JPS587266B2 - Thickening agent and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention provides a thickening agent (coagulant, stabilizer, etc.) made of natural substances.
thickeners, coating agents, etc.), and compared to conventional glues, it requires less addition, has stronger strength, and has significantly superior viscosity that can be easily adjusted to any viscosity. It is something that provides something.

Konjac powder obtained from konjac potatoes is a single atypical cell whose cell membrane is a parenchymal cell membrane consisting of cellulose and hemicellulose, a weak membrane similar to the skin of a potato, but with lignin and cork on the outside. They adhere to each other and form a very tough outer cell wall.

Also, the grain size is very coarse (4.0 mesh, center value)
It is something.

Konjac fine powder is made by refining coarse powder (a state in which starch is attached to fine powder), which is obtained by cutting konjac potatoes into 5-10 mm thick pieces, drying them, and coarsely crushing them.

Generally, coarse flour is pounded with a pestle or a regular flour mill for about 24 hours,
Remove starch particles, etc. and turn into fine powder.

(However, fine powder, which is a single atypical cell, is protected by lignin and cork and its cell wall will not be crushed, no matter how long it remains.

) This konjac powder swells significantly when it absorbs water and has strong adhesive properties.

The conventional method for producing konnyaku is to first immerse the fine powder in water and stir it to dissolve the viscous substances inside the fine powder into the water.

Konjac manufacturers use the expression ``mannan opens'' to capture the start of dissolution of this viscous substance.

It takes about 1 hour at the earliest and 5 hours at the latest for the mannan to open.

Konjac is produced by adding an alkali salt to this aqueous solution to make it gel.

Furthermore, this konnyaku paste (made by dissolving fine powder in water) has been used in various industrial pastes as it is highly resistant to heat and cold.

For example, it was used as glue for paper making, raincoats, waterproof cloth, tents, oblates, etc., and during World War II, it was also used as glue for balloon bombs.

However, in the conventional konjac industry, little research has been done on konjac flour and konjac paste, and they have only been used in traditional production methods and limited applications.

Until around 1965, producing and selling konjac was considered a special and low-value occupation, so despite the excellent properties of konjac, the principles of konjac production and the development of its uses were not developed by others. It was far behind the field.

That is, it has been thought that konjac powder cannot be further refined industrially, and that it must be dissolved in water in order to extract the viscous substances in konjac powder.

Furthermore, the viscosity of konnyaku paste deteriorates approximately two days after it is dissolved in water, which limits its use.

In terms of food applications, it was only used in the production of konnyaku, and even in industrial applications, it was always used alone and was inferior to other thickening agents in terms of cost.

The reason why conventional konjac paste has always been used only as a single substance and no research has been conducted on its synergistic effects with other substances is fundamentally because the grain size of the refined powder is extremely coarse. Industrially, the only way to extract the viscous substance inside is by dissolving it in water (of course, it would be theoretically possible to extract the viscous substance from an aqueous solution and turn it into powder, but it is not possible in terms of cost). It was there).

In addition, due to the bulk specific gravity and particle size of the fine powder itself, it is difficult to mix it uniformly with other substances, and the synergistic effect of mixing could not be considered from an industrial perspective.

In support of the above points, there are numerous research documents on Japanese konnyaku, including those made by further crushing refined powder,
No attempt has been made to study the differences in the physical properties of fine flour and mixtures of other substances and fine flour.

As a result of research focusing on the excellent properties of konjac paste, the inventor found that the conventional refining method for konjac flour merely removes as much as possible of starch particles attached to the flour, and that the cell walls of the flour are Found uncrushed points and found viscous substances (glucose, mannose) in fine flour
In order to extract the powder, instead of using the conventional method of dissolving it in water (theoretically, the cell walls are thought to be broken by osmotic pressure), the cell walls of the fine powder are broken using some mechanical method.
He came up with the idea of extracting a viscous substance in the form of powder, and by pulverizing fine powder, it is possible to homogeneously mix other substances, and to take advantage of the synergistic effect of the mixture.

