JPH08302226A - Green coloring matter of plant - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a material containing a large amount of chlorophyll, exhibiting stable vivid green and useful as a food dye and for a food and drink. CONSTITUTION: This material is obtained by squeezing a fresh raw edible green plant and subsequently further extracting a water-insoluble fraction of dry powder of the obtained plant green soup with a polar organic solvent.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention relates to a green pigmentary substance obtained from the water-insoluble fraction of fresh raw edible green plants.

[0002] Fresh raw edible green plants are extremely important foods for maintaining health, but they are hard and difficult to digest, and there is a problem with their eating habits. On the other hand, as a means for solving such a problem, conventionally, various proposals have been made to provide a vegetable green juice or a dry powder thereof obtained by squeezing a fresh raw edible green plant as a food. Depending on the type of plant used as a raw material, the taste may be irritating,
There were problems such as entanglement, bitterness and strong astringency, and there was also a problem with storability.

As a method for solving this storability, the present inventor has adjusted the pH of plant green juice obtained by squeezing a fresh raw edible green plant within the range of 6 to 9, It has been proposed to prepare a dry powder by a method such as spray drying or freeze drying (Japanese Patent Publication No. 46-38548, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-48548).
-108469 gazette). As a result, the storability of the vegetable green juice powder was significantly improved, but there is still room for improvement in terms of palatability.

[0004] Therefore, the present inventor, in the process of making various studies on improving the palatability of the green juice powder, further added a water-insoluble fraction obtained by removing a water-soluble component from the green juice powder to a polar substance. It was found that a bright green coloring matter substance was obtained by extraction with an organic solvent, and the present invention was completed.

Thus, the present invention provides a green pigment obtained by further extracting with a polar organic solvent the water-insoluble fraction of the dry powder of green vegetable juice obtained by squeezing fresh raw edible green plants. It provides a substance.

The present invention will be described in more detail below.

The edible green plant used as a raw material in the present invention is not limited to a cultivated edible plant having green leaves or stems (hereinafter referred to as leaf stems), but edible wild plants and medicinal plants having green leaf stems. Plants, usually fruits and vegetables having a green leaf stem that does not eat foliage, root vegetables, cereals, plants such as fruits, green edible algae, and the like, specifically, green leaves of wheat, Spinach, lettuce, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, mizuna, cucumber, bitter melon, green pepper, carrot green leaf, radish green leaf, parsley, celery, ashitaba, comfrey leaf, al-alpha, clover, kale, etc. Leaves, pine needles, spirulina, chlorella, seaweed, green seaweed and the like can be mentioned. These plants can be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Among the above green plants, wheats such as barley, wheat, naked barley, oats, pigeons, corn, millet and Italian diegrass are preferable, among which,
Barley, especially premature leaf stems, is most suitable.

It is desirable to treat these green plants as freshly as possible, and when using stored products, discoloration due to inert gas storage, low temperature storage, reduced pressure dehydration storage, sulfurous acid gas or sulfite treatment, etc. It is preferable to use the one which is provided with the alteration preventing means. The raw material plants are thoroughly washed to remove adhered substances, and if desired, they are sterilized with a bactericide such as hypochlorous acid, washed sufficiently with water, and, if necessary, cut into appropriate sizes. When finely slicing, it may be soaked in a dilute saline solution (for example, 0.1 to 2.0% saline solution) and drained before use. Further, in any stage of this pretreatment, blanching treatment is performed at a temperature of 100 to 140 ° C. for about 2 to 10 seconds at normal pressure (under reduced pressure or increased pressure in some cases), and then rapidly cooled. Processing may be performed. By this treatment, it is possible to inactivate enzymes (eg, chlorophyllase, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, etc.) that can cause undesired discoloration, deterioration, etc. of green plants.

The green plant thus pretreated is appropriately squeezed after adding water. The squeezing can be easily carried out according to a method known per se, for example, by combining a mechanical crushing means such as a mixer or a juicer with a solid-liquid separation means such as centrifugation or filtration. The green juice of the edible green plant thus obtained is then used with a base and has a liquidity of pH 6.2 to 9.5, preferably pH 6.
5 to 8.5, more preferably about 6.5 to 7.5.

