JPH0449394B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention contains α-L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester (hereinafter referred to as aspartame), has a uniform sweetness, has excellent solubility and dispersibility in water, is non-caloric, or has a very high This invention relates to a method for producing low-calorie dry drinks or confectionery. The raw powder of aspartame is generally fine needle-shaped crystals, has a large specific volume, and is easily scattered. Furthermore, both the dispersibility and solubility in water are low. Therefore, when used as a bulk powder, it produces so-called mako when dissolved, exhibiting physical properties that are difficult to dissolve. Therefore, there are various restrictions on the use of raw powders such as sucrose as sweeteners.
In addition, aspartame has a sweetness level about 200 times higher than that of sucrose (varies depending on its concentration or coexisting substances). This means that on a weight basis, the same sweetness as sucrose can be obtained with approximately 1/200 the amount of sucrose used.For example, when using the raw powder as a tabletop sweetener, only a very small amount is required. It becomes something that must be done. Therefore, it is virtually impossible to fine-tune the sweetness of coffee, tea, etc. using aspartame bulk powder. As a method to overcome the various restrictions when using aspartame for tabletop use, for example, a method has been proposed in which it is made into tablets with excipients, lubricants, etc., and a constant amount is obtained at all times. ing. In addition, attempts to improve solubility and dispersibility include making effervescent tablets by coexisting sodium bicarbonate and a suitable neutralizing agent in the above tablets, and adding aspartame together with an edible bulking agent such as dextrin. They are dissolved in water or made into a slurry and dried by heating, mainly by spray drying. These methods contribute to the practical application of aspartame, but on the other hand, the calories of excipients such as dextrin are added, or the physical properties of excipients, such as solubility, dissolution rate, and interaction with water, are affected. It is expected that the properties of the material may be impaired due to affinity. In view of the above-mentioned current situation, the present inventors have conducted intensive studies to improve the physical properties of aspartame, minimize the use of raw materials that increase calories, and obtain a dry beverage or confectionery with good flavor etc. As a result, by adding aspartame to the raw material liquid of coffee, tea, etc. and drying it by freeze drying or vacuum drying, dry drinks or confectionery that solve the above problems can be created with almost no loss of sweetness from aspartame. We came to the knowledge that it is possible to obtain the certificate without
This completes the present invention. That is, the present invention uses aspartame as all or a part of the sweetener in the production of dry drinks or confectionery, and after adding a solution or slurry made by adding and mixing aspartame to a raw material liquid or slurry, the process is pulverized. , granulation or molding. In the present invention, the raw material liquid or slurry refers to coffee extract, black tea extract, fruit juice, herbal extract, soups, etc., which are raw materials for the target beverage or confectionery. The components, solid content concentration, type of solvent used, etc. do not matter. The aspartame added to the raw material liquid or slurry may be used as a raw powder or may be processed in advance. The optimum concentration of aspartame varies depending on the type of desired dry beverage or confectionery, but it is generally about 100 to 1500 mg/dl in the case of coffee extract with a solid content concentration of 30%. At this level of concentration, the efficiency in freeze drying, vacuum drying, and spray drying is the same as that of additive-free products, and the final product obtained has the same volume, appearance, etc. as additive-free products. Since aspartame itself has low hygroscopicity, it is possible to prevent moisture absorption and caking during storage, as well as browning and other deterioration of flavors resulting from this, as in the case of adding sugar. Furthermore, due to the flavor enhancing effect of aspartame, products with satisfactory quality can be obtained in terms of flavor. The aspartame-containing raw material liquid or slurry is dried according to a conventional method, and in this case, freeze drying or vacuum drying is preferable in order to minimize the loss of sweetness of aspartame. in particular,
For example, in the case of freeze-drying, the raw material liquid is poured into a tray to a liquid depth of 5 to 10 m/m. -30～50℃
After freezing to , the pressure in the drying chamber is reduced to 0.1-0.8 Torr and maintained during the drying process. The tray containing the frozen raw material liquid is suspended between upper and lower heating plates, providing heat of evaporation through radiant heat transfer. The evaporated water vapor is collected by a cold trap maintained at -60°C to -40°C. Drying is preferably carried out to a moisture content of 3% or less. The obtained dried product may be crushed as it is and provided as a powdered or granular beverage or confectionery, or may be mixed with other raw materials to form a final product. It is also possible to produce beverages and confectionery in desired forms by wet or dry granulation or molding methods. According to the method of the present invention, it is possible to significantly improve the dispersibility and solubility of aspartame, and while eliminating the use of a third component that does not have any effect other than increasing the amount of aspartame,
This product exhibits the unique effect of being able to obtain dried beverages or confectionery of sufficiently satisfactory quality in terms of sweetness and flavor without any loss of sweetness due to aspartame during the manufacturing process. The present invention will be further explained below with reference to Examples. Example 1 Coffee extract 500ml (concentration 40%) Aspartame 5g Aspartame was mixed and dissolved in the coffee extract, and then frozen at a temperature around -30 to -50°C. During the drying process, the air pressure in the drying room is set to approximately 0.1 to 0.8 Torr.
