JPH11266823A - Production of green powder and food dye and food containing the green powder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a process for producing a green powder keeping good quality such as color tone and nutrient component without necessitating strict time control, and provide a green powder capable of achieving uniform mixing, clear color development and smooth palatability when mixed into a food. SOLUTION: A young stalk of buckwheat is reaped and the leaves and/or stalks are dried and crushed to obtain the objective green powder. The average particle diameter of the crushed powder is 35-45 μm. The drying is successively carried out at normal temperature for 2-5 hr, at a temp. of 35-45 deg.C for 12-28 hr and then at a temp. of 55-65 deg.C for 5-12 hr. The total drying time is >=20 hr.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for producing green powder from leaves or stems of young buckwheat buckwheat. Further, the present invention relates to a green powder which becomes an edible pigment and can give a bright green color when added to various foods. The invention further relates to a food product comprising an edible pigment and a green powder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The technology relating to green powder produced using the stems and leaves of young buckwheat buckwheat is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 57-12587 and 59-6631.
Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 59-6631 discloses a method for producing a green powder in which a buckwheat leaf or stem is washed with water, cut and dried so that the water content becomes 7% or less within 24 hours after cutting, and then ground. Has been disclosed. The green powder produced by this technique was of high quality, but after harvesting
It is necessary to dry the water to 7% or less within an hour, and there has been a problem that careful time management is required from the harvesting by the farmer to the transfer to the manufacturing factory and the drying treatment at the factory. The publication also states that the size of green powder is buckwheat flour,
Although it is described that the particle size is preferably substantially the same as that of ordinary flour such as wheat flour and rice flour, such particle size does not sufficiently achieve uniform mixing with food and vivid coloration. If the particles are coarser, they will feel unpleasant to the touch and tongue when eating.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a green powder which retains the quality of colors, nutrients and the like without requiring strict time management. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a green powder capable of achieving uniform mixing, vivid coloration and smooth texture when mixed with food.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventors of the present invention have conducted intensive studies to achieve the above object, and as a result, have sown young buckwheat plants and dried and pulverized their leaves and / or stems. It has been found that the above objectives can be achieved by conducting the conditions relatively mildly at low temperatures and for long periods of time and / or by specifying the particle size. Therefore,
The present invention is a method for producing green powder by cutting a young buckwheat plant, drying and pulverizing the leaves and / or stems thereof, wherein the average particle size after the pulverization is 35 to 45 microns. About the method. The present invention also relates to a method for producing a green powder by cutting a young buckwheat plant, drying and pulverizing the leaves and / or stems thereof, and drying at room temperature for 2 to 5 hours, and then at 35 to 45 ° C. 12-28 hours, then 55-65 ° C
For 5 to 12 hours, and the drying time is 20 hours or more in total. As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, drying under the above-mentioned drying conditions and having an average particle size after pulverization of 35 to 45 microns can be mentioned. The green powder obtained by the production method of the present invention is safe and useful as an edible pigment, and can exhibit favorable coloring when incorporated into various foods. Therefore, the present invention further relates to an edible pigment comprising a green powder obtained by the above-mentioned production method, and a food containing the green powder.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the method of the present invention, the cutting of young buckwheat plants is carried out according to a conventional method, and the leaves and stems after cutting are usually washed with water and drained. The first step of drying the leaves and stems is at room temperature, specifically at 5 ° C. to 25 ° C. for 2 to 5 hours. 35-4 as the second stage of drying
Drying is performed at 5 ° C. for 12 to 28 hours, preferably 12 to 15 hours, and as a third step, drying is performed at 55 to 65 ° C. for 5 to 12 hours, preferably 5 to 10 hours. Drying of these may be performed according to a conventional method, for example, hot air drying in a drying oven. The drying in the first to third stages is performed for a total of 20 hours or more. After these drying, the moisture value is usually about 6 to 9%.

[0006] The leaves and stems dried as described above are cooled to room temperature and then pulverized. In the method for producing green powder of the present invention, it is appropriate to pulverize more finely than buckwheat flour or medium-strength flour that is usually used for buckwheat production. Specifically, the average particle size after pulverization is 35 to 45 microns. Before pulverization, it is preferable to cut a dry raw material to about 5 to 15 cm by a cutting machine in advance. The pulverization is desirably performed with an impact-type pulverizer, and in some cases, a temperature-controlled impact-type pulverizer can be used. It is difficult to control the particle size of the roll-type pulverizer, the raw material is apt to be biased into flakes, and the pulverization efficiency is relatively poor. In the method of the present invention, the green powder is usually obtained by crushing the raw material in an impact crusher a plurality of times and sieving. The temperature of the impact-type pulverizer is 65 ° C. or lower, preferably 55 ° C. or lower.
If the pulverizing process is performed in a high-temperature environment, quality degradation may occur, and therefore, it should be avoided. The sieving is performed using a conventional sieving machine such as a square shifter or a vibro shifter. The powder thus sieved is collected to obtain a green powder.

