WO2011125666A1

WO2011125666A1 - Chewing gum and production method therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2011125666A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/057868
Authority: WO
Inventors: 志央美八幡; 勇雄下津浦; 晶子曽我; 求尾嶋; 一朗福田
Original assignee: ライオン株式会社
Priority date: 2010-03-31
Filing date: 2011-03-29
Publication date: 2011-10-13
Also published as: JP5853950B2; JPWO2011125666A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a chewing gum in which a chewing gum body is coated by at least two coating layers that has excellent lactoferrin preservation stability even after storing for a long period, evenly and effectively exhibits lactoferrin-derived periodontal disease-preventing effects, and is capable of also ensuring appearance stability. Also disclosed is a production method therefor. The chewing gum in which the chewing gum body is coated by at least two coating layers is characterized in that an inner coating layer comprising lactoferrin is formed on the outside of the chewing gum body and an outer coating layer that includes a metal oxide and does not include lactoferrin is formed on the outside of said inner coating layer. The abovementioned chewing gum production method involves (I) a step for forming the chewing gum body, (II) a step for forming the lactoferrin-containing inner coating layer on the outside of the chewing gum body, and a step for forming the outer coating layer that includes a metal oxide and does not include lactoferrin on the outside of said inner coating layer.

Description

Chewing gum and method for producing the same

The present invention relates to a chewing gum having high storage stability of lactoferrin even after long-term storage, excellent periodontal disease prevention effect, and excellent appearance stability of a product, and a method for producing the same.

Lactoferrin has been known to be effective as a compounding ingredient for oral compositions because it has a neutralizing effect on periodontal disease bacterial toxins and endotoxins, such as sugar-coated chewing gum containing lactoferrin Chewing gum compositions are known.

Lactoferrin is a protein that is easily affected by heat and formulation components, and its three-dimensional structure tends to collapse. Therefore, when stored for a long period of time, it is inferior in storage stability in the preparation, and is particularly stable in chewing gum over a long period of time. It ’s difficult.

A chewing gum composition (Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-359647) has been reported in which lactoferrin is converted into a liposome to improve the stability to gastric acid and various enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract. Although stability to various enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract has been improved, it has been difficult to stabilize lactoferrin in the chewing gum over a long period of time. Similarly, chewing gum composition (Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-223975) with enhanced permeability to biofilm by converting lactoferrin into liposomes can also stabilize lactoferrin in chewing gum for a long period of time. It was difficult to make it.

Lactoferrin is a multifunctional protein and has pharmacological actions such as infection protection and immunostimulation (Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent No. 3819441), neutralization of periodontal bacterial toxins, and endotoxin (Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-2005). No. 306890) and the like, and chewing gum compositions containing lactoferrin have been proposed. Chewing gum composition containing lactoferrin for the purpose of preventing tooth decay (Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-220130) and chewing gum composition containing lactoferrin for antibacterial purposes (Patent Document 6: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-255109) , And a chewing gum composition containing lactoferrin as an optional component (Patent Document 7: JP 2009-525284 A, Patent Document 8: JP 2008-514573 A. Patent Document 9: JP 2001-508423 A, Patent Document 10: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-535453, Patent Document 11: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-104871) and the like have been proposed.

However, the chewing gum composition described above contains lactoferrin in the chewing gum main body, the gum base interacts with lactoferrin during storage and it becomes difficult to elute after long-term storage, and the effect of lactoferrin on preventing periodontal disease is exhibited satisfactorily There was a problem of not being.

Lactoferrin is an iron-binding protein and has a light red-orange color. When lactoferrin is blended in a chewing gum sugar coating, there is a problem that the sugar-coating chewing gum composition changes to a deep red-orange color after long-term storage.

From the above, in chewing gum containing lactoferrin, there is a demand for a technique that can enhance the storage stability of lactoferrin after being stored for a long period of time and satisfactorily ensure the expression of the effects derived from lactoferrin and the appearance stability of the preparation.

JP 2004-359647 A JP 2007-223975 A Japanese Patent No. 3819441 JP 2005-306890 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-220130 JP 05-255109 A JP 2009-525284 A JP 2008-514573 A JP 2001-508423 A JP 2004-535453 A Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-104981 JP 2008-283964 A JP 09-12473 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-276993

The applicant proposes a sugar-coated chewing gum composition that is excellent in the dissolution property of lactoferrin in the mouth and the effect is stable and effective by containing lactoferrin and maltitol as the components forming the sugar-coating layer. (Patent Document 12: JP-A-2008-283964). The applicant further examined this technique, and found that the formulation easily discolored after long-term storage, and there was still room for improvement in the stability of lactoferrin.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is excellent in storage stability of lactoferrin even after long-term storage, the effect of preventing periodontal disease derived from lactoferrin is stably and effectively exhibited, and the appearance stability of the product is also ensured. An object of the present invention is to provide a chewing gum that can be produced and a method for producing the same.

As a result of intensive studies to achieve the above object, the present inventors formed an inner coating layer containing lactoferrin on the outer side of the chewing gum main body in the chewing gum in which the main chewing gum was coated with two or more coating layers. And, by forming an outer coating layer that contains a metal oxide and does not contain lactoferrin outside the inner coating layer, it is excellent in storage stability of lactoferrin over time even after long-term storage, and thus lactoferrin can be stably blended, It has been found that the effect of preventing periodontal disease derived from lactoferrin is effectively exhibited, and the appearance stability of the product can be ensured satisfactorily, and the present invention has been made.

Furthermore, it is more preferable for the inventors to intervene at least one intermediate coating layer containing no metal oxide and lactoferrin between the inner coating layer and the outer coating layer. I found.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned chewing gum, it is effective in that the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer contains dextranase and / or mutanase in order to exert a plaque formation inhibitory effect, and in particular, dextranase and / or Alternatively, it has been found that by including gelatin in addition to mutanase, dextranase and / or mutanase can be blended more stably, and the effect of inhibiting plaque formation can be further enhanced.
The chewing gum of the present invention is preferably a sugar-coating layer in which each coating layer contains a sugar and / or a sugar alcohol, and is suitable as a sugar-coating chewing gum in which the main chewing gum is coated with two or more sugar coating layers.

In the present invention, the details are not clear, but by covering the coating layer containing lactoferrin with a coating layer containing a metal oxide and not containing lactoferrin, in the coating layer that causes destabilization of lactoferrin. One of the factors is that the amount of water present in the coating layer containing lactoferrin is reduced by collecting the existing moisture in the coating layer containing metal oxide such as titanium dioxide. It is presumed that expression is improved and appearance stability is greatly improved. Furthermore, in the present invention, it is considered that dextranase and / or mutanase can be stabilized together with lactoferrin, and the effects derived from these enzymes can be expressed more effectively.

As described above, Patent Document 12 is a technique that improves and stabilizes the release rate of lactoferrin. For example, when lactoferrin is stored for a long period of time for one year, the lactoferrin is stabilized in the preparation and the effect is expressed. No stability has been studied, and no mention is made of appearance stability such as discoloration of the composition caused by lactoferrin blended in sugar coating. Moreover, although there is description which can mix | blend titanium dioxide arbitrarily, this is used as a coloring agent for the chewing gum-based gum base. From such a conventional technique, the metal oxide-containing coating layer formed on the outside of the lactoferrin-containing coating layer contributes to the improvement of the storage stability of lactoferrin in chewing gum over time, and the lactoferrin can be stabilized and blended. It is difficult to predict that maintenance of periodontal disease prevention effects and discoloration of the preparation can be suppressed.

