JPH08140628A - Gelled food composition - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a gelled food composition containing a compound such as amino acid as a nitrogen source, having respectively prescribed gel strength and gel brittleness, reducing astringency, having excellent palatability and useful for alimentary therapy. CONSTITUTION: This gelled food composition contains at least one compound selected from the group of amino acids such as valine, peptides such as a decomposed material of whey protein and their derivative (e.g. potassium aspartate) as a protein source and has gel strength of >=40g.cm and gel brittleness of <=0.4kg. Preferably an energy content of the nitrogen source is 4-25% and a content of compound having molecular weight of <=1000 in the above compound is 0.1-10wt.% (excepting the content of sodium glutamate in the case the above compound contains sodium glutamate).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a gelled food composition containing a low molecular nitrogen source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Diet therapy for patients with impaired liver function is based on a diet of high energy and high protein composition. Furthermore, recently, as the abnormalities of amino acid metabolism and protein metabolism in liver failure have been revealed, the necessity of nutritional treatment considering the amino acid composition of foods has been discussed in order to correct the imbalance of plasma free amino acids found in liver failure. Tekita (Meiji Watanabe et al., JJPEN 3: 109, 1981).
Further, in this case, even in a protein intolerant case, the protein must be sufficiently supplemented without causing hepatic coma.

Regarding the mechanism of hepatic encephalopathy that characterizes liver failure, abnormal plasma free amino acid pattern in severe liver injury, especially branched chain amino acids (valine, leucine,
Isoleucine) decrease and aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine), tryptophan, and methionine increase are characteristic. Abnormal brain amine metabolism resulting from the disordered plasma free amino acid pattern is the main cause of hepatic encephalopathy. It is clear.

Blood branched chain amino acids (valine,
The decrease in leucine and isoleucine) is due to the increased insulin due to liver injury, which increases the uptake of branched chain amino acids in muscle tissue and adipose tissue, and the increase in blood aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine) and tryptophan. Is believed to be due to increased catabolism of liver and muscle proteins, decreased liver protein synthesis, and decreased liver processing capacity for aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine) and tryptophan. Therefore, medicines for liver failure have a ratio (Fisher's ratio) of branched-chain amino acids (valine, leucine, isoleucine) and aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine).
Is composed of free amino acids with significantly increased Furthermore, a composition containing a free amino acid and a protein degradation product has been developed as an effective protein source for liver injury patients (composition effective for liver injury patients: Japanese Patent Application No. 4-18).
4789). In addition, in protein allergic patients, a diet having a food composition containing a free amino acid or a protein degradation product as the protein source is used. Furthermore, in patients with inborn errors of amino acid metabolism, a milk-type diet composed of a free amino acid having a composition obtained by removing a specific amino acid or a protein hydrolyzate composition is performed.

For patients with impaired glucose tolerance such as diabetic patients, the dietary therapy is based on a carbohydrate-restricted diet, but for diabetic patients or patients who have diabetic conditions due to surgery, Inhibition of postoperative glucose metabolism and abnormal increase of nitrogen metabolism due to surgical invasion are observed, and amino acids are used as energy sources. From such a viewpoint, according to a recent report (Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-80126), branched chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, valine) are directly used as energy sources in tissues such as muscle during catabolism during diabetes, Amino acids separated from branched-chain amino acids are transferred to pyruvate and converted to alanine to serve as a gluconeogenic material in the liver or directly used as an energy source. Furthermore, leucine and arginine promote endogenous insulin secretion. Amino acid infusion for diabetic patients, which has a particularly high blending ratio of branched chain amino acids and arginine, has been developed based on clinical trial results that have an action and an effect of lowering blood sugar level during diabetes, and further restrict sugar. As a non-basic oral diabetic diet, its source of protein is free amino acids or protein degradation Composition comprising a have been developed (diabetes effective compositions: Japanese Patent Application No. 4-180584). Regarding the digestion and absorption of proteins and amino acids, which are one of the three major nutrients, the low molecular weight peptides of proteins are absorbed more rapidly in the intestinal tract than the amino acids alone, and free amino acids and low molecular weight peptides in the diet are In the case of oral ingestion, it is known from the characteristics that bitterness causes significant stress to patients.

[0006]

Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention provides amino acids, peptides or their derivatives as protein sources which are essential nutrients for the living body without giving stress due to bitterness. An object of the present invention is to provide a food composition that can supply

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION As a result of diligent efforts to achieve the above object, the present inventors have made a composition containing at least one compound selected from the group consisting of amino acids, peptides and their derivatives. It was found that the bitterness, which is a characteristic of the above-mentioned compound, can be reduced and a good texture can be obtained by gelling the above, and the present invention has been completed. That is, the present invention contains at least one compound selected from the group consisting of amino acids, peptides, and derivatives thereof as a nitrogen source, has a gel strength of 40 g · cm or more and a gel brittleness of 0.4 kg or less. The present invention provides a gelled food composition characterized by the above.

