JPH0344741B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a method for adjusting consistency in the production of tomato-based food products. Tomatoes are processed into products such as whole tomatoes, juices, kecaps, piyule, pastes, and sauces. Tomato processing is subject to seasonal constraints, and during a short harvest season, typically about 40 to 60 days, the tomato industry processes fresh tomatoes into finished products and semi-processed products for storage. Aseptic bulk storage methods have been developed to store semi-processed products such as tomato paste, puree, and juice in large quantities, increasing processing efficiency.
While processors always want to make their final products from fresh, just-harvested tomatoes, more and more are turning to concentrated tomato paste. This is especially true when tomato factories are located far from efficient tomato production areas or where products such as sauces and ketchup require proper quality control. In recent years, in response to consumer preferences, the tomato industry has begun producing tomato ketchup and other tomato products with high viscosity. Because these products utilize more tomato solids than conventional products, processors are becoming more concerned about yield.
According to internal and official standards, tomato products must maintain their consistency without the use of thickeners such as starch. The consistency of tomato products is therefore highly dependent on the amount of tomato solids used. Tomato ketchup and sauce are graded based on properties such as color, consistency, presence of impurities, and flavor. Viscosity refers to the apparent viscosity of a product and its tendency to hold the liquid portions together so that they do not separate. The measured consistency of tomato products mainly depends on the solids content in the product, but due to its thixotropic nature,
There is no simple, direct relationship between tomato solids content and consistency. Adding sugar to products such as ketchup has little effect on measured consistency. To measure consistency, the industry uses a Bostwick viscometer, which measures the flowability of viscous tomato products. Its method of operation is known. Conventionally, potentiometric rotational viscometers, tube viscometers, outflow tube viscometers, etc. have been used to measure the fluidity of viscous products, but the Bostwick viscometer is also used as a standard measuring instrument. . Although effluent tube viscometers are used to measure the so-called Libby viscosity, both Bostwick viscometers and effluent tube viscometers cannot be used as continuous on-line quality evaluation devices, nor can they be used for continuous processing control of tomato products. It cannot be used as a means of The object of the present invention is a method for making reliable predictions of the consistency of the final tomato product based on the properties of the feed tomato raw material. Another object of the present invention is to selectively measure the properties of tomato raw materials and use the values to continuously understand and control the consistency of the final tomato product. The present inventors measured the Bostwick viscosity, sediment weight ratio, total solids content, soluble solids content, water-insoluble solids content, alcohol-insoluble solids content, and serum viscosity of tomato concentrate, and correlated these measured values. We considered the relationship. As a result, it was surprisingly found that the precipitation weight ratio and viscosity show a high correlation. Further research revealed that there is a certain correlation between the sediment weight ratio and sugar content. The present invention is based on this knowledge, and measures the initial precipitation weight ratio and initial sugar content of tomato juice or semi-finished tomato products, determines the consistency of the tomato product to be manufactured, and determines the consistency of the tomato product to be produced, and determines the consistency of the tomato product to be manufactured. A target characterized by calculating a sedimentation weight ratio, calculating an expected sugar content from this expected sedimentation weight ratio, an initial sedimentation weight ratio, and an initial sugar content, and concentrating the tomato juice until this expected sugar content is obtained. This is a method for producing tomato products having a viscous consistency. In the present invention, it is first necessary to measure both the sediment weight ratio and the sugar content of the supplied tomato raw material. The expected sedimentation weight ratio of the tomato product to be produced is determined by taking into account quality standards and other conditions based on experience or economy. The sugar content of the tomato product to be produced is calculated from these data, and the tomato is continued to be concentrated or diluted until this expected sugar content is obtained, and the processing is completed. The sediment weight ratio is the ratio of the weight of the sediment to the weight of the tomato raw material, semi-finished product, or finished product, expressed as a percentage. For example, the sample is preferably 2240×g
The weight of the precipitate is measured by centrifuging to form a dense and shape-stable precipitate using the above centrifugal force, and the precipitate weight ratio can be calculated from the precipitate weight and the sample weight. The sugar content of supplied tomato raw materials and final tomato products is
It can be measured continuously using various devices, preferably a saccharimeter. Data on sediment weight ratio and sugar content are as follows:
Calculated either intermittently or continuously by a special purpose microcomputer with the program outlined below. Output from a special purpose computer can be used to control the concentration process to provide the desired consistency of the tomato product being produced. This method makes it possible to obtain the maximum amount of tomato products from the raw materials used. The method of the present invention can be used to produce final products and semi-finished products from raw tomatoes, and can also be used to produce final tomato products from semi-finished tomato products such as paste and puree.
