JP6797014B2 - Food processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a food processing apparatus for processing a food containing water.

Moisturized foods such as vegetables, fish and meat may be dried. In such a drying process, a method of forcibly evaporating the water content of the food by exposing the food to hot air is used. On the other hand, food may be stored while being moisturized in a low temperature environment. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-173721, ice and an ion generator are arranged in a refrigerated showcase, and the ion generator is used to promote the evaporation of water from the ice, thereby effectively making food. A moisturizing technique for moisturizing is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-173721

The above drying process is a method of storing food for a long period of time. However, in the above drying process, a heater for generating hot air is indispensable. Therefore, the large amount of power consumption in the processing apparatus becomes an issue. On the other hand, as a method of preserving food for a long period of time, it is required to maintain the freshness of food. This is because the appearance and texture of the food after the drying process are significantly different from those before the drying process.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a food processing apparatus capable of drying food while suppressing power consumption. A further object of the present invention is to provide a food processing apparatus capable of maintaining the freshness of food.

The food processing apparatus of the present invention includes a housing for accommodating food and an ion generator for sending ions into the housing, and the ions are at least one of positive ions and negative ions. It is a food processing device. According to this food processing device, the food can be dried without using a heat source such as a heater, so that the food can be dried while suppressing the power consumption.

In the food processing apparatus, the ion generator preferably generates more positive ions than negative ions. Thereby, the drying of the food can be promoted.

In the food processing apparatus, the housing preferably has a vent. Thereby, the drying of the food can be promoted.

The food processing apparatus further includes a gas supply unit for supplying gas to the inside of the housing, and the gas is preferably at least one of carbon dioxide gas and nitrogen gas. This makes it possible to maintain the freshness of the food.

It is preferable that the food processing apparatus further includes a pressure control unit for controlling the pressure inside the housing. This makes it possible to further maintain the freshness of the food.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a food processing apparatus capable of drying food while suppressing power consumption. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a food processing apparatus capable of maintaining the freshness of food.

It is sectional drawing which shows typically the structure of the food processing apparatus of Embodiment 1. It is a perspective view which shows the appearance of an ion generator. It is sectional drawing which shows typically the structure of the food processing apparatus of Embodiment 3. It is sectional drawing which shows typically the structure of the food processing apparatus of Embodiment 4.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the embodiments shown below, the same or common parts are designated by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

<Embodiment 1>
The food processing apparatus of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The food processing apparatus 10 includes a housing 11 and an ion generator 12 for sending ions (positive ions and / or negative ions) inside the housing 11.

With reference to FIG. 1, the housing 11 can accommodate the food A inside (internal space). In the first embodiment, a housing 11 having four side surfaces, a ceiling surface, and a bottom surface is exemplified. The food A may be placed directly on the bottom surface, or may be placed on a table 13 arranged inside the housing 11.

The housing 11 preferably has a vent 14. In the first embodiment, vents 14 are provided on the side surface of the housing 11 near the ceiling surface on which the ion generator 12 is arranged and near the height on which the food A is arranged. There is.

The vent 14 is preferably provided on at least one of a side surface and a ceiling surface. This is because the inside of the housing 11 and the outside of the housing 11 are excellent in air permeability. In particular, it is preferably provided on the side surface of the housing 11. This is because it is possible to prevent the intrusion of unintended falling objects. The vent may be configured to be openable and closable.

The ion generator 12 is a device that generates at least one of positive ions and negative ions. The positive ^{_{ions, H + (H 2 O)}} m (m is an arbitrary natural number). Examples of the negative ^{_{ions, O 2 - (H 2 O}} ) n (n is 0 or any natural number) and the like ..

With reference to FIG. 2, the ion generator 12 has two needle-shaped electrodes 121 and 122 and two counter electrodes 123 and 124 on one side surface. Specifically, the needle-shaped electrode 121 and the needle-shaped electrode 122 are located at predetermined intervals.

