Aluminum-free plastic containers containing iron-containing cooked foods and methods for suppressing flavor deterioration thereof

Abstract

To provide an iron-containing cooked food product put in an aluminum-free plastic container which is intended to reduce flavor deterioration derived from iron that occurs during a long-term storage.SOLUTION: In an iron-containing cooked food product put in an aluminum-free plastic container, an iron content is 0.0010-0.0080% inclusive, and a ratio of a tomato content (raw conversion) relative to 1 part of the iron content is 400 parts or more.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an iron-containing cooked food in an aluminum-free plastic container with suppressed flavor deterioration derived from iron, which occurs during long-term storage, and a method for suppressing such flavor deterioration.

Background Art

[0002] Recently, as one of the convenient cooking methods, cooked foods for microwave heating have come into the market. Regarding retort products such as pasta sauce, curry roux, nursing foods, and baby foods, in addition to the previously mainstream aluminum pouches, the use of aluminum-free plastic containers has increased, and microwave heating cooking has rapidly spread.

[0003] However, when cooked foods packaged in aluminum-free plastic containers are stored for a long time, there is a problem that the flavor deterioration of the cooked foods is more significant than in the case of containers using aluminum. In particular, the mineral iron tends to strongly feel an off-flavor like rust over time and deteriorate the flavor of the whole food. For example, regarding fermented milk, a method for suppressing the flavor derived from iron content is disclosed, which is a method of adding an iron preparation coated with an emulsifier to fermented milk, and the knowledge about general cooked foods is still insufficient.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Therefore, the present invention provides an iron-containing cooked food in an aluminum-free plastic container with suppressed flavor deterioration derived from iron, which occurs during long-term storage.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The inventors of this invention have diligently conducted research to achieve the above objective. As a result, we discovered that, unexpectedly, by keeping the iron content and the ratio of tomato content (raw equivalent) to 1 part by mass of iron within a specific range, it is possible to obtain iron-containing cooked foods in aluminum-free plastic containers that suppress iron-derived flavor deterioration that occurs during long-term storage. This led to the completion of the present invention.

[0007] In other words, the present invention is (1) In prepared foods in aluminum-free plastic containers, The iron content is between 0.0010% and 0.0080%. The ratio of the tomato content (raw equivalent) to 1 part by mass of the iron content is 400 parts by mass or more. A cooked food containing iron, characterized by being packaged in an aluminum-free plastic container. (2) The iron is derived from ferric pyrophosphate and / or sodium ferrous citrate, The iron-containing cooked food in an aluminum-free plastic container as described in feature 1, (3) A method for suppressing flavor deterioration of iron-containing cooked foods in aluminum-free plastic containers, The iron content is 0.0010% or more and 0.0080% or less. The ratio of the tomato content (raw equivalent) to 1 part by mass of the iron content is 400 parts by mass or more. A method for suppressing flavor deterioration of iron-containing cooked foods in aluminum-free plastic containers, characterized by the following: That is the case. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide iron-containing cooked foods in aluminum-free plastic containers in which iron-derived flavor deterioration that occurs during long-term storage is suppressed. Because the food is filled into aluminum-free plastic containers, it can also be microwave-safe, thus contributing to the expansion of the market for microwave-safe cooked foods. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] The present invention will be described in detail below. In this invention, "%" means "mass%" and "parts" means "parts by mass".

[0010] <Features of the Invention> The present invention relates to an iron-containing prepared food in an aluminum-free plastic container, characterized in that the iron content is 0.0010% or more and 0.0080% or less, and the ratio of tomato content (raw equivalent) to part iron content is 400 parts or more. This invention is characterized in that it suppresses iron-derived flavor deterioration that occurs during long-term storage. Furthermore, it is preferable that the iron-containing cooked food in the aluminum-free plastic container be microwave-safe, allowing it to be heated in the microwave while still in the plastic container. The method of microwave heating is not particularly limited; the container, which has a steam release valve, may be heated in the microwave without opening it, or it may be heated in the microwave with the lid or bag open. Furthermore, it is preferable that the iron-containing prepared food in the aluminum-free plastic container be intended for infants and toddlers. Prepared foods for infants and toddlers are lightly seasoned and more susceptible to the unpleasant taste of iron due to long-term storage, thus making it easier to obtain the effects of the present invention.

