WO2009087014A1

WO2009087014A1 - Solid water soluble tea composition

Info

Publication number: WO2009087014A1
Application number: PCT/EP2008/067427
Authority: WO
Inventors: Grace George; Anil Kottainkadangode Gopalan; Skand Saksena
Original assignee: Unilever Plc; Unilever N.V.; Hindustan Unilever Limited
Priority date: 2008-01-11
Filing date: 2008-12-12
Publication date: 2009-07-16
Also published as: CN101909455B; CN101909455A; SA109300009B1

Abstract

Disclosed is a solid water soluble composition comprising instant black tea and water soluble chicory.

Description

SOLID WATER SOLUBLE TEA COMPOSITION

Technical Field

The invention relates to a solid water soluble composition. The invention more particularly relates to a cost effective solid hot water soluble tea composition that has all the attributes consumers have come to expect from hot instant tea.

Background of the Invention

Tea is the second most popular beverage in the world after water. Tea is available in many formats e.g. as a hot beverage such as an infusion of black tea, green tea, or oolong tea in hot water. These infusions are generally prepared by the consumer himself from leaf tea, either loose or in a tea bag. Alternately pre-infused tea concoctions are made into cold-instant tea or hot-instant tea powders by many manufacturers. Also, some manufacturers use the above powders, add some external flavours, reconstitute into a beverage and sell the products in cans/ bottles as ice-tea.

Instant tea is a product which contains no water insolubles. Hot instant tea products are fully soluble in hot water and can be consumed as such without filtration. The conventional process to prepare instant tea is described in the reference book Tea - Cultivation to Consumption' edited by K. C. Wilson & M. N. Clifford & published by Chapman & Hall (1992). A typical process involves taking the desired raw material (e.g. black tea), which is extracted using hot water in a multi-stage counter-current extractor. The tea liquor/extract is separated from the spent tea leaf by passing it through a screw press. This extract containing about 3.5-4% tea solids, is clarified by removing coarse and fine particulates by deleafing in a centrifuge. When the hot extract is cooled, an insoluble phase separates which is known as cream. Processes are known which convert this insoluble cream fraction to a water soluble fraction to improve extraction yields. Subsequently, the extract is concentrated to 35-40% solids in an evaporator. This concentrate is spray dried to get the instant tea powder.

As can be seen above, the process to prepare instant tea is an involved, capital intensive and expensive process. The cost of preparing instant tea is several fold that of black tea. The high cost has impeded the growth of instant tea as a mass-market product. The present inventors have been working on the problem of providing instant tea, especially hot instant tea to the consumers at lower cost whilst ensuring that the organoleptic and other properties of instant tea are not compromised. During their extensive research the present inventors found that incorporation of water soluble chicory in instant tea gave a product that met all of the above contrasting requirements. To the best of their knowledge, such a product has not been made before.

Black tea with added chicory has been reported before. EP 1 092 349 (Unilever, 2001 ) claims a tea product with enhanced aroma and flavour comprising 15-95% by weight black tea, up to 5% of a mixture comprising fructose and glucose, and up to 5% of roasted nut powder. The tea product optionally comprises roasted chicory, a flavouring agent, a dairy or non diary whitener, starch, or a preservative. This black tea product has to be brewed by the consumer and is not an instant tea product.

EP 824 109 (Nestle, 1998) claims a soluble instant inulin having an inulin content in a range of 50 to 80%, wherein said soluble inulin has been obtained by a caramelization through an extruder. The instant inulin optionally may contain further a compound chosen from the group consisting of soluble instant coffee, soluble instant chicory and a mixture thereof in percent by weight from 5 to 95%. This publication teaches a combination of soluble inulin, soluble instant chicory and instant coffee. There is no teaching of inclusion of hot instant tea. Further, the taste, flavour, aroma and other organoleptic properties desired by coffee drinkers are very different from those desired by tea drinkers.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide for an instant tea product that is lower in cost and yet has all the desired organoleptic properties of instant tea products presently available.

It is another object of the present invention to provide for a hot instant tea product that is low in cost, has all the desired organoleptic properties and is stable during storage and up until use. Summary of the Invention

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a solid water soluble composition comprising instant black tea and water soluble chicory.

