JPH026496B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] This invention is characterized by rapid restoration when returned to hot water;
Moreover, the present invention relates to a manufacturing method for obtaining dried eggplants that are extremely good in terms of so-called flavor such as taste, texture, and aroma, as well as color tone and shape retention.

[Technical background of the invention]

The demand for instant foods, which were developed with the intention of preserving food and making it easier to prepare, has increased in recent years, and its application to instant foods has now become an indispensable part of everyday life, whether as a staple food or a side dish. It is becoming. In addition, the requirements for this staple food are even more stringent, and the taste, texture, aroma, etc. of the ingredients,
Furthermore, the product value is determined by how faithfully the color tone, shape, etc. can be reproduced, and the pursuit of the above-mentioned restorability, not just the ease of cooking, is an important issue at present.

Among instant foods, various dried vegetables are used in instant foods such as instant chazuke and instant miso soup. In order to impart resilience to these vegetables, raw vegetables are cut into appropriate shapes, blanched with saline solution, etc. to inactivate the enzymes, and then dried with hot air or vacuum freeze-dried. Generally, attempts are made to restore the flavor, color tone, shape, etc. of the vegetables as raw materials without losing as much as possible.

However, when these methods are applied, for example, to a process for producing dried eggplants, the pulp becomes spongy but at the same time water-repellent, making it difficult for hot water to penetrate inside and requiring a long time for restoration.

However, extending the blanching time mentioned above is effective in shortening the restoring time, but on the other hand, there are problems in terms of shape retention, such as the center of the pulp collapses during drying and is separated from the skin, producing a large amount of fine powder. Yes. In addition, in terms of color tone, the eggplant pigments are eluted during the blanching process, causing the skin to turn brown, making it extremely difficult to maintain the original color tone of the eggplant.

[Purpose of the invention]

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to restore the flavor of instant dried eggplants, in particular to maintain the unique color tone of eggplants and to obtain dried eggplants that do not lose their shape. Our goal is to provide a manufacturing method that is possible.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention first washes raw eggplants from which the stems have been removed, and then cuts them into appropriate shapes such as slices. Next, the eggplant pieces are blanched in an aqueous solution in which 3 to 7 parts of miso are dissolved in 100 parts of water and an organic acid is added to adjust the pH to 4.3 to 4.9. Then, after cleaning the surface,
Freeze-dry in vacuum to reduce the moisture content to 3% or less to obtain dried eggplants.

If fresh eggplant pieces are soaked in 1% saline in advance to suppress enzyme activity prior to the blanching treatment, there will be less browning of the eggplant during the process and the color tone will be more effectively maintained.

In addition, the preparation of the blanching treatment solution described above has a relatively low pH.
By selectively using miso with a low value, and adding an organic acid at a weight ratio of around 0.1 part to water, the pH level is 4.3~
Adjust the temperature to be within the range of 4.9, and use this aqueous solution for blanching treatment. That is, the eggplant pieces are placed in the aqueous solution heated to about 90°C and held for about 10 minutes. As a result, the enzyme activity of the eggplant is deactivated, and the miso aqueous solution penetrates into the eggplant pulp and is adsorbed. Due to this osmotic adsorption, fine particles of miso adhere to and interpose within the eggplant pulp, which facilitates the permeation of hot water into the pulp during restoration, thereby enhancing the instant restoration effect. In addition, the miso particles interposed in the pulp part give binding properties to the pulp tissue, prevent disintegration and generation of fine powder, and effectively act in terms of shape retention. In the present invention, the concentration of miso in the aqueous solution is 3 to 7 per 100 parts of water, but if it exceeds 7, there are too many miso particles intervening in the pulp, and the eggplant pulp will retain its original color even after the next washing process. If the eggplant does not return to normal state and is dried, various undesirable effects such as shrinkage of the flesh, strong coloration, and residual salty taste will occur, impairing the original flavor of the eggplant. On the other hand, if the amount of miso is less than 3, the amount of miso particles interposed in the fruit pulp will be small, and therefore it will not be possible to provide the desired restorability. Furthermore, when looking at the color tone, it is related to the pH concentration of the blanching aqueous solution, and when blanched with a miso aqueous solution with a pH of 5 or more, the purple pigment in the pericarp is eluted and browning occurs. Furthermore, if the PH value is set to 4.5, for example, and blanched with boiling water, the purple pigment will turn red, and the original color tone of eggplant cannot be realized. However, miso solutions using commercially available miso generally have a pH of 5 or higher, but the present inventor reproduced the desirable dark blue color tone inherent to eggplant by adjusting the pH value of this miso solution to a range of 4.3 to 4.9. This is what I discovered that can be done.
In other words, anthocyanin pigments such as eggplant pigments nasunin and hyacin form stable complexes with Fe and Al ions, and in 100g of miso,
It is assumed that the desired dark blue color is reproduced due to the involvement of approximately 4 mg of Fe ions and the adjusted pH of the miso solution. If the PH value of this miso solution exceeds 5, browning will occur as described above, and if the PH value is less than 4.2, the red coloring will be overwhelming, and the solution will become sour and the flavor will be impaired.

The above-mentioned organic acid used for adjusting the pH may be any type, such as citric acid, acetic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, etc., as long as it can be used as a food additive.

After the above-mentioned blanching process, the eggplant pieces are washed to remove miso particles attached to the surface to prevent the eggplant pieces from sticking to each other during the drying process, and then put in a vacuum freeze dryer to reduce the moisture content to 3% or less.
Obtain dried eggplant.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The present invention will be described below with reference to a specific embodiment.

Example Raw eggplant, variety name ``Senryo'', 30 kg, was decapitated and washed to remove dirt, then sliced into 4 mm wide pieces and immediately immersed in 1% saline solution. then water 100
5 kg of red miso and 50 g of citric acid were added and dissolved with stirring, and the aqueous solution was adjusted to pH 4.6. The aqueous solution was heated at 90°C, and the eggplant pieces were put into the aqueous solution and stirred for 10 minutes. Next, these eggplant pieces were washed with tap water to remove the miso on the surface, and then subjected to a vacuum freeze dryer to obtain 1.2 kg of dried eggplant with a moisture content of 3%.

When the obtained dried eggplant was used as an ingredient for instant miso soup and boiling water was added, it was restored very quickly and reproduced as an ingredient for miso soup with good flavor, color tone, and shape.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As mentioned above, this invention uses eggplant with a pH of 4.3 to 4.9.
By blanching and freeze-drying a miso aqueous solution prepared as a blanching solution, it is characterized by good taste and texture, and especially in terms of color tone, it is possible to reproduce the original deep blue color of eggplant. Therefore, it can be used in almost the same way as fresh eggplant in terms of ingredients, and is also easy to prepare as an instant food, and has a marked difference in quality and commercial value compared to conventional products. The value is extremely high.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Raw eggplants cut into appropriate shapes such as slices were blanched in an aqueous solution in which 3 to 7 parts of miso was dissolved in 100 parts of water and the pH was adjusted to 4.3 to 4.9 by adding an organic acid. A method for producing dried eggplants, which is then characterized by washing the surface and vacuum freeze-drying.