JP4844156B2 - Heat treatment method and tray used for the heat treatment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for uniformly heat-treating contents filled in a heat-resistant container without deteriorating quality, and a tray used for placing the container in the heat-treatment.

  Among products that are taken into the body orally or by tube, such as foods and pharmaceuticals, most of the products with high water content and high water activity, and most products with a neutral pH are stored for a long period of time. It is common to sterilize or sterilize by some method. Various processing methods are known for each product packaging form and container filling form, but as a method for sterilizing or sterilizing products filled in containers, heating is widely used. It is popular.

  However, when sterilization or sterilization is performed by heating, there are not a few problems such as browning or denaturation of the contents, decomposition of various nutrients, taste / fragrance components, and the like. For example, when filling a commercially available jelly beverage or a highly viscous nutritional composition into a pouch container with a spout and carrying out a stationary or continuous low-temperature heat sterilization, the inside of the pouch and the spout spout And the heating conditions are different. That is, the inside of the spout spout has a larger area where the content per unit volume contacts the inner surface of the container than the inside of the pouch, so the heating conditions are more severe and solidified products and brown aggregates are likely to be generated. However, quality is required to suppress these quality degradations as much as possible.

  Therefore, in order to solve these problems, for example, in a batch type retort apparatus, the contents are agitated by placing the container on a tray and rotating or swinging, thereby heating the contents more uniformly. The method you are trying to take may be taken. However, in this case, the container easily moves in the tray with the mechanical movement, and as a result, the container is easily deformed and a pinhole is easily generated in the container as compared with the stationary heat treatment method. is there. Moreover, when the viscosity of the contents is high, there is a problem that a sufficient stirring effect cannot be obtained even with this method. Furthermore, if an existing static retort device is introduced, it is necessary to modify or install the device, and it is difficult to adopt such a method because of cost, and it is possible to manufacture a higher quality product. It becomes difficult.

Therefore, as a stationary heat sterilization method that can heat the contents more uniformly, for example, a method in which a pouch container is placed vertically on a tray and the portion occupied by the gas in the container is collected in the upper part of the container and heat-treated Is known (see Non-Patent Document 1). This method collects gas in the upper part and prevents the contents from adhering to the inside of the spout spout, for example, but at the same time, the portion occupied by the gas in the container, that is, the unfilled part, In order to prevent heat transfer to the contents when heated from above, the area of the interface between the contents and the unfilled part in the container is made as small as possible to improve the heat transfer efficiency to the contents. is there.
On the other hand, as a method for preventing the unfilled portion from hindering heat transfer to the contents, various methods are known in which sterilization is performed in a state in which gas is eliminated as much as possible by performing a deaeration operation in the container. (Refer nonpatent literature 2).
Retort food 134-135p Supervised by Akira Kishimoto, Korin Sterilization of food-its science and technology-239-241p Mitsuo Takano and Rio Yokoyama, Sachishobo

However, the method in which the container is placed vertically and the remaining air is collected in the upper part of the container and heat-treated, the loading and unloading of the container onto the tray is complicated and inefficient, the production line becomes complicated, and automation is required. Has the problem of high costs. For this reason, when performing efficient commercial production, it is common that a sterilization process is carried out by placing a container horizontally (flatly) on a tray.
In addition, in the method of performing the heat treatment after performing the deaeration operation in the container, there is a problem that if the contents adhere to the seal part of the container at the time of deaeration, there is a problem that the seal is defective, and the viscosity of the contents When it is high, there is a problem in that deaeration becomes insufficient because bubbles in the contents are difficult to escape. Furthermore, when using a pouch container with a spout spout, even if the inside of the container is sufficiently evacuated, the problems of solidification of contents and generation of brown agglomerates during heating inside the spout spout are solved in the first place. Not.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and heats the contents filled in a heat-resistant container easily and at low cost by suppressing quality deterioration such as modification, browning, and alteration of flavor components. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for processing and a tray used for placing a container during the heat treatment.

  As a result of diligent research, the inventors of the present invention filled and sealed a container made of at least one of a heat-resistant sheet and a heat-resistant resin, leaving an unfilled portion, and inclined the container at a predetermined angle. It was found that the contents can be heat sterilized while suppressing deterioration of the quality by heat treatment in a stationary state, and the present invention has been completed.

