Warabimochi-like food and its manufacturing method

Abstract

To provide a bracken-starch dumpling-like food and its production method which, in spite of using D-psicose as a substitute for sugar, has equivalent elasticity and crispness to a conventional one, in order to solve such a problem that the conventional bracken-starch dumpling-like food is mainly composed of water, starch and sugar, has higher calories as food, and uses D-psicose having almost no calories as a substitute for sugar, resulting in loss of firmness as well as elasticity and crispness characteristic of a bracken-starch dumpling-like food.SOLUTION: When D-psicose is added during the production of a bracken-starch dumpling-like food, sugar alcohol represented by maltitol and sorbitol is used by 7.5 to 37.5 mass% based on the total of sugar, D-psicose and the sugar alcohol.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a warabimochi-like food and a method for producing the same. [Background technology]

[0002] Warabimochi and kuzumochi are Japanese sweets with a unique texture and transparency that is moderately elastic and sticky. Warabimochi is made by dissolving starch (warabi starch) originally extracted from the roots of bracken, and kuzumochi is made by dissolving starch (kudzu starch) originally extracted from the roots of kudzu, in water, adding sugar, heating, kneading well until the starch gelats, and then cooling and solidifying. However, warabi starch and kudzu starch are extremely expensive and difficult to obtain, so they are now being replaced by starches that are relatively mass-produced and easily available, such as sweet potato starch and tapioca starch. In addition, starch extracted from plants, regardless of the plant origin, becomes cloudy due to aging if left alone after gelatinization, which deteriorates not only the appearance but also the texture, so processed starch is often used to improve this (Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] On the other hand, D-psicose (D-allulose) is used in general confectionery products as a substitute for sugar because it has approximately 60-70% of the sweetness of sugar, has almost no calories, and has physiological functions such as suppressing blood sugar rise (Patent Document 3). However, when D-psicose is used in warabimochi-like foods and kuzumochi-like foods (hereinafter simply referred to as "warabimochi-like foods") that are mainly made of the above-mentioned sweet potato starch, tapioca starch, or processed starches thereof, not only does it lose the shape retention required for shaping, making shaping difficult, but it also loses the appropriate elasticity and crispness that are unique to warabimochi-like foods. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 06-165643 [Patent Document 2] JP 2019-083774 A [Patent Document 3] International Publication WO2008 / 142860 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a warabimochi-like food which contains D-psicose but is easy to mold and has elasticity and crispness equivalent to conventional products, and a method for producing the same. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The inventors conducted various investigations to solve such problems and found that the problems can be solved by adding a specific amount of a specific sugar alcohol, specifically one or more selected from sorbitol and maltitol, during the production of a warabimochi-like food containing D-psicose.

[0007] That is, the present invention comprises the following [1] to [7], and the first invention is a method for producing a warabimochi food product described in [1] to [5]. [1] A method for producing a warabimochi-like food comprising starch, sugar, D-psicose and water, the method comprising: (A) a step of blending the sugar alcohol in an amount of 7.5 to 37.5 mass% based on the total mass of the sugar, D-psicose and sugar alcohol; (B) a step of heating and stirring until the Brix reaches 30 to 50; and (C) a step of cooling and solidifying. [2] The method for producing the warabimochi-like food according to the above-mentioned [1], wherein D-psicose is blended in an amount of 10 to 50 mass% based on the total amount of sugar, D-psicose and sugar alcohol. [3] A method for producing a warabimochi-like food according to the above-mentioned [1] or [2], wherein the sugar alcohol is one or more selected from sorbitol and maltitol. [4] A method for producing a warabimochi-like food according to any one of the above [1] to [3], wherein the starch is made from one or more ingredients selected from tapioca and sweet potato. [5] A method for producing a food for warabimochi according to any one of the above [1] to [4], wherein the starch is at least one selected from the group consisting of hydroxypropylated starch and acetylated starch.

[0008] The second invention is a warabimochi-like food described below in [6]. [6] A warabimochi-like food comprising starch, sugar, D-psicose, sugar alcohol, and water, the warabimochi-like food containing the sugar, D-psicose, and sugar alcohol in a ratio of (82.5-12.5):(10-50):(7.5-37.5) when the total amount of the sugar, D-psicose, and sugar alcohol is taken as 100, and has a Brix of 30-50.