Accordingly, the present invention provides the following chewing gum and a method for producing the same.
Claim 1:
A chewing gum in which the chewing gum main body is coated with two or more coating layers, an inner coating layer containing lactoferrin is formed outside the chewing gum main body, and a metal oxide is contained outside the inner coating layer and contains lactoferrin A chewing gum characterized in that an outer coating layer is formed.
Claim 2:
The chewing gum according to claim 1, wherein at least one intermediate coating layer containing no metal oxide and lactoferrin is interposed between the inner coating layer and the outer coating layer.
Claim 3:
The chewing gum according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer contains dextranase and / or mutanase.
Claim 4:
4. The chewing gum according to claim 3, wherein the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer contains gelatin in addition to dextranase and / or mutanase.
Claim 5:
The chewing gum according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the metal oxide is titanium dioxide.
Claim 6:
6. The chewing gum according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer is a sugar coating layer containing sugar and / or sugar alcohol.
Claim 7:
A chewing gum manufacturing method in which a chewing gum main body is coated with two or more coating layers,
(I) a step of forming a chewing gum main body,
(II) including a step of forming an inner coating layer containing lactoferrin on the outer side of the chewing gum main body and a step of forming an outer coating layer containing a metal oxide and not containing lactoferrin on the outer side of the inner coating layer. A method for producing chewing gum.
Claim 8:
The method for producing a chewing gum according to claim 7, comprising a step of forming an intermediate coating layer containing no metal oxide and lactoferrin between the step of forming the inner coating layer and the step of forming the outer coating layer.
Claim 9:
The chewing gum production method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer contains dextranase and / or mutanase.
Claim 10:
The method for producing chewing gum according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer contains gelatin in addition to dextranase and / or mutanase.

According to the present invention, a chewing gum in which the main component of chewing gum is coated with two or more coating layers, which is high in storage stability of lactoferrin even after long-term storage, excellent in preventing periodontal disease, and excellent in appearance stability of the product. Can provide. The chewing gum of the present invention is suitable as a sugar-coated chewing gum containing lactoferrin. Furthermore, in the present invention, by adding dextranase and / or mutanase to the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer, it is possible to provide a chewing gum that is excellent in the above-mentioned properties and also has an effect of preventing toothworms. Moreover, according to the manufacturing method of this invention, the chewing gum which has said outstanding characteristic can be obtained efficiently.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail.
The chewing gum of the present invention is a chewing gum in which the chewing gum main body is coated with two or more coating layers, an inner coating layer containing lactoferrin is formed on the outer side of the chewing gum main body, and a metal oxide is formed on the outer side of the inner coating layer. The outer coating layer which contains a product and does not contain lactoferrin is formed. Further, in the chewing gum, at least one intermediate coating layer containing no metal oxide and lactoferrin can be interposed between the inner coating layer and the outer coating layer.
Furthermore, in the chewing gum of the present invention, the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer can contain dextranase and / or mutanase, and contains gelatin in addition to dextranase and / or mutanase. be able to.

In the present invention, the coating layer that is mainly coated with the chewing gum is not particularly limited, but is preferably a sugar-coating layer, and is not particularly limited as long as it is a multilayer of two or more layers. It may be a layer or more.
The chewing gum of the present invention is suitable as a sugar-coating chewing gum, and the present invention will be described in detail by taking a sugar-coating chewing gum whose coating layer is a sugar-coating layer as a specific example.

As a specific example of the sugar-coating chewing gum, sugar-coating chewing gum in which the chewing gum main body is coated with two sugar coating layers can be mentioned. In this two-layered sugar-coating chewing gum, the inner layer covering the chewing gum main body is the first sugar-coating layer containing lactoferrin, and the first sugar-coating layer is coated with the second sugar-coating layer containing the metal oxide and not containing lactoferrin. Can be. In this two-layered sugar-coating chewing gum, the first sugar-coating layer corresponds to an inner coating layer containing lactoferrin formed outside the chewing gum main body, and the second sugar-coating layer is formed outside the inner coating layer. It corresponds to an outer coating layer containing a metal oxide and no lactoferrin.
Hereinafter, such a sugar-coated chewing gum in which the chewing gum main body is coated with two sugar coating layers is abbreviated as “two-layer sugar-coating gum”, and further, the first sugar-coating layer which is the inner layer covering the chewing gum main body is referred to as “two-layer sugar coating The “first sugar coating layer of gum” and the second sugar coating layer (sugar coating outer layer) covering the first sugar coating layer are abbreviated as “second sugar coating layer of the two-layer sugar coating gum”.

Another specific example of the sugar-coating chewing gum is sugar-coating chewing gum in which the chewing gum main body is coated with at least three sugar coating layers. In this at least three-layered sugar-coating chewing gum, the inner layer covering the chewing gum main body is a first sugar-coating layer containing lactoferrin, the first sugar-coating layer is coated with a second sugar-coating layer containing no metal oxide and lactoferrin, and The second sugar-coating layer may be coated with a third sugar-coating layer containing a metal oxide and not containing lactoferrin. In this at least three-layer sugar-coated chewing gum, the first sugar-coated layer corresponds to an inner coating layer containing lactoferrin formed outside the chewing gum main body, and the third sugar-coated layer is formed outside the inner coating layer. It corresponds to an outer coating layer containing a metal oxide and not containing lactoferrin. Further, the second sugar coating layer corresponds to an intermediate coating layer that does not contain a metal oxide and lactoferrin interposed between the inner coating layer and the outer coating layer.
Hereinafter, such a sugar-coated chewing gum in which the chewing gum main body is coated with at least three sugar coating layers is abbreviated as “at least three-layer sugar-coating gum”, and the first sugar-coating layer covering the chewing gum main body is referred to as “at least three-layer sugar coating. The first sugar-coating layer of gum ”, the second sugar-coating layer that covers the first sugar-coating layer is“ the second sugar-coating layer of at least three-layer sugar-coating gum ”, and the third sugar-coating layer that covers the second sugar-coating layer is“ It is abbreviated as “a third sugar-coated layer of at least a three-layer sugar-coated gum”.

Here, the chewing gum main body can use a well-known thing. The sugar-coating layer can be prepared by blending known sugar-coating components generally used for sugar-coating chewing gum. Details of the composition will be described later.

The sugar-coated layer of the “two-layer sugar-coated gum” directly covers the chewing gum main body and covers “the first sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum” containing lactoferrin and “the first sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum”. It can be prepared as a laminate of “second sugar-coating layer of a two-layer sugar-coating gum” that contains a metal oxide and does not contain lactoferrin.
The sugar-coating layer of “at least three-layer sugar-coating gum” includes “the first sugar-coating layer of at least three-layer sugar-coating gum” containing lactoferrin, which covers the chewing gum main body, and “the first sugar-coating layer of at least three-layer sugar coating gum”. A coating containing a metal oxide and a lactoferrin-free “second sugar-coated layer of at least three-layer sugar-coated gum” and a coating of the “at least three-layer sugar-coated gum second sugar-coated layer” containing a metal oxide and lactoferrin It can be prepared as a laminate of “a third sugar-coating layer of at least a three-layer sugar-coating gum” that is not contained. In this case, the “first sugar-coating layer of at least three-layer sugar-coating gum” that covers the chewing gum main body can be a sugar-coating layer that directly covers the chewing gum main body. In addition, “the third sugar-coated layer of at least the three-layer sugar-coated gum” can be the outermost sugar-coated layer.

The “at least three-layered sugar-coating gum” means that one or more other sugar-coating layers are formed as needed in addition to the above-mentioned three sugar-coating layers, as long as the effects of the present invention are not hindered. May be coated with four or more sugar coating layers. For example, for “at least three-layered sugar-coating gum”, between the chewing gum main body and “the first sugar-coating layer of at least three-layered sugar-coating gum”, “at least the first sugar-coating layer of three-layered sugar-coating gum” and “at least three-layered sugar-coating gum” A new optional sugar-coating layer is formed between “the second sugar-coating layer of the gum” or “the second sugar-coating layer of the at least three-layer sugar-coating gum” and “the third sugar-coating layer of the at least three-layer sugar-coating gum”. Further, a new sugar coating layer may be formed and coated on the outside of the “third sugar coating layer of at least the three-layer sugar coating gum”.

