Manufacturing method for packaged cooked noodles

Abstract

Improvement of dietary fiber content in foods containing high-amylose wheat flour. [Solution] A method for producing packaged cooked noodles, comprising packaging cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour, and heating the packaged cooked noodles at a temperature of 67°C or higher for 3 minutes or more, wherein the high-amylose wheat flour is wheat flour in which the amylose content in the total starch, as analyzed by the concanavalin A method, is 40% by mass or more.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for producing packaged and cooked noodles.

Background Art

[0002] The starch contained in grains includes amylose and amylopectin. Amylose has poor digestibility by digestive enzymes, and thus can function as an indigestible component that is not digested by human digestive enzymes, that is, dietary fiber, and is classified as resistant starch. In recent years, high-amylose wheat with an increased amylose content by having mutations in enzymes related to starch synthesis has been developed (Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2). Patent Documents 1 to 4 disclose high-amylose wheat having a point mutation in the gene of starch branching enzyme SBEIIa, with a reduced activity of SBEIIa and a high amylose content in the starch contained in the grain. Patent Documents 5 and 6 describe raw noodle flour containing high-amylose wheat flour and noodles using the same.

[0003] Patent Document 7 describes a process for increasing the total dietary fiber (TDF) content of a flower by heating the high-amylose flower at a total moisture content of 10 to 50% by weight at a target temperature of 80 to 160°C for 0.5 to 15 minutes under the condition that the total dietary fiber (TDF) content is increased by at least 10% with respect to the weight of the flower, and it is described that when the conditions are such that gelatinization of starch is avoided, a flower with a high TDF content is prepared. Further, Patent Document 7 describes that the TDF of high-amylose corn flower subjected to hydrothermal treatment under the above conditions has increased.

[0004] Patent Documents 8 and 9 describe sealingly packaging steamed or boiled noodles and heating and sterilizing them at 60 to 100°C for 10 to 50 minutes.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

[0006] [Non-Patent Document 1] J Jpn Assoc Dietary Fiber Res, 2003, 7(1):20-25 [Non-Patent Document 2] Trends in Food Science and Technology, 2006, 17:448-456 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0007] As mentioned above, Patent Document 7 discloses a method for increasing the dietary fiber content of high-amylose flour by moist heat treatment under specific conditions, and that such moist heat treatment has actually increased the dietary fiber content of high-amylose corn flour. However, the present inventors have found that when high-amylose wheat flour is used as a raw material to produce bakery foods, noodles, and other foods, the dietary fiber content of the resulting foods is reduced compared to the raw material, contrary to the disclosure in Patent Document 7. As a result of further research by the present inventors, they have found that high-amylose wheat flour, unlike high-amylose corn flour, may have reduced dietary fiber content even when only subjected to moist heat treatment, not just when processed into bakery foods, noodles, and other foods. This difference between high-amylose corn flour and high-amylose wheat flour is thought to be due to differences in starch properties resulting from differences in the originating grain species.

[0008] As mentioned above, the dietary fiber content of high-amylose wheat flour may decrease during the processing into food products. Therefore, the dietary fiber content of foods containing high-amylose wheat flour may be lower compared to the raw flour. It is desirable to improve the dietary fiber content derived from high-amylose wheat flour in foods containing high-amylose wheat flour. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The inventors have found that the content of dietary fiber derived from high-amylose wheat flour in pre-cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour can be improved by packaging and heat-treating the noodles under specific conditions.

[0010] The following is provided as a representative embodiment of the present invention. [1] A method for manufacturing packaged cooked noodles, To package pre-cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour, and The packaged pre-cooked noodles shall be heated at a temperature of 67°C or higher for 3 minutes or more. Includes, The high-amylose wheat flour is wheat flour with an amylose content of 40% by mass or more in the total starch analyzed by the concanavalin A method, The raw material flour of the cooked noodles contains 50% by mass or more of the high-amylose wheat flour in the total mass of the cereal flour and starch, Method. 〔2〕The method according to 〔1〕, wherein the heating is steam heating or pressure heating. 〔3〕The method according to 〔1〕 or 〔2〕, wherein the cooked noodles are steamed noodles or boiled noodles. 〔4〕The method according to any one of 〔1〕 to 〔3〕, wherein the high-amylose wheat flour is wheat flour derived from a modified wheat with low SBEIIa activity. 〔5〕The method according to any one of 〔1〕 to 〔4〕, wherein the raw material flour contains 80% by mass or more of wheat flour in the total mass of the cereal flour and starch. 〔6〕A method for increasing the dietary fiber content in cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour, packaging the cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour, and heating the packaged cooked noodles at a temperature of 67°C or higher for 3 minutes or more, comprising, The high-amylose wheat flour is wheat flour with an amylose content of 40% by mass or more in the total starch analyzed by the concanavalin A method. Method.

