as a whole by an enzymatic method. It is one of the characterization indicators.

In addition to having the above-mentioned characteristics (A) to (C), the water-soluble dietary fiber content is 40% by mass or more and less than 100% by mass, preferably 50% by mass or more and less than 95% by mass, and more preferably 60% by mass or more and 90% by mass. The branched α-glucan mixture having less than, more preferably 70% by mass or more and less than 85% by mass has good compatibility with pullulan and is more preferably used as an active ingredient of the binder according to the present invention.

Furthermore, as a more preferable example of the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention, a branched α-glucan mixture having the following characteristics (E) and (F) can be mentioned. The properties (E) and (F) can be confirmed by methylation analysis.
(E) The ratio of the glucose residue bound to α-1,4 to the glucose residue bound to α-1,6 is in the range of 1: 0.6 to 1: 4.
(F) The total of α-1,4 bound glucose residues and α-1,6 bound glucose residues accounts for 55% or more of the total glucose residues.

Methylation analysis, as is well known, is a commonly used method for determining the binding mode of monosaccharides constituting polysaccharides or oligosaccharides (Ciucanu et al., "Carbohydrate". Rate Research (Carbohydrate Research), Vol. 131, No. 2, pp. 209-217 (1984)). When methylation analysis is applied to the analysis of glucose binding modes in glucans, it first methylates all free hydroxyl groups in the glucose residues that make up the glucan, and then hydrolyzes the fully methylated glucan. Next, the methylated glucose obtained by hydrolysis was reduced to obtain methylated glucitol in which the anomer type was eliminated, and further, the free hydroxyl group in this methylated glucitol was acetylated to obtain partially methylated glucitol acetate (note that). , "Partially methylated glucitol acetate" may be simply collectively referred to as "partially methylated"). By analyzing the obtained partially methylated product by gas chromatography, various partial methylated products derived from glucose residues having different binding modes in glucans have a peak area that occupies the peak area of all the partially methylated products in the gas chromatogram. It can be expressed as a percentage (%) of. Then, from this peak area%, the abundance ratio of glucose residues having different binding modes in the glucan, that is, the abundance ratio of each glucoside bond can be determined. The "ratio" for a partially methylated product means the "ratio" of the peak area in the gas chromatogram of the methylation analysis, and the "%" for the partially methylated product means the "area%" in the gas chromatogram of the methylation analysis. It shall be.

The "α-1,4-bonded glucose residue" in (E) and (F) above refers to the glucose residue bonded to another glucose residue via only the hydroxyl group bonded to the carbon atoms at the 1- and 4-positions. It is a group and is detected as 2,3,6-trimethyl-1,4,5-triacetylglucitol in methylation analysis. Further, the "α-1,6 bonded glucose residue" in the above (E) and (F) is bonded to another glucose residue only through the hydroxyl group bonded to the carbon atom at the 1st and 6th positions. It is a glucose residue and is detected as 2,3,4-trimethyl-1,5,6-triacetylglucitol in methylation analysis.

The ratio of α-1,4 bound glucose residue to α-1,6 bound glucose residue obtained by methylation analysis, and the ratio of α-1,4 bound glucose residue to α-1,6 bound The ratio of the glucose residue to the total glucose residue can be used as one of the indexes for characterizing the structure of the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention as a whole by a chemical method.

The characteristic of (E) above that "the ratio of the glucose residue bound to α-1,4 to the glucose residue bound to α-1,6 is in the range of 1: 0.6 to 1: 4" is described in this article. 2,3,6-trimethyl-1,4,5-triacetylglucitol and 2,3,4-trimethyl-1, which are detected when the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention is subjected to methylation analysis, This means that the ratio of 5,6-triacetylglucitol is in the range of 1: 0.6 to 1: 4. In addition, the characteristic of (F) above that "the total of the glucose residues bound to α-1,4 and the glucose residues bound to α-1,6 occupy 55% or more of the total glucose residues" is described in this article. The branched α-glucan mixture used in the invention is 2,3,6-trimethyl-1,4,5-triacetylglucitol and 2,3,4-trimethyl-1,5,6-tri in methylation analysis. It means that the total with acetyl glucan accounts for 55% or more of the partially methylated glucitol acetate. Normally, starch does not have glucose residues bound only at the 1st and 6th positions, and α-1,4 bound glucose residues occupy most of the total glucose residues. The requirements (E) and (F) mean that the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention has a structure completely different from that of starch.

In addition to the α-1,4 bond and α-1,6 bond present in starch, which have the above-mentioned characteristics (E) and (F), "α-" located at the non-reducing terminal, which is not present in starch. A branched α-glucan mixture having a considerable amount of “1,6 bonded glucose residues” is preferably used as the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention.

Further, as a more preferable example of the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention, a branched α-glucan mixture having the following properties (G) and (H) in addition to the above-mentioned properties (A) to (F) can be mentioned. Be done. The properties (G) and (H) can also be confirmed by methylation analysis.

(G) α-1,3 bound glucose residues are 0.5% or more and less than 10% of total glucose residues; and (H) α-1,3,6 bound glucose residues are total glucose residues. 0.5% or more of the group.

In the above (G), "the amount of glucose residue bonded to α-1,3 is 0.5% or more and less than 10% of the total glucose residue" means that the hydroxyl group at the C-1 position and the hydroxyl group at the C-3 position. It means that glucose residues bound to other glucoses only through are present in an amount of 0.5% or more and less than 10% of the total glucose residues constituting the glucan. The branched α-glucan mixture having the above-mentioned property (G) can be preferably used in the present invention, and among them, α-1,3 bound glucose residues are in the range of 1 to 3% of the total glucose residues. The branched α-glucan mixture is more preferably used in carrying out the present invention.

Further, in the above (H), "the glucose residue bonded to α-1, 3, 6 is 0.5% or more of the total glucose residue" means that C-3 is used in addition to the hydroxyl group at the C-1 position. It means that the glucose residue bonded to other glucose via the hydroxyl group at the position and the hydroxyl group at the C-6 position is present in an amount of 0.5% or more of the total glucose residues constituting the glucan. The branched α-glucan mixture having the above-mentioned property (H) can be preferably used in the present invention, and among them, the glucose residue bound to α-1, 3, 6 is one of the total glucose residues constituting the glucan. A branched α-glucan of to 10%, preferably a branched α-glucan in the range of 1 to 7%, is more preferably used in practicing the present invention.

The α-1,3 bound glucose residue can be analyzed based on "2,4,6-trimethyl-1,3,5-triacetylglucitol" detected in the methylation analysis, as described above. The fact that "α-1,3 bound glucose residue is 0.5% or more and less than 10% of the total glucose residue" defined by the property (G) is that the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention is methylated. When subjected to analysis, it can be confirmed by the presence of 2,4,6-trimethyl-1,3,5-triacetylglucitol in an amount of 0.5% or more and less than 10% of the partially methylated glucitol acetate. can. In addition, the glucose residue bound to α-1,3,6 can be analyzed based on "2,4-dimethyl-1,3,5,6-tetraacetylglucitol" detected in the methylation analysis. The fact that "α-1,3,6 bound glucose residues are 0.5% or more of the total glucose residues" defined in the above property (H) means that the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention is methylated. Confirmation by the presence of 2,4-dimethyl-1,3,5,6-tetraacetylglucitol in an amount of 0.5% or more and less than 10% of partially methylated glucitol acetate when subjected to chemical analysis. Can be done.

Further, the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention can also be characterized by a weight average molecular weight (Mw) and a value (Mw / Mn) obtained by dividing the weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the number average molecular weight (Mn). can. The weight average molecular weight (Mw) and the number average molecular weight (Mn) can be determined by using, for example, size exclusion chromatography or the like. Further, since the average degree of polymerization of glucose of the branched α-glucan molecules constituting the branched α-glucan mixture can be calculated based on the weight average molecular weight (Mw), the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention has an average glucose. It can also be characterized by the degree of polymerization. Incidentally, the average degree of polymerization of glucose can be obtained by subtracting 18 from the weight average molecular weight (Mw) and dividing the molecular weight by 162, which is the amount of glucose residues. The branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention preferably has an average glucose polymerization degree of usually 8 to 500, preferably 15 to 400, and more preferably 20 to 300. The branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention exhibits the same properties as ordinary glucan in that the larger the average glucose polymerization degree, the higher the viscosity, and the smaller the average glucose polymerization degree, the lower the viscosity. Therefore, when the viscosity is important, a branched α-glucan mixture having a desired average glucose polymerization degree may be appropriately selected and used.

