JP7769366B2 - Stick container containing green juice composition - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a stick container containing a green juice composition.

Aojiru compositions are powdered ingredients containing powdered green stems and leaves of barley and other grains, and are typically consumed as aojiru by dissolving or dispersing them in a liquid such as water. Because they are rich in dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients, aojiru compositions are known as health foods.

Some compositions for green juice are packaged in stick containers in single-use amounts.
Various types of stick containers for food and the like are known. While not related to a green juice composition, Literature 1 describes a container in which both end portions of a long film are fused together to form a backbone, at least one end is sealed with a fused portion fused in an inverted L-shape to form a bag portion, and a tear line is formed connecting the tips of the two sides of the fused portion. Literature 2 describes a container having two opening and closing operation portions, allowing the opening operation portion to be selected according to the application. Literature 2 also describes a container in which a step is provided in the fused portion, and the side edge of the container body has a first opening operation portion on the side of a partial-width storage portion and a second opening operation portion on the side of a full-width storage portion, and the cross-sectional area of the storage portion in the axial direction perpendicular to the axis at the position to be torn by the first opening operation portion is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the storage portion in the axial direction perpendicular to the axis at the position to be torn by the second opening operation portion.

Utility Model Registration No. 003135179 Utility Model Registration No. 003137430

In recent years, there have been various needs for compositions for green juice in stick containers, among which there is a need for a product that can be opened, poured into a PET bottle, and carried around as a green juice drink in a PET bottle.
However, when a green juice composition having a bulk density equal to or less than a predetermined level is contained in a conventional stick container, when an attempt is made to pour the green juice composition into the opening of a PET bottle, the powder of the green juice composition contained therein does not enter the opening and scatters. Furthermore, even if an attempt is made to pour the green juice composition into the PET bottle by inserting the entire opening of the stick into the opening to avoid scattering, the tip of the container is squeezed, and the green juice composition does not come out of the container.
In contrast, the conventional stick containers disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 do not address the issue of pouring a green juice composition having a bulk density of a predetermined level or less into a PET bottle.

The present invention provides the following configurations.
<1> A stick container containing a green juice composition, the stick container comprising a container body having a longitudinal direction in the axial direction, the container body being formed by sealing one end region and the other end region in the axial direction of a cylindrical body made of a flexible material with a first sealing region and a second sealing region, and the green juice composition contained in the container body,
the first sealing region has a first sealing portion and a second sealing portion arranged along the width direction of the container, the first sealing portion having a longer sealing length in the longitudinal direction than the second sealing portion, the container body having a tear guide portion in a non-sealing portion located on the second sealing region side of the second sealing portion and laterally in the width direction relative to the first sealing portion, the tear guide portion being capable of tearing the non-sealing portion along the width direction;
an opening is formed by tearing the non-sealed portion with the tearing guide portion, and the opening width of the opening is two-fifths or more of the total width of the container,
The stick container containing a composition for green juice has a composition for green juice having a bulk specific gravity of 0.25 g/cm ³ or less stored in a storage section.

<2> A stick container containing a green juice composition as described in <1>, wherein the edge of the first sealed region on the storage section side has a slope that is inclined in the width direction of the container so that the sealed length in the longitudinal direction of the first sealed region decreases from the first sealed section side toward the second sealed section side.

<3> A stick container containing a green juice composition according to <2>, wherein the first sealing region has a stepped edge on the side of the container that extends outward in the width direction from both ends of the inclined portion, and the width of the portion of the first sealing region located closer to the first sealing portion than the inclined portion is smaller than the width of the portion of the first sealing region located closer to the second sealing portion than the inclined portion.

<4> A stick container containing a green juice composition according to any one of <1> to <3>, wherein the opening width of the opening is 15 mm or more and 20 mm or less.

<5> A stick container containing a composition for green juice according to any one of <1> to <4>, wherein the bulk specific gravity of the composition for green juice is 0.10 g/ ^cm3 or more, and the opening width of the opening is 90% or less of the total width of the container.

<6> A stick container containing a green juice composition according to any one of <1> to <5>, wherein the average particle size of the green juice composition is 5 μm or more and 300 μm or less.

<7> An oral composition according to any one of <1> to <6>, wherein the proportion of green stems and/or leaves in the composition for green juice is 20% by mass or more.

<8> A stick container containing a composition for green juice according to <7>, wherein the green stems and/or leaves are dried and ground barley stems and/or leaves.

