Tea beverage, flavor enhancer for tea beverage, and method for enhancing flavor of tea beverage

Abstract

To provide a tea beverage having an enhanced flavor, a flavor enhancer for a tea beverage, and a method for enhancing the flavor of the tea beverage.SOLUTION: A tea beverage contains: at least one selected from a Camellia tea leaf extract, a cereal extract, and a leaf extract of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis); and Agrimonol B. A flavor enhancer for a tea beverage contains Agrimonol B. A method for enhancing the flavor of a tea beverage includes incorporating Agrimonol B into at least one selected from a Camellia tea leaf extract, a cereal extract, and a leaf extract of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis).SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a tea beverage, a tea beverage flavor enhancer, and a method for enhancing the flavor of a tea beverage.

Background Art

[0002] Various tea beverages have been consumed since ancient times. In recent years, tea beverages are required to have high palatability not only for the purpose of replenishing water, but also for the intensity of bitterness and astringency, and rich umami. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a tea beverage containing malic acid and tartaric acid, which enhances the black tea flavor and astringency. Patent Document 2 proposes a tea beverage containing 10 to 210 mg / L of a salt of pyrroloquinoline quinone per 1 L of tea, which improves the sharpness of the aftertaste and reduces astringency and bitterness.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a tea beverage with enhanced flavor, a tea beverage flavor enhancer, and a method for enhancing the flavor of a tea beverage.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] Means for solving the problems of the present invention are as follows. 1. A tea beverage characterized by containing one or more selected from extracts of tea leaves of the genus Camellia, extracts of grains, and extracts of leaves of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis), and agrimol B. 2. The extract of the tea leaves of the genus Camellia is any one of green tea, oolong tea, black tea, and roasted green tea, The extract of the grain is any one of roasted barley tea, adlay tea, and black soybean tea, The tea beverage according to claim 1, characterized in that it is as described above. 3. A tea beverage flavor enhancer characterized by containing agrimonolide B. 4. A method for enhancing the flavor of a tea beverage, characterized by containing agrimonolide B in one or more selected from the extract of tea leaves of the genus Camellia, the extract of grains, and the extract of the leaves of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis).

Advantages of the Invention

[0006] According to the present invention, a tea beverage with a deep and rich taste can be provided.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0007] In this specification, the notation "A to B" (A and B are numerical values) means a numerical range including both ends. ·Tea Beverage The tea beverage of the present invention contains one or more selected from the extract of tea leaves of the genus Camellia, the extract of grains, and the extract of the leaves of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis), and agrimonolide B. Further, the tea beverage of the present invention has a powdery or granular form that can be used by adding water or hot water during eating or drinking to prepare a ready-to-drink beverage packed in a container or the like.

[0008] Examples of the tea leaves of the genus Camellia include C. sinensis and C. assamica. Examples of the tea beverage extracted from the tea leaves of the genus Camellia include unfermented tea such as green tea, semi-fermented tea such as oolong tea, and fermented tea such as black tea. Examples of the grains include rice, barley, wheat, foxtail millet, rye, oats, buckwheat, sesame, millet, barnyard millet, and proso millet, beans such as soybeans, black soybeans, broad beans, and kidney beans, and buckwheat, sesame, millet, barnyard millet, and proso millet. The extract of the leaves of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) is drunk as so-called rooibos tea. The present invention can use plant extracts extracted from one or more of these. Examples of tea beverages that are plant extracts extracted from two or more include genmaicha, which is an extract of tea leaves and roasted rice.

[0009] <Agrimol B> Agrimol B is a compound shown in Chemical Formula 1 below (molecular weight: 682.75 g / mol). As Agrimol B, those chemically synthesized, or extracted and separated from natural products such as plants and purified as necessary can be used, and they can also be used as a mixture. Commercially available products can also be used.

[0010]

Chemical formula

[0011] As for the chemical synthesis of Agrimol B, it can be synthesized using phloroglucinol or the like as a starting material. For example, it can be synthesized by the method described on pages 431 to 437 of Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica 1989, 24(6), or by the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-335256. In addition, as Agrimol B obtained by synthesis, there are two types, (S)-(+)-Agrimol B and its optical isomer (R)-(-)-Agrimol B. However, as Agrimol B, it may be a single compound composed of any one of these, or a mixture composed of two types.

