JPH0411181B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention is suitable for using konjac in a variety of ways, such as adding it to various foods to improve texture, etc., and adding it to diet foods. Concerning the manufacturing method of konnyaku jelly.

[Conventional technology]

Konjac has been used as a food since ancient times, but in recent years it has been in the spotlight due to its non-caloric nature and usefulness as a dietary leaf iver.

However, most of the konjac is used in the form of konnyaku, which we eat on a daily basis, and it can be added to other foods to give them a unique texture or to improve the physical properties of foods. Or “connection”
At present, it has not yet been fully utilized as a processed food material, such as as a food or for calorie control.

The reason for this can be said to be that the development of technology to turn konjac raw materials such as konjac flour into superior processed food materials or food additives has been delayed.

That is, in the conventional konjac manufacturing method, about 30 kg of konjac flour is added with 900-1200 kg of water, swollen to form konjac paste, and then 3-6% of lime is added to the konjac flour and mixed.

This is because the method of filling this mixture into containers, molds, etc. and heating it at a temperature of about 80° C. for about 60 minutes to obtain konnyaku is continued.

Therefore, when using konjac flour as a food ingredient in other processed foods, etc., it must be pulverized to make it easier to dissolve, swelled with water and added as konjac paste, or lime must be added. Methods such as mixing and adding konnyaku paste were used.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, these methods have the problem that the konjac mannan does not completely gel even in the final product stage, resulting in a sticky state remaining, or that the odor of slaked lime used as a coagulant for konjac remains. There was also the problem that the taste deteriorated due to the pH being biased toward the alkaline side.

Therefore, in order to improve physical properties and control calories, it would be desirable to add as much konjac as possible, but in reality, the amount used was severely limited.

Therefore, the present inventor has developed a konjac food additive and processed food that does not have the above-mentioned problems and does not cause separation of components in konjac or irreversible release of water and solid content even when stored for a long period of time. They conducted extensive research to obtain the materials.

[Means for solving problems]

As a result, we were able to successfully add konjac raw materials to foods and make them into a jelly-like form that is convenient for processing, thereby achieving the above objectives.

That is, in the present invention, water is added to konjac flour to cause it to swell and dissolve, then basic salts are added and mixed, or water to which basic salts have been added to konjac flour is added to swell and dissolve, and the pH of the resulting konjac jelly is determined after cooling. The present invention provides a method for producing konjac jelly, which is characterized in that it is heated under alkaline conditions with a pH of 8.0 to 10.5 and then immediately rapidly cooled.

The present invention will be explained in detail below.

The konjac jelly of the present invention is different from the so-called konjac paste, which is made by swelling konjac flour with water. It is also different from konnyaku gel, which is obtained by adding alkali and heating. The konnyaku jelly of the present invention has properties that are exactly intermediate between the two.

Therefore, the konnyaku jelly of the present invention has a suitable viscosity and hardness, and is characterized in that it can be mixed into any food in any proportion.

Moreover, unlike simple konjac paste, the konjac jelly of the present invention has the property of causing a gelation reaction and completely gelling when heated during processing of additive foods.

In addition, there is a reversible konjac jelly disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 116651/1986, which is easily confused with the konjac jelly of the present invention, but this konjac jelly reversibly changes state between a liquid state and a solidified state depending on the degree of cold temperature. It is a konjac that has a reversible property, and its properties are clearly different from those that exhibit a jelly-like state in both cold and hot conditions, such as the konjac jelly of the present invention.

Next, a method for producing konjac jelly of the present invention will be explained.

First, add 20 to 40 times as much water to konjac flour to swell and dissolve.

Add basic salts to the konjac paste and mix well, or dissolve the basic salts in water 20 to 40 times the amount of konjac flour, and swell and dissolve the konjac flour in this solution.

The desired konjac jelly can be obtained by heating the swollen and dissolved konjac paste under alkaline conditions and immediately quenching it.

The heating temperature and time depend on the concentration of salts used and
Adjust according to the pH and desired physical properties of konnyaku jelly. If the PH of the konjac paste is high, the heating time will be short, and if the PH is low, the heating time will be long.

The konjac jelly of the present invention needs to be heated under alkaline conditions, and the pH of the konjac jelly obtained after cooling is in the range of 8.0 to 10.5, preferably 8.2 to 10.5.
It is desirable to adjust the pH to within the range of 10.0 when heating.

In this case, a combination of conditions is selected in which the heating temperature is 60 to 95°C and the heating time is 5 to 210 minutes.

The preferred combination of PH, temperature, and time is that the PH of the konnyaku jelly obtained after cooling is 8.0 to 10.5;
Preferably, they are selected so that the pH falls within the range of 8.2 to 10.0, and for this purpose, it is desirable to find their optimal combination conditions through preliminary experiments.

In the present invention, heating is terminated just before the konjac paste gels. If the appropriate heating conditions are exceeded, the konjac paste turns into a gel and loses its mixability, which is a characteristic of the konjac jelly of the present invention. In addition, if the heating conditions are low, the gelling ability cannot be obtained by reheating, and the product will remain as a paste forever, and as a food material it will simply be the same as konjac paste swollen in water.

Once heated, it is necessary to quickly cool the mixture to stop the reaction; if this step is omitted, the konjac paste will turn into a gel.

The pH of the obtained konnyaku jelly is 8.0 to 10.5,
Preferably it is 8.2-10.0. If the pH exceeds 10.5, it will turn into ordinary konnyaku, making it difficult to mix with other foods.If the pH is below 8.0, it will remain glue-like and will not solidify, reducing the product value. Undesirable.

