JPH0834989A - Fractionation of cacao butter and chocolate containing the fractionated butter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To fractionate cacao butter into a stearin fraction useful as chocolate butter excellent in snapping property and melting in mouth and an olein fraction useful as confectionery butter enforcing cacao taste in a high yield. CONSTITUTION:This method for fractionating cacao butter is to mix cacao butter and acetone at a weight ratio of 1:(0.5-10), heat the mixture, then cool the mixture to 5-(-2) deg.C, deposit crystals and fractionate a liquid part which is an olein fraction and a crystalline part which is a stearin fraction. It is preferable to add a precooled mixture of cacao butter and acetone to the heated mixture of cacao butter and acetone to accelerate crystallization.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for separating cocoa butter into a stearin fraction and an olein fraction using acetone. The stearin fraction obtained by the fractionation method of the present invention can be suitably used as a high-quality chocolate fat and oil, and the olein fraction can be suitably used as a cacao-flavored confectionery fat and oil.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Cocoa butter has been used as an oil and fat for chocolate since ancient times, and its physical properties typified by its unique flavor and solubility in the mouth have been prized. The texture of chocolate when eaten, that is, the cracking hardness (snap property) and the melting property in the mouth, are important factors in the quality of chocolate. The physical properties of such chocolate depend on the very sharp melting properties of cocoa butter. That is, cocoa butter is hard in the temperature range of 25 ° C or lower,
It is an oil and fat which has a characteristic that it becomes soft rapidly at 30 to 32 ° C and completely dissolves at 35 ° C. This feature is that most of the triglycerides that make up cocoa butter are composed of stearic acid and palmitic acid, which are saturated fatty acids at the 1- and 3-positions of the glyceride molecular skeleton, and oleic acid, which is an unsaturated fatty acid, at the 2-position. Symmetrical triglyceride (S
This is because US: S is a saturated fatty acid and U is an unsaturated fatty acid. Normal cocoa butter has about 80 of this SUS.
Contains more than wt%. However, it contains 15 to 20% by weight of triglycerides other than symmetrical triglycerides, and this triglyceride will have an adverse effect on specific purposes. Regarding the snap property of cocoa butter, it is good at 20 to 25 ° C., but it suddenly softens at 25 to 30 ° C., so that the snap property is lost, and other defects are also recognized. In order to solve this drawback, chocolate fats and oils have S
There is a method of using a heat-resistant hard butter containing a large amount of OS (S is stearic acid and O is oleic acid) to raise the melting point and prevent softening at 25 to 30 ° C.

Further, conventionally, there has been taken a method of compensating for the drawbacks by producing a stearin fraction as a cocoa butter substitute fat by solvent fractionation or natural fractionation without using any solvent. However, it is difficult to completely meet the recent needs, and the development of oils and fats having both snap properties and heat resistance has been a major issue. British Patent No. 20137
No. 05 discloses a method for separating animal and vegetable oils and fats using acetone in two steps, and this method mainly relates to the separation of palm oil and milk fat. On the other hand, in British Patent No. 2177107, disadvantages of the method described in the above-mentioned British Patent No. 2013705 (long fractional cooling time, low iodine value of olein fraction and poor fractionation efficiency, acetone is a solvent) It has been proposed to use hexane as a solvent in order to solve (difficult to remove). The invention described in European Patent No. 0424997 (see JP-A-3-146594) is defined by the solid fat content of the stearin fraction and the olein fraction obtained by fractionation. In the present invention, it is necessary that the content of dipalmitate monoolein (POP) in the symmetrical triglyceride (SUS) content of the olein fraction is 25% or more. In that example, POP and stearopalmitoolein (SOP) are required. And the total amount of distearate monoolein (SOS), that is, symmetrical triglyceride (S
The feature is that the total amount of US) is as high as 68%. In addition, the stearin fraction has a POP content of 2 to 15%, and the solvent separation is performed at a high cooling temperature of 16 to 30 ° C., and the conditions are selected such that the POP in the raw cacao butter is not completely crystallized. There is. Therefore, 55 to 75% of the raw cacao butter is separated as a stearin fraction.

[0004]

According to the conventional method of blending a cocoa butter fat substitute, it is possible to obtain chocolate having excellent snap properties at high temperature, but having low melting property near body temperature and melting in the mouth. could not.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to extract cocoa butter from
A stearin fraction that does not soften at 25 to 30 ° C. and abruptly softens at 30 to 35 ° C. and a cocoa-flavor-enhanced olein fraction can be fractionated, and at the same time, the stearin fraction can be fractionated with high yield. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cocoa butter fractionation method, and a chocolate containing the above stearin fraction obtained by the fractionation method, which has good snap properties and meltability in the mouth.

