JPS5943140B2 - Method for removing aroma components from coffee oil and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for separating, recovering and concentrating the aroma components of roasted coffee and incorporating the aroma components into food products, as disclosed in Canadian Patent No. 603,954 to Feldman et al. This relates to improvements in the method disclosed in No.

The present invention improves this conventional method to further improve its efficiency.

Some of the problems that have hindered the practical application of the Feldman et al. method mentioned above include (1) the unavoidable long contact time with air when removing condensate from the condenser; Loss and deterioration of certain aromatic components was unavoidable (2) The condenser had to be warmed each time the entire cryogenic refrigerant was removed and emptied to remove the condensate; It becomes impossible to use the equipment,
This not only leads to the loss of expensive refrigerant (2), but because the condenser is large, the low temperature state persists for a long time, creating a major obstacle to removing the condensate (3. The lack of effective control of properties makes it difficult to form condensed solids on the collection surface to enable efficient operation.

In view of the above-mentioned difficulties in the conventional methods, and in order to realize a process for efficiently aromatizing food products, especially instant coffee, the present invention aims to separate, recover, concentrate, and further concentrate the aroma components of roasted coffee. The present invention aims to improve the process of blending aromatic components into foods, especially instant coffee.

The present invention distills coffee oil in a distillation chamber at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure and at a mild temperature to separate aroma components from the coffee oil, and in a condensation chamber, the aroma components are transferred to the surface of a container filled with a coolant. The condensation is detachably attached to the outer surface of the sleeve, and then the sleeve with the condensed aromatic components is removed.

Preferably, the condensed aroma components in the condensing chamber are collected in a solid state by maintaining the pressure in the condensing chamber sufficiently high by introducing an inert gas.

It is desirable that the sleeve having the aroma components condensed thereon is then immersed in the food contained in the concentration chamber to mix the condensed aroma components with the food.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The aromatic components of coffee are separated by distilling the coffee oil at subatmospheric pressure and mild temperatures, and then condensing the separated aromatic components.

The coffee aroma components are separated from the coffee oil so that the various useful aroma components are incorporated into the final product in the desired proportions.

The low-boiling aromatic components, which are similar to the gas produced by the grinder of roasted coffee but lack solids, are mostly contained in the initial distillate.

From the coffee oil, medium-boiling aroma components from roasted or smoked components and higher-boiling aroma components are also separated.

As a result, various aromatic components can be fractionated by adjusting temperature, pressure, and distillation time, thereby producing the desired coffee with the desired blending ratio of aromatic components of low boiling point, medium boiling point, and high boiling point. A fragrance can be imparted.

Generally speaking, coffee oil is extracted by pressing roasted ground coffee at a temperature below 150°, preferably around 130°.

This temperature is suitable for extracting the coffee oil and its aromatic components with a sufficiently high yield.

It is not possible to make accurate and direct statements about the pressure applied to coffee in order to increase the yield of coffee oil and obtain high-quality aroma components.

However, coffee oil has about 350 to 140
Squeezing using a device with a pressure resistance of 0 kg (5,000 to 20,000 p-8-1) provides acceptable conditions.

The pressure to achieve the appropriate coffee oil yield and aromatic quality can be determined by the temperature of the pressed cake and pressed oil.

The temperature of the press cake (expressed roasted coffee or coffee meal) is preferably below 150°C and at least 75°C.

The temperature of the pressed oil is approximately 25° when measured immediately after pressing.
Must be heated at ~120°C.

By keeping the temperature of the pressed cake and the oil close to each other in this way, the pressure applied to the coffee will not cause any undesirable denaturation of the aroma components (the oil can be recovered).

The temperature at which the aroma components are distilled from the pressed coffee oil is preferably in the range of 15 DEG C. to 1000 DEG C., when the aroma components are preferably distilled at temperatures below 600 DEG C.

The coffee oil is maintained at a vacuum of 50 mm, preferably 10 mm or less in the distillation chamber.

Optimum distillation conditions place the coffee oil at ambient temperature (i.e., 200-35°C) and under pressure from 10 plates to about 60 microns.

