JP2009284859A - Sweetness-reinforcing agent for food and drink, and method for reinforcing sweetness - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sweetness-reinforcing agent for food and drink; to provide a method for reinforcing sweetness; to provide a method for reducing a sweetener; and to provide food and drink produced by the method for reinforcing sweetness. <P>SOLUTION: The method for reinforcing sweetness of food and drink includes adding long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and/or its ester to food and drink. The method for reducing a sweetener, and sweetener-reduced food and drink are provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sweetness enhancer for food and drink, a sweetness enhancing method, a sweetener reducing method, and a food and drink using the method.

  Arachidonic acid (cis-5,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid) is a kind of long-chain highly (polyvalent) unsaturated fatty acid and is present in phospholipids obtained from animal organs and tissues. This is an essential fatty acid and an important compound that is a precursor of synthesis such as prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leukotrienes.

  Focusing on the function of such arachidonic acid, conventionally, various compositions such as fats and oils and foods for the purpose of enhancing nutrition and imparting various physiological functions to long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids such as arachidonic acid and esters thereof. Attempts have been made to add to.

The nutrition fortifying composition described in JP-A-10-99048 contains arachidonic acid in an amount of 0.1 to 10% by weight as one of components added to realize an ingredient close to breast milk.
In the synthetic lipid composition similar to human milk fat described in JP-A-11-89513, a long-chain n-6 highly unsaturated fatty acid containing arachidonic acid is used as a kind of fatty acid constituting triglyceride.
Further, JP-A-10-70992 and JP-A-10-191886 describe edible oils and fats derived from microorganisms containing abundant arachidonic acid in the form of triglycerides, and suitable uses thereof include formulas for infants and infants. Examples thereof include formula milk, food for infants, food for pregnant women, and the like.

  As another physiological function of arachidonic acid, JP-A-913075 describes fats and oils having an action of reducing blood lipid concentration comprising glycerides containing long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids such as arachidonic acid. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-13076 describes an oil and fat having the same structure and having an action of suppressing platelet aggregation ability.

On the other hand, there is a seasoning as an example of using long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids in the food field. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-78702 discloses a seasoning in which mellowness, aftertaste and umami are enhanced by emulsifying oil and fat in an oil-in-water type.
Japanese Patent No. 3220155 discloses a flavoring composition that can be obtained by oxidation of fatty acids other than milk fat.

Furthermore, US Pat. No. 3,689,289 (US3689289) describes a method for producing an artificial chicken flavor by reacting a reducing sugar with an amino acid and arachidonic acid or arachidonic acid methyl ester under specific conditions. Yes. In addition, International Publication No. WO2003 / 051139 uses arachidonic acid in the form of a glycerin ester in a method for producing an artificial chicken flavor by reacting a reducing sugar with an amino acid and arachidonic acid under specific conditions. Describes that heat resistance and sustainability are produced in the scent of purified chicken flavor.
In all of these, three types of heated reaction products of sugar, amino acid and arachidonic acid develop an artificial chicken-like odor.

  In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-95439 discloses a seasoning characterized by containing a highly unsaturated fatty acid glyceride. An object of the present invention is to enhance the oxidative stability of highly unsaturated fatty acid glycerides that are easily oxidatively deteriorated. Is characterized by containing highly unsaturated fatty acid glycerides.

  As mentioned above, various functions related to polyunsaturated fatty acids and improvement in rich taste have been shown in the prior literature, but the improvement in taste includes "sweetness" or "reduced sweetener effect" Is not described or suggested in these documents.

Regarding other seasonings using arachidonic acid, Japanese Patent No. 3729272 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-34297 describe kokumi enhancers composed of n-6 long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids and / or esters thereof. When a food contains a long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid such as arachidonic acid and / or its ester alone, or is subjected to an oxidation treatment such as cooking with a vegetable oil containing it in a specific range, It has been found that the richness of the taste increases and the effect of enhancing the taste can be obtained.
In WO2005 / 004634, when a long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and / or an ester thereof is decomposed and a decomposition product thereof and an extract of the decomposition product are added to food, an effect of increasing the richness of the food is obtained. I have found that.
In WO2005 / 046653, it has been found that adding a long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and / or an ester thereof to foods has various functions for improving the taste or flavor of foods in addition to enhancing the rich taste.
In WO2005 / 046354, it is shown that the rich taste is further improved by containing a rich taste-enhancing component (α-tocopherol, iron) in a long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and / or an ester thereof.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-99048 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-89513 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-70992 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-191886 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-3075 JP-A-913076 JP 2001-78702 Japanese Patent No. 3220155 US Patent No. 3689289 WO2003 / 051139 Publication JP 2002-95439 A Japanese Patent No. 3729272 JP 2006-34297 A WO2005 / 004634 Publication WO2005 / 046653 Publication WO2005 / 046354 Publication

  This invention makes it a subject to provide the sweet taste enhancer of food-drinks, the sweet taste enhancement method, the sweetener reduction method, and the food-drinks using the method.

