JPS62239943A - Watercress powder for food additive - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To produce watercress powder having high preservability and free from disagreeable taste as a food additive, without deteriorating nutrient value of original watercress, by steaming a watercress and pulverizing after drying. CONSTITUTION:Harvested watercress is washed with water and roughly cut or cut and washed with water. The processed watercress is steamed at about 100 deg.C and dried by spontaneous drying or using a drying machine. In the case of rapidly drying the watercress by a dryer, the heating temperature is preferably about 60-80 deg.C. The dried watercress is pulverized e.g. by grinding. The obtained powder has mitigated characteristic bitter taste and strong odor of watercress and can be widely utilized e.g. by mixing with other materials or by scattering on a food. When the characteristic bitter taste and odor of watercress is to be retained to an extent, the steaming step is omitted and the watercress is pulverized after freeze vacuum drying. Stable supply of the processed watercress can be carried out in high yield all the year round by either of the above processes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] This invention relates to watercress powder that is used as a mixture or added to two foods.

[Conventional technology]

Watercress is a perennial plant of the Brassicaceae family that has stolons and is cultivated in clear streams. It has high nutritional value (especially high in minerals such as calcium and iron, and vitamin A and vitamin C).
Known as an alkaline food.

Traditionally, watercress has been used exclusively as an accompaniment to Western dishes and as an ingredient in salads, but due to its high nutritional value,
More extensive use is desired. However, some problems remain when using watercress.

One of them is the issue of taste and aroma. In other words, watercress has a unique strong bitter taste and aroma.

If this is used as is, it will change the unique flavor of the food to which it is added. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the strong bitterness and aroma to some extent without changing the nutritional properties.

The second issue is production volume. That is, since watercress is cultivated in a clear stream with a water temperature of 15 to 20 degrees Celsius, it is cultivated in greenhouses during winter and summer.

Cultivation using groundwater will be limited, and production will decrease. Therefore, for stable supply, it is necessary to improve the shelf life without changing the nutritional properties.

The third problem is a 9-yield problem. In other words, since the stems of watercress are hard, most of them have traditionally been cut off and discarded as they are considered inedible. For this reason, out of the harvested watercress.

There was a drawback that the proportion actually used for consumption was small and the yield was low.

This invention was made as a result of studying the above-mentioned problems with watercress as an edible vegetable. 2. It provides watercress powder for food additives that does not have a strong bitterness or aroma, has good storage stability, and can be produced at a high yield. The purpose is to

[Means to solve the problem]

That is, the watercress powder for food additives according to the present invention is obtained by drying and powdering watercress.

When vegetables, etc. are dried and powdered, the flavor elements of the vegetables, etc. are concentrated and remain in the powder, so the flavor of those vegetables, etc. remains unchanged in the powder. It is customary to remain.

However, when watercress is powdered as described above, the unique bitterness and strong aroma are reduced and a neutral food additive can be obtained. Moreover.

The nutrients it possesses are no different from raw ones, as explained below.

In addition, since the water content is low, it has good storage stability. Furthermore, by pulverizing the part of the stem that is too hard to eat raw, it can be used as a food additive.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described together with manufacturing methods and usage examples.

First, freshly collected watercress was washed with water and then roughly cut. This was placed in a steamer and steamed at 100°C. In addition, when processing watercress before steaming, it may be roughly cut and then washed with water. Alternatively, watercress may be cut into small pieces.

Next, put the steamed watercress in the dryer.

It was heated and dried quickly. At this time, if the watercress is dried at too high a temperature, the nutrients contained in the watercress will be decomposed and its nutritional value will likely decrease. On the other hand, if the watercress drying temperature is too low.

It tends to be in a so-called over-dry state, where the inside is not sufficiently dried. From these points, when watercress is dried by heating, it is desirable to dry it at a temperature of 60 to 80''C. Other drying methods include drying in the sun or drying in the shade.

Next, the dried watercress was powdered by grinding or the like.

As mentioned above, steaming watercress as a raw material reduces its unique bitterness and aroma, but on the other hand, when you want to retain some of this bitterness and aroma.

It is best to leave it raw without steaming it, then dry it and turn it into powder. In this case, it is also possible to vacuum dry the frozen product.

The content of the main nutrients contained in this watercress powder was measured and was as follows.

Considering the difference in water content between watercress powder and raw watercress, the content of the following nutrients is equivalent to that of raw watercress.

-100 protein 31.71 g fat
13.00 g carbohydrates
41.50 g Tenbun 10.65
g Calcium 947 mg Iron
13mg vitamin A
5800 I[1 Vitamin Cl08mg Also. Calories were 388 Kcal per 100g, and alkalinity was 105.

Watercress powder according to the invention is mixed with other ingredients. Alternatively, it can be used by sprinkling it on prepared dishes, and it goes particularly well with Western cuisine, Western confectionery, and green tea. Using this method, Mr. Takashi Iwase, head chef of the Mito Keisei Hotel in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, used the watercress powder of this invention in 18 dishes, including appetizers, soups, fish dishes, meat dishes, and sweets. When people tasted the watercress, none of them felt the bitterness or strong aroma characteristic of watercress. Additionally, 38 people felt that the taste and scent of watercress that lingered in the air was favorable.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, watercress can be used as a food additive.

It can be made into a powder that does not lose its unique nutritional value and does not have a unique bitter taste or strong scent. In addition, it has a good shelf life and can be manufactured at a high yield.

This will ensure a stable supply regardless of the season.

From these points, watercress can be used widely and its high nutritional value can be effectively utilized.

Inventor Fuji 1) Ken

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Watercress powder for food additives, which is obtained by drying and powdering watercress. 2. Watercress powder for food additive use according to claim 1, wherein the watercress as a raw material is steamed.