Food manufacturing device and food manufacturing method

Abstract

To provide a technique capable of manufacturing a vegetable protein food product which has soy beans that are not subjected to oil expression as a raw material.SOLUTION: An extruder 1 which conveys an input object from an upstream side to a downstream side by a screw 40 in a cylinder 30 and heats and kneads the input object, comprises: a conveyance part 71 and a raw material crushing part 72 which make filling density of the input object input into the cylinder 30 and conveyed to the downstream side substantially uniform, and crush the input object; a heating and kneading part 74 which conveys the crushed input object to the downstream side; and a residence shearing part 75 which applies shear force higher than that of the heating and kneading part 74 to the conveyed input object.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present embodiment relates to a food production apparatus and a food production method for producing a food product, particularly a vegetable protein food product, using an extruder. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, vegetable protein foods have been produced as substitutes for animal protein. Such vegetable protein foods are widely produced by kneading soybean powder, which is mainly made of vegetable protein, under high heat and pressure using an extruder. This method can produce a fibrous texture with a meat-like texture, and can be used for a variety of purposes.

[0003] As a technique of this type, the processing method shown in the following Patent Document 1 is known. This processing method is characterized in that the raw material is kneaded together with water using an extruder under pressure and heat, extruded in the circumferential direction from a tip die, and then cut in a direction parallel to the extrusion direction. This method makes it possible to obtain a food material with an excellent fibrous structure. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-108338 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a technique capable of producing a vegetable protein food product using unextracted soybeans as a raw material. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the present invention is a food manufacturing apparatus that transports an input material from upstream to downstream within a cylinder using a screw while heating and kneading it, and is characterized in that it comprises a transporting and crushing section that roughly uniforms the packing density of the input material fed into the cylinder and transported downstream and crushes it, a transporting section that transports the input material crushed by the transporting and crushing section downstream, and a shearing section that applies a higher shear force to the input material transported by the transporting section than the transporting section. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, a vegetable protein food product can be produced using unextracted soybeans as the main ingredient. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an extruder according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 1 is a flowchart showing a method for producing a vegetable protein food product according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an extruder according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] <First embodiment> Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicated description will be omitted.

[0010] The food manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment is configured as an extruder that uses unextracted, unpressed soybeans (hereinafter referred to as soybeans) as the raw material, i.e., 100% soybeans, and kneads and extrudes the soybeans under heat and pressure to produce a meat-like vegetable protein food with a fibrous structure, known as soy meat.

[0011] Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view that shows a schematic diagram of an extruder according to the present embodiment, as viewed from a side perpendicular to the extrusion direction (extension direction of the screw 40) of the extruder 1.

[0012] The extruder 1 in this embodiment is a twin-screw type having a hollow cylinder (barrel) 30 with a hopper 20 provided at the upper part on the upstream side, and a pair of screws 40 of the same configuration and rotating in the same direction inside the cylinder 30. Note that FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of the extruder 1 seen from the side, and only one of the pair of screws 40 is shown. By the rotation of the pair of screws 40, a mixture of the main raw material put into the hopper 20 and a liquid raw material such as water injected into the cylinder 30 is heated and kneaded in the cylinder 30, and conveyed from upstream to downstream. Note that a single-screw extruder may be used instead of a twin-screw extruder, but in order to obtain a fibrous structure from the main raw material, it is preferable to use a twin-screw extruder that can strongly organize the material by high shear force.

[0013] The cylinder 30 has a first cylinder block 310, a second cylinder block 320, a third cylinder block 330, a fourth cylinder block 340, and a fifth cylinder block 350 arranged in series from upstream to downstream, and among these, the second cylinder block 320, the third cylinder block 330, the fourth cylinder block 340, and the fifth cylinder block 350 can be individually temperature-adjusted by a heater and cooling water (not shown). Note that the first cylinder block 310 is not heated or temperature-adjusted in this embodiment, and is always cooled.

[0014] The first cylinder block 310 is provided with a hopper 20 for feeding raw materials at its upper portion. The second cylinder block 320 is provided with an injection hole 321 through which liquid raw materials such as water and seasoning liquid can be injected, and the liquid can be appropriately injected according to the raw materials fed into the hopper 20. An adapter 50 is provided at the downstream portion of the fifth cylinder block 350. The adapter 50 is a connecting member that connects the cooling die 60 and the cylinder 30, and is provided with an outlet 510 that houses the tip of the screw 40 and is formed with a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder 30 and discharges the kneaded product, which is a mixture heated and kneaded in the cylinder 30, to the cooling die 60.