Furthermore, in the present invention, dextranase and / or mutanase can be contained as a chewing gum main component or at least one sugar coating layer, and in particular gelatin is used in addition to dextranase and / or mutanase. It is more preferable to mix the enzyme because the enzyme can be stably mixed and the effect of inhibiting the formation of plaque can be effectively imparted.
In this case, dextranase and / or mutanase may be blended in the chewing gum main body or in the coating layer, but blending in the coating layer is effective for sufficiently exerting the plaque formation inhibitory effect. is there. Furthermore, considering the influence of humidity, etc., a coating layer that is not the outermost layer, for example, an inner coating layer formed outside the chewing gum main body, or an intermediate layer interposed between the inner coating layer and the outer coating layer formed outside thereof. The compounding to a coating layer is more suitable.
Specifically, in the “two-layer sugar-coating gum”, blending into the “first sugar-coating layer of the two-layer sugar-coating gum” corresponding to the inner coating layer is suitable. In “at least three-layered sugar-coating gum”, “at least three-layered sugar-coating gum” corresponding to the inner coating layer and / or “at least three-layered sugar-coating gum” corresponding to the intermediate coating layer It is suitable to mix.

In each of these “two-layered sugar-coated gum” and “at least three-layered sugar-coated gum”, a binder such as edible gum, other active ingredients, sweeteners, pigments, acidulants, fragrances and the like are further added. Can be blended. Details thereof will be described later.

Further, “the first sugar-coating layer of the two-layer sugar-coating gum” and “the first sugar-coating layer of at least the three-layer sugar-coating gum” are both formed from a sugar-coating component containing lactoferrin, and the same components can be blended respectively. . In addition, “the second sugar-coating layer of the two-layer sugar-coating gum” and “the third sugar-coating layer of at least the three-layer sugar-coating gum” are both formed from a sugar-coating component that contains a metal oxide and does not contain lactoferrin. Can be blended.

In the present invention, as the sugar coating component used for the sugar coating layer, known sugars and / or sugar alcohols can be used. The sugar and / or sugar alcohol used as a sugar coating component is blended as a lactoferrin stabilizing effect of lactoferrin, a lactoferrin stabilizer during long-term storage, and a sweetener.
Examples of sugar and sugar alcohol include maltitol, xylitol, sorbitol, palatinose, reduced palatinose, lactitol, erythritol, trehalose, mannitol, reduced starch syrup, starch syrup, sugar, glucose, fructose, maltose, lactose, invert sugar, dextrin, oligo Sugar etc. are mentioned, These 1 type (s) or 2 or more types can be mix | blended. Of these, maltitol, xylitol, erythritol, sorbitol, reduced palatinose, reduced starch syrup, and trehalose are preferable, and maltitol is particularly preferable.

The amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol used as the sugar coating component is not particularly limited and can be adjusted as appropriate. However, the whole preparation (total amount of chewing gum main component and sugar coating layer component for preparing sugar coating chewing gum; hereinafter abbreviated as well). 15% or more (unless otherwise specified,% represents mass%, the same applies hereinafter), and the upper limit may be less than 50%. Further, the content in each sugar coating layer is preferably 50% or more. If the amount is too small, the effect of stabilizing lactoferrin may be inferior or the periodontal disease prevention effect may not be obtained satisfactorily. If the amount is too large, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.

The total amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol as the sugar-coating component in the “two-layer sugar-coating gum” is not particularly limited, but is preferably in the range of 20 to 49.97%, particularly 25 to 49.83% of the entire preparation. If the blending amount is less than 20%, the stabilizing effect of lactoferrin may be inferior or the periodontal disease prevention effect may not be obtained satisfactorily, and if it exceeds 49.97%, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.
In this case, the blending amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol in the “first sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum” is 70 to 99.98%, particularly 80 to 99.9% of the entire first sugar-coated layer. Preferably there is. The blending amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol in the “second sugar coating layer of the two-layer sugar coating gum” is preferably 80 to 99.96%, particularly 85% to 99.9% of the entire second sugar coating layer.

The total amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol as a sugar coating component in the case where dextranase and / or mutanase is added to the sugar coating layer of the “two-layer sugar-coated gum” is 15 to 49.96% of the whole preparation. In particular, it can be in the range of 22 to 49.8%. If it is less than 15%, the stabilizing effect of lactoferrin may be inferior or the periodontal disease preventing effect may not be obtained satisfactorily, and if it exceeds 49.96%, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.
In this case, the amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol in the case where dextranase and / or mutanase is blended in any sugar coating layer of “two-layer sugar coating gum” is shown below. That is, when dextranase and / or mutanase is added to the “first sugar-coated layer of the two-layered sugar-coating gum”, the amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol in the sugar-coated layer is the total amount of the first sugar-coated layer. 50 to 99.96%, particularly 60 to 99.84% is preferable. When dextranase and / or mutanase is added to the “second sugar coating layer of the two-layer sugar coating gum”, the amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol in the sugar coating layer is 60 to 99.94%, particularly 65 to 99.84% is preferable.

In addition, the total amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol as a sugar coating component in “at least three-layer sugar coating gum” is not particularly limited, but ranges from 20 to 49.97%, particularly from 25 to 49.83% of the entire preparation. preferable. If the blending amount is less than 20%, the effect of stabilizing lactoferrin may be inferior or the periodontal disease prevention effect may not be obtained satisfactorily, and if it exceeds 49.97%, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.
In this case, the compounding amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol in “the first sugar-coating layer of at least three-layer sugar-coating gum” is 70 to 99.98%, particularly 80 to 99.9% of the entire first sugar-coating layer. Is preferred. The blending amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol in the “second sugar-coated layer of at least three-layered sugar-coated gum” is preferably 80 to 99.98%, particularly 90 to 99.94% of the entire second sugar-coated layer. The blending amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol in the “third sugar-coated layer of at least three-layer sugar-coated gum” is preferably 80 to 99.96%, particularly 85 to 99.9% of the entire third sugar-coated layer.

The total amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol as a sugar coating component in the case where dextranase and / or mutanase is added to the sugar coating layer of “at least three-layer sugar coating gum” is 15 to 49.96 of the whole preparation. %, Especially in the range of 22-49.8%. If the blending amount is less than 15%, the stabilizing effect of lactoferrin may be inferior or the periodontal disease preventing effect may not be obtained satisfactorily, and if it exceeds 49.96%, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.
In this case, the amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol in the case where dextranase and / or mutanase is added to any sugar coating layer of “at least three-layer sugar coating gum” is shown below. That is, when dextranase and / or mutanase is blended in “the first sugar-coating layer of at least three-layer sugar-coating gum”, the amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol in the sugar-coating layer is determined by the total amount of the first sugar-coating layer. Is preferably 50 to 99.96%, more preferably 60 to 99.84%. When dextranase and / or mutanase is added to the “second sugar-coated layer of at least three-layer sugar-coated gum”, the amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol in the sugar-coated layer is 60% of the total amount of the second sugar-coated layer. The range of ˜99.98%, particularly 70 to 99.94% is desirable. When dextranase and / or mutanase is added to the “third sugar-coated layer of at least three-layered sugar-coating gum”, the amount of sugar and / or sugar alcohol added to the sugar-coated layer is 60% of the entire third sugar-coated layer. It is preferably 99 to 94%, particularly 65 to 99.84%.

In the present invention, the total mass of the coating layer such as a sugar-coating layer of chewing gum is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10 mg or more, particularly 100 to 1,000 mg, based on 1 g of chewing gum main body. If the mass of the coating layer is too small, the periodontal disease prevention effect of lactoferrin may not be obtained satisfactorily or the appearance stability of the product may be poor. Moreover, when too large, the external appearance stability of a product may be inferior, and the periodontal disease prevention effect of lactoferrin may not be obtained satisfactorily.