In other words, this invention uses a powder obtained by mechanically crushing the cell walls of konjac fine powder, rather than using the conventional konjac fine powder, a single cell or a viscous substance taken out by dissolving the fine powder in water. This study focuses on the synergistic effect of homogeneous mixing of the crushed material and other materials (which becomes possible only after the crushed material is crushed).

The basic idea of this invention is (1) The cell walls of refined flour are crushed by a mechanical method to extract glucose and mannose inside the cells as powder.

(2) Further, the particle size of the glucose/mannose is made finer.

(31) The steps (1) and (2) facilitate homogeneous mixing with other substances, make it possible to dissolve two or more substances at the same time, and aim for use on an industrial scale.

(4) Utilize synergistic effects with other substances.

That is the point.

As a method for mechanically crushing the cell walls of refined powder, various methods were tried, and as a result, a jet flow method (Mach 1 or 2
Good results can be obtained using a crusher that uses supersonic eddy currents and high-frequency pressure vibrations (that crush particles by causing collisions between them). It turns out that you can get it.

Examples of crushing are as follows.

The sample is Indonesian mukago seed.The crusher uses supersonic eddy current and high frequency pressure vibration.Rotation speed: rpm: 50000 Raw material: 60kg Supply time: 2 hours, 16 minutes, 01 seconds Voltage: 200V Current: 80A Atmospheric temperature: 28°G Exhaust temperature: 90 °C (2 hours) Power
21κW. The result is crushing ability 2 6. 5 kg/h particle size
4 4. kg 60 mesh pass
After crushing twice, 94% 60 mesh pa
I found out that ss.

With 60 mesh pass, the cell wall of konjac fine powder has been crushed by almost 90%, and the particle size on the right is T.
It has a particle size that allows it to be finely pulverized on an industrial scale and allows the reaction time with carrageenan to be nearly the same.

Glucose and mannose, which are viscous substances in refined konjac powder, do not gel by themselves even when heated and dissolved in water, and calcium salt or the like is required for gelation.

In the case of this invention, it is carrageenan that functions as a gelling agent, and the ground glucose and mannose function as gel strengtheners.

When conventional fine powder (called base powder) and ground powder (called ground powder) are mixed with carrageenan at the same weight ratio (5:5), the water gel strength due to the difference in dissolution time is compared. It will look like Table-1.

Incidentally, when dispersing carrageenan in water, it is not necessary to stir it at room temperature, and generally it will be completely dissolved in water if it is stirred and heated to 80° C. for 10 minutes.

When heated at 85°C for 25 to 30 minutes, the molecules are destroyed to some extent.

The water gel strength of carrageenan alone after alkali treatment is
It was heated at 80 DEG C. for 10 minutes at a concentration of 1% by weight in water and measured at 10 DEG C. after being left to stand, and it was only 80 to 120 g/cm'.

Test conditions (1) Sample: Mukago seed from Indonesia, carrageenan obtained by alkali treatment (2) Concentration: 1% by weight (3) After dispersing the sample in water and after a predetermined stirring time, 80℃ 10
Dissolution by heating and stirring for minutes (4) Measurement at 10° C. The results clearly show that the pulverized material had better results in both strength and reaction time.

In addition, in terms of viscosity, the average of pulverized powder is 2
・It was found that it was 30% better and required less reaction time than the old one.

By making the water dissolution rates of the other substance (carrageenan in this invention) and the fine powder close to the same, it was possible to enhance the synergism of the two substances.

Tables 2 and 3 below show the synergistic effects of mixtures of carrageenan, base powder, and pulverized material, as viewed in terms of water gel strength according to the blending ratio.

Table 2.3 Test conditions (l) Sample KM - Mukago species from Indonesia, CAR - Alkaline treatment method (2) After dispersing test pieces in water, stirring at room temperature for a predetermined period of time, heating at 80°C
10 minutes (3) Concentration 1% by weight (4) Measurement at 10°C The results show that the ratio of carrageenan to fine flour is 8:2 to 3:
In formulation No. 7, stirring at room temperature for 10 minutes, in which the base flour is simply decomposed into water, is approximately 2 to 5 times more effective than stirring at room temperature for 1 hour, in which the viscous substances of the base flour are dissolved in water. It was found that the titer of the ground product was about 1.10 to 2 times higher even in the case of the powder.