[0015] The cooling die 60 is a hollow member with a flat space defined therein, and the space communicates with the discharge port 510 to receive the kneaded material that has been heated and kneaded and extruded by the screw 40, and extrudes it to the outside from the discharge port 610. The cooling die 60 is formed with a flow path through which a cooling medium can flow from a pump (not shown), and the flow path is provided close to the internal space of the cooling die 60. The kneaded material in the cooling die 60 extruded from the adapter 50 is cooled by heat exchange with the cooling medium in the flow path. In this embodiment, water is used as the cooling medium.

[0016] The cylinder 30 and the pair of screws 40 according to this embodiment and the functions realized thereby will be described in detail below.

[0017] (Screw 40) The screw 40 in this embodiment is configured by connecting screw elements 401-412 in series by inserting and fitting them into a screw shaft (not shown). The screw elements 401-412 cooperate with the first to fifth cylinder blocks 310-350 to form a conveying section 71, a raw material crushing section 72, an injection kneading section 73, a heat kneading section 74, a retention shearing section 75, and a melt kneading section 76.

[0018] The conveying section 71 conveys the raw materials input from the hopper 20 downstream while kneading them, and makes the packing density of the raw materials approximately uniform immediately before the raw material crushing section 72 located downstream. The conveying section 71 has screw elements 401, 402 located in the first cylinder block 310.

[0019] The screw element 401 is a forward-thread feed screw located below the hopper 20, and is formed with a narrower screw pitch (for example, about 50% of that) compared to a general screw element located below a hopper. Therefore, the screw element 401 can reliably transport the raw material downstream regardless of the grain shape of the raw material, whether it is large grains (for example, in the state before crushing) or small grains (for example, 3 to 5 mm).

[0020] The screw element 402 is a forward-threaded feed screw located downstream of the screw element 401, and is formed with a narrower screw pitch (for example, about 40% of that of the screw element 401) than that of the screw element 401. As a result, the screw element 402 can substantially uniformly fill the gaps between the blades (wing parts) of the screw 40 with the raw material conveyed by the screw element 401, and therefore can substantially uniform the filling density, which is the density of the raw material per unit volume of the gap. In addition, since the raw material feeding force is stronger than that of the screw element 401, the raw material that tries to return to the upstream side by the action of the screw element 403 located downstream and described in detail later can be pushed downstream. Note that the raw material feeding force may be increased by increasing the number of threads instead of the screw pitch, or by incorporating both.

[0021] The raw material crushing section 72, which is adjacent to the downstream side of the conveying section 71, crushes the raw material conveyed from the conveying section 71. The raw material crushing section 72 has a screw element 403 located in the first cylinder block 310, and crushes the raw material by the screw element 403.

[0022] The screw element 403 is a so-called kneading element in which elliptical disk-shaped blades (rotors) are arranged at different angles to each other along the screw rotation direction, and can pulverize the raw material. In this embodiment, the screw element 403 is formed as a reverse screw type (left screw type: L kneading) in which the blades are inclined at an angle in the reverse screw direction, and has the effect of returning the pulverized raw material to the upstream side. Therefore, in combination with the above-mentioned pushing effect by the screw element 402 in the conveying section 71, the raw material can be reliably pulverized and processed into powder in the raw material pulverizing section 72.

[0023] The injection kneading section 73 adjacent to the downstream side of the raw material crushing section 72 mixes the raw material crushed in the raw material crushing section 72 with the liquid raw material injected from the injection hole 321 while transporting the raw material downstream. The injection kneading section 73 has a screw element 404 which is a forward-threaded feed screw whose upstream tip is located in the first cylinder block 310 and whose other portion is located in the second cylinder block 320. The raw material and the liquid raw material are kneaded by the screw element 404 while being heated by the second cylinder block 320 and transported downstream. In this embodiment, the second cylinder block 320 is preferably set to a temperature of 40°C to 80°C by a heater (not shown).

[0024] The heating and kneading section 74 adjacent to the downstream side of the injection kneading section 73 further kneads the mixture of the raw material and the liquid raw material kneaded in the injection kneading section 73 and conveys it downstream. The heating and kneading section 74 has a screw element 405 located in the second cylinder block 320, a screw element 406 whose upstream tip is located in the second cylinder block 320 and the other part is located in the third cylinder block 330, a screw element 407 located in the third cylinder block 330, and a screw element 408 whose upstream tip is located in the third cylinder block 330 and the other part is located in the fourth cylinder block 340.