Specifically, the mass of the “first sugar-coating layer of the two-layer sugar-coating gum” is desirably 10 to 990 mg, particularly preferably 40 to 500 mg, with respect to 1 g of the chewing gum main body. If it is less than 10 mg, the periodontal disease preventive effect of lactoferrin may not be obtained satisfactorily, and if it exceeds 990 mg, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.

The mass of the “second sugar-coating layer of the two-layer sugar-coating gum” is preferably 10 to 990 mg, particularly preferably 100 to 500 mg, with respect to 1 g of the chewing gum main body. If it is less than 10 mg, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior, and if it exceeds 990 mg, the periodontal disease prevention effect of lactoferrin may not be obtained satisfactorily.

In addition, the mass of “the first sugar-coating layer of at least the three-layer sugar-coating gum” is preferably 10 to 900 mg, particularly preferably 40 to 500 mg with respect to 1 g of the chewing gum main body. If it is less than 10 mg, the periodontal disease prevention effect of lactoferrin may not be obtained satisfactorily, and if it exceeds 900 mg, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.

The mass of the “second sugar-coating layer of at least the three-layer sugar-coating gum” is preferably 50 to 940 mg, particularly preferably 100 to 500 mg, with respect to 1 g of the chewing gum main body. If it is less than 50 mg, the periodontal disease prevention effect of lactoferrin may not be obtained satisfactorily, and if it exceeds 940 mg, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.

The mass of “the third sugar-coating layer of at least the three-layer gum” is preferably 50 to 940 mg, particularly preferably 100 to 500 mg, with respect to 1 g of the chewing gum main body. If it is less than 50 mg, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior, and if it exceeds 940 mg, the storage stability of lactoferrin after long-term storage may be inferior.

The lactoferrin used in the present invention is widely distributed in the body of animals, and the biological functions of lactoferrin have antibacterial action, antiviral action, ecological defense action and endotoxin neutralizing action, and mucin A production promoter (Patent Document 13: JP 09-12473 A), a novel pharmaceutical composition (Patent Document 14: JP 08-217693 A), and the like have been proposed. Lactoferrin is an iron-binding glycoprotein having a molecular weight of about 80,000, in which a sugar chain composed of galactose, mannose, sialic acid or the like is bound to one polypeptide chain. Commercially available lactoferrin is commonly used from colostrum, transitional milk, regular milk, terminal milk, etc. of mammals (eg, humans, cows, sheep, goats, horses, etc.) or processed products of these milks such as skim milk and whey. It is lactoferrin produced from plants (tomato, rice, tobacco) separated by (for example, ion exchange chromatography). In the present invention, a commercially available product may be used as lactoferrin, or a product prepared by a known method may be used. As the bovine-derived commercially available lactoferrin, lactoferrin marketed by Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd., Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd., etc. can be suitably used.

In the sugar-coated chewing gum, in the “two-layer sugar-coated gum”, lactoferrin is blended in the “first sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum” and not in the “second sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum”. In the “at least three-layered sugar-coated gum”, lactoferrin may be blended in “the first sugar-coated layer of at least the three-layered sugar-coated gum” and may also be blended in “the second sugar-coated layer of at least the three-layered sugar-coated gum” It is not blended in “the third sugar-coating layer of at least the three-layer sugar-coating gum”.

The blending amount of lactoferrin in the chewing gum composition of the present invention is preferably 0.01 to 3%, particularly 0.1 to 2% of the whole preparation in order to satisfactorily exert the periodontal disease prevention effect. Furthermore, the blending amount of lactoferrin in the coating layer is preferably in the range of 0.02 to 20%, particularly 0.1 to 10% of the entire coating layer to be blended. If the blending amount is too small, the effect of lactoferrin on periodontal disease prevention may not be obtained satisfactorily, and if it is too large, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.

In “2-layer sugar-coated gum” or “at least 3-layer sugar-coated gum”, the blending amount of lactoferrin in the preparation may be within the above range. In addition, the amount of lactoferrin in each sugar-coated layer is specifically “the first sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum” or “the first of the at least three-layered sugar-coated gum, within the above-mentioned range. The blending amount in the “sugar coating layer” is preferably in the range of 0.02 to 20%, particularly 0.1 to 10% of the entire sugar coating layer.

In the present invention, the metal oxide is blended as a component for improving the effect of stabilizing lactoferrin during long-term storage, the effect of preventing periodontal disease, and the appearance stability of the product. In the present invention, the metal oxide is not blended in the coating layer containing lactoferrin, but can be blended outside the coating layer containing lactoferrin, preferably in the coating layer not containing lactoferrin, which is the outermost coating layer. Thus, it is important to mix | blend a metal oxide in order to achieve the objective of this invention.

Examples of the metal oxide include titanium dioxide, magnesium oxide, iron trioxide, zinc oxide, aluminum oxide, silica (silicon dioxide), and one or more of these can be used. Titanium dioxide is preferred.

The compounding amount of the metal oxide is preferably 0.02 to 1%, particularly 0.07 to 0.4% of the whole preparation. If the blending amount is less than 0.02%, the effect of suppressing the decrease in the appearance stability of the product, the effect of suppressing the decrease in the long-term storage stability of lactoferrin, and the periodontal disease prevention effect may not be obtained satisfactorily. And the shape of the product may be damaged, and the appearance stability may be inferior.
Further, the amount of the metal oxide to be added to the coating layer is preferably in the range of 0.04 to 15%, particularly 0.1 to 6% of the entire coating layer to be mixed. Specifically, when the blending amount in the preparation is within the above range, the blending amount of the metal oxide in “the second sugar-coating layer of the two-layer sugar-coating gum” and “the third sugar-coating layer of at least the three-layer sugar-coating gum” is The total content of each sugar-coated layer is preferably 0.04 to 15%, particularly preferably 0.1 to 6%.

In the composition of the present invention, dextranase and / or mutanase can be further blended as a main component of the chewing gum or at least one coating layer. By blending these components, an effect of inhibiting plaque formation can be imparted. Note that, as described above, dextranase and mutanase are particularly effective in preventing plaque formation without affecting humidity, etc., when blended in a coating layer, particularly a coating layer other than the outermost layer. Is preferred.

Conventionally, dextranase is known to have an inhibitory effect on plaque formation. As the dextranase used in the present invention, known dextranases, that is, those produced from various dextranase-producing bacteria are used. can do. For example, those derived from dextranase producing bacteria such as Penicillium genus, Aspergillus genus, Ketomium genus, Streptomyces genus, Sporochicham genus, Bacillus genus etc. can be used. Most preferably, is used. As a commercial product, dextranase manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Foods Co., Ltd. can be used.

The compounding amount of the enzyme can be an effective amount according to the type and titer of the enzyme.
When blending dextranase, the blending amount should be 0.01-5% of the total formulation, especially 0.03-3%, based on 12,000 unit products. It is preferable for obtaining the effect satisfactorily. If the blending amount is less than 0.01%, the plaque formation inhibitory effect may not be obtained satisfactorily, and if it exceeds 5%, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.
In addition, 1 unit of dextranase is the amount of dextranase that produces free reducing sugar corresponding to 1 μmol of glucose per minute when the reaction is carried out using dextran as a substrate.

Conventionally, it is known that mutanase has an effect of inhibiting plaque formation, and as the mutanase used in the present invention, known mutanases, that is, those produced from various mutanase-producing bacteria can be used. For example, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Trichoderma, Cladosporium, Fission yeast, Cryptococcus, Rhodotura, Endomyces, Streptomyces, Flavobacterium, Pseudomonas, Bacteroides, Bacillus, Paenibacillus, etc. However, it is most preferable to use those derived from the genera Paenibacillus, Bacillus, Trichoderma, or Pseudomonas from the viewpoint of mutanlytic ability. As a commercial item, the mutanase by Amano Enzyme Co., Ltd. can be used suitably.

