JP7544509B2 - Sheet-type food and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vegetable and/or fruit sheet food and a method for producing the same.

In recent years, sheet foods made from vegetables and fruits (hereinafter also referred to as vegetables, etc.) have been distributed on the market. Since such sheet foods have the original nutritional components, flavor, color, etc. of vegetables, etc., they can be used, for example, in place of seaweed or fresh spring roll wrappers, or cut into small pieces and used as a topping on dishes, to easily add color to dishes, and allow the flavor of vegetables, etc. to be enjoyed when eaten, while also allowing the intake of nutritional components of vegetables, etc.

However, because vegetables and fruits contain a lot of water, simply mincing or grinding them into a paste and placing them on a bamboo blind or bamboo blind to dry is prone to cracking, making it difficult to produce a cohesive, flexible sheet food.
A method of boiling vegetables and fruits in the presence of enzymes has been reported as a method for producing such vegetable and fruit sheet foods (Patent Document 1). According to this method, although the action of the enzyme gives flexibility to the sheet food obtained, the decomposition of the fibrous tissue progresses, and the whole becomes mushy, and the sheet becomes hard like a rice cracker. In addition, in order to provide a vegetable sheet with excellent functionality and texture, a method is known in which a certain percentage or more of the moisture in the vegetable tissue is replaced with a trehalose solution and then dried, but the vegetable fiber remains, causing problems with texture such as tooth feel, tongue feel, and melting in the mouth (Patent Document 2). As a binding agent (binder), wheat flour, yam, seaweed, etc. are known, but wheat flour is undesirable because it is an allergen, and seaweed causes specks (dark colored particles or foreign matter), which has the problem of affecting the appearance of the vegetable sheet (Patent Document 3). On the other hand, dried vegetable sheets that do not use a binder have a problem in that the bonding strength is weak and they cannot be easily peeled off from the drying tray, but a method for solving this problem by using a specific release sheet has been reported (Patent Document 4).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-56340 JP 2002-45143 A JP 2013-188152 A JP 2016-198091 A

An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet-type food product made from vegetables or fruits, which has appropriate strength and plasticity and an excellent texture, and a method for producing the same.
Another object of the present invention is to enable the processing of vegetables and fruits that have been conventionally difficult to process into sheets by themselves, and to provide sheet foods of various kinds of vegetables and fruits.

As a result of extensive research, the present inventors have found that the above problems can be solved by using a mushroom paste made from mushrooms such as Enokitake and Nameko as a binder in the production of sheet-type foods of vegetables and/or fruits such as carrots, pumpkins, and onions. It is believed that the use of the mushroom paste provides the insoluble dietary fiber and thickening polysaccharides contained in the mushrooms with sheet-formability, and further provides improved texture, strength, and plasticity, thereby improving the usability.
The present invention includes the following aspects.
[1] A sheet-like food product obtained by drying a paste-like raw material containing vegetable and/or fruit paste as a main ingredient and mushroom paste as a binder.
[2] The sheet-form food according to [1], containing 5 to 50% by mass of mushroom paste relative to the total mass of the vegetable and/or fruit paste and mushroom paste in the paste-like raw material.
[3] The sheet-form food according to [1] or [2], wherein the vegetable paste is a paste of at least one vegetable selected from the group consisting of root vegetables, earthen vegetables, leafy stem vegetables, fruit vegetables, legume vegetables, and grass vegetables.
[4] The sheet-form food according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the fruit paste is a paste of at least one type of fruit selected from the group consisting of deciduous fruit trees and evergreen fruit trees.
[5] The sheet-form food according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein the mushroom paste is a paste of at least one type of mushroom selected from the group consisting of enoki mushroom, shiitake mushroom, shimeji mushroom, nameko mushroom, king oyster mushroom, maitake mushroom, oyster mushroom, mushroom, matsutake mushroom, and wood ear mushroom.
[6] A method for producing the sheet food according to any one of [1] to [5], comprising producing a paste from vegetables and/or fruits, adding mushroom paste thereto to produce a paste-like raw material, and then drying the paste.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention makes it possible to provide a vegetable and/or fruit sheet food having appropriate strength and plasticity, as well as an excellent texture and a flavor not found in the past.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a sheet-type food having the original color tone of vegetables and/or fruits.
Furthermore, the present invention makes it possible to provide a vegetable and/or fruit sheet food product without using wheat, which is one of the seven specific ingredients that cause food allergy symptoms, or seaweed, which affects the appearance of the food.
The present invention can also provide sheet foods made from vegetables or fruits with high sugar contents or vegetables or fruits with insufficient fiber content, which have been difficult to make into sheet foods in the past.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a method for evaluating the flexibility of a vegetable sheet. 1 is a photograph showing the appearance of a sheet-type food product made only from carrot paste. 1 is a photograph showing the appearance of a sheet-type food product made only from enoki mushroom paste. 1 is a photograph showing the appearance of a sheet-type food product made by mixing carrot paste and enoki mushroom paste in a ratio of 80:20. 13 is a photograph showing the plasticity of a sheet-type food product made by mixing carrot paste and enoki mushroom paste in a ratio of 80:20. 1 shows external photographs of a sheet-type food produced from only carrot paste when evaluating its flexibility. 13 is a photograph showing the appearance of a sheet-type food product obtained by mixing carrot paste and enoki mushroom paste in a ratio of 80:20 and evaluating its flexibility. 1 is a photograph showing the appearance of a sheet-type food product made only from pumpkin paste. 1 is a photograph showing the appearance of a sheet-type food product made by mixing pumpkin paste and enoki mushroom paste in a ratio of 80:20.