The counter electrode 123 is formed in a circular shape, and the needle-shaped electrode 121 and the counter electrode 123 are arranged so that the extending direction of the needle-shaped electrode 121 penetrates the center of the counter electrode 123. When a high voltage is applied between the needle-shaped electrode 121 and the counter electrode 123, an air discharge is generated and high-concentration positive ions are generated from the vicinity of the tip of the needle-shaped electrode 121. The positive ions generated near the tip of the needle-shaped electrode 121 receive a repulsive force from the needle-shaped electrode 121, which is a positive electrode, and therefore are diffused while being moved away from the ion generator 12.

The counter electrode 124 is formed in a circular shape, and the needle-shaped electrode 122 and the counter electrode 124 are arranged so that the extending direction of the needle-shaped electrode 122 penetrates the center of the counter electrode 124. When a high voltage is applied between the needle-shaped electrode 122 and the counter electrode 124, an air discharge is generated and a high concentration of negative ions is generated from the vicinity of the tip of the needle-shaped electrode 122. Negative ions generated near the tip of the needle-shaped electrode 122 receive a repulsive force from the needle-shaped electrode 122, which is a negative electrode, and therefore are diffused while being moved away from the ion generator 12.

The ion generator 12 is preferably arranged inside the housing 11. This is because it becomes easy to send ions to the inside of the housing 11. However, the ion generator 12 needs to be connected to external power.

According to the food processing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, the food A can be dried without using a heater. The reason can be inferred as follows.

By driving the ion generator 12, ions are sent out to the inside of the housing 11. Water molecules contained in the air existing inside the housing 11 are bound to the ions sent out inside the housing 11. This is because the positive ion and the negative ion each have a property of easily binding to one to several tens of water molecules. With the above coupling, the amount of moisture in the air inside the housing 11 becomes non-uniform. When the amount of moisture in the air inside the housing 11 becomes non-uniform, the moisture evaporates from the food A to compensate for this. As a result, the food A is dried.

Therefore, according to the food processing apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, the food A can be dried without providing a heat source such as a conventional heater, so that the power consumption can be suppressed.

In particular, when the housing 11 has a vent, it is considered that the evaporation of water from the food A is promoted. This will be described based on the configuration of the first embodiment.

In the first embodiment, vents 14 are provided above and below the housing 11, and an ion generator 12 is provided near the vents 14 above. In this case, an air flow is generated from the upper vent 14 toward the lower vent 14. Ions bound to water molecules and water evaporated from food A are sent out of the housing 11 on this air stream. On the other hand, the ions sent from the ion generator 12 continue to be sent inside the housing 11. Therefore, the amount of water in the air inside the housing 11 continues to be non-uniform, and the water in the food A continues to evaporate. In this way, the evaporation of water from food A is promoted.

<Embodiment 2>
In the food processing apparatus of the second embodiment, the configuration of the ion generator is different from that of the first embodiment. Specifically, the ion generator of the second embodiment has a configuration in which more positive ions are generated than negative ions.

It is considered that this can accelerate the drying of the food. This is because it was confirmed through the following experiments that positive ions are superior to negative ions in the ability to evaporate water from food.

First, two beakers filled with 60 ml of water were prepared. The negative ion generator portion of the ion generator was placed above one beaker, and the positive ion generator portion of the ion generator was placed above the other beaker. At this time, a shielding plate was used to partition the space above both beakers so that positive ions and negative ions did not coexist in the vicinity of each beaker. The ion generator used was designed so that the amount of positive and negative ions generated was the same.

Next, the ion generator was driven under the following conditions, and an evaporation experiment of water in the beaker was carried out.
Resistance: 3.0Ω
Voltage: 16.8V
Number of discharges: 1000 times Discharge time: 17 hours.

After the experiment was completed, the amount of water evaporation in each beaker was measured and compared with the control (beaker without ion generator). As a result, the amount of evaporation in the control was 2.23 ml, while the amount of evaporation in the beaker in which the positive ion generator portion was arranged above was 5.73 ml, and the amount of evaporation in the beaker in which the negative ion generator portion was arranged above was 2.73 ml. The amount was 3.43 ml.

In the above experiment, the amount of water evaporated depending on the positive ions was 1.67 times the amount of water evaporated depending on the negative ions. It is considered that one of the factors causing such a difference is that the discharge voltage of positive ions is higher than the discharge voltage of negative ions. However, there is a difference that is difficult to explain only by the difference in discharge voltage. From this, it was considered that positive ions are superior to negative ions in the ability to evaporate water.

