JPH0453808B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

(Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method for processing potassium chloride, and in particular, treatment with water containing seawater to significantly reduce unpleasant tastes such as bitterness and bad aftertaste that potassium chloride has. It relates to a method of processing potassium chloride to relax or eliminate it. (Prior art and its deficiencies) Salting agents are important flavoring agents used in food processing and cooking, similar to sweeteners, acidulants, flavoring agents, etc., and a typical example is sodium chloride (salt). . This sodium chloride is important not only for providing a salty taste, but also as a preservative for preservatives and antimicrobials, and is used in the salting of seafood and in the production of various foods such as delicacies, tsukudani, pickles, miso, and soy sauce. It is a well-known fact that it is widely used and has a close relationship with dietary habits. However, in recent years, it has been pointed out that there is a causal relationship between so-called adult diseases such as cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and heart disease and excessive intake of sodium chloride.
It is recommended to reduce sodium chloride intake for the treatment and prevention of liver cirrhosis, etc. Therefore, even healthy people should choose so-called salt-free or low-salt foods that do not contain sodium chloride or have a low sodium chloride content. The trend is becoming stronger. However, salting agents such as sodium chloride also have the function of coexisting with sweeteners and the like to enhance sweetness, and therefore foods that do not contain sodium chloride tend to have a so-called ``savoury'' taste. It is inevitable that the taste will be inferior. Furthermore, if the use of sodium chloride is eliminated in various processed foods, their shelf life will naturally decrease. Therefore, various studies have been conducted on salting agents to replace sodium chloride, and various alternative substances have been proposed. Among these, potassium chloride, which is the object of the present invention, is a typical substance. Potassium chloride is relatively inexpensive, has no problems under the Food Sanitation Act, and has molecular weight, crystal structure, solubility, etc. similar to sodium chloride, and also has antiseptic and antimicrobial effects similar to sodium chloride. Salting agents that replace part of the sodium chloride with potassium chloride have already appeared on the market. However, when the mixing ratio of potassium chloride is increased, it produces an unpleasant aftertaste and a different taste from that of sodium chloride, so it has not been widely used in the food industry or in the daily life of ordinary households. Not yet. For this purpose, that is, in order to eliminate the above-mentioned defects of potassium chloride on taste, various attempts have been made in the past, but these attempts have been made to mask the bitterness etc. that potassium chloride has. For example, the solution has been to add and mix organic acids such as citric acid, various amino acids or their salts, sweeteners, and flavoring agents to potassium chloride. However, since all conventional alternative compositions of this type are made by mixing powdered raw materials, there is a possibility that classification may occur during the distribution process or use, and there are also various mixing methods and mixing ratios. I have issues. In other words, if the amount of the taste improver added to potassium chloride is small, it is extremely difficult to mix it uniformly, and if the amount added is too large, the taste improver etc. may have its own unique taste. There is a risk that this taste will not harmonize with the taste of the food itself, resulting in an unpleasant taste overall. For this reason, research has been conducted not only to mask the bitterness of potassium chloride, but also to fundamentally suppress the bitterness and the like to bring about a salty taste similar to that of common salt. For example, JP-A-59-198953 describes (1) a mixture of sodium chloride and potassium chloride in a weight ratio of 1:9 to 1:1 and powdered solid bittern in an amount of 1 to 20% by weight based on the total amount; A recrystallization method in which crystals are collected by dissolving the substance in fresh water and then concentrating it. (2) Weigh out sodium chloride and powdered solid bittern in a fixed ratio, crystallize it by the above-mentioned recrystallization method, etc., make the resulting mixture into a constant particle size, and mix this with potassium chloride of a constant particle size. (3) Sodium chloride with a certain particle size, A low-sodium salty seasoning is disclosed, which is obtained by a method in which potassium chloride of a certain particle size and fine powder of solid bittern are weighed and mixed in a certain ratio. (Problem to be solved by the invention) According to the above-mentioned prior art measures, potassium chloride 9
At least 1 part by weight of sodium chloride and 1-20% by weight of powdered bittern based on the total amount are added to remove the bitter taste of potassium chloride. Therefore, this salty composition has an essential problem in that it uses an excessive amount of sodium chloride, and also has a problem in that it absorbs moisture due to the large amount of bittern used, and as a result, tends to form lumps. be. Therefore, the present invention does not simply try to hide the unpleasant tastes that potassium chloride has, such as bitterness and unpleasant aftertaste, but aims to actively eliminate these unpleasant tastes. The essential purpose is to minimize the amount of sodium chloride used and to ensure that the resulting material does not exhibit hygroscopic properties. A subsidiary object of the present invention is to provide a method for processing potassium chloride which is easy to operate and does not require special processing materials, thereby minimizing cost increases. (Means and effects for solving the problem) According to the present invention, the above problem is solved by dissolving potassium chloride in water containing seawater, and then evaporating the water in the solution. This problem can be resolved by processing potassium chloride. In the present invention, "seawater" refers to standard seawater such as that used for salt production, and has a Baume degree of approximately