[0009] The third invention is a method for improving the texture of warabimochi-like foods containing D-psicose, as described in [7] below. [7] A method for improving the texture of a warabimochi-like food containing D-psicose, comprising the step of producing a warabimochi-like food containing starch, sugar, D-psicose and water and having a Brix of 30 to 50, the method comprising blending the sugar alcohol in an amount of 7.5 to 37.5 mass% of the total amount of sugar, D-psicose and sugar alcohol. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a warabimochi-like food that contains D-psicose but is easy to mold and has elasticity and crispness equivalent to conventional products. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] In the present invention, the "warabimochi-like food" refers to a product obtained by dissolving starch in water, adding sugar or other sugar, heating and stirring thoroughly until the starch gelatinizes, and then cooling and solidifying. More specifically, the product is obtained by dissolving 10-20 parts by mass of starch in 50-80 parts by mass of water, adding 10-40 parts by mass of sugar, heating and kneading the mixture until the sol has a Brix of 30-50, and then cooling and solidifying the mixture.

[0012] The term "starch" as used herein includes unmodified starch, but is primarily "modified starch", specifically hydroxypropylated or acetylated starch, and further includes cross-linked or gelatinized starch. In addition to these, sodium starch octenyl succinate and adipate cross-linked starch can also be used. The starch raw material is not particularly limited, but is preferably tapioca starch or sweet potato starch.

[0013] The term "sugar" as used herein includes not only so-called sugar, but also general sugars that can be used in foods in general, such as fructose, oligosaccharides, starch syrup, trehalose, and other sugars with a sweetness and a polymerization degree of about 1 to 10, and for convenience, these are included in the term "sugar". Furthermore, these sugars may be in any form, such as powder, granulated, or liquid, and one of these may be used alone or two or more may be mixed together. However, the term "sugar" as used herein does not include maltitol and / or sorbitol, which are essential components of the present invention, as described below.

[0014] In the warabimochi-like food of the present invention, at least 10% by mass of the sugar, which is the raw material of the warabimochi-like food, is replaced with D-psicose in order to make it lower in calories than conventional products, and when the aim is to advertise the product as "low in calories", 10 to 50% by mass, more preferably 30 to 50% by mass, is replaced with D-psicose. The D-psicose used in the present invention may be in any form as long as it contains D-psicose, and a mixture containing other sugars may also be used as long as it can achieve a calorie reduction compared to conventional products. Commercially available products in Japan include "ASTRAEA" (D-psicose standard purity of 95% or more) and "Rare Sugar Sweet" (a sugar mixture containing D-psicose) (both products of Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.).

[0015] The warabimochi-like food of the present invention contains D-psicose as described above, but the addition of D-psicose reduces elasticity and makes the food less crisp, and therefore, in order to improve this, a sugar alcohol having a hexose as a constituent sugar, specifically, one or more selected from maltitol and sorbitol, is added. Maltitol is a hydrogenated maltose (a disaccharide having a hexose glucose as a constituent sugar), and sorbitol is a hydrogenated glucose. These are easily available as commercial products, and examples of such products include "Amalty MR50" (maltitol) from Mitsubishi Corporation Life Sciences and "Sorbitol FP" from Bussan Food Science. Hereinafter, for convenience, "maltitol and / or sorbitol" may be referred to as "maltitol, etc." in this specification.

[0016] In order to obtain the effects of the present invention, the ratio of maltitol, etc. to be added is important, and the ratio of maltitol, etc. to the total of sugar, D-psicose, maltitol, etc. must be at least 7.5% by mass. However, although maltitol, etc. is highly effective in restoring the shape retention of warabimochi-like foods lost by the addition of D-psicose, if used excessively, the texture (elasticity and crispness) deteriorates, so it is desirable that the amount of maltitol, etc. added does not exceed 37.5% by mass. That is, the amount of maltitol, etc. added is preferably 7.5 to 37.5% by mass, more preferably 10 to 30% by mass, and even more preferably 12.5 to 25% by mass. In addition, maltitol, etc. is preferably used as a replacement for sugar so as not to increase the calorie value of warabimochi-like foods that have been made low in calories by the addition of D-psicose.

