JPH08173062A - Food ingredient material and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a food ingredient material, industrially producible from a raw material seaweed, having a constant shape or quality, excellent in solubility and capable of providing excellent texture. CONSTITUTION: An agar ingredient is extracted and filtered from an agar raw algae according to a usual step to provide an agar ingredient, which is then coagulated to afford an agar gel. The resultant agar gel is subsequently cut to afford an agar gel molding 21 of a prescribed shape. Notches 22 at a prescribed interval and depth are then formed on the surface of the agar gel molding 21 simultaneously with the cutting step or after the cutting. The obtained agar gel molding 21 having the notches 22 formed thereon are frozen, then melted, dehydrated and passed through a drying step to provide a dried material having an uneven surface 25.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food ingredient containing polysaccharides such as agar as a main ingredient, which is used for food by reconstitution with water or hot water, and a method for producing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Agar, caranagin, furceleran, and gellan gum are composed of polysaccharides having different structures,
It functions as a dietary fiber that cannot be broken down by enzymes in the human body. In recent years, the function of dietary fiber as the sixth nutrient has been clarified, and the necessity of ingestion has been actively talked about. From such a background, the present invention is a food ingredient prepared by processing these polysaccharides containing a large amount of dietary fiber so that they can be easily ingested, and served for food by reconstitution with water or hot water and a method for producing the same. It is about.

Agar extracts agar components from agar algae,
It is obtained by gelling and then dehydrating and drying. The form of agar includes powder, flakes, threads and rods. Filamentous agar (itogara) and rod-shaped agar (bar agar) are called natural agar, which is made by freezing with natural agar during the winter and is not industrialized. Therefore, in terms of quality, not only the number of foreign substances and bacteria is large, but also the physical properties vary greatly, and it is not possible to mix the lots in the final step in terms of shape to create a uniform and constant quality, which is not stable. . In addition, since the morphology is large, the water absorption is poor, and there is a drawback that the water absorption is insufficient unless it is soaked overnight, and it does not dissolve even when heated.

On the other hand, powdered agar and flake agar are industrially manufactured in factories, have uniform quality, and are easy to handle. However, since these agars sink to the bottom of the melting pot during heating and melting, for example, a confectioner must stir in the pot, which is complicated.

[0005] Further, the use as a food ingredient which is used as it is in a state of reconstituted water or hot water without absorbing agar and absorbing water, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2-127526.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2-337307 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2-337307, and some of them are made by cutting thread agar, but they are not significantly different in shape, texture or visually from the conventional ones.

[0006]

Under the circumstances described above, as agar that has never existed before, one which satisfies the following conditions, that is, (a) is made by an industrial manufacturing process in a factory and has a certain quality It is desired to have, (b) have a certain shape so that a predetermined quality can be created by mixing lots of the finished product, etc., and (c) float in water and exhibit excellent solubility. It is rare.

In addition to the above-mentioned conditions, in addition to the above-mentioned conditions, it has an excellent texture and is also visually preferable for the purpose of using the agar as it is reconstituted with water or reconstituted with hot water as it is. It is hoped that it will be devised.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a food ingredient industrially produced from raw seaweed, which has a constant shape and quality, is excellent in solubility, and has an excellent texture. It is an object of the present invention to provide a food ingredient that can be obtained and a method for producing the same.

[0009]

The present invention is a frozen product obtained by freezing a gel molded body of a predetermined shape mainly containing one kind selected from agar, carrageenan, furceleran and gellan gum, or melted after freezing. A food ingredient made of a dry matter obtained by dehydration and drying, which is used for food by reconstitution with water or reconstitution with hot water, and by making a cut in the gel molded body, the surface is made porous to increase the surface area. It is characterized by that. This invention is also a method of manufacturing food ingredients, agar, carrageenan, furceleran, a step of molding a gel of a predetermined shape mainly containing one kind selected from gellan gum, and a cut on the surface of the gel molded body. The method is characterized by including a step of putting the gel molded body into a product through at least a freezing step.

[0010]

According to the present invention, in the state of a gel molded product which has been processed into a predetermined shape, a cut is made in the surface of the molded product to give a frozen product through a subsequent freezing step, or it is further melted, dehydrated and dried to be a dried substance. When this is done, a porous, high surface area product is obtained. Making a notch on the surface of the gel compact defines the growth direction of ice crystals in the subsequent freezing step. Therefore,
The final shape of the food ingredient can be selected by selecting the depth, shape, spacing, etc. of the cuts.