That is, in order to solve the problem,
The invention according to claim 1 is a method of heat-treating contents filled in a container made of at least one of a heat-resistant sheet and a heat-resistant resin, wherein the container is a pouch container with a stopper, the volume of the filling portion is greater than the volume of the mouth part, the container, from the state of being placed on a tray so that the height of the content is lowest, is placed inclined by an angle of less than 90 °, mouth The heat treatment method is characterized in that the contents are heated while the inside of the stopper portion becomes an unfilled portion and the unfilled portion in the container is biased to a part of the container.

  Invention of Claim 2 is the heat processing method of Claim 1 whose volume of the non-filling part in a container is 2 to 30% of the volume of the filled content.

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the volume of the container is 50 to 250 ml, the volume of the non-filling part is 3 to 75 ml, and the angle of tilting the container is 5 to 30 °. It is the heat processing method as described in above.

The invention according to claim 4 is the heat treatment method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the contents can be taken orally.

The invention according to claim 5, wherein the content is a heat treatment method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, viscosity, characterized in that flow like the 200～50000CP.

Invention of Claim 6 is a heat processing method as described in any one of Claims 1-5 characterized by heating with a stationary retort apparatus.

Invention according to claim 7, claim 1 for the heat treatment method according to any one of 6, a tray for placing the container filled with contents, the container spout an attached pouch package, the surface for mounting the container, the container and, from a state of mounting so that the height of the content is lowest, a support for placing inclined by an angle of less than 90 ° A tray provided with a body.

  According to the present invention, by improving the heat transfer efficiency to the contents in the container and heating the contents uniformly, the heat treatment time is shortened, and at the same time, the contents are denatured, browned, flavor components are altered, etc. Quality degradation can be suppressed. In addition, automation of the production line is easy, and heat treatment can be performed at low cost.

  The present invention will be described in detail below. In the present invention, the non-filled portion refers to a portion occupied by gas in the container.For example, when the container is provided with a stopper, the portion occupied by the gas in the stopper portion is also, It shall be included in the unfilled part.

  The container used in the present invention comprises at least one of a heat-resistant sheet and a heat-resistant resin, and the heat-resistant sheet has a single-layer or multi-layer structure, and examples of the material thereof include polyester, polypropylene, nylon, and polyvinylidene chloride. (PVDC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) resin, aluminum foil, steel foil, paper, vapor deposited films of various inorganic materials, and the like. Examples of the heat resistant resin include polyester, PET, polypropylene, polyethylene, or a resin obtained by blending two or more selected from these.

  Specific examples of the container composed of at least one of the heat-resistant sheet and the heat-resistant resin include a standing pouch, a four-way seal pouch, a gusset-type pouch, a laminate tube, a plastic can, and a cup. Further, depending on the application, spouts and plugs may be welded or bonded to each other and provided with a straw-like or rod-like lead-out structure that facilitates suction. Moreover, the shape of these containers is not specifically limited.

  In the present invention, when filling the container with the contents, it is necessary to leave a certain unfilled portion in the container. However, if the volume of the unfilled part is too large, the container may break during transportation, and the packaging cost for the amount of contents will increase, so the volume of the unfilled part will be the volume of the contents. It is preferable to set it as 2 to 30%, and it is more preferable to set it as 3 to 8%.

If the container filled with the contents is placed on the tray so that the height of the contents is the lowest, it is difficult to bias the non-filled part to a part, and the container is placed vertically. In this case, it is easy to bias the non-filling part to a part, but loading and unloading of containers onto the tray is complicated and inefficient.
Therefore, in the present invention, the container filled with the contents as described above is placed at an angle of less than 90 ° from the state where the container is placed on the tray so that the height of the contents is the lowest, The contents can be heated more uniformly and efficiently by heating while maintaining a state in which the unfilled portion in the container is biased to a part in the container. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, the container 1 is placed on the placement surface 11 of the tray 10 by being inclined at an angle of less than 90 ° using the support 12. What is necessary is just to heat the non-filling part 2 in the container 1 while maintaining a state in which the non-filling part 2 is partially biased in the container 1.
However, when the container 1 is provided with a spout, a plug, etc., it is preferable to adjust the angle so that the contents 3 do not adhere to these parts. By doing in this way, the quality deterioration by the remarkable heating of the content in these parts can be suppressed effectively.