Advantages of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, the content of dietary fiber derived from high-amylose wheat flour in cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour can be improved. Therefore, the present invention can provide cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour with an improved dietary fiber content. In addition, the cooked noodles provided by the present invention contain high-amylose wheat flour, and thus have the advantage that the noodles are less likely to adhere to each other even when packaged and stored.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] The present invention provides packaged cooked noodles containing high amylose wheat flour. The types of the noodles are not particularly limited, and examples include Chinese noodles, udon noodles, cold buckwheat noodles, plain noodles, buckwheat noodles such as soba, and pasta. Examples of the pasta include short pasta, long pasta, and flat pasta.

[0013] In the present specification, high amylose wheat flour refers to wheat flour having an amylose content of preferably 40% by mass or more, more preferably 43% by mass or more, and still more preferably 47% by mass or more. The amylose content of the wheat flour refers to the amylose content in the total starch contained in the wheat flour. The amylose content of the wheat flour in the present specification is defined as a value analyzed by the concanavalin A (ConA) method, and can be measured, for example, by analyzing the wheat flour with an amylose / amylopectin analysis kit (AMYLOSE / AMYLOPECTIN ASSAY KIT) manufactured by Megazyme. Conventionally common methods for analyzing the amylose content include: (1) a method utilizing the high binding ability of amylose to iodine (iodine affinity measurement method; for example, amperometric titration method, colorimetric determination method, AACC61-03 method, etc.), and (2) a method utilizing the specific binding of amylopectin and ConA (ConA method). However, in the method using (1), the amount of amylose tends to be calculated higher. For example, the amylose content of high amylose wheat flour having a functional deletion mutation (null mutation) of the SGP-1 gene described in Non-Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 2 is about 37% by mass by the iodine affinity measurement method, but about 31% by mass by the ConA method. The conventionally common amylose content of wheat flour is less than 32% by mass by the iodine affinity measurement method and less than 28% by mass by the ConA method.

[0014] Examples of high-amylose wheat flour include wheat flour derived from modified wheat with low activity of the starch branching enzyme SBEIIa. Examples of such modified wheat flour include wheat flour derived from high-amylose wheat that has a mutation in the SBEIIa gene and has reduced SBEIIa activity, as described in Patent Documents 1 to 4. More specific examples include wheat flour derived from high-amylose wheat in which the amount or activity of SBEIIa protein in the grain is lower than 2% of the amount or activity in wild-type wheat grain, and wheat flour derived from high-amylose wheat that has one or more, for example, one or two null mutations in the SBEIIa gene.

[0015] High-amylose wheat flour can be produced by milling high-amylose wheat grains according to conventional methods. The high-amylose wheat flour used in this invention may be flour substantially containing only the endosperm fraction of high-amylose wheat grains, or it may be flour (e.g., whole wheat flour) containing germ and bran fractions in addition to the endosperm fraction of high-amylose wheat grains.

[0016] The content of high-amylose wheat flour in the raw material flour of packaged cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour provided by the present invention (hereinafter also simply referred to as packaged cooked noodles of the present invention) is preferably 50% by mass or more, more preferably more than 50% by mass, for example, 50% to 100% by mass, preferably more than 50% by mass to 100% by mass, more preferably 70% to 100% by mass, and even more preferably 80% to 100% by mass, based on the total mass of grain flour (including high-amylose wheat flour) and starch contained in the raw material flour.

[0017] The raw material flour for the packaged cooked noodles of the present invention may contain other grain flours and / or starches other than the high-amylose wheat flour. Examples of such other grain flours include non-high-amylose wheat flour (typically wheat flour with an amylose content of less than 28% by mass), rice flour, barley flour, glutinous barley flour, buckwheat flour, soybean flour, corn flour, oat flour, rye flour, and bran flour. Any one or any combination of two or more of the above-mentioned grain flours can be used. Preferably, the other grain flours include non-high-amylose wheat flour. Examples of such non-high-amylose wheat flours include strong flour, semi-strong flour, medium flour, weak flour, durum flour, and whole wheat flour. Any one or any combination of two or more of these flours can be used.