[0012] From the viewpoint of safety, Agrimol B derived from plants is preferable. The plant containing Agrimonia B is not particularly limited as long as it contains Agrimonia B, but Agrimonia pilosa (scientific name: Agrimonia pilosa, also known as Ryugasou) is preferred. Agrimonia is a perennial plant of the genus Agrimonia in the family Rosaceae, and in Japan, it grows wild on forest edges, fields, roadsides, etc. in Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and other areas. The whole plant of Agrimonia that grows wild or is cultivated can be collected and naturally or heat-dried for use as Agrimonia. Dried Agrimonia that is commercially available as a raw material for herbal medicines, folk remedies, and health foods can also be used. Dried whole Agrimonia plants are commercially available under the herbal name Senkakusou.

[0013] When Agrimole B is derived from a plant, one or more of the following may be used: an extract, an extract obtained by purifying and concentrating the extract, a distillate obtained by steam distillation, grated plants containing Agrimole B, juice squeezed from the grated plants, or powders obtained by solidifying liquids containing Agrimole B by methods such as vacuum concentration, spray drying, or freeze drying. Among these, an extract made from water or an organic solvent, or an extract or dried extract obtained from the extract, is preferred because it contains Agrimole B at a high concentration.

[0014] The extraction can be carried out by a known extraction method using water, various organic solvents, or a mixture thereof as an extraction solvent. Before carrying out the extraction operation, the raw material, either as is or after being roughly chopped, may be washed with a hydrophobic solvent, a hydrophilic solvent, or a mixed solvent to remove unnecessary substances such as pigments. Organic solvents used for washing include lower alcohols (e.g., methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isobutyl, or butyl alcohol, etc.), ketones such as acetone and methyl ethyl ketone, nitriles such as acetonitrile, halogenated hydrocarbons such as dichloromethane and chloroform, ethers such as diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, and petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, hexane, cyclohexane, toluene, and benzene. Furthermore, before carrying out the extraction operation, water may be appropriately added to the raw material to moisten it.

[0015] As the extraction solvent, water, the above-mentioned organic solvents, and mixed solvents thereof can be used. Among these, water, lower alcohols, and mixed solvents of water and lower alcohols are preferred, and ethanol is preferred as the lower alcohol. To perform extraction with water, for example, 0.5 to 10 parts by weight of water can be added to 1 part by weight of the raw material, and extraction can be carried out at 40 to 120 °C for 5 minutes to 2 hours, preferably 10 to 60 minutes, more preferably 10 to 20 minutes. At this time, the extraction efficiency can also be increased by stirring. Also, the extraction can be carried out by heating under reflux. After extraction, filtration or pressing is carried out using a filter cloth, filter, or mesh wire netting, etc. In this case, the working efficiency may be increased by applying pressure. Alternatively, an extract can also be obtained by centrifugation (1000 to 20000 rpm). In order to increase the recovery rate, this extraction and filtration process can be repeated 1 to 5 times.

[0016] To perform extraction with an organic solvent, for example, 0.5 to 10 parts by weight of the organic solvent can be added to 1 part by weight of the raw material, and an extract can be obtained in the same manner as in extraction with water. As the solvent to be used, the above-mentioned organic solvents can be used alone or in combination of two or more, and a water-containing solvent can also be used. In particular, when the raw material is washed with a hydrophobic solvent before extraction to remove unnecessary substances such as pigments, and when the crude extract after extraction is washed with a hydrophobic solvent as described below, water, lower alcohols, and 50 to 80% (v / v) water-containing lower alcohols are preferred as the solvent for extraction, and ethanol is preferred as the lower alcohol. Removal of the solvent can be carried out according to conventional methods such as filtration, centrifugation, and distillation.

[0017] A preferred extraction method from Kinmizuhiki can be carried out, for example, as follows. Collect the whole plant that grows naturally or is cultivated, and use it after natural drying or heat drying. Then, cut it into small pieces and immerse it in about 10 times the amount of water or ethyl alcohol with a water content concentration of 0 to 99.5% (v / v), preferably ethyl alcohol with a water content concentration of 1 to 50%, particularly preferably ethyl alcohol with a water content concentration of 5 to 10% for 3 to 5 days and extract at room temperature, or attach a reflux condenser and extract at 50 to 80°C for 5 to 24 hours, and filter to recover the extract. This extract is dried into an extract by removing water and ethanol using a vacuum drying device such as a rotary evaporator or a freeze dryer.