In the method of the present invention, the green powder has an average particle size of 35 to 45 microns. More specifically, particles having a particle size larger than 74.00 microns are 28 particles or less (hereinafter referred to as 2
Less than 20% for particles greater than 88.00 microns, less than 4% for particles greater than 148.00 microns, and less than 2% for particles greater than 176.00 microns. Is desirable. The measurement of the average particle size and the particle size distribution described in this specification was performed by a laser particle size analyzer “Microtrack” (manufactured by LEEDS & NORTHRUP).

The green powder obtained by the method of the present invention is
As described above, the raw material is fibrous material such as plant leaves and stems, and can be used as a safe and nutritious food coloring. The food containing the green powder is not particularly limited, but preferably includes noodles such as buckwheat and udon, pasta such as spaghetti and macaroni, buns, breads, cakes, yogurt, rice cake, and candy. The amount of the green powder added to the food is suitably from 0.1 to 1% by weight based on the weight of the whole food. The addition of the green powder to the food may be appropriately performed during the production process of various foods.

[0009]

According to the production method of the present invention, it is possible to produce a green powder having a good quality such as color tone and nutritional value without strict time management. In addition, when the green powder obtained by the production method of the present invention is contained in food, it can be uniformly mixed with food materials, and can provide a vivid coloration and a smooth texture in food.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

Example 1 Production of Green Powder In the afternoon, a farmer trimmed the leaves and stems of young buckwheat buckwheat, and delivered the cut raw materials to a factory at 9 am the following morning. After the raw material was washed with water, it was dried at a normal temperature of 20 ° C. for 3 hours (including a draining operation). It was dried in a drying oven at 40 ° C. for 24 hours. Next, it was dried in a drying oven at 65 ° C. for 9 hours (water content: 8%). The dried raw material thus obtained was cut into a size of about 10 cm by a cutting machine, and then pulverized by an impact-type pulverizer “free pulverizer (manufactured by Nara Kikai Seisakusho)”. The mixture was passed through a vibroshifter, and the sieve over was passed through a grinder again. Steps (1) and (2) were repeated to obtain a product through a sieve (final moisture value: 7%). The average particle size of this product is measured by a laser particle size analyzer "Microtrac" (manufactured by LEEDS & NORTHHRUP) and is 40
Micron.

[0011]

Example 2 Buckwheat was produced using the green powder produced in Example 1. The following ingredients are kneaded and rolled,
Sliced noodles were cut with a cutting blade. Buckwheat flour 500 g Neutral flour 500 g Green powder 1 g Water 300 g When this soba noodle was boiled for 3 minutes and evaluated, the color was good, the coloration was vivid, and the texture was smooth.

[0012]

Example 3 Steamed bread was produced using the green powder produced in Example 1 with the following composition. Soft flour 100 parts by weight Sugar 50 parts by weight Sugar syrup 10 parts by weight Whole egg 15 parts by weight Baking powder 4 parts by weight Salt 0.5 parts by weight Green powder 2.0 parts by weight Water 34 parts by weight

Step: Powder raw materials were previously uniformly mixed. Egg water was added and kneaded to obtain a dough. 15 g of the dough was squeezed into a mold, the bean paste was squeezed in the center, and 15 g of the dough was further squeezed thereon.
Steamed in a steamer for 10 minutes to obtain steamed bread. The finished steamed bread had a light green color in the inner phase, and had an elegant color and texture.

[0014]

Example 4 A small amount of the green powder prepared in Example 1 was added to a commercially available yogurt. Since buckwheat leaves and stems contain rutin, it became a healthy yogurt with high nutrient content to which rutin was added.

[0015]

Example 5 A sponge cake was produced using the green powder produced in Example 1 with the following composition. 100 parts by weight of flour 100 parts by weight of sugar 100 parts by weight of whole egg 1.0 part by weight of green powder 35 parts by weight of water

Step: A. The flour and green powder were previously uniformly mixed.
B. Water, sugar and whole eggs were whipped in a mixer, and then the above A was added to obtain a uniform batter. C. The batter was poured into a cake mold and baked in an oven for about 25 minutes. The resulting sponge cake had a pale green inner phase, and had an elegant color and texture.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A method for producing green powder by cutting a young buckwheat plant, drying and pulverizing the leaves and / or stems thereof, wherein the average particle size after the pulverization is 35 to 45 microns. And how. 2. A method for producing a green powder by cutting a young buckwheat plant, drying and pulverizing its leaves and / or stem, and drying at room temperature for 2 to 5 hours and then at 35 to 45 ° C. A method characterized in that the drying is performed for 12 to 28 hours and then at 55 to 65 ° C. for 5 to 12 hours, and the total drying time is 20 hours or more. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the average particle size after pulverization is 35 to 45 microns. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the powder is pulverized by an impact type pulverizer. 5. A green powder produced by the method according to claim 1. 6. An edible pigment comprising the green powder according to claim 5. 7. A food containing the green powder according to claim 5.