JP7637964B2 - Amazake powder, amazake-containing food, and methods for producing same - Google Patents

Description

The present invention belongs to the technical field of amazake, particularly powdered amazake.

Amazake is so nutritious that it has been dubbed a "drinkable IV" and a "drinkable beauty serum," and is garnering attention as a drink that is good for health and beauty.

Ama-zake powder is also known, which is made by drying amazake, which is usually in liquid form, and turning it into a powder.

For example, a freeze-dried food for amazake has been proposed, which is produced by freeze-drying a composition that contains main ingredients including rice koji and sake lees, a high-sensitivity sweetener, a carbohydrate sweetener, and water, and has a water content of 250 to 350 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the dry solid content in the composition, a high-sensitivity sweetener content of at least 30 parts by weight in terms of sugar sweetness, and a Brix sugar content of 10 to 25 (Patent Document 1).

Patent No. 3734802

Incidentally, the freeze-dried food for amazake described in Patent Document 1 is an amazake powder based on sake lees amazake (sweet sake made by dissolving sake lees in water and sweetening it with sugar).

Meanwhile, rice koji amazake, which has been dubbed a "drinkable IV" or "drinkable beauty serum," has been garnering attention. It is made by treating rice with koji mold to convert rice starch into sugar. Rice koji amazake is rich in glucose derived from rice starch. Glucose is not only more naturally sweet than sugar, but is also easily digested and absorbed, and is quickly converted into energy. Rice koji amazake is also rich in amino acids, B vitamins, and enzymes derived from rice koji, making it highly nutritious and giving it a strong umami flavor. For this reason, there is a demand for amazake powder based on rice koji amazake.

However, when rice koji amazake is heated and dried to produce amazake powder, the components originally contained in rice koji amazake are decomposed and lost due to thermal denaturation, which poses a problem.

The present invention solves the problems of the conventional techniques described above. In other words, the present invention provides a method for producing amazake powder that can powder rice koji amazake without thermally denaturing the components that are naturally contained in rice koji amazake; and an amazake powder that is rich in the components that are naturally contained in rice koji amazake.

The inventors of the present invention have conducted extensive research to solve the problems of the conventional technology. They have discovered that the above problems can be solved by adding as little water as possible when fermenting rice with the koji mold contained in rice koji, fermenting the rice for a longer period of time than usual to obtain semi-solid amazake, and then drying the semi-solid amazake under low-temperature conditions with dehumidification, thus completing the present invention. In other words, the above problems are solved by the present invention described below.

[1] Method for producing amazake powder:
The present invention is a method for producing amazake powder, comprising the steps of: mixing raw materials containing rice, rice koji, and water in an amount equal to or less than half the total mass of the rice and the rice koji to obtain a raw material mixture; fermenting the raw material mixture for 15 hours or more under a temperature condition of 40°C or higher and 60°C or lower to obtain semi-solid amazake; and dehumidifying and drying the semi-solid amazake under a temperature condition of 30°C or higher and 40°C or lower to obtain amazake powder.

The production method of the present invention is a method of mixing the rice, the rice koji, and water having a mass that is 0.16 to 0.32 times the total mass of the rice and the rice koji to obtain the mixture.

[2] Amazake powder:
The present invention relates to an amazake powder obtained by the manufacturing method of the above-mentioned [1]. The amazake powder of the present invention is
Amazake powder having an amino acid content of 5,000 mg/100 g or more;
Amazake powder having a glutamic acid content of 1,000 mg/100 g or more;
It is preferable that the total content of vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and vitamin B6 is 0.3 mg/100 g or more.

[3] Amazake-containing foods:
The present invention is a sweet sake-containing food in which a umami component is further added to the sweet sake powder described in [2]. In the sweet sake-containing food of the present invention, it is preferable that the umami component is inosinic acid derived from seafood flakes.

The present invention also provides an amazake-containing food product in which a sweetening component is further added to the amazake powder described in [2] above;
A sweet sake-containing food product obtained by further adding a food ingredient to the sweet sake powder according to [2] above;
A sweet sake-containing food product in which the sweet sake powder described in [2] above is further supplemented with fish and shellfish powder, soy sauce extract, mirin extract, and brown sugar powder.