In particular, in the food processing apparatus of the second embodiment, it is preferable that the ion generator has a configuration for generating only positive ions. It is thought to further promote the drying of food. For example, by configuring the needle-shaped electrode 122 to generate high-concentration positive ions from the vicinity of the tip thereof, it is possible to generate only positive ions.

Since the configurations other than the above in the second embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof will not be repeated.

<Embodiment 3>
The food processing apparatus of the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The food processing apparatus 20 of FIG. 3 includes a housing 11, an ion generator 12, and a gas supply unit 15. The gas supply unit 15 has a function of supplying gas to the inside of the housing 11. The gas is at least one of carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) gas and nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas. In the food processing apparatus 20, no object (ice or the like) containing water other than food A is arranged inside the housing 1.

According to the food processing apparatus 20 of the third embodiment, the freshness of the food A can be maintained. The reason can be inferred as follows.

A case where ions are sent from the ion generator 12 and CO ₂ gas is supplied from the gas supply unit 15 will be described. When ions and CO ₂ gas are supplied to the inside of the housing 11, negative ions, CO ₂ gas, and various gases in the air react with each other. Thus, hydrogen carbonate (HCO ₃ ^-), nitrate (NO ₃ ^-) ions, and molecules containing these ^{_{(e.g., (HCO 3 -) HNO 3}} , (NO 3 -) HNO 3) reactive species such occurs .. These reactive species serve as a nutrient source for food A, and as a result, the freshness of food A is maintained.

The same thing can be inferred when N ₂ gas is supplied from the gas supply unit 15. Negative ions, by reaction with N ₂ gas, and NO ₂ gas food A occurs, nitrate (NO ₃ ^-) ions, and molecules ^{_{(e.g., (NO 3 -) HNO 3}} ) containing these reactive species such as occurs This is because it is considered that.

In addition, it is considered that negative ions are more involved in the generation of the above-mentioned reaction species than positive ions. Therefore, in the third embodiment, it is considered that the ion generator 12 may have a function of generating more negative ions than positive ions, or may have a function of generating only negative ions. Be done. In this case, in addition to supplementing the nutrient source to the food A, it is expected that the evaporation of water from the food A can be suppressed.

In the food processing apparatus 20 of the third embodiment, when the housing 11 includes the vent 14, it is preferable that the vent 14 is openable and closable. By closing the vent 14, the communication between the inside and outside of the housing 11 can be blocked, so that the ability to supply the reaction species to the food A can be increased.

Since the configurations other than the above in the third embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof will not be repeated.

<Embodiment 4>
The food processing apparatus of the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The food processing apparatus of the fourth embodiment is different from the third embodiment in that it includes a pressure control unit.

The food processing apparatus 30 of FIG. 4 includes a housing 11, an ion generator 12, a gas supply unit 15, and further includes a pressure control unit 16. The pressure control unit 16 has a function of controlling the pressure inside the housing 11.

According to the food processing apparatus 30 of the fourth embodiment, it is considered that the freshness of the food A can be further maintained. The reason is as follows.

When at least one of CO ₂ gas and N ₂ gas is supplied to the inside of the housing 11 with the communication between the inside and the outside of the housing 11 being cut off, the pressure inside the housing 11 and the housing 11 The external pressure (ie atmospheric pressure) may be different. In this case, in order to keep the balance between the internal pressure and the external pressure, there is a concern that an unintended reaction or an unintended behavior may be caused in the housing 11. On the other hand, according to the food processing apparatus 30, the pressure control unit 16 can maintain a balance between the internal pressure and the external pressure. Therefore, the above-mentioned unintended reaction can be suppressed.

Further, for example, it is expected that the evaporation of water from the food A is suppressed by controlling the internal pressure. In this case, the synergistic effect of the supply of the nutrient source to the food A and the suppression of the evaporation of water from the food A is expected to further maintain the freshness of the food A.

