JPH04365464A - Treatment of ascorbic acid-containing solution - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To carry out the subject treatment excellent in productivity without damage to flavor or nutritive value while inhibiting oxidation decomposition by carrying out membrane deaeration the treatment including heat treatment, etc., of an ascorbic acid-containing solution of the ascorbic acid-containing solution, before. CONSTITUTION:In treatment of an ascorbic acid-containing solution such as fruit juice or vegetable juice, including one or more processes among heat treatment for sterilization and dilution process for adjustment to a prescribed concentration, the concentration of oxygen dissolved in the ascorbic acid-containing solution is controlled to <=0.05ppm for stabilization of the solution, e.g. by the membrane type continuous deaeration method as a pretreatment for one of the above-mentioned processes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to a method for treating a solution containing ascorbic acid, which is also vitamin C, and in particular, a method for treating a solution containing ascorbic acid for the purpose of preventing the oxidation of the ascorbic acid. This relates to a processing method. [0002] There are a wide variety of solutions containing ascorbic acid as described above, such as fruit and vegetable juices, soft drinks, functional drinks, nutritional supplements, and injections. [0003] The manufacturing process of these ascorbic acid-containing solutions includes a heating process for sterilization, a dilution process for adjusting the concentration to a predetermined concentration, and the like, in addition to the process of increasing the solubility of various additives. For example, fruit and vegetable juices are manufactured through the various steps shown in Figure 2. In this case, fruit juice, flavoring agents, acidulants, sugars, etc., and dilution water are mixed,
It is made into a product after going through various processes such as high temperature sterilization and filling. [0004] In the production process of fruit and vegetable juices as described above, dilution water is usually supplied to the blending process after passing through processes such as filtration and ion exchange, where the mixture is homogenized and then subjected to vacuum degassing, etc. This method removes dissolved oxygen and prevents oxidation of ascorbic acid during post-processing and product storage. However, if there is a significant amount of dissolved oxygen in the dilution water, ascorbic acid may oxidize first at the time of preparation. Put it away. Therefore, conventional treatments such as adding ascorbic acid or antioxidants are required during preparation, which tends to increase the cost of the product. Problem to be Solved by the Invention The inventors learned through many experiments and attempts that the oxidation of ascorbic acid in a solution is due to dissolved oxygen. It has been discovered that by continuously removing the residual concentration (reducing the residual concentration to about 0.5 ppm or less), it is possible to solve the above problems, reduce the amount of additives such as antioxidants, and improve production efficiency. [Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and includes an ascorbic acid-containing method that includes at least one of a heating step and a dilution step. This is a method for treating an ascorbic acid-containing solution, characterized in that a membrane degassing step is provided as a pre-step to the above-mentioned one step. [Example] Ascorbic acid-containing solution according to the present invention A specific example in which a solution processing method is applied to a fruit juice beverage production process will be described below with reference to FIG. 1. First, in the first step, fruit juice (concentrated fruit juice,
Various flavors, citric acid, acidulants, and other ingredients are added to the straight fruit juice), and the concentration of the fruit juice is adjusted to a specified value with dilution water (blending process). The dilution water used in this step is raw water that has been filtered, ion-exchanged, and dissolved oxygen has been degassed to about 0.5 ppm or less by a membrane-type continuous deaeration method. The fruit juice adjusted to a predetermined concentration in the above blending process (hereinafter referred to as adjusted fruit juice) is then kept in a deaerated state (
Otherwise, it is sent to the subsequent process while remaining in a state where it is isolated from the air). [0010] In the next homogenization step, the above-mentioned adjusted fruit juice is homogenized to produce a product with good mouthfeel. In a subsequent step, the entire adjusted fruit juice is deaerated and heat sterilized. In this case, the purpose of performing deaeration before the sterilization step is not only to prevent ascorbic acid from being oxidized by dissolved oxygen, but also to more reliably prevent ascorbic acid from being destroyed by heat. [0011] In the subsequent steps, the above-mentioned adjusted fruit juice is filled into a predetermined container, this container is sealed, a predetermined inspection (inspection of filling amount, etc.) is performed, and the juice is cooled to remove the heat during sterilization. It is considered a product. [0012] In this way, dissolved oxygen has been substantially removed from the ascorbic acid-containing solution that has been made into a product (to the extent that no deterioration due to oxidation is observed) during all of its processing steps, so that it cannot be stored for further storage. Ascorbic acid is less susceptible to oxidation and decomposition, which improves storage stability. Tables 1 to 3 show the antioxidant effect of ascorbic acid when using the above degassed water. Tables 1 and 2 show that an aqueous solution containing only ascorbic acid and a diluted tangerine juice solution were prepared using tap water (raw water) and degassed water.
The residual amount of ascorbic acid was measured after heating these aqueous solutions, and Table 3 shows the ascorbic acid content after heating and extracting tea with tap water (raw water) and degassed water. . From these tables, when using degassed water,
It can be seen that the decomposition and destruction of ascorbic acid contained in the solution is extremely small even when heated, and therefore ascorbic acid is hardly damaged during the heat sterilization described above. Note that the degassed water used in the above examples was degassed until the dissolved oxygen was about 0.5 ppm, but if the degree of deaeration is increased, the residual rate of ascorbic acid will further improve. . [Table 1] [Table 2] [Table 2] [Table 3] [0019] According to the method for treating an ascorbic acid-containing solution according to the present invention, ascorbic acid is removed during the manufacturing process and during product storage. Since oxidative decomposition can be suppressed to an extremely low level, it is possible to provide a product with a predetermined ascorbic acid content. In addition, there is no need to add antioxidants as in the past. [0020] As explained above, in the present invention, the oxidative decomposition of ascorbic acid during the manufacturing process and during product storage can be suppressed to an extremely low level, so that it is possible to suppress the oxidative decomposition of ascorbic acid to an extremely low level. It becomes possible to provide products. This means that fruit juice drinks such as lemon and tangerine containing ascorbic acid as vitamin C, as well as nutritional supplements (oral,
It will be possible to provide products with high nutritional value in the form of enteral and parenteral nutrition (enteral, parenteral nutrition, etc.). Furthermore, since there is no need to add antioxidants as in the past, flavor and nutritional value (vitamin C) are not impaired.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process diagram illustrating a method for treating an ascorbic acid-containing solution in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process diagram illustrating a conventional method for treating an ascorbic acid-containing solution.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for treating an ascorbic acid-containing solution comprising at least one of a heating step and a dilution step, characterized in that a membrane degassing step is provided as a pre-step to the one step. How to treat the containing solution