[0011] <Prepared Foods> The types of prepared foods used in this invention are not particularly limited and include, for example, curry rice, stew, consommé soup, spaghetti, risotto, chicken rice, gratin, simmered udon noodles, rice porridge, and simmered dishes. The iron-containing cooked food in an aluminum-free plastic container of the present invention may be either a retort food (a container-packaged, pressure-heat-sterilized food) or a non-retort food, but the effects of the present invention are more easily obtained with retort foods. In the present invention, a retort food means a food that has been sterilized by pressure-heat treatment at a temperature equivalent to 120°C for 4 minutes, or under conditions that have an equivalent or greater effect. Specifically, for example, it is preferable to perform pressure-heat sterilization treatment at 110-130°C for about 5-90 minutes.

[0012] <Container> The iron-containing cooked food in this invention is filled into an aluminum-free plastic container. An aluminum-free plastic container is a plastic container that does not use aluminum as a material, except for parts that peel off during microwave heating, such as the lid and top seal. Because it is an aluminum-free plastic container, it is possible to heat the container in a microwave oven, but an unpleasant iron flavor is more likely to develop during long-term storage. Furthermore, the plastic containers used in this invention are made of plastic materials commonly used in the field of packaging containers, such as PET, PA, and PP, and other materials may be used in combination as long as they do not impair the effects of this invention. The shape of the container is not particularly restricted and examples include flat pouches, standing pouches, cups, etc.

[0013] <Iron> In this invention, the iron may be derived from food ingredients, or iron itself may be added in the form of a food additive. However, the effects of this invention are more easily obtained when iron itself is added in the form of a food additive. The iron added in the form of a food additive is not particularly limited and can be any iron that can be added to food. Examples include ferric chloride, sodium ferrous citrate, ferric citrate, ferrous gluconate, ferric pyrophosphate, and yeast iron. In particular, the above effects are more easily obtained when ferric pyrophosphate and / or sodium ferrous citrate are included, and the above effects are even more easily obtained when ferric pyrophosphate is included. In addition, the iron content in the present invention is 0.0010% or more and 0.0080% or less, the lower limit is preferably 0.0012% or more, and the upper limit is preferably 0.0040% or less. When the iron content is less than the lower limit, an unpleasant flavor due to iron does not occur. When the iron content exceeds the upper limit, an unpleasant taste derived from iron is strongly felt, and the effect of suppressing flavor deterioration of the present invention cannot be obtained. The iron content can be measured by ICP emission spectrometry.

[0014] <Tomato> The tomato in the present invention is not limited to the fruit tomato itself, but also includes processed tomatoes such as tomato puree, tomato paste, tomato juice, ketchup, etc. In addition, in the iron-containing processed food of the present invention, a plurality of the above tomatoes can be combined. In the present invention, the ratio of the content of tomato (in terms of fresh weight) to the content of iron is 400 parts or more, the lower limit is preferably 900 parts or more, the upper limit is preferably 9000 parts or less, and more preferably 6000 parts or less. When the ratio of the content of tomato (in terms of fresh weight) is less than the lower limit, the flavor deterioration derived from iron cannot be sufficiently suppressed. When the ratio of the content of tomato (in terms of fresh weight) exceeds the upper limit, it is difficult to obtain an effect commensurate with the added amount. In the present invention, the content of tomato (in terms of fresh weight) is not particularly limited, but the lower limit is preferably 0.4% or more, more preferably 1% or more, the upper limit is preferably 25% or less, and more preferably 15% or less. When the tomato content (in terms of fresh weight) is within the above range, the effect of suppressing flavor deterioration derived from iron is easily obtained.

[0015] <Others> The processed food in the present invention can appropriately select and contain other raw materials within a range that does not impair the effects of the present invention in addition to the above raw materials. For example, meats such as beef, pork, chicken, and liver, fish such as salmon, cod, tuna, and flounder, vegetables such as onions, carrots, potatoes, pumpkins, cabbages, green peppers, paprika, celery, broccoli, and sweet potatoes, milk raw materials such as cheese, butter, fresh cream, milk, whey, skim milk powder, and milk fat, seasonings such as soy sauce, mirin, chicken extract, and bouillon, and minerals such as calcium can be mentioned.