The presence of chicory in the composition allows for the preparation of beverages which have all the properties of conventional beverages made from instant black tea even though they are prepared with less tea solids.

It is particularly preferred that the composition is a hot water soluble tea composition comprising hot-instant black tea and hot water soluble chicory.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a process to prepare a solid water soluble composition comprising a step of mixing a powder of instant black tea with a powder of water soluble chicory.

According to a still further aspect, there is provided a process to prepare the solid water soluble composition comprising the steps of (i) mixing water extract of black tea with water extract of roasted chicory and (ii) drying the mixture to a powder.

Detailed Description

The composition of the present invention is most preferably an instant tea product. By this is meant a tea product to which the consumer just needs to add water in order to completely dissolve the entire product and so produce a ready to drink tea beverage. There is no insoluble tea material that is required to be filtered in the preparation of the beverage. The consumer may add other additives of his choice e.g. sugar, milk or lemon as per his taste but the beverage prepared in water is similar to what he is used to when drinking a beverage prepared from presently available instant black tea. The invention is more specifically targeted to a hot water soluble tea composition. By hot water is meant water at a temperature in the range of 60 to 100⁰C.

The composition of the invention preferably comprises hot instant black tea and hot water soluble chicory. Hot instant black tea is prepared from black tea. Generally, to prepare black tea, fresh green leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis are withered (a process where plucked tea leaves are allowed to lose moisture and bring about chemical / biochemical changes especially in aroma), macerated, fermented (in which process enzymes in the tea leaf use atmospheric oxygen to oxidise various substrates to produce coloured products) and then dried at higher temperatures (to stop the enzyme activities). By hot instant black tea is meant a tea product which contains material obtained from extraction of the water soluble materials from black tea in hot water. The composition of the invention preferably comprises 35 to 90%, more preferably 40 to 80%, further more preferably 40 to 65% instant black tea by weight of the composition.

Chicory is a flowering plant of the genus Chichorium of the family Asteraceae. Many species of chicory are known. It is grown in most continents including Europe and North and South America. The roots are roasted and ground to prepare a brown powder which is the most common form of chicory. It has been traditionally mixed with coffee to prepare a coffee blend.

Water soluble chicory is present in the composition of the invention. Ultra-light, light, medium and dark roast are standards to differentiate the degrees of roast. As per the present invention, the water soluble chicory is preferably prepared from light roasted and/or medium roasted chicory. This is in contrast to instant coffee compositions where dark roast chicory has been found to be preferred.

Light roasted or medium roasted chicory is preferably prepared by the following process. Diced chicory roots are roasted in a chicory roaster. The degree of roasting depends on the time of roasting and heat input to the roaster. Preferred time of roasting is between 20 minutes and 2 hours and roasting temperatures are between 150 and 25O⁰C.

Water soluble chicory is preferably prepared by first agitating the roasted chicory in water, preferably in hot water, to extract the soluble solids. The insoluble portion is removed typically in a screw-press and the extract is concentrated under vacuum. The concentrated extract is then dried. It is preferred that the chicory extract is mixed with a binder e.g. polysaccharide and/or modified polysaccharide prior to drying. A suitable method of drying is spray drying. Suitable binders are gum acacia, modified starches, maltodextrin, or a mixture thereof. Chicory dried without a polysaccharide makes the extract viscous, difficult to handle and the dried product is hygroscopic. Mixing with maltodextrin prior to drying is especially preferred. Use of maltodextrin enables easy drying of the chicory extract. A further advantage in using maltodextrin is that it is widely available and relatively inexpensive. The composition preferably comprises 2 to 30 wt%, more preferably 4 to 10% binder by weight of the composition.

Chicory is a relatively less expensive material as compared to black tea. Thus, inclusion of water soluble chicory, in the composition of the invention, not only reduces cost, as expected, but the inventors have surprisingly found that the water soluble chicory provides the right balance of desired attributes in the end cup beverage like colour and astringency while not compromising on the teaness / quality of the final product. The composition preferably comprises 10 to 60%, more preferably 15 to 55% water soluble chicory by weight of the composition.

