JP7697192B2 - Umami enhancer - Google Patents

Description

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act (1) Japan Agricultural Chemistry Society 2021 (Reiwa 3) Conference Date: March 20, 2021

Article 30, paragraph 2 of the Patent Act applies (2) Abstract of the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Agricultural Chemical Society of Japan Publication date: March 20, 2021 Publication address: https://jsbba2.bioweb.ne.jp/jsbba2021/download_pdf.php?p_code=3E06-12

The present invention relates to an umami enhancer.

Umami, along with sweetness, sourness, saltiness, and bitterness, is one of the basic tastes, and is an important element in the deliciousness of food, as it brings out the natural flavor of ingredients and adds depth to the flavor of dishes. In Japan, katsuobushi and kelp have long been used as ingredients that bring out umami, and the umami of katsuobushi is known to come from the amino acid inosinic acid as well as the umami of nucleic acids, and it is also known that the aroma of katsuobushi itself enhances the umami taste (Non-Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, smoked foods such as smoked cheese, ham, and bacon are known to have a longer shelf life due to the reduced water activity and the antiseptic aroma that they acquire through the smoking process, and also to have a unique aroma that makes them taste better than before they were smoked.

However, as mentioned above, dried bonito flakes and smoked foods have a strong, distinctive aroma that can diminish the original aroma of the food, and it has been widely known that enhancing umami flavor and maintaining the original aroma of the food cannot be achieved at the same time.

On the other hand, 4-ethylguaiacol is known to be contained in small amounts in dried bonito flakes (Non-Patent Document 2), but is not considered to be an important component in the aroma of dried bonito flakes (Non-Patent Document 3). Other reports on this substance include a technique for obtaining a natural seafood flavor by combining 4-ethylguaiacol with multiple components (Patent Document 1), a technique for obtaining a dried fish flavor by combining 4-ethylguaiacol with multiple components and blending it with a dried fish extract (Patent Document 2), soy sauce that uses 4-ethylguaiacol and 4-ethylphenol in combination to enhance the dashi flavor of dishes (Patent Document 3), and a flavoring composition that combines 4-ethylguaiacol with three to five specific aroma components to impart a dashi-like aroma (Patent Document 4). However, there has been no evidence that 4-ethylguaiacol alone can enhance umami.

4-Propylguaiacol is known as a material for seafood flavors, and methods for producing seafood flavors (Patent Document 5) and seafood flavors (Patent Document 6) are publicly known, but there is no evidence that it enhances umami.

γ-nonalactone, vanillin, and acetovanillone are known substances as flavoring materials, and with regard to vanillin, a flavoring composition that combines vanillin with four or five specific flavor components to impart a flavor similar to that of dashi (Patent Document 4) is known, but there have been no reports of its ability to enhance umami.

In addition, there have been no reported findings regarding 2-ethoxy-4-vinylphenol as a flavoring ingredient, and of course there have been no reported findings regarding its ability to enhance umami flavor.

JP 2005-143466 A JP 2004-135522 A JP 2014-207881 A JP 2015-211669 A JP 2005-143466 A JP 2014-076010 A

Y. Ogasawara, et al., J. Food Sci., 81, C308-C316 (2016) SAKAKIBARA et al., Agricultural and Biological Chemistry, 1990, Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 9-16 Ishiguro et al., Journal of the Japanese Society for Food Science and Technology, 2001, Vol. 48, No. 8, pp. 570-577

The objective of the present invention is to provide an umami enhancer that can enhance the umami taste while preserving the inherent pleasant aroma characteristics of food.

The inventors screened the hundreds of types of bonito flake aromas for aroma components that enhance umami, and as a result of intensive research, discovered that 4-ethylguaiacol, 4-propylguaiacol, 2-ethoxy-4-vinylphenol, γ-nonalactone, vanillin and acetovanillone have the effect of enhancing the umami of foods and beverages, leading to the completion of the present invention. Because these compounds do not have a strong smoked odor, adding appropriate amounts of them can enhance the umami of many foods and beverages without imparting a smoked odor.