Mw / Mn, which is the value obtained by dividing the weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the number average molecular weight (Mn), is closer to 1 and the variation in the degree of polymerization of glucose of the branched α-glucan molecules constituting the branched α-glucan mixture is smaller. Means that. As the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention, a mixture having an Mw / Mn of 20 or less can be used, but preferably 10 or less, more preferably 5 or less, more preferably. When a branched α-glucan mixture having a more uniform glucose polymerization degree is required, a mixture having a small variation in glucose polymerization degree and Mw / Mn closer to 1 may be selected and used.

The branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention may be produced by any method as long as it has the above-mentioned characteristics (A) to (C). For example, a branched structure having a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more linked to a non-reducing terminal glucose residue of a linear glucan having a glucose polymerization degree of 3 or more linked via an α-1,4 bond via an α-1,6 bond. The branched α-glucan mixture obtained by allowing an enzyme having an action of introducing glucose to act on starch can be suitably used in the practice of the present invention, and as a more preferable example, International Publication No. WO2008 / 136331 pamphlet. Examples thereof include a branched α-glucan mixture obtained by reacting an α-glucosyltransferase disclosed in the above on starch. In addition to the α-glucosyl transfer enzyme, liquefied α-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1), glycated α-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1), and maltotetraose-producing amylase (EC). 3.21.60), amylase such as maltohexaose-producing amylase (EC 3.21.98), isoamylase (EC 3.21.68) and pullulanase (EC 3.2.1. By using a starch debranching enzyme such as .41) in combination, the molecular weight of this branched α-glucan mixture can be reduced, so that the molecular weight, glucose polymerization degree and the like can be adjusted within a desired range. Furthermore, cyclomaltodexstring glucan transferase (EC 2.4.1.19), starch branching enzyme (EC 2.4.1.18), and the degree of polymerization disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-0542221. Branched α constituting the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention by using an enzyme having an activity of transferring 2 or more α-1,4 glucans to glucose residues inside starch to α-1,6 in combination. -Glucan can be further branched to increase the water-soluble dietary fiber content of the branched α-glucan mixture. It is also optional to allow a sugar hydrolase such as glucoamylase to further act on the branched α-glucan mixture thus obtained to obtain a branched α-glucan mixture having a further increased water-soluble dietary fiber content. Furthermore, by allowing a glycosyl trehalose-producing enzyme (EC 5.49.99.15) to act on such a branched α-glucan mixture, a trehalose structure is introduced at the reducing end of the branched α-glucan constituting the branched α-glucan mixture. Alternatively, the reducing power of the branched α-glucan mixture may be reduced by reducing the reducing end of the branched α-glucan molecule by adding hydrogen, and it is desired by performing fractionation by size exclusion chromatography or the like. It is also optional to obtain a branched α-glucan mixture having a molecular weight distribution that falls within the range of.

The branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention is as described above, but the branched α-glucan mixture sold by Hayashihara Co., Ltd. as isomaltodextrin (trade name “Fiberlixa”) is the present invention. Can be used as the optimal branched α-glucan mixture in carrying out.

The binder of the present invention has a mass ratio of the pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in terms of anhydride [pullulan / branched α-glucan mixture] of about 1.5 to about 4, preferably. , About 1.6 to about 3, more preferably about 1.7 to about 3, and even more preferably about 2 to about 3. If it is below the lower limit of the mass ratio range or exceeds the upper limit thereof, the desired effect of the binder of the present invention may be significantly reduced or may not be exhibited, which is not preferable. The binder containing pullulan and a branched α-glucan mixture in the above mass ratio is not only pullulan alone, but also water-soluble dietary fiber such as indigestible dextrin, polydextrose, and inulin, which is a component other than pullulan, or Compared with the case of using with starch hydrolyzate such as dextrin and pullulan, the binding property between food materials is excellent, and if the binder of the present invention is used, shape retention, storage stability, impact resistance, etc. It is possible to easily produce a binder-molded food with a significantly improved yield on an industrial scale with good yield.

As a more preferable embodiment of the binder of the present invention, pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture having the above-mentioned characteristics are preferably added in an anhydride-equivalent total, usually about 90% by mass or more per solid content. Is about 95% by mass or more and 100% by mass or less, more preferably about 98% by mass or more and 100% by mass or less. When the total amount of pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture having the above-mentioned characteristics is less than 90% by mass per solid content in terms of anhydride, the desired effect of the binder of the present invention is exhibited. It is not preferable because it may be significantly reduced or it may not be exhibited.

Further, as a more preferable embodiment of the binder of the present invention, pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in total are usually about 10 to about 30% by mass, and more preferably about 10 to about 20% by mass. %, More preferably about 10 to about 15% by mass, and even more preferably about 10 to about 13% by mass. If the total amount of pullulan in the aqueous solution and the branched α-glucan mixture is less than 10% by mass, the desired effect of the binder of the present invention may be significantly reduced or may not be exhibited. It is not preferable because there is. Further, when the total amount of pullulan in the aqueous solution and the branched α-glucan mixture exceeds 30% by mass, the action and effect commensurate with the blending amount cannot be expected, and it is not preferable in terms of cost.

Next, the binding molded food of the present invention will be described. The binding-molded food of the present invention is a binding-molded food obtained by binding and molding small pieces and / or granular food materials to each other using the binder, and the food materials are bound to each other. It is a binder-molded food that is binder-molded via a binder. The amount of the binder contained in the binder-molded food of the present invention is usually about 0.1 to about 30% by mass, more preferably about 1 to about 1 to about 1 to about 30% by mass per solid content of the food material in terms of anhydride. It is 20% by mass, more preferably about 2 to about 10% by mass. When the amount of the binder contained in the binder-molded food is less than 0.1% by mass per solid content of the food material in terms of anhydride, the shape-retaining property of the binder-molded food of the present invention. It is not preferable because it may significantly reduce the property / storage stability, handleability, impact resistance, and product life, or it may not be exhibited. Further, if the amount of the binder contained in the molded food exceeds 30% by mass per solid content of the food material in terms of anhydride, an action effect commensurate with the blending amount can be expected. It is also not preferable in terms of cost.

The food materials constituting the bound molded food of the present invention mainly include all food materials that can be eaten by humans, particularly dried food materials (including materials such as freeze-dried foods and dried baby foods). means. However, the molded food product of the present invention can also be in a form applicable to animals other than humans. In such a case, a known feed material (including pet food) or feed material can be used instead of the food material. Hereinafter, for convenience, as the food material constituting the bound molded food of the present invention, a food material that can be eaten by humans will be mainly described.

Specific examples of the food materials that can be eaten by humans constituting the bound molded food of the present invention include puffed nuts [swelled rice, roasted rice cake, carbonated roasted rice cake, gourd, pon confectionery, corn flakes, popcorn, and okoshi (awa-okoshi). Chestnut okoshi, thunder okoshi, rock okoshi, etc.), potatoes, chicks hail, etc.], pregelatinized rice, dried noodles (dried products such as udon, buckwheat, Chinese noodles, pasta, etc.), instant dried noodles, and their fragile or damaged pieces. Things or crushed foods; snacks (biscuits, hardtack, crackers, potato chips, pretzels, etc.), granola, dried castella, dried sponge cakes, and their fragile, broken or crushed foods; dried nuts (almonds, cashew nuts) , Hazel nuts, Brazilian nuts, pecan nuts, ginnan, chestnuts, walnuts, coconuts, pistachios, peanuts, pecans, rice, barley, wheat, miscellaneous grains (dried products such as millet, rice bran, soybean nuts), sesame seeds, hemp nuts, Dried products such as poppy nuts, sansho nuts, lotus nuts, hisashi nuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds), and their fragile, damaged, or crushed products; grapes, sea urchins, gummy, peaches, Dried nuts (dried fruits) such as apples, pears, kiwis, oysters, figs, mangoes, bananas, hapiyas, pineapples, plums, blueberries, strawberries, citrus fruits (Wenshu mikan, bundan, yasaku, lemons, oranges, nables, grapefruits, etc.) , And their fragile, broken, or crushed products; dried vegetables (potatoes, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, carrots, daikon, renkon, buds, cabbage, lettuce, white vegetables, chingen vegetables, luccola, corn, okahijiki, shiso, fuki , Asparagus, seri, nazuna, gogyo, potato, potato, potato, eggplant, green onion, onion, soybean, red bean, empty bean, sesame, pea, buckwheat, tomato, cucumber, bitter gourd, dried products such as herbs), and their seeds, and These fragile, broken or crushed products; and also dried whole eggs (whole egg flour), dried mushrooms, dried seaweeds (Aosa, Aonori, Akamoku, Asakusanori, Kombu, Tengusa, Hijiki, Mozuku, Wakame, etc. Dried products), dried seafood (sword tip surume, cherry shrimp, dried chirimen, dried sardines, potatoes, etc.), chocolate (including crunch chocolate), dried meat (beef jerky, etc.), and their fragile, damaged, or Examples of crushed products can be given.