[0018] Next, concentrate the dried extract. In the concentration process, wash with 0 to 40% ethyl alcohol to remove the 0 to 40% ethyl alcohol-soluble components for concentration. Specifically, wash the dried extract with 0 to 40% ethanol, particularly preferably 10 to 30% ethanol, and remove the 0 to 40% ethanol, particularly preferably 10 to 30% ethanol-soluble components by means such as filtration. Then, use a vacuum drying device such as a rotary evaporator or a freeze dryer to remove water and ethanol from the filtration residue, so that a dried extract with more concentrated agrimol B can be obtained. The concentrated dried extract is redissolved in 50 to 99.5% ethanol, particularly preferably 70 to 90% ethanol, and an excipient used for formulation is added By freeze-drying, a concentrated powder with a desired concentration can be obtained.

[0019] The concentration of agrimonol B in the tea beverage of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is within the range where the effects of the present invention can be achieved. For example, in the case of green tea, the concentration of agrimonol B is preferably 0.0000015 to 0.0005% by mass, more preferably 0.00002% by mass or more, still more preferably 0.00004% by mass or more, and more preferably 0.0004% by mass or less, still more preferably 0.0003% by mass or less. In the case of oolong tea, black tea, or roasted green tea, the concentration of agrimonol B is preferably 0.000004 to 0.0003% by mass, more preferably 0.000008% by mass or more, still more preferably 0.00001% by mass or more, and more preferably 0.0002% by mass or less. In the case of barley tea or black soybean tea, the concentration of agrimonol B is preferably 0.00001 to 0.0003% by mass, more preferably 0.00005% by mass or more, and more preferably 0.00025% by mass or less. In the case of coix seed tea, the concentration of agrimonol B is preferably 0.00001 to 0.0005% by mass, more preferably 0.00005% by mass or more. In the case of rooibos tea, the concentration of agrimonol B is preferably 0.000007 to 0.0003% by mass. The tea beverage of the present invention has enhanced flavor and suppressed flavor deterioration even after long-term storage, so it is preferably a container-packed tea beverage.

[0020] · Tea beverage flavor enhancer The tea beverage flavor enhancer of the present invention contains agrimonol B. As agrimonol B, as described above, one or more of chemically synthesized ones, plant extracts, extract extracts obtained by purifying and concentrating plant extracts, distillates obtained by steam distillation of plants, those obtained by rubbing plants containing agrimonol B, juices squeezed from these rubbed ones, or powders obtained by solidifying these liquids containing agrimonol B by methods such as liquid partial pressure concentration, spray drying, or freeze drying can be used.

[0021] The tea beverage flavor enhancer of the present invention may be a compound, plant extract, extract extract, dry extract, etc. itself, and if necessary, excipients, bulking agents, preservatives / antioxidants, solvents, etc. can be blended to make granules, tablets, liquid preparations, etc.

[0022] ·Method for enhancing flavor The method for enhancing flavor of the present invention is characterized in that agrimonol B is contained in one or more selected from extracts of tea leaves of the genus Camellia, extracts of grains, and extracts of leaves of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis). In the method for enhancing flavor of the present invention, a tea beverage flavor enhancer containing agrimonol B may be blended with powdered tea or a tea beverage, or a plant body containing agrimonol B such as Kinmizuhiki may be added to a tea beverage extraction raw material to simultaneously perform the extraction of the tea beverage and the extraction of agrimonol B.

Example

[0023] Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to these examples only, and various modifications are possible within the technical idea of the present invention. (1) Test sample The test materials are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1

[0024] (2) Measurement of agrimonol B content in dried Kinmizuhiki leaves and Kinmizuhiki extract (Preparation of analysis sample of dried Kinmizuhiki leaves) To 100 g of dried Kinmizuhiki leaves, 10 times the amount (1 kg) of 90% ethanol was added, and reflux extraction was repeated twice. The obtained extract was filtered through diatomaceous earth and concentrated under reduced pressure by a conventional method to obtain an analysis sample. (Preparation of analysis sample of Kinmizuhiki extract) To 100 g of Kinmizuhiki extract, 10 times the amount (1 kg) of 90% ethanol was added, and reflux extraction was repeated twice. The obtained extract was filtered through diatomaceous earth and concentrated under reduced pressure by a conventional method. The concentrate was dissolved and suspended in 20% ethanol heated to 50°C, and the insoluble fraction was recovered as a residue by filtration through diatomaceous earth. The residue was redissolved in 90% ethanol, treated with activated carbon, filtered through diatomaceous earth, and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain an analysis sample.