The coffee oil is preferably introduced into the distillation chamber in a manner that maximizes the liquid-gas interface area.

This distills the maximum amount of aroma components in the shortest possible time.

This method is preferably carried out by spraying the coffee oil into fine droplets.

Preferably, this atomization is effected by using an impact injection nozzle to impinge a stream of coffee oil at high velocity onto a bottle held directly at the outlet of the nozzle orifice.

Alternatively, the coffee oil may be fed into a thin film for distillation, particularly a fast-moving film with a thickness of 10 to 100 microns.

This desorption method is also suitable for efficiently separating aroma components from coffee oil.

This desorption involves scavenging the coffee oil in the distillation chamber with an inert gas such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or helium to capture more easily dissipated aroma components.

In FIG. 1, aromatic components are discharged as an air stream and condense on the outer surface of a heat transfer sleeve 1 which is removably fitted over a heat transfer container 2 containing a coolant 3.

The heat transfer sleeve 1 is surrounded by a condensation chamber 4 provided with ports 15.6 so that the aromatic components can pass through the gap T between the condensation chamber 4 and the sleeve.

The condensation chamber 4 is provided with a removable cover or lid member 8 which closes off the opening for removing the sleeve from the container.

The above sleeve 1 is made of thin metal,
The container 2 is completely surrounded and held by a number of means.

The sleeve can be held by screws, latches, hooks, etc., as well as by friction or gravity between the container and the sleeve.

Preferably, the container is made of metal and contacts the sleeve to maximize heat transfer between the two.

Although the container preferably has a cylindrical shape, it may also have a truncated conical or rectangular box shape, and the shape of the sleeve may be adapted to the shape of the container.

The temperature of the coolant in the heat-conducting container is between 0° C. and -269° C., depending on the aroma component to be collected.

However, the coolant can condense all the aromatic components at temperatures as low as -196°C with liquid nitrogen.

It is also possible to use several condensers operating at different coolant temperatures in series to form a preparative condensation system with several stages.

For example, in the first stage, a brine solution is used to
It is cooled to 5°C, then in the second stage it is cooled to about 180°C using solid carbon dioxide as a coolant, and then in the third stage it is cooled to about 1196°C using liquid nitrogen. be.

When the gaseous stream of volatile aroma components enters the condensation chamber 4 through the supply port 5, upon contact with the cooling surface of the sleeve 1, the aroma components condense and form frost.

Non-condensable gas stream components exit the condensation chamber through outlet port 6.

When a sufficient amount of frost has formed on the sleeve surface, the condensation chamber is shut off, and the sleeve is removed by ventilation (preferably using an inert gas), opening of the lid member 8, and the handle 9 on the sleeve. .

In the apparatus of the present invention, it is recommended that even if one condensing chamber is isolated, another condensing chamber can be operated by continuously operating the condensing system.

For this purpose, the two condensing chambers can be connected in parallel using the necessary valves between the distillation chamber and the vacuum source (Fig. 2).
.

By using a sleeve in the present invention, there is little frost on the surface of the container, so there is no need to extract coolant from the container for frost recovery.

As mentioned above, the container with frost on its outer surface is large, so even after the refrigerant is removed from the container, it remains at a low temperature for a long time, and when it comes in contact with coffee oil, the frost and coffee oil coalesce. , the coffee oil freezes on the outer surface of the container and must be peeled off.

This not only wastes time but also requires a mechanically complex scraping device and exposes coffee aroma components to the air, which is undesirable.

However, because the sleeve is lightweight and has high thermal conductivity, the amount of coffee oil that freezes on the sleeve surface is small, making it easy and quick to recover the frost, as well as allowing the condensed aromatic components to interact with the air. Contact can be minimized due to the ease of handling the sleeve.

In addition, the condenser can be quickly re-operated by inserting a new sleeve onto the container surface.

To remove the aromatic components condensed on the sleeve surface, ventilate the condensation chamber with a gun that uses an inert gas, then remove the lid of the condensation chamber and take out the box-shaped sleeve with the aromatic components adhered to it. It can be collected by contacting the fragrance component with a non-volatile liquid substance, such as an oil.