[0016] <Method for manufacturing iron-containing processed food> An example of the method for manufacturing an iron-containing processed food of the present invention will be described. For example, first, solid raw materials such as vegetables and meats are cut into an easily edible size. Then, all raw materials including iron and tomatoes are put into a double kettle or the like, heated while stirring to manufacture an iron-containing processed food, and filled into an aluminum-free plastic container, whereby an iron-containing processed food in an aluminum-free plastic container can be obtained. Further, heat sterilization may be performed after filling into the aluminum-free plastic container.

[0017] Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described based on Examples, Comparative Examples, and Test Examples. Note that the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example

[0018] [Test Example 1] In Test Example 1, Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 were manufactured for the purpose of examining the influence of the iron content and the ratio of the tomato content (in terms of fresh) to 1 part of the iron content on the flavor derived from iron that occurs during long-term storage. The formulation of Example 1 is shown in Table 1. Examples 2 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 were manufactured with the same formulation as Example 1, except that the blending amounts of tomato paste (1.3 times concentrated) and ferric pyrophosphate were adjusted so that the tomato and iron contents became the values described in Table 2. The manufacturing method is the same for all of Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 and is as follows. First, potatoes, carrots, onions, and chicken were cut into bite-sized pieces. Next, all the ingredients were placed in a pot and heated to 90°C. After that, the resulting iron-containing cooked food was filled into aluminum-free plastic pouches and subjected to pressurized heat sterilization at 120°C for 30 minutes to obtain the iron-containing cooked food.

[0019] [Table 1] <Example 1: Stew> Potatoes 10% Carrots 10% Onion 7% Chicken 5% Starch 3% Sugar 1% Tomato paste 7.2% (9.4% in terms of raw tomatoes) Ferric pyrophosphate 0.0080% Zan Shimizu ---------------------------------- Total 100%

[0020] The iron-containing cooked foods obtained from Examples 1-6 and Comparative Examples 1-3 were stored at room temperature for an equivalent period of 6 months. After that, each was opened, heated in a microwave oven at 600W for 20 seconds, and then evaluated according to the evaluation criteria below. The results are shown in Table 2.

[0021] <Evaluation Criteria> ◎: No unpleasant iron-derived taste detected, very pleasant. ○: I detected a slight unpleasant taste derived from iron, but it was within an acceptable range. ×: I strongly felt an unpleasant iron-derived taste, which was undesirable.

[0022] [Table 2] TIFF0007868784000001.tif26121

[0023] The evaluation results showed that for Examples 1-3, no unpleasant iron-derived taste was detected during long-term storage, and the results were very favorable. For Examples 4 and 5, a slight unpleasant iron-derived taste was detected, but it was within an acceptable range. On the other hand, in Comparative Examples 1 and 2, the ratio of tomato (raw equivalent) to iron content was 0 or less than 400 parts, resulting in a strong unpleasant taste derived from iron, which was undesirable. Furthermore, in Comparative Example 3, the iron content in the iron-containing cooked food was higher than 0.0080%, resulting in a strong, unpleasant taste derived from iron, which was undesirable. From the above, it can be understood that the effects of the present invention can be obtained when the iron content is 0.0010% or more and 0.0080% or less, and the ratio of the tomato content (raw equivalent) to the iron content is 400 parts or more.

[0024] [Example 7] Example 7 aimed to investigate whether the effect of suppressing iron-derived flavor deterioration that occurs during long-term storage could be observed even if the type of iron added was changed. Except for replacing ferric pyrophosphate with sodium ferrous citrate, an iron-containing prepared food was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 and filled into an aluminum-free pouch. In Example 7, the amount of sodium ferrous citrate was adjusted so that the iron content and the ratio of tomato content (raw equivalent) to part of the iron content were the same as in Example 1. The resulting iron-containing cooked food was then stored in the same manner as in Test Example 1, and a flavor evaluation was performed. A slight unpleasant taste derived from iron was detected, but it was within an acceptable range.