[0025] The screw elements 405-408 are forward-thread feed screws, which knead the mixture of the raw material and the liquid raw material, and transport it downstream. During this kneading, the mixture is heated in the second cylinder block 320-fourth cylinder block 340. The temperature increases in the order of the second cylinder block 320, the third cylinder block 330, and the fourth cylinder block 340, and as the mixture is transported downstream, the mixture can be put into a high-temperature and high-pressure state by the heating in the cylinder 30 and the compressive force generated by the kneading of the screw elements 405-408. In this embodiment, the third cylinder block 330 is preferably set to a temperature of 60°C to 120°C by a heater (not shown). The fourth cylinder block 340 is preferably set to a temperature of 140°C to 180°C by a heater (not shown). The temperature range of the fourth cylinder block 340 is sufficient to cause thermal denaturation of the soy protein, which is the raw material.

[0026] It is preferable that the screw element 408 has a narrower screw pitch than the screw elements 405 to 407, and this makes it possible to increase the extrusion force in preparation for the retention shear section 75 in the next process.

[0027] The retention shear section 75 adjacent to the downstream side of the heating and kneading section 74 applies a shear force higher than that applied in the heating and kneading section 74 to the mixture molten in the heating and kneading section 74, and by retaining the mixture, further strengthens the shear action applied to the mixture, thereby finely dividing the mixture as a preliminary step to obtaining a meat-like tissue. The retention shear section 75 has screw elements 409, 410 located in the fourth cylinder block 340.

[0028] The screw element 409 is capable of applying a high shear force to the mixture to break it up, and is preferably configured to be capable of applying the highest shear force to the raw material (mixture) among the screw elements 401 to 412. An example of such a type is a pineapple-type screw element. Other types such as pin-type and fin-type may also be used, and any element may be used as long as it can apply a higher shear force to the mixture than the feed-type screw element included in the heat kneading section 74.

[0029] The screw element 410 is a so-called kneading element in which elliptical disk-shaped blades are arranged at different angles to each other along the screw rotation direction, and in this embodiment, the blades are formed as a forward screw type (right-hand screw type: R kneading) in which the blades are inclined at an angle in the forward screw direction. Such a screw element 410 can block and retain the mixture, thereby further enhancing the shearing action by the screw element 409.

[0030] The melt kneading section 76, which is adjacent to the downstream side of the retention shearing section 75, further kneads the mixture transported by the retention shearing section 75 and transports it downstream, similar to the heating kneading section 74. The melt kneading section 76 has screw elements 411 and 412 located in the fifth cylinder block 350.

[0031] The screw elements 411, 412 are forward-thread feed screws, and convey the heated and kneaded mixture downstream, thereby extruding it into the cooling die 60. During this kneading, the mixture is heated in the fifth cylinder block 350, and the mixture can be brought into a high-temperature and high-pressure state, and even into a molten state. In this embodiment, the fifth cylinder block 350 is preferably set to a temperature of 160°C to 200°C by a heater (not shown). The temperature range of this fifth cylinder block 350 is sufficient to cause thermal denaturation of the raw material soy protein.

[0032] Next, a method for producing a vegetable protein food using the food production apparatus according to this embodiment will be described in detail. Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing the method for producing a vegetable protein food according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, in the method for producing a vegetable protein food according to this embodiment, first, the raw materials are subjected to a pulverization process prior to feeding the raw materials into the extruder 1 (S101).

[0033] In this embodiment, dried soybeans are used as the raw material, and are preferably in a dehulled state. The dried soybeans may be in a dehulled state, that is, whole soybeans in a round grain shape, but in order to stably obtain a vegetable protein food in a good condition without unevenness, it is preferable to make the particle size of the dried soybeans uniform and to grind the dried soybeans. The particle size of the dried ground soybeans, which are the ground dried soybeans, is preferably 1 to 7 mm, more preferably 2 to 6 mm, and particularly preferably 3 to 5 mm. For grinding the dried soybeans, an existing grinding machine may be used. The moisture content of the dried ground soybeans is preferably 9 to 13% by weight, and particularly preferably 11 to 13% by weight.

[0034] After the pulverization process, the extruder 1 is started and the operating conditions are set (S102). The operating conditions to be set include the rotation speed of the pair of screws 40 that determines the amount of the mixture discharged, as well as the temperature of each cylinder block of the cylinder 30, the temperature of the adapter 50, the amount of cooling water supplied to the cooling die 60, and the temperature of the cooling water.

[0035] The rotation speed of the pair of screws 40 is preferably set in the range of 120 to 180 revolutions per minute. As described above, the cylinder 30 is divided into five cylinder blocks, the first to fifth cylinder blocks 310 to 350, each of which can have its temperature set individually, and the temperature is set so that the temperature increases from upstream to downstream. The temperature set in each cylinder block has been described above, so a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0036] The adapter 50 is preferably designed to withstand a temperature range of 60°C to 110°C.

