JPH0543710B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

(Technical Field) The present invention relates to a method for producing high-purity lecithin, and particularly to a method for obtaining high-purity lecithin with a low degree of coloration and good flavor at a high yield. (Background technology) Lecithin (more precisely, a mixture of phospholipids) is
Because it has functions such as emulsification, dispersion, viscosity reduction, and reaction with starch and protein,
It has been widely used in the food industry. Today, it is used in the fields of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, health foods, etc. for its functions of regulating lipid metabolism and activating cell membranes, and is also used as a source of choline for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Demand for lecithin is increasing further. By the way, such lecithin is mainly produced using egg yolk and soybean as raw materials, but soybean is generally used as a raw material because it is inexpensive and produces a large amount of lecithin. To generally produce this soybean lecithin, first, soybean crude oil is filtered, heated to 60°C to 80°C, 2 to 3% by weight of water is added and stirred, and the precipitated part (water-containing The gum (hydrated lecithin) is separated by centrifugation (degumming step). Next, the obtained water-containing gum substance is heated and dried under reduced pressure to form a paste of lecithin (phospholipid content: 60-65%, neutral fat content: 35-40%).
%, and small amounts of free fatty acids and sterols). Furthermore, by adding 3 to 4 times the volume of acetone to the obtained paste lecithin and stirring it, lecithin which is insoluble in acetone is precipitated, while neutral fats, free fatty acids, After repeating the process of extracting sterols, etc. and extracting the extraction residue again with acetone, the lecithin part is taken out and the remaining extraction solvent is removed under reduced pressure to obtain the desired powdered lecithin. -ing Powdered lecithin obtained through such a process has a high purity of 95% or more phospholipid,
The yield is as high as 98% based on the amount of phospholipid in paste lecithin. In addition, such powdered lecithin has good water solubility and
Since the acetone treatment causes slight decolorization and deodorization, the degree of coloration is lower than that of paste lecithin, and the bitter and harsh tastes are slightly reduced. However, sufficient decolorization and deodorization cannot be achieved by acetone treatment alone, and in the past,
Paste lecithin was mixed with decolorizing and deodorizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide and then treated with acetone to further decolorize and deodorize. However, the use of hydrogen peroxide has been discouraged due to its carcinogenicity, and on the other hand, in recent years, hydrogen peroxide has been used in the food, cosmetics, and health food fields with a lower degree of coloring. , high purity lecithin with better flavor is desired. In other words, it is desired to obtain high-purity powdered lecithin that is free from coloration, has a good flavor, and does not use hydrogen peroxide. By the way, the coloration and flavor deterioration of lecithin are caused by the heat drying process mentioned above. In other words, lecithin is sensitive to heat and easily colored by heating, so coloring is unavoidable in the process of concentrating and drying water-containing gum.
Similarly, the flavor also deteriorates. As a countermeasure, attempts have been made to increase the degree of vacuum in the drying process and evaporate water at a lower temperature to prevent lecithin from coloring and flavor deterioration, but there are limits to this. It is. (Problem to be Solved) Under such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing high-purity lecithin at a high yield while avoiding coloration and flavor deterioration. (Solution) In order to solve this problem, the present inventors have solved the problem by
As a result of intensive research targeting 30 to 70% by weight water-containing gums, we found that in direct acetone extraction of water-containing gums, which had not previously been considered,
It was discovered that when the amount of acetone added was 0.5 to 3.5 times the volume of water contained, the lecithin part strangely floated to the top layer and was clearly separated from the water layer below. This upper layer of lecithin was repeatedly extracted with acetone, dehydrated, and degreased to obtain powdered high-purity lecithin. The yield was 92-95%, which was higher than expected. On the other hand, for water-containing gum, 5% of its water content
It was also found that when twice the volume or more of acetone was directly added and stirred, unlike the above case, the lecithin part sank to the lower layer and could be clearly separated from the upper aqueous layer. This lower layer of lecithin is then repeatedly extracted with acetone, dehydrated,
When we obtained powdered high-purity lecithin by defatting, the yield was 93 to 96% of the raw material, hydrated gummy phospholipid, which was also higher than expected. I found out that it can be done. The present invention has been made based on this fact, and the lecithin portion is separated by directly treating the water-containing gum with acetone, and the process of concentrating and drying by heating is performed. It is designed to obtain powdered high-purity lecithin without undergoing any process. That is, the method for producing high-purity lecithin according to the present invention is such that a water-containing gum is directly treated with acetone, and by adding acetone to the water-containing gum in a specific amount as described above. By collecting lecithin in the upper or lower layer and separating the lecithin portion from the solvent layer, that is, the aqueous layer consisting of water and acetone, the lecithin is prevented from being discarded together with the aqueous layer. In this way, the loss of lecithin is extremely reduced and the lecithin portion can be taken out. (Operation/Effect) Therefore, according to the method of the present invention, it is possible to extract the lecithin part from the water-containing gum with as little loss as possible without going through the concentration drying process, and without going through heat treatment. Since high-purity lecithin can now be produced from the lecithin portion, high-purity lecithin that is not subject to coloration or flavor deterioration due to heat can be obtained at a high yield. In other words, the high-purity lecithin produced according to the method of the present invention has a significantly lower degree of coloration than conventional products, and has an extremely good odor, taste, and other flavors, so it is of course used in the general food industry. Cosmetics,