The method of the invention allows the use of a wide range of feed materials and the production of a single product with a constant consistency regardless of the starting material. The consistency of the product can be maintained even when using different varieties of tomatoes. FIG. 1 is a process diagram showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The method of the present invention will be explained below with reference to FIG. The preliminary steps in the production of ketchup and piure and other tomato products are similar and are generally as shown in FIG. Wash fresh raw tomatoes
Sort by hand or by sorter 10. Discard unhealthy tomatoes or cut out the defective parts. The tomatoes are then finely chopped or crushed by a crusher 12 and passed through a screen having a mesh width of approximately 1 cm. The material that has passed through the screen, generally called crushed tomato, is quickly sent to a tank, for example, a rotary coil pot 16, by a pump 14, and heated by a hot-break heater. Alternatively, crushed tomatoes are heated to about 90-110℃ by steam injection,
This temperature may be held for about 1 minute to separate the solid and liquid. The crushed material is then sent to pulper 18 where it is passed through a fine screen to remove seeds and skins. This screen is about 0.6mm to get tomato juice
It has an eye width of After the juice is heated by a pump 20 and, if necessary, by a preheating device 28, it is sent to a storage tank 22, and is circulated from the storage tank 22 to an evaporator 26 by a pump 24 until the desired concentration is obtained. Once the desired concentration is achieved, the concentrate is sent by pump 24 via valve 40 to a sterile storage or canning process, or to a seasoning process if a product such as ketchup is to be made. In the present invention, various measurements are taken to ensure that a reliable consistency is obtained in the finished product. That is, in order to measure the initial properties of the input tomatoes, a portion of the juice obtained by the pulper 18 is passed through a refractometer 30 to measure the sugar content. A hydrometer calibrated for sugar content can be used in place of the refractometer 30 to analyze the juice.
At the same time, another part of the squeezed liquid is introduced into the centrifugal separator 32, and its sediment weight ratio is measured. Data from both refractometer 30 and centrifuge 32 are input to process controller 34 . Further, the desired product standard viscosity is input to the process controller 34, and the expected sediment weight ratio of the product to be manufactured is calculated. This expected precipitation weight ratio can be calculated from the equation [] below. Furthermore, the estimated sugar content required for the final product is calculated from the initial precipitation weight ratio, initial sugar content, and estimated precipitation weight ratio. The expected sugar content can be calculated from the equation [ ] below. A hydrometer or refractometer 36 for measuring the sugar content of the squeezed juice during concentration is installed between the storage tank 22 and the pump 24, and a portion of the squeezed juice is analyzed with the refractometer 36 while the concentration is progressing. This value is determined by the process controller 34.
It will also be sent to As the juice concentrates, the sugar content as measured by the refractometer 36 increases to the desired level, at which point the evaporation process is terminated and the finished product is sent to the next step. If the sugar content measured by refractometer 36 is lower than the sugar content of the finished product as calculated by process controller 34, valve 38 is open and valve 40 is closed. When the sugar content measured by the refractometer 36 reaches the desired level, the valve 38 is closed and the valve 40 is closed.
opens. As the states of valves 38 and 40 change, other necessary valve opening and closing operations occur simultaneously. The process shown in FIG. 1 can also be modified as follows. Except for the refractometer 30, the centrifuge 32 also
Move to the position corresponding to the refractometer 36. The storage tank 22 is filled with the juice processed as described above and heated to the initial temperature in the preheating device 28.