The present invention provides a stick container containing a green juice composition that can be poured into the opening of a PET bottle in a short time without scattering the green juice composition.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a stick container of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. FIG. 3 is a rear view of the stick container of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the state in which the stick container of the present invention has been opened. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the content, a composition for green juice, is poured into a PET bottle after the stick container of the present invention has been opened. FIG. 6 is a front view of the stick containers of Comparative Examples 3 and 4. FIG. 7 shows a case where the corners C1 and C2 of the edge portion 10 in FIG. 2 are rounded.

The present invention will now be described based on its preferred embodiments.

A stick container 8 containing a composition for green juice according to the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as "container 8") is shown in Figs. 1 to 5.
1 , this embodiment is a stick container 8 containing a green juice composition, which has a container body 1 having a longitudinal direction X in the axial direction of a cylindrical body made of a flexible material, one end region and the other end region sealed by a first sealing region 10 and a second sealing region 20, respectively, and a green juice composition contained within the container body 1. Hereinafter, the container body 1 refers to the part made of a flexible material, including the sealing regions 10, 20 and a sealing portion 30 described below. The stick container 8 consists of the container body 1 and a storage portion 13.

First, we will explain the green juice composition stored in the storage section 13. The green juice composition is in powder form. In the present invention, powder form includes granular form.

The green juice composition has a bulk density of 0.25 g/ ^cm3 or less. A green juice composition with a bulk density of 0.25 g/ ^cm3 or less is prone to scattering. The present invention has the technical significance of preventing scattering by using a stick container 8 of a specific shape for a green juice composition with a bulk density that is prone to scattering. Furthermore, while the amount of green juice composition enclosed in the stick container 8 is the amount needed for one drinking session and is usually within a certain range, a green juice composition with a bulk density of 0.25 g/cm3 ^or less has a relatively large volume, and the stick container 8 for containing it also needs to have a certain width W (see Figure 1) to ensure the volume of the storage section 13. Based on these findings, the present inventors conducted studies and found that in a stick container 8 containing a green juice composition having a bulk density of 0.25 g/ ^cm3 or less, by setting the opening width W4 of the opening 16 (see FIG. 2; the length in the Y direction of the opening 16 (see FIG. 4) in the folded state as shown in FIG. 2) to at least two-fifths of the overall width W of the container, while making it narrower than the overall width W of the container, the green juice composition can be poured into the opening of the PET bottle in a short time without splashing. From these perspectives, the bulk density of the green juice composition is preferably 0.24 g/ ^cm3 or less, and more preferably 0.23 g/ ^cm3 or less. A lower limit of the bulk density of 0.10 g/ ^cm3 or more is preferable in terms of suppressing splashing and facilitating transfer. The above-mentioned bulk density of the green juice composition can be obtained by adjusting the preparation method of the green stems and/or leaves contained in the green juice composition, the selection of other materials, the water content, etc.

The bulk density in the present invention can be measured, for example, using a powder property evaluation device (Powder Tester (R) PT-X; Hosokawa Micron Corporation).

The amount of green juice composition contained in one stick container 8 is preferably 0.1 to 10 g, as this is an amount suitable for consumption in one sitting, and more preferably 1 to 5 g.

The green juice composition contains powder of green stems and/or leaves as the green juice ingredients. Hereinafter, stems and/or leaves will be simply referred to as "stems and leaves." Examples of green stems and leaves that are green juice ingredients include barley, kale, Angelica keiskei, mulberry, sweet potato, Japanese bamboo grass, mugwort, longevity grass, and moringa, and these can be contained in combination with one or more types. Barley stems and/or leaves are desirable as the green stems and leaves, as they are excellent in dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins, and are also palatable.

The green stem and leaf powder used as the green juice ingredient is preferably a dried powder (hereinafter also referred to as "dried and ground powder") obtained by drying and grinding green stems and/or stems, or a granulated product thereof, as this has a low bulk density and is technically significant for the use of the container with the specific shape of the present invention. In particular, dried and ground powder is preferred as it is prone to scattering, and is technically significant for the use of the container with the specific shape of the present invention. Dried and ground powder is also preferred as it is superior in dietary fiber, minerals, and vitamins compared to squeezed powder or extract powder.

Conventionally known methods can be used to obtain dried and crushed powder of green stems and leaves. One such method is a combination of drying and crushing the green stems and leaves. While either the drying or crushing process can be performed first, it is preferable from the viewpoint of production efficiency to perform the drying process first. The process of producing dried and crushed powder may further combine one or more treatments selected from blanching, sterilization, and other treatments as needed with the combined drying and crushing process. The crushing process may be performed once, or two or more times in combination, but it is preferable from the viewpoint of production efficiency to perform a coarse crushing process followed by a fine crushing process to achieve even finer crushing.