The food material can be used as it is, but when the water content exceeds 10% by mass, the water content of the food material is preferably less than 10% by mass by a known appropriate drying method. Is preferably adjusted to be less than 5% by mass, more preferably less than 3% by mass.

In addition, the binder-molded food of the present invention contains polysaccharides (carrageenan, pectin, arabic gum, xanthan gum, gellan gum, agar, tragant gum, tamarind seed) as other components other than the purulan and branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention. Gum, guar gum, locust bean gum, starch, chitosan, etc.), high-sweetness sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame, acesulfam K, sucralose, neotame, advantame, sclarose, saccharin, stebioside, stevia extract, etc.), preservatives, coloring Appropriate amounts of one or more of agents, stabilizers, flavoring agents, fats and oils, sugars and the like can be appropriately combined and blended. The blending amount of the other components may be appropriately set based on the type and the type, shape, size, etc. of the target binding molded food, and usually, each component is bound in terms of anhydride. 0.0001% by mass or more, preferably 0.001 to 30% by mass, more preferably 0.01 to 20% by mass, still more preferably 0.01 to 10% by mass, based on the mass per solid content of the molded food. An amount selected from the range of mass% can be exemplified. In addition, the required amount of the other component may be added at one time in one or a plurality of steps until the bound molded food of the present invention is completed, or the total amount thereof may be divided into appropriate amounts and divided into a plurality of times. Should be made available. In addition, each of the above-mentioned components is known as, for example, mixing, mixing, kneading, dipping, spraying, spraying, coating, injecting, etc. in one or more steps until the production of the bound molded food of the present invention is completed. One or more of the above methods can be added / blended as appropriate.

Examples of the preservative include amino acids such as glycine, alanine, and polylysine; salt, acetate, citrate, calcium carbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate, calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, disodium phosphate, and phosphoric acid. Salts such as tripotassium and potassium sorbate; acids such as sorbic acid, benzoic acid, paraoxybenzoic acid esters, propionic acid; and natural garlic juice, plum meat extract, bamboo grass extract, propolis extract, fermented milk, egg white lysoteam, etc. Examples include mold preservatives.

Examples of the colorant include red koji, crab shell powder, astaxanthin, vegetable pigment, red koji pigment, concentrated fafia pigment oil, cutinashi ero, match brown, cochineal pigment, cutinashi yellow element, cutinashi blue pigment, flavonoid pigment, and caramel. Dyes, β-carotene, carotenoid pigments, natural pigments such as charcoal; and Red No. 2, Red No. 3, Red No. 104, Red No. 105, Red No. 106, Yellow No. 4, Yellow No. 5, Blue No. 1, Dioxide Examples thereof include synthetic colorants such as titanium.

Examples of the stabilizer include cyclic tetrasaccharide, α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, γ-cyclodextrin and the like.

Examples of the flavoring agent include reducing monosaccharides such as glucose, fructose, palatinose (isomalturose), maltose, isomaltose, maltotriose, isomaltotriose, panose, maltotetraose, and maltopentaose. And oligosaccharides; sorbitol, martitol, isomartitol, trehalose (α, α-trehalose, α, β-trehalose, or β, β-trehalose), lactitol, panitol, sucrose, raffinose, erulose, lactosucrose, α- Sugar alcohols such as glycosyl trehalose, α-glycosyl-α-glycoside, α-glycosyl sucrose and non-reducing oligosaccharides; Mixed sugar-containing syrups such as sucrose-containing sucrose, lactosucrose-rich sucrose, martitol-rich syrup; (Things, etc.); Edible plants or extracts thereof, including herbs such as peppermint, trehalose, basil mint, pineapple mint, lemon balm, rosemary, sage, olives; fruits; and other sweetness, acidity, bitterness, saltiness , Various food materials having sucrose, spicy taste, or astringent taste can be exemplified. In carrying out the present invention, an appropriate amount of one or more of the above-mentioned taste agents can be used in an appropriate combination.

Examples of the fats and oils include salad oil, cacao fat, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, sunflower seed oil, peanut oil, rice bran oil, corn oil, saflower oil, olive oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil, evening primrose oil, palm oil, and shea. Vegetable fats and oils such as fats, monkey fats, cacao fats, palm oils, palm kernel oils and margarines; animal fats and oils such as milk fats, beef fats, lards, fish oils, whale oils and butters; Alternatively, examples thereof include mixed oils of two or more types; and processed oils and fats obtained by curing those fats and oils, fractionally distilling them, and subjecting them to ester exchange and the like. The amount of animal and vegetable fats and oils and the amount of sugar (anhydrous equivalent) when coating the food material are usually about 5% by mass or more, preferably about 10 to about 30, respectively, with respect to the food material. It is by mass, more preferably about 10 to about 20% by mass, and even more preferably about 10 to about 15% by mass.

The sugars include, for example, reducing properties such as glucose, fructose, sucrose, palatinose (isomalthulose), maltose, isomaltose, panose, maltotriose, maltotetraose, maltopentaose, and powdered reduced maltose syrup. Monosaccharides and oligosaccharides; sorbitol, maltose, isomaltose, trehalose (α, α-trehalose, α, β-trehalose, or β, β-trehalose), lactitol, panitol, sucrose, raffinose, erulose, lactosucrose. , Α-glycosyl trehalose, α-glycosyl-α-glycoside, α-glycosyl sucrose and other sugar alcohols and non-reducing oligosaccharides; rare sugars (D-allose, D-psirose, D-tagatose, erythritol, xylitol, etc.) , Maltose-rich syrup, maltose-rich syrup, trehalose-rich syrup, maltose tetraose-rich syrup, panose-rich syrup, lactosucrose-rich syrup, maltose-rich syrup, and other mixed sugar-containing syrups. can.

Although there are no particular restrictions on the shape, form, and size of the bound molded food of the present invention, usually, a spherical shape, a hemispherical shape, a cubic shape, a rectangular parallelepiped shape, a polygonal shape, or a size that is easily ingested by humans. Examples thereof include elliptical shape, gourd shape, columnar shape, plate shape, rod shape (bar shape such as serial bar and granola bar), conical shape, triangular pyramid shape, and quadrangular pyramid / pyramid shape. The size that is easy for humans to ingest is usually a size having a major axis of 5 cm or less, preferably 0.01 to 3 cm, more preferably 0.05 to 1 cm, and further preferably 0.1 to 0.5 cm. Means.

The bound molded food of the present invention is a highly bulky bound molded food having excellent shape retention, storage stability, and impact resistance, and is being transported, stored, and placed in a store. It has excellent impact resistance, handleability, and long product life.

Next, the method for producing the bound molded food of the present invention will be described. The production method is a method for producing a molded food product, which comprises a step of adhering the binder of the present invention to the surface of a small and / or granular food material.

As the fragment-like and / or granular food material, the food material having the above-mentioned shape, form, and size is used. Such a food material can be used as it is, but if necessary, for example, by blowing warm air or hot air at a temperature of room temperature or higher than room temperature under normal pressure or reduced pressure to the food material, the moisture content thereof. Usually, the content adjusted to 10% by mass or less is preferably used. The drying of the food material is not limited to one step, but may be divided into two or more steps. The water-adjusted food material can be used as it is, but when the surface of the food material is porous or hygroscopic, animal and vegetable fats and oils and / or sugars are present on the surface of the food material. In terms of anhydride, usually about 5% by mass or more, preferably about 10 to about 30% by mass, more preferably about 10 to about 20% by mass, still more preferably about about 5% by mass or more, per said solid food material. It is preferable to coat the surface of the food material by adhering, spraying, spraying, or applying so that the content is 10 to about 15% by mass. The amounts of animal and vegetable fats and oils and sugars (anhydrous equivalent) used for coating are usually about 5% by mass or more, preferably about 10 to about 30% by mass, and more preferably about about 30% by mass, respectively, with respect to the food material. It is 10 to about 20% by mass, more preferably about 10 to about 15% by mass. For coating, it is sufficient to attach, spray, spray, or apply animal and vegetable fats and oils and / or sugars to the surface, but preferably, animal and vegetable fats and oils and / or sugars are attached, sprayed, and sprayed on the surface. Alternatively, the applied food material is usually 80 ° C. or higher, preferably 90 to 150 ° C., more preferably 100 to 130 ° C. for 5 to 30 minutes, preferably 5 to 20 minutes, more preferably. Is heated for 10 to 20 minutes and then allowed to cool to room temperature to form a relatively homogeneous coating of animal and vegetable fats and oils and / or sugars on the surface of the flaky and / or granular food material. Well, when the flaky and / or granular food material has such a coating on the surface, the binder is used when binding the food materials to each other via a binder. The advantage is that the food material can efficiently stay and adhere to the surface of the food material without substantially penetrating into the tissue. As a result, the binding property and moldability of the food materials are improved, and a bonded molded food having a high bulk density can be obtained, and the shape retention, storage stability, and impact resistance thereof can be more effectively enhanced. Can be done.

