JP7385458B2 - tea drinks - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to tea beverages.

Beverages containing extracts from raw materials such as tea leaves and grains (hereinafter referred to as "tea beverages") are one of the beverages that are widely accepted by consumers due to their aroma and thirst-quenching properties. When a tea beverage is drunk for the purpose of hydration, a refreshing taste is particularly required. However, when trying to create a refreshing taste, there is a problem in that the taste is bland and the flavor is unsatisfactory.

In response to such problems, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a method for producing a taste improver that can enhance so-called body taste such as richness, thickness of taste, and body sensation in grain tea beverages. Proposed.

However, the method described in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that it is necessary to separately prepare a taste improver and include it in the tea beverage. Therefore, a tea beverage with excellent palatability that can be produced more easily is desired.

JP2013-252113A

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a tea beverage that has a good aftertaste and a refreshing taste, and has an enhanced aroma and richness of taste. purpose.

As a result of intensive research to solve the above problems, the present inventors have made a tea beverage contain dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine at a predetermined concentration, and the dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine It has been discovered that the above problem can be solved by setting the mass ratio to 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine within a specific range, and the present invention has been completed. More specifically, the present invention provides the following.

<1> Contains dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine,
The content of the dimethyl trisulfide is 1 to 4 ppb,
The mass ratio of the dimethyl trisulfide and the 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine is 1:0.6 to 8;
tea drink.

<2> The tea beverage according to <1>, wherein the dimethyl trisulfide content is 1.2 to 3 ppb.

<3> The tea beverage according to <1> or <2>, wherein the mass ratio of the dimethyl trisulfide to the 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine is 1:2 to 4.

<4> The tea beverage according to any one of <1> to <3>, which contains a grain extract.

<5> The tea beverage according to any one of <1> to <4>, which contains extracts of barley and adlay.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a tea beverage that has a good aftertaste and a refreshing taste, and has an enhanced aroma and richness of taste.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. In this specification, the expression "X to Y (X, Y are arbitrary numerical values)" means "more than or equal to X and less than or equal to Y."

≪1. Tea drinks≫
The tea beverage contains dimethyltrisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine, and the content of dimethyltrisulfide in the tea beverage is 1 to 4 ppb, and the content of dimethyltrisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5- The mass ratio with dimethylpyrazine is 1:0.6 to 8. By using such a tea beverage, the tea beverage has a good aftertaste and a refreshing taste, and has an enhanced aroma and richness of taste.

Tea beverages contain extracts (hereinafter also simply referred to as "extracts") derived from plants such as tea leaves and grains. Note that the extract herein refers to an extract obtained by extracting plants such as tea leaves and grains with a solvent, a diluted or concentrated solution thereof, a dried product thereof, and a powder thereof.

In addition, tea beverages are not only liquids containing extracts obtained by extracting one type of plant, but also liquids obtained by mixing the extract with extracts of other plants, or liquids containing extracts added to these liquids. This includes liquids obtained by adding substances, or liquids obtained by drying and dispersing these liquids.

There are no limitations on the variety, place of production, harvesting time, harvesting method, or cultivation method of the plant from which the extract is derived. The types of plants are not particularly limited, and examples include pearl barley, barley, brown rice, habu tea, black beans, corn, soybeans, adzuki beans, potatoes, loquat leaves, tea leaves, kelp, kuma bamboo, sesame, persimmon leaves, Jiaogulan, Mulberry leaves, reishi mushrooms, goji, tangerine peel, mori leaves, perilla leaves, dokudami, plantain, gymnema, rooibos, rafuma, dandelion, peppermint, molukhiya, ginkgo biloba, pine needles, lotus, olive, barley grass, grass, Tomorrow leaves, mugwort, evening primrose, etc. can be used. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Among these, from the viewpoint that the effects of the present invention are easily exerted, the tea beverage preferably contains an extract of grain, more preferably contains an extract of barley and pearl barley, and further contains extracts of barley and pearl barley. It is further preferred to contain extracts of one or more plants. Tea beverages containing extracts of these plants have particularly excellent effects due to the inclusion of aroma components, which will be described in detail later, in specific proportions.

Such an extract can be obtained by an extraction process commonly performed to obtain an extract such as an extract liquid from a plant. For example, when coix is used as the raw material grain, an extract containing various components contained in coix can be recovered by performing an extraction process on the coix using an extraction solvent. Note that the raw material grain may or may not be subjected to processing such as roasting or pulverization.

