Plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage with low hydrogen cyanide content

Abstract

To improve a mature taste or premium richness in plum liqueur or a plum liqueur-containing beverage with a lower hydrogen cyanide content.SOLUTION: In plum liqueur with a lower hydrogen cyanide content or a beverage containing the same, a furfural content and / or an ethyl octanoate content are regulated within specific ranges.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to umeshu or an umeshu-containing beverage having a low hydrogen cyanide content and containing a specific amount of furfural and / or ethyl octanoate, and related methods.

Background Art

[0002] Umeshu is a beverage produced by adding ume fruits to alcohols such as shochu and belongs to liqueurs under the Liquor Tax Law. Umeshu has conventionally been made at home, and in recent years, various types of umeshu have been manufactured and sold by brewing manufacturers.

[0003] In recent years, various studies have been conducted on methods for producing umeshu. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for producing umeshu having a low ethyl carbamate content by heating ume fruits by hot water extraction and then immersing them in an alcohol solution.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Ume contains cyanogenic glycosides, from which hydrogen cyanide can be generated. As a result, hydrogen cyanide is contained in umeshu and umeshu-containing beverages. If the amount of hydrogen cyanide is within the normal range contained in umeshu, it does not affect the human body, but it is preferable if the amount can be reduced.

[0006] As a method for reducing the hydrogen cyanide content, a method of diluting the raw umeshu can be considered. However, hydrogen cyanide is produced from cyanogenic glycosides contained in plum fruit, and components such as glucose, which are produced as by-products during this process, greatly contribute to the unique maturity and rich flavor of plum wine. Therefore, when plum wine is diluted, the concentration of these components also decreases. Consequently, plum wine or plum wine-containing beverages with a low hydrogen cyanide content tend to lack the unique maturity and rich flavor of plum wine.

[0007] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to improve the sense of maturity or richness of plum wine or plum wine-containing beverages with a low hydrogen cyanide content. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The inventors of this invention have discovered that by setting the furfural content and / or ethyl octanoate content in plum wine or beverages containing it with a low hydrogen cyanide content to a specific range, the sense of maturity or rich flavor can be improved, and have completed the present invention.

[0009] The present invention relates to, but is not limited to, the following. (1) Plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage having a furfural content of 1000 ppb or more and a hydrogen cyanide content of less than 8 ppm when converted to 100% alcohol. (2) Plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage having an ethyl octanoate content of 50 ppb or more and a hydrogen cyanide content of less than 8 ppm when converted to 100% alcohol. (3) Plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage having a furfural content of 1200 ppb or more and an ethyl octanoate content of 50 ppb or more. (4) A method for producing plum wine or a plum wine-containing beverage having a furfural content of 1000 ppb or more and a hydrogen cyanide content of less than 8 ppm on an alcohol-100% basis. (5) A method for producing plum wine or a plum wine-containing beverage, wherein the ethyl octanoate content is 50 ppb or more and the hydrogen cyanide content is less than 8 ppm on a 100% alcohol basis. (6) A method for producing plum wine or a plum wine-containing beverage having a furfural content of 1200 ppb or more and an ethyl octanoate content of 50 ppb or more. (7) A method for improving the maturity or richness of plum wine or plum wine-containing beverages in which the hydrogen cyanide content is less than 8 ppm on an alcohol-100% basis, The method comprising the step of mixing raw materials such that the furfural content in plum wine or a plum wine-containing beverage is 1000 ppb or more. (8) A method for improving the maturity or richness of plum wine or plum wine-containing beverages in which the hydrogen cyanide content is less than 8 ppm on an alcohol-100% basis, The method comprising the step of mixing raw materials such that the ethyl octanoate content in plum wine or a plum wine-containing beverage is 50 ppb or more. (9) A method for improving the maturity or richness of plum wine or a plum wine-containing beverage, comprising the step of mixing raw materials such that the furfural content in the plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage is 1200 ppb or more and the ethyl octanoate content is 50 ppb or more. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] This invention can improve the maturity or rich flavor of plum wine or plum wine-containing beverages with a low hydrogen cyanide content. In this specification, "maturity" as used in reference to plum wine or beverages containing plum wine refers to the aroma and taste perceived when drinking plum wine or plum wine-containing beverages, and means that while the taste is complex, consisting of acidity, sweetness, and aroma, the overall taste is well-balanced, and there is a mellow and pleasant aftertaste. Furthermore, "high-quality richness" refers to the aroma and taste perceived when drinking plum wine or plum wine-containing beverages, and means that while the aroma and taste are rich and complex, they are well-balanced, and a rich, expansive, and lingering feeling is experienced in the mouth. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] The plum wine and plum wine-containing beverages of the present invention, and related methods, are described below. Unless otherwise specified, "ppm" and "ppb" as used herein refer to ppm and ppb in weight / volume (w / v), and are synonymous with "mg / L" and "μg / L," respectively.