This edible material acts as a convenient retainer or carrier for aroma components when added to food products such as instant coffee.

It is desirable that the coffee aroma be incorporated into the food product in high concentrations so that the intense aroma and aroma carrier are incorporated into the food product without creating a "wet" appearance or compromising flowability.

A preferred aromatic carrier is coffee oil (obtained by pressing, solvent extraction, etc.), which contains natural emulsifying substances that make it difficult to combine large amounts of aromatic frost with coffee oil. Can be done.

It is desirable that the aromatic component is added to coffee oil to increase the coffee aromatic content by 2 to 10 times (1 part of coffee oil is mixed with 1 to 9 parts of aromatic content of coffee oil); Depends on the amount of aroma that should be added later to foods such as instant coffee.

Adding at least 5 times more aromatized coffee oil can achieve the desired level of aroma in products such as instant coffee without affecting appearance and flowability.

In the above-mentioned thickening (concentration) process, the sleeve on which the aromatic components are condensed is immersed in an appropriate amount of coffee oil housed in a thickening chamber (a chamber that can be sealed liquid-tightly and air-tightly), and this chamber is sealed from air. This is done by stopping the coffee and blowing inert gas into the room to mix the aromatic components with the coffee oil.

The appropriate amount of pressed coffee oil depends on the desired final aroma concentration (ie, 2 to 10 times).

Since the sleeve can be immersed in coffee oil, depending on the appropriate amount of coffee oil, an extra space is created in the thickening chamber so that the sleeve enters this space and the minimum amount of coffee oil is absorbed into a large portion of the aroma components condensed on the outside of the sleeve. It is preferable that it be in contact with .

Therefore, it is preferable to provide a tank within the concentration chamber into which the sleeve is inserted.

Since this reservoir occupies a considerable amount of space in the thickening chamber, a moderate amount of coffee oil in the thickening chamber comes into contact with a significant portion of the condensed aroma components on the outer surface of the sleeve.

After sufficient contact time between the aromatic components and the coffee oil has elapsed, the aromatized coffee oil is removed from the thickening chamber by breaking the seal and removing the sleeve, which is then resealed and replaced with fresh coffee oil. After refilling and incorporating another sleeve, inert gas is blown out.

By providing one concentration chamber for each sleeve, the exposure of the aromatic components to the air is minimized to the time required to transfer the sleeve from the condensation chamber to the concentration chamber.

Similarly, the use of the concentration chamber described above facilitates the combination of aroma components and coffee oil, while minimizing exposure of the coffee oil and aroma components to air.

After the aromatic components are combined with the coffee oil, the aromatized oil is blended with 51 other aromatized oils in the desired ratio in a separate chamber to produce a uniformly homogeneous aromatized oil and the quality varies from batch to batch. It is preferable to minimize the

Generally speaking, the most suitable aromatic components from a quality point of view are recovered as frost.

Furthermore, in order to be able to remove the condensed aroma components from the condensation chamber, it is preferable to recover the aroma components in a solid state, that is, as frost.

Since the sleeve is capable of collecting condensed aromatic components as frost, by removing the sleeve, all of the aromatic components frozen on its outer surface can be taken out.

By adjusting the temperature and pressure, liquefaction of the aroma components thus recovered can be avoided.

It is possible to lower the temperature of the coolant and increase the internal pressure of the condenser.

Condensate will be collected in the form of silk if the pressure is above about 60 microns (preferably 140 microns) and the coolant temperature is maintained at 1196 DEG C. in terms of coffee aroma components.

Inert gas (e.g. nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc.) at a sufficient flow rate to adjust the pressure in the gap between the sleeve and the condensation chamber to keep the condensed aromatic components in a solid state.
It is desirable to introduce.

This inert gas is introduced into the distillation chamber and the pressure of the inert gas is adjusted so that the condensate in the condensation chamber remains in a solid state. This is preferable because it helps in separating the aromatic components.

The method according to the invention can also be used to separate aroma components from other types of coffee oil, such as solvent extracted coffee oil.

Returning to the description of the embodiment, 140 pounds of compressed coffee oil is loaded into the first stage raw material supply tank, and carbon dioxide gas is ejected into the distillation chamber and the condensation chamber to be distributed throughout.

