Preparation method and application of freshly steamed sea cucumber

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of food processing, and particularly relates to a preparation method and application of freshly-steamed sea cucumbers, a processing technology of the freshly-steamed sea cucumbers is innovatively developed by optimizing an enzyme deactivation technology, removing a salting technology and postprocessing a curing technology, the nutrient retention rate of sea cucumber products is remarkably increased, and the fresh-steamed sea cucumbers are prepared. Wide application prospects are realized in the aspect of improving the nutrition of the sea cucumbers.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of food processing, and particularly relates to a preparation method and application of fresh-steamed sea cucumbers. Background Art

[0002] Sea cucumbers have a long history of consumption in China. Xie Zhaozhe's "Wuzazu" during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty recorded the origin of the name of sea cucumbers: "Its nature is warm and tonic, comparable to ginseng, so it is called sea cucumber." Sea cucumbers got their name because of their tonic effect. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that sea cucumbers have the effects of tonifying the kidney and replenishing essence, replenishing qi and nourishing blood, etc., and can enhance energy, regulate immunity, and strengthen the body. Modern scientific research has also found that active ingredients in sea cucumbers, such as sea cucumber saponins, polysaccharides, chondroitin, etc., have physiological functions such as anti-aging and anti-cancer. With the popularization of knowledge about the nutritional value of sea cucumbers, they have gradually become common ingredients on the tables of ordinary people.

[0003] There are various enzymes in sea cucumbers. These enzymes will be activated under specific conditions, resulting in the decomposition of components such as proteins and polysaccharides, thus triggering the "self-digestion" phenomenon. Affected by the seasonal harvesting of sea cucumbers and their "self-digestion" characteristics, under traditional processes, after harvesting fresh sea cucumbers, they need to be immediately blanched at high temperature to inactivate the enzymes, and then processed into salted sea cucumbers for preservation. Subsequently, according to production requirements, the salted sea cucumbers can be further processed into two types of products: one type is products that retain the original form, such as dried sea cucumbers, freeze-dried sea cucumbers, quick-frozen sea cucumbers, frozen ready-to-eat sea cucumbers, fresh stewed sea cucumbers, fresh-steamed sea cucumbers, etc.; the other type is non-original form products such as sea cucumber powder, sea cucumber oral liquid, sea cucumber peptides, etc.

[0004] Dried sea cucumbers, ready-to-eat sea cucumbers, and fresh stewed sea cucumbers are the main types of existing sea cucumber products. Among them, dried sea cucumbers adopt the most traditional processing method. After consumers buy dried sea cucumbers, they need to complete a series of operations such as screening, soaking, and processing by themselves to meet the eating requirements, and the soaking process is extremely cumbersome and complex. Compared with dried sea cucumbers, although ready-to-eat sea cucumbers and fresh stewed sea cucumbers solve the problem of soaking and are more convenient to eat, due to the long-time high-temperature boiling and flavoring process, their nutritional retention rate is relatively low. At the same time, after existing sea cucumber products are blanched at high temperature to inactivate the enzymes, they also need to undergo a boiling process, and after the boiling process is completed, they are packaged and sterilized, further leading to the loss of sea cucumber nutrition and a further reduction in the retention rate.

[0005] Proteins and saponins are important nutrients in sea cucumbers. According to the reports of previous studies, the total nutritional loss rate of fresh sea cucumbers after blanching in boiling water is as high as 30%; after blanching combined with boiling (or blanching combined with steaming and boiling), the protein content of sea cucumbers decreases from 51.56% to 24.75% - 30.14%, and the saponin content decreases from 0.97% to 0.19% - 0.22%.

[0006] Therefore, how to prepare sea cucumber products that are both convenient for immediate consumption and have a high nutritional retention rate is still an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In view of the deficiencies of the prior art, the inventor speculated that the 100°C high-temperature blanching to inactivate enzymes, salting, and the long-time high-temperature boiling and cooking before packaging commonly used in traditional sea cucumber processing techniques might be the main reasons for the loss of sea cucumber nutrition.

[0008] Based on the above problems, the present invention aims to propose a preparation method for fresh-steamed sea cucumbers. By optimizing the enzyme inactivation process, removing the salting process, and postponing the cooking process (i.e., performing the integrated cooking and sterilization process after sea cucumber packaging), a processing technique for fresh-steamed sea cucumbers has been innovatively developed, which better locks in the nutrition of sea cucumbers and solves the problem of low nutrient retention rate in sea cucumber products.