[0012] Furthermore, the term "alcohol" as used in this specification means ethanol unless otherwise specified. (Plum wine and plum wine-containing beverages) As used herein, the term "umeshu" refers to a beverage obtained by immersing plums, such as green plums or aged plums, or parts thereof (including seeds), in an alcohol-containing liquid such as shochu to extract their components.

[0013] The plum varieties used to supply the plum fruit are not particularly limited as long as they are commonly used in the production of plum wine, but examples include Nanko plum, Shirokaga plum, Ryukyo plum, Koshu plum, Tsuyuakane, Oushuku, Suiko, Kaga Jizo, Hachiro, Mineharu, Purple Queen, Kino Takara, Minabe 21, NK14, Daiko, Purple Nanko, Ujack, Maezawa plum, Kairyo Uchida, Yoshimura plum, Shinshu Bungo, Takada plum, Shinpeitayu, Tamaorihime, Natsumidori, Fukutayu, Beni no Mai, Hanakami, Kojo, Tsukisekai, Umesato, etc. The ripeness of the fruit is not particularly limited; immature green plums or fully ripe plums may be used. The plum fruit or a part thereof may be immersed directly in an alcohol-containing solution, or it may be processed first, for example, by crushing, cutting, heating, freezing, or drying, before being used in the immersion process.

[0014] The alcohol-containing liquid used in the immersion process usually contains water along with the alcohol. In one example, the liquid may also contain distilled spirits, thereby containing alcohol. The distilled spirits are not limited by their raw materials or manufacturing method. Examples of such distilled spirits include whiskey, brandy, spirits (e.g., vodka, rum, tequila, gin, aquavit), neutral spirits, liqueurs, and shochu. Preferably, the distilled spirits are whiskey, brandy, or neutral spirits. The typical immersion temperature is room temperature (around 25°C), and the typical immersion time is 1 to 12 months, for example, 1 to 3 months.

[0015] As used herein, the term "ume-shu-containing beverage" means a beverage containing ume-shu. Typical examples of ume-shu-containing beverages include beverages obtained by diluting ume-shu with water or carbonated water.

[0016] The content of ume-shu in the ume-shu-containing beverage is preferably 1 to 99 v / v%, more preferably 5 to 99 v / v%, more preferably 10 to 99 v / v%, and more preferably 20 to 99%.

[0017] The content of hydrogen cyanide in the ume-shu or ume-shu-containing beverage of the present invention is very low, and the content is less than 8 ppm in terms of 100% alcohol, preferably 7 ppm or less, more preferably 6 ppm or less, more preferably 5 ppm or less, more preferably 4 ppm or less, more preferably 3 ppm or less, and more preferably 2 ppm or less.

[0018] Here, "in terms of 100% alcohol" means the amount of hydrogen cyanide per certain amount of alcohol contained in a beverage sample such as ume-shu or ume-shu-containing beverage, and is calculated by the following formula.

[0019] (Hydrogen cyanide content in terms of 100% alcohol) =(Hydrogen cyanide content in the beverage sample) / (Alcohol content in the beverage sample (v / v%)) × 100 The content of hydrogen cyanide in the beverage may be measured by any known method, but for example, it can be measured by the method shown in the examples described later.

[0020] Also, the ume-shu or ume-shu-containing beverage of the present invention preferably contains components usually contained in ume-shu. In a preferred embodiment, the ume-shu or ume-shu-containing beverage contains benzaldehyde at 0.5 to 100 ppm.

[0021] (Furfural, ethyl octanoate) The plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage of the present invention contains a specific amount of furfural and / or ethyl octanoate. These components can enhance the sense of maturity or the rich flavor of the plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage.

[0022] The furfural content in the plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage of the present invention is 1000 ppb or more, preferably 1200 ppb or more, preferably 1000 to 3000 ppb, more preferably 1000 to 2500 ppb, and more preferably 1300 to 1700 ppb.