The valve 38 is then opened, the valve 40 is closed and the pump 24 is activated to circulate this juice through the evaporator 26, with the initial values of sugar content and sediment weight ratio being determined by the refractometer 36 and the displaced centrifuge 32, respectively. Get it. These initial values are introduced into the process controller 34. The steam is then introduced into the coil of the evaporator 26 and the sugar content of the circulating product is monitored. When the sugar content reaches the level calculated by process controller 34, valve 38 closes and valve 40 opens to send the product to the next processing step. Although the following description relates to the use of fresh tomatoes as raw materials for the production of tomato products, the process is also useful when using previously processed tomato semi-finished products. For example, in the production of pizza sauce, a processed tomato concentrate, such as tomato paste, can be suspended and diluted with water in a mixer 44, shown in FIG.
A portion of this diluted tomato paste is pumped by a pump 46 through devices that measure the initial analysis of the raw material, namely a refractometer 30 and a centrifuge 32. The mixed concentrate is then treated as described above for the tomato juice. However, before feeding into the storage tank 22, it can also be treated in a preheater 48 in order to provide suitable temperature conditions for measurement with the refractometer 36. Other modifications to this basic process can also be made depending on the tomato product being produced. A variety of devices can be used as the process controller 34 of FIG. 1, including general purpose and special purpose computers. The calculation process for process controller 34 is shown in the following table. Abbreviations in the table have the following meanings. BOST: Bostwick viscosity BRIXo: Initial sugar content BRIXe: Expected sugar content BRIXi: Sugar content during process PPTo: Initial precipitation weight ratio PPTe: Expected precipitation weight ratio

[Table] ↓

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Measure the initial precipitation weight ratio and initial sugar content of tomato juice or semi-finished tomato products, determine the viscosity of the tomato product to be produced, and calculate the expected precipitation weight ratio corresponding to this viscosity. A target viscosity is obtained by calculating the expected sugar content from the expected sediment weight ratio, initial sediment weight ratio, and initial sugar content, and concentrating the tomato juice until this expected sugar content is obtained. A method for producing tomato products. 2 Equipment for measuring the initial sediment weight ratio and initial sugar content of tomato juice or semi-finished tomato products; equipment for calculating the expected sediment weight ratio of tomato products to be manufactured; equipment for calculating the expected sugar content of tomato products from these values; An apparatus for producing tomato products having a target consistency, comprising an apparatus for concentrating tomato juice until the expected sugar content is obtained. 3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the device for measuring the initial sediment weight ratio is an in-line centrifuge that selectively collects samples while processing tomato juice or semi-finished tomato products with this device. . 4. The device according to claim 2, wherein the device for measuring the initial sugar content is an in-line refractometer that selectively collects samples while processing tomato juice or tomato semi-finished products with this device. 5 The device that calculates the expected sugar content (BRIXe) of tomato products is BRIXe = BRIXo + (1/C ₁ ) log (PPTe/PPTo) (BRIXo is the initial sugar content, PPTo is the initial precipitation weight ratio, and PPTe is the expected precipitation weight ratio. and C ₁ is a constant) is a computer programmed with the relationship,
Apparatus according to claim 2. 6 A device that calculates the expected sedimentation weight ratio (PPTe) of tomato products is BOST = C ₂ (PPTe) ² + C ₃ (PPTe) + C ₄ (BOST is Bostwick viscosity, C ₂ , C ₃
and C ₄ is a constant). 7 A device that calculates the expected precipitation weight ratio (PPTe) of tomato products is PPTe=C ₅ [1-(C ₆ /LIBV)] (LIBV is Libby viscosity, and C ₅ and C ₆ are constants)
is a computer programmed with the relationship between
Apparatus according to claim 2.