The step of adhering a binder to the surface of a small and / or granular food material in the method for producing a binder-molded food of the present invention is to apply the binder at room temperature or higher. It means the step of contacting with a food material and adhering the binder to a part or the whole of the surface thereof, and is usually used in producing a binder-molded food, such as mixing, mixing, kneading, spraying, spraying, and coating. , Or the means for dipping may be used alone or in combination of a plurality of them as appropriate. Specifically, when the binder used in the present invention is in the form of powder, the binder is attached to the surface of the food material by an appropriate means. However, when implemented on an industrial scale, the binder in the form of an aqueous solution is usually mixed, mixed or kneaded with the food material, or the binder is sprayed, sprayed or sprayed onto the surface of the food material. Alternatively, it is preferable to apply or immerse the food material in the binder to attach it. The amount of the binder to be attached is usually preferably about 0.1 to about 30% by mass, more preferably about 1 to about 20% by mass, more preferably about 1 to about 20% by mass, in terms of anhydride, per solid content of the food material. Is preferably in the range of about 2 to about 10% by mass. If the amount of the binder to be adhered is less than about 0.1% by mass, the intended action and effect of the binder may be significantly reduced or may not be exhibited, which is not preferable. Further, when the amount of the binder to be attached exceeds about 30% by mass, the action and effect corresponding to the blending amount cannot be expected, and it is not preferable in terms of cost.

In addition, the method for producing a binder-molded food product of the present invention can include a step of molding the food material in the form of small pieces and / or granules on which the binder is attached to the surface. That is, in the method for producing a binder-molded food of the present invention, in the step of adhering the binder to the surface of the small piece-shaped and / or granular food material, the food material is made of one or more spherical, hemispherical, cubic bodies. It has depressions of various shapes such as oval, rectangular, gourd, elliptical, columnar, plate, rod (bar-shaped such as serial bar and granola bar), conical, triangular pyramid, and square pyramid / pyramid. , Appropriate shape, size, material [Metal, silicon, thermosetting resin, thermoplastic resin, general-purpose plastic (polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polypolyacetate, polyurethane, polytetrafluoroethylene, ABS resin, AS) Resin, acrylic resin, etc.), engineering plastic (empura), fiber reinforced plastic (glass fiber reinforced plastic, carbon fiber reinforced plastic, etc.), wood, glass, pottery, etc.] A step of binding and molding the contents through a binder under the conditions of reduced pressure, normal pressure, pressure, and pressing under a temperature condition of room temperature or higher can be included. When the bound molded food of the present invention is produced on an industrial scale, it is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-5-328903, JP-A-6-303907, and JP-A-6-327409. An apparatus for producing oily and fat confectionery foods can be appropriately used.

Further, in the method for producing a binder-molded food of the present invention, the binder-molded product is further dried and / or after the step of binding-molding the food material for the purpose of further enhancing the binding property between the food materials. It is also optional to provide a heating step. As the drying and / or heating step, a known method usually used in the art can be applied. The temperature in the drying step is usually room temperature or higher, preferably 50 ° C. or higher, more preferably 60 to 150 ° C., still more preferably 70 to 120 ° C., still more preferably 70 to 110 ° C. A temperature of ° C., more preferably 80 to 110 ° C. is adopted. The temperature in the heating step is usually 70 ° C. or higher, preferably 80 ° C. or higher, more preferably 90 ° C. or higher, still more preferably 100 to 200 ° C., still more preferably 100 to 150 ° C., still more preferable. A temperature of 100 to 140 ° C., more preferably 100 to 130 ° C. is preferable. The time for drying or heating the food material is usually within 60 minutes, preferably in the range of 5 to 40 minutes, more preferably in the range of 5 to 30 minutes, and more preferably in the range of 5 to 20 minutes. Desirable from an energy efficiency standpoint. It is also optional that the drying and / or heating step is carried out by blowing hot air at the temperature to the food material. The drying step can also be carried out under reduced pressure conditions. Further, the drying step is not limited to one step, but is carried out in two or more steps, and the water content of the binder molded product as a final product is usually 10% by mass or less, preferably 3 to. Adjust so that it is in the range of 7% by mass. If the water content of the bonded molded product is less than 3% by mass, the bonded molded product becomes too hard, which is not preferable, and conversely, if the water content exceeds 10% by mass, the bonded molded product becomes soft. It is not preferable because it is too much or the storage stability is poor.

According to the production method of the present invention, food materials can be uniformly bonded and molded as a whole regardless of the type, shape, and size of the food material, the appearance finish is good, and the bulk density is high. It is possible to easily and stably produce high-quality binder-molded foods having excellent shape, storage stability, and impact resistance with good yield and work efficiency.

The features of the binder, the molded food, and the method for producing the molded food of the present invention described above are summarized below.
(1) The binding-molded food of the present invention has a good appearance finish, high bulk density, excellent shape retention / storage stability, and impact resistance, in which food materials are uniformly binder-molded as a whole. It has excellent impact resistance and handleability during transportation, storage, and placement at stores, and has a relatively long product life.
(2) The production method of the present invention can stably produce a binder-molded food product having the excellent properties shown in (1) above with good yield, efficiently, easily and at low cost.
(3) The binder of the present invention makes it possible to provide the binder-molded foods shown in (1) and (2) above and the method for producing the same.

Although the use of the binder according to the present invention has been mainly described when it is used in a method for producing a molded food product, the binder is not limited to such use. Other uses of the binder include, for example, binding, bonding, and coating of materials such as foods, chemicals, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, quasi-drugs, feeds, and feeds, and raw materials. ..

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on experiments.

<Experiment 1: Effect of binder on physical properties of molded food>
(1) Outline When manufacturing a molded food, a binder mainly composed of pullulan is frequently used in order to bind food materials to each other. However, such a binder is used to uniformly bind food materials to each other before heating, and to remove the molded food from the mold before heating. There are points to be improved in the properties, and there are also points to be improved in the shape retention, impact resistance, texture, and unpleasant adhesion to the teeth of the binder-molded food obtained by heating. The present inventors have independently found this. Therefore, in order to improve these inconveniences, the present inventors have focused on the combined use of pullulan and other components in a binding agent mainly composed of pullulan, and have made various studies.

(2) Experimental method <Preparation of binder>
Pullulan (trade name "food additive pullulan", pullulan content of about 94% by mass, water content of about 2% by mass, manufactured by Hayashihara Co., Ltd.), water-soluble dietary fiber materials (4 types) and starch hydrolyzate shown in Table 1 below. (2 types) were dissolved in purified water at room temperature at the blending ratio shown in Table 2 below without drying treatment, and test samples 1 to 18 were prepared as various binders in the form of aqueous solutions. The control was an aqueous solution containing only pullulan.

<Preparation of molded foods>
Under a temperature condition of 20 ° C, a commercially available gofuru (trade name "Kobe Fugetsudo Gofuru 15S", manufactured by Tokyo Fugetsudo Co., Ltd.) is crushed as a food material with a crusher, and one side of the fragment is about 3 to about 4 mm. A small piece of gofuru was obtained, 50 g of the gofuru was placed in a bowl, 7 g of salad oil was added under stirring, 7 g of maltose was added, the mixture was heated at 130 ° C. for 10 minutes, allowed to cool to room temperature, and then the test was used as a binder. 10 g of any of Samples 1 to 18 was added and mixed, and each test sample was adhered to the surface of a small piece of gofuru almost uniformly. The reason why the salad oil and maltose were used is that the surface of the small piece-shaped gofuru is porous and hygroscopic, and the surface is coated with oil and sugar in advance to make small pieces. This is to increase the adhesion efficiency of the binder to the surface of the gofuru. Next, a small piece-shaped gofuru slightly larger than the volume of each recess is placed on each recess of a plastic mold (hereinafter referred to as "mold") having a plurality of hemispherical recesses having a diameter of about 3 cm. Then, the mold surface is leveled flat with a stainless steel spatula, each recess is filled with the small piece-shaped gofuru, and the gofuru are bonded and molded (these series of operations are called "molding operations"). Then, the mold containing the small piece of gofuru is inverted, vibration is applied, and a hemispherical gofuru mass is extracted from the opening of the mold (these series of operations are referred to as "demolding operations". ), Placed in an oven and heated at 100 ° C. for 20 minutes to obtain a bound molded food. The control was prepared in the same manner as described above using an aqueous solution containing only pullulan.