It has also become highly useful in the field of health foods. In addition, lecithin with good flavor and no coloring can be produced without using hydrogen peroxide, which has carcinogenic properties, so it is highly safe for food consumption. Furthermore, the production method of the present invention does not reduce the yield of lecithin compared to conventional methods, so it does not increase the cost of the product, and on the contrary, the concentration drying step can be completely omitted, so It has the advantage of reducing costs and increasing the production cycle. (Specific structure) By the way, soybeans are generally used as the raw material for providing the water-containing gum used in the method of the present invention in terms of production volume and cost, but other materials such as rapeseed oil and corn oil are also used. It goes without saying that vegetable oil can be used. The gummy product separated during the normal degumming process performed on this vegetable oil is used in the present invention. Note that the gummy product obtained in this degumming process usually contains 50 to 60% water by weight, but sometimes it increases to 30 to 70% by weight due to changes in the degumming process or raw materials. However, here, they are collectively referred to as water-containing gums. The present invention involves adding a predetermined amount of acetone to the water-containing gum obtained in the degumming process of vegetable oil, which is carried out in the same manner as conventional methods, and stirring the mixture to float or precipitate the lecithin portion. However, the acetone used here is preferably distilled acetone, which is commonly used for acetone treatment, but there is no problem even if it is water-containing acetone. However, in the present invention, the amount of acetone added to the water-containing gum is specified with respect to the total water content, so when using water-containing acetone,
It is necessary to specify the amount of acetone in the hydrated acetone for all the moisture (total moisture content) that is the sum of the moisture content in the hydrated gum and the moisture content in the hydrated acetone, so care must be taken. In addition, when acetone is added to the water-containing gum in a proportion that is more than 3.5 times the volume of water but less than 5 times the volume, three indistinct layers are formed.
Over time, part of the upper layer shifts to the middle and lower layers, and the division of the layers becomes unclear. In other words, the lecithin part cannot be collected and the lecithin part cannot be taken out. Incidentally, when only the lower layer and only the upper layer of these three layers were separated and treated with acetone to obtain powdered high-purity lecithin, the yield was 35% to 60% in each case. In such a state of three-layer separation, it was confirmed that lecithin was not concentrated in a limited layer but was dispersed. Furthermore, if acetone is added to a water-containing gum in an amount less than 0.5 times the volume of water, no separation of layers will occur. The acetone treatment of the lecithin part extracted from the water-containing gum may be carried out according to the conventional acetone treatment, and the lecithin part can be dehydrated,
In order to ensure complete degreasing, the amount of acetone added and the number of times of treatment will be determined as appropriate; however, since acetone extraction is performed on the separated lecithin portion, it serves not only for degreasing but also for dehydration. It is preferable to use at least 1 volume of acetone per 1 part of lecithin. Furthermore, in order to perform dehydration efficiently, distilled acetone, which does not contain water, will be used as before. Further, in order to separate the lecithin part accumulated in the upper layer or lower layer from the aqueous layer and take it out, any separation operation such as a normal standing method or a centrifugation method may be performed. (Examples) Below, some examples of the present invention will be shown to clarify the present invention more specifically. Needless to say, it is not subject to any restrictions. In addition to the following examples and the above-mentioned specific description, the present invention includes various changes, modifications, and changes based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, as long as they do not depart from the spirit of the present invention. It should be understood that improvements and the like may be made. Note that all percentages shown below are based on weight, and the acetone used was distilled acetone. Example 1 For 300 g of hydrated lecithin with 30% water content (phospholipid content 130 g), which is a hydrated gummy substance obtained in the degumming process of soybean oil, 500 ml (volume 5.6 times the water content of hydrated lecithin, hereinafter the same). ) acetone was added and stirred to precipitate the lecithin part, then the water layer in the upper tank was removed and dehydrated with 600ml of acetone 6 times.
I did some degreasing. Next, residual acetone was removed from the dehydrated and defatted lecithin portion under reduced pressure to obtain powdered high-purity lecithin. Yield: 121.0 g, phospholipid yield: 93.1%. Example 2 Hydrous lecithin 300 with 30% water content as in Example 1
g (phospholipid content 130g), 300ml (3.3
After adding (double volume) of acetone and stirring to float the lecithin portion, the lower aqueous layer was removed and extracted four times with 900 ml of acetone. Next, residual acetone was removed from the lecithin portion subjected to the acetone treatment under reduced pressure to obtain powdered high-purity lecithin. Yield: 119.4g, phospholipid yield:
It was 91.8%. Example 3 200 g of hydrated lecithin with 50% water content (phospholipid content
61.5g), add 100ml (1 volume) of acetone and stir to float the lecithin, remove the lower aqueous layer, and add 600ml of acetone to
Extracted twice. Next, residual acetone was removed from the lecithin portion subjected to the acetone treatment under reduced pressure to obtain powdered high-purity lecithin. Yield: 58.3g, phospholipid yield: 94.8%. Example 4 300 g of hydrated lecithin with 50% water content (phospholipid content
After adding 900ml (6 times the volume) of acetone to 92.3g and stirring to precipitate the lecithin part, remove the upper aqueous layer and mix with 600ml of acetone.
