Refrigerated cooked pasta food product

Abstract

To provide a refrigerated cooked pasta food product intended to inhibit pasta quality deterioration during chilled / refrigerated storage.SOLUTION: A refrigerated cooked pasta food product is one in which a refrigerated pasta with a sauce attached to a surface thereof is accommodated in a container. The sauce contains 5-30 mass% of dextrin whose DE value is less than 5. A moisture content of the cooked pasta is 55-70 mass%. A moisture content of the sauce is preferably 60-75 mass%. The dextrin whose DE value is 5 or less is preferably highly branched-chain cyclic dextrin.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cooked, refrigerated pasta food product that is stored refrigerated in a ready-to-eat state. [Background technology]

[0002] Pasta, such as spaghetti and macaroni, has a unique chewy texture among noodles and is a popular food that goes well with various sauces. Pasta is boiled and then eaten with sauce, but boiling generally requires more than 10 minutes in boiling water, which wastes a lot of energy when cooking for one person. In recent years, there has been a strong trend toward individual meals, and in order to reduce such waste, pasta foods that are pre-cooked and packed in containers with sauce are commercially available. On the other hand, noodles, including pasta, tend to become soggy over time after cooking, which reduces their quality. In addition, if boiled noodles are stored in contact with sauce, moisture will transfer from the sauce to the noodles, which can further reduce the quality of the noodles.

[0003] Examples of cooked pasta foods that are commercially available in a state where the boiled pasta and sauce are in contact with each other include retort foods, in which cooked pasta and sauce are sealed in a heat-resistant container and sterilized at high temperatures, frozen foods, in which cooked pasta and sauce are frozen together, and chilled or refrigerated foods, in which cooked pasta and sauce are sealed in a plastic or other container. Of these, chilled or refrigerated foods have inferior long-term storage properties compared to retort or frozen foods, but have the advantage that the pasta and sauce are sold in an attractive arrangement, making it easy for customers to directly see and check the food when purchasing. In recent years, distribution methods at refrigerated temperatures and display methods in stores have developed, and opportunities to sell chilled or refrigerated foods have increased.

[0004] Regarding quality improvement of cooked refrigerated pasta foods, Patent Document 1 describes a refrigerated pasta set that includes semi-dried pasta noodles boiled for 30 to 50% of the standard boiling time, and a refrigerated pasta sauce that has a water content 5 to 25% higher by mass than usual. Patent Document 2 describes a method for producing boiled noodles, which is characterized by contacting boiled noodles with a carbohydrate containing maltooligosaccharides and / or their reducing sugars, and a coating liquid containing water-soluble polysaccharides, and then placing the noodles in a container. Patent Document 3 describes a method for producing cooked retort food of noodles, which is characterized by heat sterilizing boiled noodles in a seasoning liquid containing 30 to 35% by weight of DE4 to 8 dextrin. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2006-197919 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2008-17746 A [Patent Document 3] JP 2019-71838 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The improvement techniques described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 all aim to improve the quality of cooked noodles, but there is still room for improvement in the quality of cooked refrigerated pasta foods, and foods of higher quality are desired.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a cooked, refrigerated pasta food product in which deterioration of the quality of the pasta during refrigerated storage is suppressed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention relates to a cooked, refrigerated pasta food product in which cooked pasta having a sauce on its surface is contained in a container, the sauce containing 5 to 30% by mass of dextrin having a DE value of less than 5, and the cooked pasta having a moisture content of 55 to 70% by mass. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a cooked, refrigerated pasta food product in which deterioration of the quality of pasta during refrigerated storage is suppressed and the good texture of the cooked pasta is maintained. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] The cooked refrigerated pasta food of the present invention is a container in which cooked pasta with sauce on the surface is stored in a refrigerator for storage. The container is not particularly limited as long as it is capable of storing this type of cooked food, and examples of the container include plastic, metal, and ceramic containers. Since the present invention deals with food that is stored in a refrigerator, it is not necessary to ensure the highest possible performance in terms of airtightness and sealing, as long as this does not deteriorate the quality of the food or affect its preservation. From the viewpoints of the cost and variety of containers, and of storing cooked refrigerated pasta food in an attractive manner, it is preferable to use a plastic container.