Since the configurations other than the above in the fourth embodiment are the same as those in the third embodiment, the description thereof will not be repeated.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

<Example 1>
A housing with an internal capacity of 12 L (however, without a vent) was prepared. Next, an ion generator was installed inside the housing. The location of the ion generator was inside the housing (inside the ceiling). The ion generator was also electrically connected to external power. Next, a cabbage leaf was housed inside the housing. Then, the ion generator was continuously driven at room temperature (26 ° C.) for 2 weeks.

<Example 2>
The study was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 except that "Aneropack (registered trademark) Kenki" manufactured by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. was further placed inside the housing. "Aneropack (registered trademark) Kenki" is a gas concentration adjuster that absorbs O ₂ gas in the air and generates CO ₂ gas. That is, "Aneropack (registered trademark) Kenki" functions as a gas supply unit for supplying CO ₂ gas to the inside of the housing.

<Comparative example 1>
The study was conducted by the same method as in Example 1 except that the ion generator was not installed inside the housing.

<Comparative example 2>
The study was conducted by the same method as in Example 2 except that the ion generator was not installed inside the housing.

<Evaluation>
After 2 weeks, the cabbage leaves were taken out from each housing and the changes were visually observed.

Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 are compared. It was confirmed that the leaves of Example 1 had a larger degree of shrinkage than the leaves of Comparative Example 1. Leaf shrinkage is a phenomenon caused by the evaporation of water from the leaves. From this, it was understood that the amount of water evaporated from the leaves of Example 1 was larger than that of Comparative Example 1.

Further, in Example 1, the tip portion of the leaf was discolored brown. This discoloration was considered to be due to the oxidation of the polyphenol component contained in the leaves. Further, in Comparative Example 1, the tip portion of the leaf was discolored white. This discoloration was thought to be due to a decrease in leaf nutrients.

Example 2 and Comparative Example 1 are compared. No discoloration was observed in the leaves of Example 2, whereas in Comparative Example 1, the tip portion of the leaves was discolored white as described above. From this, it was understood that Example 2 was superior to Comparative Example 1 in the nutritional state of the leaves, and therefore the freshness of the leaves was maintained high.

Example 2 and Comparative Example 2 are compared. It was confirmed that the leaves of Example 2 had a smaller degree of shrinkage than the leaves of Comparative Example 2. From this, it is understood that the amount of water evaporation from the leaves is smaller when CO ₂ gas and ions are supplied to the housing than when only CO ₂ gas is supplied to the housing. It was. This is a surprising result. In addition, the tip of the leaf of Comparative Example 2 was discolored yellow. This discoloration was thought to be due to the decomposition of chlorophyll contained in the leaves.

From the results of comparison between Example 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2, the nutritional state of the leaves is maintained well and the water content of the leaves is maintained by supplying CO ₂ gas and ions into the housing. It turned out.

Further, it was confirmed that the leaves of Example 2 and Comparative Example 2 had a larger degree of shrinkage than the leaves of Example 1. In Example 2 and Comparative Example 2, the housing was partially dented inward. From this, in Example 2 and Comparative Example 2, since the pressure inside the housing was reduced as compared with the pressure outside the housing, the evaporation of water from the leaves was promoted to compensate for this pressure. It was speculated that it was.

From this, it is expected that when CO ₂ gas and ions are supplied to the housing, the evaporation of water from the leaves can be further suppressed by providing the pressure control unit that controls the pressure inside the housing. To.

Although the embodiments and examples of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments and examples disclosed this time are examples in all respects and are not limiting. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the scope of claims, and includes all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

10, 20, 30 Food processing equipment, 11 housings, 12 ion generators, 13 units, 14 vents, 15 gas supply units, 16 pressure control units, 121, 122 needle-shaped electrodes, 123, 124 counter electrodes.

Claims (3)

A housing for storing food and
An ion generator for sending ions to the inside of the housing is provided.
The ions, Ri least either one der of positive ions and negative ions,
A gas supply unit for supplying gas to the inside of the housing and a pressure control unit for controlling the pressure inside the housing are further provided.
A food processing apparatus in which the gas is at least one of carbon dioxide gas and nitrogen gas . The food processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ion generator generates more positive ions than negative ions. The food processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the housing has a vent.

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