JPH058656B2 - - 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. This invention relates to a method for producing konjac 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 the delay in the development of technology to turn konjac raw materials such as konjac flour into superior processed food materials or food additives.

That is, in the conventional konjac manufacturing method, approximately 30 kg of konjac flour is mixed with 900 to 1,200 kg of water, swollen to form konjac paste, and then lime is added in an amount of 3 to 6% based on 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, the present invention involves adding and mixing basic amino acids or basic amino acids and basic salts to konjac flour, then adding water to swell it, and after cooling, gelling it under alkaline conditions such that the resulting konjac jelly has a pH of 8.0 to 10.5. The present invention provides a method for producing konjac jelly, which is characterized by heating until immediately before jelly and then immediately quenching.

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. 116651/1983, which is similar to the konnyaku jelly of the present invention, but this konjac jelly reversibly transitions between a liquid state and a solidified state depending on the degree of cold temperature. It is a reversibly migratory konjac that clearly exhibits a gel or solidified state when warm.

Therefore, the properties are clearly different from that of the konjac jelly of the present invention, which exhibits a jelly-like state in both cold and hot conditions.

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

After adding and mixing basic amino acids or basic amino acids and basic salts to konjac flour, 20 to 40 times more water is added to swell it.

Next, the swollen and dissolved konjac paste is cooled and heated under alkaline conditions until the resulting konjac jelly has a pH of 8.0 to 10.5 until just before gelation, and then immediately quenched to obtain the desired konjac jelly.

The heating temperature and time depend on the concentration of salts used,
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, it is selected to fall within the range of 8.2 to 10.0, and for this purpose, it is desirable to find the optimal combination conditions in a preliminary experiment.

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, and 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 there is no cooling as an operation, which is different from the present invention.

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.
It has a pH of 10.5, and is characterized by being processed in a lower pH range than the pH for normal konnyaku production. In addition, in the PH range of 9.5 to 10.0, normal konjac can be made depending on the heating and cooling conditions, but in the present invention, the heating conditions are lower than those for normal konjac production, and the heating is stopped before gelation, and the konjac is immediately heated. Konjac jelly is obtained by cooling.

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

The basic amino acids used in the present invention are arginine,
Histidine, lysine, citrulline, ornithine, etc. are used. Particularly preferred are arginine and lysine.

The amount of basic amino acids used is preferably 1.25 to 15% by weight based on konjac flour.

Further, as the basic salts, any basic food grade salts can be used, but basic phosphates and organic acid salts are preferred. For example, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate, disodium phosphate, trisodium phosphate, dipotassium phosphate, tripotassium phosphate, sodium polyphosphate, sodium citrate, sodium lactate, and the like are preferably used.

The amount of basic salts used is based on konjac flour.
It is preferable to use 0.01 to 5% by weight.

In addition, in order to have a buffer effect, acids such as citric acid and lactic acid, or acid salts such as sodium dihydrogen phosphate and potassium dihydrogen phosphate are appropriately combined to make the final pH alkaline. It's okay.

In the present invention, when a basic amino acid and a basic salt are used together, the basic amino acid has a high PH buffering ability and a stable PH can be obtained, but on the other hand, it is difficult to set the PH value arbitrarily, and the base of sexual salts
PH buffering ability is low, but PH can be adjusted arbitrarily depending on material selection.
By skillfully combining the ability to adjust the pH, it is possible to easily set the pH, suppress fluctuations in pH due to raw materials and water used, and produce uniform konnyaku jelly.

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 their taste, texture, water retention, etc., and can be added to Chinese noodles, udon noodles, etc. It is useful for adding it to noodles to improve texture and other physical properties, or as a binder, and adding it 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 L-arginine added to 3 kg of purified konjac flour
100 g of water was added to the mixture of 0.35 kg, and the mixture was allowed to swell while stirring, and then left at room temperature for 2 hours to sufficiently swell. The pH of this product was 9.1.

This konnyaku glue was filled into a synthetic resin bag, sealed, and heated at 80°C for 60 minutes. After heating, it was rapidly cooled in ice water and cooled to 10°C to obtain the desired konjac jelly. The pH of this konnyaku jelly was 8.6.

Example 2 0.2 kg of L-lysine in 2.8 kg of purified konjac flour
and 0.2 kg of disodium phosphate and water.
100 was added and the mixture swelled while stirring, and was further left at room temperature for 3 hours until it swelled sufficiently. The pH at this time is
It was 9.0.

The resulting konjac paste was filled into a synthetic resin bag, sealed, and heated at 80°C for 45 minutes. After heating, the mixture was rapidly cooled in ice water to obtain the desired konnyaku jelly. The pH of this konnyaku jelly was 8.5.

Example 3 Sodium citric acid added to 4 kg of purified konjac flour
Add 0.5Kg and 0.5Kg of soda carbonate, mix and add water.
100 to swell, and leave it at room temperature for 3 hours.
Sufficient swelling.

The resulting konjac paste was filled into a synthetic resin bag, sealed, and heated at 80°C for 15 minutes. Immediately after heating, the mixture was quenched in cold water to obtain the desired konnyaku jelly. The pH of this konjac jelly was 8.8.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The konnyaku jelly of the present invention can be stored for a long time and has extremely excellent properties as a processed food material. Therefore, it can be added to foods to control calories, used as a binder, imparted the unique texture and taste of konnyaku to foods, and used to improve the physical properties of foods. This has the effect of further expanding the use of Konjac, which has been attracting attention in recent years.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 After adding and mixing basic amino acids or basic amino acids and basic salts to konjac flour, water is added to swell it, and the pH of the konjac jelly obtained after cooling is
A method for producing konjac jelly, which comprises heating the konjac jelly under alkaline conditions with a pH of 8.0 to 10.5 until immediately before gelation, and then rapidly cooling the jelly.