To obtain the pressed coffee oil, roasted coffee beans are placed in a pressurizing device with a pressure of at least 350 ky/d and subjected to a pressing operation at a temperature range of 25°C to 120°C, and the temperature of the coffee meal residue is adjusted to 75°C to 150°C. ℃ and cooling the temperature of the pressing operation to below about 150℃.

Coffee oil is supplied from the first stage supply tank 12 to about 7
0kg/CC11t (1000p-8-1-.) is pumped into the distillation chamber 11 through the spray nozzle 13 at room temperature, and the high-speed liquid flow collides with the pin held at the orifice outlet of this nozzle, causing the liquid to flow into the distillation chamber 11. Spray into a fine spray in the form of a hollow cone at a wide angle under vacuum.

Meanwhile, nitrogen is bled from the nitrogen supply source 14 into the distillation chamber to maintain the interior of the chamber at 140 to 160 microns.

This keeps the condensed aroma components in the condenser in a solid state and aids in their separation from the pressed coffee oil through a desorption process.

A 140 pound coffee oil charge is sprayed into distillation chamber 11 in approximately 60 minutes.

Some coffee oil is collected at the bottom of the distillation chamber, so
This is pumped into the second stage supply tank 19 which is heated to a temperature of approximately 66°C.

When the second condensation chamber 20 is shut off, the gas flow passes through the first condensation chamber 15, so that the aromatic components are completely wrapped around the stainless steel container 1γ filled with liquid nitrogen 18 and cooled by this. It condenses on 16 surfaces of the aluminum sleeve.

After the initial charge has passed through the distillation chamber, the first condensation chamber 15 is shut off and the parallel second condensation chamber 20 is put into operation by adjusting the appropriate valves 21.

The first condensing chamber 15 is vented to atmospheric pressure using nitrogen gas and then opened by loosening the hinged lid member 22 of the chamber 15.

The sleeve 16 is manually removed and immediately transferred to the enrichment chamber 23. At this time, 17.5 pounds of freshly compressed coffee oil is put into the enrichment chamber, the aroma enrichment chamber is closed, and carbon dioxide gas is blown out. to remove air.

A new sleeve is fitted onto the surface of the container 17 in the first condensing chamber 15, and this chamber is closed by refastening the hinged lid member 22 and then reduced in pressure.

The first condensing chamber 15 is then prepared for operation at the same time as the second condensing chamber 20 is shut off.

Preheated and partially stripped coffee oil from the second feed tank 19 is passed to the distillation chamber 11 in the same manner as the oil from the first feed tank 12 .

In this case, the entire stripped coffee oil, except for what is collected at the bottom of the distillation chamber, is transferred to the collection tank rather than to the supply tank.

Coffee oil from which aroma components have been removed is discharged from this collection tank, and is used as fuel or for other uses.

After the completion of the above second stripping, the second condensing chamber 2
0 is vented to atmospheric pressure using nitrogen gas.

The sleeve 24 is removed and immediately transferred into a second thickening chamber 25 containing 17.5 pounds of pressed coffee oil.

After the enrichment chamber 25 is closed, carbon dioxide gas is blown out to eliminate air.

The first enrichment chamber 23 was housed for about 60 minutes.
The contents of the tank are then compressed into an oil pot 2 with a capacity of 35 pounds by pressurizing the top space of this thickening chamber using carbon dioxide gas.
6.

The first enrichment chamber 23 is then opened and the sleeve 17 removed and cleaned.

The thickening chamber is then closed and 17.5 pounds of fresh coffee oil is charged, along with another aromatic sleeve.

After 60 minutes, 17.5 pounds of aromatic oil from the second thickening chamber 25 is transferred to a similar 35 pound capacity pot 26 and combined with the oil from the first thickening chamber 23. Each batch produces 35 pounds of homogeneous 5x strength coffee oil.

As previously described, after the sleeve 24 is removed and cleaned, 17.5 pounds of fresh coffee oil is charged into the second thickening chamber 25.

If you newly charge 140 pounds of coffee oil, the next 1
An oil that is 5 times more concentrated than the batch is produced.