According to the present invention, a food ingredient having a constant quality and a constant shape can be obtained by an industrial manufacturing process in a factory. In addition, the obtained food ingredient has a high degree of porosity and a large surface area, exhibits excellent solubility, and can be reconstituted in water or hot water in a short time. Furthermore, when reconstituted with water or reconstituted with hot water, elasticity which cannot be obtained in the case of Kaku agar without cuts is obtained, and a soft texture is obtained. Although the manufacturing method is different, this change in texture can be said to correspond to the change in texture of crab-footed kamaboko for kamaboko and twisted konnyaku for konjac. Further, depending on the shape of the cut, unlike the simple square shape, it becomes a preferable food ingredient including visual meaning as well as how it is used for various food applications due to diversified forms of macaroni and pasta. . Furthermore, since the cutting efficiency is improved by making a cut in the gel molded body, the working efficiency of dry matter production is also improved.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a manufacturing process of agar according to an embodiment of the present invention. If necessary, agar agar such as Amakusa is treated with an alkali, the agar component is extracted and filtered according to a usual process, and the obtained agar component is coagulated to obtain an agar gel. Upon coagulation, a gelling agent such as locust bean gum, gum arabic, tara gum, glucomannan, sodium alginate, gelatin, pectin, tamarind gum, and starch is added to the agar gel as needed.

Next, the obtained agar gel is cut into an agar gel molded body having a predetermined shape. The size of the agar gel molded product is determined according to the application, and is, for example, several cm or less when used as a material for salad or soup, and a little larger when used for business such as confectionery companies. Simultaneously with or after cutting in this cutting step, notches having predetermined intervals and depths are formed on the surface of the agar gel molded body. Then, the cut agar gel molded body is frozen, then thawed, dehydrated, dried and dried. Alternatively, it is frozen to be a frozen product as it is.

Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a plate-shaped agar gel molded body 21 having a predetermined size is obtained by cutting, and a plurality of notches 22 are formed on the surface thereof. If the agar gel molded body 21 is freeze-dried without making a cut, the whole becomes a hardened dry product. However, if the cut 22 is made and the freeze-drying is performed, the cut 22 portion opens and the surface portion is a porous uneven surface. It becomes 25 and becomes a bellows-like dry matter.

FIG. 3 shows how ice crystals grow during freezing when the plate-shaped agar gel molded body 21 is directly frozen to dry matter and when the cut 22 is provided as described above and freeze-dried. And the state of dry matter are compared and shown. FIG.
As shown in (a), when the agar gel molded body 21 is not cut, the ice crystals develop slowly during freezing, and the ice 23 is trapped inside the agar gel molded body 21.
Grows. Therefore, since the surface part is covered with agar, if this is dried, the whole becomes hard. Drainage is difficult even in the thawing process after freezing.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
When the incision 22 is made in the agar gel compact 21, water oozes out into the incision 22 due to the water separating action of the agar itself, and this becomes the nucleus of crystal growth, and the ice 24 rapidly grows along the incision 22. Then, when this is dried, the cut 22 shrinks in an open state, and a dry matter having a porous and large uneven surface 25 is obtained.

The agar obtained in this example floats in water when reconstituted with water or reconstituted with hot water, and dissolves and swells in a short time. Therefore, the work of returning the water or returning the water becomes easy. In particular, when it is used as a material for salad or soup, it has elasticity that cannot be obtained by conventional agar, and it has a good texture and a soft texture. Further, various shapes of the final dry matter can be selected as exemplified below depending on the shape of the gel molded body and the method of making the cuts.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the agar gel molded body 41 is processed into a cylindrical shape, and a plurality of notches 42 are formed in the surface thereof along the longitudinal direction. In this case, the dried product obtained by freeze-drying has a stripe-shaped concavo-convex surface 43 on the side surface and a star-shaped design on the end surface, as shown in the figure, and is a visually preferable food ingredient.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), a spiral cut 5 is made on the surface of the cylindrical agar gel molded body 51.
When 3 is added, a twisted string-like dry matter is obtained as shown in the drawing when freeze-dried. As shown in FIG. 5 (b), when the cuts 62 are alternately formed from the front surface and the back surface of the plate-shaped agar gel molded body 61, a twisted string-like dry matter slightly different from the above case is obtained.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a concrete apparatus for producing an agar gel molded body having a cut as in the embodiment of FIG.
The cooled agar solution 12 is poured onto a steel belt 14 as shown. Side plates 15 of a predetermined height are additionally provided on both sides of the steel belt 14, and the agar solution 12 flown on the steel belt 14 spreads evenly on the steel belt 14, and the steel belt 14 and the side plates 15 allow the agar solution 12 to spread. It is held in the configured mold and passes over the refrigerator 16.