[About aroma ingredients]
Dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine contained in tea beverages are compounds belonging to sulfides and pyrazines, respectively, and are aroma components.

These aroma components are not particularly limited, but can be blended using commercially available compounds. In addition, dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine are known to be contained in trace amounts in barley and other grain components, and are extracted from extracts of such components and their extracts. It is also possible to blend using isolated products.

(Content of dimethyl trisulfide)
The content of dimethyl trisulfide in tea beverages ranges from 1 to 4 ppb.

When the content of dimethyl trisulfide is 1 ppb or more, it is possible to improve the aftertaste of the tea beverage and enhance the aroma and richness of the taste. Further, the content of dimethyl trisulfide is preferably 1.2 ppb or more.

On the other hand, if the content of dimethyl trisulfide is high, the "strength of pickle odor" derived from the component will be enhanced, but by reducing the content of dimethyl trisulfide to 4 ppb or less, it can be effectively suppressed. can be suppressed to Further, if the content of dimethyl trisulfide is high, the "goodness of cutting after cutting" becomes poor, but this can be suppressed by controlling the content of dimethyl trisulfide to 4 ppb or less. Further, the content of dimethyl trisulfide is preferably 3 ppb or less, more preferably 2.5 ppb or less.

The content of dimethyl trisulfide in a tea beverage can be adjusted by adjusting the amount of the compound in the tea beverage. For example, in the case of a tea beverage containing an extract of a grain component, the content of dimethyl trisulfide contained in the extract of the grain component is adjusted.

Note that the content of dimethyl trisulfide in the tea beverage can be measured using, for example, a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC-MS). If the concentration in each raw material is known, it can also be calculated.

(Mass ratio of dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine)
The mass ratio of dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine (hereinafter also simply referred to as "mass ratio of both aroma components") in the tea beverage is in the range of 1:0.6 to 8. be.

By setting the mass ratio of the two aroma components in the range of 1:0.6 to 8, it is possible to improve the aftertaste of the tea beverage while enhancing the aroma and depth of the taste. Further, the mass ratio of both aroma components is preferably 1:0.8 to 5, more preferably 1:1 to 5, and even more preferably 1:2 to 4.

(Content of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine)
The content of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine in the tea beverage is in the range of 0.6 to 32 ppb in relation to the above-mentioned "content of dimethyl trisulfide" and "mass ratio of both aroma components". becomes.

However, if the content of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine is high, the "intensity of cacao-like aroma" derived from the component will be enhanced, but 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine This can be suppressed by setting the content of pyrazine to 32 ppb or less in relation to the mass ratio with dimethyl trisulfide. Further, the content of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine is preferably 20 ppb or less, more preferably 15 ppb or less.

The content of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine in the tea beverage can be adjusted by adjusting the amount of the compound in the tea beverage. In addition, for example, in the case of a tea beverage containing an extract of a grain component, the content of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine contained in the extract of the grain component is adjusted.

Note that the content of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine in the tea beverage can be measured using, for example, a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC-MS). If the concentration in each raw material is known, it can also be calculated.

[Other ingredients]
In the tea beverage, other raw materials and additives commonly used in general tea beverages can be appropriately blended within a range that does not impede the effect. Note that the blending amount can be adjusted as appropriate depending on the desired effect. Specifically, for example, antioxidants, pH adjusters, fragrances, various esters, organic acids, organic acid salts, inorganic acids, inorganic acid salts, inorganic salts, pigments, emulsifiers, preservatives, seasonings, quality It may contain various additives such as stabilizers.

[container]
For tea beverages, it can be made into packaged tea beverages by filling them into containers. The container may be any sealed container known in the beverage industry, and can be appropriately selected and used, and can be determined as appropriate depending on the distribution format and consumer needs. Specific examples include sealed containers made of single materials such as glass, plastic (polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), etc.), paper, aluminum, steel, etc., or composite materials or laminated materials of these materials. Can be mentioned. In particular, transparent (including translucent) containers are preferred. The transparent container may be entirely transparent or partially transparent.

≪2. Method for producing tea beverages≫
Tea beverages can be produced using any conditions and methods employed in the production of tea beverages. For example, a tea beverage can be produced by adding dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine to a liquid containing the extract at predetermined contents and content ratios. . More specifically, the content of dimethyl trisulfide is 1 to 4 ppb, and the mass ratio of dimethyl trisulfide to 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine is 1:0.6 to 8. ,Added.

Dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine may be added according to a conventional method, such as adding prepared extracts containing predetermined amounts of each component sequentially or simultaneously. can be mentioned. After adding each component, it can be manufactured by mixing by stirring or the like. The mixing order of each component is not particularly limited. In addition, after pre-mixing multiple plants and performing an extraction process to obtain an extract, dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine are added to the obtained extract to a predetermined concentration. Another method is to do so.

In addition, if dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine exceed the specified content or content ratio at the time of preparing the extract, adjust by diluting it as appropriate. It is also possible to produce tea drinks.

The manufactured tea beverage can be filled into a container to make a packaged tea beverage, and may be appropriately sterilized before or after filling into the container.

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

(Preparation of extract)
Roasted coix, barley, and habu tea are mixed so that the concentrations of coix are 2.0 g/L, barley is 1.0 g/L, and habu tea is 1.0 g/L, and using a column type extractor, Extraction was performed at 90°C with 20 times the volume of pure water. Next, the mixture was filtered through No. 2 filter paper and cooled to obtain an extract. To the obtained extract, 0.4 g/L of sodium L-ascorbate and 0.1 g/L of sodium bicarbonate (baking carbonate) were added to obtain a liquid mixture. The resulting liquid mixture was sterilized by UHT (140°C, 30 seconds) and filled into bottles aseptically to obtain a sterilized extract. The concentration of dimethyltrisulfide contained in the obtained sterilized extract was 0.7 ppb, and the concentration of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine was 0.9 ppb.

(Preparation of test product tea beverage)
Dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine were added to the prepared sterilized extract to prepare a tea beverage as a test sample.

Note that the content of dimethyl trisulfide in the tea beverage was measured using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Specifically, 100 μL of the beverage to be analyzed was placed in a vial (capacity: 10 mL) and introduced into a GC-MS (manufactured by Agilent) by MVM (Multi Volatile Method) using MPS manufactured by Gestel. A calibration curve was created using the standard addition method, and isopropyl sulfide was used as an internal standard.
<GC-MS analysis conditions>
・Equipment GC: Agilent 7980B GC System (manufactured by Agilent Technologies)
MS: Agilent 7000D GC/MS Triple Quad (manufactured by Agilent Technologies)
Collection tube (adsorbent): Tenax TA, Carbopack-B & Carbopack-X
・Column: DB-WAX UI, 20m x 0.18mm, film thickness 0.30μm (manufactured by Agilent Technologies)
・Injection method: Splitless ・Carrier gas: He (1.0mL/min)
・Transfer line: 250℃
・Temperature increase program: 40℃ (held for 3 minutes) → 5℃/min → 240℃ (held for 7 minutes)
・Precursor ion > product ion (CE (collision energy))
: Dimethyl trisulfide 126>79 (20V)
・Ionization method: EI
・Quadrupole temperature: 150℃
・Ion source temperature: 230℃

Further, the content of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine in the tea beverage was measured using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Specifically, 100 μL of the beverage to be analyzed was placed in a vial (capacity: 10 mL) and introduced into a GC-MS (manufactured by Agilent) by MVM (Multi Volatile Method) using MPS manufactured by Gestel. A calibration curve was created using the standard addition method, and cyclohexanol was used as an internal standard.
<GC-MS analysis conditions>
・Equipment GC: Agilent 7980B GC System (manufactured by Agilent Technologies)
MS: Agilent 7000D GC/MS Triple Quad (manufactured by Agilent Technologies)
Collection tube (adsorbent): Tenax TA, Carbopack-B & Carbopack-X
・Column: DB-WAX UI, 20m x 0.18mm, film thickness 0.30μm (manufactured by Agilent Technologies)
・Injection method: Splitless ・Carrier gas: He (1.0mL/min)
・Transfer line: 250℃
・Temperature increase program: 40℃ (held for 3 minutes) → 5℃/min → 240℃ (held for 7 minutes)
・Precursor ion > product ion (CE (collision energy))
:2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine 135>135(5V)
・Ionization method: EI
・Quadrupole temperature: 150℃
・Ion source temperature: 230℃

(sensory evaluation)
The produced tea beverage was subjected to sensory evaluation by six expert panels. Specifically, the sensory evaluation was conducted using a standard product without the addition of dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine, and evaluated the "goodness of the top aroma" and the "strength of a light fragrant aroma similar to rice crackers." (hereinafter also referred to as ``strength of top aroma'')'', ``thickness of taste'', ``good aftertaste'', ``strength of cacao-like aroma'', and ``strength of pickled flavor''. This was done by evaluating. Each evaluation score was calculated as the average value of the evaluation scores given by each panel according to the following scoring criteria.

