JP7261076B2 - Flavor expression enhancer containing 3-mercaptohexanal as an active ingredient - Google Patents

Description

The present invention provides a flavor expression enhancer for beer-flavored food, coffee-flavored food, or cocoa-flavored food and drink, which contains 3-mercaptohexanal as an active ingredient, a method for enhancing flavor expression in the food, and flavor expression is enhanced. It is related with the manufacturing method of the said food-drinks which were carried out.
According to the present invention, by simply adding 3-mercaptohexanal to a beer-flavored food, a coffee-flavored food, or a cocoa-flavored food, the flavor expression of these food and drink is enhanced, and as a result, the original flavor of the food and drink is enhanced. It can enhance the taste.
In this specification, unless otherwise specified, concentration units (%, ppm, ppb, ppt) are based on mass.

Along with marketing strategies such as package design and commercials, taste and aroma are considered to be factors that greatly influence consumer willingness to buy food and drink, especially processed foods.
In particular, processed foods require advanced heat sterilization to ensure a long shelf life, and various recipe development and A manufacturing process is in place.

Furthermore, processed foods in recent years are desired to have the desired natural flavor, richness, volume, richness, fruit juice, fruitiness, etc. (real feeling) that the food originally has. , Reproducing or enhancing these processed foods has become an important issue.

As a method for solving the above problems, the following methods have been proposed so far.
For example, by using vicenin-2, a fruit-flavored non-fruit juice drink or a fruit juice drink with a low fruit juice content is given a fruit juice feeling such as flavor, richness, volume, and richness like a high fruit juice drink. (Patent Document 1).

In addition, using a fraction with a molecular weight cutoff of 10000 or more obtained by fractionating the extract obtained by extracting roasted coffee with water, a polar organic solvent or a mixture thereof, milk, dairy products, milk Alternatively, a method has been proposed for imparting and enhancing “richness” and volume without impairing the flavor of foods and drinks containing dairy products or dairy product substitutes (Patent Document 2).

Furthermore, using an extract obtained by extracting cherry leaves with carbon dioxide in a liquefied state or in a subcritical or supercritical state in the presence of a 5 to 99.5 (w/w)% ethanol aqueous solution, In addition to imparting brilliance, sweetness, and voluminousness to the flavor of flavorings contained in food products or food and drink, a method of changing it to a more natural, natural-looking, and preferable one has also been proposed (Patent Document 3).

Patent Document 4 describes the use of 3-mercaptohexanal as an active ingredient in a fragrance composition intended to enhance the freshness and naturalness peculiar to grapefruit.

Further, in Patent Document 5, 3-mercapto-1-hexanol is disclosed as a flavoring composition capable of improving the expression and persistence of the feeling of black tea and fruit juice and imparting a natural and natural flavor to black tea beverages and fruit juice beverages. It is described to use

Furthermore, Patent Document 6 proposes a group of aliphatic or alicyclic mercapto derivative compounds containing 3-mercaptohexanal as novel flavoring ingredients, and shows application examples of tomato juice and pineapple juice.

As described above, methods for imparting or enhancing a preferable flavor to food and drink have been proposed, but all of them are limited in application to specific food and drink such as juice-free beverages and dairy products. Alternatively, it has the problem of being disadvantageous in terms of cost due to its complicated manufacturing method.

On the other hand, it has been pointed out that beer-flavored food and drink, coffee-flavored food and drink, and cocoa-flavored food and drink include processes such as heating and crushing in the manufacturing stage, and that the original flavor is lost during such processes. Since these food and drink products all have strong taste factors, it is desired to provide a flavor expression enhancer capable of imparting a natural and desirable rich flavor and being advantageous in terms of production cost.

JP-A-2006-238829 JP-A-2008-54507 JP 2015-42148 A JP-A-2008-99596 JP 2008-101097 A JP-A-49-132252

The problem to be solved by the present invention is a flavor expression enhancer that enhances the flavor inherent in beer-flavored foods, coffee-flavored foods, or cocoa-flavored foods and beverages, or that enhances the preferable flavor at the time of product design. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for improving the expression of flavor by adding a flavor expression enhancer, and food and drink in which the expression of flavor is improved by the agent.