Examples of the base that can be used for adjusting the pH include alkali metals or alkaline earth metals such as sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, calcium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. Hydroxide, carbonate or bicarbonate; ammonium hydroxide; glutamate such as calcium glutamate; seaweed ash extract and the like.

The plant green juice treated according to the present invention is subjected to instantaneous heat treatment of the green juice at a desired time after the separation of the green juice and before the drying treatment to remove inconvenient enzymes involved in discoloration and deterioration. It is possible to combine the sterilization of bacteria that are decomposed or inactivated and can also be mixed. This treatment can be carried out at normal pressure or under reduced pressure or increased pressure,
For example, processing conditions of 90 to 150 ° C. and 180 seconds to 2 seconds can be adopted. After this treatment, it is desirable to quench, especially to a temperature of 10 ° C. or lower.

The plant green juice whose pH has been adjusted as described above is
Spray drying or freeze drying, preferably spray drying, as soon as possible. Spray drying or freeze drying can be carried out in a manner known per se.

For example, in spray drying, 120 to 20
It is possible to carry out spray drying by heating using hot air at 0 ° C., preferably about 140 to 170 ° C., or spray drying at room temperature in air dried with a suitable desiccant such as lithium chloride. When freeze-drying, the temperature of the drying plate is 40 to 5
Conditions of 0 ° C. and a vacuum degree of about 1.0 to 0.01 mmHg are usually adopted.

The concentration of green juice used in the drying process is 1.
Within the range of about 5 to 30%, the highest possible concentration side is preferable. When concentrating for this purpose, a continuous thin film concentrator,
A vacuum concentrator or the like can be used. Further, in the above operation, if desired, the air may be replaced with an inert gas such as nitrogen or argon, an oxygen absorbent such as glucose oxidase may be enclosed, kept at a low temperature, shielded from light, etc. Means, alone or in combination,
It is also possible to prevent discoloration and deterioration during transportation, storage, etc. of the vegetable green juice until it is subjected to the drying step.

The plant green juice powder thus obtained is
Then, it is extracted with water to remove water-soluble components. This water extraction can be performed, for example, by suspending plant green juice powder in water and stirring. The amount of water used for the vegetable green juice powder at that time is not strictly limited and can be varied over a wide range. Usually, 2 to 50 liters of water, especially 5 to 20 liters per 1 kg of vegetable green juice powder
It is suitable to use in the ratio of.

This water extraction can be repeated until the water-soluble components in the plant green juice powder are substantially completely removed. Whether or not the water-soluble components have been removed can be confirmed by, for example, cations such as K ⁺ , Na ⁺ , Ca ²⁺ , Mg ²⁺ or anions such as NO ₃ ⁻ , Cl ⁻ , SO ₄ ^{2− in} the washing solution. Can be performed by quantifying.

The above-mentioned water extraction can usually be carried out at room temperature, but in some cases it may be carried out while heating up to about 50 ° C.

By the water extraction operation described above, the water-soluble components contained in the green vegetable juice powder, such as Na ⁺ , K ⁺ and Mg.
²⁺ , Ca ²⁺ , Cl ⁻ , NO ₂ ⁻ , SO ₄ ²⁻ , PO ₄ ³⁻ , Si
^2- cations and anions such as acetic acid, formic acid, citric acid,
Organic acids such as tartaric acid and succinic acid; water-soluble proteins, sugars,
Amino acids and the like are removed to obtain a water-insoluble plant powder rich in chlorophyll, lipids, water-insoluble proteins, polysaccharides, fat-soluble vitamins, binding minerals bound to proteins or sugars, and the like. When barley leaf stem before maturity is used as a raw material, in addition to the above components, n-hexacosyl alcohol and β-sitosterol having an anticholesterol action and 2 ″ -having an antioxidant activity are used. A plant powder rich in O-glucosylisovitexin and the like can be obtained.

The water-insoluble fraction of the green vegetable juice thus obtained is then extracted with a polar organic solvent. Examples of polar organic solvents that can be used for this extraction include alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, and 2-propanol; ketones such as acetone and methyl ethyl ketone; ethers such as ethyl ether; ethyl acetate and methyl acetate. And the like. These can be used alone or in a mixture of two or more. Among them, a mixed solvent of alcohols and ketones, especially a mixed solvent of ethanol and acetone is most suitable. The weight ratio of ethanol / acetone in the mixed solvent is usually 10/1 to 1/10.
It is preferably in the range of 0, particularly 2/1 to 1/10.

