JP7612295B2 - Method for enhancing sesame flavor of liquid seasoning, and liquid seasoning - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for enhancing the sesame flavor of a liquid seasoning, and to a liquid seasoning with enhanced sesame flavor.

Sesame is popular for its savory flavor, and a variety of liquid seasonings containing ground or paste sesame have been developed, such as sesame dressings and sesame sauces for shabu-shabu. However, increasing the amount of ground or paste sesame in a liquid seasoning to enhance the sesame flavor can lead to a rough texture and set (gelling and losing fluidity), so a method for enhancing the flavor without increasing the amount is desired.

To date, reports have included a liquid seasoning with an excellent sesame flavor that contains aroma components (vinylfuran, thiazole, and dihydrothiophene) produced by excessive roasting of sesame seeds (Patent Document 1), and a flavor composition for liquid seasonings that contains 2-propionylthiazole and has a sesame flavor (Patent Document 2), but there has been a demand for a method that uses general-purpose raw materials.

International Publication No. 2014/080524 JP 2008-154476 A

In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a method for enhancing the sesame flavor of a liquid seasoning, and a liquid seasoning with enhanced sesame flavor.

The present inventors discovered that by blending rice vinegar with a liquid seasoning containing ground sesame and setting the ratio of the acetic acid equivalent acidity derived from rice vinegar to the acetic acid equivalent acidity in the liquid seasoning within a specific range, the sesame flavor derived from the ground sesame is enhanced, and thus the present invention was completed. Specifically, the present invention provides the following.

(1) A method for enhancing the sesame flavor of a liquid seasoning, which contains 1 to 15% by mass of ground sesame and 5 to 40% by mass of sugars calculated as solid matter, and has an acidity converted into acetic acid of 0.3 to 2.5, comprising adding rice vinegar so that 5 to 70% of the acidity converted into acetic acid is an acidity converted into acetic acid derived from rice vinegar.
(2) The method for enhancing the sesame flavor of a liquid seasoning according to (1), wherein the liquid seasoning contains vinegar other than rice vinegar.
(3) The method for enhancing the sesame flavor of a liquid seasoning according to (1) or (2), wherein the average particle size of the ground sesame is 50 to 1000 μm.
(4) A liquid seasoning having an enhanced sesame flavor, which contains 1 to 15% by mass of ground sesame, 5 to 40% by mass of sugars calculated as solid matter, and rice vinegar, and has an acidity converted into acetic acid of 0.3 to 2.5, wherein 5 to 70% of the acidity converted into acetic acid is derived from the rice vinegar.

According to the present invention, a method for enhancing the sesame flavor derived from ground sesame in a liquid seasoning containing ground sesame, and a liquid seasoning with enhanced sesame flavor are provided. Furthermore, according to the present invention, the sesame flavor of a liquid seasoning can be enhanced without increasing the content of ground sesame, and therefore it is possible to suppress the occurrence of rough texture and setting (gelling and loss of fluidity) that occurs when the content of ground sesame is increased.

Specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, but the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the invention.

[Method for enhancing sesame flavor]
The method for enhancing the sesame flavor of the present invention is a method for adding rice vinegar to a liquid seasoning containing 1 to 15% by mass of ground sesame and 5 to 40% by mass of sugars in terms of solid matter, and having an acidity converted into acetic acid of 0.3 to 2.5, so that 5 to 70% of the acidity converted into acetic acid is the acidity converted into acetic acid derived from rice vinegar. Here, in the present invention, "sesame flavor" refers to a sensation associated with the breath when the liquid seasoning of the present invention is eaten, and is a flavor unique to sesame derived from ground sesame. In addition, in the present invention, "enhanced sesame flavor" refers to a liquid seasoning that has a clearly stronger sesame flavor than one that does not contain rice vinegar (i.e., one having the same content of ground sesame, sugar content, and acidity converted into acetic acid).

[Ground sesame seeds]
The sesame ground product in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is made by grinding sesame seeds, but examples thereof include cut sesame obtained by roughly cutting sesame seeds, ground sesame obtained by grinding and grinding, sesame paste obtained by grinding to a paste-like state, and mixtures thereof. In addition, sesame used as a raw material for the sesame ground product includes white sesame, black sesame, golden sesame, brown sesame, and roasted sesame obtained by roasting these. It is preferable to use roasted sesame as a raw material for the sesame ground product in the present invention. In addition, sesame ground product containing sesame particles that have not been ground is also included in the sesame ground product of the present invention.
In the method for enhancing the sesame flavor of the present invention, the content of the ground sesame in the liquid seasoning is preferably 2 to 14% by mass, more preferably 3 to 13% by mass, and most preferably 4 to 10% by mass. When the content of the ground sesame is within the above range, the effect of enhancing the sesame flavor is more easily obtained, and the effect of suppressing the rough texture of the liquid seasoning and the occurrence of set is more easily obtained.