As a result of intensive studies to solve the above problems, the present inventors have found that by simply adding a small amount of 3-mercaptohexanal to food and drink, the product design (raw materials, manufacturing method, etc.) of food and drink can be easily achieved without major changes. The inventors have found that the expression of flavor is improved, and have completed the present invention.
That is, 3-mercaptohexanal uses coffee beans, cacao beans, and malt that have been flavored by heating processes such as roasting, drying and boiling during the raw material manufacturing process, or reproduces their flavor. It was found that it is most suitable for food and drink. This was unforeseeable from the prior art of imparting a citrus-based freshness and a natural vegetable flavor disclosed in Patent Documents 4 to 6.

That is, the present invention is as described below.
[1] A flavor enhancement agent for beer-flavored food, coffee or cocoa-flavored food and drink, characterized by containing 3-mercaptohexanal as an active ingredient.
[2] The flavor expression enhancer as described above, characterized by containing 0.01 ppb to 10 ppm of an active ingredient in the flavor expression enhancer.
[3] A beer-flavored food, a coffee-flavored food, or a cocoa-flavored food, which contains the flavor expression enhancer described above.

[4] A beer-flavored food, coffee-flavored food, or cocoa-flavored food and drink, characterized in that the content of 3-mercaptohexanal is from 0.01ppt to 10ppb.
[5] Beer-flavored food and drink with enhanced flavor expression, coffee-flavored, characterized in that 0.01ppt to 10ppb of 3-mercaptohexanal is added to the food and drink in the process of producing the food and drink. Food and drink manufacturing method.

Since the flavor expression enhancer of the present invention has a high potency, it is effective even when used in a small amount.
Therefore, without perceiving the odor and taste characteristics of the flavor expression enhancer itself, the natural and desirable flavor and swell inherent in the raw material beans can be added to the coffee-flavored food or cocoa-flavored food and drink. It has the effect of enhancing the original flavor such as feeling, richness, volume, chewiness, authenticity, roasted feeling, and the like.

In addition, regardless of the presence or absence of alcohol, raw materials, and manufacturing method, the flavor and swelling of beer-flavored beverages, natural texture, alcoholic feeling, and carbonic acid feeling can be enhanced.
Beverage makers and processed food makers benefit from high versatility because the flavor that beer-flavored food, coffee-flavored food, or cocoa-flavored food and drink originally have or that is expected can be enhanced inexpensively and easily. The convenience of

[A] Flavor Expression Enhancer (1) Enhancement of Flavor Expression The enhancement of flavor expression in the present invention refers to enhancing only the desirable taste and aroma that food and drink inherently have. In general, in order to enhance the taste and aroma, it is conceivable to deal with it by increasing the amount of the taste-imparting component and the aroma component.
However, simply increasing the amount of the desired taste and aroma components will change the overall balance, and the original taste and aroma of food and drink, and in the case of processed foods, the taste and aroma at the time of development and design will be altered. In addition to this, in some cases, it is accompanied by an increase in raw material prices.

The flavor enhancer of the present invention can enhance the expression of flavor simply by adding it to a beer-flavored food or drink, a coffee-flavored food or drink, or a cocoa-flavored food or drink.
Here, beer-flavored food and drink, coffee-flavored food and drink, or cocoa-flavored food and drink mean beer-taste beverages made from coffee, cocoa, and malt in the usual sense, but actually coffee beans, cacao beans, and malt are used. Even if it is not a food or drink, it includes coffee, cocoa, and beer that have a unique taste and aroma. For example, even non-alcoholic beer that does not undergo a barley fermentation process has the same taste and aroma as beer that uses barley, so it is treated as a beer-flavored food or drink.

(2) Essential Active Ingredient The essential active ingredient contained in the flavor enhancement agent of the present invention is 3-mercaptohexanal having the following structure.

(3) Optional Components Solvents used in the preparation of flavor expression enhancers are not particularly limited, but water, aliphatic alcohols such as ethanol, propanol and butanol, and polyhydric alcohols such as glycerin and propylene glycol. , triacetin, triethyl citrate, edible oils and fats, medium-chain fatty acid triglycerides, etc. can be used alone or in combination.
In addition, the flavor expression enhancer can be used by appropriately changing the dosage form according to the form of the food or drink to which it is added. For example, it can be added to food and drink as an emulsified composition using an emulsifier, or as a powder using an excipient.

