Plum products made with pickled plum flesh

Abstract

To provide a plum product using the plum flesh of pickled plum. [Solution] The suction-type rubbing molding machine used to manufacture plum products consists of a plum pulp hopper 4, rollers 5, spatulas, molding plate 6, sliding suction table 7, spatula cylinder, and motor. The plum pulp is placed in the hopper, rubbed into the mold plate of the molding plate with the roller, and the plum pulp remaining on the mold plate is scraped off with a spatula. The sheet with the molded, small, thin, circular plum pulp on the sliding suction table that comes forward is carried to a drying area and dried in the sun to produce small, thin, circular plum products. In recent years, the consumption of umeboshi has dropped dramatically, creating a demand for the development of new plum products. Furthermore, while plum products are currently made by hand, there is a demand for improved workability through mechanization. These issues are resolved by the plum products of this invention and the suction-type rubbing molding machine used to manufacture them.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to a plum product using plum flesh from pickled plums. [Background technology]

[0002] Umeboshi are plums that have been salted and then dried. Umeboshi are made using ripe plums harvested around June. When the plums are mixed with about 18% salt by weight and a weight is placed on top, the osmotic pressure and added weight cause the plums to release water (plum vinegar). The plums and salt blend together and the plums are soaked in the plum vinegar (pickled plums). They are pickled for about a month, and then after the rainy season ends and the beginning of the doyo period, they are dried in the sun for three days and three nights (doyo-boshi). Umeboshi in this state are called white dried plums and have excellent preservation properties. It has been reported that plum extract inhibits the growth of Helicobacter pylori. Furthermore, experiments using rats have shown that plum extract has the effect of lowering blood sugar levels. Plum extract strongly inhibited the growth of influenza viruses in laboratory experiments in petri dishes. Ume extract has been shown to inhibit colon cancer cells and other cancers in laboratory experiments in petri dishes. Mumefural in plum extract has been shown to promote blood flow in laboratory experiments. Furthermore, blood samples taken from five healthy men who drank plum vinegar showed a clear improvement in blood flow. The sourness of plums comes from citric acid, but its effect on fatigue recovery has not been proven. There are many household uses for plums, such as treating food poisoning and removing odors when cooking fish (Non-Patent Document 1).

[0003] In recent years, due to the effects of global warming and the heat island effect, summer hot environments have worsened, and heat-related health problems (heatstroke) have become a problem. The hot environment that causes heatstroke is related not only to temperature but also to climatic factors such as humidity, air currents, and radiant heat. It can also occur as a result of strenuous exercise or labor. The mortality rate from heatstroke is high among infants and young children, and decreases with age, but the mortality rate rises sharply among the elderly. It is known that the elderly have a weaker thermoregulation function than adults, and are therefore thought to be more susceptible to heatstroke. In either case, the disease is more likely to occur at temperatures above 25°C and relative humidity above 40%, and the number of deaths increases significantly when temperatures exceed 38°C.

[0004] The two basic steps to preventing heatstroke are to prevent excessive body temperature rise and to prevent dehydration. Therefore, by actively consuming fluids and salt, dehydration can be prevented and the incidence of heatstroke can be reduced. The salt concentration in blood is approximately 0.9%, but when water and salt are lost from the body through sweating, the body attempts to adjust this concentration to a constant level. If only the lost fluid is replenished, the sodium concentration in body fluids will also become diluted, so the body will increase water excretion in an attempt to maintain a constant sodium concentration. This phenomenon is called spontaneous dehydration. To prevent spontaneous dehydration, it is necessary to consume foods containing salt.

[0005] As prior art, there is a method for producing a snack-like processed plum product in which pitted umeboshi or pitted seasoned umeboshi are fried and dried in vegetable oil under reduced pressure at a temperature of 70°C to 90°C until the moisture content is about 5%, and then de-oiled to a state containing about 20% to 30% oil, and there is also a method for producing a snack-like processed plum product in which pitted umeboshi or pitted seasoned umeboshi are dried using a microwave vacuum dryer until the moisture content is about 5% (Patent Document 1). In any of the methods of the present invention, the manufacturing process is complicated because it requires a vacuum device, a frying device or a microwave device.