The sesame ground product of the present invention preferably has an average particle size of 50 to 1000 μm, more preferably 100 to 900 μm, and most preferably 200 to 800 μm. The sesame ground product of the present invention is preferably sesame paste and/or ground sesame. The sesame paste of the present invention preferably has an average particle size of 50 to 500 μm, more preferably 75 to 450 μm, and most preferably 100 to 400 μm. The ground sesame of the present invention preferably has an average particle size of 400 to 1000 μm, more preferably 450 to 900 μm, and most preferably 500 to 800 μm. When the average particle size of each type of sesame ground product is within the above range, the effect of enhancing the sesame flavor is more easily obtained.
In the present invention, the average particle size means a particle size at 50% of the integrated value in the particle size distribution obtained by a laser diffraction/scattering method. As a laser diffraction/scattering type particle size distribution meter, for example, Microtrac MT3300EX2 manufactured by Nikkiso Co., Ltd. can be used.

[Sugars]
The sugars in the present invention are not particularly limited, and examples thereof include sugar, sucrose, isomerized liquid sugar, fructose, glucose, maltose, starch syrup, honey, etc., invert sugar, lactose, syrup, oligosaccharides, sugar alcohols, etc., and mixtures thereof. Here, sugar includes molasses such as brown sugar, refined white sugar, brown sugar, etc., isomerized liquid sugar includes high fructose liquid sugar, fructose-glucose liquid sugar, glucose-fructose liquid sugar, and sugar alcohols include sorbitol, lactitol, reduced palatinose, mannitol, reduced starch syrup (reduced starch syrup), etc. The sugars used in the present invention are preferably sugar and reduced starch syrup (reduced starch syrup), and more preferably sugar.
In the method for enhancing the sesame flavor of the present invention, the sugar content in the liquid seasoning is preferably 7 to 35% by mass, more preferably 10 to 30% by mass, and most preferably 15 to 25% by mass, calculated on a solid matter basis. When the sugar content is within the above range, the effect of enhancing the sesame flavor is more easily obtained.
In addition, when the liquid seasoning contains both liquid and solid sugars, the total content of the liquid sugar as solid matter and the solid sugar content may be adjusted to a desired content. In addition, when the sugar is liquid, the solid content of the liquid sugar can be determined by measuring the solid content by the loss on drying method (105°C, 4 hours).

[Rice vinegar]
The rice vinegar in the present invention refers to vinegar produced using rice or brown rice, or processed products thereof (bran, fine rice, powdered rice, crushed rice, etc.) as the main raw material, and includes so-called commercially available rice vinegar, brown rice vinegar, and rice bran vinegar. Examples of the rice vinegar in the present invention include vinegar produced by making an alcoholic mash with steamed rice, koji, and water, adding alcohol to it and carrying out acetic acid fermentation, and vinegar produced by making a mash by saccharifying rice with rice koji, adding alcohol to it and carrying out acetic acid fermentation. In addition, the rice vinegar in the present invention is preferably produced using 40 g or more of rice per 1 L of rice vinegar.
The rice vinegar of the present invention has an acidity (%) in terms of acetic acid of preferably 1 to 15, more preferably 3 to 10, and most preferably 4 to 7. The acidity in terms of acetic acid of the rice vinegar of the present invention can be determined by the measurement method described in the "Acetic Acid Equivalent Acidity" below.

In the method for enhancing a sesame flavor of the present invention, the content of rice vinegar in the present invention is preferably 10 to 65%, more preferably 20 to 62%, even more preferably 30 to 60%, and most preferably 40 to 55%, of the acetic acid-equivalent acidity derived from rice vinegar relative to the acetic acid-equivalent acidity of the entire liquid seasoning. When the ratio of the acetic acid-equivalent acidity derived from rice vinegar is within the above range, the effect of enhancing the sesame flavor is more easily obtained.
In the method for enhancing a sesame flavor of the present invention, the content of rice vinegar in the present invention may be such that the ratio of acidity derived from the rice vinegar in terms of acetic acid is a desired ratio, and is preferably 1 to 30% by mass, more preferably 3 to 25% by mass, even more preferably 4 to 20% by mass, and most preferably 5 to 15% by mass.
In addition, in the method for enhancing the sesame flavor of the present invention, the content of rice vinegar in the present invention is preferably 40 to 1,200 parts by mass, more preferably 70 to 600 parts by mass, and most preferably 100 to 300% by mass, relative to 100 parts by mass of ground sesame.