[0011] The cooked pasta contained in the cooked refrigerated pasta food of the present invention is pasta that has been boiled, and the pasta to be boiled may be fresh pasta or dried pasta. Fresh pasta is pasta that has been produced by preparing pasta dough from pasta ingredients in a conventional manner and molding it into various pasta shapes, and is not dried after molding, and has a moisture content of about 38 to 46% by mass when uncooked. Dried pasta is fresh pasta that has been dried, and has a moisture content of about 10 to 15% by mass when uncooked.

[0012] The type of pasta is not particularly limited, and commonly consumed pasta such as long pasta, short pasta, and sheet pasta can be used. Specific examples of long pasta include spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, and bucatini. Specific examples of short pasta include macaroni, penne, rigatoni, fusilli, conchiglie, farfalle, ravioli, and tortelli. Specific examples of sheet pasta include lasagna.

[0013] The above-mentioned pasta can be boiled by a conventional method, typically by putting the pasta into a large amount of hot water and cooking it. The cooked pasta contained in the cooked refrigerated pasta food of the present invention has a water content of 55 to 70% by mass, preferably 57 to 67% by mass, and more preferably 59 to 65% by mass, and the pasta is boiled so as to have such a water content. If the water content is less than 55% by mass, the texture of the cooked pasta may be too hard. On the other hand, if the water content exceeds 70% by mass, the texture of the cooked pasta may be too soft.

[0014] In this specification, the moisture content of cooked pasta is calculated according to the following <Method of calculating moisture content>. The moisture content of the sauce, which will be described later, is also calculated according to the following <Method of calculating moisture content>. <How to calculate moisture content> First, the mass of the measurement sample (cooked pasta or sauce) is measured. Next, the measurement sample is dried at 80°C for 12 hours according to the bone drying method, and the mass of the dried measurement sample is measured. The difference in mass before and after drying is taken as the moisture mass, and the moisture mass relative to the mass of the measurement sample before drying is calculated as a percentage, and this value is taken as the moisture content of the measurement sample.

[0015] The sauce used in the cooked refrigerated pasta food of the present invention may be any sauce that can be eaten with pasta, and the type is not particularly limited. Specific examples of sauces include tomato sauces such as tomato sauce, meat sauce, Neapolitan sauce, and Arrabiata sauce; white sauces such as white sauce, cheese sauce, and carbonara sauce; and brown sauces such as demi-glace sauce and brown sauce. As raw materials for sauces, those that can be used as raw materials for this type of sauce can be used without any particular limitation, and examples include vegetables such as onion, garlic, and green onion; aromatic vegetables such as bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano, and sage; natural spices such as vegetable extracts, meat extracts, and dried herbs, salt, pepper, dairy ingredients, sugars, starches, grain flours, various seasonings, solid soups, oils and fats, and water, and these can be used in combination depending on the type of sauce, etc.

[0016] The sauce used in the present invention contains dextrin with a DE (dextrose equivalent) value of less than 5, preferably a DE value of 1 to less than 4. Any dextrin that can be used for food can be used, and commercially available dextrins can be used. Dextrin is made by depolymerizing starch, and the DE value represents the number of reducing ends per 100 glucose molecules that constitute the dextrin, and is a relative measure of the degree of depolymerization. The closer the DE value is to 0, the closer the characteristics are to starch, and the closer the DE value is to 100, the closer the characteristics are to glucose. Note that using cyclodextrin, in which linear glucose is cyclic, as the dextrin is not preferred because it is difficult to obtain the desired effect and the flavor of the sauce is reduced.

[0017] It is preferable that the dextrin with a DE value of less than 5 is a highly branched cyclic dextrin, since this prevents stickiness caused by the incorporation of dextrin. Highly branched cyclic dextrin is a dextrin obtained by treating starch with a branching enzyme (branching enzyme that causes a sugar transfer reaction), and the dextrin molecule has a partially cyclic structure (a highly branched cyclic structure, a structure different from cyclodextrin). Highly branched cyclic dextrin is commercially available, and for example, Cluster Dextrin (registered trademark) available from Glico Nutrition Foods Co., Ltd. can be used.

