JPS6311860A - Method for displaying spoilage speed of food and drink - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To know an eatable and drinkable period, by knowing the preserving state of foods and drinks on the basis of the increase in the size of the colony of bacteria or fungi or the sharpness of the shape of said colony. CONSTITUTION:For example, a plastic container 1 is subjected to dry sterilization at 160 deg.C and an agar nutrient medium 2 consisting of 5g of bactopeptone, 3g of bactobouillon, 1 0.5g of a bactoyeast extract, 15g of agar and 1l of water is received in said container 1. Subsequently, caustic soda is added to the medium 2 to adjust the pH thereof to 7.0-7.2 and, after high pressure steam sterilization is performed at 120 deg.C for 20 min, a dilute suspension of E. coli is applied to the surface of the medium in a sport form so as to show a character 'DAN GER' and a plastic lid 4 is closed so as to leave an air present space 3 in the container 1 to hermetically close the container 1 by hear sealing. The resulting kit is adhered to a Japanese -style confection package. Whereupon, the size of a colony becomes discernible by the naked eye and, by confirming the colony 5 showing the character 'DANGER', an eatable and drinkable period can be known.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for displaying the rate of spoilage of foods and beverages, which can display the progress of spoilage in consideration of the storage conditions of the foods and beverages.

[Conventional technology, problems]

Conventionally, the manufacturing date and expiration date are sometimes displayed on the packaging throughout the manufacturing process to indicate the period during which food and beverages can be consumed, but these merely indicate the point of manufacture and the average expiry date; It does not indicate what kind of environment the product was placed in after manufacturing, so it is only a guideline for calculating the period of edible consumption if the product was placed in a normal environment. In other words, the food and drinks were stored in a freezer for a long time, were stored in a refrigerator that is opened occasionally and is prone to temperature rises, were stored indoors at room temperature, or were they put on the shelf on the back page. The period during which you can eat and drink varies greatly depending on the situation. It is also well known that the quality of food and beverages varies greatly depending on whether or not they have been stored under sterilizing lights. In this way, food and drinks are often placed in different external environments such as temperature after manufacturing, so it is not possible to know the true period during which they can be eaten or eaten only by the date of manufacture or expiry date.

You may accidentally eat or drink something that has gone beyond its edible period and cause gastrointestinal disorders, or you may suffer from poisoning due to toxins caused by the decay of proteins, or even if it is still within the edible period. However, there were many cases where they were wasted and thrown away.

[Means for solving the problem 1] In view of the current situation, the present invention provides a method of dotting a nutrient medium with a small number of bacteria or fungi, sealing the same in a transparent and non-porous container,
The indicator is characterized by an increase in the size or sharpness of the shape of the colony of bacteria or fungi that occurs when the bacteria or fungi are attached to food and drink packages, and the reproduction rate is determined by changes in the external environment such as temperature. It is possible to know the progress of spoilage of food and beverages, taking into account changes in the external environment such as temperature, by using the increase in the size or sharpness of the shape of bacterial or fungal colonies, which change slightly, as an indicator. be.

The bacteria or fungi used in the present invention are those belonging to protophytes or fungi belonging to foliar plants, the former including eubacteria, myxobacteria, pegiatoa, mycoplasma, etc., and the latter &'i fungi (algae). It includes fungi, ascomycetes, basidiomycetes, deuteromycetes, etc.) and metamorphic fungi (also referred to as bacillus subtilis). To give a specific example, Escherichia coli (
Escherichia coli), Neurospora crassa (N
eurospora Crassa) - Bacillus subtilis (Ba
cillus 5ubtilis) - Salmonella enterica (S
armo-nella), molds in general, etc., which can be identified with the naked eye by the increase in the size of the colony or the sharpness of its shape. In general, spoilage of food refers to the decomposition of its organic matter by the action of microorganisms (spoilage bacteria), and the bacteria or fungi used here are 1. Depending on the type of food or drink that should be labeled, it spoils the food or drink. Bacteria are preferable, but they are not necessarily limited to this, as long as they have a propagation rate that maintains a good correlation with the spoilage rate of food and beverages.