The composition preferably comprises less than 7% moisture, more preferably the moisture is in the range of 3 to 5% by weight of the composition.

The composition of the invention can be used in many applications of instant tea e.g. hot instant tea, instant tea premix for use in a vending machine, ice tea, confectionery etc. In the case of hot instant tea, the product would be sold as such in bottles or sachets where the consumer can use it with hot water and/or milk at home. It can also be sold as a premix which can be reconstituted in a vending machine or at home.

The composition may comprise optional ingredients including flavours, dairy creamers (such as milk powder), non dairy creamers, sweeteners (such as sugar), stabilizers, emulsifiers, anticaking agents, acidulants, colourants or mixtures thereof.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a process to prepare a solid water soluble composition comprising the step of mixing powder of instant black tea with powder of water soluble chicory. The powder of instant black tea is preferably hot instant black tea. The powder of water soluble chicory is preferably hot water soluble.

The instant black tea present in the composition of the invention is preferably obtained by a process comprising the steps of (i) extracting the water soluble components of black tea in water at a temperature in the range of 60 to 100⁰C; (ii) separating the water soluble extract from the insoluble matter; (iii) concentrating the extract to get a concentrate and (iv) drying the concentrate to a powder which is the solid instant black tea. Water soluble chicory present in the composition of the invention is preferably prepared by a process comprising the steps of (i) roasting the chicory root to prepare roasted chicory, (ii) extracting the water soluble components of the roasted chicory in water at a temperature in the range of 60 to 100⁰C to prepare a chicory extract, and (iii) drying the chicory extract to a powder to prepare water soluble chicory. The chicory extract is preferably mixed with a polysaccharide prior to drying. The chicory extract is mixed with the polysaccharide in a preferred ratio in the range of 2:1 to 5:1 on dry weight basis. The chicory extract is preferably spray dried.

The composition may optionally comprise other water soluble materials e.g. instant green tea, flavours and tea aroma fractions. By instant green tea is meant a tea product which contains material obtained from extraction of the water soluble materials from green tea in water. The tea flavour may be of natural origin i.e it may be selectively extracted from tea. Alternatively, the compounds forming the tea flavour may be nature identical i.e the individual compound or compounds forming the flavour may be synthetically prepared but all of the those compounds are known to be present in black tea. The composition of the invention optionally comprises black tea volatile condensates. By black tea volatile condensates is meant the volatile components of black tea that are produced during any heat treatment of black tea e.g during the hot extraction step that are captured by condensation and recovered. The black tea volatile condensates contain a high percentage of tea aroma compounds. The recovery is usually in the form of an oil in water dispersion. These optional ingredients may be preferably present up to 50% by weight of the composition.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a process to prepare a solid water soluble composition of the invention comprising the steps of (i) mixing water extract of black tea with water extract of roasted chicory and (ii) drying the mixture to a powder. In the above process, it is preferred that the water extract of black tea and water extract of roasted chicory are mixed with a binder selected from polysaccharide, modified polysaccharide or a mixture thereof prior to drying. The water extract of black tea is preferably hot water soluble. The water extract of roasted chicory is preferably hot water soluble. Alternately the water extract of black tea and water extract of chicory could be prepared by co-extracting water soluble compounds from black tea and chicory in the same pool of water.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided use of a solid mixture of instant black tea and water soluble chicory for preparing a tea beverage that is low in cost and yet is highly preferred by consumers.

Examples The invention will now be demonstrated with examples. The examples are by way of illustration only and do not limit the scope of invention in any manner.

Extent of roasting:

Various samples of hot water soluble chicory were made from chicory that was roasted to different degrees of roast from very light to dark (as shown in Table -1 ). These samples of instant chicory were blended with hot instant tea in a weight ratio of 20:80. The formulations so prepared were made into tea beverages using the following protocol:

About 100 ml of a mixture of milk and water (30:70 wt ratio) was taken and boiled. To this, 0.8 grams of the tea formulations prepared as described above were taken along with 5 grams of sugar and both were added to the boiled mixture and stirred.

