JPS61115463A - Preparation of aseptic pasty spice - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the titled spices sterilized completely in a short time and resistant to oxidation with air during storage, by sterilizing a pasty mixture of spices and water in a closed system with microwave from external source, and cooling the sterilized mixture. CONSTITUTION:Spices (e.g. pepper) are crushed or pulverized in dry state, added with water, and heated in a closed vessel to obtain a pasty mixture. The mixture is irradiated with microwave radiation (about 1,000-2,500MHz) from external source in a closed system (e.g. a vessel for batch-treatment, etc., made of ceramic material, etc.), and the sterilized mixture is cooled without delay to obtain the objective spices.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Industrial application field> The present invention relates to a method for producing sterile pasty spices.

A wide variety of spices (or herbal medicines, hereinafter simply referred to as spices), such as koshiyo, clove, cinnamon bark, thyme, sage, and fennel, are used in various processed foods and cooking (hereinafter simply referred to as foods). . These spices impart their original and excellent aroma (or flavor, hereinafter simply referred to as aroma) to foods.

By the way, the food is usually heat sterilized at the final stage, but this heat sterilization generally results in the following:
Naturally, the food must be thoroughly sterilized, but
The original aroma of the spices used here will deteriorate significantly, and conversely, if the heating is too low, the deterioration of the original aroma of the spices used can be reduced, but the food will not be sterilized enough. have a relationship with However, in the heat sterilization of foods as described above, spices have the strongest influence on the conditions (temperature x time). Due to their origins, spices naturally contain a large number of viable bacteria.
In addition, there are many heat-resistant contaminants. Therefore, when making the above-mentioned foods, it is very convenient if the spices used are sterilized in advance in order to utilize the original flavor of the spices used. Of course, such sterilized spices are convenient to use and store, and they retain their original aroma, which is not lost during storage before actual use. It is absolutely required that the

The present invention relates to a method for producing sterile pasty spices that meet such demands.

<Conventional technology and its problems> In the past, spices were generally sterilized by crushing or pulverizing them and storing them for convenience of use, and then mixing them into other food materials whenever needed. A method of heating together with these has been practiced for a long time. However, according to this conventional method, the aroma components of spices are easily subject to air oxidation during storage, and in industrial settings where food is still mass produced, spices may scatter and create a poor working environment, especially when other people Since this method involves heat sterilization along with food materials, there is a problem in that the aroma of spices deteriorates due to the long heating time.

On the other hand, as a method or device for directly sterilizing spices themselves, there is a conventional method of sterilizing spices (usually crushed or pulverized) with superheated steam in a pressurized container (Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-541).
40, JP-A-57-5664, JP-A-57-8755,
JP-A-57-163463, JP-A-58-111667
, JP-A-58-165744, etc.), and as an improvement thereof, a means for suspending or dropping spices (usually crushed or pulverized products) into an air stream of superheated steam (JP-A-57-1528).
63, JP 57-153654, JP 59-140
841) etc. have been proposed, and so-called gas sterilization and radiation sterilization have also been attempted. However, with the conventional method of using superheated steam, handling of spices after sterilization is extremely troublesome, and even worse, there is a problem in that the original flavor components of spices are significantly lost. . Furthermore, so-called gas sterilization and radiation sterilization have unavoidable problems in terms of food hygiene.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention and Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention solves the problems of the conventional methods as described above, and provides a method for producing sterile paste spices that meets the strong demands of reality as described above. It is something to do. Therefore, the present invention provides a sterile paste, which is characterized in that a pasty mixture of spices and water is rekilled in a closed system by irradiating microwaves from outside the closed system, and then cooled. Pertains to a method for producing spices.

In the present invention, target spices are not particularly limited, such as koshiyo (black koshiyo, white koshiyo), clove, kei, pay leaves, thyme, sage, fennel, etc., and are single or mixed products thereof.

First, a paste-like mixture of the spices and water is obtained. The paste-like mixture in this case is a homogeneous mixture that has a paste-like appearance in order to make the subsequent sterilization by microwave irradiation effective. Therefore, the paste-like mixture can be prepared by mixing dry-crushed or pulverized spices with water, or wet-crushed or pulverizing a mixture of spices and water, for example, by heating the mixture in a closed container. It is obtained by The amount of crushing or pulverization of spices may be about 40 to 80 mesh, and the mixing ratio with water depends on the type of spices,
Although it varies depending on the amount of starch contained in the spices, it is generally sufficient that the ratio of spices/water is 1/3 to 1/7 (weight ratio).

Next, the above paste-like mixture is charged into a closed system.

The closed system in this case may be a container for batch processing (preferably equipped with a stirrer or a mixer) or a pipe for continuous processing. The pasty mixture is successively press-fitted into the pipe of the control valve. The materials for these closed systems are not particularly limited as long as they effectively transmit microwaves, have a certain degree of heat and pressure resistance, and are insoluble in food; for example, ceramics and Teflon can be used.

Then, the paste mixture charged into the closed system is irradiated with microwaves from outside the closed system to thin the paste mixture. In this case, the microwave may be a general high frequency of about 1000 to 2500 MHz, and its output etc. is determined depending on the relative relationship with the paste mixture to be sterilized, but experimentally it has been as high as 10 Kw. It is enough. Since the pasty mixture inside the closed system is sterilized by irradiating microwaves from outside the closed system, the inside of the closed system is pressurized and overheated at least during the irradiation of microwaves. .