The agar gel 17 obtained by passing over the freezer 16 is extruded from the steel belt 14, and the rotary blade 11 is arranged at this portion, and the rotary blade 11 cuts the agar gel surface. Can be put in. Figure 6 (b)
6A is a view of the rotary blade 11 of FIG. 6A as seen from the direction of arrow A. A plurality of rotary blades 11a and 11b are attached to the rotary shaft 13, and the agar gel 17 sent by the rotary blade 11a. A cut is made in, and the agar gel 17 is cut into a predetermined width by the rotary blade 11b. The cut agar gel 17 is cut on the cutting table 18 by a cutter 19 as an agar gel molded body 20 of a predetermined size.

To make a notch in a cylindrical agar gel molding as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 4, for example, the apparatus shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 is used (see Japanese Patent Application No. 5-167463).
7 is a front view, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line BB ′ of FIG. 7. This apparatus includes a heat exchange section 10 for gelation, a sol injection section 20 for intermittently injecting agar sol into the heat exchange section 10, and an intermittent sol injection operation in the sol injection section 20. It comprises a drive unit 30 for controlling and driving.

As shown in FIG. 8, the heat exchanging section 10 is provided with eight pipes 21 to 28 at the position of a distance a from the center of the pipe 1, as shown in FIG. Four pipes 29 to 212 are arranged at a distance b. A cooling water inlet 3 and a cooling water outlet 4 are provided at both ends of the cooling pipe 1, and the cooling water is circulated inside.

The sol injection section 20 includes a sol supply port 7, a sol reservoir section 6 for storing a fixed amount of agar sol fed from here,
Also, the rotary disk 5 is arranged between the sol reservoir 6 and the heat exchange unit 10. In the AA ′ cross section of the rotating disk 5,
Corresponding to the arrangement of the heat exchange pipe 2 shown in FIG. 8, one sol injection hole is formed at each position b, a from the center. By rotating the rotary disk 5 by the drive unit 30 including the motor 8 and the transmission mechanism 9, the agar sol is intermittently injected into the heat exchange pipe 2, and the gel is sequentially gelled, and then the sol is injected. It is designed to be transported by.

At the output of each heat exchange pipe 2, a plurality of blades 91 are arranged so as to project radially as shown in FIG. 9, and by this, the outer periphery of the cylindrical agar gel that is sequentially fed. Then, the notch 42 as shown in FIG. 4 is processed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Although agar was exclusively described in the examples, the present invention can be similarly applied to carrageenan, furceleran, gellan gum and the like, which can be industrially produced in the same manner.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, by making a predetermined cut in an agar gel molded product and subjecting it to a product through a freezing process, quality can be obtained by an industrial manufacturing process.
It is possible to obtain a food ingredient that is porous and has a large surface area while ensuring the uniformity of the shape. In addition, the obtained food ingredients have excellent solubility, can be reconstituted in water or hot water in a short time, and have a soft and soft texture. Further, depending on the shape of the cut made in the gel molded body, it is visually preferable as a food ingredient unlike a mere rectangular shape.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an agar manufacturing process of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a freeze-drying process of the agar gel molded body of the same example.

FIG. 3 shows a freeze-drying process of the agar gel of the same example.

FIG. 4 shows a freeze-drying process of an agar gel molded body of another example.

FIG. 5 shows a freeze-drying process of an agar gel molded body of another example.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an apparatus for producing an agar gel compact.

FIG. 7 shows another apparatus for producing an agar gel compact.

8 is a sectional view taken along line BB ′ of FIG.

9 shows a structure of an output part of one heat exchange pipe shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

21, 41, 51, 61 ... Agar gel molded body, 22, 4
2, 52, 62 ... notches, 25, 43 ... uneven surface.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A frozen product obtained by freezing a gel molded body of a predetermined shape, which is mainly composed of one kind selected from agar, carrageenan, furceleran, and gellan gum, or obtained by freezing, melting, dehydrating and drying. A food ingredient which is made of a dry matter and is used for food by reconstitution with water or hot water, wherein the surface of the gel article is made porous by increasing the surface area by making a cut in the gel molding. . 2. A step of molding a gel having a predetermined shape mainly containing one kind selected from agar, carrageenan, furceleran and gellan gum, a step of making a cut on the surface of the gel molded body, and at least the gel molded body. A process for producing a food ingredient, comprising a step of producing a product through a freezing step.