[0017] In the present invention, "improved texture" of the bracken starch jelly food means that the deterioration of the texture that occurs when D-psicose is added to the bracken starch jelly food, that is, the decrease in elasticity and the poor chewiness are improved. Specifically, it means that it has the same hardness and texture as the bracken starch jelly food without the addition of D-psicose in comparison. The comparison of hardness can be carried out by a physical property measuring instrument (rheometer). For example, it can be carried out by comparing the 50% point load (N) (the load when the plunger is lowered to the 50% point of the measured strain rate at a constant speed) using a creep meter ("RE-2-33005B" manufactured by Yamaden Co., Ltd.). The higher the hardness of the sample, the larger the 50% point load. For example, when a bracken starch jelly-like food sample is filled in a petri dish of φ85 mm × 15 mm and measured at a speed of 1 mm / sec using a contact surface diameter of 16 mm (plunger type: P-3), if the relative value when the measured value of the bracken starch jelly food without the addition of D-psicose is set to 1.0 is 0.9 to 1.1, more preferably 0.95 to 1.05, it can be considered that the hardness of the bracken starch jelly-like food is improved. It should be noted that this measurement is desirably carried out at least 4 times for one sample, and the evaluation is made based on the average value. However, only by this numerical value of hardness, it is insufficient as an evaluation reflecting the actual texture (elasticity and chewiness in the mouth). Therefore, for a sample with preferable hardness, it is desirable to add an evaluation by sensory evaluation. For example, in the case of a sensory evaluation by 10 panelists, when 7 or more panelists evaluate that it has the same texture as the control product, it is marked as "〇", when 5 or 6 panelists, it is marked as "△", and when 4 or fewer panelists, it is marked as "×" to evaluate the texture.

[0018] Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the formulation, "%" means "mass%". In addition, the bracken starch jelly-like food was trial-produced in an amount of 1500 g for each test section, but the formulation table shows the relative mass parts when "starch" is 100 mass parts.

Examples

[0019] <Hardness of the bracken starch jelly-like food when D-psicose is added> First, the hardness and texture when D-psicose was added to the bracken-pudding-like food were confirmed. The preparation method of the bracken-pudding-like food and the method for measuring the hardness are shown in [Table 1], and the specific formulation for preparing the bracken-pudding-like food is shown in [Table 2]. The evaluation results are shown below [Table 2].

[0020]

Table 1

[0021]

Table 2

[0022] During the formulation, when more than 10% of the sugar was replaced with D-psicose, the relative value of the 50% point load (N) decreased, and the hardness of the bracken-pudding-like food decreased. Also, since the texture (elasticity and chewiness) also deteriorated, methods to improve these were considered.

[0023] <Effect - 1 of Adding Various Sugars to Bracken-Pudding-Like Food Containing D-Psicose> In the formulation of the bracken-pudding-like food where 50% of the sugar was replaced with D-psicose, the hardness and texture were examined when 12.5% of the sugar was replaced with various sugars. The specific formulation for preparing the bracken-pudding-like food is shown in [Table 3]. The preparation method of the bracken-pudding-like food, the method for measuring the hardness, and the sensory evaluation method are the same as those in the above test. The evaluation results are shown below [Table 3]. In the previous test, coloring was observed when D-psicose was added and heated with stirring for a long time. Therefore, to avoid this coloring (so as not to give the panelists a preconceived notion based on appearance), hereafter, for the test groups containing D-psicose, the water amount during raw material formulation is slightly less than that in the control (Test 1) for the purpose of slightly shortening the heating and stirring time. However, the Brix at the end of heating and stirring is 44 in all test groups.

[0024]

Table 3

[0025] In the agar jelly-like food where 50% of the sugar is replaced with D-psicose during formulation and the texture deteriorates, when an additional 12.5% of the sugar is replaced with sorbitol (Test 7) or maltitol (Test 9), the texture that deteriorates due to the addition of D-psicose is improved, resulting in an agar jelly food excellent in elasticity and chewiness. On the other hand, even when 12.5% of the sugar is replaced with glucose (Test 6), maltose (Test 8) or erythritol (Test 10), the same effect was not observed.