[0006] Dried plums are compressed under pressure to obtain a block of plum flesh, which is then cut into pieces to produce dried plum confections in the form of sheets, and there is also a proposal to further coat the confections with sugar to produce a mellow dried plum confection (Patent Document 2). To make dried plums, umeboshi are washed to reduce the salt content and then soaked in a sweetened liquid made with sugar. Once the flavor has soaked in, they are dried again in the sun or in a dryer to finish. This type of dried plum confectionery contains sweeteners and is time-consuming to make.

[0007] A plum chocolate confectionery has been invented, which comprises a plum molded body formed from plum paste such as crushed pickled plums with the seeds removed, a coating layer of calcium alginate or the like applied to the surface of the plum molded body, and a chocolate layer made of solidified chocolate encapsulated around the outer periphery of the coating layer (Patent Document 3). The work of forming each layer is difficult.

[0008] Also, chocolate confectioneries containing 0.01% to 20% of ume flesh such as pickled plums or ume flesh extract have been invented (Patent Document 4). These substances are not solid but liquid, and mixing them makes it difficult to solidify and shape the chocolate. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0009] [Patent Document 1] Patent 6793931 [Patent Document 2] Mito 3156433 [Patent Document 3] Patent Publication No. 2002-204659 [Patent Document 4] Patent Publication No. 63-160552 [Non-patent literature]

[0010] [Non-patent document 2] Masayuki Miwa, "Plum Encyclopedia," Ie no Hikari Kyokai (2018) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0011] In fiscal year 2024, the national production of plums in Japan was 51,600 tons, with Wakayama Prefecture producing 29,700 tons (57.6%). Wakayama's plum production centers are primarily in Minabe Town and Tanabe City, where the Nanko-ume variety is the main variety, with other varieties such as Kojo also grown. Umeboshi are primarily used for umeboshi, seasoned umeboshi, plum wine, and crunchy ume. In recent years, umeboshi consumption has plumply declined due to changes in eating habits. According to a household survey conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, consumption per household (two or more people) peaked at 1,052 grams in 2002, and fell to 658 grams in 2021, a decrease of approximately 40%. In Wakayama, there is an urgent need to develop new uses for plums. Conventionally, the pulp of umeboshi plums was pressed by hand into a plastic template with many circular holes to form the pulp into small, thin circles, which were then dried in the sun to make ume products.

[0012] As prior art, there have been invented a method for producing a snack-like processed plum product in which pitted umeboshi or pitted seasoned umeboshi are fried and dried in vegetable oil under reduced pressure at a temperature of 70°C to 90°C until the moisture content is about 5%, and then de-oiled to a state containing about 20% to 30% oil, and a method for producing a snack-like processed plum product in which pitted umeboshi or pitted seasoned umeboshi are dried using a microwave vacuum dryer until the moisture content is about 5%. In any of the methods of the present invention, the manufacturing process is complicated because it requires a vacuum device, a frying device or a microwave device.

[0013] Dried plums are compressed under pressure to obtain a block of plum flesh, which is then cut into pieces to produce dried plum confections in the form of sheets, and there is also a method of making a mellow dried plum confection by further coating it with sugar. To make dried plums, umeboshi are washed to reduce the salt content and then soaked in a sweetened liquid made with sugar. Once the flavor has soaked in, they are dried again in the sun or in a dryer to finish. This type of dried plum confectionery contains sweeteners and is time-consuming to make.

[0014] The invention provides a plum-containing chocolate confectionery comprising a plum molded body molded from a plum paste such as crushed pickled plums with the seeds removed, a coating layer of calcium alginate or the like applied to the surface of the plum molded body, and a chocolate layer made of solidified chocolate encapsulated around the outer periphery of the coating layer. The process of forming each layer is difficult and tedious. Also, chocolate confectioneries containing 0.01% to 20% of ume flesh such as pickled plum or ume flesh extract have been invented. Mixing liquid umeboshi plum or umeboshi extract makes it difficult to solidify and shape the chocolate.

[0015] This invention was made to solve a problem that has existed in the past: there is a need for a health food plum product that can be easily produced by simply molding and sun-drying the pulp of pickled plums, which consist only of plums and salt. [Means for solving the problem]

[0016] In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, we have made intensive efforts and devised the following plum product, which is made by molding the plum flesh of pickled plums and drying it in the sun.

