RU2534361C1 - Rosebay tea production method - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: food industry.

SUBSTANCE: method involves raw material curing, milling into particles sized 2-6 mm, fermentation and drying. The tea raw material is represented by rosebay stalks, leaves and flowers picked from 20-30 cm high plants (when not wet on account of dew or rain) from the third decade of May in the moderate climatic zone of Russia and to the moment when rosebay stalk vegetative fibres harden. Rosebay curing is performed until moisture content is 70-75%. Curing shall be performed no later than 5 hours after the raw material picking. Fermentation is performed during 12-48 hours within premises where the air temperature is 20-28°C and relative humidity is equal to 70-75%. Drying is performed under natural conditions in the wind outdoors, with rosebay treated with direct or diffused sunlight during 6 hours until moisture content is 8-10%.

EFFECT: ensuring improved quality of teat due to ensuring the possibility to preserve biologically active substances by way of more prolonged staged fermentation.

2 cl

Description

The invention relates to the tea industry and can be used in the processing of plant materials.

Known methods of processing tea leaves in order to preserve in the final product the maximum amount of all biologically valuable components. At the same time, tea can be produced in the traditional form - long leaf: small or leaf, as well as in the form of granules. For this, the green tea leaf is chopped in stages, fermented, dehydrated, granulated, sorted and dried (see SU 1620086 A1, A23F 3/00, Khoperia P.M. et al. 15.01.91).

The disadvantage of this method is the complexity of the process, since before granulation it is supposed to moisten the raw material with a binder. The grinding process is complex, which includes several stages. In addition, tea is a plant that grows only in subtropic zones. In Russia, this is a small region of the Krasnodar Territory. Consequently, the vast majority of raw materials are imported from abroad and only in processed form.

A known method of producing granules from plant materials for the preparation of a tea drink.

This method involves the processing of mint or thyme, which is taken already in dry form in powder form. The powder is moistened with a binder, granulated and dried (see SU 1738215 A1, NPO Gosagroprom of the ArmSSR for food products, A23F 3/34, 06/07/92). The disadvantage of this method is that it does not provide any tricks to preserve valuable components.

A known method for the production of tea from fireweed (RU 2095994, A23F 3/34, A. Grachev, 02/10/97).

This method involves drying, grinding, heat treatment, fermentation, granulation and drying. This method allows to reduce the loss of valuable substances contained in the leaves of fireweed and its food and taste qualities and keep these qualities unchanged for up to 3 years.

However, this method is very complex and expensive, since before heat treatment it involves freezing the raw material to -20 ° C for 9-15 hours.

The closest in technical essence and the achieved result is a method of producing tea from fireweed, which includes drying, grinding, heat treatment, fermentation and drying, while the drying of the fire is carried out to a moisture content of 55-65% at a temperature not exceeding 50 ° C, crushed to particle sizes 2-6 mm, fermentation is carried out after drying and grinding for 3-5 hours until a characteristic dark color with a weak dark green hue is formed, drying is carried out before heat treatment to a moisture content of not more than 12%, and ermoobrabotku carried out for 1-1.5 hours at 60-70 ° C to moisture content of 7-9% (See. Patent RU №2123788, A23F 3/34, 1998 YG).

The disadvantage of this method is the low quality of tea due to its low degree of fermentation, leading to a reduction in the amount of nutrients in the finished product. Due to the high temperature during heat treatment, many useful substances are also lost.

The technical result of the proposed technical solution is to improve the quality of tea by providing the ability to preserve and obtain biologically active substances through a longer (deep) multi-stage fermentation.

The technical result is achieved by the fact that in the production of tea from fireweed, which involves withering, grinding to a particle size of 2-6 mm, fermentation and drying, while the raw materials for tea use stems, leaves and flowers of fireweed in different ratios, collected dry when the plant reaches 20-30 cm (from about the third decade of May in the middle zone of Russia) until the plant fibers of the stem of the fireweed harden, the fire is wilted until the moisture content is 70-75%, while the time between the end of collection raw materials and its drying should not exceed five hours, fermentation is carried out for 12-48 hours in a room having an internal temperature of 20-28 ° C and humidity of 70-75%, drying is carried out in natural conditions in the wind when processing the product direct or diffuse sunlight for at least 6 hours to a moisture content of 8-10%, while the finished product is kept in a dry place for 1.5-2 months.

