JP7457549B2 - Method for producing a new salt composition - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for producing a salt composition that has a strong and sustainable salty taste for use in soups and the like.

In recent years, in order to prevent high blood pressure caused by excessive intake of sodium, many so-called low-salt products with reduced sodium chloride content have been put on the market. In the 2010 edition of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Dietary Intake Standards for Japanese, the daily target salt intake was less than 9g for adult men and less than 7.5g for adult women, but in the 2015 edition, Given that the daily salt intake target value for adult men is less than 8g and that for adult women is less than 7g, it is thought that the desire to reduce salt intake will continue to increase in the future.

For example, in order to improve the solubility and the like of salty seasoning powder, a method has been disclosed in which a powdery salty seasoning powder is produced by spray drying an aqueous solution consisting of sodium chloride and potassium chloride (Patent Document 1). In addition, as a similar method, a method is disclosed in which a hollow salt composition is produced by spray-drying an aqueous solution consisting of common salt and an organic substance in order to expand the surface area of the salt composition and enhance the salty taste. (Patent Document 2).

However, although these inventions are effective in enhancing the salty taste of foods that are eaten in solid form, such as snacks, they are not effective for enhancing the salty taste of foods that are eaten in liquid form by dissolving them in hot water, such as instant soup. There was almost no effect of enhancing the salty taste.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-76309 Special table 2016-527890 publication

An object of the present invention is to provide a salt composition that can enhance the salty taste of liquid foods such as soups.

The present inventors have found that the above-mentioned problems can be solved by a method for producing a salt composition containing salt and a thickening polysaccharide, the method comprising the steps of preparing an aqueous solution containing salt and a thickening polysaccharide, and vacuum drying the aqueous solution.

By completing the present invention, it is possible to provide a salt composition that can enhance the salty taste in liquid foods such as soups.

The present invention is a method for producing a salt composition containing salt and a polysaccharide thickener, which includes the steps of preparing an aqueous solution containing salt and a polysaccharide thickener, and vacuum drying the aqueous solution. The present invention relates to a method for producing a salt composition characterized by the following. This will be explained in detail below.

Raw materials 1-1. Common Salt In the present invention, common salt is edible salt containing sodium chloride as a main component. Therefore, sea salt, rock salt, and the like containing sodium chloride as a main component are also included in the salt in the present invention.

Moreover, common salt may contain inorganic salts other than sodium chloride. Specifically, it includes sulfates such as sodium sulfate and magnesium sulfate, chloride salts such as potassium chloride and magnesium chloride, bromide salts such as sodium bromide and potassium bromide, and carbonates such as sodium carbonate and magnesium carbonate. You may be

1-2. polysaccharide thickener
The addition of polysaccharide thickeners allows the salt particles to be tied together and granulated. Thickening polysaccharides include gum arabic, xanthan gum, gellan gum, tamarind gum, psyllium seed gum, galactomannan (e.g. locust bean gum, guar gum, etc.), glucomannan, carrageenan, pectin, pullulan, curdlan agar, gelatin, etc. can be mentioned.

Among these, tamarind gum or gum arabic is preferred because it has a weak harsh taste or bitter taste and has little effect on flavor.

1-3. Other Components The present invention may contain components other than common salt, other salty components, and polysaccharide thickeners. Specifically, sugars other than lactose such as glucose, sucrose, and oligosaccharides, flavor components such as glutamic acid and inosinic acid, and spices can be added as appropriate to the extent that flavor and preservability are not deteriorated. However, if the amount of other materials is too large, the salty taste will deteriorate or it will become difficult to granulate, so it is preferable to limit the amount to 10% by weight or less based on the total amount of salt and polysaccharide thickener.

2. Preparation of aqueous solution In order to carry out vacuum drying, an aqueous solution containing salt and a thickening polysaccharide is prepared. In this case, a volatile solvent such as ethanol may be used in addition to water as a solvent, but water must be the main component (at least the total amount of the solvent) from the viewpoint of solubility.

The polysaccharide thickener is preferably added in an amount of 3 to 10 parts by weight, more preferably 4 to 8 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of common salt. By adjusting the amount of polysaccharide thickener added within this range, the shape of the salt composition can be maintained, off-taste can be suppressed, and the influence on salty taste can be minimized.