[0017] The plum product manufacturing process involves removing the seeds from the plums and crushing the plum flesh, shaping them into small, thin circles using an adsorption-type rubbing machine, and sun-drying. Approximately 18% by weight of salt is added to ripe plums, which are then pickled for approximately one month and then sun-dried for approximately three days to obtain the plums. The seeds are then removed from the plums using a machine and crushed uniformly in a mixer to obtain the plum flesh, which is then shaped using an adsorption-type rubbing machine and sun-dried for approximately three days to produce the small, thin, round plum products (Figure 1). This plum product is made only from plums and salt. The nutritional information per bag (7 grams) is as follows: 8.68 kcal, 0.22 grams of protein, 0.05 grams of fat, 1.84 grams of carbohydrates, 4.09 grams of salt equivalent, and 900 milligrams of citric acid. Previously, plum products were made by manually pouring the umeboshi pulp into a mold made of plastic sheet with many small circular holes, and then placing the thin, small circular pieces of umeboshi pulp on kitchen paper and drying them in the sun.The molding process has now been mechanized to improve workability.

[0018] This suction-type rubbing molding machine consists of a plum pulp hopper, rollers, spatulas, forming plate, sliding suction table, spatula cylinder, and motor. Plum pulp is placed in the hopper, rubbed into the template of the forming plate with the roller, and the plum pulp remaining on the template is scraped off with the spatula. The sheet with the molded, thin, circular plum pulp on the sliding suction table that comes forward is then carried to a drying area where it is dried in the sun to produce plum products (Figures 2, 3, and 4). The sheet placed on the sliding suction table is made of kitchen paper (rayon nonwoven fabric, etc.), Teflon (registered trademark), etc. Kitchen paper tends to attract the shaped pieces of plum flesh from umeboshi plums, but Teflon (registered trademark) sheets are less likely to attract them.

[0019] This is a chocolate confectionery in which small pieces of the plum product are placed inside chocolate (Figure 5). The small, thin, round pieces of sun-dried plum product are thin, irregularly shaped small solids that can be easily incorporated into chocolate and allowed to harden. [Effects of the Invention]

[0020] Previously, umeboshi plum flesh was manually pressed into a plastic sheet template to form small, thin round shapes, which were then dried in the sun to make ume products. However, by using a suction-type pressing machine to make ume products, work efficiency has improved. It also led to the development of new products to replenish salt and prevent heatstroke. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic perspective view of a plum product using the umeboshi plum flesh of the present invention. [Figure 2]1 is a schematic perspective view of a suction-type slide molding machine with the rollers and hopper used in the present invention disassembled and the sliding suction table pulled out. [Figure 3] 1 is a schematic perspective view of a suction-type scrubbing molding machine used in the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the mechanism of roller slid forming according to the present invention. [Figure 5] 1 is a schematic perspective view of a chocolate confectionery containing pieces of plum product of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] Examples of the present invention are given below, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples. [Example]

[0023] Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a plum product made using the umeboshi plum pulp of the present invention. Symbol 1 indicates the molded plum product before sun-drying, symbol 2 indicates the sun-dried plum product, and symbol 3 indicates salt crystals. The process for producing umeboshi (pickled plums), which includes a process for removing the seeds from the umeboshi and crushing the ume flesh, a process for shaping the umeboshi into small, thin circles using an adsorption-type rubbing machine, and a process for drying in the sun, involves adding approximately 18% by weight of salt to ripe ume fruits, pickling them for approximately one month, and then sun-drying them for approximately three days to obtain umeboshi. The seeds are removed from the umeboshi using a machine and crushed uniformly in a mixer to obtain ume flesh, which is then shaped using an adsorption-type rubbing machine and sun-dried for approximately three days to produce small, thin, round ume products (2) (diameter 20 mm, thickness 2 mm) (Figure 1). [Example]