When mutanase is blended, the blending amount is 0.01 to 5%, particularly 0.03 to 3% of the whole preparation based on the 6,000 unit product, and it is effective for inhibiting plaque formation. It is preferable to obtain it satisfactorily. If the blending amount is less than 0.01%, the plaque formation inhibitory effect may not be obtained satisfactorily, and if it exceeds 5%, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.
One unit of mutanase is the amount of mutanase that produces a reducing sugar equivalent to 1 μmol of glucose per minute when the reaction is carried out using mutan as a substrate.

When both 12,000 units of dextranase and 6,000 units of mutanase are blended, the total blending amount thereof is 0.02 to 5%, particularly 0.06 to 3% of the whole preparation. It is preferable in order to satisfactorily obtain the excellent plaque formation inhibitory effect by the combined use. If the blending amount is less than 0.02%, the excellent plaque formation inhibitory effect by the combined use may not be obtained satisfactorily, and if it exceeds 5%, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior.

In the present invention, it is preferable to add gelatin in addition to dextranase and / or mutanase as a chewing gum main component of chewing gum or a component forming at least one coating layer. By adding gelatin, the stability of dextranase and mutanase is improved, and the effect of inhibiting plaque formation after long-term storage can be further enhanced.

The gelatin used in the present invention is not limited to origins such as cattle, pigs, birds, fish, etc., and is not limited in terms of gelatin processing methods and physicochemical properties such as molecular weight and isoelectric point, and uses commercially available products. For example, those manufactured by Nitta Gelatin Co. can be used.

In order to improve the stability of dextranase and mutanase and to increase the plaque formation inhibitory effect after long-term storage, the amount of gelatin is preferably 0.01 to 5%, particularly 0.03 to 3%. % Is preferred. If the gelatin content is less than 0.01%, the effect of suppressing the formation of plaque may not be satisfactorily improved, and if it exceeds 5%, the appearance stability of the product may be inferior. In addition, you may mix | blend gelatin with each coating layer and chewing gum main body as needed.

The chewing gum of the present invention may contain known components blended in the chewing gum, if necessary, in addition to the above components. Each of the coating layers, for example, the sugar coating layer, can further contain a binder such as edible gum, active ingredients other than lactoferrin, dextranase and mutanase, sweeteners, pigments, acidulants, flavors, etc. A sweetener, a pigment | dye, a sour agent, a fragrance | flavor, etc. can be mix | blended with chewing gum main body.

The chewing gum of the present invention is preferably formulated with a binder as a coating component in order to further improve the coatability, and the chewing gum main surface can be more satisfactorily coated with sugar coating or the like by blending the binder. . As the binder, for example, edible gums such as gum arabic and starch are preferably used, but gum arabic is particularly suitable because it is easy to coat.

When a binder is blended, the blending amount is preferably 0.1 to 10%, particularly 0.5 to 5% of the whole preparation. The blending amount of the binder in each sugar coating layer is preferably 0.2 to 20%, particularly 1 to 10%, based on the sugar and / or sugar alcohol in each coating layer component.

In the present invention, known chewing gum can be used, and specifically, a gum base, sweetener, fragrance, active ingredient, colorant and the like are blended. As the gum base to be blended mainly in the chewing gum, those usually used in chewing gum compositions can be used. For example, polyvinyl acetate resins having an average degree of polymerization of 100 to 1,000, natural resins (such as chicle, gelton, and solver), poly Resins for gum bases (basic agents) such as isobutylene, polybutene, ester gum, fillers such as emulsifiers, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, talc, plasticizers such as lanolin, stearic acid, sodium stearate, potassium stearate, glyceryl triacetate, glycerin Alternatively, a commercially available gum base blended with a softening agent, further natural wax, petroleum wax, paraffin, etc. can be used, and specifically, a gum base made by Natural Base Co., a gum base made by Youth Co., Ltd. is suitable. . The gum base may contain natural pigments such as gardenia, safflower, and beetle.
The blending amount of the gum base is preferably 10 to 50%, particularly 15 to 30% of the whole preparation.

In the chewing gum of the present invention, a sweetener other than sugar and / or sugar alcohol can be blended in the chewing gum main body in order to impart sweetness to the chewing gum main body. As the sweetener, a commonly used sweetener such as sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium and the like can be contained. When these sweeteners are blended in the chewing gum main body, the blending amount can be a normal amount as long as the effects of the present invention are not hindered. The amount of these sweeteners added is desirably 0.001 to 1% of the whole preparation.

Moreover, a fragrance | flavor can be mix | blended with this invention formulation. In addition, a fragrance | flavor may be mix | blended with coating components, such as sugar coating, in order to provide a flavor, or may be mix | blended with a gum base in order to provide a flavor to a chewing gum main body, and is mix | blended with both a coating component and chewing gum main body. May be.

As a fragrance | flavor, 1 type (s) or 2 or more types can be used for fat and oil fragrance | flavors and powder fragrance | flavors, such as a natural fragrance | flavor and a synthetic fragrance | flavor. For example, natural flavors such as mastic oil, parsley oil, anise oil, eucalyptus oil, wintergreen oil, cassia oil, menthol oil, spearmint oil, peppermint oil, lemon oil, coriander oil, orange oil, mandarin oil, lime oil, lavender Oil, laurel oil, chamomile oil, cardamom oil, caraway oil, bay oil, lemongrass oil, pine needle oil, neroli oil, rose oil, jasmine oil, Iris concrete, absolute peppermint, absolute rose, orange flower, citrus oil, Examples include mixed fruit oil, strawberry oil, cinnamon oil, clove oil, and grape oil.
Single flavors include carvone, anethole, methyl salicylate, cinnamic aldehyde, linalool, linalyl acetate, limonene, menthone, menthyl acetate, pinene, octyl aldehyde, citral, pregon, carbyl acetate, anisaldehyde, ethyl acetate, ethyl butyrate Rate, allylcyclohexanepropionate, methylanthranilate, ethylmethylanthranilate, vanillin, undecalactone, hexanal, ethinone alcohol, propyl alcohol, butanol, isoamyl alcohol, hexenol, dimethylsulfide, cycloten, furfural, trimethyl Examples include pyrazine, ethyl lactate, and ethyl lioacetate. Single flavor and / or natural flavors including strawberry flavor, apple flavor, banana flavor, pineapple flavor, grape flavor, mango flavor, tropical fruit flavor, butter flavor, milk flavor, yogurt flavor, fruit mix flavor, herbal mint Flavors and the like. Moreover, the form of a fragrance | flavor may be an essential oil, an extract, a solid substance, or the powder which spray-dried these.
The total blending amount of the fragrance is preferably 0.001 to 20%, particularly 0.001 to 5% of the whole preparation.

Furthermore, in the composition of the present invention, other additives such as acidulants, brighteners, thickeners, emulsifiers, pH adjusters, preservatives are added as necessary to the coating layer and chewing gum. Etc. may be appropriately added within a range not impairing the effects of the present invention.

The chewing gum in which the chewing gum main body of the present invention is coated with two or more coating layers can be produced by performing the following steps (I) and (II).
(I) A step of forming a chewing gum main body.
(II) A step of forming an inner coating layer containing lactoferrin on the outer side of the chewing gum main body and a step of forming an outer coating layer containing a metal oxide and not containing lactoferrin on the outer side of the inner coating layer.
Further, between the step of forming the inner coating layer and the step of forming the outer coating layer,
(III) The process of forming the intermediate | middle coating layer which does not contain a metal oxide and lactoferrin can be included.
Further, the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer may contain dextranase and / or mutanase, and contain gelatin in addition to dextranase and / or mutanase. be able to.