Blanching is a process used to maintain the vivid green color of stems and leaves, and methods for blanching include hot water treatment and steaming.

The drying process is not particularly limited, but is preferably a process in which the moisture content of the green stems and leaves is 10% by mass or less, and particularly 5% by mass or less. This drying process can be carried out by any method known to those skilled in the art, such as hot air drying, high-pressure steam drying, electromagnetic wave drying, or freeze-drying.

The crushing process can be carried out using any method commonly used by those skilled in the art, using crushing equipment or tools such as a crusher, mill, blender, stone mill, or jet mill. The crushed green stems and leaves can be sieved as needed.

The granulation process for the green stem and leaf powder obtained above can be carried out by granulating the green stem and leaf powder pulverized as described above using methods such as fluidized bed granulation, extrusion granulation, tumbling granulation, and agitation granulation.

A green juice composition typically has a proportion of green stems and/or leaves of 20% by mass or more. A high proportion of green stems and/or leaves in a green juice composition is preferable because conventional containers tend to scatter more easily when poured into PET bottles or the like, which increases the technical significance of using a container with a specific shape in the present invention, and because it is highly palatable and has excellent nutritional functionality. From this perspective, the proportion of green stems and/or leaves in a green juice composition is preferably 25% by mass or more, more preferably 30% by mass or more, and may even be 100% by mass.

When the green juice composition contains ingredients other than the green stems and/or leaves, such ingredients may include, for example, proteins, dietary fiber such as soluble dietary fiber and insoluble dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, plants or processed plant products, algae, lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and other microorganisms. Furthermore, as needed, ingredients commonly used in the food industry may include sugars such as dextrin and starch, oligosaccharides, sweeteners, acidulants, colorants, thickeners, glazing agents, excipients, nutritional supplements, binders, lubricants, stabilizers, diluents, bulking agents, emulsifiers, food additives, seasonings, etc.

The particle size of the green juice composition is such that the volume cumulative particle size at 50% of the cumulative volume (hereinafter also referred to as "average particle size") is preferably 3 μm or more, more preferably 5 μm or more, and particularly preferably 7 μm or more, in order to prevent scattering and enable transfer to a plastic bottle in a short time. Furthermore, in order to ensure dispersibility in liquids such as water, the volume cumulative particle size at 50% of the cumulative volume is preferably 300 μm or less, more preferably 280 μm or less, and particularly preferably 250 μm or less.

Furthermore, when the composition for green juice is a dried pulverized powder, the particle size distribution of the composition for green juice is such that, where D10 is the particle size at 10% cumulative volume, D50 is the particle size at 50% cumulative volume, and D90 is the particle size at 90% cumulative volume, as measured by a laser diffraction particle size distribution method, the value of (D90-D10)/D50 is preferably 1 or more and 5 or less, and more preferably 1.5 or more and 4 or less. A composition for green juice with such a sharp particle size distribution flows even more easily and can be easily poured into a plastic bottle or the like.
The volume cumulative particle size can be measured, for example, by a particle size distribution measuring device that uses a laser diffraction/scattering method as its measurement principle.

When the composition for green juice is not a granulated product, the particle size distribution of the composition for green juice, when measured using a micro-type electromagnetic vibration screen shaker (model number: M-2 type, Tsutsui Scientific Instruments Co., Ltd.) separately from the above, preferably has particle sizes of 106 μm or less accounting for 50 mass % or more of the total, more preferably 60 mass % or more, and particularly preferably 70 mass % or more.
Furthermore, when the composition for green juice is a granulated product, the particle size distribution of the composition for green juice, as measured using an electric sieve vibrator (MICRO VIBRO SIFTER M-2; Tsutsui Rikagaku Kiki Co., Ltd.), preferably comprises particles having a particle size of 300 μm or less in the total of 50 mass % or more, more preferably 60 mass % or more, and particularly preferably 70 mass % or more.

Furthermore, it is preferable for the angle of repose of the green juice composition to be 35° or more, as this makes it easier to pour the green juice composition into a plastic bottle or the like in a short period of time, and it is even more preferable for it to be 40° or more. The angle of repose can be measured by the method described in the Examples below.

A green juice composition having the above-mentioned average particle size, angle of repose, particle size distribution, and bulk density can be obtained by adjusting the milling conditions in the method for producing green stem and leaf powder or granules using the powder, for example, in the case of a dried and ground powder, using a jet mill or the like.