  The angle at which the container is tilted may be appropriately selected within a range of less than 90 ° according to the size, form and material of the container used, or the type and volume of the contents. Specifically, for example, in the case of using a container having a capacity of 50 to 250 ml that is generally sold on the retail market, the volume of the non-filled portion may be set to 3 to 75 ml, and the container may be inclined by an angle of 5 to 30 °. It is preferable to incline by an angle of 10 to 25 °. If the tilting angle is smaller than this range, the non-filled part may be more difficult to be partially biased. If the tilting angle is larger than this range, loading and unloading of containers onto the tray is complicated and inefficient. May be. If the angle of inclination is 90 °, loading and unloading operations are most complicated. In addition, when a soft container such as a pouch-shaped container is used, the contents may become a “lower blister” shape because the contents are biased toward the lower part of the container as the tilt angle increases. In this case, the heat transfer efficiency to the entire contents may be deteriorated by increasing the thickness of the contents in the lower part of the container.

  When the container is a pouch container with a cap, it is preferable that the volume of the non-filling part is larger than the volume in the plug part and the container is tilted so that the inside of the plug part becomes the non-filling part. That is, by preventing the contents from being filled into the plug part in the stationary state, the adhesion of the contents to the plug part is suppressed, and the quality deterioration of the contents in the plug part is effectively suppressed. be able to.

When heating the contents in the container in a stationary state, generally, if the viscosity of the contents is high, it is far from the vicinity of the inner wall of the container where the atmospheric heat in the retort kettle is easily transmitted. Since the convection hardly occurs in the vicinity of the center in the container, the heat transfer efficiency is lowered. As a result, the temperature difference between the part close to the container inner wall and the center part far from the container inner wall becomes large. Further, such high-viscosity contents are not easily stirred even by a rocking or rotating retort device.
The heat treatment method of the present invention can efficiently heat such high-viscosity and difficult-to-handle contents while still standing, and also loads and unloads the vertically placed container onto the tray. It is not accompanied by the complexity. Therefore, for example, it is suitable for a fluid content having a viscosity of 200 to 50000 cP. In addition, the viscosity said here refers to the measured value in 25 degreeC by a B-type rotary viscometer. Such high-viscosity contents are preferably used when introduced into the stomach or intestine via a tube or the like in the gastrostomy / gastroenteral feeding method.
Moreover, since the heat processing method of this invention can suppress the quality deterioration of a content, what can be ingested orally is suitable as a content, for example.

  In the present invention, the method of heating the contents is not particularly limited as long as the container can be tilted and allowed to stand. For example, a heating method using a stationary retort device, a continuous boil sterilization method, or a microwave heat sterilization method. Various stationary heat treatment methods such as a method can be applied. Among them, a heating method using a stationary retort apparatus is preferable, and usually the heating conditions are severe and the contents are likely to deteriorate in quality. The contents can also be efficiently heat-treated while suppressing deterioration in quality.

  In addition, examples of the heating method include a steam type, a hot water shower type, a hot water fountain type, a hot water immersion type, and the like. Either method can be applied by appropriate selection.

A tray 40 used in a normal stationary retort device has, for example, a flat bottom plate 43 as shown in FIG. 4 (a), and a container 1 filled with contents on its placement surface 41, As shown in FIG. 4B, the heat treatment is generally performed in a flat (solid) state.
However, in the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the container 1 is placed on the surface 11 on which the container 1 is placed, from the state where the contents are placed at the lowest height, 90 °. A heat treatment is performed on the contents of the container 1 by using the tray 10 provided with the support 12 for mounting by being inclined by an angle less than the angle.

  The material of the tray of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it has heat resistance, and examples thereof include heat resistant resin, wood and metal, and at least one of them may be used. Of these, aluminum, its alloys, and stainless steel are preferable in consideration of heat resistance, corrosion resistance, mechanical impact resistance, and the like.