In the past, when the price of konjac raw materials (base flour) rose, konjac manufacturers mixed about 10% of carrageenan into the base powder as a mere filler, but the difference in particle size became a problem, and it was difficult to combine carrageenan into a single mixture synergistically. There have been no attempts to demonstrate its potency.

Of course, the synergy between pulverized material and carrageenan had never been considered because pulverization itself was thought to be impossible.

The synergistic effect of carrageenan and the konjac (glucomannan) crucose and mannose obtained by grinding the original flour is thus very large, and this mixture is the best natural product or mixture of natural products that has ever been attempted. It is by far the best among glues.

For example, similar viscous substances (galactomannan 50-8
When locust bean gum, a natural gum (containing 0%), is mixed with carrageenan, the blending ratio that maximizes the potency of the mixture is a weight ratio of carrageenan to locust bean gum of 6:4, and the potency is Carrageenan alone 2
~3 times as much.

In this way, if the titer of carrageenan alone and the titer of a mixture of carrageenan and ground flour differ by more than 10 times depending on the mixing ratio, this mixed pastry is not just a mixture, but has different physical properties. It is reasonable to think that it has the following.

(As mentioned above, the water gel strength of carrageenan alone is 80
The physical properties of the mixture of carrageenan (~120 g/cm') and ground konjac flour are theoretically considered to be as follows.

The physical properties of mannose and glucose, which are the constituent molecules of konjac powder (glucomannan), are the same when they are naturally eluted with water, and when they are taken out by crushing the cell walls as in this invention. There are clear differences in coagulation, viscosity, etc.

Due to the mechanical shock and thermal energy generated during crushing, D-glucopyranose is formed into the isomer D-glucofuranose among the constituent molecules of glucomannan, and α-D-glucose and β-D - It is considered that α-β equilibration progresses in glucose.

Furthermore, it is quite conceivable that the glucosyl bond, which is the basic bond of glucomannan, is partially transferred, that is, a part of the glucosyl unit is released to form another glucosidic bond.

The physical properties of isomers and derivatives resulting from such changes in chemical structure can be expected to greatly expand the uses of glucomannan, which has traditionally been limited almost exclusively to konjac.

Carrageenan is an extract from red algae, is a sulfate ester of D-galactose, and is a polysaccharide that is water-soluble and has a gelling function similar to agar.

In general, polysaccharide gels are thought to consist of microcrystals in which the molecules are arranged under certain conditions when the molecular structure is regular.
Anhydro D-galactose and a kappa component containing a hydrophilic sulfate group form a gel through regular molecular arrangement.

Explain that when a gel is made by mixing this carrageenan with ground glucomannan, the titer can be more than 10 times that of a gel made of carrageenan alone, depending on the mixing ratio. For example, it is thought that the molecules of glucose, mannose isomers and derivatives produced by grinding glucomannan become entangled in the regular arrangement of carrageenan molecules, forming a microcrystalline crosslinked structure and strengthening the gel strength. It will be done.

In any case, it is clear that the mixture of different molecules has properties that are different from those of the individual molecules, and this is the basis of this invention.

Examples are listed below.

Pulverized flour (abbreviated as KM) carrageenan (abbreviated as CAR) Example 1 Fruit pudding (for stabilizer use) Mixture weight ratio KM: CAR=5:5) 0.3 g of mixture;
When a fruit pudding was made using the above-mentioned combination of 25 g of sugar, 10 g of juice powder, 65 g of water, and a small amount of citric acid using the usual manufacturing method, a product with good texture and strong elasticity was obtained.

Example 2 Sugar-free jam (for stabilizer use) Blending weight ratio KM:CAR=7: 0.4 g of a mixture of 3, 48 g of water, 50 g of fruit juice or fruit pulp, some sweetener,
When sugar-free jam was made using the following method using the above-mentioned combination of 05 g of 5% citric acid, 04 g of sodium citrate, and some potassium sorbate, a high-quality jam with a good texture was obtained.

Manufacturing method (1) Heat and boil the entire amount of water.

