JPH0569490B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention is a low-calorie fiber made mainly of konjac and a dietary fiber cellulose-starch complex, which is said to be effective in dieting and preventing adult diseases. Contains food materials and their manufacturing methods.

(Prior Art) It is widely recognized that konjac is a low-calorie dietary fiber food that is useful as a diet food for preventing obesity and for preventing adult diseases such as colon cancer and lowered cholesterol.

However, because konjac has a unique texture, flavor, and smell, it is not suitable for consumption as a staple food like rice or noodles.
Also, even if you eat it regularly as a side dish, it is still a food item that you may not be accustomed to.

Because of this, konjac has a variety of foods,
Attempts have been made in the past to improve the physical properties and texture of foods and improve their palatability, particularly by adding and blending starches and fibers.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-54571 proposes mixing konjac flour with rice flour, wheat flour, etc. as starch-based ingredients and gelling the mixture to improve the texture.

Regarding the addition of dietary fiber, for example,
No. 59-196062 discloses that microfibrillated cellulose can be mixed to improve taste permeability and prevent syneresis, and that konnyaku can be shaped into rice grains, noodles, and macaroni. death,
It has been disclosed that it can be served as a diet food alone or mixed with various foods.

Furthermore, it is already known that attempts are being made to develop the above technology to obtain low-calorie foods that have a similar appearance and texture to cooked rice, which is used as a staple food, and can be prepared in the same way as cooked rice. There is.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, the above-mentioned foods that have been proposed so far,
By adding and mixing starches, some results can be seen in modifying the unique physical properties, texture, and taste of konjac, but these are no longer limited to konjac foods and should be a staple food. A low-calorie diet food that has an appearance, texture, and taste similar to cooked rice, and can be cooked in the same manner as cooked rice has not yet been provided.

That is, konnyaku food, which is a mixture of various starch powders, etc., has a uniform gel structure similar to the structure of so-called pumpkin seeds, and therefore has a structural difference from boiled rice and the like. Therefore, the texture is completely different, and the taste is also undesirable as it has the added and mixed starch and the unique taste and odor of konnyaku. In the case of konjac food containing wheat flour or the like instead of starch, problems such as yellowish coloration and loss of commercial value arise.

Furthermore, food products made from konnyaku contain a large amount of water, and therefore a large amount of water syneresis occurs during the retort sterilization process or the distribution process, resulting in hardening of the material due to a decrease in water retention. There is also the disadvantage that surface wetting occurs, impairing the quality and appearance of the product and significantly reducing its value.

The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to focus on the use of konjac as a raw material for low-calorie foods, and to develop a structure that is completely different from that of conventional konjac foods. To provide a fiber-containing food material that has similar texture and taste to staple foods such as cooked rice and other foodstuffs, and to discover a method for producing the same. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent syneresis during distribution or retort sterilization of this food material, thereby increasing the commercial value of the food material. ,
It is intended to provide a low-calorie food that closely resembles boiled rice in appearance and can be used as a substitute for boiled rice.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the low-calorie food material targeted by the present invention is a gel formed by uniformly mixing a hydrolyzed swollen product of konjac flour and a cellulose starch complex. It is a fiber-containing food material characterized by having a shape such as granules, lines, blocks, etc.

In addition, as a manufacturing method for obtaining this fiber-containing food material, in the present invention, a hydroswollen product of konjac flour and a cellulose starch complex are added, kneaded, and then gelled by alkali treatment and heat treatment, A feature of this method is that the gelled product is formed into a desired shape such as granules, lines, blocks, etc.

Furthermore, by dehydrating the obtained food to a moisture content of 85 to 95%, its appearance or texture resembles that of a normal starch-based food, and especially when it takes the shape of rice grains, it becomes boiled rice. It can be used as a rice-like low-calorie food material that can be used as a substitute. Furthermore, the water content in the molded gel is in the range of Y≦1.2X+93 (correctly Y is the water content %, and X is the number of parts by weight of the cellulose starch complex added to 1 part by weight of refined konjac flour). It is characterized by being able to provide water syneresis resistance during retort sterilization by dehydration.

Next, to explain the mode of implementation of this invention, konjac flour includes both konjac mannan and purified glucomannan, and in the case of konjac flour, regardless of its degree of purification or grade, it has gel-forming ability. If so, all are included.