[0009] To achieve the above object, on the one hand, the present invention provides a preparation method for low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers with improved nutrient retention rate. The preparation method includes the following steps:

[0010] S1. Dissect the live sea cucumber and remove its internal organs;

[0011] S2. Blanch and inactivate enzymes at 60°C to 85°C for 10 - 30 minutes, and cool to room temperature to obtain low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers.

[0012] Further, the low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers can be subjected to subsequent processing; if no further processing is to be carried out temporarily, they need to be stored at -20°C;

[0013] Further, there is no salting step in the preparation method.

[0014] Further, the nutrients include protein or saponin.

[0015] On the second aspect, the present invention provides a preparation method for fresh-steamed sea cucumbers with improved nutrient retention rate. The preparation method includes the following steps:

[0016] S1. Dissect the live sea cucumber and remove its internal organs;

[0017] S2. Blanch and inactivate enzymes at 60°C to 85°C for 10 - 30 minutes, and cool to room temperature to obtain low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers; for example, the temperature for blanching and inactivating enzymes is 60°C, 65°C, 70°C, 75°C, 80°C or 85°C, and the time for blanching and inactivating enzymes is 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 25 minutes or 30 minutes.

[0018] S3. After the low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers prepared in step S2 are hermetically packaged, they are steamed, cooked, sterilized at 105°C to 121°C for 5 - 30 min to obtain the fresh-steamed sea cucumbers; for example, the temperature for steaming, cooking, and sterilizing is 105°C, 106°C, 107°C, 108°C, 109°C, 110°C, 111°C, 112°C, 113°C, 114°C, 115°C, 116°C, 117°C, 118°C, 119°C, 120°C, or 121°C; the time for steaming, cooking, and sterilizing is 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 20 min, 25 min, or 30 min.

[0019] Further, there is no salting step in the preparation method.

[0020] Further, step S2 further includes the step of removing the sand mouth.

[0021] Even further, after removing the sand mouth, there is further a rinsing step.

[0022] Further, after removing the internal organs in step S1, there is further a rinsing step.

[0023] Further, the nutrient includes protein or saponin.

[0024] In a third aspect, the present invention provides the application of the described preparation method in improving the retention rate of nutrients in sea cucumbers.

[0025] Further, the nutrient includes protein or saponin.

[0026] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages

[0027] (1) The present invention optimizes the enzyme inactivation process in the pretreatment of live sea cucumbers, reduces the traditional enzyme inactivation temperature from 100°C to 60°C - 85°C, and at the same time omits the salting process, and it is found that the nutrient retention rate of the prepared low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers is significantly improved.

[0028] (2) The present invention places the sea cucumber finished product cooking process later, changes the traditional low-temperature long-time cooking before packaging (for example, cooking and sterilizing at 95 - 100°C for 60 - 90 min) to high-temperature short-time cooking and sterilizing treatment after packaging (steaming, cooking, and sterilizing at 105°C - 121°C for 5 - 30 min), and it is found that the optimized process sequence and specific steaming, cooking, and sterilizing process conditions not only simplify the preparation steps, but also can improve the nutrient retention rate of the prepared fresh-steamed sea cucumbers.

[0029] (3) The present invention detects the protein and saponin in the sea cucumber raw materials and finished products after different process treatments, and compares the nutrient retention of sea cucumbers under different process treatments, aiming to provide a basis for the process development of fresh-steamed sea cucumbers. Description of the Drawings

[0030] Figure 1 The preparation method of fresh-steamed sea cucumbers in Example 3 of the present invention Specific embodiments

[0031] The concept of the present invention and the technical effects produced are further elaborated below in conjunction with specific embodiments to fully understand the purpose, features and effects of the present invention. The methods are all conventional methods unless otherwise specified. The materials can all be obtained from public commercial channels unless otherwise specified. The illustrative embodiments of the present invention and their descriptions are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute an improper limitation of the present invention. It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments in the present invention and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0032] All the live sea cucumbers (Apostichopus japonicus Selenka) used in this experiment were purchased from Wafangdian, Dalian, Liaoning Province, and their weights were not less than 140 g.

[0033] Since there are differences in the nutrient content among different sea cucumber individuals, the nutrient retention rate (instead of the nutrient content) was used as a measurement index in the experiment to reduce the influence brought by the differences in the original nutrients of sea cucumbers.

