JPS638734B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for producing dried compressed uncooked vegetables such as cabbage which can be recycled into crispy cabbage used in salads and coleslaw. Uncooked cabbage tends to lose its natural bulk. When making salads or coleslaw containing uncooked cabbage, it is important to maintain the crispness of the cabbage from the viewpoint of the quality of the cabbage-containing dish as a food. When cooked, the cabbage loses its bulk and becomes soft if cooked for a long time or at high temperatures. Similarly, freezing cabbage for too long destroys its cellular composition, and even though cabbage can be freeze-dried for safe long-term storage, the remade product is very soft and cannot be cooked. This is true even if you don't.

Even in its natural state, raw cabbage is easily perishable in a short period of time, and it is extremely difficult to store it for a long period of time so that it has the same quality as fresh cabbage by adding it to salads or coleslaw after storage. Many attempts have been made to dry and press cabbage in a way that allows it to be stored uncooked for long periods of time and has the ability to be recreated very closely to fresh cabbage. However, until the present invention, all such attempts have been unsatisfactory in providing uncooked, pressed-dried cabbage that can be reproduced almost as well as fresh, especially in terms of bulk properties and taste. Nakatsuta.

Air drying of cabbage has been tried for several years, as freezing of cabbage impairs the cell composition as mentioned above, and such air-dried cabbage loses volume when stored or transported over considerable distances. compressed to reduce However, when the cabbage is compressed, the moisture content of the cabbage is reduced by air drying sufficiently to allow it to be stored unchanged for at least 3 years at about 20°C or for at least 6 months at about 40°C. In many cases, the shreds produce a large amount of fine powder which, upon remanufacturing, does not return to the shape and size of the original cabbage shreds. Additionally, air-dried cabbage is slow to rehydrate in cold water, often requiring the use of heated water if it is to be remade in a reasonable amount of time, which is used for salads and coleslaw. This resulted in uncooked reproducible cabbage.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing dried and pressed uncooked cabbage which can be rapidly reconstituted in cold water and which results in uncooked cabbage having approximately the same bulk as fresh cabbage.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a uncooked dry cabbage which, when hydrated, has an increased density which returns to the strip shape it had before drying and compaction.

Yet another object of the invention is to have good storage stability when hermetically sealed in a moisture-impermeable package and to retain the composition of the present invention before drying and compaction even after long-term storage. To provide a method for producing compacted, uncooked, dense and non-bulky dried cabbage which quickly returns to the shape of pieces and which has food qualities and is particularly suitable for salads and coleslaws. .

Dry cabbage, which has become denser than its original state or its dried and uncompacted state, can be obtained by cutting the raw cabbage into strips and treating the strips with a solution of sodium metabisulfite or ascorbic acid or citric acid or a combination thereof. Add this to the cabbage for about 2 minutes, remove the excess amount, and leave it for about 15 to 30 minutes.
Blanch the cabbage with heated air at an initial temperature of 95-120°C gradually decreasing linearly to about 50-80°C over a period of 3-5 hours or Approximately 1 with heated air of approximately 65-80℃
Incompletely dry the cabbage for ~2 hours or with heated air at about 60-65°C for an appropriate period of time until the moisture content of the cabbage is about 10-20%, and then dry the cabbage with polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate and polyoxygenate. A food grade surfactant selected from the group consisting of ethylene sorbitan monooleate from about 0.05 to
Add sufficient amount of 0.10% aqueous solution to reduce the cabbage from approximately 3.51Kg/cm ² (50psi) to approximately 14.1Kg/cm ²
Compressed at a pressure of (200psi) from about 7:1 to about 15:1
Obtain a compressed cabbage with a compression ratio of Obtained by packaging.

As used herein, percentages are by weight unless otherwise specified.

The inventor of the present invention has discovered that when uncooked cabbage is cut into strips and compressed to increase density, the cabbage retains some of its moisture in its plasticizer so that the cellular structure of the cabbage is not compromised and a large amount of flour is not produced. Confirmed that it is necessary for. The minimum moisture content of uncooked cabbage that can be used in the compaction process of the present invention without causing compaction is about 10%.

On the other hand, fresh cabbage, both white and purple, has such a high percentage of moisture that it is impossible to compress it into a dense state without losing too much volume through the walls of the press. including. The extruded part cannot return to its original strip cabbage form. This is due to excessive plasticization of the cabbage cells caused by high moisture content. The inventors have determined that the practical upper limit of the moisture content at which the compacting process of the present invention can be carried out without the cabbage being extruded between the walls of the press used to compact the cabbage is about 25%.

The firmness of reconstituted uncooked cabbage is further improved by adding 0.03% of calcium chloride and/or sodium chloride to the cabbage strips before or after treatment with sodium metabisulfite solution or ascorbic acid or other antioxidant solution. Obtained by treatment with a molar aqueous solution.

The heated air blanching and incomplete drying of the cabbage is accomplished by various types of air drying equipment. The inventor of the present invention believes that blanching with heated air inactivates peroxidase, which is the most difficult enzyme to inactivate in the cabbage.
Starting at 95-120°C was found to be particularly effective. The temperature of the air is gradually and linearly reduced to a range of about 50-60°C over a period of time ranging from about 15-30 minutes. Incomplete drying is performed by maintaining the air temperature at about 50-60° C. for about 3-5 hours. If desired, incomplete drying can be done at approximately 65-75°C for approximately 1-2 hours.
This may be done with heated air of 200 mL, or an intermediate temperature may be used depending on the time. In either case, incomplete drying means that the moisture content of the cabbage is about 10~
Continue until it reaches 20%. Inactivation of the enzyme can be performed with steam, hot water, or microwaves prior to drying.

