Extract powder production facility and extract powder production method

Abstract

Provided is an extract powder production facility that makes it possible to easily process an extract contained in stickwater obtained using seafood as a raw material into soup stock or seasoning having an excellent taste, while reducing the cost of concentrating the stickwater.　The extract powder production facility is provided with: a simmering machine 3 for simmering a raw material comprising seafood to produce a simmered product; a pressing device 4 for squeezing the simmered product to separate the simmered product into a press cake and press water; a separation unit 5 for subjecting the press water to solid-liquid separation and oily component separation to produce stickwater; a membrane treatment unit 6 which is provided with a reverse osmosis membrane 622 and in which the stickwater is allowed to pass through the reverse osmosis membrane 622 to concentrate an extract contained in the stickwater, thereby producing an extract concentrate; and a vacuum dryer 8 for drying the extract concentrate.

Description

Extract powder manufacturing equipment and extract powder manufacturing method

[0001] The present invention relates to an extract powder production facility and an extract powder production method for processing raw materials such as fish and shellfish residues to convert the extract contained in the raw materials into powder form.

[0002] Seafood residues are generated throughout the entire distribution process from landing to consumption. For example, at the landing stage, residues are generated during primary processing (head removal, etc.) at the local market, pre-processing of raw fish for processing, and discarding fish that have no market value due to issues such as damage or size. If seafood residues are treated as waste, the cost of processing them is high. However, because seafood residues contain useful components such as protein, they are effectively utilized as a resource rather than being treated as waste. For example, fish meal is produced from seafood residues (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a fish processing device that includes a cooker that cooks fish using steam heating, a press that squeezes the fish from the cooker to separate it into press cake and sticky water, an evaporative concentration device that evaporates and concentrates the sticky water to produce concentrated sticky water, and a dryer that mixes and dries the concentrated sticky water and press cake. This fish processing device produces fish meal as a final processed product.

[0004] Special Publication No. 3-58706

[0005] Conventional seafood processing apparatuses such as those described in Patent Document 1 use an evaporative concentrator to concentrate the sticky water. In order to operate the evaporative concentrator until the sticky water is sufficiently concentrated, a large amount of steam is required, which poses a problem of high costs for heavy oil used as a heat source for generating steam.

[0006] Furthermore, in conventional seafood processing devices such as those described in Patent Document 1, the final product, fish meal, is mainly composed of press cake, with sticky water only used as a supplement. Therefore, studies are being conducted to use sticky water as the main component and to process the extract contained in sticky water into powdered soup stock or seasonings.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide an extract powder production facility and an extract powder production method that can reduce the cost of concentrating stick water made from seafood as a raw material, utilize stick water as a main component, and easily process the extract contained in the stick water into soup stock or seasonings that have excellent flavor.

[0008] The inventions disclosed in this specification to solve the above-mentioned problems are configured as follows: That is, the first invention is an extract powder production facility comprising: a cooker that cooks seafood raw materials to produce a cooked product; a press device that presses the cooked product to separate it into a press cake and press water; a separation section that performs solid-liquid separation and oil separation on the press water to produce sticky water; a membrane processing section that has a reverse osmosis membrane and that passes the sticky water through the reverse osmosis membrane to concentrate the extract contained in the sticky water to produce an extract concentrate; and a dryer that dries the extract concentrate.

[0009] According to the first invention, a membrane processor is used to concentrate stick water, rather than using a conventional evaporative concentration device. In the membrane processor, the stick water is passed through a reverse osmosis membrane, allowing for easy separation of the stick water into an extract concentrate and permeate. Although a pressure pump is required to apply a pressure equal to or greater than the osmotic pressure to the concentrate, the energy consumption required for the concentration process is significantly reduced compared to a conventional concentration process using an evaporative concentration device. This significantly reduces the amount of heavy oil used as a heat source for generating steam, thereby achieving significant fuel savings. Furthermore, by passing the stick water through a reverse osmosis membrane to produce an extract concentrate, complex processing is not required. By drying the produced extract concentrate in a dryer, dashi and seasonings containing a large amount of extract can be easily produced. In other words, while reducing the cost of concentrating seafood-based stick water, the stick water can be used as a primary component, and the extract contained in the stick water can be easily processed into dashi and seasonings with excellent flavor.