Further, from the viewpoint of productivity, it is preferable that the salt concentration of the aqueous solution is as high as possible. Specifically, the lower limit of the salt concentration is preferably 10% by weight. Note that the upper limit of the salt concentration depends on the solubility of salt in water.

3. Drying method The present invention is characterized in that vacuum drying is used in producing the salt composition. First, we will explain why the strength of the salty taste can be maintained even if the amount of sodium chloride is reduced, and why the salty taste can be maintained even when used in soups and the like.

In the case of common table salt, the main component is sodium chloride crystals, so sodium chloride is continuously arranged on the surface of the table salt. This sodium chloride then acts on the taste buds, giving it a salty taste. However, taste buds are not highly accurate sensors when it comes to quantifying sodium chloride, so they can easily create illusions. For example, the sodium chloride in the center of the crystal has no effect on taste buds, so making it hollow to increase the surface area can make the crystal taste more salty. This is as explained in the background art.

However, the ability to enhance the salty taste is limited to applications where the salt composition can be used in solid form, such as snack foods. Since the hollow salt composition has a large surface area, it dissolves quickly. Therefore, even if a hollow salt composition was used for purposes such as soup, it had little effect on sustaining the salty taste.

There are other ways to fool the taste buds. Specifically, when regions with a strong salty taste (high sodium chloride concentration) and regions with a weak salty taste (low sodium chloride concentration) exist alternately at regular intervals, taste buds are attracted to the salty region. It tends to have a strong salty taste. The inventors attempted to utilize this mechanism to develop a salt composition that can maintain a salty taste when used in soups and the like.

Next, vacuum drying, which is a feature of the present invention, will be explained in comparison with conventional drying methods.

Natural drying, hot air drying <br/>In the case of natural drying or hot air drying (hereinafter referred to as "hot air drying, etc."), the liquid dries gradually while remaining in the liquid, so the timing of precipitation varies for each material. When the concentration of sodium chloride, which has low solubility, is high as in the present invention, sodium chloride precipitates first, followed by the thickening polysaccharides, so that sodium chloride and the thickening polysaccharides are unevenly distributed. Therefore, methods that use hot air drying, etc. are almost the same as simply mixing sodium chloride and thickening polysaccharides, and have no effect on sustaining the salty taste.

Spray Drying As mentioned above, in the case of spray drying, minute droplets are dispersed and powdered at once, so unlike hot air drying etc., uneven distribution of common salt and thickening polysaccharide is less likely to occur. Therefore, a salt composition with fine particle size in which sodium chloride is uniformly distributed is formed. However, the salt composition produced by spray drying is hollow and has a large surface area, so it dissolves quickly in hot water and becomes uniform, so it is not suitable for uses such as soups.

Vacuum drying In vacuum drying, drying progresses due to sublimation of water, so the sodium chloride and polysaccharide thickener dissolved in the aqueous solution hardly move during drying, leaving countless pores where water used to be. It is formed. These pores are so small that there is no room for hot water (water) to enter, making it difficult for hot water to reach the interior of the salt composition. For this reason, the salt composition produced by vacuum drying has the characteristics of being bulky and difficult to dissolve in hot water. Even if the soup as a whole has a weak salty taste (low sodium chloride concentration), the strong salty taste (high sodium chloride concentration) around the salt composition can trick the taste buds into thinking that the salty taste is strong.

EXAMPLES Next, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited to these Examples in any way. In addition, unless otherwise specified, the units are parts by weight.

(Preparation of aqueous solution)
Aqueous solution 1 was prepared by dissolving 100 parts by weight of salt and 1 part by weight of tamarind gum in 1000 parts by weight of water. Aqueous solutions 2 to 7 were also prepared by changing the amount of tamarind gum added.

Aqueous solutions 8 to 12 were prepared by replacing the tamarind gum in aqueous solution 5 with gum arabic, xanthan gum, guar gum, cellulose, or corn starch. In the following description, tamarind gum, gum arabic, xanthan gum, guar gum, cellulose, or corn starch may be referred to as "thickening polysaccharide etc."