[Acetic acid equivalent acidity]
The acidity (%) calculated as acetic acid in the present invention is a value determined for a liquid seasoning containing rice vinegar by the following measurement method.
(Method for measuring acetic acid equivalent acidity (%))
Take 0.1 to 1 g of the above liquid seasoning, add water to make 100 mL, and titrate with a 0.1 N sodium hydroxide solution of known strength using phenolphthalein as an indicator. The endpoint is the time when a slight pink color continues for 30 seconds, and the titer is calculated using the following formula.
Acetic acid equivalent acidity (%) = A x F x 0.006005/B x 100
A: Titration volume (ml) of 0.1N NaOH standard solution
F: Titer of 0.1N NaOH standard solution B: Sample amount (g)
In the method for enhancing the sesame flavor of the present invention, the acidity (%) of the liquid seasoning, in an embodiment containing rice vinegar, is preferably 0.5 to 2.0, more preferably 0.6 to 1.6, and most preferably 0.7 to 1.2, in terms of acetic acid. When the acidity is within the above range, the effect of enhancing the sesame flavor is more easily obtained.

The liquid seasoning in the method for enhancing the sesame flavor of the present invention preferably contains vinegar other than rice vinegar. Specific examples of the vinegar include grain vinegar, fruit vinegar, brewed vinegar (other than grain vinegar and fruit vinegar), synthetic vinegar, and mixed vinegars thereof. It is preferable to use grain vinegar (excluding rice vinegar) defined by the Japanese Agricultural Standards. The vinegar other than rice vinegar has an acetic acid-equivalent acidity (%) of preferably 1 to 15, more preferably 3 to 10, and most preferably 4 to 6. The acetic acid-equivalent acidity of rice vinegar in the present invention can be determined by the measurement method described in the above "Acetic acid-equivalent acidity".
The content of vinegar other than rice vinegar in the liquid seasoning in the method for enhancing the sesame flavor of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the liquid seasoning has a desired acidity converted into acetic acid, but is preferably 1 to 40% by mass, more preferably 2 to 20% by mass, and most preferably 3 to 10% by mass. When the content of vinegar other than rice vinegar is within the above range, the effect of enhancing the sesame flavor is more easily obtained.
Furthermore, the liquid seasoning in the method for enhancing a sesame flavor of the present invention may contain acetic acid or a food ingredient containing acetic acid in addition to the vinegar, so long as the overall acidity converted into acetic acid is the desired acidity converted into acetic acid.

The liquid seasoning in the method of enhancing the sesame flavor of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is intended to add flavor to dishes, but specific examples include dressings, sauces, and other liquid seasonings similar to these. A preferred embodiment of the liquid seasoning of the present invention is a dressing, and when the dressing contains an oil phase and a water phase, an emulsified liquid dressing is preferred. Examples include "emulsified liquid dressing" and "salad creamy dressing" defined in the Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS).

The liquid seasoning in the method for enhancing the sesame flavor of the present invention can be blended with the same ingredients as conventional liquid seasonings, so long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired. Specifically, in addition to ground sesame, sugars, and rice vinegar, the following ingredients may be used: soy sauce, salt, spices, flavors, and other flavorings; oils and fats; various kinds of extracts, stabilizers, colorants, and other additives; and the solid content of ground vegetables and fruits.

The liquid seasoning in the method for enhancing the sesame flavor of the present invention may contain oils and fats. The oils and fats in the liquid seasoning may be the same as those in conventional seasonings, as long as they do not impair the effects of the present invention. Specific examples of the oils and fats include edible oils, powdered oils and fats, oil-soluble flavors, and oil-soluble emulsifiers. The edible oils may be one type of oil selected from soybean oil, rapeseed oil, corn oil, coconut oil, palm oil, medium-chain fatty acid oil, rice oil, sesame oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, linseed oil, perilla oil, olive oil, peanut oil, grape seed oil, macadamia nut oil, hazelnut oil, pumpkin seed oil, walnut oil, camellia oil, tea seed oil, perilla oil, borage oil, wheat germ oil, and flavor oils (herb oil, garlic oil, etc.), or a mixture of two or more of these oils and fats. In addition, fractionated oils, hardened oils, transesterified oils, etc. of these oils and fats can also be used. Powdered oils and fats obtained by powdering the above-mentioned oils and fats can also be used.