[0010] In a second invention, in the first invention, the membrane processing unit is characterized in that it is provided with an ultrafiltration membrane upstream of the reverse osmosis membrane for removing high molecular weight components and oil from the sticky water.

[0011] According to the second invention, sticky water contains proteins, high molecular weight peptides, and small amounts of oil that were not completely separated in the separation section, which become cloudy. These can be separated using an ultrafiltration membrane, and only the extracts that produce umami, such as low molecular weight peptides and amino acids, can be efficiently concentrated.

[0012] A third invention is characterized in that in the first or second invention, the dryer is a vacuum dryer that dries the extract concentrate under reduced pressure.

[0013] According to the third aspect of the present invention, by drying the extract concentrate under reduced pressure, the boiling point of the water contained in the extract concentrate can be lowered to, for example, about 60°C. This prevents the extract concentrate from being denatured by high temperatures compared to drying the extract concentrate without reducing the pressure. In particular, the extract concentrate can be dried while retaining its flavor. This allows for the production of high-quality extract powder.

[0014] The fourth invention is a method for producing extract powder, comprising boiling a raw material consisting of seafood, squeezing it to produce a press cake and press water, separating the press water into solid-liquid and oil components to produce stick water, passing the stick water through a reverse osmosis membrane to produce an extract concentrate by concentrating the extract contained in the stick water, and drying and pulverizing the extract concentrate to produce extract powder.

[0015] According to the fourth aspect, the same effects as those of the first aspect can be obtained.

[0016] A fifth invention is characterized in that, in the fourth invention, the stick water is passed through an ultrafiltration membrane in a step prior to passing through a reverse osmosis membrane.

[0017] According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the same effects as those of the second aspect of the invention can be obtained.

[0018] According to the extract powder production equipment and the extract powder production method of the present invention, the cost of concentrating stick water made from seafood as a raw material can be reduced, while the stick water is used as the main component, and the extract contained in the stick water can be easily processed into soup stock or seasonings with excellent flavor.

[0019] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an extract powder production facility according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a reverse osmosis membrane filtration device according to this embodiment. Fig. 3 is a flow diagram for explaining a method for producing an extract powder according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an extract powder production facility according to another embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a reduced pressure fermentation drying device, which is part of an extract powder production facility according to another embodiment.

[0020] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0021] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an extract powder production facility 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The extract powder production facility 1 of this embodiment is installed, for example, near a location where primary processing or pre-processing of raw fish is carried out at a fish market. Large amounts of seafood residue are generated at these locations. The extract powder production facility 1 effectively utilizes the seafood residue as a raw material to produce extract powders such as peptide stock and seasonings. As shown in FIG. 1 , the extract powder production facility 1 includes a raw material hopper 2, a boiler 3, a press device 4, a separation unit 5, a membrane treatment unit 6, an evaporator 7, a vacuum dryer 8, a storage unit 9, a grinder 10, and a filling device 11.

[0022] Raw materials such as parts of fish that are no longer needed after processing, abundant fish such as sardines and mackerel that cannot be sold, and fish that cannot be sold on the market due to damage or size are placed into the raw material hopper 2 together with water. These raw materials made of seafood placed into the raw material hopper 2 are supplied to the cooker 3. The cooker 3 is a device that cooks the raw materials made of seafood to produce a cooked product.

[0023] The boiler 3 is equipped with, for example, a cylindrical steam jacket and a double-layered screw conveyor (not shown) that allows for heating by passing steam. The boiler 3 indirectly boils the raw materials as they are transported from the inlet to the outlet. By heating the raw materials, the boiler 3 coagulates proteins, destroys cell membranes, and releases oils and bound water. In this way, the boiler 3 boils the raw materials.