The sheet-form food of the present invention is produced by drying a paste-form raw material which contains vegetable and/or fruit paste as a main ingredient and further contains mushroom paste as a binding agent.
In the present specification, the "vegetable" raw material of the vegetable paste is not particularly limited, and includes root vegetables such as carrots and radishes, earthen vegetables such as onions and potatoes, leafy stem vegetables such as kale and spinach, fruit vegetables such as pumpkin and tomato, legume vegetables such as green peas and snow peas, and grass vegetables such as corn and baby corn. Preferred are carrots, pumpkin, potatoes, onions, and corn. More preferred are carrots and pumpkins, and most preferred is carrots. The vegetable raw material is preferably pretreated, such as by washing, peeling, and removing unnecessary roots and leaves, before being made into a paste.

In the present specification, the "fruit" raw material of the fruit paste is not particularly limited, and includes pome fruits such as apples and pears, stone fruits such as peaches and cherries, deciduous fruits including evergreen fruits including citrus fruits such as mandarin oranges, etc. Preferred are apples, pears, and bananas. The fruit raw material is preferably pre-treated before the paste is made by washing, peeling, removing unnecessary stems and seeds, etc.
The vegetable paste and fruit paste may be mixed for use, or the vegetables and fruits may be mixed before and after crushing to prepare a paste.

The sheet-type food of the present invention is produced using vegetable and/or fruit paste as the main ingredient. "As the main ingredient" means that it is the main raw material excluding the mushroom paste, which is a binding agent. In the present invention, the "paste" is obtained by crushing or grinding cooked or unheated vegetables and/or fruits.

The production of "paste" (also called pasting) can be carried out using a device called a "paste-making device." Any known device capable of turning vegetables, etc. into a paste can be used as the "paste-making device" without any restrictions. Examples of devices include grinding stone type (grindstone type), cutting blade type, pounding type, media stirring type, compression type, impact type, and grinding type devices, as well as combinations of these. Grinding stone type or cutting blade type devices are preferred, and cutting blade type devices are most preferred. As a cutting blade type device, a commercially available cutter mixer can be used.

The conditions for making a paste can be changed as appropriate depending on the particle size and viscosity of the paste-like raw material according to the specifications such as the thickness of the target sheet food, the type of raw material such as vegetables, the method of prior processing, or the type of pasting device used. For example, when processing carrots and the like with a cutter mixer, they can be made into a paste by processing at 1000 to 3000 rpm for 30 seconds to 5 minutes.

The size of the solids in the paste (also called the particle size) is preferably small enough to be suitable for producing the desired sheet food product. The finer the particle size, the better, since it allows the sheet to look uniform and dry evenly. When the paste is spread thinly and evenly on a tray, it is best that no particulate matter is visible.
From the viewpoint of uniform drying of the sheet-type food, the particle size is preferably 2000 μm or less, and more preferably 1000 μm or less. The lower limit of the particle size is not particularly limited, but is preferably 100 μm or more, for example. The particle size can be adjusted by adjusting the conditions for the pasting. The particle size can be determined according to the following procedure.
First, the paste is passed through a stainless steel sieve with a given mesh size and filtered on the sieve. The paste remaining on the sieve after filtering is treated as paste with a grain size larger than the mesh size of the stainless steel sieve, and the paste that passes through the sieve is treated as paste with a grain size smaller than the mesh size.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the vegetables and the like to be fed to the paste-making device are cut to a desired size in advance and heated in hot water or steam. For example, carrot paste can be produced by washing and cutting carrots, heating them in hot water, and then finely crushing them using a paste-making device (e.g., a mixer). It is also possible to omit the heating step and use raw vegetable paste.