[0034] Example 1 Screening of the enzyme inactivation temperature in the preparation of low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers

[0035] The live sea cucumbers were cut open along the ventral line, and the internal organs were removed and rinsed; the rinsed live sea cucumbers were evenly divided into several equal parts. One part was not blanched and directly stored at -20°C for later measurement; another 9 parts were blanched and inactivated at 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100°C for 30 min respectively. After blanching, they were placed at room temperature, the sand mouths were removed and rinsed, and then the raw materials of different treatment groups were obtained and stored at -20°C for later measurement.

[0036] The protein content in the unblanched sea cucumbers and the sea cucumber treatment groups blanched at different temperatures was detected. It was found that at the enzyme inactivation temperature of 40°C, the protein retention rate of sea cucumbers was only 57.69%; within the enzyme inactivation temperature range of 45 - 55°C, the protein retention rate of sea cucumbers increased to 66.24% - 76.92%; when the enzyme inactivation temperature was raised to 100°C again, the protein retention rate of sea cucumbers showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. The protein retention rates at the enzyme inactivation temperatures of 60°C, 70°C, 80°C, 90°C, and 100°C were 89.74%, 90.17%, 85.47%, 81.20%, and 77.34% respectively. The protein retention rate of sea cucumbers at the enzyme inactivation temperature of 85°C was studied and found to be 88.15%, indicating that the protein retention rate of sea cucumbers at the enzyme inactivation temperature of 60°C - 85°C was all above 85%. Therefore, 60°C - 85°C was selected as the enzyme inactivation temperature in the processing of low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers. The protein retention rates of the low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers obtained after blanching at different temperatures are shown in Table 1.

[0037] Table 1 Protein retention rate in sea cucumbers after blanching at different temperatures

[0038]

[0039] Example 2 Preparation of low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers

[0040] Open the live sea cucumber along the ventral line, remove the internal organs and rinse; blanch the rinsed live sea cucumber at 85°C for 30 min to inactivate enzymes. After blanching, let it cool to room temperature, remove the sand mouth and rinse to obtain low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers.

[0041] Example 3 Preparation of fresh-steamed sea cucumbers

[0042] Seal and package the low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers prepared in Example 2, then steam and sterilize them at 110°C for 30 min. After that, store them at 0 - 4°C for further testing.

[0043] Example 4 Preparation of fresh-steamed sea cucumbers

[0044] Seal and package the low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers prepared in Example 2, then steam and sterilize them at 105°C for 20 min. After that, store them at 0 - 4°C for further testing.

[0045] Example 5 Preparation of fresh-steamed sea cucumbers

[0046] Seal and package the low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers prepared in Example 2, then steam and sterilize them at 121°C for 5 min. After that, store them at 0 - 4°C for further testing.

[0047] Comparative Example 1 Preparation of salted sea cucumbers

[0048] Open the live sea cucumber along the ventral line, remove the internal organs and rinse; blanch the rinsed live sea cucumber at 100°C for 30 min to inactivate enzymes. After blanching, let it cool to room temperature, salt it in the way of one layer of sea cucumbers and one layer of salt. After salting, remove the sand mouth and rinse, then desalt it 3 times at 4°C to obtain salted sea cucumbers.

[0049] Comparative Example 2 Preparation of salted and fresh-stewed sea cucumbers

[0050] Cook the salted sea cucumbers prepared in Comparative Example 1 at 100°C for 90 min. After cooking, seal and package them, then sterilize them at 100°C for 20 min. After that, store them at 0 - 4°C for further testing.

[0051] Comparative Example 3 Preparation of salted ready-to-eat sea cucumbers

[0052] Cook and sterilize the salted sea cucumbers prepared in Comparative Example 1 at 100°C for 90 min, then soak them at 0 - 4°C for 48 - 72 h. After soaking, seal and package them, then store them at -20°C for further testing.

[0053] Comparative Example 4 Preparation of home-cooked samples of salted dried sea cucumbers

[0054] The salted sea cucumbers prepared in Comparative Example 1 were subjected to cold air drying to obtain dried sea cucumbers, and then rehydrated and softened, sand mouths removed, washed in a manner simulating home cooking, cooked at 100 °C for 90 min, soaked and developed at 0-4 °C for 48-72 h, sealed and packaged, and stored at -20 °C for testing.