  The tray of the present invention can be produced by subjecting such a material to various processes such as shearing, bending, press molding, cutting, joining, and surface treatment. In particular, the bottom plate is preferably molded so as to have an appropriate shape in accordance with the heating method and characteristics on the production line, for example, by performing processing such as punching or cutting of the plate made of the material, or It can be formed by assembling rod-like members made of materials in a sawtooth shape or a lattice shape.

  Further, the tray of the present invention is provided with a support for placing the container tilted as described above. For example, by installing a member having an appropriate shape on the container mounting surface of the tray (referred to as Method 1), or by bending the tray bottom plate into a predetermined shape (referred to as Method 2), Or it can provide by combining these (it is set as the method 3). FIG. 2 shows an example of a tray provided with a support by the method 1. FIG.

In methods 1 and 3, the shape of the member used as the support is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a prismatic shape, a columnar shape, a pyramid shape, a conical shape, and a hemispherical shape. When these members are installed on the tray, for example, columnar members such as prismatic and cylindrical, the longitudinal direction is the horizontal plane direction, particularly when the longitudinal length of the member is sufficiently long. The flat surface may be placed in contact with the tray mounting surface, and when the length in the longitudinal direction is relatively short, the flat surface is placed on the tray so that the longitudinal direction is the vertical direction. You may install it in contact with the surface. In the case of using such a member as a support, the container is supported in an inclined manner by generally making surface contact or line contact with the support.
Further, for example, in the case of a member such as a pyramid shape, a conical shape, and a hemispherical shape, the flat surface of the member may be placed in contact with the mounting surface of the tray. In this case, the container is supported in an inclined manner by generally making point contact with the support.

  The size of these members should be selected appropriately according to the shape of the container, the mechanical strength of the heat-resistant sheet or heat-resistant resin, the installation method of the member on the tray, and the angle at which the container is tilted. It ’s fine. Further, the number and location of these members installed on the tray may be appropriately selected according to the situation. And what is necessary is just to use what consists of the said material used for a tray for these members.

  Also in the methods 2 and 3, the shape of the support is not particularly limited, and may be appropriately selected according to the shape of the container and the angle at which the container is inclined. Further, the number and position of the supports may be appropriately selected according to the situation.

  In the present invention, when the container is placed on the tray at an angle, the place where the container is supported by the support is not particularly limited as long as the container can be stably placed on the tray. However, it is preferable to support the container at least at the upper part of the container body. In particular, when the container is a pouch container with a stopper, the container should be supported at least at the stopper or at the upper part of the container body near the stopper. preferable.

FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal sectional view as an example of the tray of the present invention. FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) show a case where a support is provided by the method 1, and FIGS. 3 (c) and 3 (d). ) Shows a case where a support is provided by Method 2, and FIG. 3E shows an example where a support is provided by Method 3.
3A shows a tray 10 provided with a plurality of supports 12 of the same type, and FIG. 3B shows a tray 10 provided with a plurality of supports 12a and 12b of different types. ing.
Also, in FIG. 3 (c), a tray 10 having a plurality of convex portions obtained by bending the bottom plate as a support 12 is obtained, and in FIG. 3 (d), the bottom plate is obtained by bending. A tray 10 is shown in which a plurality of convex portions serve as both the support 12 and the mounting surface 11.
3 (e) shows a tray 10 on which a plurality of convex portions 12b obtained by bending the support 12a and the bottom plate are provided, and the containers 1 are placed by combining these supports. Yes.
However, the tray of the present invention is not limited to the one shown here, and a tray having an optimal shape may be selected and used according to the situation as described above.

  Although omitted in FIG. 3, it is preferable that the mounting surface of the tray 10 is subjected to a small uneven surface processing or a through hole as shown in FIG. 2. By doing in this way, the movement of the container 1 on the tray is suppressed, the container 1 can be placed more stably during the heat treatment, and the loading and unloading operations of the container 1 on the tray are also stable. It can be carried out. Moreover, if the through hole is provided, the hot water used for heating the container 1 can be easily removed from the tray.