In this specification, the "mushroom" used as the raw material for the mushroom paste may be any mushroom that is generally edible. Examples include enokitake, shiitake, shimeji, nameko, king oyster mushroom, maitake, oyster mushroom, mushroom, matsutake, and wood ear mushroom. Enokitake and nameko are preferred, and enokitake are more preferred. Mushrooms containing mucin are particularly preferred.
The present invention provides a method for producing a vegetable and/or fruit sheet food product by using a mushroom paste as a binder, thereby enabling the production of a sheet food product having strength and plasticity as well as excellent texture and flavor.
In particular, mushroom paste has a thickening effect, so it can impart strength and plasticity to sheet foods as a binder, and can also improve the texture, making them crisper. By using mushroom paste in combination, it is possible to achieve improved strength and texture that was previously impossible with sheet foods made only from vegetables.

Furthermore, by using a mushroom paste, the sheet food of the present invention becomes film-like after drying, and it is possible to produce a sheet food that does not crack during drying as has been reported in the past. In particular, Enoki mushroom or nameko mushroom are preferred because they have viscosity due to mucin when made into a paste, making it possible to produce a sheet food that is even more flexible than other mushrooms.

In addition, paste made from mushrooms is a food that does not contain any of the seven specific allergens listed as specific raw materials, making it possible to produce sheet-type foods that do not require allergy and additive labeling.
In addition, since all the raw materials are natural, it has the advantage that it does not require food additive labeling.

Furthermore, mushrooms do not interfere with the color of vegetables, so colorful sheet foods can be produced. Any mushrooms can be used, but it is more preferable to use white mushrooms, such as enoki mushrooms, which do not interfere with the natural color of vegetables and fruits.

Mushrooms can be used uncooked, but it is preferable to pre-treat them by washing, removing stalks, and boiling before making them into a paste.

The mushroom paste of the present invention may be produced in a similar manner to the production of the vegetable and/or fruit pastes described above, or may be produced by a different method. For example, Enoki mushroom paste can be produced by washing and cutting Enoki mushrooms, heating them in hot water, and crushing them finely using a mixer. The heating step can also be omitted and raw Enoki mushroom paste can be used.
The particle size of the mushroom paste is preferably finer than that of the vegetable and fruit paste, since it blends well with the vegetable and fruit paste, improves the appearance of the sheet food, and allows for uniform drying. Examples of pasting devices for producing a fine particle size include grinding stone type (whether or not) and grinders, which are preferably used at 2000 to 4000 rpm, and more preferably 2000 to 3000 rpm to produce a paste.
The mushroom paste is crushed to a particle size of preferably 300 to 1500 μm, more preferably about 700 μm or less.

The mushroom paste, which is the raw material of the sheet-type food of the present invention, is preferably 5 to 50% by mass, more preferably 20 to 30% by mass, based on the total mass of the vegetable and/or fruit paste and the mushroom paste. When the mushroom paste ratio is 5% by mass or more, the strength and texture can be improved. When the mushroom paste ratio is 20% by mass or more, the effect becomes almost constant, which is preferable. When the mushroom paste ratio is 50% by mass or less based on the total mass of the vegetable and/or fruit paste and the mushroom paste, there is no mushroom odor, and the flavor is well balanced between the original flavor of the vegetables and/or fruits and the flavor of the mushroom, which is preferable. In addition, when the mushroom paste ratio is 50% by mass or less, the binding agent action of the mushroom paste is appropriate, and a smooth sheet-type food without cracks can be produced, which is preferable.

The sheet-form food of the present invention can be produced by thinly spreading and drying a paste-like raw material obtained by adding mushroom paste to vegetable and/or fruit paste. For example, the paste-like raw material can be poured into a mold and dried.
The paste-like raw material may contain water, carbohydrates (starch, sugar alcohol, vegetable powder, grain flour, sugars), lipids (powdered oils and fats), vegetable protein (wheat protein, soy protein), animal protein (milk protein, egg protein), seasonings, spices, etc., to the extent that the properties of the sheet food are not affected.
The size and thickness of the sheet-type food of the present invention can be appropriately changed depending on the purpose, but for example, a size of 50 mm length x 50 mm width to 1000 mm length x 1000 mm width and a thickness of about 0.2 to 5 mm can be produced.