[0055] Preparation of the fresh stewed sea cucumbers in Comparative Example 5

[0056] The low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers prepared in Example 2 were cooked at 100 °C for 90 min, sealed and packaged after cooking, sterilized at 100 °C for 20 min, and then stored at 0-4 °C for testing.

[0057] Preparation of the ready-to-eat sea cucumbers in Comparative Example 6

[0058] The low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers prepared in Example 2 were cooked and sterilized at 100 °C for 90 min, soaked and developed at 0-4 °C for 48-72 h, sealed and packaged after soaking and development, and stored at -20 °C for testing.

[0059] Preparation of the dry sea cucumber home cooking samples in Comparative Example 7

[0060] The low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers prepared in Example 2 were subjected to cold air drying to obtain dried sea cucumbers, and then rehydrated and softened, sand mouths removed, washed in a manner simulating home cooking, cooked at 100 °C for 90 min, soaked and developed at 0-4 °C for 48-72 h, sealed and packaged, and stored at -20 °C for testing.

[0061] Performance test method

[0062] 1. Detection of protein

[0063] The detection of protein in sea cucumbers was carried out by the first method in the national standard "GB 5009.5-2016 Determination of protein in foods", the Kjeldahl method.

[0064] 2. Detection of saponins

[0065] The preparation of samples and the saponin detection method refer to the national standard "GB / T 33108-2016 Determination of sea cucumber saponins in sea cucumbers and their products - High performance liquid chromatography method".

[0066] Performance test example 1 Nutrient retention test of different pretreatment (enzyme inactivation) processes

[0067] The comparison of nutrient retention between the low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers prepared in Example 2 and the salted sea cucumbers prepared in Comparative Example 1 is shown in Table 2.

[0068] Table 2 Nutrient comparison between low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers and salted sea cucumbers

[0069]

[0070] It can be seen that the protein content of live sea cucumbers is 4.13 g / 100 g of live sea cucumbers. After being processed by the low-temperature fresh sea cucumber process, the protein content is 3.64 g / 100 g of live sea cucumbers, and the protein retention rate is 88.14%; while after salting treatment, the protein content decreases from 3.94 g / 100 g of live sea cucumbers to 3.05 g / 100 g of live sea cucumbers, and the protein retention rate is only 77.41%.

[0071] The saponin content of live sea cucumbers is 73.15 mg / kg of live sea cucumbers. After being processed by the low-temperature fresh sea cucumber treatment, the saponin content is 44.62 mg / kg of live sea cucumbers. At this time, the saponin retention rate is relatively high, which is 61.00%; while salting treatment reduces the saponin content of sea cucumbers from 71.95 mg / kg of live sea cucumbers to 14.22 mg / kg of live sea cucumbers, and the saponin retention rate is only 19.76%.

[0072] It can be seen from this that the low-temperature fresh sea cucumber process can better retain the protein and saponin in sea cucumbers and has obvious advantages in terms of nutrient retention. Therefore, the low-temperature fresh sea cucumber preparation method of the present invention has broad application prospects in improving the nutrition of sea cucumber products or sea cucumber raw materials.

[0073] Performance test example 2: Nutrient retention test of different ripening processes

[0074] When the fresh-steamed sea cucumbers prepared in Example 2 are compared with the salted fresh-stewed sea cucumbers, salted ready-to-eat sea cucumbers, salted dried sea cucumbers for home cooking, fresh-stewed sea cucumbers, ready-to-eat sea cucumbers, and dried sea cucumbers for home cooking prepared in Comparative Examples 2-7, and the ripening process is placed after, the nutrient retention comparison with respect to the low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers or salted sea cucumbers before processing is shown in Table 3.

[0075] Table 3: Nutrient comparison results of fresh-steamed sea cucumbers, fresh-stewed sea cucumbers, ready-to-eat sea cucumbers, and dried sea cucumbers for home cooking

[0076]

[0077] The results in Table 3 show that compared with the low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers prepared in Example 2, the protein and saponin retention rates of sea cucumbers after being processed by the fresh-steaming process are as high as 94.74% and 99.21% respectively.

[0078] Compared with the low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers prepared in Example 2, the protein retention rates after being processed by the fresh-stewing process, ready-to-eat process, and dried sea cucumber home cooking process in Comparative Examples 5-7 are all lower than those of the fresh-steaming process.