That is, the present invention is as follows.
[1] An umami taste enhancer comprising one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of 4-ethylguaiacol, 4-propylguaiacol, and vanillin as an active ingredient.
[2] The umami enhancer according to claim 1, containing 10 ppb or more of the compound that is an active ingredient.
[3] A method for enhancing the umami taste of a food or beverage by adding the umami taste enhancer according to claim 1 or 2.
[4] A method for enhancing the umami taste of a food or drink, comprising adding the umami taste enhancer according to claim 1 or 2 to add a compound as an active ingredient in an amount of 0.1 ppb to 100 ppb in the case of 4-ethylguaiacol, 0.1 ppb to 1000 ppb in the case of 4-propylguaiacol, or 0.1 ppb to 100 ppb in the case of vanillin .

The umami enhancer of the present invention can enhance the umami of a food or drink while taking advantage of the inherently pleasant aroma characteristics of the food or drink.

In the present invention, umami refers to the umami taste that is one of the five basic tastes, and umami enhancement refers to enhancing the umami taste of a food or drink while taking advantage of the inherently pleasant aroma characteristics of the food or drink.

The umami enhancer of the present invention uses one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of 4-ethylguaiacol, 4-propylguaiacol, 2-ethoxy-4-vinylphenol, γ-nonalactone, vanillin, and acetovanillone as an active ingredient.

The above compounds used in the umami enhancer of the present invention can be obtained by purchasing commercially available products or by synthesizing them by known methods.

The umami enhancer of the present invention exhibits an umami enhancing effect at or below the aroma threshold of the compound used as the active ingredient, so by adding it to food or drink, it is possible to enhance the umami of the food or drink while taking advantage of the inherently good aroma characteristics of the food or drink, and to obtain a food or drink with enhanced umami.

The food and drink to which the umami enhancer of the present invention is applied may be any food or drink that has umami in itself, and examples thereof include, but are not limited to, Japanese-style stock base, consommé soup base, Chinese soup base, instant miso soup, curry roux, stew roux, hayashi rice roux, hash brown beef roux, sauce, seasoning sauce, powdered seasoning, liquid seasoning, dressing, fried flour, pasta sauce, gratin sauce, seasonings for cooked rice (paella, biryani, pilaf, etc.), fried rice base, mapo tofu base, hot pot base, and other seasonings, instant noodles such as cup ramen, cup yakisoba, and bagged noodles, instant rice such as cup rice, retort foods, frozen foods (fried rice, pilaf, gyoza, shumai, fried chicken, hamburger steak, fries, croquettes, gratin, pizza, etc.), canned foods, and other cooked foods and processed foods, snack foods, rice crackers, and other confectioneries, etc.

The compounds used in the umami enhancer of the present invention may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The suitable amount of the umami enhancer of the present invention to be added to a food or drink varies depending on the food or drink to which it is to be added, and is adjusted according to the purpose. As an example, in order to obtain an umami enhancing effect and to prevent the aroma of the active ingredient compound itself from adversely affecting the inherent aroma of the food or drink, the active ingredient compound is preferably contained in the food or drink at 0.1 ppb to 100 ppb in the case of 4-ethylguaiacol, and more preferably at 1 ppb to 10 ppb. In the present invention, ppt, ppb, ppm, and % refer to mass ratios unless otherwise specified.

In the case of 4-propylguaiacol, it is preferably contained at 0.1 ppb to 1000 ppb, more preferably at 1 ppb to 100 ppb, and even more preferably at 10 ppb to 100 ppb.

In the case of 2-ethoxy-4-vinylphenol, it is preferably contained at 0.1 ppb to 1000 ppb, more preferably at 0.1 ppb to 10 ppb, and even more preferably at 1 ppb to 10 ppb.

In the case of gamma-nonalactone, it is preferable that it be contained at 0.1 ppb to 10 ppb.

In the case of vanillin, it is preferably contained at 0.1 ppb to 100 ppb, more preferably at 1 ppb to 100 ppb, and even more preferably at 1 ppb to 10 ppb.

In the case of acetovanillone, it is preferably contained at 0.1 ppb to 1000 ppb, more preferably at 10 ppb to 1000 ppb, and even more preferably at 10 ppb to 100 ppb.