[0006]

The present invention provides a cocoa butter fractionation method and chocolate as described below,
The above object is achieved. Cocoa butter and acetone were heated and mixed in a weight ratio of 1: 0.5 to 10, and the mixture was mixed to 5
A method for fractionating cocoa butter, which comprises cooling to -2 ° C and fractionating into a stearin fraction and an olein fraction. Chocolate containing 50% by weight or more of a stearin fraction obtained by the method for separating cocoa butter of the present invention in chocolate oil.

First, the method for separating cocoa butter according to the present invention will be described in detail below. To carry out the method for separating cocoa butter of the present invention, first, cocoa butter and acetone are heated and mixed, and the cocoa butter is dissolved in acetone. There is no particular limitation on the place of production of the cocoa butter which is a raw material in the present invention. As the cocoa butter, it is also possible to use cocoa butter that has been hydrolyzed. Further, the acetone used in the present invention can be used in an anhydrous or water-containing state. However, if it contains a large amount of water, the solubility of oils and fats may decrease, so that the water content is 2% by weight or less, more preferably 0. It is preferably 5% by weight or less. Further, the amount of acetone used is 0.5 to 10 parts, and more preferably 3 to 7 parts, relative to 1 part of cocoa butter (parts by weight;
It is a department.

Then, a mixture of cocoa butter and acetone was added to 5
The crystals are crystallized by cooling to ~ -2 ° C, preferably 2 to -1 ° C, and then separated into a liquid part (olein fraction) and a formed crystal part (stearin fraction). At this time, if the amount of acetone used is less than 0.5 part, the ratio of the amount of crystals becomes excessive, making solid-liquid separation difficult, and if it is more than 10 parts,
Crystals do not sufficiently precipitate in the fractionation temperature range, and the yield of the stearin fraction deteriorates. Further, if the fractionation temperature is higher than 5 ° C, crystallization does not proceed sufficiently with the above-mentioned amount of acetone used, and the yield of the stearin fraction is deteriorated.
If the temperature is lower than 0 ° C, the ratio of the amount of crystals becomes excessive and solid-liquid separation becomes difficult.

In order to promote crystallization, it is preferable to heat-mix the cocoa butter and acetone and then add a precooled product of cocoa butter and acetone to the mixture when cooling the mixture. For example, a part of the heated mixture of cocoa butter and acetone in the above weight ratio is taken out and cooled to 2 to -2 ° C,
When the temperature of the mixture is 20 to 20
When the temperature reaches 27 ° C, preferably 22 to 25 ° C, 0.2 to 2.0% by weight based on fats and oils is preferably added. The reason for adding the above-mentioned cooling material is to make it a crystal nucleus and to facilitate crystallization.

The stearin fraction and the olein fraction separated as described above are completely removed of the solvent (acetone) by a conventional method (such as distillation). The solvent separation equipment is complicated, and it is necessary to use an explosion-proof electric equipment or the like in order to prevent danger. Therefore, the equipment cost and the running cost for removing the solvent are high. However, the accuracy of fractionation is extremely high, and it is possible to obtain a stearin fraction and an olein fraction with high purity.

In the present invention, since the polar solvent acetone is used, it is inevitable that the polar component can be selectively concentrated in the olein fraction, which is the liquid portion, and the flavor component and the partial glyceride can be concentrated in the olein fraction. It is possible to concentrate the diglyceride and the like, which can be concentrated to the olein fraction, which is recognized to have the property of suppressing the crystallization of fats and oils, and thus to remove them from the stearin fraction as much as possible.

According to the cocoa butter fractionation method of the present invention as described above, the stearin fraction is used in an amount of 8 times the weight of the raw cocoa butter.
It can be fractionated with a high yield of 0% by weight or more. The fractionated stearin fraction has a symmetric triglyceride content (SUS: S is a saturated fatty acid having 16 to 18 carbon atoms, U is oleic acid) content is 8
It is 5% by weight or more and the POP (dipalmitate monoolein) content is 16% by weight or more. The solid fat content (SFC) of the stearin fraction is 15 to 2 at 33 ° C.
It is 3 or less at 3, 35 ° C., and the iodine value is 30 to 33. The stearin fraction does not soften at 25 to 30 ° C. but rapidly softens at 30 to 35 ° C., so that when used as a fat and oil for chocolate, a chocolate excellent in snapping property and having good mouth-melting property at high temperature can be obtained. . The separated olein fraction has a symmetrical triglyceride (SUS: S is a saturated fatty acid having 16 to 18 carbon atoms, U is oleic acid) content of 10 to 35% by weight and an iodine value of 5
0 to 58. Since the olein fraction has an enhanced cocoa flavor, it is suitable as an oil and fat for confectionery.

