Non-acidic amino acid-containing yeast seasoning

Abstract

To provide a food material that does not impair a taste balance when added to food.SOLUTION: The inventors have discovered that a yeast seasoning with reduced acidic amino acids having umami improves a food taste without impairing the original umami balance of the food.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This patent relates to a yeast seasoning containing non - acidic amino acids.

Background Art

[0002] Yeast extracts are rich in amino acids, nucleic acids, etc., and are used as seasonings in various foods. In particular, glutamic acid and aspartic acid, which are acidic amino acids contained in yeast extracts, exhibit umami, so yeast extracts are used for the purpose of imparting umami.

[0003] In addition, yeast extracts are often used expecting effects such as texture and complexity of flavor as well as umami. For example, in Patent Document 1, it describes enhancing the kokumi and creamy feeling of yeast extracts rich in peptides and RNA. Also, Patent Document 2 describes the effect of improving the off - flavors of valine, leucine, and isoleucine.

[0004] When expecting the effects of amino acids other than umami in this way, a problem was that the balance of the original taste of the food was impaired by presenting umami. In Patent Document 1, a method is adopted in which the umami of yeast extracts is suppressed by using yeast extracts with a small amount of free amino acids presenting umami and umami - forming nucleic acids, but when added to food, the taste quality of the food itself is enhanced.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] The present invention aims to provide a food ingredient or yeast ingredient that does not impair the balance of flavors when added to food. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] As a result of diligent research to solve the above problems, the inventors have found that a yeast composition with reduced levels of umami-producing acidic amino acids has the effect of improving the taste of food without compromising the balance of the food's original umami flavor.

[0008] Furthermore, we found that the yeast composition has the effect of improving the taste of food without compromising the balance of the food's original umami flavor.

[0009] In other words, the present invention is (1) Yeast composition containing 2% or less of the acidic amino acids glutamic acid and aspartic acid (2) The yeast composition of (1) wherein the content of inosinic acid and guanylic acid is 3% or less. (3) The yeast composition according to (1) or (2) above, wherein the content of non-acidic amino acids is 12% or more. (4) A method for producing the yeast composition described in (1) to (3), comprising the step of allowing the yeast cells to act on a neutral protease derived from Aspergillus melleus. (5) Food and beverages containing the yeast seasoning described in (1) to (3) above. This relates to the matter. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, by producing a yeast seasoning with reduced levels of umami-producing acidic amino acids, it is possible to improve the taste of food without compromising the food's original umami flavor. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] The present invention will be described in detail below. The yeast seasoning of the present invention has a content of 2% or less of the acidic amino acids glutamic acid and aspartic acid, and a content of 12% or more of non-acidic amino acids.

[0012] The yeast extract used in this invention can be produced using conventional yeast extract manufacturing methods, or by combining multiple methods. For example, yeast can be cultured, the yeast cells collected and washed, and then extracted using hot water extraction, enzyme extraction, acid or alkaline extraction, or a combination thereof. The resulting extract can be produced by reacting it with a protease or the like, concentrating it, sterilizing it, and drying it. Furthermore, in this application, the yeast residue remaining after yeast extract extraction can also be used.

[0013] Examples of yeasts used in the production of such yeast-based seasonings include baker's yeast, brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and Torula yeast (Candida utilis).

[0014] The yeast culture and extraction methods of the present invention may be those commonly used, but specific methods are illustrated in the following paragraphs.

[0015] There are no restrictions on the method of culturing yeast; conventionally cultured yeast can be used. Generally, the culture medium for yeast uses glucose, acetic acid, ethanol, glycerol, molasses, sulfite pulp waste liquid, etc. as a carbon source, and urea, ammonia, ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, nitrates, etc. as a nitrogen source. Phosphate, potassium, and magnesium sources can also be ordinary industrial raw materials such as superphosphate, ammonium phosphate, potassium chloride, potassium hydroxide, magnesium sulfate, and magnesium chloride, and inorganic salts such as zinc, copper, manganese, and iron ions may also be added. In addition, cultivation is possible without using vitamins, amino acids, nucleic acid-related substances, etc., but these may be added. Organic substances such as corn steam liquor, casein, yeast extract, meat extract, and peptone may also be added. Commercially available dried yeast may also be used.

[0016] Culture conditions such as culture temperature and pH can be applied without particular restrictions and should be set according to the yeast strain being used. Generally, the culture temperature is 21 to 37°C, preferably 25 to 34°C, and the pH is 3.0 to 8.0, particularly preferably 3.5 to 7.0.

[0017] The culture method of this invention may be either batch culture or continuous culture, but the latter is industrially preferable. There are no particular restrictions on conditions such as stirring and aeration during culture, and general methods may be used.

[0018] Enzymatic treatment is performed on the yeast cells after bacterial culture. After moist yeast cells have been cultured, they are washed by suspending them in distilled water and repeatedly centrifuging them, and then treated with enzymes. In this invention, enzyme treatment may be performed directly after bacterial culture, but in this invention, yeast cell residue after extracting yeast extract by hot water extraction, enzyme extraction, acid or alkaline extraction, or a combination thereof may also be used. Any method of yeast extract extraction can be adopted, but in this invention, since the yeast extract has reduced levels of acidic amino acids, which are abundant in yeast, it is preferable to use yeast cells from which acidic amino acids have been extracted beforehand. If using hot water extraction, the pH is adjusted to 7.0 to 8.5, and the extract is extracted by heating and stirring at 50 to 90°C for 10 to 60 minutes. pH adjustment can be done by the usual method. After washing, centrifuge is performed again. The precipitate obtained by centrifugation (yeast cell residue) is resuspended and enzyme treatment is performed. For resuspending, the cell concentration is 5 to 30%, preferably 10 to 20%, on a dry weight basis by resuspending in distilled water.