Hereinafter, the method for producing the chewing gum of the present invention will be specifically described in the case of “two-layer sugar-coating gum” and “at least three-layer sugar-coating gum” of the sugar-coating chewing gum.
The “two-layer sugar-coating gum” according to the present invention is
(1) forming a chewing gum main body,
(2) a step of forming a first sugar-coating layer (“first sugar-coating layer of a two-layer sugar-coating gum”) covering the chewing gum main body with a sugar-coating layer component containing lactoferrin;
(3) Further, a step of forming a second sugar coating layer (“second sugar coating layer of a two-layer sugar coating gum”) that covers the first sugar coating layer with a sugar coating layer component that contains a metal oxide and does not contain lactoferrin. It can be manufactured by the method including. In this case, the step (1) corresponds to the above step (I), and the steps (2) and (3) correspond to the above step (II).

In order to produce “two-layer sugar-coating gum”, for example, as the first step, first, a gum base comprising a gum base resin as a main component, a wax, an emulsifier, a filler and the like, if necessary, a predetermined amount of a sweetener, Add additives such as dextranase, mutanase, gelatin, fragrance, colorant, softener, taste masking substance, and knead uniformly using a kneader at around 50 ° C. The chewing gum main body can be obtained by cutting into a shape. At this time, the mass of the chewing gum main body is preferably about 1 to 2 g.

The main chewing gum surface is subjected to the steps (2) and (3) of the above-mentioned “double-layer sugar-coating gum” manufacturing method, and “the first sugar-coating layer of the double-layer sugar-coating gum” and “the second sugar-coating of the two-layer sugar coating gum” The formation of the “layer” can be performed by using a sugar-coated bread or a rotary pot and adopting a usual method.

The sugar-coating process may be carried out by either a so-called hard sugar coating method using only edible gum and sugar coating liquid, or a so-called soft sugar coating method in which a fine powder material made of powdered sugar and such sugar coating liquid are alternately applied. In both methods, in the case of “two-layered sugar-coating gum”, the chewing gum main body is coated with “the first sugar-coating layer of the two-layered sugar-coating gum”, and then “the second sugar-coating layer of the two-layered sugar-coating gum” is formed. Is preferred. In these steps, dextranase, mutanase, and gelatin can be blended as necessary. The mass of the entire sugar-coating layer is preferably 0.1 to 2 g based on 1 g of the chewing gum main body, but can be appropriately prepared according to the purpose.

The sugar coating process of “two-layer sugar-coating gum” can be performed, for example, by the following method.
The sugar-coated bread or rotary hook is preferably a top-opened bottomed container that is connected to a drive motor and is attached to a rotary drive shaft that is disposed at an angle of, for example, 10 to 60 ° with respect to the vertical line. Specifically, the chewing gum main body is put into a sugar-coated bread or a rotary kettle, and the sugar-coated bread is rotated at 5 to 30 revolutions / minute, while lactoferrin and multi-components that are raw materials for the “first sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum” are used. A sugar coating liquid containing sugar such as Toll and / or sugar alcohol, and further a binder such as gum arabic is added to the chewing gum main surface, and when the entire chewing gum main surface is covered with this sugar coating liquid, To form a “first sugar-coating layer of a two-layer sugar-coating gum”. Drying can be performed, for example, by supplying the powder component and spreading it over the entire coating, or by blowing after the treatment with the powder component. When air is blown, the air volume is preferably 3 to 30 m ² / min. For example, drying is preferably performed so that the water content is 1 to 3%. Next, while rotating the sugar-coated bread at 5 to 30 revolutions / minute, the raw material of the “second sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum” is a metal oxide such as titanium dioxide, a sugar such as maltitol and / or a sugar alcohol, Furthermore, a sugar coating liquid containing a binder such as gum arabic is added to the surface of the “first sugar coating layer of the two-layer sugar coating gum”, and the surface of the “first sugar coating layer of the two-layer sugar coating gum” by this sugar coating liquid. When the whole is coated, it is dried by air blowing to form “a second sugar-coating layer of a two-layer sugar-coating gum”. In these processes, dextranase, mutanase, and gelatin can be added to the sugar coating liquid as necessary, and powder components such as crystallized sugar and / or sugar alcohol, oil flavors, and pigments A liquid component such as can be charged. This process is repeated until the ratio of the total sugar-coated layer for “two-layered sugar-coated gum” is 5.5 to 50%, particularly 10 to 40%, particularly 20 to 35% of the entire “two-layered sugar-coated gum” preparation. Is preferably formed.

The “at least three-layered sugar-coated gum” of the present invention is
(1) forming a chewing gum main body,
(2) A step of forming a first sugar-coating layer (“at least three-layer sugar-coating gum first sugar-coating layer”) covering the chewing gum main body with a sugar-coating layer component containing lactoferrin,
(3) a step of forming a second sugar coating layer (“second sugar coating layer of at least a three-layer sugar coating gum”) covering the first sugar coating layer with a sugar coating layer component not containing a metal oxide and lactoferrin;
(4) Furthermore, the process of forming the 3rd sugar-coating layer ("the 3rd sugar-coating layer of at least 3 layer sugar-coating gum") which coat | covers the said 2nd sugar-coating layer with the sugar-coating layer component which contains a metal oxide and does not contain lactoferrin. It can manufacture by the method containing. In this case, the step (1) corresponds to the above step (I), and the steps (2) and (4) correspond to the above step (II). Step (3) corresponds to the above-mentioned step (III).

In order to produce “at least three-layered sugar-coating gum”, for example, in the first step, first, a gum base comprising a gum base resin as a main component and comprising a wax, an emulsifier, a filler, etc. Add additives such as fragrances, colorants, softeners, flavoring substances, etc., knead uniformly using a kneader at around 50 ° C., and then cut into appropriate shapes such as plate and block, mainly chewing gum Can be obtained. At this time, the mass of the chewing gum main body is preferably about 1 to 2 g.

In order to form the first to third sugar-coating layers on the obtained chewing gum main surface by performing the steps (2) to (4) of the above-mentioned “at least three-layer sugar-coating gum” production method, a sugar-coating bread or a rotary kettle is used. It can be carried out by adopting a normal method.
The sugar coating process may be performed by either a hard sugar coating method or a soft sugar coating method. In the case of “at least three-layer sugar coating gum”, the chewing gum main body is coated with “the first sugar coating layer of at least three-layer sugar coating gum” It is preferable to form “a second sugar-coating layer of at least a three-layer sugar-coating gum”, and further, after coating “a first sugar-coating layer of at least a three-layer sugar-coating gum” with “a second sugar-coating layer of at least a three-layer sugar-coating gum” It is preferable to form “a third sugar-coated layer of at least a three-layer sugar-coated gum”. The mass of the entire sugar-coating layer is preferably 0.1 to 2 g based on 1 g of the chewing gum main body, but can be appropriately prepared according to the purpose.