[4] Method for producing amazake-containing food;
The present invention is a method for producing an amazake-containing food, which comprises obtaining amazake powder by the production method described in [1] above, mixing soy sauce, mirin and sugar to obtain a seasoning liquid, mixing a dried fish flakes powder with the seasoning liquid under heating to allow the dried fish flakes powder to absorb the seasoning liquid, filtering out the dried fish flakes powder that has absorbed the seasoning liquid, and drying the resulting mixture at a temperature of 50°C or less to obtain a moist secondary raw material mixture, and mixing the amazake powder with the secondary raw material mixture to obtain the amazake-containing food.

The method for producing amazake powder of the present invention can powderize rice koji amazake without thermally denaturing the components that are naturally contained in rice koji amazake. Furthermore, the amazake powder of the present invention is rich in the components that are naturally contained in rice koji amazake.

The following provides a more detailed explanation of the embodiments of the invention. However, the present invention encompasses all embodiments that satisfy the requirements set forth in the claims, and is not limited to the embodiments described below.

[1] Features of the present invention:
The method for producing amazake powder of the present invention comprises mixing raw materials containing rice, rice koji, and a smaller amount of water than the total mass of the rice and the rice koji to obtain a raw material mixture.

Normally, to ensure that fermentation (saccharification) proceeds sufficiently, fermentation (saccharification) is carried out with the addition of water in an amount equal to or greater than the total mass of rice and rice koji. However, in the present invention, the amount of water in the raw material mixture is reduced as much as possible, resulting in semi-solid amazake rather than liquid amazake. This makes it easier to dry amazake, shortens the heating time during drying, and powders rice koji amazake without thermally denaturing the components originally contained in rice koji amazake.

In addition, the method for producing amazake powder of the present invention involves fermenting the raw material mixture at a temperature of 40°C to 60°C for 15 hours or more to obtain semi-solid amazake.

When fermentation (saccharification) is carried out with the addition of water in an amount 1.2 times or more the total mass of rice and rice koji, the fermentation time is 6 to 8 hours. If there is a small amount of water in the raw material mixture, fermentation (saccharification) may not proceed smoothly, but by allowing sufficient fermentation time, fermentation (saccharification) can proceed sufficiently. According to the method of the present invention, it is possible to obtain amazake with a sugar content of 30 to 35, similar to conventional methods.

Furthermore, the method for producing amazake powder of the present invention obtains amazake powder by dehumidifying and drying the semi-solid amazake under a temperature condition of 30°C or higher and 40°C or lower.

By drying at low temperatures between 30°C and 40°C, rice koji amazake can be powdered without thermally denaturing the ingredients inherent in rice koji amazake. In addition, by drying with dehumidification, the semi-solid amazake can be dried quickly even under low-temperature conditions. If dehumidification drying is performed under reduced pressure conditions, even more efficient drying can be achieved.

[2] Method for producing amazake powder:
The method for producing amazake powder of the present invention will be described below.

[2-1] Mixing process:
In the mixing step, raw materials containing rice, rice koji, and water in an amount equal to or less than half the total mass of the rice and the rice koji are mixed to obtain a raw material mixture.

The amount of water is preferably 0.16 to 0.32 times the total mass of the rice and the rice koji. By adding water in an amount 0.16 or more times the total mass of the rice and the rice koji, moisture is supplied to the rice koji and the enzymes in the rice koji are activated.

It is preferable to use steamed rice as the rice. When steamed rice is used as the rice, the "mass of rice" refers to the mass of rice before steaming, i.e., the mass of rice in a dry state.

[2-2] Fermentation process:
In the fermentation step, the raw material mixture is fermented for 15 hours or more under a temperature condition of 40° C. or more and 60° C. or less to obtain a semi-solid amazake.

"Semi-solid" means that, unlike a highly fluid liquid, once molded it has the ability to retain its shape for a certain period of time.

There is no upper limit to the fermentation time, but it is preferable to keep it to 20 hours or less.

[2-3] Drying process:
In the drying step, the semi-solid amazake is dehumidified and dried under a temperature condition of 30°C or higher and 40°C or lower to obtain amazake powder.

"Dehumidification drying" is a method in which air to be dried is cooled using a refrigerator or cooling unit, and the moisture in the air is condensed and removed (dehumidified) to obtain dry air, which is then used for drying. Dehumidification drying can be performed, for example, using a commercially available low-temperature dehumidification dryer.

[3] Amazake powder:
The amazake powder of the present invention will be described below.

The amazake powder of the present invention is obtained by the method for producing amazake powder of the present invention.

The amazake powder of the present invention also has an amino acid content of 5,000 mg/100 g or more.