[0019] In this invention, either only protease may be applied to the yeast cells, or protease and glucanase may be used in combination to efficiently decompose the yeast.

[0020] Protease acts on proteins to produce amino acids. As the protease to be used, neutral protease derived from Aspergillus melleus is preferred. Such an enzyme may be a commercially available enzyme, for example, protease preparation "Protease P "Amano" 3SD" manufactured by Amano Enzyme Co., Ltd. can be exemplified. The method of enzyme treatment may adopt the optimum conditions of the enzyme. However, in the case of the above-mentioned commercially available enzyme, the yeast suspension is adjusted to pH 4 to 7, preferably pH 5 to 6, and at 25 to 75 °C, preferably 30 to 50 °C, and the enzyme is added at 0.05 to 2%, preferably 0.1 to 1% based on the weight of the yeast cells, and reacted for 1 to 30 hours, preferably 10 to 15 hours.

[0021] In the present invention, only protease may be used, but in order to more efficiently decompose yeast, a yeast cell wall-lysing enzyme may also be used. As the yeast cell wall-lysing enzyme, glucanase can be preferably adopted. Furthermore, as the yeast cell wall-lysing enzyme used in the present invention, it is particularly preferable to use glucanase not containing protease. There is no particular limitation as long as it is glucanase not containing protease, but as such a commercially available enzyme, "Denazyme GEL" (manufactured by Nagase ChemteX) can be exemplified. The reaction conditions may be the optimum conditions of the cell wall-lysing enzyme used. In addition, the cell wall-lysing enzyme is preferably used simultaneously with the neutral protease derived from Aspergillus melleus in the previous step.

[0022] After the enzyme reaction, if necessary, an enzyme inactivation treatment is performed. Usually, the enzyme is inactivated by heating at 90 to 10 °C for 10 to 60 minutes.

[0023] <| After enzyme inactivation, in the present invention, solid-liquid separation is not performed, and it can be used as it is as a yeast seasoning. If necessary, it may be powdered by concentration and drying. [[ID=|13]]

[0024] The present invention can be used as an ordinary yeast seasoning. There is no particular limitation on the food and drink that can be used, and various foods, drinks, or processed food and drinks such as sauces, soups, livestock and fishery products can be mentioned.

[0025] The amount of yeast seasoning in food and beverages is generally 0.01 to 5% by weight, preferably 0.03 to 2% by weight, and more preferably 0.05 to 1% by weight. Within this range, the flavor of food and beverages can be naturally enhanced. Adding less than 0.01% makes it difficult to observe the effect of flavor modification, and adding more than 5% makes the flavor of the yeast seasoning itself noticeable, which is also undesirable from a cost perspective.

[0026] In this invention, amino acids were analyzed using the L-8900 high-speed amino acid analyzer (manufactured by Hitachi High-Tech Corporation). [Examples]

[0027] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0028] <Example 1> 1000 mL of a 10% bacterial suspension of Candida utilis strain Cs7529 (FERMP-3340) was heated in boiling water for 15 minutes, and then 200 g of bacterial cells were obtained by centrifugation to remove the extract components. The bacterial cells were then resuspended in a 10% solution to obtain 600 g, and treated with a commercially available protease preparation, "Protease P6SD" (manufactured by Amano Enzyme), and a glucanase preparation, "Denazyme GEL" (manufactured by Nagase Chemtex), at pH 6.0, 50°C, for 15 hours. Subsequently, after 15 minutes of inactivation, the mixture was concentrated and spray-dried to obtain 51 g of yeast seasoning powder. The obtained yeast seasoning had an acidic amino acid content of 1.5%, an inosinic acid + guanylic acid content of 0%, and a non-acidic amino acid content of 15%.

[0029] <Example 2> A sensory evaluation was conducted by adding 0.1g by weight of the yeast extract from Example 1 to a 100g by weight solution of commercially available bonito broth with a solid content of 1%.

[0030] <Comparative Example 1> Similar to Example 2, a sensory evaluation of "Kōmi ET" (manufactured by Mitsubishi Corporation Life Sciences) was conducted. Kōmi ET contained 1.5% acidic amino acids, 5.1% inosinic acid + guanylic acid, and 8.5% non-acidic amino acids.

[0031] <Comparative Example 2> A sensory evaluation of "Azilex NH" (manufactured by Mitsubishi Corporation Life Sciences) was conducted in the same manner as in Example 2. The acidic amino acid content of Azilex NH was 0%, the inosinic acid + guanylic acid content was 0%, and the non-acidic amino acid content was 0.1%.

[0032] <Comparative Example 3> A sensory evaluation of "Vertex IG20" (manufactured by Fuji Foods Industry Co., Ltd.) was conducted in the same manner as in Example 2. The amino acid content of Vertex IG20 was 5.1%, the inosinic acid + guanylic acid content was 20.1%, and the non-acidic amino acid content was 3.5%.

[0033] The results of the sensory evaluation are shown in Table 1. [Table 1] [Industrial applicability]

[0034] The seasonings obtained by the manufacturing method of the present invention can be used in the same way as general protein hydrolysates and yeast extracts, and can be used, for example, as ingredients in soy sauce, soup bases, broths, and sauces, or as seasonings in processed foods. They can also be used as culture media for microbial fermentation, fertilizers, and animal feed.

Claims

[Claim 1] A method for producing a yeast composition comprising the step of subjecting Candida utilis strain Cs7529 (FERM BP-1656) to the action of a neutral protease derived from Aspergillus melleus, wherein the yeast composition has a content of 2% or less of the acidic amino acids glutamic acid and aspartic acid, a content of 3% or less of inosinic acid and guanylic acid, and a content of 12% or more of non-acidic amino acids.

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