By sprinkling instant coffee with 5 times the concentration of coffee oil mentioned above at a weight ratio of 1% or less, the product has a significantly longer lifespan, and its aromatic balance, strength, and aroma remain unchanged even during use, and there is no need to worry about the aroma escaping. will be produced.

It goes without saying that the embodiments of the present invention described above can be modified in various ways and are not limited to specific ones.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a condenser according to the invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system of equipment suitable for carrying out the invention. 1... Sleeve, 2... Container, 3...
...coolant, 4...condensation chamber, 5,6...
... port, 7 ... void, 8 ... lid member, 11 ... distillation chamber.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for obtaining a coffee aroma component useful in aromatizing food, which comprises the following steps: (a) coffee in a distillation chamber at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure and at a mild temperature; (b) condensing the aromatic components on the outer surface of a heat-conducting sleeve removably surrounding the heat-transfer container; contains a refrigerant, and the sleeve is enclosed in a condensing chamber, the condensing chamber having a plurality of ports for passing the aromatic components into the gap between the sleeve and the condensing chamber. (c) has a lid member that seals the opening when the sleeve is removed and is detachable from the container with the sleeve fitted; (c) when the lid member is removed; (d) Recovering the condensed aroma component; (d) collecting the condensed aroma component; 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising controlling the pressure in the gap between the sleeve and the condensation chamber by supplying an inert gas at a flow rate effective to maintain the condensed aromatic components in a solid state. A method including introducing. 3. The method of claim 1, further reducing the pressure in the gap between the sleeve and the condensation chamber so that the condensed aromatic components remain in a solid state and are reduced by desorption of the aromatic components from the coffee oil. introducing an inert gas into the distillation chamber at a flow rate effective to promote distillation within the distillation chamber. 4. The method of claims 2 or 3, wherein the pressure in the gap between the sleeve and the condensing chamber is at least about 60 microns, and the coolant temperature is about -196°C. thing. 5. In the method according to claim 1, the condensed aromatic components are recovered through the following steps: (a) an appropriate amount accommodated in the sleeve-shaped concentration chamber to which the aromatic components are condensed; (b) sealing said enrichment chamber from outside air; (C)
＠To blow out inert gas into the enrichment chamber; (d)＠
retaining the sleeve in the edible substance for a period of time effective to allow the aromatic components to bind to the edible substance; 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the concentration chamber includes a container that completely encloses the sleeve when the sleeve is immersed in the edible material, the container containing a suitable amount of the edible material on the surface of the sleeve. occupying a space large enough to contact a significant portion of the condensed aromatic components of the aromatic component. 7. The method of claim 5 or 6, comprising the edible substance being coffee oil. 8. The method of claim 7, comprising combining the aroma component with coffee oil at a level of 2 to 10 times. 9. The method of claim 8, comprising incorporating the aromatized coffee oil into the instant coffee. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature of the coolant is about O0C to -269C. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the coffee oil is distilled at a temperature below 100°C and under a pressure below 50 mm absolute. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein said distillation is performed by spraying coffee oil into said distillation chamber. 13. The method of claim 11, wherein said distillation is accomplished by moving a slick of coffee oil at high speed within said distillation chamber. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the coffee oil is added to the roasted coffee in an amount of at least 350 kg/g.
The coffee oil is obtained by pressurizing and pressing C17L. 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the temperature of the coffee press oil recovered by the pressing operation is 25°C to 120°C, and the temperature of the roasted coffee to be pressed is 75°C to 1500G. . 16 A condensing device characterized by comprising the following components: A heat conductive sleeve in which a container with good heat conductivity containing a coolant is removably fitted; a surrounding condensation chamber having a plurality of boats for passing a gas flow through a gap between the sleeve and the chamber, the condensation chamber having a removable lid member; The opening into which the sleeve is inserted is sealed when the sleeve is taken out from the container. 17. The condensing device according to claim 16, further comprising: controlling the pressure in the gap between the sleeve and the condensing chamber at a flow rate sufficient to maintain the condensed components in the gas stream in a solid state; Condensing equipment, including a device for introducing inert gas.