<Workability when preparing a binding molded food using test samples 1 to 18 and sensory evaluation of the obtained binding molded food>
Skilled craftsmen evaluated the following evaluation items (a) to (d) with respect to the workability when preparing the binding molded food using the test samples 1 to 18 and the obtained binding molded food.

(A) Workability: Easy filling of small pieces of food material to which a binder has adhered into the mold and easy removal from the mold during molding / demolding work;
(B) Shape retention: The degree of shape loss of the bound molded food before heating during demolding work, and the degree of shape loss when the bound molded food after heating is lightly picked with a fingertip;
(C) Texture: Good texture when eating a bonded molded food after heating and no unpleasant adhesion to teeth; and (d) Bulkiness of the bonded molded product obtained after molding work Density: The molding work is performed using the same amount of the bound molded foods bound using each test sample, the number of the bound molded products obtained after the molding operation is counted, and the control molded products are controlled. Based on the number of pieces, the bulk density is "good (high)" and "equivalent" compared to the control in "when the number is small", "when the number is the same", and "when the number is large", respectively. , And "inferior (low)". In this evaluation, the fact that the number of the binder molded products obtained after the molding operation is smaller than that of the control means that the mass of the food material filled in each recess of the mold is large, that is, one binder molded product. It means that the bulk density of the hit is high.

Each of the evaluation items (a) to (d) was evaluated by a skilled craftsman on the following three stages A to C.
A: Good (high) as compared with the case of using a control (an aqueous solution consisting only of pullulan).
B: It is almost the same as the case where a control (an aqueous solution consisting only of pullulan) is used.
C: Inferior (low) as compared with the case of using a control (an aqueous solution consisting only of pullulan).
The results are shown in Table 2.

As is clear from the results shown in Table 2, the binding molded foods obtained using the test samples 2 to 18 were evaluated as "B" or "C" in the evaluation items (a) to (c), that is, a control. It was evaluated that it was almost the same as the case where the aqueous solution of No. 1 was used, or was inferior (lower) than the case where the control aqueous solution was used. On the other hand, in the case of the test sample 1, the evaluations of the evaluation items (a) to (c) were all evaluated as "A", that is, higher than the case where the control aqueous solution was used. Regarding the evaluation item (d), all of the test samples 2 to 18 were evaluated as "C", that is, inferior (low) as compared with the case of using the control aqueous solution, whereas the test sample was evaluated. In the case of 1, it was evaluated as "A", that is, higher than the case where the control aqueous solution was used. Specifically, in the case of the test sample 1, the bulk density was about 10% higher than that of the control. As shown in the evaluation item (d), the bulk density was evaluated based on the number of hemispherical gofuru lumps obtained by the molding operation and the number of control gofuru lumps. Here, in the case of the test sample 1, the bulk density was higher than that of the binder-molded food obtained by using the test samples 2 to 18, because the test sample 1 adhered to the surface of the small piece-shaped gofuru. , The bondability between the gofuru is good, and the small piece-shaped gofuru is filled more densely in each recess in the mold, whereas the small piece-shaped gofuru with the test samples 2 to 18 adhered to the surface thereof. In the case, since the binding property between the gofuru was inferior, the amount of the small piece-shaped gofuru filled in each depression was small, and as a result, the bulk density of the resulting bound molded food was inferior to that of the control. It is considered that the result was (low).

From the above-mentioned experimental results, none of the test samples 2 to 18 was evaluated as "A" among the evaluation items (a) to (d), and conversely, the item evaluated as "C" was found. There was one or more. On the other hand, the test sample 1 containing pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture at a ratio of 10: 5 had a mass ratio [pullulan / branched α-glucan mixture] of 2.0 (= 9. Since it was 2 / 4.6) and all of the evaluation items (a) to (d) were evaluated as "A", the test sample 1 was judged to be the most excellent binder.

<Experiment 2: Effect of difference in content of pullulan and branched α-glucan mixture in binder on binding moldability of food materials>
(1) Overview In Experiment 1, the binder containing pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in a specific mass ratio in terms of anhydride contains pullulan and another water-soluble dietary fiber material or starch hydrolyzate. It was found that the binder has excellent binding properties as compared with other binders. Further, in view of the fact that Experiment 1 was an experiment performed using an aqueous solution containing pullulan and a branched α-glucan mixture in a total of about 12% by mass in terms of anhydride, in this experiment, pullulan and branching were performed. Various test samples in the form of an aqueous solution containing about 5 to about 20% by mass of the α-glucan mixture in total in terms of anhydride were prepared, and the difference in the content of the pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in each test sample was found. The effect on the binding formability of food materials was investigated.

(2) Experimental method <Preparation of binder>
At room temperature, pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture shown in Example 1 (a typical example of the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention) are dissolved in purified water at the blending amounts shown in Table 3 to form an aqueous solution. Various test samples (test samples 19 to 23) as binders were prepared.

<Preparation of molded foods>
Various binder-molded foods were prepared in the same manner as in Experiment 1 except that the test samples 19 to 23 were used in place of the test samples 1 to 18 used in Experiment 1.

<Evaluation of test sample and binding molded food obtained using it>
The sample solutions 19 to 23 and the binder-molded food obtained by using them were evaluated in the same manner as in the evaluation method of Experiment 1. The results are shown in Table 3.

As shown in Table 3, in the test samples 19 to 23, the total solid content concentration (mass%) of the pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture was in the range of 5 to 19% by mass, and the anhydride of the pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture was obtained. The converted mass ratio was in the range of 1.9 to 2.0. Among these test samples, the binder-molded foods obtained by using the test samples 19 to 21 have all the workability of the evaluation item (a) of "A", that is, better than the case where the control aqueous solution is used. It was evaluated as (high). On the other hand, that of the molded food prepared using the test sample 22 and the test sample 23 was evaluated as "B", that is, almost the same as that in the case of using the control aqueous solution.

Further, in the cases of the test samples 19, 20, 22, and 23, it was evaluated that the retention of the evaluation item (a) was "B", that is, almost the same as the case where the control aqueous solution was used. On the other hand, the evaluation in the case of the test sample 21 was evaluated as "A", that is, better (higher) than in the case of using the control aqueous solution.

Further, all the molded foods prepared using the test samples 20 to 23 except the test sample 19 have a texture of the evaluation item (c) of "A", that is, as compared with the case where the control aqueous solution is used. It was evaluated as good (high).

In addition, all the binding molded foods prepared using the test samples 20 to 23 except the test sample 19 use the binding molded food having a bulk density of "A" in the evaluation item (d), that is, a control aqueous solution. It was evaluated as good (high) compared to the case where it was present.

Of the test samples 19 to 23, the test samples 20 to 23, that is, the mass ratio of the pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in terms of anhydride is 2.0, and the total solid content of the pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture is 2.0. The aqueous solution having a concentration of 10% by mass or more, preferably 10 to 19% by mass was evaluated as "A" in two or more of the four evaluation items (a) to (d). The test samples 20 to 23 can be evaluated to be extremely excellent as a binder used in the production of the binder-molded food.

From these results, an aqueous solution in which the mass ratio of pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in terms of anhydride is 2 and the total solid content concentration of the pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture is about 10 to about 20% by mass is , It was determined to be useful as a binder of the present invention.

<Experiment 3: Effect of the mixing ratio of pullulan and branched α-glucan mixture in the binder on the binding property of food materials>
(1) Outline From the results of Experiments 1 and 2, the mass ratio [pullulan / branched α-glucan mixture] of pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in terms of anhydride is 2, and pullulan and the branched α-glucan are An aqueous solution having a total solid content concentration of about 10 to about 20% by mass of the mixture was found to be excellent as a binder. Based on this result, in this experiment, the effect of the mass ratio of pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in terms of anhydride in the binder on the properties of the binder was further investigated.

(2) Experimental method <Preparation of binder>
Pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture shown in Example 1 (a typical example of the branched α-glucan mixture used in the present invention) were dissolved in purified water at room temperature so as to have the composition shown in Table 4. Various test samples (test samples 24 to 32) as an aqueous binder were prepared.

<Preparation of molded foods>
Various binder-molded foods were obtained in the same manner as in Experiment 1 except that the test samples 24 to 32 were used in place of the test samples 1 to 18 used in Experiment 1.

<Evaluation of test sample and binding molded food obtained using it>
The sample solutions 24 to 32 and the binder-molded food prepared using them were evaluated in the same manner as in the evaluation method of Experiment 1. The results are shown in Table 4.