Each beverage was tasted by 1 1 people who scored the beverage on the taste, colour and overall score as compared to a control sample which was hot instant tea (without any chicory) based on the following scale:

5 Not different from control

4 Slightly inferior to control

3 Moderately inferior to control

2 Extremely inferior to control

The average of the scores for each beverage is summarised in Table - 1. Table - 1

The data in Table - 1 indicates that hot water soluble chicory made from light roast or medium roast chicory is preferred by the consumers as compared to ultralight or dark roast chicory.

Level of incorporation of chicory:

Various tea compositions were prepared by mixing powder of hot water soluble chicory made from light roasted chicory with powder of hot instant tea in amounts as shown in Table -2. Tea beverage was prepared as described for examples 1 to 4 and the beverage was tasted by a panel of 8 people scoring the samples on the same scale as used in Examples 1 to 4 with pure hot instant black tea as the control.

Table -2

The data in Table -2 indicates that the incorporation of hot water soluble chicory over a specific range of concentration in the tea composition (Examples 5 and 6) is preferred by consumers as compared to certain other concentrations (Example 7)

Example - 8: Triangle test

A triangle test was done with a hot instant tea product as one sample and the same hot instant tea product with 20% of the hot instant tea replaced by hot water soluble chicory of light roast. A triangle test is a tool used to establish the presence or absence of statistical difference between two samples. Each respondent is given three samples in random order, of which one is different from the other two. The respondent is then asked to identify the odd sample based on his experience of drinking them.

The results can be read from Table-3 where the number of correct answers should be less than the given number for a particular sample size to establish a non significant difference between the samples. In this case, 22 people were tested, for which a minimum of 12 people should have given correct answers to establish a significant difference at the highest confidence level.

Table -3

The data in Table -3 indicates that eight correct answers show that the two samples are not significantly different.

The invention thus provides for an instant tea product that is lower in cost but is equally preferred by the consumers in terms of colour, taste, flavour as compared to instant tea products presently available.

Claims

1. A solid water soluble composition comprising instant black tea and water soluble chicory.

2. A composition as claimed in claimed 1 wherein said instant black tea is hot instant black tea and said water soluble chicory is hot water soluble chicory.

3. A composition as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 comprising 10 to 60% water soluble chicory by weight of the composition.

4. A composition as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said water soluble chicory is light roast chicory, medium roast chicory or a mixture thereof.

5. A composition as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising 2 to 30 wt% binder selected from polysaccharides, modified polysaccharides or a mixture thereof.

6. A composition as claimed in claim 5 wherein the polysaccharide is maltodextrin.

7. A composition as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising less than 7% moisture by weight of the composition.

8. A process to prepare a solid water soluble composition as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising a step of mixing a powder of instant black tea with a powder of water soluble chicory.

9. A process as claimed in claim 8 wherein the instant black tea is obtained by a process comprising the steps of (i) extracting the water soluble components of black tea in water at a temperature in the range of 60 to 100⁰C; (ii) separating the water soluble extract from the insoluble matter; (iii) concentrating the extract to get a concentrate and (iv) drying the concentrate to a powder which is said instant black tea.

10. A process as claimed in claim 8 or 9 wherein the water soluble chicory is prepared by a process comprising the steps of (i) roasting chicory root to prepare roasted chicory, (ii) extracting the water soluble components of the roasted chicory in water at a temperature in the range of 60 to 100⁰C to prepare a chicory extract, and (iii) drying the chicory extract to a powder to prepare water soluble chicory.

1 1. A process as claimed in claim 10 wherein said chicory extract is mixed with a polysaccharide prior to drying.

12. A process as claimed in claim 11 wherein the weight ratio of chicory extract to polysaccharide is in the range of 2:1 to 5:1 on dry weight basis.

13. A process as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 12 wherein the chicory extract is spray dried.

14. A process to prepare a solid water soluble composition as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 to 7 comprising the steps of (i) mixing water extract of black tea with water extract of roasted chicory and (ii) drying the mixture to a powder.

15. A process as claimed in claim 14 wherein said water extract of black tea and water extract of roasted chicory are mixed with a binder selected from polysaccharide, modified polysaccharide or a mixture thereof prior to drying.