The taste of ingredients including foods is felt when the ingredients are dissolved in water and the ingredients come into contact with the taste organs of the oral cavity. Therefore, proteins obtained from animals and plants are macromolecules composed of amino acids and have low solubility in water. Therefore, the purified products hardly have taste, especially bitterness. However, amino acids and peptides have relatively high solubility in water,
When these ingredients dissolve in water and come into contact with the taste organs of the oral cavity, bitterness is felt. In particular, some amino acids are extremely bitter. By making a composition containing an amino acid, a peptide, and / or a derivative thereof into a gel form, it is possible to avoid contact between the above-mentioned bitter compound and the taste organs of the oral cavity, and further to impart a texture. It is believed that the above composition can be ingested without causing stress.

The present invention will be described in detail below. The food composition of the present invention contains at least one compound selected from the group consisting of amino acids, peptides, and derivatives thereof as a nitrogen source. The amino acid may be a synthetic amino acid or a free amino acid obtained by proteolysis, and the type thereof is selected depending on the purpose, but valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, methionine, lysine, threonine. , Glutamine, arginine and the like. The peptide may be a synthetic peptide or a peptide component obtained by proteolytic degradation,
For example, whey protein hydrolyzate, plant-derived protein hydrolyzate obtained from wheat, soybean, rice, etc., and animal-derived protein hydrolyzate obtained from animal meat, poultry, fish meat, milk, eggs, etc. Can be mentioned. The molecular weights of amino acids and peptides used in the present invention are
It is preferably 1000 or less, and more preferably 600 or less. Further, the amino acid and peptide derivatives include all compounds derived from amino acids and peptides, and examples thereof include sodium glutamate, potassium aspartate, lysine hydrochloride and other amino acid salts, glycylalanine, glycylglycine, Glycylglycylglycine, glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine acetate, glycyl-L-leucine and the like can be mentioned.

In the food composition of the present invention, the proportion of energy occupied by the nitrogen source is preferably 4 to 25%, more preferably 14 to 20%. Furthermore, in the food composition of the present invention, among at least one compound selected from the group consisting of amino acids, peptides, and derivatives thereof, the content of the compound having a molecular weight of 1000 or less (provided that sodium glutamate is used as the compound. , The content of sodium glutamate is excluded.)
Is preferably 0.1 to 10% by weight, more preferably 3.5 to 5.0% by weight. Here, the reason why sodium glutamate is excluded is that this compound used as a seasoning or the like is expected to have an effect of improving taste.

In the present invention, the food composition is gelled so that the gel strength is 40 g · cm or more and the gel brittleness is 0.4 kg or less. By gelling in this way, bitterness of the nitrogen source is reduced, and a good texture is obtained,
It has been found that it does not stress the patient even when taken orally in the diet. More preferably, the food composition is gelled so that the gel strength is 100 to 200 g · cm and the gel brittleness is 0.1 kg or less. The gel strength is, for example, using a rheometer, a 7 mmφ spherical plunger, a test speed of 6 cm / min, a sweep speed of 6 cm / min,
And can be measured at room temperature under the condition of sample height of 25 mm. Also, the gel brittleness can be measured, for example, by using a texturometer, a plunger of 50 mmφ nickel, 3 mm
It is possible to measure at room temperature under the conditions of clearance and gel thickness of 9 mm. As the gelling agent, any one may be used, but agar, gelatin, gellan gum, xanthan gum, locust bingham, guar gum, pectin, tamarind gum, carob bean gum and the like can be mentioned, and gellan gum, xanthan gum and locust bingham are preferable. . The amount of gelling agent added is suitably 0.2 to 2.0% by weight, preferably 1.0 to 1.5% by weight, based on the total weight of the food composition.

In addition, the food composition of the present invention comprises starch, dextrin, oligosaccharides, honey as a sugar, and lipids such as corn oil, soybean oil, canola oil and glycerin ester (MCT) of medium chain fatty acids, and vitamin C. , Vitamin B
₁ , vitamins such as niacin, trace elements such as zinc, iron, copper and manganese, minerals such as calcium and magnesium, dietary fiber and the like may be contained.

An example of the method for producing the food composition of the present invention will be described below. Dissolve sugar, amino acid or peptide in warm water, add vitamins and minerals, and add separately heated oils. The gelling agent is added to the homogenized solution according to a conventional method with stirring to completely dissolve the gelling agent, and then gelled according to a conventional method. In addition, before the gelation, the food composition thus produced may be subjected to a sterilization treatment by applying high temperature or high pressure.