The amount of polar organic solvent used in the above extraction is not strictly limited and can be varied over a wide range depending on the type of solvent used. For example, an optimum ethanol / acetone mixed solvent (weight) is used. Ratio 1 /
When 100 to 100/1) is used, the mixed solvent is generally 50 per 100 g of the water-insoluble fraction of plant green juice powder.
It is suitable to use at a rate of 0 to 5000 ml, especially 700 to 2000 ml.

The extraction can be carried out at a temperature of about 5 ° C. to about 70 ° C., usually at room temperature (about 15 ° C.).
~ About 25 ° C) is sufficient. The extraction time can be about 30 minutes to about 20 hours, preferably about 2 to about 15 hours under the above conditions. Further, the extraction may be carried out under stirring, or may be carried out under static conditions.

After the extraction, the insoluble solid content is removed by an ordinary solid-liquid separation operation such as filtration or centrifugation to obtain an extract. A green extract is obtained from the obtained extract by removing the organic solvent by distillation under reduced pressure (vacuum), distillation, or the like.

This extract is added with excipients such as dextrin, cyclodextrin, starch, maltose, maltitol, glucose and fructose, if necessary, and then dried under reduced pressure, spray-dried, freeze-dried and the like. By drying, a bright green pigment substance powder can be obtained.

The pH of the aqueous dispersion of the above extract is about 6.5, but after the base as described above is added to the extract or the extract to adjust the pH to about 7.5, When dried as described above, a dry powder which completely dissolves in water to give a bright green transparent solution can be obtained.

The green pigment powder obtained as described above contains chlorofilm as a main component, and also contains fat-soluble vitamins and the like. Further, as a raw material, the stems of barley before ripening are used. When used, it also contains n-hexacosyl alcohol having an anticholesterol action, β-sitosterol, and 2 ″ -O-glucosylisovitexin having an antioxidant activity.

As described above, the pigment substance powder of the present invention is
It has excellent storage stability, contains a large amount of chlorophyll, and exhibits a vivid green color, so it can be used, for example, as a food coloring material for coloring various foods.

Further, the pigment substance of the present invention has a refreshing sweetness and can be used as it is for food and drink.
If necessary, inclusion with cyclodextrin, crown ether or the like can be performed. Further, by mixing with an excipient, a bulking agent, a binder, a thickening agent, an emulsifier, a coloring agent, a flavoring agent, a food additive, a seasoning agent, etc., depending on the application, powder, granules,
It can also be formed into pellets, tablets, oily forms and the like.

Thus, the coloring matter of the present invention is used for various foods and drinks, for example, various processed foods such as processed products of barley young leaves, processed vegetables, processed seaweed foods, canned foods, bottles, processed meats, etc .; It can be mixed with soups, snacks, beverages, breads, noodles and the like and used for eating and drinking.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples.

[0031]

Example 1 Green leaves of young barley (leaf stem before maturity of barley) were thoroughly washed, then crushed with a mixer and squeezed, and fibrous residue was filtered off to obtain green juice. Sodium hydroxide was added to 100 liters of this green juice to adjust the pH of the green juice to 7.2, and then spray-dried at a blowing temperature of 170 ° C. to obtain 4.3 kg of green juice powder.

1 kg of this green juice powder was suspended in 20 liters of water and stirred with a paddle stirrer for 30 minutes, then centrifuged (3500 rpm) to collect solids, dispersed in water, and blown at a temperature of 170 ° C. Spray-dried with water-insoluble barley powder 450
g was obtained.

Water-insoluble barley powder 200 thus obtained
g to acetone-ethanol (weight ratio 4: 1) mixed solvent 1
000 ml was added, and the mixture was extracted with stirring for 2 hours and then filtered to obtain 980 ml of filtrate (pH 6.8).
After adding 5 ml of a 10% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution to the filtrate and mixing the mixture, the mixture was kept at 50 ° C. for 1 hour (the pH of the liquid at this time was 9.3), dried under vacuum at 38 ° C. to about 1 ml.
50 g of a pasty concentrate were obtained.

200 g of lactose was mixed with this concentrate and dried under reduced pressure to obtain 210 g of a dry powder. The dry powder had a bright green color and contained 1.25% chlorophyll.