The stick container 8 will now be described in more detail.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 , a stick-type packaging container 8 has a container body 1 having a longitudinal direction X in the axial direction X, with one end region and the other end region of the cylindrical body sealed by a first sealed region 10 and a second sealed region 20, respectively, thereby forming a storage section 13 inside. The cylindrical body is formed from a flexible material. A flexible material is a material that can be easily bent without breaking. The flexible material preferably has a thickness of 1 μm to 1000 μm, more preferably 10 μm to 500 μm. The flexible material may be a polymer film material, and can be made of a single layer material or a laminate containing two or more layers, such as a polymer material film. The flexible material preferably includes one or more layers of a thermoplastic polymer film material on at least the inner surface exposed to the storage section 13, in order to form a sealed section by heat sealing. The polymer film material must be sterilizable and desirably resistant to gamma rays, i.e., it substantially maintains its properties after gamma irradiation. Suitable materials may be conventional film materials used in the packaging industry, such as single-layer or multi-layer PE (polyethylene), ULDPE (ultra-low density polyethylene), LLDPE (linear low density polyethylene), EVOH (ethylene vinyl alcohol), PA (polyamide), and PET (polyethylene terephthalate), or may be laminate films of one or more of these materials with aluminum foil.

As shown in Figure 3, the container body 1 is a cylindrical body formed by joining both sides of a single flexible film in a palm-like shape. In the example shown in Figure 3, a back-side sealing portion 30 is located at the center of the width direction Y on the back side of the stick container 8, where both sides of the flexible film are overlapped and heat-sealed in a palm-like shape. The first sealing region 10 and second sealing region 20 can also be formed by heat sealing, etc.

In order to accommodate a green juice composition with a specific bulk density and to facilitate sealing the green juice composition into the container at the time of production, the overall width W of the container (Figure 1) is preferably 5 mm or more and 100 mm or less, and more preferably 10 mm or more and 50 mm or less.

In consideration of the ease of use, aesthetics, and size of the container 8, the overall length L (Figure 1) of the container 8 is preferably 50 mm or more and 300 mm or less, and more preferably 100 mm or more and 200 mm or less.

For example, the ratio (L/W) of the total length L to the total width W of the container is not limited, but is preferably 2 or more, particularly 3 or more, in order to facilitate setting the desired opening width while accommodating a sufficient amount of the green juice composition.

As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the cylindrical container body 1 is formed by folding a cylindrical body made of flexible film in two in a plane parallel to the axial direction (the same direction as the longitudinal direction X), with both end regions in the X direction sealed by a first sealing region 10 and a second sealing region 20. The first sealing region 10 and the second sealing region 20 are each formed across substantially the entire width direction Y of the container 8. The first sealing region 10 and the second sealing region 20 are each formed continuously in the longitudinal direction X from the edge 10a and edge 20a on the storage section 13 side to the edge 8c and edge 8d in the longitudinal direction X of the container 8 (Figure 1).

As shown in FIG. 2, the first sealing region 10 has a first sealing portion 11 and a second sealing portion 12 arranged along the width direction Y of the container 8, and the first sealing portion 11 has a longer sealing length in the longitudinal direction X than the second sealing portion 12. It is preferable that the first sealing portion 11 and the second sealing portion 12 are continuous in the width direction Y of the container. In this embodiment, the container body 1 does not have any other sealing portion that bonds or fuses the front surface 1A and back surface 1B of the two-fold cylindrical container body 1 between the first sealing region 10 and the second sealing region 20 in the longitudinal direction X.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the container body 1, the first sealing portion 11 has a longer sealing length in the X direction than the second sealing portion 12, and therefore has a non-sealing portion 14 located on the second sealing region 20 side of the second sealing portion 12 and to the side of the first sealing portion 11 in the width direction Y. The non-sealing portion 14 is located in a position facing a part of the first sealing portion 11 on the storage portion 13 side in the width direction Y. Here, the "second sealing region 20 side of the second sealing portion 12" of the non-sealing portion 14 also includes a portion that contacts the edge of the second sealing portion 12 on the second sealing region 20 side (the edge indicated by reference symbol 12a in the example of FIG. 2) at approximately the same position in the longitudinal direction X.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the stick container 8 has a tear guide portion 15 that can tear the non-sealed portion 14 along the width direction Y. The tear guide portion 15 is linear and extends in the width direction Y from the edge 8a of the second sealed portion 12 to the edge 8b of the first sealed portion 11 in the width direction Y of the container 8. The tear guide portion 15 is a portion of the cylindrical body that has been given easy-to-tear properties by undergoing a predetermined processing. In this embodiment, the tear guide portion 15 is an easy-to-tear portion that extends from the edge 8a of the second sealed portion 12 to the edge 8b of the first sealed portion 11 of the container 8, and is formed to be able to tear the non-sealed portion 14 and the first sealed portion 11 adjacent to it on its lateral side in the width direction. The tear guide portion 15 may be, for example, a cut line, a notched cut groove such as a V-shaped groove, or a number of small holes drilled along the width direction Y of the container 8 that do not allow the green juice composition powder to pass through. Preferably, the type with many small holes is preferred as it makes tearing easier. In Figure 1 and other figures, an arrow is printed on the surface to guide the tearing guide 15 to the tearing position.