Although it is largely influenced by the type of spices in the pasty mixture and its bacterial properties, in normal cases, the mixture is heated at a temperature of 110 to 140 in a closed system.
'C degree, time 1~3 minutes, pressure 2~+-'qicv
The pasty mixture is completely sterilized under the conditions of t.

Finally, the product sterilized as described above is cooled as soon as possible. In punch processing, the container may be put into water after stopping microwave irradiation, or in continuous processing, a series of tubes is provided with a microwave irradiation section followed by a cooling section. The cooling section may be externally water cooled.

Effects and Effects of the Invention> As explained above, the present invention is to irradiate a paste-like mixture, that is, a homogeneous mixture of spices and water that has a paste-like appearance, with microwaves. In the paste-like mixture, each particle of crushed or ground spices is uniformly impregnated with water, and since this water acts as a receptor for microwaves, each particle is rapidly absorbed. Internally heated.

Moreover, since such internal heating occurs in a closed system, the paste-like mixture is completely sterilized in an extremely short period of time under pressurized and superheated conditions. When directly killing spices that have a large number of viable bacteria and many heat-resistant bacteria, the sterilizing effect of the present invention is achieved by applying boiling water or superheated steam to the outer surface of each particle of crushed or ground spices. This cannot be achieved using the conventional method of heating externally.

In addition, the present invention performs sterilization using microwaves in a closed system in a very short period of time, and immediately cools the sterile paste to produce sterile paste spices. There is almost no deterioration of the original aroma of the spice, and there is almost no loss of its aroma components. Since they are stored as sterile paste spices and added to other food materials, for example in industrial settings for mass production, they cannot be preserved.
It is not easily susceptible to air oxidation, and there is no scattering when added to other food ingredients.

<Examples and Comparative Examples> Hereinafter, examples and comparative examples will be given to make the structure and effects of the present invention more specific.

Tables 1 to 4 illustrate sterilization data in the four test categories described below, including those related to the present invention, and Tables 5 to 7 similarly illustrate This is an example of the gas chromatography analysis data of the components (gas chromatography analysis data of test category 2 is omitted). The excellent effects of the present invention are also evident from the results in Table 5.

The spices used were all dry-pulverized to 40 to 60 m.c., and the typical examples with a large number of viable bacteria, such as black pepper, are from Malaysia, cloves are from Sanjibar, cinnamon and fenugreek are from China, and pei leaves and fenugreek are from China. Sage is from Turkey, thyme is from France, and the mixed spices in the table are isothermal mixtures of the above spices.

・Test Category 1 (Example): Water is uniformly mixed with spices. In the case of black koshiyo, 1 part by weight of black koshiyo + 7 parts by weight of water,
In the case of mixed spices, 1 part by weight of mixed spices, 5 parts by weight of water,
The same applies hereinafter), and heated in a closed container to a temperature of 85° C. to form a paste-like mixture. Next, this is continuously press-fitted into a Teflon tube with an inner diameter of 20 mm while irradiating microwaves from outside the tube, and the paste-like mixture is held in the tube at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined period of time. The tube was cooled with water.

・Test category 2 (comparative example): This was tested in the process of completing the present invention, and the surface of spices was sprayed with water to the extent that it was sprayed, and the same as test category 1 below, was continuously poured into a Teflon tube. It was press-fitted and processed.

・Test category 3 (comparative example): Mix spices with water uniformly,
This mixture was placed in an open top glass container. Then, the mixture was indirectly heated in hot water, maintained in the container at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time, and then indirectly cooled with water.

・Test, test category 4 (comparative example): Spices are suspended in an air stream of superheated steam, and after holding the spices in the air stream at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time, they are separated and indirectly cooled with water. did.

Table 1 (Test Category 1) Note: The number of viable bacteria was measured after 48 hours of culture on a standard agar medium (cells/7), the same applies hereinafter.

Table 2 (Test Category 2) Note: All samples were irradiated with microwaves under the same conditions as 120°C in Test Category 1, and the temperature was not measured.

Table 3 (Test Category 3) Table 4 (Test Category 4) Note) Temperature is the temperature of superheated steam.

Table 5 (Test Category 1) Note: The fragrance components used as indicators are: A is β-caryophyllene, B is
is eugenol, C is cinnamaldehyde, D is linalool, E is thymol, F is d-camphor, and G is anethole, and the total component is the sum of all peaks displayed on the gas chromatograph chart including these. All numerical values in the table are relative values when the area of the corresponding peak displayed on the gas chromatograph chart before sterilization is set as 100. Gas chromatograph analysis was performed as follows: Two samples were extracted for 2 hours using a Nikkan Rickens steam distillation continuous extraction device, and the resulting extracted ether solution was subjected to gas chromatography. The gas chromatograph at this time had a glass column of 3 mm diameter x 3 m, the packing material was Salmon 1500 (manufactured by Renri Kako Co., Ltd.), the carrier gas was nitrogen gas, the detector was FID, and the temperature was 240°C.
It is. These capacities are the same below.

Table 6 (Test Category 3) Table 7 (Test Category 4)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for producing sterile pasty spices, which comprises sterilizing a pasty mixture of spices and water in a closed system by irradiating it with microwaves from outside the closed system, and then cooling it.