The compacted cabbage described above can take various forms and can be made to various sizes. The inventors of the present invention have found it convenient to make rods or disks with a thickness of approximately 6 to 15 mm.

The compressed cabbage, regardless of its form, is removed from the press and re-dried with heated air at approximately 60-80°C. By air drying, the moisture content is approximately 4
Air drying is often quite suitable as it can be as low as %. It exhibits storage stability when compacted and dried cabbage is hermetically sealed in moisture-impermeable packaging for at least 3 years at about 20°C or for at least 6 months at 38°C. For this purpose, it is sufficient that the moisture content in the compressed and dried cabbage is less than 6%. The density of compressed and dried cabbage is usually about 0.5 to 0.9
g/cc.

Following re-drying, the compacted cabbage is packaged and hermetically sealed in a moisture-impermeable package when not immediately used, which is usually the case. Such packaging may be a metal can, but may also be a flexible packaging. Once hermetically sealed in metal cans or flexible packaging, compacted and re-dried cabbage will normally survive the above-mentioned conditions for at least 3 years at 20°C or for at least 6 months at 38°C. Immediately after incomplete air drying, compression, and re-drying, it can be safely stored without any loss of food quality. For long-term storage, it is desirable to include a desiccant agent inside the package. That is, as mentioned earlier, if heated water is used, the cabbage will be remade in a soft state, as if it has been cooked, and it will not be able to maintain its crunchy raw state. In the present invention, the use of a surfactant improves the permeability of water into the compressed cabbage, and the cabbage can be remade in a short time even using cold water. In the present invention, the surfactant is added to the cabbage strips prior to compaction, so that the surfactant is uniformly dispersed even in the compressed material after the strips are compressed.

Hydrogenation or reconstitution of compressed, dried, uncooked cabbage involves placing it in an excess of water (approximately 1 part by weight of cabbage to 50 parts of water) at about 5-10°C;
This can be done by leaving it in contact with water for a period ranging from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours. As a result of this treatment, the cabbage is almost completely hydrated, and once removed from the water, it can be used in salads and coleslaws better than fresh cabbage. Other conditions may be employed for the hydration of compressed, dried, uncooked cabbage, provided that the temperature of the hydration water is kept sufficiently low so that cooking of the cabbage does not occur during hydration. is desirable. However, if desired, cooked cabbage can also be produced from the product according to the invention by employing high temperatures during or after the addition of water. However, some of the important features of the present invention over prior art methods for preserving cabbage are lost when attempting to obtain cooked cabbage.

Example Fresh white cabbage was washed, drained and cut into strips of approximately 0.5 cm wide and of different lengths. The cut cabbage was soaked for about 2 minutes in an aqueous ascorbic acid solution containing about 15 grams of ascorbic acid in 1 liter of solvent. Excess aqueous solution was separated from the cut cabbage and the cabbage was placed in a perforated dish in a heated air oven. The oven temperature was initially 105°C and gradually lowered to 70°C over 15 minutes during which time the cabbage was blanched. Next, the cabbage for about 3 hours.
The cabbage was placed in heated air at 70°C, during which time the moisture content of the cabbage was reduced to approximately 10%.

The incompletely dried and blanched cabbage was then soaked in a 0.05% aqueous solution of food grade polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate for approximately 1 minute and then drained.

The cabbage is then pressed using a hydraulic press to approx.
It was compressed into a disk approximately 100 mm in diameter and approximately 10 mm thick at a pressure of 10.5 Kg/cm ² (150 psi). The compression ratio is approx.
It was 12:1. The compressed disks of cabbage are then boiled until the moisture content is just below 5%.
Redried by air drying oven at °C. The re-dried and compacted cabbage discs were placed in metal cans which were hermetically sealed under vacuum.

After storing it indoors at 15℃ to 20℃ for about 30 days,
The disks were removed from the can, placed in a container containing water at about 10° C. in a ratio of about 50 parts by volume to 1 part cabbage, and hydrated by standing in the water for 1 hour. After that time, excess water was drained from the cabbage, and the watered cut cabbage was mixed with coleslaw or other raw vegetables to make a vegetable salad. Both the coleslaw and mixed vegetable salad were satisfying. In fact, coleslaw and mixed vegetable salads made similarly using raw, fresh, unprocessed cabbage instead of raw cabbage that has been compressed, dried, and hydrated in water at about 10 degrees Celsius as described above. They had the same level of satisfaction. By leaving the cabbage in contact with water for at least 24 hours (all day long) before using it for coleslaw or salad, better hydrated cabbage was obtained. However, extended hydration times are not necessary to obtain acceptable coleslaw or vegetable salads using raw cabbage.

Needless to say, cabbage can be replaced by Chinese cabbage, cauliflower and other similar vegetables. The above-mentioned and other advantages may also be obtained by making appropriate modifications to the detailed process.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Cutting raw cabbage leaves into strips; coating the strips with ascorbic acid or other effective antioxidant; and applying an excess amount of the ascorbic acid or other antioxidant to the cabbage strips. a step of removing the
Initially, the air was at a temperature in the range of about 95°C to 120°C, and then the temperature was gradually lowered to a range of about 50°C to 80°C, which was reduced approximately linearly over a period of about 15 to 30 minutes. blanching with heated air at a temperature of about 50°C to 80°C until the moisture content of the cabbage strips is in the range of about 10% to 20% by weight; covering the cabbage strips by adding an aqueous solution of a food grade surfactant selected from the group consisting of polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate and polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate; removing excess of the aqueous solution of surfactant from the strips of cabbage; compressing the cabbage at a compression ratio of about 7:1 to 15:1; re-drying until the content does not exceed 5%.