Production Example 1 Preparation of vegetable paste and fruit paste (corn, carrot, spinach, onion, potato, pumpkin, apple)
Each vegetable and fruit was washed. Carrots, potatoes, pumpkins, and apples were peeled and chopped. Spinach and onions were roughly chopped. Corn kernels were removed from the cob. Each vegetable was heated in boiling water for 15 minutes, and then processed in a cutter mixer at 2000 rpm for 3 minutes to obtain each vegetable and fruit paste.

Production Example 2: Method for producing Enoki mushroom paste Enoki mushrooms cut from the base were washed, cut into three equal pieces, and steamed for 3 minutes at 98° C. After heating, the Enoki mushrooms were cooled and crushed to a particle size of about 300 to 1500 μm using a grinder (Masco Sangyo Co., Ltd., Mass Colloider) at 3000 rpm to obtain a paste.

Test Example 1: Blending ratio of Enoki mushroom paste The carrot paste produced in Production Example 1 and the Enoki mushroom paste produced in Production Example 2 were mixed in the ratio shown in Table 2. The mixed paste-like raw material was placed on a mesh with an opening of 200 μm, and a frame with a thickness of 2 mm x length of 100 mm x width of 100 mm was placed on the mesh, and the mixed paste was applied from above. The frame was removed and dried at 100° C. for 20 minutes, and peeled off from the mesh to obtain a carrot sheet-like food.

Evaluation method For the sheet foods of the Examples and Comparative Examples, rice formed into a cylindrical shape of 3 cm in diameter x 5 cm in length was wrapped with each sheet, and a sensory evaluation was performed by 10 experienced panelists according to the evaluation criteria in Table 1. The evaluation scores of the 10 panelists, their numbers, and the average evaluation score are shown in Table 2. When the evaluation results were 3 points or more in all items, it was determined that the improvement effect of the present invention was observed.
For the evaluation of flexibility, the obtained carrot sheet (10 cm long x 10 cm wide) was placed on the edge of the horizontal surface of a shelf 3 cm from the left side (7 cm to the right), and the right side was pushed downward along the guide and bent, and the angle at which the carrot sheet broke was measured using a line parallel to the horizontal surface of the shelf as a reference. The larger the angle, the more flexible the vegetable sheet formulation was evaluated. If the sheet did not break even when bent 90 degrees, it was marked as ">90°", and if it could not be formed into a sheet, it was marked as "-". A schematic diagram of the measurement method is shown in Figure 1.

Table 1 Evaluation criteria

Table 2. Effect of the blending ratio of Enoki mushroom paste on taste

When the enoki mushroom paste was 4-50% by mass relative to the total mass of the carrot paste and enoki mushroom paste (Examples 1-4), the sheet-type food was rated better in all items than the sheet-type food produced with only carrot paste (Comparative Example 1). When the enoki mushroom paste was 60% by mass (Example 5), the flavor balance was rated lower because the flavor of the enoki mushroom was stronger, but the sheet-type food was rated better in texture and flexibility than the sheet-type food produced with only carrot paste or only enoki mushroom paste (Comparative Examples 1 and 2). When the ratio of enoki mushroom paste exceeded 60% by mass, the strength and water resistance of the sheet-type food improved (test results not shown), but the original flavor of the carrot was masked by the enoki mushroom, resulting in a mushroom-like odor. It was also found that the plasticity tended to decrease, resulting in a poor feel when rolled up. The addition of 20% by mass of enoki mushroom paste was optimal in terms of taste and feel (Example 4).

The surface and appearance of the sheet are as shown in the figures (Figs. 2 and 6: Comparative Example 1 (carrot paste only), Fig. 3: Comparative Example 2 (enoki mushroom paste only), Figs. 4, 5 and 7: Example 3 (carrot paste and enoki mushroom paste mixed in a ratio of 80:20)).
In the case of using only carrot paste (Comparative Example 1), cracks were generated on the surface of the sheet, and the sheet was not smooth (Fig. 2). The sheet also had no plasticity. In contrast, the carrot sheet mixed with 20% by mass of enoki mushroom paste (Example 3) had a smooth surface and could be molded into a sheet-like food with excellent strength and plasticity (Figs. 4 and 5). In the flexibility evaluation, the carrot sheet alone (Comparative Example 1, Fig. 6) had low bending strength and cracks occurred when folded at about 30°. In contrast, the mixture of carrot paste and enoki mushroom paste in a ratio of 80:20 (Example 3, Fig. 7) did not crack when folded at 90°.