The "amino acid content" here refers to the total content of the 17 amino acids listed in the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. The 17 amino acids are aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, threonine, arginine, glycine, alanine, proline, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, cystine, lysine, histidine, and tyrosine.

The amino acid content of typical sake lees amazake is about 1,000 mg/100 g, and the amino acid content of conventional rice koji amazake is about 2,000 mg/100 g, but the amazake powder of the present invention is characterized by a significantly higher amino acid content.

Furthermore, the amazake powder of the present invention has a glutamic acid content of 1,000 mg/100 g or more.

The glutamic acid content of typical sake lees amazake is about 200 mg/100 g, and the glutamic acid content of conventional rice koji amazake is about 500 mg/100 g, but the amazake powder of the present invention is characterized by a significantly higher glutamic acid content.

The amino acid content and glutamic acid content refer to values measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in accordance with the analysis method for proteinogenic amino acids listed in the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan.

Furthermore, the amazake powder of the present invention has a total content of vitamin B1 (thiamine), vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and vitamin B6 of 0.3 mg/100 g or more.

While the total content of vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and vitamin B6 in typical amazake is 0.1 mg/100 g or more, the amazake powder of the present invention is characterized by a significantly higher total content of vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and vitamin B6.

The content of vitamin B1 (thiamine) and vitamin B2 (riboflavin) refers to values measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in accordance with the analytical method described in the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. The content of vitamin B6 refers to values measured by microbial assay in accordance with the analytical method described in the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan.

The particle size of the amazake powder is not particularly limited, and may be adjusted to the desired size depending on the purpose. When amazake powder is dissolved in water to make amazake, the particle size is preferably 0.2 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less to prevent the powder from floating or settling, making it difficult to dissolve.

When amazake powder is mixed with a powder, it is easier to use if the particle size is the same as that of the powder. For example, when amazake powder is mixed with wheat flour (e.g., for baking bread), it is preferable to match the particle size of the wheat flour.

The particle size of the amazake powder can be adjusted by crushing and classifying the amazake powder appropriately.

[4] Amazake-containing foods:
The amazake-containing food of the present invention is an amazake-containing food in which umami components are further added to the amazake powder of the present invention.

"Umami components" are mainly amino acids and nucleic acids. Examples of amino acid-based umami components include glutamic acid, etc.; examples of nucleic acid-based umami components include inosinic acid and guanylic acid. The umami component is preferably inosinic acid derived from fish and shellfish flakes, and inosinic acid derived from bonito flakes is particularly preferable. The amazake powder of the present invention is rich in glutamic acid. Adding inosinic acid, a different umami component, is preferable in that it produces a synergistic umami effect.

The umami components do not need to be added as a pure substance. For example, ingredients containing the umami components can be crushed and powdered before being added. Suitable ingredients containing umami components include, for example, glutamic acid-containing ingredients such as kelp and tomato; inosinic acid-containing ingredients such as bonito flakes; and guanylic acid-containing ingredients such as dried shiitake mushrooms.

The amazake-containing food of the present invention is an amazake-containing food in which a sweetening component is further added to the amazake powder of the present invention.

The "sweetening ingredient" is mainly sugar. The sugar may be a monosaccharide or an oligosaccharide, and examples of such sugar include glucose, sugar (sucrose), fructose, maltose, and lactose. Among sugars, sugar (sucrose) and brown sugar, which is rich in B vitamins, are preferred.

The amazake-containing food of the present invention is an amazake-containing food in which food ingredients are further added to the amazake powder of the present invention.

The term "food components" encompasses all components derived from food, regardless of whether they have the umami or sweetness described above.

Examples of foods include seafood, seaweed, meat, eggs, dairy products, vegetables, fruits, grains (rice, wheat, beans, potatoes, etc.), mushrooms, tea, fermented foods (soy sauce, miso, mirin, etc.), etc. These foods may be added in the form of powder, extract, etc. More specifically, soy protein powder, etc. may be added as a "food ingredient."

The amazake-containing food of the present invention is preferably prepared by adding the amazake powder of the present invention in combination with the umami component, the sweet component, and the food component.

For example, a food containing amazake made by adding fish and shellfish powder, soy sauce extract, mirin extract, and sugar to the amazake powder of the present invention is one preferred form.