As is clear from the results shown in Table 4, in all of the binder-molded foods obtained using the test samples 24 to 29, the workability of the evaluation item (a) was "A", that is, the control aqueous solution was used. It was evaluated as good (high) compared to the case. On the other hand, all the molded foods prepared using the test samples 30 to 32 were evaluated as "B", that is, equivalent to the case of using the control aqueous solution.

In addition, in each of the binding molded foods prepared using the test samples 24 to 27 and the test samples 29 to 32, the shape retention property of the evaluation item (a) is "B", that is, when a control aqueous solution is used. It was evaluated as equivalent. On the other hand, the bundling molded food prepared using the test sample 28 was evaluated as having the shape retention of the evaluation item (a) of "A", that is, better (higher) than the case of using the control aqueous solution. .. Further, the binder-molded food prepared using the test sample 24 and the test sample 25 is evaluated to have a texture of the evaluation item (c) of "C", that is, inferior to the case where the control aqueous solution is used. , The texture of the evaluation item (c) was evaluated as "B" in both the test sample 26 and the test samples 30 to 32, whereas when the test samples 27 to 29 were used, they were all "A". That is, it was better (evaluated as high) as compared with the case of using the control aqueous solution. Further, all of the binding molded foods prepared using the test samples 24 and 25 and the test samples 30 to 32 were evaluated items (evaluated items). While the bulk density of d) was evaluated as “C”, the bulk density of evaluation item (d) was “A”, that is, in all of the binder-molded foods prepared using the test samples 26 to 29. It was evaluated as good (high) as compared with the case where the control aqueous solution was used.

As described above, among the test samples 24 to 32, the test samples 26 to 29, that is, the mass ratio [pullulan / branched α-glucan mixture] of the pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in terms of anhydride is 1.5. An aqueous solution in the range of to 4.0 was found to be excellent as a binder for producing a binder-molded food. Further, among the test samples 26 to 29, the mass ratio [pullulan / branched α-glucan mixture] of the test samples 27 to 29, that is, the pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in terms of anhydride is 1.5 to 2. Aqueous solutions in the range of .8 have been found to be better as binders for the production of bound molded foods.

From the results of Experiments 1 to 3 described above, the mass ratio of pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in terms of anhydride is about 1.5 to about 4, and the total solid content concentration of the pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture is about 1.5 to about 4. However, an aqueous solution of about 10 to about 20% by mass is useful as a binder of the present invention, and in particular, the mass ratio of pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture in terms of anhydride is about 1.5 to about. An aqueous solution in the range of 3 was judged to be particularly useful as a binder of the present invention.

Further, in the production of the binder-molded food of the present invention, as a binder for uniformly binding food materials to each other, pullulan and a branched α-glucan mixture are contained in a specific mass ratio in terms of anhydride. When the agent is used, (a) workability, (b) shape retention, (c) texture, and (d) bulk density of the bound molded food are remarkably improved or improved as compared with the case of pullulan alone. It has been found that high-quality binding-molded foods can be easily produced on an industrial scale with good yield and with good workability.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited to these Examples.

<Binder and binder molded food>
100 parts by mass of purified water is equivalent to 10 parts by mass of pullulan (trade name "food additive pullulan", pullulan content of about 94% by mass, water content of about 2% by mass, manufactured by Hayashihara Co., Ltd.), internationally. 5 parts by mass of a branched α-glucan mixture having the following characteristics (a) to (c), which was obtained according to the method disclosed in Example 5 of the Publication No. WO 2008/136331, was added and dissolved. The binder of the present invention in the form of an aqueous solution was obtained.

<Characteristics of branched α-glucan mixture>
(A) Glucose is a constituent sugar.
(B) Glucose linked via α-1,4 bond It was linked to a non-reducing terminal glucose residue located at one end of a linear glucan with a degree of polymerization of 3 or higher via a bond other than α-1,4 bond. It has a branched structure with a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more.
(C) Isomaltose is produced by digestion with isomalt dextranase in an amount of about 40% by mass per solid content of the digest.
(D) The content of water-soluble dietary fiber determined by high performance liquid chromatography (enzyme-HPLC method) is about 80% by mass.
(E) The ratio of the glucose residue bound to α-1,4 to the glucose residue bound to α-1,6 is about 1: 2.6.
(F) The total of α-1,4 bound glucose residues and α-1,6 bound glucose residues accounts for about 69% of the total glucose residues.
(G) Α-1,3-bound glucose residue is 2.5% of the total glucose residue.
(H) The glucose residues bound to α-1, 3, 6 are 6.3% of the total glucose residues.
(K) The weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the molecular weight distribution analysis based on the gel filtration high-speed liquid chromatogram is about 4,700 daltons.
(E) The value (Mw / Mn) obtained by dividing the weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the number average molecular weight (Mn) is 2.1.
(S) The content of branched α-glucan having a glucose polymerization degree (DP) of 9 or more is about 90% by mass per solid content.
(S) The total content of monosaccharides to oligosaccharides of DP1 to 8 is about 10% by mass.
(S) DE is about 7.
(C) The water content is about 8%.

Next, at room temperature of 25 ° C., as a food material, 1 kg of fragmented gofuru crushed with a crusher using a commercially available gofuru (manufactured by Kobe Fugetsudo Co., Ltd.) so that one side of the fragment is about 1 to about 2 mm. In a container, 150 g of salad oil and 150 g of maltose are sequentially added while stirring at the same temperature, heated at 130 ° C. for 10 minutes, allowed to cool to room temperature, and then 200 g of the binder of the present invention is added to a small piece of gofuru. Sprinkle and adhere to the surface almost evenly, fill a plastic mold with multiple hemispherical depressions with a diameter of about 3 cm, level the mold surface flat with a stainless spatula, and bind the debris-like gofuru together. The obtained hemispherical gofuru mass was taken out from the mold, placed in an oven, and heated at 100 ° C. for 20 minutes to obtain the bound molded food of the present invention.

This product retains its shape and flavor immediately after manufacture even after being stored at room temperature for 6 months or more, and has excellent texture, texture, shape retention / storage stability, and impact resistance. It is a binder-molded food having a bulk density.

<Binder and binder molded food>
With respect to 100 parts by mass of purified water, 9 parts by mass of pullulan (trade name "food additive pullulan", pullulan content of about 94% by mass, water content of about 2% by mass, manufactured by Hayashihara Co., Ltd.) in terms of dry solids, internationally 5 parts by mass of a branched α-glucan mixture having the following characteristics (a) to (c), which was obtained according to the method disclosed in Example 3 of the Publication No. WO 2008/136331, was added and dissolved. The binder of the present invention in the form of an aqueous solution was obtained.

<Characteristics of branched α-glucan mixture>
(A) Glucose is a constituent sugar.
(B) Glucose linked via α-1,4 bond It was linked to a non-reducing terminal glucose residue located at one end of a linear glucan with a degree of polymerization of 3 or higher via a bond other than α-1,4 bond. It has a branched structure with a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more.
(C) Isomaltose is produced by digestion with isomalt dextranase in an amount of about 35% by mass per solid content of the digest.
(D) The content of water-soluble dietary fiber determined by high performance liquid chromatography (enzyme-HPLC method) is about 76% by mass.
(E) The ratio of the glucose residue bound to α-1,4 to the glucose residue bound to α-1,6 is about 1: 1.3.
(F) The total of α-1,4 bound glucose residues and α-1,6 bound glucose residues accounts for about 70% of the total glucose residues.
(G) Glucose residues linked to α-1,3 are 3.0% of the total glucose residues.
(H) The glucose residues bound to α-1, 3, 6 are 4.8% of the total glucose residues.
(K) The weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the molecular weight distribution analysis based on the gel filtration high-speed liquid chromatogram is about 6,200 daltons.
(E) The value (Mw / Mn) obtained by dividing the weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the number average molecular weight (Mn) is 2.2.
(S) The content of branched α-glucan having a glucose polymerization degree (DP) of 9 or more is about 91% by mass per solid content.
(S) The total content of monosaccharides to oligosaccharides of DP1 to 8 is about 9% by mass.
(S) DE is about 7.5.
(C) The water content is about 8%.

Next, at a temperature of 20 ° C., as a food material, a commercially available small piece of corn flakes "Morinaga Corn Flakes 3M 500g" (manufactured by Morinaga & Co., Ltd.) was crushed by a crusher, and one side of the pieces was in the range of about 3 to about 10 mm. It was crushed so as to become. Next, 1 kg of the obtained piece-shaped corn flakes was placed in a container, and under stirring, 200 g of the binder of the present invention was adhered substantially uniformly to the surface of the small piece-shaped corn flakes, and a plurality of hemispherical depressions having a diameter of about 2 cm were formed. Fill a plastic mold with individual pieces, level the mold surface flat with a stainless spatula, bind the cornflakes together, and then remove the bound hemispherical cornflakes mass from the mold and place it in a commercially available oven for 100. The cornflakes of the present invention were obtained by heating at ° C. for 20 minutes.