Example 2 To 200 g of barley powder obtained in Example 1 was added 700 ml of a mixed solvent of acetone-ethanol (weight ratio 5: 1), the mixture was stirred for 5 hours and then filtered to obtain 870 ml of an extract. This extract was concentrated under vacuum at 32-35 ° C., 120 g of dextrin was added to the obtained concentrate, and spray-dried under the conditions that the solid concentration was 25% by weight, the inlet temperature was 170 ° C., and the outlet temperature was 120 ° C. 145 g of dry powder was obtained. The chlorophyll content was 1.52%.

Example 3 In Example 2, acetone-ethanol (weight ratio 5:
1) The same operation as in Example 2 was performed except that an acetone-ethanol (weight ratio 1: 1) mixed solvent was used instead of the mixed solvent. As a result, 120 g of green dry powder was obtained. Chlorophyll content 1.38%.

Example 4 100 kg of kale was washed and squeezed in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain 95 l of juice, and the juice was spray-dried to obtain 4.1 kg of kale green juice powder. . This green juice powder was suspended in 10 liters of water, stirred for 30 minutes with a paddle-type stirrer, centrifuged to collect the solid content, dispersed in water, spray-dried at a blast temperature of 170 ° C., bitter, Less spicy,
2.3 kg of green kale powder containing fat-soluble vitamins such as chlorophyll, carotene and vitamin E was obtained. The obtained kale powder was subjected to solvent extraction treatment in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain 187 g of a dry powder. The dry powder had a bright green color and contained 0.43% of chlorophyll.

Example 5 2 g of the green pigment substance obtained in Example 1 was mixed with 70 parts of granulated sugar.
g, 30 g of starch syrup and 0.5 g of a fragrance were mixed to obtain a new candy having a bright green color, stable and excellent in palatability.

Example 6 2 g of the green pigment substance obtained in Example 2, 88 dextrins
g, fish oil refined substance 150 g, and beeswax 2 as a dispersant
5 g was mixed and 270 mg each was filled in a soft capsule by a conventional method to produce a green fish oil food.

Example 7 The green pigment substance obtained in Example 1 was used as a bread ingredient (strong flour 300).
g, granulated sugar 20 g, yeast 3.4 g, salt 50
g, 250 g of water, and 20 g of butter) were added so as to be 2%, and bread was produced according to the usual recipe and method for bread production.

The obtained bread has a bright green color and has an aroma.
It was a good quality bread product. Example 8 0.5 parts of the green pigment substance obtained in Example 1 (weight basis, hereinafter
The same) as the ingredients below for ice cream:Added to the ice cream by the normal ice cream manufacturing process.
An ice cream was produced. The resulting ice cream is fresh
It had a faint green color.

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] May 27, 1996

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0008

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0008] Among the green plants, wheat, for example, are suitable barley, wheat, barley, oats, oat, corn, millet, etc. Italian La Igurasu is, among others,
Barley, especially premature leaf stems, is most suitable.

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0012

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

The plant green juice treated according to the present invention is subjected to instantaneous heat treatment of the green juice at a desired time after the separation of the green juice and before the drying treatment to remove inconvenient enzymes involved in discoloration and deterioration. degradation or inactivated and also can be carried out also as sterilization of bacteria which may be contaminated. This treatment is carried out at normal pressure
Alternatively, it can be carried out under reduced pressure or under increased pressure, and for example, treatment conditions of 90 to 150 ° C. and about 180 seconds to 2 seconds can be adopted. After this treatment, it is desirable to quench, especially to a temperature of 10 ° C. or lower.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0017

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

This water extraction can be repeated until the water-soluble components in the plant green juice powder are substantially completely removed. Verifying water-soluble components have been removed, for example, in the wash liquor ^{K +, Na +, Ca 2+} , Mg
Cations such as ²⁺ or NO ₃ ⁻ , Cl ⁻ , SO ₄ ²⁻
Can be performed by quantifying anions such as.

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Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A green pigment substance obtained by further extracting a water-insoluble fraction of a dry powder of green vegetable juice obtained by squeezing a fresh raw edible green plant with a polar organic solvent. 2. The green pigmentary substance according to claim 1, wherein the edible green plant is wheat, particularly barley.