[0024] The cooked material produced in the cooking machine 3 is supplied to the press device 4. In this embodiment, the press device 4 is a screw press device. Although not shown, the press device 4 has a cylindrical wall and a worm screw disposed inside the cylindrical wall. The structure is such that the distance between the worm screw and the cylindrical wall gradually narrows from the inlet to the outlet. The cooked material fed into the inlet of the press device 4 is transported toward the outlet by the rotation of the worm screw, and is compressed during this process. The wall on the outer periphery of the worm screw has multiple slits through which the liquid is squeezed out. In this way, the press device 4 compresses the cooked material to separate it into press cake (solids) and press water (liquids).

[0025] The press water produced by the squeezing process in the press device 4 is supplied to the separation section 5. The separation section 5 performs solid-liquid separation and oil separation on the press water to produce sticky water. More specifically, the separation section 5 includes a decanter 51 and a three-layer centrifuge 52. The decanter 51 is a device that separates meat pieces and a relatively large amount of fine particles (sludge) contained in the press water into solid and liquid. The decanter 51 includes a drum that rotates at high speed and a screw conveyor (not shown) that rotates inside the drum with a slight rotational difference. The decanter 51 uses centrifugal force to deposit the meat pieces and sludge inside the drum, and the screw conveyor moves them to the tip and discharges them.

[0026] After the meat pieces and sludge have been separated into solid and liquid in the decanter 51, the press water is supplied to the three-layer centrifuge 52. The three-layer centrifuge 52 separates oil and suspended solids (SS) from the press water. The oil separated by the three-layer centrifuge 52 is stored in the fish oil tank 13. The suspended solids separated by the three-layer centrifuge 52 are also re-introduced into the decanter 51 to further ensure solid-liquid separation.

[0027] The oil separated by the three-layer centrifuge 52 is stored in the fish oil tank 13. The separated oil is not discarded but is effectively utilized. Specifically, the fish oil tank 13 is first equipped with a heating function. The oil heated in the fish oil tank 13 is supplied to the polishing centrifuge 14. The polishing centrifuge 14 refines the oil. The refined oil contains essential fatty acids such as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). Therefore, this refined oil is effectively utilized as a raw material for health foods. The remaining oil resulting from the refining process is used as fuel, etc.

[0028] The pressed water becomes sticky water from which most of the oil has been removed after passing through the separation section 5. Sticky water is mainly composed of the extract-containing water of the raw material, but also contains a small amount of oil that was not completely separated in the separation section 5, forming an emulsion. This emulsion-like sticky water is supplied to the membrane treatment section 6.

[0029] The membrane processing unit 6 concentrates the extract contained in the stick water to produce an extract concentrate. Specifically, the membrane processing unit 6 includes an ultrafiltration membrane filtration unit 61 and a reverse osmosis membrane filtration unit 62. The ultrafiltration membrane filtration unit 61 has an ultrafiltration membrane 611 inside. Stick water contains proteins, high-molecular-weight peptides, small amounts of oil, and other turbid substances. By passing this stick water through the ultrafiltration membrane filtration unit 61, the proteins, high-molecular-weight peptides, and oil are completely removed. The extract of the stick water after passing through the ultrafiltration membrane filtration unit 61 is composed of low-molecular-weight peptides and amino acids. This results in stick water containing an extract of only components with excellent flavor.

[0030] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a reverse osmosis membrane filtration device 62 according to this embodiment. The reverse osmosis membrane filtration device 62 is disposed downstream of the ultrafiltration membrane filtration device 61. As shown in FIG. 2, the reverse osmosis membrane filtration device 62 includes a filtration vessel 621 having a reverse osmosis membrane 622 disposed therein. A supply pipe 623 for supplying the stick water is connected to the filtration vessel 621. A pressure pump 624 is provided midway along the supply pipe 623. The extract concentrate concentrated by the reverse osmosis membrane 622 is discharged from the filtration vessel 621 via a concentrate pipe 625. The permeated water that has passed through the reverse osmosis membrane 622 is discharged from the filtration vessel 621 via a permeated water pipe 626. The reverse osmosis membrane filtration device 62 pressurizes the supply-side stick water against the reverse osmosis membrane 622 in the filtration vessel 621 by driving the pressure pump 624, and passes only water from the stick water through the reverse osmosis membrane 622 to concentrate the extract contained in the stick water. The energy used for this concentration is the energy required to drive the pressure pump 624. The energy required to drive the pressure pump 624 is less than the energy required for concentration using a conventional evaporation concentration device. The reverse osmosis membrane filtration device 62 efficiently removes water from the stick water to produce a concentrated extract.