[0025] [Example 8] To investigate whether similar effects can be observed with other cooked foods besides the stew in Example 1, minestrone soup was prepared as in Example 8. Specifically, following the formulation table in Table 3, potatoes, carrots, onions, and beef were cut into bite-sized pieces and placed in a pot along with the other ingredients, and heated to 90°C. The resulting iron-containing cooked food was then filled into aluminum-free plastic pouches and subjected to pressurized heat sterilization at 120°C for 30 minutes to obtain the iron-containing cooked food. In Example 8, the iron content was 0.0019%, the tomato content (raw equivalent) was 7.3%, and the ratio of tomato content (raw equivalent) to iron content was 3854 parts. Next, the resulting iron-containing cooked food was stored in the same manner as in Test Example 1, and its flavor was evaluated. No unpleasant iron-derived taste was detected, and it was found to be very pleasant.

[0026] [Table 3] <Example 8: Minestrone Soup> Potatoes 10% Carrots 7% Onion 10% Beef 4% Starch 2.5% Sugar 1% Tomato paste 4% (5.2% in terms of raw tomatoes) Tomato ketchup 3% (2.1% based on raw tomatoes) Ferric pyrophosphate 0.0070% Zan Shimizu ---------------------------------- Total 100%

[0027] [Example 9] To investigate whether similar effects could be observed with cooked foods other than the stew in Example 1, we prepared chicken rice as in Example 9. Specifically, following the formulation table in Table 4, carrots, onions, and chicken were cut into bite-sized pieces and placed in a pot along with the other ingredients, and heated to 90°C. The resulting iron-containing food was then filled into aluminum-free plastic pouches and subjected to pressurized heat sterilization at 120°C for 30 minutes to obtain the iron-containing food. In Example 9, the iron content was 0.0017%, the tomato content (raw equivalent) was 6.7%, and the ratio of tomato content (raw equivalent) to iron content was 4056 parts. Next, the resulting iron-containing cooked food was stored in the same manner as in Test Example 1, and its flavor was evaluated. No unpleasant iron-derived taste was detected, and it was found to be very pleasant.

[0028] [Table 4] <Example 9: Chicken Rice> rice 10% Carrots 5% Onion 5% Chicken 5% Starch 2% Sugar 2% Tomato paste 3% (3.9% in raw tomato equivalent) Tomato ketchup 4% (2.8% in terms of raw tomatoes) Ferric pyrophosphate 0.0060% Zan Shimizu ---------------------------------- Total 100%

[0029] [Example 10] To investigate whether similar effects could be observed in containers other than pouches, the stew of Example 10 was prepared. Specifically, a stew prepared using the same formulation and method as in Example 1 was filled into aluminum-free plastic cups and subjected to pressurized heat sterilization at 120°C for 30 minutes to obtain an iron-containing cooked food. In Example 10, the iron content was 0.0021%, and the ratio of tomato content (raw equivalent) to iron content was 4382 parts. Next, the resulting iron-containing cooked food was stored in the same manner as in Test Example 1, and its flavor was evaluated. No unpleasant iron-derived taste was detected, and it was found to be very pleasant.

Claims

1. In prepared foods packaged in aluminum-free plastic containers, The iron content is 0.0010% by mass or more and 0.0080% by mass or less. The iron is derived from ferric pyrophosphate and / or sodium ferrous citrate, The ratio of the tomato content (raw equivalent) to 1 part by mass of the iron content is 400 parts by mass or more. Iron-containing cooked food in an aluminum-free plastic container, characterized by the following features.

2. A method for suppressing flavor deterioration of iron-containing cooked foods in aluminum-free plastic containers, The iron content is 0.0010% by mass or more and 0.0080% by mass or less. The iron is derived from ferric pyrophosphate and / or sodium ferrous citrate, The ratio of the tomato content (raw equivalent) to 1 part by mass of the iron content is 400 parts by mass or more. A method for suppressing flavor deterioration of iron-containing cooked foods in aluminum-free plastic containers, characterized by the following:

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