The container body 1 of the stick container 8 has a tear guide 15 that can tear the unsealed portion 14 along the width direction Y. By tearing the unsealed portion 14 with the tear guide 15, an opening 16 is formed as shown in Figure 4.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the first sealed region 10 has an inclined portion 17a at the edge 10a on the storage section 13 side that is inclined with respect to the width direction Y so that the sealed length of the first sealed region 10 in the longitudinal direction X gradually decreases from the first sealed portion 11 side toward the second sealed portion 12 side along the width direction Y, in other words, from the first sealed portion side edge 8b side toward the second sealed portion side edge 8a side. Having an inclined portion 17a at the edge 10a on the storage section 13 side of the first sealed region 10 in this manner is preferable because it allows the green juice composition to be smoothly discharged from the opening 16 without pooling.

It is preferable that the inclined portion 17a be linear and extend obliquely relative to the width direction Y, as this makes it easier to dispense the green juice composition. In the example shown in Figure 2, the second sealed portion 12 is the portion having width W2 closer to the edge 8a than the inclined portion 17a, and the first sealed portion 11 can be considered to be the portion having width W5 corresponding to the inclined portion 17a and the portion having width W1 closer to the edge 8b than the inclined portion 17a.

As shown in Fig. 2, the edge 10a of the first sealing region 10 on the side of the storage section 13 has the inclined portion 17a and linear portions 11a and 12a extending outward in the width direction from both ends of the inclined portion 17a. As a result, as shown in Fig. 2, the edge 10a of the first sealing region 10 on the side of the storage section 13 has a stepped shape. The linear portions 11a and 12a extend linearly outward in the width direction from both ends of the inclined portion 17a. Specifically, the edge 10a on the side of the storage section of the first sealing region 10 has a stepped shape consisting of two straight lines 11a and 12a that extend parallel to the edge 8c in the longitudinal direction X of the container and approach each other, and an inclined portion 17a that connects the ends of the two straight lines and forms an obtuse angle with the two straight lines. When the edge 10a of the first sealing region 10 on the housing portion side has a stepped shape extending outward in the width direction Y from both ends of the inclined portion 17a, the corners C1 and C2 (see FIG. 2) formed by the inclined portion 17a and the linear portions 11a and 12a may be rounded. In this case, the stepped edge 10a extending from the linear portion 11a to the inclined portion 17a and the linear portion 12a may have a rounded streamlined shape. An example of such a streamlined shape is the edge 10a shown in FIG. 7.
This type of stepped shape has the advantage that it increases the sealing strength and allows the green juice composition to be smoothly poured into a PET bottle or the like without causing accumulation, compared to, for example, a case where the inclined portion 17a extends to the edge 8b.

The angle α (Figure 2) of the inclined portion 17a relative to the width direction Y is preferably between 10° and 80°, as this makes it easier to discharge the green juice composition without creating pools. From this perspective, the angle α is preferably between 15° and 60°, and more preferably between 20° and 45°.

When the edge 10a of the first sealing region 10 on the storage section 13 side has a stepped shape extending widthwise outward from both ends of the inclined portion 7a, the width W1 of the portion of the first sealing region located closer to the first sealing section than the inclined portion 17a, i.e., closer to the edge 8b, is smaller than the width W2 of the portion of the first sealing region located closer to the second sealing section than the inclined portion 17a, i.e., closer to the edge 8a. This makes it easier to dispense green juice compositions with a specified bulk density or less, maximizes the volume of the storage section, and increases the area of the first sealing region, maintaining seal strength.

It is preferable that the ratio W5/W of the width W5 of the inclined portion 17a to the container width W be between 0.1 and 0.5, in order to maintain the strength of the seal while expanding the storage area.