[0023] The ethyl octanoate content in the plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage of the present invention is 50 ppb or more, preferably 50 to 300 ppb, more preferably 50 to 200 ppb, and more preferably 80 to 200 ppb.

[0024] In one embodiment of the present invention, the plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage preferably contains 1200 ppb or more of furfural and 50 ppb or more of ethyl octanoate.

[0025] The plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage of the present invention may contain both of these components in the above-mentioned amounts. To adjust the content of these components, for example, some or all of them can be added from an external source. To add desired components from an external source, they may be added directly to the plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage, or raw materials such as plum juice, plum extract, or base liquor containing some or all of those components may be added to the plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage.

[0026] The content of these components can be analyzed using any known method, such as GC-MS or LC-MS. For example, their content can be measured by gas chromatography (GC), and examples of the measurement conditions are described in the examples below.

[0027] (alcohol) The plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage of the present invention contains alcohol. The alcohol content of the plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage is preferably 1.0 to 30 v / v%, more preferably 3.0 to 25.0 v / v%, and more preferably 5.0 to 22.0 v / v%.

[0028] In this specification, the alcohol content can be measured by any known method, for example, by a vibrating densimeter. Specifically, a sample is prepared by removing carbon dioxide from a beverage by filtration or ultrasound, and the sample is then subjected to direct-fire distillation. The density of the resulting distillate at 15°C is measured, and the alcohol content can be calculated by converting it using "Table 2 Conversion Table for Alcohol Content, Density (15°C), and Specific Gravity (15 / 15°C)," which is an appendix to the National Tax Agency's prescribed analytical method (National Tax Agency Instruction No. 6 of 2007, revised June 22, 2007).

[0029] (Other ingredients) In addition to the plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage of the present invention, other additives commonly used in beverages, such as sugars, flavorings, vitamins, colorings, antioxidants, preservatives, seasonings, acidulants, extracts, pH adjusters, and quality stabilizers, may be added to the plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage of the present invention, as long as they do not impair the unique taste inherent in plum wine and do not impair the effects of the present invention.

[0030] (Packaged beverages) The plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage of the present invention may be provided in a container. The container may include, but is not limited to, metal containers such as cans, PET bottles, paper cartons, glass bottles, pouches, etc.

[0031] (method) In another aspect, the present invention is a method for improving the maturity or richness of plum wine or plum wine-containing beverages in which the hydrogen cyanide content is less than 8 ppm on an alcohol-100% basis. The method comprises the following steps: A process of mixing raw materials so that the furfural content in plum wine or a plum wine-containing beverage is 1000 ppb or more; and / or A process of mixing raw materials so that the ethyl octanoate content in plum wine or a plum wine-containing beverage is 50 ppb or more.

[0032] These processes can also be used in the production of plum wine or plum wine-containing beverages. The method for adjusting the content is as described above for plum wine or plum wine-containing beverages, or is self-evident from there. Also, the content of furfural and ethyl octanoate and other components The specific examples and quantities are as described above with respect to plum wine or plum wine-containing beverages.

[0033] (Numerical range) For clarification, in this specification, a numerical range represented by a lower limit and an upper limit, i.e., "lower limit to upper limit," includes those lower and upper limits. For example, the range represented by "1 to 2" includes 1 and 2. [Examples]

[0034] The present invention will be described below based on examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. (Test Example 1) Effect of furfural on beverages with low hydrogen cyanide content A commercially available plum wine product A (a paper-packaged plum wine containing flavoring) was used as a control (Control 1). The hydrogen cyanide content of this control was 5 ppm on an alcohol equivalent basis, and it contained 94.6 ppb of furfural and 17.5 ppb of ethyl octanoate. Various amounts of furfural were then added to this control to obtain several beverages. The alcohol content of each beverage ranged from 10 to 15 v / v%.

[0035] The hydrogen cyanide content was measured as follows: Alkali was added to the sample beverage to inactivate the hydrolytic enzyme derived from plums in the sample. Then, the pH was adjusted to approximately 5.5, and steam distillation was performed to collect the liberated hydrogen cyanide in an alkaline solution. Next, pyridinepyrazolone reagent was added to the obtained solution to induce color development, and the concentration of hydrogen cyanide was quantified by colorimetric method. The same procedure was followed in subsequent test examples.