The sugar coating process of “at least three-layer sugar-coated gum” can be performed, for example, by the following method.
The sugar-coated bread or rotary hook is preferably a top-opened bottomed container that is connected to a drive motor and is attached to a rotary drive shaft that is disposed at an angle of, for example, 10 to 60 ° with respect to the vertical line. Specifically, a chewing gum main body is put into a sugar-coated bread or a rotary kettle, and lactoferrin or multi-components, which are raw materials for “at least the first sugar-coated layer of three-layer sugar-coated gum” while rotating the sugar-coated bread at 5 to 30 rpm. A sugar coating liquid containing sugar such as Toll and / or sugar alcohol, and further a binder such as gum arabic is added to the chewing gum main surface, and when the entire chewing gum main surface is covered with this sugar coating liquid, To form a “first sugar-coating layer of at least three-layer sugar-coating gum”. Drying can be performed, for example, by supplying the powder component and spreading it over the entire coating, or by blowing after the treatment with the powder component. When air is blown, the air volume is preferably 3 to 30 m ² / min. For example, drying is preferably performed so that the water content is 1 to 3%. Next, while sugar-coated bread is rotated at 5 to 30 revolutions / minute, sugar and / or sugar alcohol, such as maltitol, which is a raw material of “the second sugar-coated layer of at least three-layer sugar-coated gum”, and further gum arabic and the like are combined. The sugar coating liquid containing the agent is added and applied to the surface of the “first sugar coating layer of at least the three-layer sugar coating gum”, and the entire surface of the “first sugar coating layer of the at least three-layer sugar coating gum” is covered with this sugar coating liquid. By the way, it is dried by blowing to form “a second sugar-coating layer of at least a three-layer sugar-coating gum”. Then, a binder such as metal oxide, sugar and / or sugar alcohol, and further gum arabic, which are raw materials for “the third sugar-coating layer of at least three-layer sugar-coating gum” while rotating the sugar-coating bread at 5 to 30 revolutions / minute Is added to the surface of “the second sugar-coating layer of at least three-layer sugar-coating gum”, and when the entire surface of “the second sugar-coating layer of at least three-layer sugar-coating gum” is coated with this sugar-coating liquid, And dried by blowing to form “a third sugar-coating layer of at least a three-layer sugar-coating gum”. In these processes, dextranase, mutanase, and gelatin can be added to the sugar coating liquid as necessary, and powder components such as crystallized sugar and / or sugar alcohol, oil flavors, and pigments A liquid component such as can be charged. This process is repeated until the ratio of the total sugar-coated layer for “at least three-layered sugar-coated gum” is 5.5 to 50%, particularly 10 to 40%, particularly 20 to 35% of the entire “at least three-layered sugar-coated gum” formulation. It is preferable to form a sugar coating layer.

After forming the sugar coating layer, a further process such as polishing may be employed. For example, in the polishing process, the polishing wax is supplied into the rotary kettle and the rotary kettle is rotated while the sugar coating chewing gum is rotated. It can also be carried out by coating the surface of the sugar coating layer with wax. In this case, carnauba wax or candelilla wax may be used as the wax. In addition, shellac may be used for coating after coating with a sugar coating layer or the like.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to experimental examples, examples, and comparative examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples. Note that% in each example is mass% unless otherwise specified, and the blending amount is converted to a pure content after dry-up excluding moisture.

[Experimental example]
Using the gum bases shown in Tables 1 and 2, sugar-coated chewing gums having the compositions shown in Tables 3 to 11 were prepared by the following methods and evaluated by the following methods. The results are shown in Tables 3-11. In addition, the numerical value in a table | surface described as 100% of the composition of the component of each layer.

<Preparation of sugar-coated chewing gum>
Preparation of chewing gum based on “2-layer sugar-coated gum” or “3-layer sugar-coated gum”:
According to the composition shown in Tables 1 and 2, gum base [manufactured by Natural Base Co., Ltd.], xylitol [manufactured by Mitsubishi Food Tech Co., Ltd.], maltitol [Amalty MR-100, manufactured by Mitsubishi Corporation Food Tech Co., Ltd.], reduced Minamata [manufactured by Nikken Kasei Co., Ltd.], sucralose [manufactured by San-Ei Gen FFI Co., Ltd.], fragrance is added, and uniformly kneaded in a 1 L capacity kneader (manufactured by Toshin Co., Ltd.) at around 50 ° C. to give 800 g A kneaded product was obtained. This kneaded product was cut into blocks to obtain a chewing gum main body (center gum layer). At this time, the mass of the chewing gum main body was set to about 1 g.

Preparation of sugar coating layer of “two-layer sugar coating gum”:
For the chewing gum main body, according to the description in Tables 3 to 7, the sugar coating liquid comprising the composition of each sugar coating layer is used, and the “first sugar coating layer of the two-layer sugar coating gum” and “second sugar coating layer of the two-layer sugar coating gum” A sugar-coated chewing gum was produced by sequentially forming and laminating sugar-coated layers.
Specifically, the chewing gum main body is put into a sugar-coated bread inclined at 30 °, and the sugar-coated bread (manufactured by Fuji Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) is rotated at 15 rotations / min. The operation of applying a sugar coating liquid for forming a “layer” to the chewing gum main surface and drying by blowing at 5 m ² / min was repeated to form “the first sugar coating layer of the two-layer sugar coating gum” on the chewing gum main surface. Subsequently, while the sugar-coating pan was rotated at 15 rev / min, over a coating liquid for forming a "second coating layer of 2-layer sugar coating the gum" on the surface of the "first coating layer of 2-layer sugar-coated gum", 5 m ² The operation of drying by blowing at / min was repeated to form “a second sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum” on the surface of the “first sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum”. By this step, a sugar-coated chewing gum coated with “the first sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum” and “the second sugar-coated layer of the two-layer sugar-coated gum” was produced. At this time, the solidified sugar-coating layer obtained by drying the sugar-coating liquid is formed in an amount of 0.5 to 1 g (500 to 1,000 mg) with respect to 1 g of the chewing gum main body. Sugar-coated gum "was obtained.
In addition, the preparation method of the comparative example prepared the sugar-coating chewing gum which has each composition according to said method. The single-layer sugar-coated gum of Comparative Example 1 was prepared in the same manner except that one sugar-coated layer was formed.

Preparation of sugar coating layer of “3 layer sugar coating gum”:
For the chewing gum main body, according to the description in Tables 8 to 11, using a sugar coating liquid comprising the composition of each sugar coating layer, “the first sugar coating layer of the three-layer sugar coating gum”, “the second sugar coating layer of the three-layer sugar coating gum”, A sugar-coated chewing gum was manufactured by forming and laminating sugar coating layers in the order of “third sugar coating layer of three-layer sugar coating gum”.
Specifically, the chewing gum main body is put in a sugar-coated bread inclined at 30 °, and the sugar-coated bread (manufactured by Fuji Yakuhin Kikai Co., Ltd.) is rotated at 15 rotations / min. The operation of applying a sugar coating solution for forming a “layer” on the chewing gum main surface and drying it by blowing with an air volume of 5 m ² / min was repeated to form a “first sugar coating layer of a three-layer sugar coating gum” on the chewing gum main surface. Subsequently, the sugar coating liquid for forming the “second sugar coating layer of the three-layer sugar coating gum” is applied to the surface of the “first sugar coating layer of the three-layer sugar coating gum” while rotating the sugar-coated bread at 15 rpm, and the air volume is 5 m. ^The operation of drying by blowing at ² / min was repeated to form “the second sugar-coated layer of the three-layer sugar-coated gum” on the surface of the “first sugar-coated layer of the three-layer sugar-coated gum”. Furthermore, the sugar coating liquid for forming the “third sugar coating layer of the three-layer sugar coating gum” is applied to the surface of the “second sugar coating layer of the three-layer sugar coating gum” while rotating the sugar coating bread at 15 rpm, and the air volume is 5 m. ^The operation of drying by blowing at ² / min was repeated to form a “third sugar coating layer of the three-layer sugar-coating gum” on the surface of the “second sugar coating layer of the three-layer sugar coating gum”. By this step, a sugar-coated chewing gum coated with “the first sugar-coated layer of the three-layer sugar-coated gum”, “the second sugar-coated layer of the three-layer sugar-coated gum” and “the third sugar-coated layer of the three-layer sugar-coated gum” was produced. At this time, the solidified sugar-coating layer obtained by drying the sugar-coating liquid is formed in an amount of 0.5 to 1 g (500 to 1,000 mg) with respect to 1 g of the chewing gum main body, and 1.2 to 1.6 kg of “three layers” Sugar-coated gum "was obtained.
In addition, the preparation method of the comparative example prepared the sugar-coating chewing gum which has each composition according to said method.

In each example, lactoferrin is Morinaga lactoferrin manufactured by Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd., titanium dioxide is titanium dioxide manufactured by Saneigen FFI Co., Ltd., gelatin is AP100 (trade name) manufactured by Nitta Gelatin Co., Ltd., and dextranase. Was dextranase (12,000 unit product) manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Foods Co., Ltd., and mutanase (6,000 unit product) manufactured by Amano Enzyme was used for mutanase. As the maltitol for the sugar coating layer, Resis (trade name) manufactured by Mitsubishi Corporation Foodtech Co., Ltd. was used.