[0037] The amount of cooling water supplied to the cooling die 60 is preferably set to 4 to 10 liters per minute. The temperature of the cooling water is preferably set to 5 to 40°C, and more preferably set to 5 to 25°C.

[0038] After the operating conditions are set, each cylinder block of the cylinder 30 is heated to the temperature set in step S102 by a heater (not shown), and the dried ground soybeans produced in step S101 are charged into the hopper 20 in a state in which the pair of screws 40 are driven to rotate (S103). At this time, the supply amount of the dried ground soybeans (raw material) is preferably 80 to 240 grams per minute, more preferably 110 to 210 grams per minute. In addition, the supply amount of water as a liquid raw material to be injected from the hopper 20 or the injection hole 321 is preferably 40 to 70% by weight, more preferably 45 to 65% by weight, of the weight of the raw material to be supplied. After being charged, the dried ground soybeans are heated and kneaded by the extruder 1 and then cooled (S104), and a plate-shaped vegetable protein food is discharged from the discharge port 610 (S105), and this manufacturing method is completed. The obtained plate-shaped vegetable protein food is preferably cut into appropriate pieces and immersed in room temperature water or hot water to absorb the appropriate amount of water.

[0039] According to the present embodiment described above, even when soybeans are used as the raw material, a meat-like vegetable protein food having a fibrous texture can be produced. In particular, since a high shear force can be applied to the mixture by the retention shear section 75, it is possible to promote fiberization, and it is possible to obtain a meat-like vegetable protein food having a good texture.

[0040] Furthermore, by incorporating a step of cooling the kneaded material using the cooling die 60, the kneaded material is discharged while being cooled, so that the material is fibrous in the same direction as the discharge direction (conveyance direction), and a good vegetable protein food having a dense and highly directional structure can be stably obtained. In addition, it is possible to suppress the expansion of the discharged kneaded material by cooling.

[0041] In this embodiment, the screw elements 403 and 410 are kneading elements, but any screw element may be used as long as it can properly crush and / or retain the raw material. The number of blades of these elements may be set appropriately according to the conditions, such as 3 or 5.

[0042] In addition, the extruder 1 according to the present embodiment uses soybeans as a raw material, but is not limited to this. It is also possible to obtain a vegetable protein food product using a mixture containing soybean protein powder as a raw material. Other beans may also be used as raw materials.

[0043] <Second embodiment> 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an extruder according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the extruder 1A according to this embodiment includes screw elements 402A and 410A instead of the screw elements 402 and 410 of the extruder 1 according to the first embodiment.

[0044] The screw element 402A is a so-called kneading element in which elliptical disk-shaped blades are arranged at different angles to each other along the screw rotation direction, and in this embodiment, the blades are formed as a forward screw type (right-hand screw type: R kneading) in which the blades are inclined at an angle in the forward screw direction. As a result, the screw element 402A has a higher ability to block and retain the mixture than the screw element 402, so that the raw material conveyed by the screw element 401 can be filled approximately uniformly into the gaps between the blades (wing parts), and therefore the filling density, which is the density of the raw material per unit volume of the gap, can be made approximately uniform. Furthermore, although the raw material delivery force is lower than that of the screw element 402, the raw material crushing ability is dramatically increased, so that the raw material can be crushed before the raw material is crushed by the screw element 403, and combined with the action of pushing the raw material back upstream by the screw element 403, the raw material can be reliably crushed and processed into powder.

[0045] Therefore, the conveying section 71A having the screw element 402A has a raw material conveying function similar to that of the conveying section 71 and a function of making the packing density of the raw material approximately uniform immediately before the raw material crushing section 72, and further has a raw material crushing function.

[0046] The screw element 410A is similar to the screw element 410 in that it is a so-called kneading element in which elliptical disk-shaped blades (rotors) are arranged at different angles to each other along the screw rotation direction, but it differs in that the blades are formed as a reverse screw type (left-hand screw type: L kneading) in which they are inclined at an angle in the reverse screw direction. As a result, compared to the screw element 410, the screw element 410A has an even higher ability to block and retain the mixture, and has a stronger effect of pushing the mixture back upstream, making it possible to further enhance the shearing effect of the screw element 409.

[0047] Therefore, the retention shear section 75A having the screw element 410A can further strengthen the shearing action on the mixture as compared to the retention shear section 75.