Next, the chocolate of the present invention containing the above stearin fraction will be described. Since the chocolate composition of the present invention contains the above-mentioned stearin fraction, it has physical properties that have never been seen before. That is, a stearin fraction having a symmetrical triglyceride content of 85% by weight or more, preferably 90% by weight or more, is contained in chocolate oil at 50% by weight or more, preferably 75% by weight.
The chocolate of the present invention containing the above does not soften at 25 to 30 ° C., has snap properties, rapidly softens at 30 to 35 ° C., and has good meltability in the mouth.

[0014]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples. (Example 1) Using cocoa butter from Malaysia as a raw material, cocoa butter and acetone were mixed and dissolved at 50 ° C at a ratio of 1: 6, and the mixed melt was cooled. Separately, a part of the mixed melt was cooled to 0 ° C., and when the mixed melt reached 25 ° C., 0.6% of the cooled melt was added based on fat and oil,
Promoted crystallization. The mixed solution was cooled to 0 ° C. and then filtered to separate into a crystal part (stearin fraction) and a liquid part (olein fraction). Acetone was removed from each of the obtained fractions by a conventional method, followed by decolorization by a conventional method.
Deodorized. The yield, iodine value and composition of each of the obtained fractions are shown in [Table 1] below.

(Example 2) Using cocoa butter produced in Indonesia as a raw material, a stean fraction and an olein fraction were obtained in the same manner as in Example 1. The yield, iodine value and composition of each of the obtained fractions are shown in [Table 1] below.

(Comparative Example 1) Using cocoa butter from Malaysia as a raw material, cocoa butter: hexane = 1: 6 at 50 ° C.
Were mixed and dissolved in, and the mixed melt was cooled. Separately, a part of the mixed melt was cooled to 1 ° C., and when the mixed melt reached 25 ° C., the cooled melt was adjusted to 0.
6% was added. Cooling the mixed lysate to −10 ° C.,
A stearin fraction and an olein fraction were obtained. Each fraction was subjected to solvent removal, decolorization and deodorization according to the usual procedure. The yield, iodine value and composition of each of the obtained fractions are shown in [Table 1] below.

Comparative Example 2 Cocoa butter from Malaysia was used as a raw material, and 1 kg of heated cocoa butter (temperature of 50 ° C.) was melted in an apparatus whose temperature was controlled by air cooling without using a solvent.
Was cooled at a cooling rate of 2 ° C / hr and kept at a final temperature of 30 ° C for 1 week. Using a membrane filter press, this was pressurized at 10 kg / cm ² for solid-liquid separation. The yield, iodine value and composition of the obtained stearin fraction and olein fraction are shown in the following [Table 1].

Comparative Example 3 A stearin fraction and an olein fraction were obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the ratio of cocoa butter to acetone was changed to cocoa butter: acetone = 1: 15. The yield, iodine value and composition of each of the obtained fractions are shown in [Table 1] below.

(Comparative Example 4) A stearin fraction and an olein fraction were obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the mixed melt of cocoa butter and acetone was cooled to 15 ° C.
The yield, iodine value and composition of each obtained fraction are shown in Table 1 below.
It was shown to.

[0020]

[Table 1]

As shown in Table 1 above, it is understood that the stearin fraction yield is poor in the comparative examples. This is because SUS cannot be concentrated in the stearin fraction and SUS remains in the olein fraction. On the other hand, in the examples, the yield of stearin fraction is extremely high. In addition, in the above [Table 1], DG, POO, SOO, P
OP, SOP, SOS, SOA, and SUS are as follows. DG: diglyceride, POO: monopalmitate diolein, SOO: monostearate diolene, P
OP: dipalmitate monoolein, SOP: stearopalmitoolein, SOS: distearate monoolein, SOA: stearoarachidyl olein, SUS: symmetrical triglyceride (S is a saturated fatty acid having 16 to 18 carbon atoms, U Is oleic acid).

The stearin fractions obtained in Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 and the solid fat content (SFC) of cocoa butter used as a raw material are shown in the following [Table 2]. As shown in [Table 2] below, the stearin fraction of Example 1 was 25
Solid fat content is higher than other products at ~ 30 ° C, 30 ~ 3
It can be seen that the solid fat content is rapidly decreased over 5 ° C, that is, the oil / fat is hard to be softened at 25 to 30 ° C and is rapidly softened at 30 to 35 ° C. On the other hand, in the stearin fraction of Comparative Example 1, solid fat still remained at 35 ° C., that is, high-melting-point triglyceride was contained, and therefore, melting in the mouth was poor. The stearin fraction of Comparative Example 2 was SFC similar to cocoa butter, and was 25 to 30 ° C.
The snap property is lost in.