The umami enhancer of the present invention may be added directly to food and beverages, or may be diluted with a suitable solvent for convenience during use. There are no particular limitations on the solvent used for dilution, as long as it is one commonly used in flavor compositions. It may also be prepared as a flavor composition in advance, and may be a composition containing other additives or other ingredients commonly used as ingredients other than flavors, as long as it does not adversely affect the flavor. Furthermore, in the present invention, formulation techniques generally applicable to flavors can also be applied, and it can be prepared into a desired form depending on the situation, such as powdering or encapsulation. Note that the amount of flavor composition, etc., prepared as described above, added to food and beverages is generally about 1% at most, so that the umami enhancing effect can be obtained, and it is preferable to prepare it so that the compound, which is the active ingredient, is contained in an amount of 10 ppb or more in any form.

The umami enhancer of the present invention may be added at any point in the manufacturing process as long as it can be mixed evenly into the food or beverage.

Example 1
4-Ethylguaiacol was added to commercially available bonito stock, consomme soup, Chinese soup, curry and stew at the concentrations shown in Table 1, and a sensory evaluation was carried out on the umami taste enhancement effect. The sensory evaluation was carried out by four trained in-house panelists using the criteria (three levels) shown in Table 2, and the results are also shown in Table 1. As a result of the sensory evaluation, the umami taste enhancement effect was observed in all of the above foods and beverages.

Example 2
4-Propylguaiacol was added to commercially available bonito stock, consommé soup, Chinese soup, curry and stew at the concentrations shown in Table 3, and a sensory evaluation was carried out on the umami taste enhancement effect. The sensory evaluation was carried out by four trained in-house panelists using the criteria (three levels) shown in Table 2, and the results are also shown in Table 3. As a result of the sensory evaluation, the umami taste enhancement effect was observed in all of the above foods and beverages.

Example 3
2-Ethoxy-4-vinylphenol was added to commercially available bonito stock, consomme soup, Chinese soup, curry, and stew at the concentrations shown in Table 4, and a sensory evaluation was performed on the umami taste enhancement effect. The sensory evaluation was performed by four trained in-house panelists using the criteria (3-level) shown in Table 2, and the results are also shown in Table 4. As a result of the sensory evaluation, the umami taste enhancement effect was observed in all of the above foods and beverages.

Example 4
γ-nonalactone was added to commercially available bonito stock, consomme soup, Chinese soup, curry and stew at the concentrations shown in Table 5, and a sensory evaluation was carried out for the umami enhancing effect. The sensory evaluation was carried out by four trained in-house panelists using the criteria (3 levels) shown in Table 2, and the results are also shown in Table 5. As a result of the sensory evaluation, the umami enhancing effect was observed in all of the above foods and beverages.

Example 5
Vanillin was added to commercially available bonito stock, consomme soup, Chinese soup, curry, and stew at the concentrations shown in Table 6, and a sensory evaluation was performed on the umami taste enhancement effect. The sensory evaluation was performed by four trained in-house panelists using the criteria (three levels) shown in Table 2, and the results are also shown in Table 6. As a result of the sensory evaluation, the umami taste enhancement effect was observed in all of the above foods and beverages.

Example 6
Acetovanillone was added to commercially available bonito stock, consomme soup, Chinese soup, curry and stew at the concentrations shown in Table 7, and a sensory evaluation was performed on the umami enhancing effect. The sensory evaluation was performed by four trained in-house panelists using the criteria (three levels) shown in Table 2, and the results are also shown in Table 7. As a result of the sensory evaluation, the umami enhancing effect was observed for all of the above foods and beverages.

Claims (4)

The umami taste enhancer comprises one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of 4-ethylguaiacol, 4-propylguaiacol, and vanillin as an active ingredient. The umami enhancer according to claim 1, containing 10 ppb or more of a compound that is an active ingredient. A method for enhancing the umami taste of food or beverage by adding the umami taste enhancer according to claim 1 or 2. A method for enhancing the umami taste of a food or drink, comprising adding the umami taste enhancer according to claim 1 or 2 to add a compound as an active ingredient in an amount of 0.1 ppb to 100 ppb in the case of 4-ethylguaiacol, 0.1 ppb to 1000 ppb in the case of 4-propylguaiacol, or 0.1 ppb to 100 ppb in the case of vanillin .