[0018] Examples of starches that may be included in the raw material flour include unprocessed starches such as potato starch, tapioca starch, wheat starch, corn starch, waxy corn starch, and rice starch, as well as processed starches thereof. The processed starch is obtained by subjecting unprocessed starch to processing such as crosslinking, phosphorylation, acetylation, etherification, oxidation, and alpha-gelatinization. Preferably, the processed starch is processed by performing one or more processing selected from the group consisting of acetylation, etherification, and crosslinking. In the present invention, these unprocessed starches and processed starches can be used individually or in combination of two or more. Preferably, the starch is tapioca starch. The tapioca starch may be unprocessed starch or processed starch, but is preferably processed tapioca starch. Preferably, the processed tapioca starch is one or more selected from the group consisting of etherified tapioca starch and acetylated tapioca starch. The etherified tapioca starch and acetylated tapioca starch may be crosslinked.

[0019] The total content of the other grain flours and starch in the raw material flour is preferably 50% by mass or less, for example, 0 to 50% by mass, preferably less than 0 to 50% by mass, more preferably 0 to 30% by mass, and even more preferably 0 to 20% by mass, of the total mass of grain flours and starch contained in the raw material flour. Preferably, the content of wheat flour (including high-amylose wheat flour and non-high-amylose wheat flour) in the raw material flour is 80% by mass or more of the total mass of grain flours and starch contained in the raw material flour, and the raw material flour may contain non-high-amylose wheat flour together with the high-amylose wheat flour as needed. If the raw material flour contains starch, its content is preferably 20% by mass or less, more preferably 5 to 20% by mass, of the total mass of grain flours and starch contained in the raw material flour.

[0020] The total content of grain flour and starch containing the high-amylose wheat flour in the raw material flour is preferably 80% by mass or more, more preferably 90% by mass or more, and may be 100% by mass, based on the total mass of the raw material flour.

[0021] The raw material flour may, if necessary, further contain other components that can be used in the production of noodles, in addition to the high-amylose wheat flour, other grain flours, and starches mentioned above. Examples of such other components include, but are not limited to, proteins such as gluten, soy protein, milk protein, egg yolk powder, egg white powder, whole egg powder, and skim milk powder; fats and oils such as animal and vegetable oils, emulsified oils and fats, and shortening; salt; lye water raw materials; sugars; sweeteners; calcined calcium; dietary fiber; spices; seasonings; vitamins, minerals, and nutritional fortifiers; colorings; flavorings; dextrin (including indigestible dextrin); leavening agents; emulsifiers; thickeners; water-retaining agents; preservatives; enzymes; pH adjusters; and oxidation-reduction agents. Any one of these other components or any combination of two or more can be used. The amount of each of these other components in the raw material flour can be appropriately determined according to the type of noodles to be produced. The total content of the other components in the raw material powder is preferably 20% by mass or less, more preferably 10% by mass or less, of the total mass of the raw material powder, or the raw material powder may not contain the other components at all.

[0022] Fresh noodles are prepared from the aforementioned raw flour. The preparation of fresh noodles from the raw flour can be carried out according to the usual procedure, depending on the type of noodles. First, noodle dough is prepared from the raw flour. The noodle dough can be prepared by kneading the raw flour and kneading water according to the usual method. At that time, the components of the raw flour may be mixed in advance and then mixed with the kneading water, or the components of the raw flour may be added to the kneading water sequentially and mixed. If necessary, eggs, vegetable powder, etc. may be further added to the dough. Water, saline solution, lye water, or gas-containing water (such as carbonated water) can be used as the kneading water.

[0023] Fresh noodles are prepared from the obtained noodle dough. Conventional methods can be used to prepare fresh noodles from noodle dough. For example, methods include rolling the noodle dough with a noodle-making roll to obtain a noodle sheet and cutting this sheet with a cutting blade to obtain noodle strands, extruding the noodle dough to obtain noodle strands, or a combination of these methods.

[0024] The obtained raw noodles are heated to produce cooked noodles. This heating can be done according to conventional methods, for example, by boiling or steaming. Water, salt water, etc., can be used for boiling or steaming.