[0023]

[Table 2]

Next, examples of the chocolate of the present invention containing the stearin fraction obtained in the above examples will be given together with comparative examples. (Examples 3 to 5 and Comparative Examples 5 to 7) Using the stearin fraction obtained in Example 1, chocolate was prepared according to the following formulation, and after aging at 20 ° C for 1 week, various tests described below were performed. I went. Chocolate blend Sand sugar 45 (parts) Oil and fat ^*) 35 Cocoa powder 10 Skim milk powder 10 Lecithin 0.3 Vanillin 0.03 ^*) Oil and fat Example 3 Cocoa butter: Stearin fraction = 50:50 Example 4 Cocoa butter: Stearine fraction = 25: 75 Example 5 Cocoa butter: Stearine fraction = 0: 100 Comparative example 5 Cocoa butter: Stearine fraction = 100: 0 Comparative example 6 Cocoa butter: Stearine fraction = 75: 25 Comparative example 7 Shea Fat separation Fat (snap property) Rheometer (made by Fudo Kogyo Co., Ltd.) is fitted with tooth pusher B as an adapter, the width of the folding test adapter is adjusted to 4 cm, and a width of 6 cm on the folding test adapter. A 1 cm-thick chocolate was placed, and a load was applied in the middle with a sharp-edged plate-like material, so that the breaking load of the chocolate was taken as a snap property. The results are shown below [Table 3]
Shown in

[0025]

[Table 3]

(Hardness) A needle-shaped product having a diameter of 3 mm was loaded with 500 g, and the length of the needle-shaped product embedded in chocolate was used as an index of hardness. The results are shown in [Table 4] below.

[0027]

[Table 4]

(Sensory test) Chocolate was tasted and sensory evaluated for snap properties and meltability in the mouth. The results are shown in [Table 5] below.

[0029]

[Table 5]

As is clear from the above [Table 3], [Table 4] and [Table 5], all of the chocolates of Examples 3 to 5 maintain the snap property at 25 to 30 ° C and are excellent. It melts in the mouth. On the other hand, the chocolates of Comparative Examples 5 and 6 lose the snap property at 25 to 30 ° C. Further, the chocolate of Comparative Example 7 has a poor melting property in the mouth.

[0031]

The effects of the present invention are as follows. (1) By separating cocoa butter, a stearin fraction and an olein fraction having characteristic physical properties can be obtained. (2) A stearin fraction can be obtained in a higher yield than cocoa butter. (3) Chocolate using the stearin fraction obtained by the present invention does not soften at 25 to 30 ° C and has snap properties. (4) The chocolate using the stearin fraction obtained according to the present invention softens rapidly at 30 to 35 ° C,
It has good melting properties in the mouth.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshiyuki Hirokawa 7-35 Higashiohisa Arakawa-ku, Tokyo Within Asahi Denka Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshifumi Okumura 7-2-35 Higashiohisa Arakawa-ku, Tokyo Asahi Denka Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Arakawa 7-35 Higashiohisa Arakawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Asahi Denka Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. Cocoa butter and acetone are mixed at 1: 0.5-10.
A method for fractionating cocoa butter, characterized in that the mixture is heated and mixed in a weight ratio of 5 and the mixture is cooled to 5 to -2 ° C and fractionated into a stearin fraction and an olein fraction. 2. After heat-mixing cocoa butter and acetone,
The method for separating cocoa butter according to claim 1, wherein a precooled product of cocoa butter and acetone is added to the mixture when the mixture is cooled. 3. The method for fractionating cocoa butter according to claim 1, wherein the yield of the stearin fraction is 80% by weight or more based on the weight of cocoa butter as a raw material. 4. A stearic acid fraction having a symmetrical triglyceride content (SUS: S is a saturated fatty acid having 16 to 18 carbon atoms, U is oleic acid) content of 85% by weight or more and a POP content of 1.
The method for separating cocoa butter according to claim 1, which is 6% by weight or more. 5. The method for separating cocoa butter according to claim 1, wherein the olein fraction has a symmetrical triglyceride content (SUS: S is a saturated fatty acid having 16 to 18 carbon atoms and U is oleic acid) in an amount of 10 to 35% by weight. . 6. A chocolate characterized by comprising 50% by weight or more of a stearin fraction obtained by the method for separating cocoa butter according to any one of claims 1 to 5 in chocolate oil.