[0031] The downstream side of the permeate pipe 626 is connected to the activated carbon adsorption tower 12. The permeate of the stickwater discharged from the reverse osmosis membrane filtration device 62 is passed through the activated carbon adsorption tower 12. The inside of the activated carbon adsorption tower 12 is filled with activated carbon. The activated carbon removes contaminants from the permeate by capturing particles such as organic matter in its pores. This allows the permeate to be reused as industrial water within the factory.

[0032] In this embodiment, an evaporator 7 is provided downstream of the reverse osmosis membrane filtering device 62. The evaporator 7 is provided to further concentrate the extract concentrate that has been primarily concentrated in the reverse osmosis membrane filtering device 62 to a higher concentration. The evaporator 7 is provided as an auxiliary to the reverse osmosis membrane filtering device 62. After passing through the evaporator 7, 50 to 60% of the extract components remain dissolved in the extract concentrate. The evaporator 7 can increase the efficiency of drying the remaining moisture in the vacuum dryer 8, which is the next process.

[0033] The extract concentrate that has passed through the evaporator 7 is supplied to a vacuum dryer 8. The vacuum dryer 8 is a device that dries the extract concentrate under reduced pressure. The vacuum dryer 8 lowers the boiling point of water by reducing the pressure, and can perform drying at, for example, about 60°C. By drying the extract concentrate without exposing it to high temperatures, it is possible to prevent denaturation of the extract concentrate due to high temperatures. By drying the extract concentrate in the vacuum dryer 8 to remove residual water, the extract concentrate becomes a dried product containing large and small chunks.

[0034] The dried extract concentrate produced after passing through the vacuum dryer 8 is temporarily stored in a storage device 9. The amount of dried material discharged from the storage device 9 is adjusted according to the shipping amount of the final extract powder product. A crusher 10 and a filling device 11 are provided downstream of the storage device 9. The crusher 10 finely crushes the dried extract concentrate, which contains large and small lumps, to produce a powdered extract powder. The filling device 11 is a device that weighs and bags the extract powder. This completes the bagged extract powder product.

[0035] 3 is a flow chart for explaining a method for producing an extract powder according to one embodiment of the present invention. Based on FIG. 3, a method for producing an extract powder produced by the extract powder production equipment 1 will be explained.

[0036] First, in step S01, the boiler 3 is used. The boiler 3 boils raw materials consisting of seafood to produce a boiled product. Next, in step S02, the press device 4 is used. The press device 4 presses the boiled product to separate it into press cake and press water. Next, in step S03, the decanter 51 and the three-layer centrifuge 52 are used. The decanter 51 and the three-layer centrifuge 52 perform solid-liquid separation and oil separation on the press water to produce sticky water. Next, in step S04, the ultrafiltration membrane filtration device 61 is used. The ultrafiltration membrane filtration device 61 performs an ultramembrane filtration process on the sticky water. This ultramembrane filtration process removes proteins, high-molecular-weight peptides, and oil from the sticky water.

[0037] Next, in step S05, a reverse osmosis membrane filtration device 62 is used. The reverse osmosis membrane filtration device 62 performs reverse osmosis membrane treatment on the stick water. This reverse osmosis membrane treatment concentrates the extract contained in the stick water, producing an extract concentrate. Next, in step S06, an evaporator 7 is used. The evaporator 7 performs a secondary concentration of the extract concentrate. Next, in step S07, a vacuum dryer 8 is used. The vacuum dryer 8 dries the extract concentrate after the secondary concentration. Next, in step S08, a crusher 10 is used. The crusher 10 finely crushes the dried extract concentrate to produce an extract powder.