The food composition of the present invention can be used as a food or drink or a drug for diet therapy. For example, as a drug for diet therapy, patients with reduced liver function, patients with inborn error of amino acid metabolism, allergic patients, patients with impaired glucose tolerance including diabetic patients, or patients with reduced gastrointestinal function, It is possible to safely and effectively supply nutrients that are the source of proteins necessary for the living body without giving stress. The ability to ingest the protein source nutrients without stress promotes the effectiveness of the treatment. When used as a medicine, the food composition of the present invention is orally administered to a patient such that the amount of amino acid, peptide, and / or derivative thereof is 14 to 20% in terms of energy intake. Good to do.
In addition, the food composition of the present invention can be widely used as foods and drinks such as foods, nutritional foods and specified health foods. The food composition of the present invention can be used alone or in combination with other foods or food ingredients according to a conventional method.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to Examples, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0015]

【Example】

[Example 1] 40 g of a whey protein hydrolyzate having an average molecular weight of 800 (manufactured by Danish Protein Co.), 60 g of indigestible dextrin, 27.5 g of sugar, 20.5 g of canola oil, 4 g of glycerin fatty acid ester (MCT), vitamins and minerals ( For vitamin and mineral composition contained in 100 g of gel, refer to Table 1) to about 800 g of hot water, and separately add 40 g of honey with various gelling agents shown in Table 2 at different concentrations, and then add hot water. It was 1000 g. After dissolving by heating in a boiling water bath and stirring with a homomixer (6000 rpm, 5 minutes), the mixture was placed in a container and cooled in an ice bath to obtain various gels. The gel strength and brittleness were measured and further tasted to compare their tastes. The results are shown in Table 2.

[0016]

[Table 1]

[0017]

[Table 2]

1): Nitrogen source (whey protein degradation product) 4.0 g, lipid 2.5 g, saccharide 1 in 100 g of all gels of sample No. 1-9
Contains 2.8g, vitamins and minerals (Table 1). 2): Breakage test with a rheometer (NRM-2010J-CW type, manufactured by Fudo Kogyo Co., Ltd.) (plunger: 7 mmφ spherical, test speed: 6 cm / min, sweep speed: 6 cm / min, sample height:
25mm) 3): Using a texturometer (GTX-2 type, Zenken Co., Ltd.) (plunger: 50mmφ nickel, clearance: 3m
m, gel thickness: 9mm) 4): ○ ... almost no bitterness △: bitterness is felt, but reduced ×: strongly bitterness is felt

Example 2 40 g of an amino acid mixture powdered according to the formulation shown in Table 3, soybean oil 22.5 g, MCT 4.5 g, dextrin 80 g, carrageenan 0.5 g, calcium lactate 1
g, aspartame 0.5 g, vitamins and minerals (Table 4 shows the vitamin and mineral composition contained in 100 g of gel)
(See Table 5), about 800 g of water was added with stirring, and the mixture was further stirred with a homomixer (6000 rpm, 5 minutes), and then various premixed gelling agents having different concentrations (shown in Table 5) were stirred with the homomixer ( 6000 rpm) and the total amount was 1000 g. After heating in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes, it was placed in a container and cooled in an ice bath to obtain various gels. The gel strength and brittleness were measured and further tasted to compare their tastes. The results are shown in Table 5.

[0020]

[Table 3]

[0021]

[Table 4]

[0022]

[Table 5]

1): Nitrogen source (amino acid mixture) 4.0 g, lipid 3.0 g, sugar 8.0 g, vitamins and minerals (Table 3) are contained in 100 g of all gels of Sample No. 1-7. 2): Breakage test with a rheometer (NRM-2010J-CW type, manufactured by Fudo Kogyo Co., Ltd.) (plunger: 7 mmφ spherical, test speed: 6 cm / min, sweep speed: 6 cm / min, sample height:
25mm) 3): Using a texturometer (GTX-2 type, Zenken Co., Ltd.) (plunger: 50mmφ nickel, clearance: 3m
m, gel thickness: 9mm) 4): ○ ... almost no bitterness △: bitterness is felt, but reduced ×: strongly bitterness is felt

[0024]

Industrial Applicability According to the present invention, there is provided a food composition capable of reducing bitterness, providing a good texture, and supplying amino acids, peptides or their derivatives as protein sources which are essential nutrients for the living body. Was done.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI Technical indication location A61K 38/00 ACS ADD ADP A61K 37/18 ACS ADD ADP (72) Inventor Yu Kuwata Higashimurayama, Tokyo 1-21-3 Sakaemachi Meiji Dairy Co., Ltd. Nutritional Research Institute

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A gel containing at least one compound selected from the group consisting of amino acids, peptides, and derivatives thereof as a nitrogen source, having a gel strength of 40 g · cm or more and a gel brittleness of 0.4 kg or less. A gelled food composition comprising: 2. The ratio of energy occupied by the nitrogen source is 4 to 4.
The gelled food composition according to claim 1, which is 25%. 3. The content of compounds having a molecular weight of 1000 or less among at least one compound selected from the group consisting of amino acids, peptides, and derivatives thereof (provided that
When sodium glutamate is contained as the compound, the content of sodium glutamate is excluded. ) Is 0.
The gelled food composition according to claim 1, which is 1 to 10% by weight. 4. The gelled food composition according to claim 1, which is used for diet therapy.