(2) Add a powder mixture of stabilizer, sodium citrate, and sweetener to 30 g of water and stir to dissolve.

(3) Add fruit juice or fruit pulp to 18g of water and make 80
Heat to °C.

Add citric acid and potassium sorbate to this.

(4) Immediately after mixing the liquids of (2) and (3) above and adjusting the temperature to 60 to 70°C, container (5) adjust the acidity so that the pH is 3.6 to 3.8.

Example 3 Additive for kamaboko (stabilizer use) Mixture weight ratio KM:CAR=5:5 50g of salted surimi, 20g of water The above mixture was mixed homogeneously for 2 minutes, and then heated to 80℃ 3
After heating the sample for 0 minutes and pressurizing the sample for 5 minutes with a weight of 300 g, the sample was left at room temperature and the water retention rate was examined by dehydration storage.

Results Weight before pressurization: 10.345g Weight after pressurization: 10.196g Water retention rate: 98.56% Jelly strength: 165 g/cm' (at room temperature) It was found that kamaboko with excellent water retention rate, strength, and elasticity could be made. Ta.

Example 4 Pressed ham (for stabilizer use) Mixture weight ratio KM:CAR=6:4 3g, meat 70
g, 27 g of daffodil When Gres ham was made using the above-mentioned formulation using a normal manufacturing method, it was found to have excellent shape retention, water retention, and meat binding properties compared to other stabilizers.

Example 5 Sauce, ketchup (thickener use) A mixture of weight ratio KM:CAR=8:2 was mixed with 0.1~
When mixed into sauces and ketchup at 0.3% by weight, it was effective as a suspending agent and thickener.

In particular, sauces have a high salt concentration, which often destroys the potency of natural thickeners, but in the case of this mixture,
Even at a salt concentration of % by weight, the viscosity does not decrease significantly.

It has been found that the glue according to the present invention has a smaller additive amount and stronger strength than conventional glues, can be easily adjusted to any viscosity, and has extremely excellent viscosity. .

Furthermore, since the paste is made of natural substances, it is completely harmless and can be used not only for a wide variety of food applications but also for various industrial applications.

The paste of this invention can be used in the following specific ways.

Food applications include film coating agents, pickle thickeners, noodle stabilizers, tofu coagulants, water retention agents and texture improvers for kamaboko, chikuwa, hanpen, etc., frozen food texture improvers and shape retainers, soy sauce viscosity imparters, Sauce sedimentation prevention agent, miso texture improver, sericulture artificial feed stabilizing agent, soybean protein product quality improver, jam/marmalade coagulant, confectionery/pie stabilizer, packaging-related water retaining agent, ketchup type retaining agent, It can be used as a thickener for Tsukuda, an instant curry/shiruko stabilizer, a cheese quality improver, a chewy solidification inhibitor, etc. Industrial uses include soil coagulants, various film agents including those for photography, glues for building materials, mold preservation agents for pottery and insulators, printing glues, finishing glues, warp glues, and feedstuffs. binders, water-based paint thickeners, paper-related sizing agents, etc.
Fiber binders, adhesives for leather plating, foaming and thickening agents for shoe creams, slurry conditioning agents for drilling for petroleum, natural gas, marshes, and coal surveys, coating agents for the inner walls of wells, charcoal and briquette molding. It can be used as an emulsion stabilizer/spreading agent for agricultural chemicals, insecticides, etc., a flame buffer, a firebrick retainer, a coagulant for air fresheners, etc.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a chart showing the relationship between room temperature stirring time and water gel strength of Table 10 original powder and pulverized powder. FIG. 2 is a chart showing the relationship between the blending ratio of carrageenan and the water gel strength when Table 20 original powder and ground powder were stirred for 10 minutes at room temperature. FIG. 3 is a chart showing the relationship between the blending ratio of carrageenan and water gel strength when Table 30 original powder and ground powder were stirred at room temperature for 1 hour.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A paste comprising a mixture of finely ground konjac flour and carrageenan to the extent that cell walls are sufficiently crushed. 2. A method for producing a thickening material, which comprises pulverizing fine konjac powder to the extent that its cell walls are sufficiently crushed and mixing it with carrageenan.