This difference in heating conditions is one of the reasons why the physical properties are different even though the same operation as the above-mentioned reversible konnyaku (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 116651/1984) is performed.

That is, in the case of reversible konnyaku, it clearly gels and solidifies at 80°C, and is different from the present invention because there is no cooling as an operation.

As mentioned above, the pH during production of the konjac jelly of the present invention is such that the PH of the obtained konjac jelly is 8 to 8.
The pH is 10.5, which is lower than the pH of normal konjac production, and is different from conventional konjac production methods. In addition, in the PH range of 9.5 to 10.0, depending on the heating and cooling conditions, normal konjac can also be made.
Konjac jelly is obtained by using less heating conditions than in normal konjac production, stopping heating before gelation, and cooling immediately.

The basic substances used in the present invention include organic acid salts such as sodium citrate, sodium tartrate, sodium malate, sodium acetate, sodium lactate, and sodium conate, and sodium polyphosphate.
Sodium pyrophosphate, sodium metaphosphate,
Di-trisodium phosphate, potassium polyphosphate,
Phosphates such as potassium pyrophosphate, potassium metaphosphate, di-tripotassium phosphate, carbonates such as sodium carbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, potassium carbonate, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, potassium sulfate, sodium sulfate, Sulfates such as calcium sulfate and magnesium sulfate, and sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide may be used alone or in combination.

In addition, in order to have a buffer effect, each acid,
Alternatively, a combination of acidic salts may be used so that the final pH becomes alkaline. In that case, acid and basic salts include citric acid, tartaric acid,
Malic acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, phosphoric acid, monosodium phosphate, monopotassium phosphate, etc. are used. The amount used is 0.01 to 25 for basic salts compared to konjac flour.
It is preferably used in an amount of 0.01 to 5% by weight, and in the case of acids or acidic salts, 1 to 25% by weight.

Furthermore, the konjac raw material used in the present invention may be konjac yam, dried and crushed konjac yam, or purified konjac yam.

The konnyaku jelly of the present invention can be added to various foods to help control calories, and can also be added to processed seafood foods and processed meat foods to improve taste, texture, water retention, etc., and can be added to Chinese soba noodles, udon noodles, etc. It is useful when added to noodles to improve texture and other physical properties, or used as a binder, and when added to breads, cutlets, etc. to improve texture, leavening properties, and other physical properties.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be specifically explained below with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1 100% of water in which 0.5 kg of trisodium phosphate was dissolved was added to 4 kg of purified konjac flour, mixed for 5 to 10 minutes to swell, and left to stand for an additional 3 hours to sufficiently swell and dissolve.

The obtained konjac paste was filled into a synthetic resin bag. The pH of this product was 9.4. Next, this was heated at 75°C for 30 minutes, and immediately after the heating was completed, it was cooled in running water, and further cooled to 10°C in ice water to obtain the desired konjac jelly. The pH of the obtained konnyaku jelly was 8.9.

Example 2 Sodium carbonate in 3 kg of purified konjac flour
0.3Kg, water containing 0.3Kg of monosodium phosphate
100 was added to the mixture, and the mixture was allowed to swell while stirring for 5 to 10 minutes to prevent the konjac powder particles from precipitating.The mixture was further left at room temperature for 3 hours to sufficiently swell and dissolve. of this
The pH was 8.9.

This konnyaku glue was filled and sealed in a synthetic resin bag and heated at 80°C for 60 minutes. After heating, immediately cool in running water and then in ice water at 10℃.
The desired konnyaku jelly was obtained. The pH of the obtained konnyaku jelly was 8.4.

Example 3 Add 100 g of water to 3.3 kg of purified konnyaku flour,
Swell while mixing and stirring. 0.1 kg of soda carbonate dissolved in a small amount of water was added to the konnyaku paste and mixed. The pH of this product was 10.5.

This konnyaku glue was filled and sealed in a synthetic resin bag, and then heated at 70°C for 15 minutes. After heating, the mixture was immediately cooled to 10°C in ice water to obtain the desired konjac jelly. The pH of the obtained konnyaku jelly was 10.3.

Example 4 Sodium citric acid added to 4 kg of refined konjac flour
0.5 kg and 0.5 kg of soda carbonate were added and mixed, 100 g of water was added to the mixture, and the konjac flour was swollen while stirring for 5 to 10 minutes. The mixture was further left at room temperature for 3 hours to sufficiently swell and dissolve. The pH was 10.3.

This konnyaku glue was filled and sealed in a synthetic resin bag and heated at 80°C for 180 minutes. After heating, it was immediately cooled with running water and further cooled to 10°C in ice water to obtain the desired konjac jelly. The pH of the obtained konnyaku jelly was 10.1.

[Effects of the Invention] The konnyaku jelly of the present invention can be stored for a long period of time and has extremely excellent properties as a processed food material. Therefore, it can be added to food to control calories, used as a binder,
Alternatively, it has the effect of further expanding the use of konjac, which has been attracting attention in recent years, such as imparting the unique texture and taste of konnyaku to foods, and using it to improve the physical properties of foods.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Add water to konjac powder to swell and dissolve,
Next, basic salts are added and mixed, or water containing basic salts is added to konjac flour to swell and dissolve, and after cooling, the pH of the resulting konjac jelly is
A method for producing konnyaku jelly, which is characterized by heating to an alkaline temperature of 8.0 to 10.5 and then immediately rapidly cooling.