The ratio W1/W2 of the width W1 of the portion of the first sealing portion other than the inclined portion to the width W2 of the second sealing portion 12 is preferably 0.1 or more and 0.8 or less, as this makes it easier to keep the ratio of the opening width W4 of the opening to the overall width W within the above range while balancing the seal strength and the capacity of the storage portion, and is more preferably 0.15 or more and 0.7 or less.

As shown in Figures 2 and 4, the container body 1 of the stick container 8 has a tear guide 15 that can tear the unsealed portion 14 along the width direction Y. As shown in Figure 4, an opening 16 is formed in the container 8 by tearing the unsealed portion 14 with the tear guide 15, and the opening width W4 (see Figure 2) of the opening 16 is at least two-fifths of the overall width of the container 8. In the example shown in Figure 2, the tear guide 15 is formed at a height position that intersects with the inclined portion 17a. The tear guide 15 may be located, for example, at a portion that contacts the edge of the second sealed portion 12 on the second sealed region 20 side (the edge designated by reference symbol 12a in the example of Figure 2) at approximately the same position in the longitudinal direction X. The opening width W4 is the width (length in the Y direction) of the tear guide 15 at the X-direction position of the unsealed portion 14 when the container 8 is viewed from the front before tearing, as shown in Figure 2.

As shown in Figure 5, in a stick container 8 having the above configuration, the tear guide 15 is used to tear the unsealed portion 14 as shown in Figure 5(1), and the lower end of the opening 16 of the container 8 is positioned inside the inner edge 51 of the opening 52 of the PET bottle 50 as shown in Figure 5(2). Then, as shown in Figure 5(3), the container 8 is tilted so that the opening 16 of the container 8 faces the opening 52 of the PET bottle 50 and approaches the opening 52. Since the opening width W4 is at least two-fifths of the overall container width W and is appropriate for the opening width of the PET bottle, the green juice composition 60 in the container can be poured into the PET bottle 50 in a short time without scattering, even if its bulk density is below a specific value. From this perspective, it is even more preferable that the opening width W4 be at least 0.43 times the overall container width W, and particularly preferably at least 0.46 times. In the example shown in Figure 5, the end of the container edge 8a is located at the lower end of the opening 16.

The ratio W4/W of the opening width W4 to the overall container width W is preferably 0.9 or less to more reliably prevent scattering, and 0.7 or less is even more preferable. The opening width W4 of the opening 16 is preferably 15 mm or more and 20 mm or less to prevent scattering when pouring the green juice composition into the PET bottle and to shorten the time required for pouring.

The ratio W4/W2 of the opening width W4 to the width W2 of the second sealing portion 12 is preferably between 1 and 1.7 in order to more reliably prevent scattering, and is more preferably between 1 and 1.5. A W4/W2 ratio of 1 indicates that the tear guide portion 15 is in contact with the edge of the second sealing portion 12 on the second sealing region 20 side (the edge designated by reference symbol 12a in the example of Figure 2) at approximately the same position in the longitudinal direction X.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, the ratio of the sealing length L1 of the first sealing portion 11 to the sealing length L2 of the second sealing portion 12, L2/L1, is preferably 0.2 or more and 0.8 or less in terms of achieving both seal strength and the volume of the storage portion 13 and ease of opening, and is more preferably 0.3 or more and 0.7 or less.

Furthermore, the ratio L4/L1 of the length L4 from the upper edge 8c of the first sealing region 10 to the height of the tear guide portion 15 to the sealing length L1 of the first sealing portion 11 is preferably 0.3 or more and 0.9 or less, in order to facilitate setting the opening width, and more preferably 0.4 or more and 0.8 or less.

The present invention will be explained in more detail below using examples. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these examples. Unless otherwise specified, "%" means "mass %" and "parts" means "parts by mass."

(Method for measuring bulk specific gravity)
The powder was measured by using a Powder Tester (R) PT-X manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation, according to the following procedures a to d.
a. The weight of a 100 ^cm3 cup attached to the powder tester was measured.
b) The powder was placed in the powder tester and allowed to fall with a vibration time of 30 seconds and an amplitude of 1.5 mm until the powder filled a cup with a capacity of 100 ^cm3 . The fall of the powder was stopped when the powder overflowed the cup.
c. The powder that overflowed from the cup in b was scraped off and the total weight was measured.
d. The mass of the powder filled in the cup was calculated from the difference between the weight measured in c and the weight measured in a, and the weight of the powder per 1 ^cm3 was determined as the bulk specific gravity.