In addition, if necessary, the flavor enhancer of the present invention can be appropriately blended with various flavorings for food and drink as additional ingredients.
For example, fragrance materials (essential oils, essences, Concrete, absolute, extract, oleoresin, resinoid, recovered flavor, carbon dioxide extracted refined oil, synthetic fragrance), various plant extracts, antioxidants, etc., each of which is a flavor expression enhancer in an amount that does not impair the effects of the present invention. can be blended into

The amount of 3-mercaptohexanal contained in the flavor expression enhancer is not particularly limited, but is preferably 0.01 ppb to 10 ppm, more preferably 0.1 ppb to 10 ppm, still more preferably 1 ppb to 1 ppm.

The amount of 3-mercaptohexanal added depends on the type of food and drink, but generally the content of 3-mercaptohexanal in the food and drink is preferably 0.01ppt to 10ppb, more preferably 0.1ppt to 10ppb, and more preferably 0.1ppt to 10ppb. It is preferably between 1 ppt and 1 ppb.
This is because if the amount added is less than 0.01 ppt, the effect of enhancing the expression of flavor cannot be exhibited, and if the amount exceeds 10 ppb, the original flavor characteristics of the food will be impaired due to the occurrence of off-taste.

[B] Coffee-Flavored Food and Beverage Coffee-flavored food and drink refers to food and drink made from coffee beans themselves (green beans) or processed products obtained by processing such as roasting. Here, the coffee beans may be Arabica, Robusta or the like, and any coffee beans can be used regardless of the type and production area. The coffee referred to in the present invention includes pulverized powders and extracts (extracts, concentrates thereof, dry powders thereof, etc.) of the above raw materials.

[C] Cocoa-Flavored Food and Beverage Cocoa-flavored food and drink refers to food and drink using cocoa beans, and the cocoa beans referred to in the present invention include cacao nibs, cocoa mass, cocoa liquor, cocoa cake, cocoa powder, and the like.

[D] Beer-Flavored Food and Beverage Beer-flavored food and drink use grains such as rice, corn, soybeans, etc., such as barley, wheat and their malts, as raw materials, and the flavor reproduces the flavor of alcohol-fermented beer. It is. The raw material can also be used as grain syrup, grain extract, etc., or grain pulverized product obtained by pulverization. Moreover, the raw material used in the present invention may be one type of raw material or a mixture of a plurality of types of raw materials.

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Production Examples, Test Examples, and Examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following Production Examples, Test Examples, and Examples.
<I> Preparation of flavor expression enhancer [Production Example 1]
3-mercaptohexanal is prepared from 2-hexenal as a starting material, J. Agric. Food Chem., Vol.51, No.15, 4349 (2003), Helv. Chim. Acta, Vol.59, Fasc.5, 1621 ( 1976)).
A 10 wt% 3-mercaptohexanal solution was prepared by diluting 3-mercaptohexanal with triacetin.
The obtained 10 mass% 3-mercaptohexanal solution was diluted with a 95 (v/v) % ethanol aqueous solution to prepare a flavor expression enhancer having a 3-mercaptohexanal concentration of 0.01 ppb to 10 ppm.

<II> Confirmation of appropriate amount of 3-mercaptohexanal added to food and drink [Test Example 1] (milk coffee)
48 g of ground roasted coffee beans with an L value of 20 were dripped with 10 times the amount of hot water to obtain a coffee extract. 120 g of milk, 54 g of sugar, 1.5 g of an emulsifier, and 1 g of coffee flavor (manufactured by Ogawa Koryo Co., Ltd.) were added to the coffee extract and adjusted to 1000 g with water to prepare a milk coffee dough.

Milk coffee was prepared by adding 3-mercaptohexanal to various concentrations to milk coffee dough and retort sterilizing at 123° C. for 20 minutes.
Sensory evaluation was carried out by four skilled panelists according to the following evaluation criteria using an additive-free product to which 3-mercaptohexanal was not added as a control sample.

[Example 1]
By adding 3-mercaptohexanal, the richness of milk in milk coffee and the freshness of brewing coffee were increased, and the flavor of milk coffee was enhanced.
Also, the concentration of 3-mercaptohexanal in milk coffee at which the effect of enhancing flavor expression is exhibited is 0.01ppt to 1ppb, preferably 0.0001ppb to 1ppb, more preferably 0.001ppb to 1ppb.

[Test Example 2] (black coffee)
Commercially available coffee beans (the L value representing the degree of roasting is 20) were pulverized, and 10 times the amount of hot water was dripped onto the pulverized coffee beans to obtain a coffee extract. After diluting the obtained coffee extract with water so that the solid content is 1.2%, sodium bicarbonate is added to adjust the pH to 6.3, and after filling the container, retort sterilization is performed at 121 ° C. for 10 minutes. Created a black coffee drink.