3.6, and the composition is CaSO <sub>4</sub> 0.138% by weight,
<sub>MgSO4</sub> 0.210% by weight, <sub>MgBr2</sub> 0.008% by weight,
<sub>MgCl2</sub> 0.328 wt%, KCl 0.072 wt%, NaCl
The average value is 2.669% by weight (``Chemistry Handbook'', 2nd edition, p. 1334), and although it varies slightly depending on the collection area, the ratio of the above main components is approximately constant. Of course, the definition of "seawater" in the present invention includes brine water obtained by concentrating seawater, salt lake water, salt spring water, etc., and also includes crude salt or rock salt obtained by boiling brine water. Note that this also includes solutions dissolved in. However, since the potassium chloride whose taste has been improved by the method of the present invention is intended for food use, it is natural to avoid using it if it is contaminated with bacteria or precious metals, and if it is contaminated with sand, dust, etc. It goes without saying that these should be removed by filtration etc. before use. “Water containing seawater” used in the method of the present invention
The above seawater can be used as tap water, drinking well water,
It is adjusted by diluting with drinking water such as mineral water, drinking spring water, distilled water, deionized water, etc. The "potassium chloride" used in the method of the present invention is not exclusive, but it is one that has been separated and purified from rock salt, and has a concentration of 99% or more as potassium chloride when quantified after drying at about 105°C for 2 hours. It refers to the food-grade potassium chloride it contains. According to the method of the present invention, first, potassium chloride is added and dissolved in the seawater-containing water described above. The solubility of potassium chloride is 34.4 at 20℃ per 100g of water.
g, 45.9 g at 60° C., and the amount added can be appropriately set in consideration of the temperature of the dissolved water. In order to sufficiently remove unpleasant tastes such as bitterness that potassium chloride has, at least about 0.45 parts by weight of water containing seawater should be added to 1 part by weight of potassium chloride in terms of standard seawater. (See test examples below). In this case, there is no particular reason to restrict the upper limit, but in order to avoid excessive intake of sodium chloride, it is desirable to ensure that the amount of sodium chloride in seawater does not exceed the amount of potassium chloride. In addition, various additives can also be mixed into the dissolution water. For example, in the case of organic acids such as citric acid and malic acid or their salts, about 1
In the case of amino acids such as glycine and glutamic acid or their salts, it is advantageous to add and dissolve them at a ratio of about 2% by weight or less to potassium chloride. A synergistic effect is brought about in the processing of potassium chloride, ie, taste improvement. However, the actual amounts of these organic acids, organic acid salts, amino acids, amino acid salts, etc. to be added should be carefully considered so as not to exhibit their own flavor. According to the present invention, the water in the potassium chloride solution prepared as described above, that is, prepared by dissolving potassium chloride in water containing seawater, is evaporated in the next step, and the dissolved potassium chloride is added. It crystallizes a mixed crystal of the various components dissolved in the seawater. In this case, what should be kept in mind is that after preparing a concentrated solution of potassium chloride, it is recrystallized by taking advantage of the solubility difference, and then dehydrated using a centrifuge, etc., to reduce the water content of the residue to a predetermined level. The potassium chloride obtained by this process does not show any processing effect (taste improvement effect) and is similar to untreated potassium chloride, which indicates that water evaporation treatment is a requirement of the present invention. . This water evaporation can be carried out by a method known per se, for example, an evaporation to dryness method, a spray drying method, a vacuum drying method, a hot air drying method, etc., or a suitable combination thereof. (Examples, etc.) Next, the method of the present invention will be explained in more detail using Examples and Test Examples. Example 1 Seawater collected off the coast of Yugawara in Kanagawa Prefecture was filtered using Qualitative Filter Paper No. 2 manufactured by Toyo Roshi Co., Ltd. 250 g of tap water was added to 200 g of the obtained filtrate to prepare water containing so-called seawater. 100 g of potassium chloride was added to this solution, heated until it boiled to dissolve the potassium chloride, then cooled to 60°C, and then concentrated under reduced pressure using a rotary evaporator until the water content became 18% by weight. This concentrate was placed in a porcelain dish and dried in a hot air dryer at 80°C to a water content of 0.3% by weight. Next, this dried product was processed through a 20 mesh sieve (JIS standard) to obtain a seawater-treated potassium chloride product. The sodium chloride content in this product was 5% by weight. On the other hand, a control product was prepared as follows according to the method described in JP-A-59-198953. That is, first, a mixture of sodium chloride and potassium chloride in a weight ratio of 1:9 was prepared, and separately, natural bittern powder (water content 14% by weight) manufactured by the Natural Salt Promotion Association was added to the entire amount of the above mixture. The above mixture and bittern are dissolved in tap water, concentrated using a rotary evaporator to collect crystals, and the crystals are placed in a hot air dryer at 80°C. A dry product with a moisture content of 0.3% by weight was obtained. This dried product was granulated using a 20-mesh sieve and used as a control product. A sensory test was conducted on both of the above samples by an expert panel (20 people). Judgments were made according to Kramer's test method with a risk rate of 5%, with the sample having a taste similar to that of table salt ranked first. The results are shown in Table 1 below, and the potassium chloride product obtained by the method of the present invention has a taste closer to common salt than the control product, despite having a lower sodium chloride content than the control product. It has been found.