[0026] <Effect - 2 when various sugars are added to agar jelly-like food containing D-psicose> Next, in the agar jelly-like food where 50% of the sugar is replaced with D-psicose during formulation, the hardness and texture were examined when an additional 5%, 7.5%, 12.5%, 25%, 37.5% or 50% of the sugar was replaced with maltitol. The specific formulation for preparing the agar jelly-like food is shown in [Table 4]. The method for preparing the agar jelly-like food, the method for measuring hardness, and the sensory evaluation method are all the same as those in the above tests. The evaluation results are shown below [Table 4].

[0027]

Table 4

[0028] In the agar jelly-like food where 50% of the sugar is replaced with D-psicose during formulation and the texture deteriorates, similar to when 12.5% of the sugar is replaced with maltitol (Test 9), when 25% of the sugar is replaced with maltitol, good hardness and texture were also obtained (Test 13). Also, when 7.5% or 37.5% of the sugar is replaced with maltitol, although the effect is slightly inferior, the texture is good (Tests 12, 14). On the other hand, even when 5% or 50% of the sugar is replaced with maltitol, the texture was not improved.

[0029] <Effect - 3 when various sugars are added to agar jelly-like food containing D-psicose> Next, in the bracken-pudding-like food where 30% of the sugar was replaced with D-psicose during formulation, the hardness and texture were examined when an additional 5%, 12.5%, 25%, and 37.5% of the sugar was replaced with various sugars. The specific formulation for the bracken-pudding-like food is shown in [Table 5]. The preparation method, hardness measurement method, and sensory evaluation method of the bracken-pudding-like food are all the same as those in the above test. The evaluation results are shown together below [Table 5].

[0030]

Table 5

[0031] Even in the bracken-pudding-like food where 30% of the sugar was replaced with D-psicose during formulation, when an additional 12.5% or 25% of the sugar was replaced with maltitol, good hardness and texture were obtained. Also, when 37.5% of the sugar was replaced with maltitol, although the effect was slightly inferior, the texture was good (Test 19). On the other hand, even when 5% of the sugar was replaced with maltitol, the texture was not improved.

[0032] <Effect when various sugars were added to bracken-pudding-like food containing D-psicose - 4> Next, it was examined whether the same effect could be observed in the bracken-pudding-like food using unprocessed starch instead of processed starch. The test was conducted in the same manner as the above test except that the relative value was calculated with the hardness of the bracken-pudding-like food in Test 20 using unprocessed starch set to 1.00 (the formulation is shown in Table 6. The results are also shown together).

[0033]

Table 6

[0034] When 50% of the sugar was replaced with D-psicose during formulation, the texture deteriorated as in the case of processed starch (Test 21). Therefore, when an additional 12.5% of the sugar was replaced with maltitol, good hardness and texture were obtained (Test 22).

Claims

1. A method for producing a warabimochi-like food comprising starch, sugar, D-psicose and water, comprising: (A) blending the sugar alcohol in an amount of 7.5 to 37.5% by mass in total of sugar, D-psicose and sugar alcohol; (B) heating and stirring until the Brix reaches 30 to 50; (C) a step of cooling and solidifying; The method for producing a warabimochi-like food product is characterized in that the sugar alcohol is one or more selected from sorbitol and maltitol.

2. 2. The method for producing a warabimochi-like food according to claim 1, wherein D-psicose is blended in an amount of 10 to 50 mass% based on the total amount of sugar, D-psicose and sugar alcohol.

3. 3. The method for producing a warabimochi-like food according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the starch is made from one or more ingredients selected from tapioca and sweet potato.

4. The method for producing a food for warabimochi according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the starch is at least one selected from the group consisting of hydroxypropylated starch and acetylated starch.

5. The warabimochi-like food contains starch, sugar, D-psicose, a sugar alcohol and water, and has a Brix of 30 to 50, and contains the sugar, D-psicose and sugar alcohol in a ratio of (82.5 to 12.5):(10 to 50):(7.5 to 37.5) when the total amount of the sugar, D-psicose and sugar alcohol is taken as 100, and the sugar alcohol is at least one selected from sorbitol and maltitol.

6. A method for improving the texture of a warabimochi-like food containing D-psicose, characterized in that in producing a warabimochi-like food containing starch, sugar, D-psicose and water and having a Brix of 30 to 50, the sugar alcohol is blended in an amount of 7.5 to 37.5 mass% in total of the sugar, D-psicose and sugar alcohol, and the sugar alcohol is one or more selected from sorbitol and maltitol.

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