  As a result of intensive studies to achieve the above object, the present inventors have added a long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid such as arachidonic acid and / or an ester thereof to the food or drink, thereby improving the sweetness of the food or drink. The present invention has been completed by finding out that it can be enhanced.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the food / beverage products with which sweetness was further enhanced with the sweetener less than usual, or the food / beverage products with sweetness enhanced with the same amount of sweeteners can be provided.

In the present invention, the term “long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid” means a fatty acid having 20 or more carbon atoms and 3 or more double bonds in the case of n-3 long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids, and n-6 In the case of a long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid, it means a fatty acid having 18 or more carbon atoms and 3 or more double bonds. Furthermore, long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids having 20 to 24 carbon atoms and 4 to 6 double bonds are preferred for both n-3 and n-6 systems. Examples of n-6 long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids include arachidonic acid (AA) and docosatetraenoic acid (DTA), and arachidonic acid is particularly preferred. Examples of n-3 long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids include docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).
There is no particular limitation on the origin of the long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and / or ester thereof used in the present invention such as arachidonic acid, and those obtained from various animals and plants, microorganisms, algae, etc. are commercially available. These well-known things can be used suitably.
These fatty acids can be used alone or in admixture of two or more.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular in the structure of an ester body, and its manufacturing method, As monohydric and polyhydric alcohols can be used as alcohols which comprise this. Among polyhydric alcohols, glycerol can be mentioned as an example preferable from the viewpoint of safety and cost. In this case, an emulsifier form such as triglyceride, diglyceride, monoglyceride, sucrose fatty acid ester, and glycerin fatty acid ester is used as an ester. Constitute. Fatty acids other than the long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids of the present invention may be contained in the fatty acids constituting these ester bodies.

  The content of the long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and / or ester thereof in the sweetness enhancer of the present invention is not particularly limited, but if the content is too low, a large amount of sweetness enhancer is required to obtain the desired effect. In addition, there is a possibility that adverse effects of miscellaneous taste derived from other components may occur. Therefore, the sweetness enhancer of the present invention contains a long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and / or an ester thereof, preferably 10% by weight or more, more preferably 30% by weight or more.

  In the sweet taste enhancer of the present invention, in addition to the above long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and / or ester thereof, other optional components known to those skilled in the art, for example, as long as the effect of the sweet taste enhancer is not adversely affected, , Emulsifiers, tocopherols, phospholipids, other fatty acids, triglycerides, diglycerides and monoglycerides composed of other fatty acids may be contained.

  The method for oxidizing the n-3 long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and / or its ester is not particularly limited, and an example thereof is heat treatment. Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular in the method of heat processing, Usually, there exists the method of heating for 0.1 hour-240 hours at 40 to 200 degreeC, Preferably there exists the method of heating for 0.5 to 72 hours at 80 to 180 degreeC.

  In addition, oxidation treatment is not essential in order to exert the effect of the sweetener enhancer comprising n-6 long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids and / or esters thereof, but as a sweetener enhancer by oxidation treatment The effect of further increases. Furthermore, such oxidation treatment can also be carried out by heat-treating a food or drink containing a sweetness enhancer comprising the long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and / or ester thereof of the present invention.

  In addition, the sweetness enhancer of the present invention is contained in a range of 0.1 ppm to 10,000 ppm, preferably 1.0 ppm to 1,000 ppm, more preferably 1.0 ppm to 500 ppm by weight ratio with respect to food and drink containing sweeteners.

  As long as the sweetener used for this invention is an edible thing, any things, such as sugar, glucose, fructose, lactose, stevia, aspartame, can be used without a restriction | limiting in particular. The amount of the sweetener can be used without any particular limitation as long as it is a sweetness concentration suitable for the food to be used.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example and a comparative example are given and this invention is demonstrated further in detail, these Examples do not restrict | limit the technical scope of this invention at all.

