JPH09235243A - Erythritol crystal and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To produce a readily handleable erythritol powder, easily mixable with other food materials and having a smooth texture when eaten without consolidating by blending erythritol having a specific particle diameter in a prescribed proportion and reducing the moisture content in the powder to a prescribed value or below. SOLUTION: This erythritol crystal contains >=98wt.% crystal of 250μm undersize and <2wt.% crystal of 250μm oversize and has the moisture content thereof reduced to <=0.04wt.%. The erythritol crystal without consolidating is prepared by affording an erythritol crystal, containing >=97wt.% crystal having a particle size of 1000μm undersize to 360μm oversize and <3wt.% crystal of 360μm undersize and having the moisture content thereof reduced to <=2wt.% (in the first pulverizing and drying step) and further providing the erythritol crystal, containing >=98wt.% crystal of 250μm undersize and <2wt.% crystal of 250μm oversize and having the moisture content thereof reduced to s 0.04wt.% (in the second pulverizing and drying step). The second pulverizing and drying step is preferably carried out at 20-110 deg.C at <=65% relative humidity. The erythritol is useful as a sweetener.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to erythritol which is useful as a sweetener and a method for producing the same, and in particular, erythritol fine powder which is easy to use and which does not require crushing during use to prevent solidification during storage of erythritol fine powder. It exists in a powder crystal and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Saccharides, particularly sucrose, have been used as sweeteners and their consumption is high due to their unique sweetness. However, in recent years, caries, obesity,
Increasing number of diabetic patients is becoming a problem. For this reason, in the confectionery industry, a large number of powdered sugars that do not contain sucrose and have low calories and low caries have been developed, and some of them are already commercially available. Recently, a method for producing erythritol, which is a four-carbon sugar alcohol, was developed, and erythritol was sold as a low-calorie, non-cariogenic sweetener. Have been. Erythritol is a sugar alcohol of tetracarbon sugar, is highly water-soluble, is very easily crystallized, and its crystals are beautiful and white. It has a sweetness of about 75% that of sucrose, and since it has a characteristic of feeling a refreshing cold sensation when eaten, it has been widely used for table sugar and the like. In addition, the appearance of erythritol fine crystal powder is easy to dissolve in water like sugar powdered sugar,
Since it has a cool and smooth texture when eaten, it has been used in the production of various confections such as tableted confectionery, gums and chocolate. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-18180 describes the use of erythritol in chewing gum and the like, and JP-A-1-174332 describes a non-hygroscopic icing agent composed of erythritol.

[0003]

However, although erythritol powder has a very low hygroscopicity as compared with sucrose powder, it may solidify during storage, requiring re-grinding when used. There were inconveniences in handling. In addition, if such a solidified product is used, mixing with other confectionery ingredients cannot be performed sufficiently, for example,
When the consolidated erythritol is mixed with, for example, cocoa butter, bitter chocolate, an emulsifier or the like in the production of chocolate, there is a problem that the mixture cannot be uniformly mixed and becomes grit-like, so that chocolate having a smooth texture cannot be obtained.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventor of the present invention has diligently studied the problems as described above and has completed the present invention. The present inventor has found that erythritol crystal grain size of 1000 μm
When the water content of the powder erythritol was measured by pulverizing the powder having 97% by weight on the 60 μm sieve and the water content of 0.05% by weight and observing the water content, it was found that the water content increased nearly twice. Further, those having a granular crystal water content of 0.05% by weight from a crystal grain size of 1000 μm under the sieve to 360 μm on the sieve did not congeal even when stored in a kraft bag. As a result of these examinations, since erythritol hardly absorbs moisture, moisture hardly increases due to the influence of the humidity of the atmosphere, and the cause of solidification is that water existing between erythritol crystals and inside the crystals becomes free by pulverization. It was found that the cause was that, and in erythritol having a specific particle size, if the water content in the powder was 0.04% or less, it did not solidify, and the present invention was completed. An object of the present invention is to provide a powdery erythritol which does not solidify and a method for producing the same. The present invention resides in erythritol crystals characterized by containing 98% by weight or more of crystals under a 250 μm sieve and less than 2% by weight of crystals on a 250 μm sieve and having a water content of 0.04% by weight or less.

Conventionally, erythritol crystals have been dried by fluidized drying at 40 to 50 ° C. for 10 to 20 minutes. The water content of the crystals thus obtained is 0.10%, but the internal water content can be removed. Since it is not present, if internal water is added to this, it is about 0.15 to 0.20%, which means that there is sufficient water for solidification. (The water content measuring method in the present invention uses the evaporation loss by heating at 105 ° C. for 4 hours as the water content)

As a method of removing water inside the crystal, a method of drying at high temperature for a long time can be considered, but it is not preferable because water inside the crystal is hard to evaporate and smells from the flavor. Another gist of the present invention that has been made through intensive studies in view of such problems is that erythritol crystals from below 1000 μm sieve to above 360 μm sieve are 97 wt% or more, 360 μm or more.
m, containing less than 3% by weight of crystals under a sieve and a water content of 0.
2% by weight or less of the first pulverizing and drying step to obtain erythritol crystals, and 98% by weight or more of the crystals under the 250 μm sieve.
A second pulverizing and drying step of producing erythritol crystals containing less than 2% by weight of crystals on a 50 μm sieve and having a water content of 0.04% by weight or less.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below.
The erythritol crystal of the present invention is a so-called fine powder containing 98% by weight or more of crystal particles under a 250 μm sieve, and even if it is packed in a resin bag with a water content of 0.04% by weight or less, It does not cause solidification, and the crystals remain fluid, which is effective in the production of confectionery and the like. Moisture content is 0.
If it exceeds 04% by weight, fluidity is maintained at the time of packaging, but it solidifies with time.