[0025] The prepared noodles are packaged and heated. From the viewpoint of preserving the prepared noodles (bacteriostatic properties), airtight packaging is preferable. The container for packaging can be any container that can withstand the heating conditions described later, and examples include bags made from plastic, metal, or laminates thereof, retort pouches, etc. If necessary, before packaging the prepared noodles, a loosening liquid, oil, etc. may be added to the prepared noodles to prevent sticking or to improve their looseness. The packaged prepared noodles should preferably be heated promptly, for example, without refrigeration or freezing, and without storage at room temperature.

[0026] Before packaging the cooked noodles, the pH of the cooked noodles can be adjusted to be acidic. Preferably, the pH of the cooked noodles is adjusted to 5.5 or lower. In this specification, the pH of cooked noodles refers to the pH (at 25°C) of a suspension obtained by suspending 1 g of the cooked noodles in 10 mL of water. By adjusting the pH of the cooked noodles to be acidic, the shelf life (bacteriostatic properties) of the cooked noodles can be improved, and the dietary fiber content in the packaged cooked noodles after heating can be increased. Methods for adjusting the pH of the cooked noodles to be acidic include, for example, immersing the cooked noodles in an acidic solution or adding an acidic solution to the cooked noodles and mixing them. Examples of the acidic solution include aqueous solutions of organic acids (acetic acid, lactic acid, etc.) and loosening solutions adjusted to be acidic by adding organic acids.

[0027] The packaged pre-cooked noodles are heated at a temperature of 67°C or higher, preferably 70°C or higher, for at least 3 minutes. Examples of heating conditions include heating at an environment of 67-140°C, preferably 70-130°C, for 3-60 minutes, preferably 5-60 minutes, and more preferably 10-60 minutes. Heating methods include steam heating and pressurized heating (e.g., retort heating). For example, steam heating involves introducing steam and heating at an environment adjusted to 67-100°C, preferably 70-100°C, for 5-60 minutes, preferably 10-60 minutes. Pressurized heating involves heating at an environment adjusted to 100-140°C, preferably 115-130°C, for 3-60 minutes, preferably 10-40 minutes. Pressurized heating is preferred from the viewpoint of improving the dietary fiber content of the pre-cooked noodles and preventing the noodles from sticking together.

[0028] The packaged pre-cooked noodles of the present invention can be manufactured by the above procedure. The packaged pre-cooked noodles of the present invention have a higher total dietary fiber (TDF) content compared to pre-cooked noodles that have not undergone the aforementioned packaging and heating treatments. More specifically, the packaged pre-cooked noodles of the present invention have a higher content of dietary fiber derived from high-amylose wheat flour, more specifically, of resistant starch (RS), compared to pre-cooked noodles that have not undergone the aforementioned packaging and heating treatments. Therefore, the method for manufacturing the packaged pre-cooked noodles of the present invention described above is also a method for increasing the dietary fiber content in pre-cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour.

[0029] In this specification, TDF content refers to the TDF content per unit of dry matter of the sample, measured according to the AOAC2011.25 method. A commercially available kit (e.g., MegaZyme's Integrated Total Dietary Fiber Analysis Kit; K-INTDF) can be used to measure TDF content according to the AOAC2011.25 method. Also in this specification, RS content refers to the RS content per unit of dry matter of the sample, measured according to the AOAC2002.02 method. A commercially available kit (e.g., MegaZyme's Resistant Starch Analysis Kit; K-RSTAR) can be used to measure RS content according to the AOAC2002.02 method.

[0030] The packaged pre-cooked noodles of the present invention can be stored at room temperature or at a low temperature (e.g., refrigerated). The packaged pre-cooked noodles of the present invention can be eaten as is or after reheating. Preferred methods of reheating include microwave oven, boiling, and steaming. On the other hand, preferably, the packaged pre-cooked noodles of the present invention are not intended to be used as noodles that are further stir-fried or grilled, such as yakisoba or yakiudon. [Examples]

[0031] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0032] (1) Raw materials • High-amylose wheat flour (HAW): Wheat flour obtained from wheat grains containing the SBEIIa mutant gene and exhibiting low SBEIIa expression levels. Amylose content: 47.4% by mass (of total starch) • Semi-strong flour: Wheat flour derived from ordinary wheat. Amylose content: 22.9% by mass (of total starch) • Medium-strength flour: Wheat flour derived from ordinary wheat. Amylose content: 21.3% by mass (of total starch) (2)Measurement method The resistant starch (RS) content of the noodles was measured using a resistant starch analysis kit (MegaZyme, K-RSTAR). The total dietary fiber (TDF) content of the noodles was measured using an integrated total dietary fiber analysis kit (MegaZyme, K-INTDF).