The proposed method is implemented as follows.

The collection of raw materials. The gathering of fireweed (Ivan-tea) is carried out in ecologically clean places away from roads (forest glades, clearings, clearings, overgrown fields, etc.).

In the case of targeted cultivation of fireweed as an agricultural crop, raw materials are collected from specially prepared glades sown with this crop.

The collection is carried out after the drying of morning dew and before the appearance of evening dew. Raw materials should not be wet from external moisture. Harvesting during and after rain until the plants dry out is not allowed. The time from the collection of raw materials to the start of drying should not exceed five hours. This means that the raw materials collected in bags, to exclude the beginning of the debate process (otherwise the raw materials are heated, change color, smell, properties deteriorate, mold may appear) should not be in them for more than five hours. During the collection, the collected tea bags are placed in the shade until they are transported to the processing workshop, which allows better preservation of tea raw materials.

The raw materials for collection are, depending on the type of tea, stems, leaves and flowers in various proportions. An indispensable condition: the presence in each type of tea of the stem part of the plant, which gives it characteristic properties (taste, color, aroma, structure) in the process of further production. Due to the presence of parts of the stem of the fireweed (containing a large amount of sugars and other substances compared to others compared to other parts of the plant), it further improves the fermentation process of each type of tea.

The moment of the beginning of the collection is the achievement of a plant height of 20-30 cm. The completion of the collection and, accordingly, the production of tea is completed when the plant fibers of the stem of the fireweed harden. As this hardens, increasingly shorter plant tops are collected.

Wilting. The collected plant materials are laid out in an even layer up to 10 cm thick in a dry, protected from direct sunlight, ventilated place. In this case, periodically produce tedding of the wilted mass.

In order to accelerate the drying process, it is possible to vent the mass of raw materials with natural air (without heating, using equipment suitable for these purposes. In this case, the tedding process should be more frequent to avoid uneven drying).

For withering, you can use outdoor covered canopies, under which there are tables with a grid on which raw materials are laid out. For the production of tea, the optimum moisture content of the finished withered raw materials is 70-75%. When withering raw materials, including the stems of fireweed, having the lowest speed of withering, this stage lengthens. As a result, the leaves lose more moisture, but due to the higher humidity of the stems, the total moisture of the mass is averaged to the required parameters.

Changing humidity in one direction or another negatively affects the quality and speed of the following stages of production: grinding and fermentation.

Without measuring instruments (moisture meters), the readiness for the next technological process - grinding - is determined by twisting bundles of whole leaves. Leaves should not tear (its sheet is too wet) and break (the sheet is already bent). The juice from the leaves should not be squeezed during twisting, and the juice should not drip during grinding of the wilted mass.

In the initial collection period (late spring - early summer), the moisture content of the initial mass of raw materials is higher than in mid-summer (the end of June - July). Accordingly, the drying time and loss of mass of raw materials due to evaporation of excess moisture at the beginning of the season will be longer than at the end of the season. So at the beginning of the season, the loss of mass of the feedstock due to the evaporation of excess moisture is 40-45%, by the end of the season there is a decrease in weight loss to 25-28%. Accordingly, the proportions of the yield of the final product (dry tea) relative to the mass of the initial raw material also change: from 14% at the beginning of the season to 20% at the end, i.e. at the beginning of the season, out of 100 kg of collected green mass, the yield of dry tea is 14 kg; at the end of the season, about 20 kg.

These indicators were obtained empirically in the conditions of the Kirov region by averaging five-year data (2008-2012).

Shredding. Grinding the feedstock to a particle size of 2-6 mm allows you to further most fully extract from the plant all its useful elements. Also, through grinding, the most complete and high-quality fermentation of the product occurs. The finished wilted mass is crushed using equipment such as a meat grinder, for example, MIM-600 through a system of knives and wire racks with a diameter of 9 and 5 mm. It is possible to grind on other similar equipment. The output is a homogeneous green minced vegetable.

Fermentation. For fermentation, you can use any container (boxes, trays, etc.) with a side height of at least 10 cm and a flat bottom.

For the convenience of further actions, as well as to ensure sanitary conditions, such containers are lined on the bottom with a bend through the sides with plastic wrap or any other similar material suitable for working with food products. The film can be used repeatedly. After each fermentation process, it should be thoroughly washed and dried, preferably in the wind and sunlight.

