JP2000050851A - Usage of chlorine dioxide gas for retaining food freshness and food freshness retaining agent containing the gas - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a usage of chlorine dioxide as a freshness retaining agent. SOLUTION: This usage comprises placing a chlorine dioxide-containing preparation together with a food needed to be kept fresh, gently releasing the chlorine dioxide from the preparation and bringing the food into contact with the chlorine dioxide so as to keep the food fresh.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for using chlorine dioxide in foods requiring freshness preservation and sterilization of fresh foods or processed foods, and a chlorine dioxide-containing food freshness preserving agent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Fresh foods such as meat, seafood, vegetables and fruits, processed foods such as prepared foods, bento, ham, sausage, kamaboko, etc.
Various products have been developed to maintain the freshness of those foods. Such products are typically oxygen scavengers,
Ethanol vapor generators and ethylene adsorbents / decomposers are known.

[0003] However, the oxygen scavenger has the disadvantage that its activity depends on the amount of water and / or air present, and generates heat when it reacts with water. Furthermore, it is effective only against aerobic bacteria against bacteria, and has no effect against anaerobic bacteria.

[0004] Ethanol vapor generators have the disadvantage that, unless the concentration of ethanol is high, there is no bactericidal effect, and harmful acetaldehyde is generated by the dehydrogenation of ethanol.

[0005] As for ethylene adsorption and decomposing agents, those capable of maintaining the freshness of fresh foods such as vegetables have not been developed at present.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and focuses on the strong sterilizing power and high safety of chlorine dioxide. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for using the same and, at the same time, a food freshness preservative containing the chlorine dioxide.

[0007]

The chlorine dioxide-containing preparation used in the present invention preferably has stabilized chlorine dioxide. Stabilization means that chlorine dioxide is stably present in the aqueous solution and chlorine dioxide can be gradually released from the aqueous solution. As such a chlorine dioxide-containing solution,
For example, there may be mentioned a chlorine dioxide-containing solution containing dissolved chlorine dioxide gas, chlorite and a pH adjuster. The solution may contain chloric acid and / or chlorate.

[0008] The dissolved concentration of chlorine dioxide gas in such a liquid agent is between 0.1 and 2900 ppm, preferably between 1.0 and 2900 ppm.
It may be between 2900 ppm.

[0009] Chlorite is added to the solution in an amount of 10 to 50,000 pp.
m, preferably 100 to 40000 ppm.
Examples of the chlorite include alkali metal salts such as lithium chlorite, sodium chlorite or potassium chlorite, or chlorites of alkaline earth metals such as calcium chlorite and magnesium chlorite. Etc. can be used. Preferred are chlorous acid, sodium chlorite, lithium chlorite

As the pH adjuster, inorganic acids such as sodium dihydrogen phosphate, boric acid and dilute hydrochloric acid, organic acids such as citric acid, acetic acid and fumaric acid, or acidic polymer compounds such as polyacrylic acid can be used. . This pH adjuster is added to make the finally obtained solution acidic, preferably to make the pH 2 to 7. When chloric acid is contained, it is not always necessary to add the pH adjuster as long as the solution finally shows acidity.

Chloric acid or chlorate optionally contained in the solution is 1.0 to 50,000 ppm, preferably 5 to 5 ppm.
To 10000 ppm. Even when both chloric acid and chlorate are contained, the total amount thereof should be within the concentration range shown on the left. As the chlorate, an alkali metal salt such as lithium chlorate, sodium chlorate or potassium chlorate, or a chlorate of an alkaline earth metal such as calcium chlorate or magnesium chlorate can be used. Preferred are chloric acid, sodium chlorate and potassium chlorate.

The method for preparing the chlorine dioxide-containing solution of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the solution within the above-mentioned concentration and pH range is finally obtained. Can be illustrated.