[0033] (3) Production of boiled udon noodles To prepare the dough, 53 parts by mass of water in which 5 parts by mass of salt was dissolved was mixed with 100 parts by mass of HAW and mixed. The dough was rolled and compounded using a noodle-making roll to produce a noodle sheet, and then cut out with a cutting blade (#9 square) to produce noodle strands (noodle thickness 3.0 mm). The obtained noodle strands were boiled in hot water to achieve a yield of approximately 260% relative to 100 parts by mass of grain flour, rinsed with water and cooled to produce boiled udon noodles.

[0034] (4) Manufacturing of boiled Chinese noodles To prepare the dough, 50 parts by mass of water containing 0.6 parts by mass of powdered lye was mixed with 100 parts by mass of HAW and mixed. The dough was rolled and compounded using a noodle-making roll to produce a noodle sheet, which was then cut with a cutting blade (#18 round) to produce noodle strands (noodle thickness 1.6 mm). The obtained noodle strands were boiled in hot water to achieve a yield of approximately 260% relative to 100 parts by mass of grain flour, rinsed with water, and cooled to produce boiled Chinese noodles.

[0035] (5) Packaging and heat treatment The manufactured boiled udon and boiled Chinese noodles were packaged in heat-sterilization-compatible nylon poly bags (for steam heating) or retort pouches (for retort heating), and then heat-treated under the conditions shown in Table 1. The RS content of each type of noodle before and after packaging and heat treatment is shown in Table 1.

[0036] [Table 1]

[0037] (6) Acid immersion treatment A portion of the boiled udon noodles produced in (3) above was immersed in a 0.5% lactic acid aqueous solution for 1 minute to produce acid-soaked noodles. The pH of the acid-soaked noodles was 5.0, while the pH of the boiled udon noodles before acid soaking was 6.0. The acid-soaked noodles were packaged in a heat-sterilization-resistant nylon poly bag and then steam-heated at 90°C for 40 minutes. After heat treatment, the acid-soaked noodles had an RS content of 12.4% by mass and a TDF content of 17.7% by mass. The TDF content of the boiled udon noodles produced in (3) above (without acid soaking, packaging, or heat treatment) was 16.0% by mass.

[0038] (7) Noodle adhesion As a control, boiled udon noodles were produced using semi-strong flour instead of HAW, and boiled Chinese noodles were produced using medium-strength flour instead of HAW. These were packaged and heat-treated (steam treatment at 80°C for 40 minutes or retort heating at 121°C for 20 minutes) using the same procedure as in (5) above. The adhesion between noodles was evaluated by comparing the boiled udon and boiled Chinese noodles produced in (5) above, packaged and heat-treated under the same conditions, with the control. The evaluation was conducted by five expert panelists using the following evaluation criteria. The criterion selected by the most people (or the lower criterion in the case of a tie) was adopted as the evaluation result. The results are shown in Table 2. <Evaluation Criteria> ◎: Compared to the control example, adhesion is better (less likely to adhere). ○: Adhesion is slightly better compared to the control example. △: Equivalent to the control example ×: Compared to the control example, the adhesion is inferior (it adheres easily).

[0039] [Table 2]

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing packaged pre-cooked noodles, To package pre-cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour, and The packaged pre-cooked noodles shall be heated at a temperature of 67°C or higher for 3 minutes or more. Includes, The high-amylose wheat flour is wheat flour in which the amylose content in the total starch, as analyzed by the concanavalin A method, is 40% by mass or more. The raw material flour for the cooked noodles contains 50% by mass or more of the high-amylose wheat flour in the total mass of grain flour and starch. method.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the heating is steam heating or pressurized heating.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cooked noodles are steamed noodles or boiled noodles.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the high-amylose wheat flour is wheat flour derived from modified wheat with low SBEIIa activity.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the raw material powder contains 80% by mass or more of wheat flour in the total mass of cereal flour and starch.

6. A method for increasing the dietary fiber content in cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour, To package pre-cooked noodles containing high-amylose wheat flour, and The packaged pre-cooked noodles shall be heated at a temperature of 67°C or higher for 3 minutes or more. Includes, The high-amylose wheat flour is wheat flour in which the amylose content in the total starch, as analyzed by the concanavalin A method, is 40% by mass or more. method.

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