<Method of extracting lactoferrin from sugar-coated chewing gum>
One sugar-coated chewing gum is transferred to a 100 mL beaker, dissolved in 80 mL of 3% sodium chloride aqueous solution kept at 60 ° C. for 30 minutes, and then transferred to a measuring flask while washing the beaker wall with 3% sodium chloride aqueous solution. The volume was increased to 100 mL with an aqueous sodium chloride solution, sonicated for 5 minutes, and filtered through a filter having a pore diameter of 0.45 μm and a membrane diameter of 25 mm. This was used as a gum extract.

<Quantitative determination method of lactoferrin in sugar-coated chewing gum>
The setting conditions for liquid chromatography are as follows.
Liquid chromatography: Shimadzu Science high performance liquid chromatography column: Shodex Asahipak C4P-50 4D
Length 150mm x Inner diameter 4.6mm
Mobile phase:
A liquid Acetonitrile: 0.5 mol / L sodium chloride aqueous solution = 10 (vol%): 90 (vol%)
B liquid Acetonitrile: 0.5 mol / L sodium chloride aqueous solution = 50 (vol%): 50 (vol%)
0.03% (vol%) trifluoroacetic acid was added to each of liquid A and liquid B. Acetonitrile, sodium chloride, and trifluoroacetic acid were manufactured by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.

Gradient condition:
The liquid A and the liquid B were started at 50:50 (vol% ratio), and the concentration of the liquid B was linearly increased so that A: B = 0: 100 (vol% ratio) after 25 minutes. Next, the mobile phase conditions were returned so that A: B = 50: 50 (vol% ratio) after 25 minutes, and the conditions were maintained for up to 35 minutes.
Flow rate: 0.8mL / min
Temperature: 30 ° C
Detector: Ultraviolet spectroscopic detector (280 nm)
Sample volume: 25 μL
The amount of lactoferrin in the gum extract was determined from the peak area indicated by the 0.025% lactoferrin standard solution (mass%).

Experiment 1: Evaluation of long-term storage stability of lactoferrin:
Sugar coated chewing gum 50 g was put in a 200 mL bottle container manufactured by Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., covered, left in a room temperature storage room, and taken out after one year. And the lactoferrin in sugar-coated chewing gum immediately after manufacture and after storage at room temperature for 1 year was extracted by the above method, and the amount of lactoferrin in the obtained gum extract was quantified by the above-mentioned method for quantifying lactoferrin. The storage stability of lactoferrin stored at room temperature for 1 year was determined from the following formula.
Storage stability of lactoferrin (%) = [(Amount of lactoferrin in the gum extract after storage for 1 year at room temperature (mg)) / (Amount of lactoferrin in the gum extract immediately after production (mg))] × 100

Experiment 2: Evaluation of appearance stability of sugar-coated chewing gum after long-term storage:
Sugar coated chewing gum 50 g was put in a 200 mL bottle container manufactured by Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., covered with a lid, stored in a room temperature storage room, and taken out after one year. The appearance stability of a product stored at room temperature for 1 year was evaluated in the following four stages, compared with a control product stored for 1 year in a constant temperature room at 5 ° C. An evaluation result of ○ or higher was judged as a good level.
◎: No change compared to the control ○: A slight change in color or shape is observed compared to the control, but it is difficult to identify alone and there is no problem △: Slightly discolored or shaped compared to the control Change is observed ×: Significant discoloration or shape change is recognized compared to the control

Experiment 3: Evaluation of periodontal disease prevention effect of sugar-coated chewing gum after long-term storage:
The in vitro periodontal disease toxin activity suppression test was carried out by the following method by modifying the Endspecy method (manufactured by Seikagaku Corporation).
100 μL (50 μg / mL) of endotoxin of Porphyromonas gingivalis 381 (hereinafter abbreviated as Pg / LPS), which is one of the causative agents of periodontal disease, and 100 μL of distilled water for injection (in the case of A below), Alternatively, the gum extract sample solution 100 μL (in the case of B below) obtained by the above method and stored at room temperature for 1 year was mixed and reacted. Each sample solution was incubated at 37 ° C. for 30 minutes, further diluted 3,000 times with distilled water for injection, and periodontopathic toxin activity was measured by absorbance at 545 nm by the endospecy method. The percent inhibition of periodontal disease toxin activity of products stored at room temperature for 1 year was calculated according to the following formula.

Periodontal disease toxin activity inhibition rate (%) = [(AB) / A] × 100
A = [(ABS * of distilled water for injection and Pg / LPS)]] − (ABS * of distilled water for injection)
B = [(ABS * of gum extract and Pg / LPS mixture after 1 year storage at room temperature)]]-(ABS * of gum extract)
* ABS: Absorbance at 545 nm

Experiment 4: Evaluation of plaque formation inhibitory effect of sugar-coated chewing gum after long-term storage:
50 g of sugar-coated chewing gum having the composition shown in Tables 7 and 11 was placed in a 200 mL bottle container manufactured by Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., covered with a lid and stored in a room temperature storage room, and taken out after one year. Similarly, products stored in a constant temperature room at 5 ° C for 1 year are evaluated as initial products, and the plaque formation inhibition rate of each product is tested by the following method, and stored at 5 ° C for 1 year and at room temperature for 1 year. The plaque formation inhibition rate of each product was calculated by the following formula.

Two sugar-coated chewing gums were extracted with 30 mL of 0.01% albumin-containing phosphate buffer (pH 7) to prepare a sample. 1 mL of this sample was mixed with 4 mL of 1% sucrose-added TSB [(Tryptic Soy Broth manufactured by BD)] medium, which was put into a test tube and inoculated with Streptococcus mutans that had been anaerobically cultured in advance. The amount of bacteria attached to the test tube wall was measured by tilting and anaerobic culture for 18 hours, and the same experiment was performed using a medium mixed with 1 mL of buffer as a control, and the amount of attached bacteria (X ₀ ) at that time. From the following formula, the plaque formation inhibition rate was determined from the amount of adherent bacteria (X _s ) using the sample.
Plaque formation inhibition rate (%) = [(X ₀ −X _s ) / X ₀ ] × 100
X ₀ : Amount of attached bacteria using buffer X _s : Amount of attached bacteria using sample

Claims

A chewing gum in which the chewing gum main body is coated with two or more coating layers, an inner coating layer containing lactoferrin is formed outside the chewing gum main body, and a metal oxide is contained outside the inner coating layer and contains lactoferrin A chewing gum characterized in that an outer coating layer is formed.
The chewing gum according to claim 1, wherein at least one intermediate coating layer containing no metal oxide and lactoferrin is interposed between the inner coating layer and the outer coating layer.
The chewing gum according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer contains dextranase and / or mutanase.
The chewing gum according to claim 3, wherein the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer contains gelatin in addition to dextranase and / or mutanase.
The chewing gum according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the metal oxide is titanium dioxide.
The chewing gum according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the coating layer is a sugar coating layer containing sugar and / or sugar alcohol.
A chewing gum manufacturing method in which a chewing gum main body is coated with two or more coating layers,
(I) a step of forming a chewing gum main body,
(II) including a step of forming an inner coating layer containing lactoferrin on the outer side of the chewing gum main body and a step of forming an outer coating layer containing a metal oxide and not containing lactoferrin on the outer side of the inner coating layer. A method for producing chewing gum.
The method for producing a chewing gum according to claim 7, comprising a step of forming an intermediate coating layer containing no metal oxide and lactoferrin between the step of forming the inner coating layer and the step of forming the outer coating layer.
The chewing gum production method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer contains dextranase and / or mutanase.
The chewing gum manufacturing method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the chewing gum main body or at least one coating layer contains gelatin in addition to dextranase and / or mutanase.