[0024] Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of the suction-type suction molding machine used in the present invention, with the rollers 5 and hopper 4 disassembled and the sliding suction table 7 pulled out. Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of the suction-type suction molding machine used in the present invention. This suction-type rubbing molding machine is composed of a plum pulp hopper (4), rollers (5), spatulas (10), a forming plate (6), a sliding suction table (7), a spatula cylinder (9), and a motor. The plum pulp is placed in the hopper (4), the rollers (5) rub it into the mold plate (6) of the forming plate, the plum pulp remaining on the mold plate is scraped off with a spatula, and the sheet (11) with the formed small, thin circular plum pulp on the sliding suction table (7) that has come forward is carried to a drying area and dried in the sun. This suction-type rubbing molding machine is used to manufacture plum products (2) (Figures 2, 3, and 4). The suction-type scrubbing molding machine (YSB-V2N type) manufactured by Yorozu Corporation was used. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the mechanism of the slid forming using the roller (5) of the present invention. The above figure shows an enlarged view of the stationary plum hopper (4), roller (5), and spatula (10). The diagram in the middle shows the outward journey (moving to the left in the drawing), in which the spatula cylinder (9) extends and retracts, tilting the plum hopper (4) to the right, and the spatula (10) at the rear of the traveling direction touches the mold plate (6) of the forming plate and scrapes off excess plum pulp (12). The diagram below shows the return trip (moving to the right in the drawing), in which the spatula cylinder (9) extends and retracts, tilting the plum hopper (4) to the left, and the spatula (10) at the rear of the travelling direction touches the mold plate (6) of the forming plate and scrapes off excess plum (12). [Example]

[0025] FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a chocolate confectionery containing small pieces of the plum product (2) of the present invention. The small, thin, circular pieces of the sun-dried plum product (2) are thin, irregularly shaped solids that can be easily mixed into chocolate and allowed to harden. The sweetness and bitterness of the chocolate blend with the sourness and saltiness of the pickled plums to create a delicious chocolate confectionery.

[0026] The invention of the small, circular, thin plum product, the suction-type rubbing molding machine, and the chocolate confectionery containing small pieces of the plum product has been described above, but by making small improvements to each part, it is possible to improve the taste and performance. [Industrial Applicability]

[0027] As mentioned above, the consumption of umeboshi has dropped dramatically, especially among young people. Furthermore, due to global warming and other factors, summer temperatures are rising, leading to an increase in the number of cases of heatstroke. The plum product of this invention is made only from plums and salt, making it ideal for replenishing salt intake and leading to the development of a new product to prevent heatstroke. In addition, in the past, plum products were made by manually pressing the pulp of umeboshi into a plastic sheet template, forming the pulp into small, thin round shapes, and drying them in the sun. However, by using a suction-type pressing machine to make plum products, work efficiency has improved. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 1. Shaped plum products before sun-drying 2. Sun-dried plum products 3. Salt Crystals 4. Plum hopper 5 Roller 6. Molding plate 7 Sliding vacuum table 8 Control Panel 9 Spatula Cylinder 10 spatulas 11 sheets 12 plum meat 13 Chocolate 14 small pieces of plum product

Claims

1. In the manufacture of plum products comprising a plum-boshi manufacturing process, a process of removing seeds from plums and crushing the plum flesh, a process of forming the plums into small, thin circular shapes using an adsorption-type rubbing molding machine, and a sun-drying process, about 18% by weight of salt is added to ripe plums, the plums are pickled for about one month, and then sun-dried for about three days to obtain the plums, the seeds are removed from the plums using a mechanical device, the plums are uniformly crushed in a mixer to obtain the plum flesh, the plum flesh is formed using an adsorption-type rubbing molding machine, and the plum products are sun-dried for about three days to produce the small, thin circular plum products.

2. This suction-type rubbing molding machine is composed of a plum pulp hopper, rollers, spatulas, a molding plate, a sliding suction table, a spatula cylinder, and a motor, and is used to manufacture plum products by placing plum pulp in the hopper, rubbing it into the template of the molding plate with the roller, scraping off the plum pulp remaining on the template with the spatula, and carrying the sheet with the molded small, thin circular plum pulp on the sliding suction table that has come forward to a drying area and drying it in the sun.

3. A chocolate confectionery in which small pieces of the plum product according to claim 1 are placed in chocolate.

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