Chlorophyll-containing food color retardant

Abstract

To provide a flavonoid-containing food green-color discoloration suppressing agent that can suppress discoloration of green-color colorant which the flavonoid-containing food possesses.SOLUTION: Provided is a chlorophyll-containing food green-color discoloration suppressing agent that contains polymethoxyflavonoid with methoxy group as an active ingredient. The polymethoxyflavonoid with methoxy group preferably is nobiletin or tangeretin. The chlorophyll-containing food preferably is kale green juice. A chlorophyll-containing food green-color discoloration suppressing method in which polymethoxyflavonoid with methoxy group is added to a chlorophyll-containing food by 0.001 to 0.25 mass%. A kale green juice-containing food that contains nobiletin or tangeretin.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an inhibitor for suppressing green discoloration of chlorophyll-containing foods. More specifically, the present invention relates to an inhibitor containing a polymethoxyflavonoid having a methoxy group as an active ingredient, which inhibits discoloration of green pigments contained in chlorophyll-containing foods, an inhibitory method, and a chlorophyll-containing food containing the inhibitor. [Background technology]

[0002] Chlorophyll is a green pigment in chloroplasts contained in the leaves of green-yellow vegetables, and is also called chlorophyll. Foods such as green juice and vegetable juice contain chlorophyll. These foods are produced through processes such as freezing, thawing, and heating, but there is a problem that the green pigment fades little by little and turns yellowish brown with each process. For example, in the production of green juice, the processes of washing the raw materials, crushing, squeezing, concentrating, freezing, thawing, etc. are repeated many times, and the green color fades little by little each time. In addition, fading of the green pigment can be seen even when chlorophyll-containing foods are stored for a long time. Since the fading of the green color of such chlorophyll-containing foods affects their commercial value, a method for suppressing the fading is desired. There are a wide variety of conventional techniques for preventing the fading of green pigments in chlorophyll-containing foods, including the addition of food additives such as minerals, ascorbic acid, starch, sugar, and lipids, and pH adjustment. In addition to additives and pH adjustment, a review of the manufacturing process is also considered as a method to prevent the fading of green pigments in chlorophyll-containing foods. However, this requires extensive study and is costly. In addition, there is a report showing that adding a flavone derivative to green tea extract has the effect of reducing bitterness (Patent Document 1), and the same document also discloses improvement in color tone. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4774002 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Under these circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a discoloration inhibitor that can inhibit the discoloration of green pigments in chlorophyll-containing foods, an inhibition method, and a chlorophyll-containing food containing the inhibitor. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The inventors screened various reagents and food ingredients for substances that inhibit the fading of green pigments in chlorophyll-containing foods and found that polymethoxyflavonoids having methoxy groups have excellent fading inhibition effects, thereby completing the present invention.

[0006] That is, the present invention provides the following chlorophyll-containing food green discoloration inhibitor and food containing the same. (1) A chlorophyll-containing food green discoloration inhibitor, the active ingredient of which is a polymethoxyflavonoid having a methoxy group. (2) The chlorophyll-containing food green discoloration inhibitor according to (1) above, characterized in that the polymethoxyflavonoid having a methoxy group is nobiletin or tangeretin. (3) The green discoloration inhibitor for chlorophyll-containing foods according to (1) or (2) above, characterized in that the chlorophyll-containing food is kale green juice. (4) A method for inhibiting green discoloration of chlorophyll-containing foods, comprising adding 0.001 to 0.25 mass % of a polymethoxyflavonoid having a methoxy group to the chlorophyll-containing food. (5) A kale juice-containing food, characterized by containing nobiletin or tangeretin. (6) The kale green juice-containing food according to (5) above, characterized in that the kale green juice-containing food contains 0.001 to 0.25% by mass of nobiletin or tangeretin. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, there are obtained an inhibitor that is effective in inhibiting fading of the green pigment possessed by chlorophyll contained in chlorophyll-containing foods, an inhibition method, and a chlorophyll-containing food containing the inhibitor. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a graph showing the test results of raw materials 1 to 3 in Test Example 1. [Diagram 2] 1 is a graph showing the test results of raw materials 1 to 3 in Test Example 1. [Diagram 3] 1 is a graph showing the test results of reagents 1 to 3 in Test Example 1. [Figure 4] 1 is a graph showing the test results of reagents 1 to 3 in Test Example 1. [Diagram 5] 1 is a graph showing the test results of raw material 1 in Test Example 2. [Figure 6] 1 is a graph showing the test results of Raw Material 2 in Test Example 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to examples. Chlorophyll is the green pigment found in the chloroplasts of green and yellow vegetables, and is also called chlorophyll.