Extracted twice. Next, residual acetone was removed from the lecithin portion subjected to the acetone treatment under reduced pressure to obtain powdered high-purity lecithin. Yield: 88.7g, phospholipid yield: 96.1%. Example 5 300 g of hydrated lecithin with 70% water content (phospholipid content
55g), add 300ml (1.4 times the volume) of acetone and stir to float the lecithin part, then
The lower aqueous layer was removed and extracted three times with 600 ml of acetone. Next, residual acetone was removed from the lecithin portion subjected to the acetone treatment under reduced pressure to obtain powdered high-purity lecithin. yield:
51.2g, phospholipid yield: 93.1%. Example 6 300 g of hydrated lecithin with 70% water content (phospholipid content
55g), add 1200ml (5.7 times the volume) of acetone, stir, remove the upper aqueous layer, and add 600ml
Extracted 4 times with acetone. Next, residual acetone was removed from the lecithin portion subjected to the acetone treatment under reduced pressure to obtain powdered high-purity lecithin. Yield: 51.8g, phospholipid yield:
It was 94.2%. Comparative Example 1 200g of water-containing gum with 50% water content (phospholipid content
When 400 ml (4 times the volume) of acetone was added and stirred, the mixture was separated into three layers: an upper layer, an intermediate layer, and a lower layer. Immediately after this separation, only the upper layer was separated and extracted four times with 600 ml of distilled acetone. Next, residual acetone was removed under reduced pressure from the lecithin portion obtained as an insoluble portion after the acetone treatment, to obtain powdered high-purity lecithin. Yield: 31.1
g, phospholipid yield: 50.6%. Comparative Example 2 Moisture 0.5 when heated and dried under conventional reduced pressure
% paste lecithin, 300 g of it (phospholipid content 186 g) was extracted five times with 900 ml of acetone, and then residual acetone was removed from the lecithin part obtained as an insoluble part after the acetone treatment under reduced pressure. was removed to obtain powdered high-purity lecithin. Yield: 182.2g, phospholipid yield 98
It was %. The yields of powdered lecithin and phospholipid obtained in Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 2 are summarized in Table 1 below.

[Table] As is clear from Table 1, in Examples 1 to 6 according to the production method according to the present invention, the yield was about 92 to 96%, which was higher than that of Comparative Example 1. This is significantly higher than the yield. Comparative Example 2 is a conventional example, but since there is a slight loss of lecithin in the process of concentrating and drying the water-containing gum, the yield of the water-containing gum relative to phospholipids is lower than the values listed in the table. The yield is also low, and the actual yield is the same as that of the present invention. In other words, the yield of high-purity lecithin obtained by the production method of the present invention is not inferior to that of conventional production methods. Moreover, Examples 1 to 6 according to the production method of the present invention
The powdered lecithin obtained is odorless, has a pleasant taste with no bitterness or harshness, and has the characteristic odor of lecithin, with a unique bitterness,
The flavor is improved compared to the lecithin of Comparative Example 2, which has an acrid taste. Further, the degree of coloration was measured using a Lovibond colorimeter. Each powdered lecithin obtained in Examples 1 to 6 and each powdered lecithin obtained by carefully drying the water-containing gum material used in Examples 5 to 6 and treating with acetone were used as samples, and 10 g of each sample was used. was dissolved in 50 ml of benzene and measured using a 1-inch cell. The lecithins obtained in Examples 1 to 6 have a low red color index of 2 to 4, but the lecithins of Examples 5 to 6 that have undergone the drying process have a red color of 8 to 10, which is a low color index. A significant difference was observed. Furthermore, the composition of the powdered lecithin obtained in Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 2 was investigated using a standard fat and oil analysis method, and the acetone soluble content and major phospholipid composition, which indicate its purity, were determined. Table 2 below shows that the lecithin obtained by the production method of the present invention has the same quality as conventional lecithin. Note that the lower the acetone soluble content, the higher the purity of the lecithin. Further, the proportion of each phospholipid is shown as the phosphorus content % of each component relative to the total phosphorus content of each sample.

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Using the water-containing gum produced in the degumming process of vegetable oil, the water content of the water-containing gum is 0.5 to 3.5.
The lecithin portion is floated by adding acetone that is twice the volume of water and stirred, or the lecithin portion is sedimented by adding and stirring acetone that is five times the volume of water or more, and the lecithin portion is separated. and then, the obtained lecithin portion is repeatedly extracted with acetone to dehydrate and defatte.