[0048] In this embodiment, the positions of the stagnant shear section 75A and the melt kneading section 76, which are composed of the screw element 409 and the screw element 410A, are interchanged. By exchanging the positions, the melt kneading section 76 is disposed across the fourth cylinder block 340 and the fifth cylinder block 350, and the stagnant shear section 75A is disposed in the fifth cylinder block 350. Therefore, it can be said that the melt kneading section 76 according to this embodiment functions as a heat kneading section 74 that kneads the mixture and conveys it downstream. By arranging in this manner, although the heat applied to the mixture in the melt kneading section 76 is reduced compared to the first embodiment, the mixture can be finely divided by high shear force while high heat is applied to the mixture in the stagnant shear section 75A, and a better meat-like tissue can be obtained.

[0049] According to the present embodiment described above, as in the first embodiment, even if soybeans are used as the raw material, a meat-like vegetable protein food having a fibrous texture can be produced. In particular, by providing the conveying section 71A and the retention shearing section 75A, a high-quality meat-like vegetable protein food with enhanced fibrous texture can be obtained.

[0050] In the first embodiment, the screw 40 has the screw elements 401-412 from the upstream side, and in the second embodiment, the screw 40 has the screw elements 401, 402A, 403-408, 411, 412, 409, and 410A from the upstream side, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead of these screw elements, new screw elements that can be expected to improve the effect or provide other different effects may be incorporated, or the position of the current screw elements may be replaced. In other words, as long as the function of substantially uniforming the packing density of the input material fed into the cylinder and transported downstream and pulverizing it, the function of transporting the pulverized input material downstream, and the function of applying a higher shear force to the transported input material can be realized, the screw elements can also be changed as appropriate.

[0051] The present invention can be implemented in various other forms without departing from the spirit or main features thereof. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative in all respects and should not be interpreted as being limiting. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims and is not limited to the text of the specification. Furthermore, all modifications, various improvements, substitutions and alterations within the scope of the claims are within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 1 Extruder (food manufacturing equipment) 20 Hopper (feeding section) 30 Cylinder 40 Screw 401 Screw element (first screw element) 402, 402A screw element (third screw element) 403 Screw element (second screw element) 410, 410A Screw element (retention section) 60 Cooling die (cooling section) 71, 71A Conveying section (conveying and crushing section) 72 Raw material crushing section (transport crushing section) 73 Injection and kneading section (supply section) 74 Heating and mixing section (transport section) 75,75A Retention shearing section (shearing section)

Claims

1. A food manufacturing apparatus that conveys input food, which is dried un-oil-pressed beans, from the upstream side to the downstream side in a cylinder by a screw while heating and kneading the food, a conveying and crushing section that crushes the input material introduced into the cylinder and conveyed downstream into powder, retains the crushed input material, makes the packing density substantially uniform, and pushes it downstream; A conveying section that conveys the input material crushed by the conveying and crushing section downstream; a shearing section that applies a higher shearing force to the input material transported by the transporting section than the transporting section; Equipped with The screw pitch of the screw included in the conveying section is narrower in a portion adjacent to the shearing section than in a portion adjacent to the conveying and crushing section. A food manufacturing apparatus comprising:

2. The conveying and crushing section is located upstream of a supply section that supplies liquid to the input material.

2. The food production apparatus according to claim 1.

3. The conveying and crushing section includes a first screw element located below a hopper for feeding the input material into the cylinder and conveying the input material downstream, a second screw element for crushing the input material, and a third screw element located between the first screw element and the second screw element, The second screw element has blades inclined at an angle in a reverse screw direction so that the pulverized input material is pushed back upstream and retained there; The third screw element has a blade inclined at an angle in the normal screw direction.

2. The food production apparatus according to claim 1.

4. The second screw element is a kneading element of a reverse screw type capable of pulverizing the input material.

4. The food production apparatus according to claim 3.

5. The third screw element is a forward-thread feed screw having a narrower screw pitch than the first screw element.

4. The food production apparatus according to claim 3.

6. The third screw element is a forward screw type kneading element that blocks and retains the input material.

4. The food production apparatus according to claim 3.

7. A cooling section provided downstream of the shearing section for cooling the input material conveyed from the shearing section and discharging the material to the outside. The food production apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

8. A food production method in which an input, which is dried, unextracted oil-extracted beans, is conveyed from an upstream side to a downstream side by a screw in a cylinder while being heated and kneaded, The material fed into the cylinder and conveyed downstream by the conveying and crushing unit is crushed into powder form, and the crushed material is retained to make the packing density substantially uniform, and then pushed out downstream; The crushed input material is conveyed downstream by a conveying section; A shearing force higher than that during conveyance is applied to the conveyed input material by the shearing section, The screw pitch of the screw included in the conveying section is narrower in a portion adjacent to the shearing section than in a portion adjacent to the conveying and crushing section. A food production method comprising the steps of:

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