The following evaluation criteria were used for "good aroma at the top,""strength of a light aroma like rice cracker (strength of aroma at the top),""thickness of flavor," and "good aftertaste." It was evaluated on a 7-point scale.
7 points: Very strong than the standard product / Good 6 points: Stronger than the standard product / Good 5 points: Slightly stronger than the standard product / Good 4 points: Same as the standard product 3 points: Slightly weaker than the standard product 2 bad points: Weaker than the standard product / Bad 1 point: Very weak / bad than the standard product

"Intensity of cacao-like aroma" and "intensity of pickled flavor" were evaluated on a four-level scale using the following evaluation criteria.
4 points: Stronger than the standard product, unacceptable 3 points: Better than the standard product, 2 points not acceptable: Slightly stronger than the standard product, but within acceptable range 1 point: Same as the standard product

In this evaluation, "good aroma at the top", "strength of a light aroma like rice cracker (strength of aroma at the top)", "thickness of taste", and "good aftertaste" are compared to the standard product. The score was used as a reference value (4 points) for evaluation. In addition, "strength of cacao-like aroma" and "strength of pickled flavor" were evaluated using the score of the reference product as a reference value (1 point).

(result)
Tables 1 and 2 below show the content, mass ratio, and sensory evaluation results of dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine in the tea beverage. In addition, the numerical value in the "mass ratio" column in the table is the mass ratio of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine when dimethyl trisulfide is taken as 1.

As shown in Tables 1 and 2, in each example, compared to the standard product, "better top aroma", "strength of top aroma", "thickness of taste", and "good aftertaste" were observed. ” were both enhanced. Furthermore, there was almost no ``intensity of pickle odor'' due to the addition of dimethyl trisulfide and ``intensity of cacao-like aroma'' due to the addition of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine.

In addition, Examples 3 and 6 were particularly good in "good top aroma," "strength of top aroma," "thickness of taste," and "good aftertaste." From this, it was found that especially high effects can be obtained when the content of dimethyl trisulfide in tea beverages is in the range of 1.2 to 3 ppb and the mass ratio of both aroma components is in the range of 1:2 to 4. Ta.

On the other hand, Comparative Example 1 in which the content of dimethyl trisulfide is 0.8 ppb, which is lower than the predetermined amount, Comparative Example 5, in which the content is 5 ppb, which is higher than the predetermined amount, and 2-ethyl-3,5- to dimethyl trisulfide. In Comparative Examples 2 and 4, in which the content ratio of dimethylpyrazine was high and the mass ratio of both aroma components was 1:10, the "good finish" was equal to or inferior to the reference product.

In addition, in Comparative Example 3, in which the content ratio of 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine to dimethyl trisulfide was low and the mass ratio of both aroma components was 1:0.4, "good top scent" and " There was no improvement in the strength of the aroma at the top, and the quality of the aftertaste was also inferior to the standard product.

In addition, in Comparative Example 6, which has a very high content of both aroma components, with a dimethyl trisulfide content of 50 ppb and a 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine content of 150 ppb, it was found to have the "top fragrance". Both the ``good aftertaste'' and ``good aftertaste'' were significantly inferior to the standard product, and in addition, the ``strength of cacao-like aroma'' and ``strength of pickle odor'' were extremely strong, to a level that was unacceptable as a tea beverage. Met.

Claims (5)

Contains dimethyl trisulfide and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine,
The content of dimethyl trisulfide is 1 to 4 ppb,
The mass ratio of the dimethyl trisulfide and the 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine is 1:0.6 to 8.
tea drink. The tea beverage according to claim 1, wherein the dimethyl trisulfide content is 1.2 to 3 ppb. The tea beverage according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mass ratio of the dimethyl trisulfide and the 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine is 1:2 to 4. The tea beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 3, containing an extract of grains. The tea beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 4, containing extracts of barley and adlay.