1) Dissolve chlorine dioxide gas by bubbling in water to prepare an aqueous solution of 2000 to 2500 ppm of dissolved chlorine dioxide. 2) Dissolve chloric acid or chlorate in aqueous medium,
A 0000-50,000 ppm aqueous solution is prepared. When chlorate is used, a pH adjuster is added to adjust the pH of the solution to 2-5. Even when using chloric acid,
If desired, a pH adjuster may be added to adjust the pH of the solution to the above range. 3) Dissolve chlorite in an aqueous medium, and have a concentration of 40000-5
Prepare a 0000 ppm aqueous solution. Next, 200 to 350 ml of the solution 1), 10 to 50 ml of the solution 2), and 700 to 800 ml of the solution 3)
Are mixed at room temperature and stirred well.

The chlorine dioxide-containing solution usable in the present invention is also available as commercial products such as antidium dioxide (manufactured by International Dioxide Co., Ltd.) and stabilized chlorine dioxide manufactured by Vulcan Chemical Company.

In the present invention, the above-mentioned chlorine dioxide-containing solution may be used as it is, but stabilized chlorine dioxide may be used in a granular form by an appropriate means. And the like can be used in the form of a solid in which chlorine dioxide is impregnated into a mineral such as Preferably it is gelled. As the gel agent, various superabsorbent polymers such as a superabsorbent polymer, for example, a synthetic polymer, a starch-based polymer, and a cellulose-based polymer can be used. When the superabsorbent polymer is acidic, p is added to the superabsorbent polymer.
It can also serve as an H regulator.

The amount of the dissolved chlorine dioxide-containing solution to be contained in the gel may be appropriately adjusted in accordance with the absorption capacity of the gel, and the sustained-release and sustained-release properties are determined by the weight of the gel or the size of the container opening. Sex can be controlled.

The chlorine dioxide-containing preparation is filled in a container made of corrosion-resistant plastic, glass or metal, and the container is left in a space for keeping freshness. Is gradually generated and diffused in the space. In particular, this use form is suitable when the chlorine dioxide-containing preparation is used in a liquid state.

The chlorine dioxide-containing preparation is obtained by packaging the gel composition with a corrosion-resistant plastic film permeable to chlorine dioxide gas, a corrosion-resistant nonwoven fabric or a corrosion-resistant paper,
This can be left in a space for maintaining freshness, and chlorine dioxide can be gradually generated and diffused. This use form is suitable when the chlorine dioxide-containing preparation is used in a gel form. In addition, the sustained release chlorine dioxide-containing gel composition,
In order to be distributed on the market, it is necessary to further fill or package the packaged gel composition in a container impermeable to chlorine dioxide gas.

If it is desired to send more chlorine dioxide gas, the chlorine dioxide-containing preparation filled and packaged as described above is not only left alone, but also installed in a machine equipped with a fan and forcedly blown. Chlorine dioxide gas may be generated and diffused.

In particular, fresh foods such as meat, seafood, vegetables and fruits, processed foods such as prepared foods, bento, ham, sausage, and kamaboko are important to maintain freshness. Or, by installing the product in a package, in a product transport container, or in a transport room of an automobile or a ship for transporting the product, the bacteria that cause a decrease in freshness existing in the distribution of the food are killed, and discomfort generated from the food is eliminated. The odor can be removed. When combined with means such as freezing and refrigeration, the freshness of fresh foods and processed products can be more effectively maintained. In particular, the present invention is effective for maintaining the freshness of fruits such as strawberries, melons, and citrus fruits, in particular, strawberries and oranges.

More specifically, chlorine dioxide from a chlorine dioxide-containing preparation is preferably at least 0.01 ppm, preferably 0.05 to 0.05 ppm, in the space where the preparation is placed.
It is desirable to control its generation so that a concentration of 10 ppm, more preferably 0.1-5.0 ppm is maintained. When the concentration is lower than 0.01 ppm, the effect of maintaining freshness is low, and when the concentration is too high, the time and period effective for maintaining freshness cannot be set long, and necessary for maintaining the effect for a long time. There is a problem that the amount of the chlorine dioxide-containing preparation becomes too large. In addition to the product intended to maintain freshness, the size of the space in which it is placed, the period required for maintaining freshness, etc., the packaging and storage form of chlorine dioxide-containing preparations, chlorine dioxide generation characteristics, the amount of the composition used It is necessary to appropriately set the above concentration range of chlorine dioxide in consideration of the amount generated from packaging or containers, and the like. Here, the "ppm" concentration refers to the concentration in the space (system) where the preparation is placed.