[0036] Furthermore, GC-MS analysis was performed under the following conditions to measure the content of furfural and ethyl octanoate in each beverage. The same procedure was followed in subsequent test examples. ·Analyzer GCMS manufactured by Agilent Technologies. • GC oven temperature conditions 40℃ (5 minutes) - 6℃ / min - 240℃ ·column DBwax 60m, inner diameter 320μm, film thickness 0.25μm (Agilent J&W) - No sample pretreatment. These beverages were subjected to sensory evaluation. Specifically, three expert panelists evaluated each beverage according to the following criteria, and the average score was calculated (the average was rounded to an integer). To minimize individual differences in evaluation, each panelist established a common understanding of the relationship between each score and taste beforehand using a standard product corresponding to each score. This evaluation method was also used in other test examples unless otherwise specified.

[0037] <The matured flavor or rich taste of plum wine-containing beverages> 1 point: Lacks maturity and rich, high-quality flavor. 2 points: Lacks a sense of maturity and rich, high-quality flavor. 3 points: A sense of maturity and a slightly refined richness can be felt. 4 points: You can feel the maturity and richness of the high-quality flavor. 5 points: You can really feel the sense of maturity and the rich, high-quality flavor. Table 1 shows the furfural content and evaluation results. Excellent effects were obtained when the furfural content was within a certain range.

[0038] [Table 1]

[0039] (Test Example 2) Effects of Furfural on Low Hydrogen Cyanide Content Beverages, Part 2 The same experiment as in Test Example 1 was conducted, except that plum wine product B (a sugar-free plum wine in a paper carton with added flavoring) was used as a control (although the number of beverages with added furfural was smaller). This control in this experiment is called Control 2. The hydrogen cyanide content in Control 2 was less than 8 ppm in terms of 100% alcohol, the furfural content was 193.3 ppb, and the ethyl octanoate content was 12.3 ppb. The alcohol content of each beverage was 8-12 v / v%. The experimental results are shown below.

[0040] [Table 2]

[0041] The same trend as in Test Example 1 was observed even when using different types of plum wine. This suggests that the present invention can be applied to a wide range of plum wines or plum wine-containing beverages. (Test Example 3) Effect of ethyl octanoate on beverages with low hydrogen cyanide content Plum wine product A, used in Test Example 1, was used as a control. In this test example, this is referred to as Control 3. The hydrogen cyanide content of Control 3 was 5 ppm when converted to 100% alcohol, the furfural content was 94.6 ppb, and the ethyl octanoate content was 17.5 ppb. Next, various amounts of ethyl octanoate were added to the control to obtain several beverages. The alcohol content of each beverage was 10-15 v / v%. These beverages were subjected to the same sensory evaluation as in Test Example 1.

[0042] Table 1 shows the ethyl octanoate content and evaluation results. Excellent effects were obtained when the ethyl octanoate content was within a certain range.

[0043] [Table 3]

[0044] (Test Example 4) Effect of ethyl octanoate on beverages with low hydrogen cyanide content, Part 2 The experiment was conducted in the same manner as in Test Example 3, except that the same plum wine product B as in Test Example 2 was used as the control (although the number of beverages with added ethyl octanoate was smaller). The control in this experiment is called Control 4. The hydrogen cyanide content in Control 4 was less than 8 ppm in terms of 100% alcohol, the furfural content was 193.3 ppb, and the ethyl octanoate content was 12.3 ppb. The alcohol content of each beverage was 8-12 v / v%. The experimental results are shown below.

[0045] [Table 4]

[0046] The same trend as in Test Example 3 was observed even when using different types of plum wine. This suggests that the present invention can be applied to a wide range of plum wines or plum wine-containing beverages.

Claims

1. Plum wine or plum wine-containing beverage having a furfural content of 1200 to 2500 ppb and an ethyl octanoate content of 80 ppb or more.

2. A method for producing plum wine or a plum wine-containing beverage having a furfural content of 1200 to 2500 ppb and an ethyl octanoate content of 80 ppb or more.

3. A method for improving the maturity or rich flavor of plum wine or a plum wine-containing beverage, The method comprising the step of mixing raw materials such that the furfural content in plum wine or a plum wine-containing beverage is 1200 to 2500 ppb and the ethyl octanoate content is 80 ppb or more.

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