"Flakes" does not necessarily have to be dried bonito flakes, but can also be dried mackerel, etc. "Soy sauce extract" and "hon mirin extract" refer to the concentrated umami components that have been produced by volatilizing the water and alcohol contained in soy sauce and hon mirin. These can be added in the form of an extract, or soy sauce and hon mirin can be added as is, and the water and alcohol can be volatilized during the manufacturing process of the amazake-containing food.

In this form, the ingredients include dried fish powder containing the umami component inosinic acid, soy sauce containing amino acids (particularly glutamic acid) which are also umami components, and sugar which is a sweet component. By combining multiple umami and sweet components in this way, the umami flavor is dramatically improved due to the synergistic effect of each component. This form of amazake-containing food product can be used suitably as a seasoning, for example, as a topping.

[5] Method for producing amazake-containing food:
The amazake-containing food of the present invention can be produced, for example, by the following method.

(1) Amazake powder is obtained by the manufacturing method of the present invention.
(2) Soy sauce, mirin and sugar are mixed together to obtain a seasoning liquid.
(3) The dried fish powder and the seasoning liquid are mixed under heating to allow the dried fish powder to absorb the seasoning liquid, and the dried fish powder that has absorbed the seasoning liquid is filtered and dried at a temperature of 50°C or less to obtain a moist secondary raw material mixture.
(4) The amazake powder is mixed with the mixture of secondary raw materials to obtain an amazake-containing food.

To mix the dried fish powder with the seasoning liquid, add finely chopped dried fish (you can also use dried bonito flakes, etc.) to a pot, then add the seasoning liquid and mix while heating over medium to low heat. When the dried fish has absorbed about 80% of the seasoning liquid, stop heating and filter the dried fish powder through a sieve or similar, and remove any excess seasoning liquid.

Drying can be done by heating at a low temperature of 50°C or less. For dehumidification drying, it is not necessary to completely dry the fish flakes powder that has absorbed the seasoning liquid; it is sufficient to semi-dry it to a moist state (a wet state with no droplets of seasoning liquid adhering to the surface).

There are no particular limitations on the drying conditions, but drying at a temperature of 40°C to 50°C for 3 to 5 hours using a low-temperature dehumidifying dryer is sufficient. By setting the drying temperature at 50°C or lower and the drying time at 5 hours or less, the fish and shellfish powder can be kept in a wet state, and the amazake powder does not remain attached to the surface of the fish and shellfish powder but penetrates into the inside of the fish and shellfish. In addition, the texture of the amazake-containing food (furikake) can be maintained soft.

Finally, an amazake-containing food product can be obtained by mixing the amazake powder of the present invention with the above-mentioned mixture of moistened secondary ingredients. Such an amazake-containing food product has the effect of amazake suppressing the fishy smell of the dried seafood, making it easy to eat and with excellent taste.

The ratio of each ingredient is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to use 25 to 50 parts by weight of mirin, 50 to 80 parts by weight of soy sauce, 25 to 50 parts by weight of sugar, and about 20 parts by weight of amazake powder per 100 parts by weight of dried bonito flakes.

Example 1
120g of steamed rice, 130g of rice malt, and 50g of hot water at 60°C (0.2 times the total mass of steamed rice and rice malt) were mixed to obtain a raw material mixture. This raw material mixture was fermented at a temperature of 40°C to 60°C for 15 hours to obtain a semi-solid amazake. Specifically, the preparation temperature was set to 50°C to 60°C, and the mixture was fermented at 50°C for 12 hours and at 60°C for 3 hours to obtain a semi-solid amazake. This semi-solid amazake was dehumidified and dried in a low-temperature dehumidifying dryer under a temperature condition of 30°C to obtain an amazake powder. The results of the analysis of the components contained in this amazake powder are shown in Tables 1 and 2. The samples of Example 1, Comparative Example 1, and Comparative Example 2 were submitted to the Saitama Prefecture Food Hygiene Association Inspection Center, a general incorporated association, and the protein-constituting amino acids were analyzed.

(Comparative Example 1)
A raw material mixture was obtained by mixing 150g of steamed rice, 100g of rice malt, and 300g of hot water at 60°C (1.2 times the total mass of steamed rice and rice malt). This raw material mixture was fermented at 60°C for 6 hours to obtain liquid amazake. This liquid amazake was heated and dried at normal pressure to obtain amazake powder. The results of the analysis of the components contained in this amazake powder are shown in Tables 1 and 2.

(Comparative Example 2)
The results of analyzing the components contained in commercially available powdered sake lees amazake are shown in Tables 1 and 2. This commercially available powdered sake lees amazake is thought to be a mixture of sake lees, sugars, koji powder, dextrin, etc. In such a manufacturing method, the resulting mixture is generally not dried.