A beverage to which 3-mercaptohexanal was not added to the black coffee beverage was used as a control sample (hereinafter referred to as "additive-free product"), and 3-mercaptohexanal was added to the concentration shown in Table 3 to obtain an evaluation sample. A certain coffee drink was prepared, and sensory evaluation was performed by four skilled panelists according to the following evaluation criteria.

[Example 2]
By adding 3-mercaptohexanal, the roasted feeling of coffee beans and the freshly brewed feeling of black coffee were increased, and the flavor of black coffee was enhanced.
The concentration of 3-mercaptohexanal in black coffee at which the effect of enhancing flavor expression is exhibited is 0.01ppt to 1ppb, preferably 0.0001ppb to 1ppb, more preferably 0.001ppb to 1ppb.

[Test Example 3] (Beer-flavored alcoholic beverage)
A commercially available beer-taste beverage (ingredients: malt, hops, barley, corn, starch, spirits, alcohol content: 6%) with no addition of 3-mercaptohexanal was used as a control sample (hereinafter referred to as "additive-free product"). , 3-Mercaptohexanal was added to the concentration shown in Table 6 to prepare a beer-flavored alcoholic beverage as an evaluation sample, and sensory evaluation was performed by four skilled panelists according to the following evaluation criteria. rice field.

[Example 3]
By adding 3-mercaptohexanal, the beer-flavored alcoholic beverage was able to increase the feeling of chewiness, stimulus, and swelling, thereby enhancing the flavor of the beer-flavored alcoholic beverage.
In addition, the concentration of 3-mercaptohexanal in the beer-flavored alcoholic beverage at which the effect of enhancing flavor expression is exhibited is 0.01ppb to 10ppb, preferably 0.0001ppb to 10ppb, more preferably 0.001ppb to 1ppb.

[Test Example 4] (Non-alcoholic beer-taste beverage)
Commercially available non-alcoholic beer-taste beverage (ingredients: malt, hops, acidulant, flavoring, caramel pigment, antioxidant (vitamin C), sweetener (acesulfame K)) with no added 3-mercaptohexanal as a control sample (hereinafter referred to as "additive-free product"), and 3-mercaptohexanal was added to the concentration shown in Table 8 to prepare a non-alcoholic beer-taste beverage as an evaluation sample. Sensory evaluation was performed by four skilled panelists.

[Example 4]
By adding 3-mercaptohexanal, the beer-flavored non-alcoholic beverages were enhanced in chewiness, stimulus, and fullness, and the flavor of the beer-flavored alcoholic beverages was enhanced.
In addition, the concentration of 3-mercaptohexanal in the beer-flavored non-alcoholic beverage at which the effect of enhancing flavor expression is exhibited is 0.01ppb to 10ppb, preferably 0.0001ppb to 10ppb, more preferably 0.001ppb to 1ppb.

[Example 5]
3-Mercaptohexanal was added to 0.5 ppb to a cocoa beverage prepared by dissolving 4 g of commercially available cocoa powder in 100 g of hot water.
Sensory evaluation was carried out by four skilled panelists using additive-free products to which 3-mercaptohexanal was not added as target samples. As a result, the sample to which 3-mercaptohexanal was added was clearly evaluated to have a stronger sense of richness than the control sample.

Claims (5)

A flavor expression enhancer for beer-flavored food, coffee or cocoa-flavored food and drink, characterized by containing 3-mercaptohexanal as an active ingredient. 2. The flavor expression enhancer according to claim 1, wherein the flavor expression enhancer contains 0.01 ppb to 10 ppm of the active ingredient. 3. A beer-flavored food or drink (excluding beer produced in a fermentation process) , a coffee-flavored food or a cocoa-flavored food or drink, comprising the flavor expression enhancer according to claim 1 or 2. The beer-flavored food and drink (excluding beer with a fermentation process in the manufacturing process) , coffee-flavored food and drink, or cocoa according to claim 3, characterized in that the content of 3-mercaptohexanal is 0.01ppt to 10ppb. flavored beverages. A beer-flavored food product, a coffee-flavored food product, or a food product with enhanced flavor expression, characterized by adding 0.01ppt to 10ppb of 3-mercaptohexanal to the food product in the process of producing the food product. A method for producing a cocoa-flavored food or drink.