[0018] The content of dextrin having a DE value of less than 5 contained in the sauce used in the present invention is 5 to 30% by mass, preferably 8 to 25% by mass, and more preferably 10 to 21% by mass, based on the total mass of the sauce. If it is less than 5% by mass, the effect may not be sufficient, and if it exceeds 30% by mass, the stickiness of the dextrin may make the texture of the pasta hard.

[0019] Dextrin having a DE value of less than 5 may be added at any stage in the production process of a sauce. For example, it may be added appropriately during the production process together with regular sauce production ingredients to obtain a sauce, or the sauce may be produced in advance using ingredients other than dextrin and then the dextrin may be added.

[0020] In the present invention, the water content of the sauce containing dextrin having a DE value of less than 5 is preferably 60 to 75% by mass, more preferably 63 to 72% by mass. By adjusting the water content of the sauce in this range, the effect can be further improved. In this specification, the water content of the sauce is the value calculated by the above-mentioned <Method of calculating water content>.

[0021] In addition, the sauce in the present invention refers to a liquid or paste-like fluidity at room temperature and normal pressure. For example, when solid matter such as ingredients described later is mixed in the sauce, such as meat sauce, the portion excluding the solid matter is the sauce in the present invention. Therefore, when determining the dextrin content in the sauce and the moisture content of the sauce, as well as the mass ratio of cooked pasta to the sauce described later, if solid matter is mixed in the sauce, these values ​​are determined for the sauce in a state in which the solid matter has been removed. To remove solid matter from the sauce, specifically, for example, the sauce and solid matter in the mixed state can be passed through a sieve with a mesh size of 5 mm, and the sauce can be placed on the sieve and left for 5 minutes, and the fraction that falls under the sieve due to its own weight can be used as the sauce.

[0022] The cooked refrigerated pasta food of the present invention can be produced by placing the cooked pasta described above with sauce applied to its surface in a container. There is no particular limitation on how the sauce is applied to the surface of the cooked pasta, and it can be selected according to the desired form of the pasta food. Specifically, the sauce may be applied to the surface of the cooked pasta by entangling the entire cooked pasta with the sauce, as in the case of Neapolitan spaghetti, or the sauce may be applied to the surface of the cooked pasta by placing the sauce on top of the cooked pasta, as in the case of spaghetti with meat sauce.

[0023] In the cooked refrigerated pasta food product of the present invention, the mass ratio of the pasta to the sauce is not particularly limited, but an amount that can fully obtain the effects of the present invention and is suitable for consumption is a mass ratio (former:latter) of 5:1 to 1:4, preferably 4:1 to 1:3.

[0024] The cooked refrigerated pasta food product of the present invention may further contain other ingredients in addition to the cooked pasta and sauce. The other ingredients include ingredients and toppings. The type of ingredients is not particularly limited, and meat, seafood, vegetables (root vegetables, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, etc.) can be used depending on the type of sauce and the desired flavor and texture.

[0025] The cooked, refrigerated pasta food of the present invention is housed in a container and refrigerated. The container is as described above, and the cooked, refrigerated pasta food of the present invention is refrigerated together with the container. The refrigeration temperature is 0°C to 15°C, preferably 1°C to 12°C, and the pasta food can be refrigerated using a standard refrigeration device. When eating, the pasta food may be taken out of the refrigeration device and then heated in a microwave oven or the like before eating. EXAMPLES

[0026] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. In the following examples, "%" is by weight unless otherwise specified.