Bacteria or fungi are scattered in an agar, paste, or other nutrient medium and sealed in a transparent, non-porous container such as a capsule. Nutrient media include glucose extracted from natural substances such as meat and yeast, NH4Cl,
A medium containing nutrients necessary for bacterial growth, such as a synthetic medium containing two or more of NaCl, CaC1z, and FeC12, is used. The container for storing the nutrient medium may be transparent so that the inside can be observed, and non-porous to prevent outside fungi from entering. The container containing the nutrient medium should be sealed with a heat seal or other means to prevent fungi from entering from the outside. Note that in order to allow the bacteria or fungi scattered within the nutrient medium to propagate, the container must have enough space or an oxygen generating substance to supply the necessary amount of oxygen. When the container containing bacteria or fungi formed in this way is attached to a packaging container for food or drink, the bacteria or fungi in the container will progress as the food or drink decomposes. .

As an external environment that contributes to the increase in size or sharpness of shape of bacterial or fungal colonies.

Examples include temperature and the presence of germicidal lights. If all of these external environments are maintained at given conditions, then over time we will only see a given increase in the size or sharpness of the shape of the bacterial or fungal colony; It is constant for each type. However, if, for example, other conditions are held constant and the temperature is varied, bacteria'! ! The size or shape of a fungal colony increases or becomes clearer when the temperature is high, and increases or becomes clearer slowly when the temperature is low, but the size or shape of the colony as a whole increases or becomes clearer cumulatively. I will do it. Therefore, by comparing this result with what is shown by examining changes in the size or shape of bacterial or fungal colonies over time when all external environments including temperature are held constant, it is possible to determine the effective Changes over time and therefore the rate of spoilage of food and beverages can be known. In other words, it is possible to know the change over time in the case of temperature change converted to the total reference state, and also to know the spoilage rate of the food and drink. Therefore, when stored in a refrigerator and kept at a low temperature, it appears that a shorter period of time has elapsed than the actual elapsed time, and the spoilage of food and beverages has progressed faster than the actual elapsed time. On the other hand, if the food and drinks are placed in hot summer conditions, the elapsed time will be longer than the actual elapsed time, and the spoilage of the food and drink will have progressed more than the actual elapsed time.

That is, it is possible to know the progress of spoilage based on the effective elapsed time that food and drinks have undergone. In addition, it is desirable to select bacteria or fungi used at this time that change significantly depending on the time when the food or drink can be consumed.

Further, it is desirable to adjust the humidity, nutrient source concentration, oxygen concentration, etc. of the culture medium as appropriate depending on the type of food or drink. If food and drink items are easily perishable, adjust the humidity and other conditions so that the conditions are optimal for fungal growth.If food and drink items are not perishable, the conditions should not be set to the optimum conditions, and other measures should be taken. Preservatives may be added.

In addition, when scattering 1M5 fungi or fungi on a nutrient medium, if you make a single letter, figure, etc. stand out, even if the size of each individual colony is small, it will be easier to visually recognize them as a whole, and it will be easier to recognize them visually as a whole. Display effects can be obtained. Furthermore, it is also possible to clearly visualize the shape of colonies using colored fungi such as blue mold and red mold.

〔Example〕

Plastic container 1' as shown in Figures 1 to 4
It was dry heat sterilized at e160'C, and the following agar-like nutrient medium 2 was placed therein.

Bactobeptone 5g Bacto Bouillon 3g Water
11 P by caustic soda
After neutralizing to H7.0-7.2 and high-pressure steam sterilization at 120°C for 20 minutes, a dilute solution of E. coli was applied to the surface of the medium.
The containers were dotted so as to fully represent the letters ``KIKAN'', and a plastic lid 4 was placed on the container 1, leaving a space 3 where air existed, and the container was sealed by heat sealing. When this was attached to a Japanese confectionery packaging container and placed indoors, the size of the colony became visible to the naked eye on the 7th day, and Colony 5 shaped like the character "Danger" could be clearly confirmed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, it is possible to know the storage condition of food and drink products by the increase in the size or sharpness of the shape of bacterial or fungal colonies, regardless of the storage condition. It can have excellent practical effects such as being able to know the practical expiration date for eating and drinking.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the state of the container immediately after sealing, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is the state of the container 7 days after sealing. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing the same, and FIG. 4 is a plan view thereof. Container 2: Nutrient medium 3 2 spaces 4: Lid 5: Letter-shaped colony

Claims (1)

[Claims] The size of colonies of bacteria or fungi produced by dotting a small number of bacteria or fungi in a nutrient medium, sealing the same in a transparent, non-porous container, and attaching it to a package of food or drink. A method for indicating the rate of food and beverage spoilage, characterized by using as an index an increase in color or sharpness of shape.