[0025] (Quantification of agrimonol B content) The analytical sample and 10% by volume of DMSO were placed in a volumetric flask, dispersed by ultrasonic waves, and then acetonitrile was added to make up the volume. The solution filtered through a 0.45 μm filter was used as the sample solution. The agrimol B concentration in the sample solution was measured by HPLC under the following conditions, and the agrimol B content was quantified from the measured value. (Analysis conditions) Column: Ascentis Express C18 (Supelco, 10 cm × 4.6 mm, 2.7 μm) Mobile phase: 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid in water / 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid-containing acetonitrile solution = 10 / 90 Column temperature: 40 °C Flow rate: 1.4 mL / min Detection: UV288 nm Injection volume: 20 μL (Quantification value of agrimol B) The dried leaves of Cinnamomum kanehirae and the extract of Cinnamomum kanehirae contained 0.0178% by mass and 0.452% by mass of agrimol B, respectively.

[0026] (3) Evaluation method Six professional panelists conducted a sensory evaluation of the flavor of each beverage according to the following criteria. The temperature of each beverage during the evaluation was about 20 °C.

Table 2

[0027] “Test 1” Green tea (a beverage), which is a plant extract, was prepared by adding dried Kinmizuhiki leaves, mulberry leaves, and Eucommia tea leaves (all dried plant leaves) and stirring with a stirrer for 5 minutes. Note that all tea beverages extracted from dried Kinmizuhiki leaves, mulberry leaves, and Eucommia tea leaves have unique bitterness and flavors. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3.

Table 3

[0028] It was confirmed that dried Kinmizuhiki leaves enhance the flavor of green tea. In contrast, no enhancement of the green tea flavor was felt for mulberry leaves and Eucommia tea leaves.

[0029] 「Test 2」 To various tea beverages, which are plant extracts, Agrimol B was added so that the concentration was 0.0001 mass% or more, and they were shaken well and stirred. The evaluation results are shown in Table 4.

Table 4

[0030] It was confirmed that Agrimol B enhances the flavors of extracts of tea leaves of the genus Camellia (green tea, oolong tea, black tea, roasted green tea), extracts of grains (barley tea, adzuki bean tea, black soybean tea), and extracts of rooibos leaves (rooibos tea).

[0031] 「Test 3」 Except for changing the concentration of Agrimol B, the same procedure as in Test 2 was followed. The results are shown in Tables 5 and 6.

Table 5

Table 6

[0032] 「Test 4」 The enhancement of the tea flavor by Agrimol B was verified instead of the Kinmizuhiki extract. Various tea beverages were obtained in the same manner as in Test 2, and agrimol B corresponding to Examples 2 to 9 was added to a predetermined concentration and prepared by stirring with a stirrer. · Agrimol B Agrimol B (manufactured by Biorbyt) was dissolved and prepared to a concentration of 1 × 10 -2 mass% with 90% ethanol to obtain a stock solution. This stock solution was adjusted with water to the amounts corresponding to Examples 2 to 9 and used. As a result of the test, the same results as in Examples 2 to 9 were shown.

[0033] It was confirmed that the flavor of tea beverages composed of various plant extracts can be enhanced by adding agrimol B.

Claims

1. A tea beverage comprising one or more selected from extracts of tea leaves of the genus Camellia, extracts of grains, and extracts of leaves of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis), and agrimol B.

2. The extract of tea leaves of the genus Camellia is any one of green tea, oolong tea, black tea, and roasted green tea, The extract of grains is any one of barley tea, adzuki bean tea, and black soybean tea, The tea beverage according to claim 1, characterized in that it is as described above.

3. A tea beverage flavor enhancer characterized by containing agrimol B.

4. A method for enhancing the flavor of a tea beverage, characterized by adding agrimol B to one or more selected from extracts of tea leaves of the genus Camellia, extracts of grains, and extracts of leaves of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis).

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