[0027] [Examples 1 to 5, Comparative Examples 1 to 2] A cooked, refrigerated pasta food (cooked, refrigerated spaghetti with tomato sauce) was produced using commercially available dried spaghetti (long pasta) and commercially available tomato sauce according to the following procedure. A predetermined amount of dried spaghetti was boiled while adjusting the boiling time appropriately to obtain cooked spaghetti with the moisture content shown in Table 1. Separately, dextrin was added to a commercially available tomato sauce according to the sauce formulation shown in Table 1, and the mixture was thoroughly stirred. The moisture content was then adjusted by adding water or by evaporating the water by heating to obtain a dextrin-containing sauce having the moisture content shown in Table 1. The moisture content of the cooked spaghetti and sauce was measured according to the above-mentioned <Method of determining moisture content>. The dextrins used are as follows: Dextrin (DE value 7): Sanwa Starch's Sandeck #70FN Dextrin (DE value 4): Matsutani Chemical Industry Pine Index #100 Dextrin (DE value 3.5): Sanwa Starch Sandeck #100 Cluster Dextrin (registered trademark) (DE value 3): Highly branched cyclic dextrin made by Glico Nutrition Foods

[0028] Next, 100 g of the cooked spaghetti and 100 g of the dextrin-containing sauce were placed in a commercially available heat-resistant polypropylene container, mixed thoroughly to thoroughly attach the sauce to the surface of the cooked spaghetti, and the container was covered to obtain cooked spaghetti with tomato sauce. This was then placed in a refrigerator and refrigerated at 5° C. to obtain a cooked, refrigerated pasta food (cooked, refrigerated spaghetti with tomato sauce).

[0029] [Test Example 1] The cooked refrigerated pasta foods of each Example and Comparative Example were stored at 5°C for 24 hours, then removed from the refrigerator and heated in a microwave oven at 600W for 2 minutes. The resulting spaghetti with tomato sauce was eaten by 10 expert panelists, who evaluated the texture of the spaghetti according to the following evaluation criteria. The results are shown in Table 1 as the average of the 10 panelists.

[0030] <Spaghetti texture evaluation criteria> 5 points: Elastic and chewy, comparable to freshly boiled spaghetti, very good. 4 points: Elastic and chewy, not as good as freshly boiled spaghetti, but still good. 3 points: Slightly too soft or slightly too hard, but acceptable. 2 points: A little too soft or a little too hard, defective. 1 point: Too soft or too hard, very poor.

[0031] [Table 1]

[0032] [Examples 6 to 11 and Comparative Examples 3 to 4] Except for changing the blending amount of dextrin as shown in Table 2, cooked refrigerated pasta foods were produced in the same manner as in Example 2 and evaluated in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 2. Note that Table 2 also lists the results of Example 2.

[0033] [Table 2]

[0034] [Examples 12 to 17 and Comparative Examples 5 to 6] Except for adjusting the boiling time of the dried spaghetti and changing the water content of the cooked pasta as shown in Table 3, cooked refrigerated pasta foods were produced in the same manner as in Example 8 and evaluated in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 3. Note that Table 3 also lists the results of Example 8.

[0035] [Table 3]

[0036] [Examples 18 to 23] Except for changing the water content of the sauce as shown in Table 4, cooked refrigerated pasta foods were produced in the same manner as in Example 8 and evaluated in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 4. Note that Table 4 also lists the results of Example 8.

[0037] [Table 4]

[0038] [Examples 24 to 29] Except for keeping the total mass of the cooked pasta and sauce at 200 g and changing the mass ratio of the cooked pasta to the sauce as shown in Table 5, cooked refrigerated pasta foods were produced in the same manner as in Example 8 and evaluated in the same manner as in Test Example 1. The results are shown in Table 5. Note that Table 5 also lists the results of Example 8.

[0039] [Table 5]

Claims

1. This cooked, refrigerated pasta food is a container containing cooked pasta with a sauce on its surface, the sauce containing 5 to 30% by mass of dextrin having a DE value of less than 5, and the cooked pasta having a moisture content of 55 to 70% by mass.

2. 2. The cooked refrigerated pasta food according to claim 1, wherein the moisture content of the sauce is 60 to 75% by weight.

3. 3. The cooked refrigerated pasta food according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mass ratio of the cooked pasta to the sauce is from 5:1 to 1:

4.

4. 3. The cooked, refrigerated pasta food product according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the dextrin having a DE value of 5 or less is a highly branched cyclic dextrin.