The meanings of the symbols in the table showing the results of the following examples are as follows.
×: The sweetness intensity is weaker than the control △: The sweetness intensity is equal to the control ○: The sweetness intensity is stronger than the control ◎: The sweetness intensity is clearly stronger than the control

The following were used in the evaluation experiments of Examples and Comparative Examples.
Corn oil: J-Oil Mills Co., Ltd. Arachidonic acid triglyceride (hereinafter referred to as AATG): Suntory Co., Ltd.
SUNTGA40S (Purity 40%)
Diluted AATG: AATG diluted with corn oil to a concentration of 0.5% (weight%) Diluted oxidized AA: AATG oxidized at 120 ° C for 3 hours at 0.5% concentration (wt%)
Diluted with corn oil to give [Test Example 1]

Evaluation with sugar solution Comparative Example 1 Corn oil only (control)
Example 1 Diluted AATG
Example 2 Diluted Oxidized AA
As shown in Table 1, sensory evaluation was carried out with five taste panelists on Comparative Examples 1 to 2, water and sugar were weighed, boiled in a pan, and kept at 60 ° C. The results are shown in Table 2.

From the results in Table 2, it was evaluated that the sweetness is obviously increased significantly by adding AATG and / or oxidized AA. Especially, the sweetness enhancing effect of oxidized AA was great.
[Test Example 2]

Evaluation with mirin Comparative Example 2 Corn oil only (control)
Example 3 Diluted AATG
Example 4 Diluted Oxide AA
Mirin: Takara Hon Mirin manufactured by Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd. As shown in Table 3, after measuring Comparative Example 2 to Example 4, water and mirin, boiling in a pan,
Sensory evaluation was carried out by 5 taste panelists on the one kept at 60 ° C. The results are shown in Table 4.

From the results of Table 4, it was evaluated that the sweetness is obviously increased significantly by adding AATG and / or oxidized AA. Especially, the sweetness enhancing effect of oxidized AA was great.
[Test Example 3]

Evaluation with tomato ketchup Comparative Example 3 Corn oil only (control)
Example 5 Diluted AATG
Example 6 Diluted Oxidized AA
Tomato ketchup: manufactured by Kagome Co., Ltd. As shown in Table 5, Comparative Examples 3 to 6, water and tomato ketchup were weighed and stirred in a hot water bath maintained at 80 ° C. (about 5 minutes). Sensory evaluation was carried out by five taste panelists. The results are shown in Table 6.
Tomato ketchup: manufactured by Kagome

From the results of Table 6, it was evaluated that the sweetness is obviously increased significantly by adding AATG and / or oxidized AA. Especially, the sweetness enhancing effect of oxidized AA was great.
[Test Example 4]

Evaluation with corn cream soup Comparative Example 4 Corn oil only (control)
Example 7 Diluted AATG
Example 8 Diluted Oxidized AA
Soup powder: Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Knorr cup soup corn cream As shown in Table 7, after weighing Comparative Examples 4 to 8 and soup powder, adding hot water and stirring, and mixing well, A sensory evaluation was conducted with five taste panelists. The results are shown in Table 8.

From the results of Table 8, it was evaluated that the sweetness is obviously increased significantly by adding AATG and / or oxidized AA. Especially, the sweetness enhancing effect of oxidized AA was great.
[Test Example 5]

Evaluation with whipped cream Comparative Example 5 Corn oil only (control)
Example 9 Diluted AATG
Fresh cream: Takanashi Milk Industry Co., Ltd. Hokkaido genuine fresh cream 47
As shown in Table 9, Comparative Examples 4 to 9 and fresh cream were weighed, and whipped cream was prepared while mixing well, and this was subjected to sensory evaluation with five taste panelists. The results are shown in Table 10.

From the results of Table 10, it was evaluated that sweetness is obviously increased significantly by adding AATG.
[Test Example 6]

Evaluation with cake whipping (confirmation of sugar reduction effect)
Comparative Example 6 Corn oil only (control)
Example 10 Diluted AATG Sugar Ratio: Control: Example 10 = 100%: 100%
Example 11 Diluted AATG Sugar Ratio: Control: Example 11 = 100%: 80%
Example 12 Diluted AATG Sugar Ratio: Control: Example 12 = 100%: Approx. 70%
Cake whipping: Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd. As shown in Table 11, weighed Comparative Example 6 to Example 12 and cake whipped, prepared whipped cream while mixing well, and sensory evaluated this with five taste panelists Carried out. The results are shown in Table 12.