Furthermore, the tray of the present invention can be produced using a tray having a flat bottom plate that has already been widely used in production sites, such as a tray used in a normal stationary retort apparatus.
That is, for example, as shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4E, the support may be provided by integrating the members into a tray and fixing them. Is detachable that can be temporarily fixed to the tray, and placed on a commonly used tray as a support, whereby the tray of the present invention can be obtained.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3 (f), an auxiliary tray 30 provided with a support 32 for tilting the container 1 is prepared separately, and is preferably removable so that it can be temporarily fixed to the tray. The tray of the present invention can also be mounted on the tray 40 that is normally used. At this time, the auxiliary tray 30 can be easily manufactured by bending the same material as that of the tray 10 of the present invention into a predetermined shape.

  According to this method, the tray for normal use and the tray of the present invention can be used properly according to the necessity of tilting the container depending on the type of product to be heated, so that the versatility of the tray is increased. In addition, it is possible to reduce the production cost of the tray of the present invention by applying the tray that is usually used as it is.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to specific examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the following examples.
Example 1
A high-viscosity nutritional composition (2 kcal / g) having a viscosity of 2000 cP is prepared by using a conventionally known pouch container with a spout spout (plug portion: length 30 mm × inner diameter 8.5 mm, rod-shaped lead-out portion: length 45 mm, below A tray in which 150 g is filled in 10 containers (denoted as container A) so that the volume of the unfilled portion is 5 to 10 ml, and an auxiliary tray (support height 25 mm) having the structure shown in FIG. In such a state that the plug portion is lifted so that the angle of tilting the container (“angle less than 90 °” in FIG. 1) is about 10 °, and the inside of the plug portion becomes a non-filling portion. Heat sterilization was performed at 126 ° C. so that the final F ₀ value of the contents was 9-11. After sterilization, the container was cooled to room temperature while maintaining the inclined state at the time of sterilization, the cap was opened, and the amount of contents attached to the plug portion was observed. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 1)
The container A containing the high-viscosity nutritional composition prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 was placed flat on the tray shown in FIG. 4A, and the rest was the same as in Example 1. Heat sterilization and cooling were performed under the conditions, and the amount of the contents adhering to the plug portion was observed. The results are shown in Table 1.

  From the above results, it was confirmed that by adopting the heating method and tray of the present invention, it is possible to suppress deterioration of the contents in the plug portion, which is a conventional problem when the pouch container with plug spout is heated. .

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention is useful for the heat processing for the purpose of sterilization or sterilization etc. of the foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, etc. with which the container was filled.

It is sectional drawing which shows the example of mounting of the container on the tray in this invention. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the state which mounted the container in the tray of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the example of the state which mounted the container in the tray of this invention. An example of the tray used for the conventional stationary retort apparatus is shown, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a perspective view in the state which mounted the container.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Container, 2 ... Non-filling part, 3 ... Contents, 11 ... Mounting surface, 12 ... Support body.

Claims (7)

A method of heat-treating contents filled in a container composed of at least one of a heat-resistant sheet and a heat-resistant resin,
The container is a pouch container with a cap, and the volume of the non-filling part is larger than the volume in the plug part,
The container is placed on the tray so that the content is at its lowest height, and is tilted by an angle of less than 90 °, the inside of the plug part becomes a non-filling part, and the non-filling in the container A heating method, wherein the contents are heated while maintaining a state in which the portion is biased to a part of the container.   The heat treatment method according to claim 1, wherein the volume of the non-filled portion in the container is 2 to 30% of the volume of the filled contents.   2. The heat treatment method according to claim 1, wherein the volume of the container is 50 to 250 ml, the volume of the unfilled portion is 3 to 75 ml, and the angle of tilting the container is 5 to 30 °. The heat treatment method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the contents are ingestible. The heat treatment method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the content is a fluid having a viscosity of 200 to 50,000 cP. It heats with a stationary retort apparatus, The heat processing method as described in any one of Claims 1-5 characterized by the above-mentioned. A tray for placing a container filled with contents for performing the heat treatment method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
The container is a pouch container with a cap;
On the surface on which the container is placed, there is provided a support for placing the container at an angle of less than 90 ° from a state where the content is placed at the lowest height. Tray characterized by that.

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