The crushed green mass (stuffing) with a layer of 7-10 cm is put in boxes. Boxes are placed in a dark room.

The optimum air temperature in the fermentation shop is 20-28 ° С. Relative humidity of 70-75%, corresponding to the humidity of ground tea (in this case, the green mass does not dry out). Changing humidity in one direction or another affects the quality of the final product.

When reducing the optimal humidity in the room and, accordingly, the fermented mass, the air, as well as the fermented mass itself are moistened by spraying moisture.

Minced tea should not dry out; it is necessary to maintain its constant humidity from the beginning to the end of the fermentation process.

To prevent the fermentable mass from caking and the fermentation process to proceed evenly (oxygen was provided), periodically (depending on the specific conditions in each room) the mass is mixed with a wooden spatula. In the case of a decrease in air temperature, the mixing frequency decreases, with an increase in temperature it increases.

The fermentation process lasts from 12 to 48 hours (depending on the temperature and humidity in the room).

Signs of fermentation:

- a pleasant fruity smell of one degree or another appears, which disappears by the end of the process;

- changing the color of the stuffing to dark green or brown;

- the degree of looseness of the mass changes - by the end of the process, the looseness increases, the mass becomes more crumbly;

- by the end of fermentation, the process of warming the mass begins, internal (intracellular) moisture comes out.

After the minced tea began to bask inside the box, it is mixed so that the warming of the entire mass is uniform. In a warm state, the fermentation can withstand up to 5-8 hours. When the temperature of the meat is increased, it is mixed, thereby removing excessive heat.

Thus, the degree of minced fermentation is very deep.

Drying. After fermentation, the minced meat with a layer of up to 2 cm is laid out on outdoor tables, both open and under awnings from materials that let in sunlight, such as polycarbonate. Drying is carried out in natural conditions in the wind and sunlight. At the same time, the fermentation processes continue in the minced meat, gradually ceasing as the minced meat dries. Sunlight in this case is a prerequisite for this stage of the tea production process. Even if in the future, when the weather worsens, tea is dried in drying chambers (at temperatures up to 45-50 ° C), then preliminary drying of minced meat on open tables and its processing with sunlight is a prerequisite. Processing the mass of future tea with direct or diffused sunlight in the open air is one of the distinguishing features of the proposed method.

The proposed method of drying also allows you to reduce the cost of tea production, reducing the cost of drying.

Stuffed meat after fermentation can also be laid out on drying mesh boxes. Moreover, drying is also carried out in sunlight in the open air (in the wind).

In case of wet weather, it is allowed to finish tea in drying chambers at a drying temperature not exceeding 45-50 ° С.

Drying time in the sun in the open air depends on weather conditions and ranges from 6 to 36 hours.

Drying time (drying after solar treatment) in thermal chambers is from 3 to 8 hours.

The finished product should have a moisture content of not more than 10%.

After drying the tea, if necessary, it is cleaned of impurities directly on the drying tables.

Ready dry tea is poured into paper bags weighing 10-20 kg and left in a dry place for 1.5-2 months for aging (ripening) before packaging.

Improved quality of tea by providing the ability to preserve biologically active substances through a longer (deeper) multi-stage fermentation is the advantage and advantage of the proposed technical solution compared to the prototype.

Claims (2)

1. Method for the production of tea from fireweed, which involves the drying of raw materials, grinding to particle sizes of 2-6 mm, fermentation and drying, characterized in that the raw materials for tea use the stems, leaves and flowers of the fireweed collected moist from dew and rain upon reaching plant height 20-30 cm, starting from the third decade of May in the middle zone of Russia until the hardening of plant fibers of the stem of the fireweed, withering of fireweed is carried out to a moisture content of 70-75%, while the time between the end of the collection of raw materials and withering is not dol but exceed 5 hours, fermentation is carried out for 12-48 hours in a room having an air temperature of 20-28 ° C and a relative humidity of 70-75%, drying is carried out in natural conditions in the wind and open air when processing the fireweed in direct or diffused sunlight at least 6 hours to a moisture content of 8-10%. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the prepared dry tea from fireweed is kept in a dry place for 1.5-2 months.