Reference Example 1 lists the values for amazake listed in the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan.

The values for calorie content, moisture, protein, lipid, ash, carbohydrate, sodium, and salt equivalent were all measured according to the analytical methods described in the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. The sample of Example 1 was submitted to the Saitama Prefecture Food Hygiene Association Inspection Center, where the above items were analyzed. For calorie content, the energy conversion factors were set at 4 for protein, 9 for lipid, and 4 for carbohydrate. Moisture was analyzed using the normal pressure heating and drying method, protein using the Kjeldahl method (conversion factor 6.25), lipid using the acid decomposition method, and ash using the direct ashing method. Carbohydrate was calculated by subtracting the masses of moisture, protein, lipid, and ash from the total mass. Sodium was calculated using ICP atomic emission spectroscopy, and salt equivalent was calculated by multiplying the mass of sodium by 2.54.

(evaluation)
The amazake powder of Example 1 had significantly higher amino acid content, glutamic acid content, and total content of vitamin B1, vitamin B2, and vitamin B6 than the amazake powder of Comparative Example 1 and the powdered sake lees amazake of Comparative Example 2. That is, according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, it is possible to powderize rice koji amazake without thermally denaturing the components originally contained in the rice koji amazake, and it can be said that the amazake powder of the present invention is richer in amino acids and vitamin B group than conventional amazake.

Example 2
A seasoning liquid was obtained by mixing 75 g of soy sauce, 45 g of mirin, and 30 g of sugar.

Finely chopped dried bonito powder with a width of 5 to 10 mm was added to a pot, and the seasoning liquid was then added and stirred while heating over low heat. When the dried bonito powder had absorbed about 80% of the seasoning liquid, the heating was stopped, the dried bonito powder was filtered through a sieve, and excess seasoning liquid was removed.

The filtered dried bonito powder was dried for 3 hours at 40°C to obtain a semi-dried secondary raw material mixture. The amazake-containing food (furikake) of Example 2 was obtained by mixing 20 g of the amazake powder of Example 1 with the secondary raw material mixture.

(evaluation)
The amazake-containing food of Example 2 had a reduced fishy smell of dried bonito flakes, was moist and soft, and was easy to eat and had excellent taste.

The method for producing amazake powder and amazake powder of the present invention can be suitably used, for example, for producing amazake-containing foods having high nutritional value and beauty effects.

Claims (11)

A raw material containing rice, rice koji, and water having a mass that is 0.16 to 0.32 times the total mass of the rice and the rice koji is mixed to obtain a raw material mixture;
The raw material mixture is fermented for 15 hours or more under a temperature condition of 40 ° C. or more and 60 ° C. or less to obtain a semi-solid sweet sake.
The method for producing amazake powder comprises dehumidifying and drying the semi-solid amazake under a temperature condition of 30° C. or higher and 40° C. or lower to obtain amazake powder. Amazake powder obtained by the manufacturing method described in claim 1 . The amazake powder according to claim 2 , having an amino acid content of 5,000 mg/100 g or more. The amazake powder according to claim 2, having a glutamic acid content of 1,000 mg/100 g or more. The amazake powder according to claim 2 , wherein the total content of vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and vitamin B6 is 0.3 mg/100 g or more. A sweet sake-containing food product obtained by further adding a flavor component to the sweet sake powder according to claim 2 . The amazake-containing food according to claim 6 , wherein the umami component is inosinic acid derived from seafood flakes. A sweet sake-containing food product obtained by further adding a sweet component to the sweet sake powder according to claim 2 . A sweet sake-containing food product comprising the sweet sake powder according to claim 2 and further comprising a food ingredient. The sweet sake-containing food according to claim 2 , further comprising a fish and shellfish powder, a soy sauce extract, a mirin extract, and sugar. Obtaining amazake powder by the manufacturing method according to claim 1 ,
Soy sauce, mirin and sugar are mixed to obtain a seasoning liquid;
The dried fish powder and the seasoning liquid are mixed under heating to allow the dried fish powder to absorb the seasoning liquid, and the dried fish powder absorbing the seasoning liquid is filtered and dried at a temperature of 50° C. or less to obtain a wet auxiliary raw material mixture;
A method for producing a sweet sake-containing food, comprising mixing the sweet sake powder and the secondary raw material mixture to obtain a sweet sake-containing food.