This product retains its shape and flavor immediately after manufacture even after being stored at room temperature for 6 months or more, and has excellent texture, texture, shape retention / storage stability, and impact resistance. It is a binder-molded food having a bulk density.

<Binders and binder-molded foods obtained using them>
With respect to 100 parts by mass of purified water, 11 parts by mass of pullulan (trade name "food additive pullulan", pullulan content of about 94% by mass, water content of about 2% by mass, manufactured by Hayashihara Co., Ltd.) in terms of dry solids, internationally 5 parts by mass of a branched α-glucan mixture having the following characteristics (a) to (c) obtained according to the method disclosed in Example 4 of the Publication No. WO 2008/136331 pamphlet was added, dissolved, and an aqueous solution was added. The binder of the present invention in the form of is obtained.

<Characteristics of branched α-glucan mixture>
(A) Glucose is a constituent sugar.
(B) Glucose linked via α-1,4 bond It was linked to a non-reducing terminal glucose residue located at one end of a linear glucan with a degree of polymerization of 3 or higher via a bond other than α-1,4 bond. It has a branched structure with a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more.
(C) Isomaltose is produced by digestion with isomalt dextranase in an amount of about 45% by mass per solid substance of the digest.
(D) The water-soluble dietary fiber content determined by high performance liquid chromatography (enzyme-HPLC method) is about 85% by mass.
(E) The ratio of the glucose residue bound to α-1,4 to the glucose residue bound to α-1,6 is about 1: 2.
(F) The total of α-1,4 bound glucose residues and α-1,6 bound glucose residues accounts for about 80% of the total glucose residues.
(G) Glucose residues linked to α-1,3 are 1.4% of the total glucose residues.
(H) The glucose residues bound to α-1, 3, 6 are 1.7% of the total glucose residues.
(K) The weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the molecular weight distribution analysis based on the gel filtration high-speed liquid chromatogram is about 10,000 daltons.
(E) The value (Mw / Mn) obtained by dividing the weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the number average molecular weight (Mn) is 2.9.
(S) The content of branched α-glucan having a glucose polymerization degree (DP) of 9 or more is about 92% by mass per solid content.
(S) The total content of monosaccharides to oligosaccharides of DP1 to 8 is about 8% by mass.
(S) DE is about 6.
(C) The water content is about 7%.

Next, at a temperature of 15 ° C., 500 g of a commercially available puffed grain "Komepon" (manufactured by Kameda Seika Co., Ltd.) was placed in a container as a food material, and while stirring at the same temperature, 60 g of salad oil and α, α-trehalose were added. 60 g is sequentially added, heated at 130 ° C. for 10 minutes, allowed to cool, and then 100 g of the binder of the present invention is adhered to the surface of the puffed grain almost uniformly to form a cubic depression having a side of about 3 cm. Fill a plurality of plastic molds, level the mold surface flat with a stainless spatula, bind the puffed grains together, remove the obtained cubic puffed grain from the mold, place it in an oven, and place it at 100 ° C. Was heated for 20 minutes to obtain the bound molded food of the present invention.

This product retains its shape and flavor immediately after manufacture even after being stored at room temperature for 6 months or more, and has excellent texture, texture, shape retention / storage stability, and impact resistance. It is a binder-molded food having a bulk density.

<Binders and binder-molded foods obtained using them>
100 parts by mass of purified water is equivalent to 10 parts by mass of pullulan (trade name "food additive pullulan", pullulan content of about 94% by mass, water content of about 2% by mass, manufactured by Hayashihara Co., Ltd.), internationally. 4 parts by mass of the branched α-glucan mixture having the following characteristics (a) to (c), which was obtained according to the method disclosed in Example 5 of the Publication No. WO 2008/136331, was added and dissolved. The binder of the present invention in the form of an aqueous solution was obtained.

<Characteristics of branched α-glucan mixture>
(A) Glucose is a constituent sugar.
(B) Glucose linked via α-1,4 bond It was linked to a non-reducing terminal glucose residue located at one end of a linear glucan with a degree of polymerization of 3 or higher via a bond other than α-1,4 bond. It has a branched structure with a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more.
(C) Isomaltose is produced by digestion with isomalt dextranase in an amount of about 47% by mass per solid content of the digest.
(D) The content of water-soluble dietary fiber determined by high performance liquid chromatography (enzyme-HPLC method) is about 63% by mass.
(E) The ratio of the glucose residue bound to α-1,4 to the glucose residue bound to α-1,6 is about 1: 2.4.
(F) The total of α-1,4 bound glucose residues and α-1,6 bound glucose residues accounts for about 60% of the total glucose residues.
(G) Α-1,3-bound glucose residue is 2.3% of the total glucose residue.
(H) The glucose residues bound to α-1, 3, 6 are 2.1% of the total glucose residues.
(K) The weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the molecular weight distribution analysis based on the gel filtration high-speed liquid chromatogram is about 1,000 daltons.
(E) The value (Mw / Mn) obtained by dividing the weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the number average molecular weight (Mn) is 1.8.
(S) The content of branched α-glucan having a glucose polymerization degree (DP) of 9 or more is about 90% by mass per solid content.
(S) The total content of monosaccharides to oligosaccharides of DP1 to 8 is about 10% by mass.
(S) DE is about 7.
(C) The water content is about 8%.

Next, at room temperature of 25 ° C., 1 kg each of commercially available peanuts and almonds as food materials was pulverized with a pulverizer so that one side of the pulverized product was about 2 to about 5 mm. Next, the entire amount of the pulverized product is placed in a container, and while stirring at the same temperature, 400 g of the binder of the present invention is sprayed onto the pulverized product and adhered to the surface thereof substantially uniformly, and then a hemisphere having a diameter of about 2 cm. Fill a plastic mold with multiple dents, level the mold surface flat with a stainless spatula, bind the small pieces of peanuts and almonds together, and obtain the hemispherical peanuts and almond lumps. It was taken out of the mold, placed in an oven, and heated at 100 ° C. for 30 minutes to obtain the bound molded food of the present invention.

This product retains its shape and flavor immediately after manufacture even after being stored at room temperature for 6 months or more, and has excellent texture, texture, shape retention / storage stability, and impact resistance. It is a binder-molded food having a bulk density.

<Binders and binder-molded foods obtained using them>
100 parts by mass of purified water is equivalent to 10 parts by mass of pullulan (trade name "food additive pullulan", pullulan content of about 94% by mass, water content of about 2% by mass, manufactured by Hayashihara Co., Ltd.), internationally. 4 parts by mass of the branched α-glucan mixture having the following characteristics (a) to (c), which was obtained according to the method disclosed in Example 3 of the Publication No. WO 2008/136331, was added and dissolved. The binder of the present invention in the form of an aqueous solution was obtained.

<Characteristics of branched α-glucan mixture>
(A) Glucose is a constituent sugar.
(B) Glucose linked via α-1,4 bond It was linked to a non-reducing terminal glucose residue located at one end of a linear glucan with a degree of polymerization of 3 or higher via a bond other than α-1,4 bond. It has a branched structure with a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more.
(C) Isomaltose is produced by digestion with isomalt dextranase in an amount of about 28.4% by mass per solid content of the digest.
(D) The water-soluble dietary fiber content determined by high performance liquid chromatography (enzyme-HPLC method) is about 42.1% by mass.
(E) The ratio of the glucose residue bound to α-1,4 to the glucose residue bound to α-1,6 is about 1: 0.62.
(F) The total of α-1,4 bound glucose residues and α-1,6 bound glucose residues accounts for about 83.7% of the total glucose residues.
(G) Α-1,3-bound glucose residue is 1.1% of the total glucose residue.
(H) Glucose residues bound to α-1,3,6 are 0.8% of the total glucose residues.
(K) The weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the molecular weight distribution analysis based on the gel filtration high-speed liquid chromatogram is about 59,000 daltons.
(E) The value (Mw / Mn) obtained by dividing the weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the number average molecular weight (Mn) is 15.4.
(S) The content of branched α-glucan having a glucose polymerization degree (DP) of 9 or more is about 92% by mass per solid content.
(S) The total content of monosaccharides to oligosaccharides of DP1 to 8 is about 9% by mass.
(S) DE is about 6.5.
(C) The water content is about 7%.