(freeze drying)
200 ml of the aqueous solution was placed in a stainless steel rectangular pot (inner dimensions (length x width x depth) = 200 mm x 100 mm x 50 mm) and pre-dried in a -20°C freezer. This was freeze-dried using a freeze dryer (TFD-5LF ₄ -H, manufactured by Toyo Giken Co., Ltd.), and after being completely dried, it was filtered (mesh 10M) to produce salt compositions 1 to 12.

Further, according to the description in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2016-527890, aqueous solutions 5 and 8 were spray-dried to produce hollow salt compositions R5 and R8.

(Saltiness evaluation)
The following three evaluation samples (standard, comparison 1, and comparison 2) were prepared for each salt composition.
(1) A salt composition was added to 100 parts by weight of standard 80°C hot water, stirred, and allowed to stand for 5 minutes. The amount of the salt composition added was adjusted so that the amount of salt added was 0.7 parts by weight. For example, when evaluating the salt composition 5, 0.735 parts by weight of the salt composition 5 (containing 0.7 parts by weight of salt) was added.
(2) Comparison 1
0.7 parts by weight of common salt was added to 100 parts by weight of 80°C hot water, stirred, and allowed to stand for 5 minutes.
(3) Comparison 2
0.7 parts by weight of common salt, polysaccharide thickener, etc. were added to 100 parts by weight of 80°C hot water, stirred, and allowed to stand for 5 minutes. The amount of polysaccharide thickener etc. added was in accordance with the amount of polysaccharide thickener etc. contained in the salt composition. For example, when evaluating salt composition 5, 0.35 parts by weight of tamarind gum was added.

Twenty experienced panelists evaluated the salty taste using the above evaluation samples. The number of people in Table 2 is the number of panelists who rated the salty taste as the strongest.

(Off taste evaluation)
Using the above evaluation samples (standard, comparison 1), 20 experienced panelists evaluated the off-taste (aggressive taste, bitterness) for each salt composition. The evaluation criteria are as follows.
○: Less than 2 panelists rated the sample as having a stronger off-taste compared to the salt-only sample (Comparison 1) △: 3 or more panelists rated the off-taste as strong compared to the salt-only sample (Comparison 1) , 10 or less ×: 11 or more panelists rated the sample as having a stronger off-taste compared to the salt-only sample (comparison 1)

In addition, in Table 3, the evaluation of salty taste is simplified as follows.
○: 16 or more panelists evaluated that the evaluation sample (standard) using the salt composition was the saltiest. △: Panelists evaluated that the evaluation sample (standard) using the salt composition was the saltiest. 11 or more, 15 or less ×: 10 or less panelists evaluated that the evaluation sample (standard) using the salt composition was the saltiest.

Twenty experienced panelists compared the salty tastes of Salt Compositions 5 and 8 and Salt Compositions R5 and R8 to evaluate changes in salty taste due to differences in manufacturing methods. The aqueous solution for saltiness evaluation was prepared under the same conditions as the above-mentioned "Standard: Add the salt composition to 100 parts by weight of 80°C hot water, stir and let stand for 5 minutes."

By comparing salt compositions 5 and 11.12, it can be seen that polysaccharide thickener is essential to enhance the salty taste.

Further, by comparing the salt compositions 1 to 7, it can be seen that in order to enhance the salty taste, it is necessary to add at least 3% by weight of polysaccharide thickener, and 4% by weight or more is preferable. It can also be seen that adding 10% by weight or more of thickening polysaccharide intensifies the off-taste.

Furthermore, by comparing salt compositions 5, 8 to 10, it can be seen that the off-flavors of tamarind gum and gum arabic are weaker and are more suitable.

Comparing salt compositions 5 and 8 with R5 and R8, it can be seen that the salt compositions obtained by spray drying cannot enhance the salty taste in applications such as soups.

Claims (1)

A method for producing a salt composition containing salt and a thickening polysaccharide, comprising:
preparing an aqueous solution containing salt and a thickening polysaccharide;
and drying the aqueous solution under vacuum.
The thickening polysaccharide is tamarind gum or gum arabic,
A method for producing a salt composition, comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a salt composition comprising 3 to 10 parts by weight of a thickening polysaccharide per 100 parts by weight of salt;