Example 1 Preparation Example 1 of Food Freshness Preserving Agent A 50,000 ppm aqueous solution of lithium chlorite and 200
0.25 g of sodium chlorate was dissolved in 91.75 g of a solution prepared by mixing a 0 ppm aqueous solution of chlorine dioxide at a volume ratio of 2: 1. To this, 1.25 g of citric acid and 6.75 g of high-grade aqueous polymer-Aqualic CA (manufactured by Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.) were added to form a gel to obtain 100 g of a food freshness preservative.

Example 2 Preparation of Food Freshness Preserving Agent 2 Citric acid 3 was added to 91 g of commercially available stabilized chlorine dioxide (a 50,000 ppm product mainly composed of sodium chlorite).
g and 6 g of a higher aqueous polymer-Aqualic CA (manufactured by Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.), and the mixture was gelled to obtain 100 g of a food freshness retaining agent.

Example 3 5 g of the food freshness preservative prepared in Example 1 was filled in a bag made of a polyethylene film and tightly packed. This is 500cm fresh strawberry in 25cm long, 34c wide
m, was adhered to the inner wall of a cardboard having a height of 24 cm with a commercially available double-sided tape. The change over time in the degree of rot of the strawberry was compared with that of a strawberry (control) in a cardboard box not containing a gel agent. Observation one week later, the one containing the gel maintained freshness, but the control without the gel produced mold and rot.

Example 4 5 g of the food freshness preserving agent prepared in Example 2 was filled in a bag made of nonwoven fabric and tightly packed. This is 34 cm long, 40 cm wide and 10 cm high, containing 10 kg of organically grown oranges.
It was adhered to the inner wall of an 8 cm cardboard with a commercially available double-sided tape. The time-dependent change in the degree of decay of oranges was compared with the oranges (control) in cardboard without gel. Observation after 15 days revealed that none of the samples containing the gel had any mold, but the control without the gel had mold in 8 out of 40 samples.

[0026]

The present invention relates to a method of using chlorine dioxide for maintaining the freshness of fresh foods such as meat, seafood, vegetables and fruits, prepared foods, bento, processed foods such as ham, sausage, kamaboko and the like. A chlorine-containing food freshness preservative was provided.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tsutomu Iwamoto 4-1-1, Uchikuhoji-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka F-term in DM Network Inc. (reference) 4B021 LW02 LW03 LW04 MC01 MK02 MK13 MK14 MK20 MP04 MP08 4B069 AA04 HA01 HA11 KA01 KA03 KB05 KC01 KC14

Claims (8)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A chlorine dioxide-containing preparation is kept together with a food which needs to maintain freshness, chlorine dioxide is gradually generated from the preparation, and the food is brought into contact with chlorine dioxide to maintain the food freshness. How to use chlorine-containing preparations. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the chlorine dioxide-containing preparation is a gel composition, a liquid composition or a solid composition. 3. The use of the chlorine dioxide-containing preparation according to claim 1, wherein the chlorine dioxide is stabilized chlorine dioxide. 4. The chlorine dioxide-containing preparation according to claim 1, wherein the chlorine dioxide-containing preparation contains a dissolved chlorine dioxide gas aqueous solution, an alkali and / or alkaline earth metal salt of chlorite, and a pH adjuster. How to use the formulation. 5. The use of the chlorine dioxide-containing preparation according to claim 1, wherein the chlorine dioxide-containing preparation is packaged with a gas-permeable plastic film, nonwoven fabric or paper. 6. A food freshness preserving agent comprising a dissolved aqueous solution of chlorine dioxide gas, an alkali and / or alkaline earth metal salt of chlorite, and a pH adjuster. 7. The food freshness preserving agent according to claim 6, further comprising chloric acid and / or chlorate. 8. The food freshness retaining agent according to claim 6, which is gelled.