Next, at a temperature of 20 ° C., a commercially available "Dried fruit mix" (manufactured by Kojimaya) was crushed as a food material by a crusher so that one side of the crushed product was about 2 to about 5 mm. Next, 200 g of the obtained small pieces of dried fruit and 800 g of commercially available oats were placed in a container, 120 g of rapeseed oil and 120 g of granulated sugar were sequentially added while stirring at the same temperature, and the mixture was heated at 130 ° C. for 10 minutes at room temperature. Then, 300 g of the binder of the present invention was adhered to the surface of the mixture substantially uniformly, and the mixture was filled in a plastic mold having a plurality of semi-cylindrical recesses having a diameter of about 1 cm and a length of 10 cm. , Flatten the surface of the mold with a spatula made of stainless steel, bind the mixtures together, remove the bound hemispherical mixture mass from the mold, place it in an oven, and heat it at 100 ° C. for 20 minutes. Obtained a binder-molded food product.

Even after being stored at room temperature for 6 months, this product retains its shape and flavor immediately after manufacture, and has excellent texture, texture, shape retention / storage stability, and impact resistance, and has a high bulk. It is a binding molded food with density.

<Binders and binder-molded foods obtained using them>
100 parts by mass of purified water is equivalent to 10 parts by mass of pullulan (trade name "food additive pullulan", pullulan content of about 94% by mass, water content of about 2% by mass, manufactured by Hayashihara Co., Ltd.), internationally. 4 parts by mass of the branched α-glucan mixture having the following characteristics (a) to (c), which was obtained according to the method disclosed in Example 3 of the Publication No. WO 2008/136331, was added and dissolved. The binder of the present invention in the form of an aqueous solution was obtained.

<Characteristics of branched α-glucan mixture>
(A) Glucose is a constituent sugar.
(B) Glucose linked via α-1,4 bond It was linked to a non-reducing terminal glucose residue located at one end of a linear glucan with a degree of polymerization of 3 or higher via a bond other than α-1,4 bond. It has a branched structure with a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more.
(C) Isomaltose is produced by digestion with isomalt dextranase in an amount of about 28.4% by mass per solid content of the digest.
(D) The water-soluble dietary fiber content determined by high performance liquid chromatography (enzyme-HPLC method) is about 42.1% by mass.
(E) The ratio of the glucose residue bound to α-1,4 to the glucose residue bound to α-1,6 is about 1: 0.62.
(F) The total of α-1,4 bound glucose residues and α-1,6 bound glucose residues accounts for about 83.7% of the total glucose residues.
(G) Α-1,3-bound glucose residue is 1.1% of the total glucose residue.
(H) Glucose residues bound to α-1,3,6 are 0.8% of the total glucose residues.
(K) The weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the molecular weight distribution analysis based on the gel filtration high-speed liquid chromatogram is about 59,000 daltons.
(E) The value (Mw / Mn) obtained by dividing the weight average molecular weight (Mw) by the number average molecular weight (Mn) is 15.4.
(S) The content of branched α-glucan having a glucose polymerization degree (DP) of 9 or more is about 92% by mass per solid content.
(S) The total content of monosaccharides to oligosaccharides of DP1 to 8 is about 9% by mass.
(S) DE is about 6.5.
(C) The water content is about 7%.

Next, at a temperature of 25 ° C., a commercially available dried carrot (trade name "dry (dried) shredded carrot", Asuzac Foods Co., Ltd.) was used as a food material in a crusher to make one side of the crushed product about 3 to about 5 mm. It was crushed to become. Next, 1 kg of the obtained piece of carrot was placed in a container, 150 g of olive oil and 150 g of sucrose were sequentially added while stirring at the same temperature, heated at 130 ° C. for 10 minutes, allowed to cool to room temperature, and then the present invention. 200 g of the binder was applied almost uniformly to the surface of the crushed carrot, filled in a plastic mold having multiple hemispherical depressions with a diameter of about 2 cm, and the mold surface was leveled flat with a stainless spatula. Flaked carrots were bound to each other, and the bound hemispherical carrot mass was taken out from the mold, placed in an oven, and heated at 100 ° C. for 20 minutes to obtain a bound molded food of the present invention.

This product retains its shape and flavor immediately after manufacture even after being stored at room temperature for 1 year or more, and has excellent texture, texture, shape retention / storage stability, and impact resistance, and has a high bulk. It is a binding molded food with density.

<Binder>
For 100 parts by mass of purified water, 10 parts by mass of pullulan (trade name "food additive pullulan", pullulan content of about 94% by mass, water content of about 2% by mass, manufactured by Hayashihara Co., Ltd.) and implementation Any 5 parts by mass of the branched α-glucan mixture used in Examples 1 to 5 is stirred and dissolved, filled in a steel container in an amount of 1 kg each, heat-sterilized, cooled, and in the form of five kinds of aqueous solutions according to the present invention. Obtained a binder.

All of the binders were colorless, had low viscosity, were easy to handle, and had excellent properties of having a strong binding force for binding food materials to each other. In addition, any of the above-mentioned binders can be used, for example, as a "connector" for binding various foods and drinks, enhance water retention of various foods and drinks, maintain their shapes, and improve the texture. Can be used to

<Binder>
For 100 parts by mass of purified water, 12 parts by mass of pullulan (trade name "food additive pullulan", pullulan content of about 94% by mass, water content of about 2% by mass, manufactured by Hayashihara Co., Ltd.), and implementation Any 5 parts by mass of the branched α-glucan mixture used in Examples 1 to 5 is stirred and dissolved, filled in a steel container in an amount of 1 kg each, heat-sterilized, cooled, and in the form of five kinds of aqueous solutions according to the present invention. Blotting agent for molded foods was obtained.

All of the binders were colorless, had low viscosity, were easy to handle, and had excellent properties of having a strong binding force for binding food materials to each other. In addition, any of the above-mentioned binders is used, for example, as a "connector" for binding various foods and drinks, and also for enhancing the water retention of various foods and drinks, maintaining their shapes, and improving the texture. Can be used for.

As described above, according to the binder of the present invention, small pieces and / or granular food materials can be bound to each other with a high bulk density, and moreover, shape retention, storage stability, handleability, and further. , It is possible to easily provide a binder-molded food product having excellent impact resistance and a long product life. Further, according to the binder of the present invention, when the food material is bound and formed using the mold, there is an advantage that the filling operation into the mold and the removal operation from the mold can be performed satisfactorily. Further, according to the method for producing a binder-molded food product of the present invention, the binder-molded food product having the above-mentioned excellent characteristics can be produced on an industrial scale with a high yield. The influence of the present invention on the world is so great, and its industrial significance is extremely large.

Claims (11)

Pullulan and a branched α-glucan mixture having the following characteristics (A) to (C) are included in the mass ratio [pullulan / branched α-glucan mixture] in terms of anhydride in the range of 1.5 to 4. Glucan:
(A) Glucose is a constituent sugar, and
(B) A non-reducing terminal glucose residue located at one end of a linear glucan having a glucose polymerization degree of 3 or higher linked via an α-1,4 bond was linked via a bond other than the α-1,4 bond. It has a branched structure with a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more, and has a glucose polymerization degree of 1 or more.
(C) Isomaltose is produced by digestion with isomalt dextranase in an amount of 5% by mass or more per solid content of the digest. The binder according to claim 1, wherein pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture are contained in an amount of 90% by mass or more in total in terms of anhydride per solid content. The binder according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the binder is in the form of an aqueous solution containing pullulan and the branched α-glucan mixture, and the solid content concentration of the aqueous solution is 10 to 30% by mass. A binder-molded food obtained by binding and molding small pieces and / or granular food materials, and the food materials are bonded to each other via the binder according to claim 1 or 2. Characterized binding molded food. The bound molded food according to claim 4, wherein the food material in the form of small pieces and / or granules is coated with animal and vegetable fats and oils and / or sugars. 4. The small and / or granular food material is one or more selected from baked confectionery, flake confectionery, snack confectionery, cereal food, dried fruit, and dried vegetable. Or the binder-molded food according to 5. A method for producing a molded food product, which comprises a step of attaching the binder according to any one of claims 1 to 3 to the surface of a small and / or granular food material. The method for producing a bound molded food according to claim 7, wherein the food material in the form of small pieces and / or granules is previously coated with animal and vegetable fats and oils and / or sugars. The molded food product according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising a step of drying and / or heating the small and / or granular food material having the binder attached to the surface. Production method. 7. The fragmentary and / or granular food material is one or more selected from baked confectionery, flake confectionery, snack confectionery, cereal food, dried fruit, and dried vegetable. 9. The method for producing a binder-molded food product according to any one of 9. The conclusion according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the water content of the small and / or granular food material before adhering the binder to the surface is less than 10% by mass. Manufacturing method of molded food.