[0038] As described above, the extract powder manufacturing equipment 1 of this embodiment comprises a cooker 3 that cooks raw materials consisting of seafood to produce a cooked product, a press device 4 that presses the cooked product to separate it into press cake and press water, a separation section 5 (decanter 51, three-layer centrifuge 52) that performs solid-liquid separation and oil separation on the press water to produce sticky water, a membrane processing section 6 that has a reverse osmosis membrane 622 and concentrates the extract contained in the sticky water by passing the sticky water through the reverse osmosis membrane 622 to produce a concentrated extract, and a vacuum dryer 8 that dries the concentrated extract.

[0039] According to the above configuration, when concentrating stick water, a membrane treatment unit 6 is used instead of a conventional evaporative concentration device. In the membrane treatment unit 6, the stick water is passed through a reverse osmosis membrane 622, allowing for easy separation of the stick water into an extract concentrate and permeate. Although a pressure pump 624 is required to apply a pressure equal to or greater than the osmotic pressure to the concentrate, the energy consumption required for the concentration process is significantly reduced compared to a concentration process using a conventional evaporative concentration device. This significantly reduces the amount of heavy oil used as a heat source for generating steam compared to conventional processes, thereby achieving significant fuel savings. Furthermore, by passing the stick water through the reverse osmosis membrane 622 to produce an extract concentrate, complex processing is not required. The resulting extract concentrate can be dried using a vacuum dryer 8, allowing for the easy production of dashi and seasonings containing a large amount of extract. In other words, while reducing the cost of concentrating seafood-based stick water, the stick water can be used as a primary component, and the extract contained in the stick water can be easily processed into dashi and seasonings with excellent flavor.

[0040] In the above embodiment, the membrane processing unit 6 includes an ultrafiltration membrane 611 upstream of the reverse osmosis membrane 622, which removes high molecular weight components and oil from the sticky water.

[0041] According to the above configuration, the sticky water contains proteins, high molecular weight peptides, and a small amount of oil that was not completely separated by the separation unit 5, forming turbidity. These are separated by the ultrafiltration membrane 611, and only the extracts that exhibit umami, such as low molecular weight peptides and amino acids, can be efficiently concentrated.

[0042] In the above embodiment, the vacuum dryer 8 dries the extract concentrate under reduced pressure. This configuration allows the boiling point of the water contained in the extract concentrate to be lowered, for example, to about 60°C, by drying the extract concentrate under reduced pressure. This prevents the extract concentrate from being denatured by high temperatures, compared to drying the extract concentrate without reducing the pressure. In particular, the extract concentrate can be dried while retaining its flavor. This allows for the production of high-quality extract powder.

[0043] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an extract powder production equipment 100 according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a reduced-pressure fermentation drying apparatus 15, which is part of the extract powder production equipment 100 according to another embodiment. The extract powder production equipment 100 shown in FIG. 4 illustrates an example in which the boiler 3 and vacuum dryer 8 of the extract powder production equipment 1 in FIG. 1 are replaced with the same reduced-pressure fermentation drying apparatus 15. Other equipment is the same as that used in the extract powder production equipment 1 in FIG. 1. The reduced-pressure fermentation drying apparatus 15 is an apparatus that ferments and dries the material to be processed by heating and stirring the material to a predetermined temperature range under reduced pressure and using microorganisms to decompose organic components. In FIG. 4, a reduced-pressure fermentation drying apparatus 15A, which is used as an equivalent to the boiler 3 in FIG. 1, receives seafood raw material as the material to be processed from a raw material hopper 2. The reduced-pressure fermentation drying apparatus 15A discharges the boiled material as the product. 1, a highly concentrated extract concentrate is supplied as a processing target from the evaporator 7. The reduced pressure fermentation drying apparatus 15B discharges a dried extract concentrate as a product.

