NO874379L - FOOD CLEANING CLEANER. - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an agent for cleaning foodstuffs, in particular vegetable foodstuffs.

Depending on the method of cultivation and storage and the environmental impact from pesticides, preservatives and dirt from rainfall and ambient air, vegetable food products are increasingly affected. Wiping or washing with tap water does not remove these contaminants, or only after a very long exposure, especially when the surfaces are "greasy" (hydrophobic).

With ordinary cleaning agents, these substances can indeed be better removed from the surface of the foodstuffs, but the cleaning agents are not taste-neutral or unfavorable in terms of taste and cannot themselves be completely removed again.

For that reason, cleaning agents such as e.g. in dry form is added to a rinsing bath in order to be able to carry out the treatment of the nutrients after dissolution, see e.g. DE patent document 2,709,750.

Due to their content of surface-active substances, these agents are not neutral in taste and give the processed foodstuffs an unpleasant taste.

The purpose of the present invention is to produce an agent for cleaning foodstuffs, especially fruit and vegetables, which is physiologically safe and composed of natural substances, which improves the characteristic taste, can be easily washed away and has a particularly good cleaning effect.

The cleaning agent according to the invention is characterized by having the following composition:

5 - 10% by weight citric acid fatty acid glycerides

0-8% by weight starch or starch cleavage products 0-1% by weight stabilizer

0.5-1% by weight of lecithin

0 - 10% by weight lower polyol

0 - 10 wt% citrate

The rest water

The agent can advantageously be applied directly in the form of a concentrate, e.g. on the fruits to be consumed, whereby a simple wiping of the liquid together with any loose or colloidal dirt therein is sufficient for cleaning individual pieces.

The agent can thus come onto human skin without danger as it is a dermatologically harmless compound.

Adherent cleaning agent residues can be consumed with the product without further ado as it has a mild, fruity taste and all components are permitted as food or food items in 1 sentence substances.

Soft-skinned fruit or leafy vegetables are preferably washed one or more times in a 0.1 - 1 percent solution in water and possibly rinsed with clean water to remove excess cleaning agent.

The cleaning agent according to the invention exhibits a surprisingly high cleaning ability. Application both as a concentrate and in the form of a diluted solution is decisively improved by setting the concentrate's viscosity to 50 - 80 cP.

Finally, it should be noted that the cleaning agent according to the invention can easily be washed away with water, also when used in the form of a concentrate, from the cleaned fruit or vegetable.

Examples of compositions are given below. These specifications are in parts by weight unless otherwise stated.

Example 1 87.5 H20 dist.

6.0 citric acid monoglyceride esters

2.0 soy lecithin (1)

5.0 starch (water soluble)

0.5 potassium sorbate

Example 2 91.5 H2<D dist.

3.0 citric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides

of edible fatty acids

3.0 citric acid monoglyceride esters 2.0 soy lecithin (1)

0.5 potassium sorbate

Example 3 86.7 H 2 O dist.

3.0 citric acid ester from mono- and diglycerides

of edible fatty acids

3.0 citric acid monoglyceride esters 5.0 starch hydrolyzate 0.3 potassium sorbate

Example 4 85.0 H20 dist.

10.0 sodium citrate

2.0 soy lecithin (2)

2.0 mono- and diglyceride citric acid ester of

edible fatty acids

1.0 potassium sorbate

Example 5 72.3 E^ O dest.

20.0 potassium citrate

2.0 soy lecithin (2)

5.0 mono- and diglyceride citric acid ester of

edible fatty acids

0.5 potassium sorbate

Example 6 85.5 H20 dist.

10.0 sodium citrate

2.0 soy lecithin (2)

2.0 citric acid ester of mono- and diglyceride of

edible fatty acids

0.5 potassium sorbate

Example 7 67.7 H 2 O dist.

20.0 sodium citrate

2.0 soy lecithin (2)

5.0 citric acid ester from mono- and diglyceride from

edible fatty acids

5.0 starch

0.3 ascorbyl palmitate

The above-mentioned substances are commercial products. The citric acid ester of the mono- and diglycerides is e.g. a substance sold by TEGO-TENSIDE under the name AXOL C 63. Citomulgan from the company Giinter Gienow was used as soy lecithin (1). STERNPHIL-CA from the company Stern was used as soy lecithin (2).

The good cleaning effect of the agent according to the invention was tested with the help of the cleaning agent according to example 1. 25 liters of a 1 percent aqueous solution of the cleaning agent were allowed to act for 5 minutes under light movement of 1.5 kg of the foodstuff.

In a similar way, as a comparison, it was washed with 25 liters of drinking water.

Treatment with the polluting substances was carried out from 24 to 48 hours before harvesting the nutrients by spraying with a 0.02 - 0.5 percent aqueous solution of the substances. The nutrients were cleaned immediately after harvesting.

Table 3: Dichlofluanid residues in yarrow depending on the washing method.

Sample No. Sample designation Dichlofluanid content

mg/kg relative<*>) relative<**>)

1 untreated 0.11

2 processed,

unwashed 2.97 100

3 processed,

washed with water 1.17 39 100

4 processed,

washed with clean-

agent 0.72 24 62

Remarks; Dichlofluanid use 24/6 - 1986.

Harvesting and washing 26/6 - 1986.

Relative<*>) = unwashed = 100

Relative<**>) = with water only = 100

Claims (7)

1. Means for cleaning, especially of vegetable, foodstuffs, in the form of an aqueous, concentrated solution, characterized in that it has the following composition: 5 - 10% by weight citric acid-fatty acid glyceride esters 0-9% by weight starch or starch cleavage product 0-1% by weight stabilizer 0.5-5% by weight lecithin 0 - 10% by weight lower polyol 0 - 10 wt% citrate the rest water 2. Cleaning agent in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that it contains dextrin as starch. 3. Cleaning agent in accordance with claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it contains sorbate and/or ascorbyl palmitate as a stabilizer. 4. Cleaning agent in accordance with one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the lower alcohol contains glycerol. 5. Cleaning agent in accordance with one of claims 1-4, characterized in that it is set to pH 5 - 7, preferably pH 6. 6. Cleaning agent in accordance with one of claims 1-5, characterized in that it is available in the form of a 0.1 - 1 per cent, ready-to-use aqueous solution. 7. Method for cleaning, in particular of vegetable, foodstuffs, characterized by treating these with concentrated or diluted solutions according to one of claims 1-6.