Maintain the temperature of the heating plates above and below the tray at 40℃.
The temperature was adjusted to ~80°C, and evaporative drying was performed using radiant heat. The temperature of the heating plate was adjusted to about 80°C in the early stage of drying to perform constant rate drying, and the temperature of the heating plate was set to 60°C during lapse rate drying. Total drying time was approximately 6 hours. The obtained dried product (instant coffee) showed almost the same dissolution rate as conventional freeze-dried instant coffee, and when 1 g was dissolved in 150 ml of warm water at 60°C, it dissolved in about 18 seconds. That is, by making use of the high-quality sweetness of aspartame and compensating for the drawbacks of aspartame, such as difficulty in controlling sweetness and low dissolution rate, a dry coffee powder that is easy to handle and low in calories was obtained. Example 2 Concentrated orange juice (Unshu mandarin orange)
50 (Brix30) Aspartame 50g Mix and dissolve aspartame in concentrated orange juice, and use a spray dryer manufactured by Kochiwa Seisakusho (NK-
65). Feed flow rate 30/Hr,
The hot air inlet temperature was 150°C, and the exhaust air temperature was 105°C. The obtained fruit juice powder has high solubility and can take advantage of aspartame's high-quality sweetness and fruit juice flavor promotion effect, making up for the drawbacks of aspartame, such as difficulty in controlling sweetness and low dissolution rate. Example 3 Concentrated orange juice (Unshu mandarin orange)
50 (Brix30) Aspartame 50g According to the method of Example 2, orange juice powder containing aspartame was prepared by Freund Sangyo Co., Ltd. (FL).
-40) was granulated using 1 part of water as a binder. The granulation conditions were an inlet hot air temperature of 60°C and an inlet hot air temperature of 80°C during drying. The obtained granules have an average particle size
Uniform granules with a diameter of 350 μm have improved wettability, resulting in a further improvement in dissolution rate than that of powder di-use. Table 1 shows the dissolution rate when 10g was dissolved in 150ml of water.

[Table] Example 4 Soup raw material liquid 10 kg Soup raw material liquid having the composition shown in Table 2 was dried in a tray vacuum dryer. The drying conditions were a shelf temperature of 60°C, a vacuum level of 10 Torr, and a drying time of 5 hours. The dried product obtained was in the form of a plate with a thickness of about 5 m/m. The dried product is crushed and granulated using an oscillator with a screen of 1.5 m/m, and the granulated product is processed using a tableting machine manufactured by Hata Tekko Co., Ltd.
Dry-compressed tablets using HT-18 mold, 2cm square, thickness 0.8
A rectangular cube of cm was obtained. Additionally, 0.1% magnesium stearate was added as a lubricant during tableting. The resulting soup cubes have good solubility, taste,
Both flavor and quality were satisfactory. Table 2 Soup raw material liquid composition Pork extract 40% Salt 20% Chemical seasonings 5% Spice powder 1% Skim milk 10% Dextrin 24% Aspartame 0.1%

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In the production of dry beverages or confectionery, α-L-aspartyl phenylalanine methyl ester is used as all or part of the sweetener, and α-L-aspartyl is added to the raw material liquid or slurry. A method for producing a dried beverage or confectionery, which comprises drying a solution or slurry obtained by adding and mixing phenylalanine methyl ester, and then powdering, granulating or molding the resulting solution or slurry. 2. The method for producing a dried beverage or confectionery according to claim 1, wherein the raw material liquid is coffee, black tea extract, or fruit juice squeezed liquid. 3. The method for producing a dried beverage or confectionery according to claim 1, wherein the drying is performed by freeze drying or vacuum drying.