When the liquid seasoning in the method for enhancing the sesame flavor of the present invention contains fats and oils, the content of the fats and oils in the liquid seasoning is preferably 10 to 50% by mass, more preferably 15 to 45% by mass, and most preferably 20 to 40% by mass. When the liquid seasoning contains an aqueous phase and an oil phase, the content of the aqueous phase in the liquid seasoning is preferably 50 to 90% by mass, more preferably 55 to 85% by mass, and most preferably 60 to 80% by mass.

[Liquid seasoning with enhanced sesame flavor]
The liquid seasoning with enhanced sesame flavor of the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as the liquid seasoning of the present invention) contains 1 to 15% by mass of ground sesame, 5 to 40% by mass of sugars calculated as solid matter, and rice vinegar, and has an acidity converted into acetic acid of 0.3 to 2.5, and 5 to 70% of the acidity converted into acetic acid is the acidity converted into acetic acid derived from rice vinegar. The liquid seasoning of the present invention gives a clearly stronger sesame flavor to the sense of sensory sensation than one not containing rice vinegar (i.e., one having the same content of ground sesame, sugar content, and acidity converted into acetic acid).
The preferred contents of ground sesame, sugars, and rice vinegar, as well as the preferred ranges of acidity converted into acetic acid, and other preferred aspects in the liquid seasoning of the present invention are the same as those described above in the "method for enhancing sesame flavor" of the present invention.

[Method of manufacturing liquid seasoning]
The liquid seasoning of the present invention can be produced according to a normal method for producing liquid seasonings. For example, in the case of a method for producing an emulsified liquid dressing, which is one embodiment of the liquid seasoning of the present invention, raw materials other than fats and oil-soluble raw materials (ground sesame, rice vinegar, sugars, thickening polysaccharides, acetic acid, salt, water, etc.) are heated and stirred to uniformly dissolve and disperse the raw materials to prepare an aqueous phase. Stirring can be performed by any means that can uniformly disperse the raw materials, and for example, a propeller, homomixer, blender, disperser, paddle mixer, colloid mill, continuous mixer, static mixer, ultrasonic mixer, or other stirrer or method can be used. Next, the fats and oils (oil phase) in which the oil-soluble raw materials are dissolved are added to the aqueous phase prepared above and mixed and emulsified to obtain an emulsified liquid dressing.

The liquid seasoning of the present invention may be hot-pack sterilized or retort sterilized. There are no particular limitations on the method of hot-pack sterilization of the liquid seasoning and the material of the hot pack, and conventionally known methods and materials can be used. There are no particular limitations on the hot-pack filling conditions, and conventionally known conditions may be used, for example, at a temperature of 45°C or higher, preferably 60°C or higher. There are no particular limitations on the method of retort sterilization of the liquid seasoning of the present invention and on the container used for retort sterilization, and conventionally known methods can be used. The retort sterilization method may be, for example, 120°C, 30 to 60 minutes, etc. Semi-retort at a temperature of 105 to 115°C, high retort at a temperature of 130°C or higher, etc. may also be used.

The present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to examples, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to the description of these examples.

[Manufacturing sesame vinegar seasoning]
According to the formulations in Tables 1 to 5, each ingredient was added to water and thoroughly stirred to produce a sesame vinegar seasoning. The ingredients in the tables were as follows. The average particle size of each sesame ingredient was measured using a Microtrac MT3300EX2 (manufactured by Nikkiso Co., Ltd.).
<Sesame paste> Product name: Smooth and smooth sesame paste, manufactured by Shinsei Co., Ltd., average particle size 305 μm
<Ground sesame> Product name: Gold ground sesame, manufactured by Shinsei Co., Ltd., average particle size 686 μm
<Rice vinegar> Product name: Pure rice vinegar, manufactured by Marukan Vinegar Co., Ltd., acetic acid equivalent acidity 4.5
<Brewed vinegar-1> Product name: MHV-310, manufactured by Mizkan Co., Ltd., acetic acid equivalent acidity 10.0
<Brewed vinegar-2> The above "Brewed vinegar-1" was diluted with water to an acidity of 4.5 in terms of acetic acid. <Sugar> Product name: White sugar, manufactured by Mitsui Sugar Co., Ltd. <Xanthan gum> Product name: Fine Gum FR, manufactured by Tsuruya Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.