Test Example 2: Vegetable Paste Type: Carrot paste was replaced with each vegetable paste or fruit paste other than carrot paste, and each vegetable paste or fruit paste and enoki mushroom paste were used in the ratios shown in Tables 3-1 and 3-2. Sheet foods were prepared in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The obtained sheet foods were evaluated according to the "Evaluation method." The surface and appearance of the sheets are as shown in the figures (Figure 8: Comparative Example 7 (pumpkin paste only), Figure 9; Example 10 (pumpkin paste and enoki mushroom paste mixed in a ratio of 80:20)).

Table 3-1

Table 3-2

When pumpkin paste alone was used (Comparative Example 7), the surface cracked when it was molded into a sheet, and it was not possible to mold it into a sheet (Figure 8). In contrast, when 20% by mass of enoki mushroom paste was added (Example 10), it was possible to mold it into a sheet food with a smooth surface (Figure 9) and excellent strength and plasticity. The same results were obtained for corn and potato as for pumpkin. In addition, when onion paste alone was used, it was possible to process it into a sheet, but the strength was insufficient and it tended to break when bent (Comparative Example 5). Spinach paste alone had poor plasticity and was difficult to use for rolls, etc. (Comparative Example 4). In response to this result, the addition of enoki mushroom paste gave strength to the sheet food using onion due to its binding effect, and plasticity to the sheet food using spinach due to its film-forming ability (Examples 8 and 7).
From the above results, it was found that even when the enoki mushroom paste was used in sheet-type foods using vegetables other than carrot paste, it was effective in producing sheet-type foods with excellent taste and texture.
As an example of using fruit, a similar test was also conducted on apples processed into a paste. Like pumpkin, fruit is a raw material with a high sugar content, and apple paste alone would crack when dried, but by adding enoki mushroom paste, the cracks when dried disappeared and it became possible to mold it into a sheet.

Test Example 3: Type of mushroom paste Sheet-type foods were prepared according to Test Example 1, except that the enoki mushroom paste was replaced with a mushroom paste other than enoki mushroom paste and the carrot paste and each mushroom paste were used in the ratio shown in Table 4. The obtained sheet-type foods were evaluated according to the "Evaluation method".

Table 4

Vegetable sheet foods made from nameko paste, shiitake paste, king oyster mushroom paste, and shimeji paste all had excellent taste, strength, and plasticity (Examples 12 to 15). Nameko, which contains a lot of mucin among mushrooms, was used to produce a sheet food with particularly excellent strength and plasticity (Example 12). In addition, the fragrant components unique to shiitake mushrooms improved the flavor of the sheet food (Example 13).
From the above results, it was found that the use of mushrooms other than Enoki mushrooms was also effective in improving the forming and taste of sheet foods.

Claims (7)

This vegetable and/or fruit sheet food is obtained by drying a paste-like raw material containing vegetable and/or fruit paste as a main ingredient and mushroom paste as a binder, and contains 5 to 30 mass% of mushroom paste relative to the total mass of the vegetable and/or fruit paste and mushroom paste in the paste-like raw material . 2. The vegetable and /or fruit sheet food according to claim 1, comprising mushroom paste in an amount of 20 to 30 mass % based on the total mass of the vegetable and/or fruit paste and mushroom paste in the paste-like raw material. 3. The vegetable and/or fruit sheet food according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the vegetable paste is a paste of at least one vegetable selected from the group consisting of root vegetables, earthen vegetables, leafy stem vegetables, fruit vegetables, legume vegetables, and grass vegetables. 4. The vegetable and/or fruit sheet food according to claim 1, wherein the fruit paste is a paste of at least one fruit selected from the group consisting of deciduous fruit trees and evergreen fruit trees. 5. The vegetable and/or fruit sheet food according to claim 1, wherein the mushroom paste is a paste of at least one type of mushroom selected from the group consisting of enoki mushroom, shiitake mushroom, shimeji mushroom, nameko mushroom, king oyster mushroom, maitake mushroom, oyster mushroom, mushroom, matsutake mushroom, and wood ear mushroom. 6. The method for producing a vegetable and/or fruit sheet food according to claim 1, comprising producing a vegetable and/or fruit paste from vegetables and/or fruits, adding a mushroom paste produced from mushrooms to the vegetable and/or fruit paste to produce a paste- like raw material, and then drying the resulting mixture, wherein the amount of the mushroom paste added is 5 to 30% by mass based on the total mass of the vegetable and/or fruit paste and the mushroom paste in the paste-like raw material. 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of producing a mushroom paste from mushrooms, said step including heating prior to pasting.

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