In addition, the cellulose starch composite is
A fiber-starch composite disclosed in No. 64841 that is obtained by mixing and dissolving starch and natural cellulose (composition ratio of starch to cellulose approximately 1.5 times), molecularly dispersing the mixture, and coagulating or grinding this into fibers. (for example, trade name Sekicel, manufactured by Asahi Kasei Industries, Ltd.). This fiber-starch composite has a porous structure and is insoluble in water, but has excellent water retention and shape retention properties, and its calorific value is approximately 220 calories per 100g in dry form (see below) The usage amount of the fiber-starch composite described above is expressed in dry weight.) The mixing ratio of konjac flour and cellulose starch composite can be changed as appropriate depending on the texture of the target product. However, the amount of cellulose-starch composite is usually 0.1 to 2 parts by weight, preferably 0.5 to 1 part by weight, per 1 part by weight of refined konjac powder. Furthermore, this cellulose-starch complex is
If the cellulose-starch complex is less than 0.1 part by weight, the viscoelasticity peculiar to konjac is strong and the texture is uniform, so it is not effective in improving the texture, and if the cellulose-starch complex is more than 2 parts by weight, the gel-forming ability of konjac is affected. This tends to affect the gel strength, reduce gel strength, and make the texture hard, making it unsuitable as a food material intended by the present invention.

As described above, these raw materials are kneaded, solidified, and formed into a predetermined shape according to a conventional method.

That is, water in an amount of 15 to 50 times the amount of konjac flour is added and mixed in advance to the konjac flour, and then the mixture is allowed to swell for about 1 to 2 hours. Note that it is also possible to hydrate starches at the same time at this point.

After the swelling is completed, a predetermined amount of cellulose starch complex is added to the obtained hydrolyzed and swollen product of the above-mentioned konjac flour, and after thorough kneading with a grinder or mixer, an alkaline solution such as calcium hydroxide Ca(OH) ₂ is added. Perform contact treatment with. Thereafter, it is heated at about 80 to 90°C to form and solidify, and the desired fiber-containing food material is obtained by removing the alkali by immersion in water or the like.

In the present invention, this is further formed into a desired shape such as granules, lines, blocks, etc. In this case, an alkaline suspension of about 2% of the weight of konjac flour is added to the hydrolyzed swollen product of konjac flour and the cellulose-starch composite, and the mixture is mixed and brought into contact with each other, and then the mixture is filled into a molded container, extruded into granules, etc. It can be molded, but especially in the case of a rice grain shape or noodle string shape with a maximum width of about 10 mm or less, it can also be molded and solidified by the following method.

Without adding an alkali suspension to the above-mentioned kneaded mixture of the water-swollen product of refined konjac flour and the cellulose starch complex, the mixture is extruded into an alkaline aqueous solution through multiple nozzles or perforated plates to a semi-solidified state, and then heated. Alternatively, the mixture may be completely solidified.

However, in the case of ordinary konjac, the water content is
Since it is about 97%, if you perform retort sterilization etc.
Separation of water can be seen due to the pressure and heat. In order to prevent this syneresis, it is necessary to dehydrate the konjac to a critical value of 93% or less, but this causes problems such as hardening of the texture, shrinkage of the appearance, and reduced yield. Regarding this point, in the present invention as well, the moisture content of foodstuffs obtained by the above-mentioned method shows a value of about 98%, but by increasing the amount of cellulose-starch complex added, water retention and yield can be improved. As a result of experiments, it was found that the critical moisture value of dehydration also increased at the same time as the increase in water content, and this critical moisture value Y (%) is as shown in Figure 1. This can be shown by the following relational expression.

Y = 1.2 It is higher than the critical value of 93%. Therefore, if dehydration is carried out to the above-mentioned critical value, syneresis will not occur even during retort sterilization, and there will be no deterioration in texture etc.

When comparing the cellulose-starch complex and crystalline cellulose (Avicel manufactured by Asahi Kasei Industries, Ltd.), which is used to improve water retention, by adding and mixing equal amounts with refined konjac powder, it was found that the crystalline cellulose has a water content of 93%. Even after adjusting the dehydration to %, syneresis still occurs, and it is recognized that it exhibits the viscoelasticity characteristic of konnyaku in terms of physical properties, and is far from being a food approximating cooked rice as intended by the present invention. .

Furthermore, when the food material of the present invention is formed into rice grains and used as a substitute for cooked rice with a texture and appearance similar to cooked rice, the amount of cellulose-starch complex to be added and mixed is 0.5 times the amount of refined konjac flour. It is preferable that the water content of the coagulated product is
It is necessary to adjust the dehydration to 85-95%. By dehydrating to this specific value, free water inside and outside of the coagulum is eliminated, eliminating the watery texture during mastication.At the same time, light reflection due to free water on the surface of rice grains is suppressed, making the rice taste even better. The purpose is to approximate the appearance.