[Flavor evaluation of sesame vinegar seasoning]
The flavor of the sesame vinegar seasonings was evaluated by five expert panelists after putting 2 mL of each seasoning in their mouths, and the evaluation was made by consensus of all the expert panelists according to the following evaluation criteria. The evaluation results are shown in Tables 1 to 5.
(Evaluation Criteria)
: The sesame flavor is stronger than that of the control example. ◯: The sesame flavor is weaker than that of the control example, but stronger than that of the control example. ×: The sesame flavor is equivalent to that of the control example, or the flavor derived from rice vinegar is strong and the sesame flavor is dim, which is not preferable. Note that Examples 1, 2, and Comparative Example 1 were evaluated in comparison with Control Example 1; Examples 3, 4, and Comparative Example 2 with Control Example 2; Examples 5, 6, and Comparative Example 3 with Control Example 3; Examples 7, 8, and Comparative Example 4 with Control Example 4; Examples 9, 10, and Comparative Example 5 with Control Example 5; Example 11, 12, and Comparative Example 6 with Control Example 6; Example 13, 14, and Comparative Example 7 with Control Example 7; Examples 15, 16, and Comparative Example 8 with Control Example 8; Example 17 with Control Example 9; and Example 18 with Control Example 10.

In Tables 1 to 5, "Acidity" refers to the acetic acid equivalent acidity of the entire sesame vinegar seasoning, and "Rice vinegar/Acidity" refers to the percentage of acetic acid equivalent acidity derived from rice vinegar in the acetic acid equivalent acidity of the entire sesame vinegar seasoning. Note that the acetic acid equivalent acidity was calculated from the acetic acid equivalent acidity of the raw materials, rice vinegar and brewed vinegar.

As shown in Tables 1 to 5, in sesame vinegar seasonings containing 2.0 or 10.0% by mass of ground sesame seeds, 10.0 or 30.0% by mass of sugars calculated as solid matter, and an overall acetic acid equivalent acidity of 0.5 or 2.0, the sesame vinegar seasonings containing rice vinegar such that 9.9 to 60.1% of the acetic acid equivalent acidity is the acetic acid equivalent acidity derived from rice vinegar had a clearly enhanced sesame flavor compared to the sesame vinegar seasoning (control example) that did not contain rice vinegar.

[Production of Emulsified Liquid Dressing]
According to the formulation in Table 6, the ingredients other than the fat and oil were thoroughly mixed to prepare an aqueous phase. Next, the fat and oil were added to the aqueous phase and emulsified at 5000 rpm for 10 minutes using a tabletop homogenizer to produce an emulsified liquid dressing (Example 19, Control Example 11). The ingredients in the table were the same as those used in the above "sesame vinegar seasoning" and the following.
Starch sodium octenyl succinate: Trade name Emulstar 500, manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Oils and fats: Trade name Nisshin Canola Oil, manufactured by Nisshin Oillio Group Co., Ltd.

[Taste evaluation of emulsified liquid dressings]
The flavor evaluation of the emulsified liquid dressing was performed in the same manner as described in the above "Flavor evaluation of sesame vinegar seasoning." The evaluation results are shown in Table 6.

In Table 6, "Acidity" indicates the acetic acid equivalent acidity of the entire emulsified liquid dressing, and "Rice vinegar/Acidity" indicates the percentage of acetic acid equivalent acidity derived from rice vinegar in the acetic acid equivalent acidity of the entire emulsified liquid dressing. Note that the acetic acid equivalent acidity was calculated from the acetic acid equivalent acidity of the raw materials, rice vinegar and brewed vinegar.

As shown in Table 6, an emulsified liquid dressing containing 7.0% by mass of ground sesame and 20.0% by mass of sugars calculated on a solid basis, with an overall acetic acid-equivalent acidity of 0.9, contained rice vinegar such that 44.8% of the acetic acid-equivalent acidity was derived from rice vinegar, and had an enhanced sesame flavor compared to an emulsified liquid dressing without rice vinegar (control example).

Claims (4)

A method for enhancing the sesame flavor of a liquid seasoning that contains 1-15% by mass of ground sesame and 5-40% by mass of sugars calculated as solid matter, and has an acidity converted into acetic acid of 0.3-2.5, by adding rice vinegar so that 5-70% of the acidity converted into acetic acid is the acidity converted into acetic acid derived from rice vinegar. The method for enhancing the sesame flavor of a liquid seasoning according to claim 1, wherein the liquid seasoning contains vinegar other than the rice vinegar. The method for enhancing the sesame flavor of a liquid seasoning according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the average particle size of the ground sesame is 50 to 1000 μm. A liquid seasoning containing 1-15% by mass of ground sesame, 5-40% by mass of sugars (solids equivalent), and rice vinegar, and having an acidity equivalent to acetic acid of 0.3-2.5, with 5-70% of the acidity equivalent to acetic acid derived from rice vinegar, and with an enhanced sesame flavor.