The sweetness intensity was in the order of Example 10, Example 11, and Example 12. In Example 12 in which AATG was added and sugar was cut by 30%, sweetness evaluation equivalent to that of Comparative Example 6 (control) was obtained. As a result, it was evaluated that the amount of added sugar could be reduced by 30%.
[Test Example 7]

Evaluation with chiffon cake Comparative Example 7 Corn oil only (control)
Example 13 Diluted AATG
As shown in Table 13, a chiffon cake was prepared while weighing and mixing well with Comparative Examples 7 to 13, granulated sugar, soft flour, and eggs, and sensory evaluation was performed with five taste panelists. The results are shown in Table 14.

From the results shown in Table 14, it was evaluated that sweetness was clearly increased by adding AATG.
[Test Example 8]

Evaluation with ice cream Comparative Example 8 Corn oil only (control)
Example 14 Diluted AATG
Fresh cream: Takanashi Milk Industry Co., Ltd. Hokkaido genuine fresh cream 47
As shown in Table 15, Comparative Examples 8 to 14 and granulated sugar, fresh cream, and eggs were weighed, and ice cream was prepared according to the following procedure. (1) Oil and fat and fresh cream were whipped with a hand mixer. (2) Eggs were divided into egg yolk and egg white and whipped only with egg white. (3) Egg yolk was whipped together with granulated sugar. (1) to (3) were combined and mixed thoroughly with a rubber spatula, then placed in a tapper and solidified in a freezer. Sensory evaluation was carried out by five taste panelists. The results are shown in Table 16.

From the results shown in Table 16, it was evaluated that sweetness is obviously increased significantly by adding AATG.
[Test Example 9]

Evaluation with chocolate cream (chocolate spread) Comparative Example 9 Corn oil only (control)
Example 15 Diluted AATG
Chocolate spread: Chocolate cream manufactured by Meiji Dairies Co., Ltd. As shown in Table 17, Comparative Examples 9 to 15 and chocolate spread were weighed and mixed well. Sensory evaluation was carried out by five taste panelists. The results are shown in Table 18.

From the results of Table 18, it was evaluated that the sweetness was obviously increased significantly by adding AATG.
[Test Example 10]

Evaluation with kneaded bean paste Comparative Example 10 Corn oil only (control)
Example 16 Diluted AATG
Neriko: Nurian made by Imuraya Seika Co., Ltd. As shown in Table 19, Comparative Examples 10 to 16 and Nerango were weighed and mixed well. Sensory evaluation was carried out by five taste panelists. The results are shown in Table 20.

From the results shown in Table 20, it was evaluated that the sweetness is obviously increased significantly by adding AATG.
[Test Example 11]

Evaluation with sweetened condensed milk Comparative Example 11 Corn oil only (control)
Example 17 Diluted AATG
Sweetened condensed milk: Snow Brand Hokkaido Condensed Milk manufactured by Snow Brand Milk Industry Co., Ltd. As shown in Table 21, Comparative Examples 11 to 17 and condensed milk were weighed and mixed well. Sensory evaluation was carried out by five taste panelists. The results are shown in Table 22.

From the results shown in Table 22, it was evaluated that sweetness is obviously increased significantly by adding AATG.
[Test Example 12]

Evaluation with milk beverage (Cafe Latte) Comparative Example 12 Corn oil only (control)
Example 18 Diluted AATG
Milk beverage: Mt.RAINIER made by Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd.
As shown in Table 23, Comparative Examples 12 to 18 and milk beverage were weighed and mixed well. Sensory evaluation was carried out by five taste panelists. The results are shown in Table 24.

From the results shown in Table 24, it was evaluated that sweetness is obviously increased by adding AATG.

Claims (6)

  A sweetness enhancer comprising a long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and / or an ester thereof.   The sweet taste enhancer according to claim 1, wherein the long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid and / or ester thereof is oxidized.   The sweetness enhancer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid is arachidonic acid.   The sweetness enhancer according to claims 1 to 3, wherein the long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acid is derived from a microorganism.   A sweetness enhancing method for foods and drinks, comprising adding the sweetness enhancing agent according to claim 1. A sweetness-enhancing food or drink seasoned and / or cooked using the method according to claim 5.