Such fine erythritol crystals can be obtained by pulverizing and drying the crystals obtained by a usual method by an arbitrary method. In general, erythritol crystals are purified from a mixed culture solution obtained by culturing under an aerobic condition in an aqueous medium in the presence of erythritol-producing bacteria using glucose as a raw material,
It is obtained by crushing and drying the crystals recovered by an operation such as crystallization by an arbitrary method. Among them, in order to obtain the fine erythritol crystals of the present invention, first, the erythritol crystals are first filtered from the bottom of the 1000 μm sieve to the crystals on the 360 μm sieve of 97.
Erythritol crystals containing less than 3% by weight of crystals under a sieve of 360 μm and having a water content of 0.2% by weight or less, and then the crystals obtained in this step are 98% by weight of crystals under a sieve of 250 μm. As above, 2 crystals on the 250 μm sieve
It is preferable to use a manufacturing method in which the content of the erythritol is less than 0.04% by weight and the erythritol crystals have a water content of 0.04% by weight or less.

Through such a pulverizing and drying step, erythritol fine crystals that do not solidify can be obtained. As a method of removing water in this step, a method of removing water by a fluidized drying method using hot air or dry air as an air stream when pulverizing crystals is preferable. If the temperature of the dry air is high, the drying time will be short, but if the hot air temperature exceeds 110 ° C, erythritol may melt and melt.
It is preferably 0 ° C or lower. Fluid drying is preferably performed under conditions of low relative humidity, and it is preferable to set the relative humidity to 65% or less because the efficiency increases. As a drying method, a shelf type dryer using hot air, a tunnel type dryer or the like can be used, but an airflow dryer is advantageous in that it has a high drying speed and has the functions of both a dryer and an air transfer device. When the drying is completed, erythritol crystals are filled in a resin bag such as polyethylene and sealed, so that no solidification occurs.

[0010]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples. Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 Erythritol (manufactured by Nikken Chemical Co., Ltd .: particle size distribution is described below) was pulverized under the conditions shown in Table 1 using the following pulverizer.

Particle size distribution of erythritol (unit:% by weight) 1000 μm on sieve 0 1000 μm on sieve-850 μm on sieve 3.3 850 μm on sieve-710 μm on sieve 14.7 710 μm on sieve-500 μm on sieve 67.4 500 μm on sieve 〜360 μm Sieve 13.3 360 μm Sieve 〜250 μm Sieve 1.3 250 μm Sieve 〜180 μm Sieve 0 180 μm Sieve 0 Crusher : Rotaspeed Mill P-14 Fritsch Co., screen is trapezoidal 0.5 mm, rotor Rotation speed, 1
At 4000 rpm, a C4-3 type vibration feeder manufactured by SHINKO Electric Co., Ltd. was used as a sample feeder.

Table 1 shows the crushing conditions and the particle size distribution after crushing. 30 g of erythritol powder obtained by crushing was filled in a polyethylene bag (6 cm × 6 cm), and a load of 1500 g (42 g / cm ² ) was placed on the bag, and the humidity was RH79.
%, The temperature was 20 ° C. for 7 days, and the solidified state was observed and evaluated. The solid state is a round spring tension gauge (OBA INSTRUMENT WORKS LT
D). The results are shown in Table 1.

[0013]

[Table 1]

* 1 Evaporative loss due to heating and drying at normal pressure, 105 ° C. for 4 hours * 2 (Tension gauge value) 0-100 No solidification 101-200 Loose solidification 201-300 Solidification 301-500 Solidification

Examples 2-3 and Comparative Examples 3-4 Under the following conditions, a Nara type M-4 crusher (manufactured by Nara Machinery Co., Ltd.)
20 kg of erythritol fine powder obtained by crushing and drying the same erythritol as in Example 1 was filled in a plastic bag and the cardboard box (length, width, height was 31 cm, 45 respectively).
cm, 28 cm) and stored for 1 month under the condition of room temperature (10 to 30 ° C.), and the solidified state was observed and evaluated. The results are shown in Table 2.

Grinding conditions Grinding machine Nara Machinery Co., Ltd. M-4 type grinding machine, rotation speed 3550 (RPM), screen 0.4, 0.6 (mm), throughput (kg / min) 20/2 drying Temperature 73 ° C Powder supply rate 60 (kg / H), powder feeding method Electromagnetic feeder Indoor atmosphere 26 (° C), RH 70%

[0017]

[Table 2]

[0018]

As described in detail above, the following effects can be obtained by the present invention. The non-caking erythritol powder is easy to handle, easy to mix with other food materials, and used in chocolate, chewing gum, candy, etc. to obtain a smooth product that is not rough when eaten.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An erythritol crystal comprising 98% by weight or more of crystals under a 250 μm sieve, less than 2% by weight of crystals on a 250 μm sieve, and having a water content of 0.04% by weight or less. 2. Crystals of erythritol having a size of at least 97 wt.
m, containing less than 3% by weight of crystals under a sieve and a water content of 0.
2% by weight or less of the first pulverizing and drying step to obtain erythritol crystals, and 98% by weight or more of the crystals under the 250 μm sieve.
The method for producing erythritol crystals according to claim 1, further comprising a second pulverizing and drying step of forming erythritol crystals containing less than 2% by weight of crystals on a 50 μm sieve and having a water content of 0.04% by weight or less. 3. The second crushing and drying step is performed at 20 to 110 ° C.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the method is performed at a relative humidity of 65% or less.