[0044] The configuration of the reduced-pressure fermentation drying apparatus 15 will be described in detail below. As shown in Fig. 5, the reduced-pressure fermentation drying apparatus 15 includes a storage container 151, an agitator 152, a storage section heating means H, a condenser section 155, a vacuum pump 156, a cooling water pump 157, and a cooling tower 158.

[0045] The storage container 151 has a cylindrical peripheral wall 1511 and a pair of end walls 1512, 1512 that close the open end of the peripheral wall 1511. The peripheral wall 1511 is disposed so that its central axis extends horizontally. A storage section 1516 for storing the object to be processed is formed inside the storage container 151, surrounded by the peripheral wall 1511 and the pair of end walls 1512, 1512. The peripheral wall 1511 has a substantially elliptical cross section. An inlet 1513 for the object to be processed is provided at an upper portion of the longitudinal center of the peripheral wall 1511. In addition, communication pipes 1515 are provided on one end side and the other end side of the peripheral wall 1511 in the longitudinal direction of the storage container 151. A product discharge port 1514 is provided on one side of the pair of end wall portions 1512, 1512 for discharging the product after processing the input processing object.

[0046] The agitator 152 is provided to agitate the material to be processed in the storage section 1516. The agitator 152 has an agitator shaft 1521, multiple agitator blades 1523, and an electric motor 1522. Both ends of the agitator shaft 1521 are supported by a pair of end wall sections 1512, 1512. Multiple agitator blades 1523 are attached to the agitator shaft 1521 at predetermined intervals in the axial direction of the agitator shaft 1521 and extend radially from the agitator shaft 1521. The electric motor 1522 rotates the agitator shaft 1521 in a forward or reverse direction.

[0047] The accommodation section heating means H includes a heating jacket 153 provided to cover the peripheral wall 1511 of the accommodation vessel 151, and a boiler 154 that supplies heating steam to the heating jacket 153. The heating jacket 153 is provided to heat the accommodation section 1516. The heating jacket 153 has a jacket peripheral wall 1531 that covers the peripheral wall 1511. Heating steam is supplied to the heating jacket 153 from the boiler 154 through a supply pipe 154a. The heating steam supplied to the heating jacket 153 heats the peripheral wall 1511 of the accommodation vessel 151, thereby imparting heat to the treatment object in the accommodation section 1516. The heating steam supplied to the heating jacket 153 is condensed by heat exchange to become condensed water. This condensed water is returned to the boiler 154 through a return pipe 154b connected to the heating jacket 153.

[0048] The condenser 155 is provided to condense steam generated from the treatment object heated in the storage unit 1516. The condenser 155 has a condenser container 1551, a guide pipe 1554, and a connection unit 1555. The condenser container 1551 is disposed adjacent to the storage container 151 and extends along the longitudinal direction of the storage container 151. The guide pipes 1554 are connected to both ends of the condenser container 1551. The connection unit 1555 connects the end of the guide pipe 1554 to the end of the communication pipe 1515 of the storage container 151. The steam generated from the treatment object in the storage unit 1516 is guided to the condenser container 1551 through the communication pipe 1515, the connection unit 1555, and the guide pipe 1554. A pair of heads 1552, 1552 and a plurality of cooling pipes 1553 supported by the pair of heads 1552, 1552 are provided inside the condensing vessel 1551. A cooling water pipe 159 is provided between the cooling pipes 1553 and the cooling tower 158.

[0049] The cooling tower 158 has a water receiving tank 1581, a pumping pump 1582, a nozzle 1583, a flow section 1584, and a fan 1585. The cooling water discharged from the condensation section 155 flows into the water receiving tank 1581. The pumping pump 1582 pumps the cooling water from the water receiving tank 1581. The nozzle 1583 sprays the pumped cooling water toward the flow section 1584. The fan 1585 blows air toward the flow section 1584 while the cooling water flows down the flow section 1584. The air blown by the fan 1585 reduces the temperature of the cooling water. After flowing down the flow section 1584, the cooling water flows back into the water receiving tank 1581. The cooling water cooled in the cooling tower 158 is sent by the cooling water pump 157 and returned to the condensation section 155 through the cooling water piping 159. The cooling water circulates through a cooling water pipe 159 between the condenser 155 and a cooling tower 158 .