[Table] Example 2 Similarly to Example 1, potassium chloride was dissolved in tap water containing seawater, then evaporated on a hot water bath until the water content reached 13% by weight, and then dried with hot air at 75°C. It was dried in a machine until the moisture content was 0.3% by weight. The obtained dried product was sized to a size of 20 to 30 meshes to obtain the product of the present invention. On the other hand, a control product was prepared as follows according to the method described in JP-A-59-198953. A mixture of sodium chloride and potassium chloride in a weight ratio of 1:9 is first prepared. Next, natural powdered bittern (water content 14% by weight) manufactured by the Natural Salt Promotion Association was collected so that the solid content was 20% by weight based on the total amount of the above mixture, and after dissolving them in tap water. The crystals were deposited in a flat pot and concentrated by direct heating, dehydrated by centrifugation, and further dried in a hot air dryer at 75°C until the water content was 0.3% by weight. It was sized into mesh and used as a control product. A panel test was conducted on both of the above samples in the same manner as in Example 1. The results are shown in Table 2 below, and the potassium chloride product obtained by the method of the present invention has a taste closer to common salt than the control product, even though it contains less sodium chloride and bittern components than the control product. It has been found.

[Table] Test example: 4.16 each for 1 part by weight of potassium chloride,
After adding 1.11, 0.67, 0.45 and 0.35 parts by weight of seawater to distilled water, the water content of each solution in which potassium chloride was dissolved was evaporated to 13% by weight on a hot water bath, and then
A dried product with a water content of 0.3% by weight was obtained by processing in a hot air dryer at 75°C. The obtained dried product was sized to a size of 20-30 meshes and used as a test product. On the other hand, potassium chloride was dissolved in distilled water and then treated in the same manner as above to obtain a dried product, which was used as a control product. Example 1 for each of the above test samples and control samples
A panel test was conducted in the same manner. The results are shown in Table 3 below, and when 0.45 parts by weight or more of seawater is added to 1 part by weight of potassium chloride, the desired effect is achieved, that is, the bitterness of potassium chloride disappears and the taste is similar to that of table salt. It has been found that the so-called effects can be brought about.

[Table] (Effects of the Invention) By processing according to the method of the present invention, the unpleasant taste such as bitterness inherent in potassium chloride can be significantly alleviated or eliminated. Therefore, potassium chloride obtained by the method of the present invention can be used as a partial or complete substitute for sodium chloride (salt), thereby reducing the sodium intake rate and eventually treating cardiovascular diseases. This brings about the effect that prevention can be carried out without relying on the so-called ``low-salt diet,'' which is almost tasteless. In addition, potassium chloride processed by the method of the present invention can be used as powdered products such as table salt, sesame salt, and garlic salt, as well as in the production of general processed foods such as snacks, snack foods, miso, and soy sauce. It has the versatility to be used for cooking, etc., and sodium chloride can be used in combination with it. Furthermore, the processing according to the present invention merely consists of a step of dissolving the raw material potassium chloride in water containing seawater and a step of evaporating water from the resulting solution, and does not require the use of seawater used to dissolve the raw material. can be obtained easily and at low cost in our country, so the present invention is extremely advantageous in terms of cost.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for processing potassium chloride, which comprises dissolving potassium chloride in water containing seawater, and then evaporating water from the solution. 2. Claim 1, wherein the seawater-containing water is used in an amount of at least about 0.45 parts by weight of seawater per 1 part by weight of potassium chloride.
Processing method described in section.