(Method of measuring particle size)
When the composition for green juice is a dried and pulverized powder, the average particle size of the composition for green juice was measured under the following conditions using a laser diffraction/scattering particle size distribution measuring device: Laser Micronsizer LMS-3000 manufactured by Seishin Enterprise Co., Ltd. The dispersion medium was ethanol.
Particle refractive index: 1.330
Dispersion medium refractive index: 1.360

(Method for measuring particle size distribution)
The particle size distribution was measured by stacking 200 mesh (mesh opening: 75 μm), 150 mesh (mesh opening: 106 μm), 60 mesh (mesh opening: 250 μm), and 32 mesh (mesh opening: 470 μm) sieves in this order from bottom to top on a tray, placing 10 g of sample on the top sieve, covering it with a lid, and vibrating it for 5 minutes using a micro-type electromagnetic vibrating sieve shaker (model number: M-2, Tsutsui Scientific Instruments Co., Ltd.). Next, the weight of the granules remaining on each sieve was measured and expressed as a percentage of the total amount.

(Method for measuring angle of repose)
Measurements were made using a Powder Tester (R) PT-X manufactured by Hosokawa Micron Corporation. The sample powder was piled on a circular table measuring 8 cm in diameter from a height of 7.5 cm using a funnel with an opening (75 mm in diameter at the top and 7 mm at the bottom) at an amplitude of 0.5 mm. The specimen (powder) was piled so that the deposit overflowed from the edge of the table. The angle formed between the ridge of the cone of the deposit (specimen) piled on the table and the surface of the circular table, measured with a laser beam, was taken as the angle of repose of the powder.

(Production Example 1)
Barley stalks and leaves harvested at a height of approximately 30 cm were used. They were washed with water to remove any adhering mud, and then pre-treated by cutting into pieces approximately 2 to 10 cm in size. The pre-treated stalks and leaves were blanched once in hot water at 80 to 100°C for 90 to 180 seconds, and then cooled in cold water. The obtained stalks and leaves were then dried in a dryer for 20 to 180 minutes with hot air at 80 to 135°C until the moisture content was 5% by mass or less.
The dried stems and leaves were coarsely pulverized to a size of approximately 1 mm using a mixer, and then finely pulverized using a jet mill to produce a powder of green barley stems and leaves (dried pulverized powder). The bulk density was 0.205 g/cm ³ , the average particle size was 21 μm, the (D90-D10)/D50 value was 1.5 to 4, the particle size distribution was 98% by mass at 106 μm pass, and the angle of repose was 56°. The moisture content was 3.7% by mass.

Example 1
1 to 5, the width W2 of the second sealed portion 12 was 17 mm, the sealed length L2 of the second sealed portion 12 was 9 mm, the width W1 of the portion of the first sealed portion 11 closer to the edge 8b than the inclined portion 17a was 5 mm, the sealed length L1 of the first sealed portion 11 was 17 mm, the length L in the longitudinal direction X of the stick container 8 was 140 mm, the overall width W of the stick container 8 was 35 mm, and the length L3 in the longitudinal direction X of the second sealed region 20 was 9 mm. The length L4 in the X direction from the upper edge to the tear guide 15 was approximately 9 mm (more than 9 mm but not more than 9.2 mm). The container body of the stick container 8 was a laminate film of PET film/PE film/aluminum foil/PE film, and the thickness of the laminate film was 79 μm.
The stick container 8 contained 3 g of the barley stem and leaf powder produced in Production Example 1 in the container portion.

(Comparative Example 1)
The stick container shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 was the same as in Example 1, except that the width W2 of the second sealing portion 12 was 10 mm.

(Comparative Example 2)
The stick container shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 was the same as in Example 1, except that the width W2 of the second sealing portion 12 was 5 mm.

(Comparative Example 3)
Instead of the stick container shown in Figures 1 to 5, a sachet of the shape shown in Figure 6 was prepared, which did not have a first sealed portion and a second sealed portion with different sealing lengths in the X direction. The length L in the longitudinal direction X of the stick container 8' was 140 mm, the overall width W of the stick container 8' was 35 mm, the longitudinal length L5 of the first sealed region 10 was 9 mm, and the length L4 in the X direction from the upper edge to the tear guide portion 15 was approximately 9 mm (specifically, more than 9 mm but not more than 9.2 mm). 3 g of the same barley green stem and leaf powder as in Example 1 was enclosed.

(Comparative Example 4)
Instead of the composition for green juice in Production Example 1, starch was used and sealed in a stick container 8. The starch had a bulk density of 0.59 g/cm ³ , an average particle size of 28 μm, a particle size distribution of 99% by mass through a 106 μm pass, and an angle of repose of 52°. The moisture content was 15.5% by mass.