Furthermore, this treatment makes it possible to provide a low-calorie, high-dietary-fiber-containing food material similar to cooked rice that can be stored for a long period of time, which does not easily cause syneresis even after retort sterilization, and eliminates the need to drain water when opening a retort pouch as much as possible.

The above dehydration treatment requires forced mechanical dehydration such as centrifugal dehydration or compression dehydration, and in the case of centrifugal dehydration, the target moisture range can be reached in about 2 minutes at 1270G.

In addition, by attaching cornstarch, joshinko, shiratamako shell powder, or cooked rice paste with a solid content of about 20% to the surface of the rice grains, about 1 to 5% of the weight of the food,
It imparts stickiness to the rice grains, making them more desirable as a substitute for cooked rice.

(Function) The rice-like texture of the present invention, or the unique texture that does not exist in conventional konjac-based food materials, and the characteristic of not releasing water even when sterilized by retort, are the same as before. This effect cannot be achieved by adding shell powder starches or fibers such as known Joshin flour, Shiratama flour, or corn starch, and this effect was achieved for the first time by creating a gel structure of konjac and cellulose-starch composite. It becomes something that can be realized.

(Example) This invention will be described below with reference to specific examples.

Example 1 2.9 g of water at about 60° C. was added to 100 g of special grade konjac flour, and the mixture was allowed to swell for about 2 hours to obtain a hydrated swollen product of konjac. To this was added 700 g of Sekicel WE (manufactured by Asahi Kasei Industries, Ltd., a cellulose starch composite, containing 65 g of the product), and the mixture was thoroughly mixed with a mixer for about 10 minutes. This was extruded through a perforated plate having pores of Φ3 mm into a heated lime emulsion containing 1% calcium hydroxide, cut into pieces of 5 mm in length, and immersed. Next, boil this milk of lime for about 15 minutes to completely solidify it.
Approximately 2.6 kg of rice grain-shaped food material containing high dietary fiber was obtained.
When this was soaked in running water to remove the alkali and eaten, it had a texture similar to boiled rice. In addition, when this was dehydrated to 93% moisture by processing it in a centrifugal dehydrator at 1270G for 5 minutes, its appearance and texture were very similar to boiled rice, and there was no discomfort in daily consumption.
The calorific value of this product is 15 calories per 100g before dehydration, and approximately 23 calories after dehydration. This was much lower in calories than regular rice, which has about 150 calories.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the present invention is characterized in that the hydrolyzed swollen product of konnyaku and the cellulose-starch composite are uniformly mixed to form a gel-like shape, and can be molded into granular, linear, block-like, etc. shapes. According to the fiber-containing food material and its manufacturing method, it has an internal structure that is not found in conventional food materials using konnyaku, and especially when it is shaped into rice grains, its appearance, texture, and taste are extremely similar to boiled rice. Furthermore, due to its excellent water-retention properties, it does not cause shrinkage when mixed with rice, for example, and therefore, it is possible to obtain a cooked rice state with almost no discomfort. , it can be used as a food material that can be used as a substitute for cooked rice. Furthermore, syneresis during retort sterilization, which could not be achieved with conventional konnyaku ingredients, can be prevented, and the product value as a food material can be increased in terms of appearance and texture. Moreover, since it is low in calories, it can be used continuously as a diet food material, and its practical value is high.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows that in the fiber-containing food material of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a phase diagram showing the relationship between the amount of cellulose-starch composite added and the syneresis limit moisture value of the food material.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A food material which is a gel-like material formed by uniformly mixing a hydrolyzed swollen product of refined konjac powder and a cellulose starch complex, and which has a formed shape such as granular, linear, or block-like. 2. The food material according to claim 1, wherein the molded gel-like material has a moisture content of 85 to 95%. 3. The food material according to claim 2, wherein the water content of the shaped gel-like material further satisfies the relationship shown in the following formula. Y = 1.2X + 93 (However, Y is moisture content %, X is konjac flour 1
Number of parts by weight of cellulose starch complex added to parts by weight) 4 The cellulose starch complex is added to the hydrolyzed swollen product of konjac flour, kneaded, and then gelled by alkali treatment and heat treatment to form granular, linear, and block shapes. A method for producing food materials characterized by forming them into shapes, etc.