[0079] Compared with the salted sea cucumbers prepared in Comparative Example 1, although the protein retention rates of sea cucumbers after being processed by the ready-to-eat process and dried sea cucumber home cooking process in Comparative Examples 3-4 are also above 90%, they are still lower than those of the fresh-steaming process, and the saponin retention rates are only 61.46% and 73.15%. In comparison, the protein and saponin retention rates after being processed by the fresh-stewing process are the lowest, which are 81.69% and 49.64% respectively.

[0080] It can be seen from this that the fresh steaming process in Example 3 has little effect on the protein and saponin contents of low-temperature fresh sea cucumbers, and has excellent nutritional retention advantages. However, the preparation methods of fresh stewed sea cucumbers, ready-to-eat sea cucumbers, and dry sea cucumber home cooking samples have all undergone long-term high-temperature treatment during processing, which is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also causes serious nutritional loss. This application places the ripening process at the back, innovates the fresh steaming process, and better retains the nutrients in sea cucumbers.

[0081] Performance Test Example 3 Nutritional Retention Test of Different Sea Cucumber Products

[0082] Calculate the nutritional conditions of the salted fresh stewed sea cucumbers, salted ready-to-eat sea cucumbers, and salted home-cooked sea cucumbers prepared in Example 3 and Comparative Examples 2-4. Compared with the live sea cucumber raw materials, the nutritional retention is shown in Table 4.

[0083] Table 4 Nutritional Comparison Results of Fresh Steamed Sea Cucumbers, Salted Fresh Stewed Sea Cucumbers, Salted Ready-to-Eat Sea Cucumbers and Salted Dry Sea Cucumber Home Cooking Samples

[0084]

[0085] It can be seen that the protein retention rate of fresh steamed sea cucumbers compared to live sea cucumbers is 83.50%, and the saponin retention rate is 60.52%. Compared with live sea cucumbers, the protein retention rates of the salted fresh stewed sea cucumbers, salted ready-to-eat sea cucumbers, and salted dry sea cucumber home cooking samples range from 63.24% to 72.40%, and the saponin retention rates do not exceed 15%.

[0086] It can be calculated that the protein retention rate of fresh steamed sea cucumbers is 1.32 times, 1.15 times, and 1.18 times that of the protein retention rates of the salted fresh stewed sea cucumbers, salted ready-to-eat sea cucumbers, and salted dry sea cucumber home cooking samples respectively; the saponin retention rate of fresh steamed sea cucumbers is 6.17 times, 4.99 times, and 4.19 times that of the saponin retention rates of the salted fresh stewed sea cucumbers, salted ready-to-eat sea cucumbers, and salted dry sea cucumber home cooking samples respectively.

[0087] It can be seen that for sea cucumber products, the present invention optimizes the enzyme inactivation process, omits the salting process, and places the ripening process after packaging. The nutritional retention rate of the prepared fresh steamed sea cucumber products is significantly higher than that of the existing conventional sea cucumber products. Therefore, the preparation method of the fresh steamed sea cucumbers of the present invention has broad application prospects in improving the nutrition of sea cucumber products.

[0088] The above-described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for preparing low-temperature fresh ginseng with improved nutrient retention rate, characterized in that: The preparation method comprises the following steps: S1. Cut open the live sea cucumber and remove the internal organs; S2. Blanch at 60℃~85℃ to inactivate enzyme for 10-30min, cool to room temperature, and obtain low-temperature fresh ginseng; The preparation method does not involve a salting step.

2. The preparation method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The nutrients include protein or saponin.

3. A method for preparing fresh steamed sea cucumbers with improved nutrient retention rate, characterized in that: The preparation method comprises the following steps: S1. Cut open the live sea cucumber and remove the internal organs; S2. Blanch at 60℃~85℃ to inactivate enzymes for 10-30min, cool to room temperature, and obtain low-temperature fresh ginseng; S3. After the low-temperature fresh ginseng obtained in step S2 is sealed and packaged, it is steamed and sterilized at 105 ℃ -121 ℃ for 5-30min to obtain the fresh steamed sea cucumber; The preparation method does not involve a salting step.

4. The preparation method according to claim 3, characterized in that: Step S2 also includes a step of removing the sand spout.

5. The preparation method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises a flushing step after removing the internal organs and / or the sand spout.

6. The preparation method according to any one of claims 4 to 5, characterized in that: The nutrients include protein or saponin.

7. Application of the preparation method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 in improving the retention rate of nutrients in sea cucumbers.

8. The use according to claim 7, characterized in that: The nutrients include protein or saponin.

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