[0010] Examples of foodstuffs that contain chlorophyll include green and yellow vegetables, algae, etc. Examples of green and yellow vegetables include kale, young barley leaves, mulberry leaves, angelica tree, spinach, komatsuna, Chinese chives, shiso leaves, parsley, chrysanthemum, cabbage, broccoli, bell peppers, mizuna, bok choy, rape blossoms, lettuce, green beans, basil, chives, sprouts, perilla, zucchini, snow peas, edamame, and asparagus. Examples of algae include nori and wakame seaweed.

[0011] In the present invention, the food containing chlorophyll is not limited to these, but green juice or vegetable juice containing the above-mentioned food ingredients containing chlorophyll is preferable. Ingredients for green juice include, but are not limited to, kale, angelica tree leaves, young barley leaves, mulberry leaves, etc., with kale being particularly preferred. Ingredients for vegetable juice include, but are not limited to, bell peppers, parsley, kale, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, angelica tree, asparagus, etc.

[0012] In the present invention, the addition of a polymethoxyflavonoid having a methoxy group can suppress the green discoloration of chlorophyll-containing foods. The polymethoxyflavonoid having a methoxy group is not particularly limited, but for example, nobiletin and tangeretin are preferred, with nobiletin being particularly preferred. In contrast, flavonoids that do not have a methoxy group, such as quercetin, luteolin, and myricetin, cannot be expected to have a fading inhibitory effect (Test Example 1).

[0013] Nobiletin and tangeretin are found in large amounts in food ingredients such as citrus extract powder PMF30 (manufactured by Taiyo Kagaku Co., Ltd.), and when added to foods containing chlorophyll, they have a noticeable effect of inhibiting green discoloration, even when observed with the naked eye.

[0014] In the present invention, it is preferable to add a polymethoxyflavonoid having a methoxy group to the chlorophyll-containing food in an amount of 0.001 to 0.25% by mass, particularly 0.01 to 0.15% by mass.

[0015] There are no limitations on the method for adding the green discoloration inhibitor of the present invention to a chlorophyll-containing food or the method for producing a chlorophyll-containing food.

[0016] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to Test Examples and Examples. In the Test Examples and Examples, all the terms "%" simply mean "% by mass". (Test Example 1) In this test example, food ingredients 1 to 3 and reagents 1 to 3 shown in Table 1 below were added to a frozen green juice product, and the effect of inhibiting fading of the green pigment in the green juice was examined.

[0017] [Table 1]

[0018] Raw material 1, citrus extract powder-PMF30 (manufactured by Taiyo Kagaku Co., Ltd.), has nobiletin and tangeretin, which are types of polymethoxyflavone, as standard ingredients, and contains 18% by mass or more of nobiletin and 5% by mass or more of tangeretin. The standard components of the black ginger extract (raw material 2) are six polymethoxyflavones: 5,7-dimethoxyflavone, 5,7,4'-trimethoxyflavone, 3,5,7-trimethoxyflavone, 3,5,7,4'-tetramethoxyflavone, 3,5,7,3',4'-pentamethoxyflavone, and 5,7,3',4'-tetramethoxyflavone, and the content of these components is 8 to 12 mass%.

[0019] ·method A frozen green juice product (freshly squeezed kale green juice (frozen): FANCL Corporation) was used as the chlorophyll-containing food. The amount of food ingredients 1 to 3 added was 0.5% and the amount of reagents 1 to 3 added was 0.1% relative to the frozen green juice product. After the addition, the mixture was stored at 30°C for 3 days, and then the L * a * b * Chromaticness index of color space (a * , b * ) was measured. * : A large value indicates red, and a small value indicates green. * : Larger values ​​indicate yellow, smaller values ​​indicate blue.

[0020] Evaluation criteria 1)-a * / b * Comparison by value: -a * / b* The closer to 1, the brighter the green color. 2) Evaluation by green color retention rate: Green color retention rate = (after storage - a * / b * )÷(-a before saving * / b * ) indicates that the closer to 1 the color is, the brighter the green color. 3) Visual comparison The results of calculation and evaluation based on these evaluation criteria are shown in Table 2, Figs. 1 and 2 for Materials 1 to 3, and in Table 3, Figs. 3 and 4 for Reagents 1 to 3.