<Evaluation>
For the containers of the examples and comparative examples, openings were formed by slitting the entire width of the container in the width direction along the slitting guide 15. Table 1 shows the ratio of the opening length W4 to the entire width W of the container.
Furthermore, the containers of the Examples and Comparative Examples were transferred directly to a PET bottle (opening inner diameter: 21 mm) in the manner shown in Figure 4. The scattering results of the green juice composition and the time (seconds) required to transfer the entire content are shown in Table 1.

As shown in the evaluation results of Example 1 in Table 1, for a green juice composition with a bulk density of 0.25 g/ ^cm3 or less, the stick container of the present invention (Example 1) enabled the transfer of the green juice composition to a PET bottle in a short time without scattering. In contrast, in Comparative Example 1, which had a smaller opening width than the present invention, it took a long time to pour the green juice composition, and in Comparative Example 2, when the entire opening of the stick container 8' was inserted into the opening of the PET bottle, the opening of the stick container 8' narrowed, making it impossible to remove the green juice composition from the container 8'. In Comparative Example 3, in which the opening was the entire width of the container, the green juice composition scattered outside the opening of the PET bottle when the contents were poured. Furthermore, in Comparative Example 4, in which starch was used instead of the green juice composition, young barley leaf powder, transfer to a PET bottle was not possible. These results demonstrate that the stick container of the present invention enables the green juice composition to be transferred to a PET bottle in a short time without scattering.

The present invention relates to a stick container for a green juice composition having a bulk density of 0.25 g/cm3 or ^less , which has an opening width restricted by a sealing portion whose longitudinal sealing length varies depending on the widthwise position, and which has an opening width to the overall width of the container in a ratio of 2/5 or more, making it possible to transfer barley green stem and leaf powder into a PET bottle in a short time without scattering.

1 Container body 8 Stick container 10 First sealed area 10a Edge on the storage section side 11 First sealed section 12 Second sealed section 13 Storage section 14 Non-sealed section 15 Tear guide section 16 Opening 17a Sloped section 20 Second sealed area

Claims (8)

A stick container containing a green juice composition, comprising a container body having a longitudinal direction in the axial direction and a cylindrical body made of a flexible material, one end region and the other end region sealed by a first sealing region and a second sealing region, the container body comprising: a green juice composition accommodated in the container body;
the first sealing region has a first sealing portion and a second sealing portion arranged along the width direction of the container, and the first sealing portion has a longer sealing length in the longitudinal direction than the second sealing portion;
the container body has a tear guide portion in a non-sealing portion located on the second sealing region side of the second sealing portion and laterally in the width direction relative to the first sealing portion, the tear guide portion being capable of tearing the non-sealing portion along the width direction;
an opening is formed by tearing the non-sealed portion with the tearing guide portion, and the opening width of the opening is two-fifths or more of the total width of the container,
an edge of the first sealing region on the storage portion side has a linear inclined portion that is inclined in the width direction of the container from the first sealing portion side toward the second sealing portion side so that the sealing length in the longitudinal direction of the first sealing region becomes smaller;
the first sealing region has an edge on the housing portion side that has a stepped shape extending outward in the width direction from both ends of the inclined portion, and the first sealing region is formed such that the width of a portion located closer to the first sealing portion than the inclined portion is smaller than the width of a portion located closer to the second sealing portion than the inclined portion;
The stick container containing a composition for green juice has a composition for green juice having a bulk specific gravity of 0.25 g/cm ³ or less stored in a storage section. 2. The stick container containing a composition for green juice according to claim 1, wherein the angle α of the inclined portion relative to the width direction is 15° or more and 60° or less. 3. The stick container containing a composition for green juice according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ratio (W1/W2) of a width W1 of a portion of the first sealed region located closer to the first sealed portion than the inclined portion to a width W2 of a portion of the first sealed region located closer to the second sealed portion than the inclined portion is 0.1 or more and 0.8 or less. The stick container containing the green juice composition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the opening width of the opening is 15 mm or more and 20 mm or less. 5. The stick container containing a composition for green juice according to claim 1, wherein the bulk specific gravity of the composition for green juice is 0.10 g/cm ^or more, and the opening width of the opening is 90% or less of the total width of the container. The stick container containing the green juice composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the average particle size of the green juice composition is 5 μm or more and 300 μm or less. The stick container containing the green juice composition according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the proportion of green stems and/or leaves in the green juice composition is 20% by mass or more. The stick container containing the green juice composition according to claim 7, wherein the green stems and/or leaves are dried and ground barley stems and/or leaves.