[0021] [Table 2]

[0022] [Table 3]

[0023] ·result From the results shown in Table 2, Figures 1 and 2, it was found that the fading of green pigments can be suppressed by adding raw material 1 (citrus extract powder - PMF30) or raw material 2 (black ginger extract), which contain polymethoxyflavones with methoxy groups. In particular, it was found that an excellent fading suppression effect was obtained when raw material 1, which contains a large amount of nobiletin and tangeretin, was added. On the other hand, the addition of Raw Material 3, which contains quercetin, a flavonoid that does not have a methoxy group, was unable to suppress the fading of the green pigment. These results demonstrated that the fading of green pigments can be suppressed by using raw materials containing flavonoids having a methoxy group.

[0024] Furthermore, from the results shown in Table 3, Figures 3 and 4, the addition of nobiletin (reagent 1), a flavonoid having a methoxy group, had a significant effect of suppressing the fading of the green pigment, but the addition of luteolin (reagent 2) or myricetin (reagent 3), which are flavonoids without a methoxy group, was unable to suppress the fading of the green pigment. These results demonstrated that the fading of the green pigment in green juice can be suppressed by using a reagent consisting of a flavonoid having a methoxy group.

[0025] (Test Example 2) In this test example, raw material 1 (citrus extract powder - PMF30) and raw material 2 (black ginger extract), which showed an effect of inhibiting fading of green pigment in test example 1, were added to green juice in amounts of 0 mass%, 0.06 mass%, 0.13 mass%, 0.25 mass%, 0.50 mass%, and 1.00 mass%, and their effect of inhibiting fading of green pigment was investigated. In the case of raw material 1, these amounts correspond to 0 mass%, 0.01 mass%, 0.03 mass%, 0.06 mass%, 0.12 mass%, and 0.23 mass% when converted into concentrations of flavonoids having a methoxy group (Table 4).In the case of raw material 2, these amounts correspond to 0 mass%, 0.01 mass%, 0.02 mass%, 0.03 mass%, 0.06 mass%, and 0.12 mass% when converted into concentrations of flavonoids having a methoxy group (Table 5). The test method was the same as in Test Example 1, except that the storage period was 2 days. The results for Raw Material 1 are shown in Table 4 and Figure 5, and the results for Raw Material 2 are shown in Table 5 and Figure 6.

[0026] [Table 4]

[0027] [Table 5]

[0028] ·result As shown in Table 4 and FIG. 6, Raw Material 1 (Citrus extract powder-PMF30: containing nobiletin and tangeretin) which exhibited a green color fading effect in Test Example 1, was concentration-dependent, and the greater the amount added, the greater the effect of inhibiting fading of the green pigment. When raw material 1 was used, the effect of suppressing fading of the green pigment was sufficient even at a PMF concentration of 0.23 mass %, but the color of raw material 1 itself emerged, resulting in a slightly yellowish color.

[0029] Furthermore, as shown in Table 5 and FIG. 6, raw material 2 (black ginger extract: not containing nobiletin or tangeretin), which showed a green color fading effect in Test Example 1, also had concentration dependency, and the effect of inhibiting fading of the green pigment increased as the amount added increased. When raw material 2 was used, the effect of suppressing fading of the green dye was sufficient even at a PMF concentration of 0.12 mass %, but the color of raw material 2 itself appeared and became slightly blackish.

[0030] Example 1 A chlorophyll-containing food was produced by adding 0.10% by mass of nobiletin (manufactured by Fujifilm Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.) to a frozen green juice product (freshly squeezed kale green juice (frozen): manufactured by FANCL Corporation). The resulting chlorophyll-containing food showed no fading of the green pigment during the manufacturing process or storage, and retained a beautiful green color. [Industrial Applicability]

[0031] The green discoloration inhibitor of the present invention for chlorophyll-containing foods can inhibit the discoloration of green pigments during the production process of chlorophyll-containing foods and during storage after production, and is therefore expected to be widely used in foods and beverages such as green juice, medicines, health foods, etc.

Claims

1. A chlorophyll-containing food green discoloration inhibitor whose active ingredient is polymethoxyflavonoid having a methoxy group.

2. The chlorophyll-containing food green discoloration inhibitor according to claim 1, characterized in that the polymethoxyflavonoid having a methoxy group is nobiletin or tangeretin.

3. 3. The green discoloration inhibitor for chlorophyll-containing foods according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the chlorophyll-containing food is kale green juice.

4. A method for inhibiting green discoloration of chlorophyll-containing foods, comprising adding 0.001 to 0.25% by mass of a polymethoxyflavonoid having a methoxy group to the chlorophyll-containing food.

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