[0050] In the cooling tower 158, condensed water formed by condensing steam generated from the heated treatment object in the condenser 155 is also poured. A vacuum pump 156 is connected to the condenser container 1551 of the condenser 155 via a suction pipe 156a. The vacuum pump 156 reduces the pressure in the storage section 1516 of the storage vessel 151, and guides the condensed water accumulated in the condenser container 1551 and the suction pipe 156a to a water receiving tank 1581 of the cooling tower 158.

[0051] The material to be treated is introduced into the container 151 through the inlet 1513, and while being heated by the heating jacket 153, it is stirred by the rotation of the stirring blades 1523 of the stirring device 152. After a predetermined time has elapsed, the material to be treated is discharged from the product discharge port 1514.

[0052] The above description of the extract powder production equipment 100 illustrates the use of a reduced-pressure fermentation and drying apparatus 15A for producing a simmered product from seafood raw materials, and a reduced-pressure fermentation and drying apparatus 15B for producing a dried product from a highly concentrated extract concentrate. Instead of using two reduced-pressure fermentation and drying apparatuses 15A and 15B, a single reduced-pressure fermentation and drying apparatus 15A may be used to produce both the simmered product and the dried extract concentrate, as shown by the two-dot chain arrow in Figure 4. Because there is a time difference between each process, the reduced-pressure fermentation and drying apparatus 15A can be used for both processes. In this case, there is no need to install a reduced-pressure fermentation and drying apparatus 15B, thereby reducing equipment costs.

[0053] The embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and are not intended to be limiting. The technical scope of the present invention is not to be interpreted solely by the above-described embodiments, but is defined by the claims. The technical scope of the present invention also includes all modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the claims.

[0054] For example, in the above embodiment, the membrane processing unit 6 is equipped with an ultrafiltration membrane filtering device 61, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the extract powder production equipment may not be equipped with an ultrafiltration membrane filtering device. Also, in the above embodiment, the evaporator 7 for secondary concentration of the extract concentrate is equipped, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the extract powder production equipment may not be equipped with a device for secondary concentration.

[0055] 1,100 Extract powder manufacturing equipment 3 Cooker 4 Pressing device 5 Separation section 6 Membrane processing section 8 Vacuum dryer (dryer) 15A Reduced pressure fermentation drying device (cooker) 15B Reduced pressure fermentation drying device (dryer) 61 Ultrafiltration membrane filtration device 62 Reverse osmosis membrane filtration device 611 Ultrafiltration membrane 622 Reverse osmosis membrane

Claims

1. An extract powder production facility comprising: a cooker that cooks seafood raw materials to produce a cooked product; a press device that presses the cooked product to separate it into press cake and press water; a separation unit that performs solid-liquid separation and oil separation on the press water to produce sticky water; a membrane processing unit that has a reverse osmosis membrane and concentrates the extract contained in the sticky water by passing the sticky water through the reverse osmosis membrane to produce a concentrated extract; and a dryer that dries the concentrated extract.

2. The extract powder manufacturing equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that the membrane processing section is provided with an ultrafiltration membrane upstream of the reverse osmosis membrane that removes high molecular weight components and oils from the stick water.

3. The extract powder manufacturing device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the dryer is a vacuum dryer that dries the extract concentrate under reduced pressure.

4. A method for producing extract powder, comprising boiling a seafood raw material, squeezing it to produce a press cake and press water, separating the press water into solid-liquid and oil components to produce stick water, passing the stick water through a reverse osmosis membrane to produce an extract concentrate by concentrating the extract contained in the stick water, and drying and pulverizing the extract concentrate to produce extract powder.

5. The method for producing extract powder according to claim 4, characterized in that the stick water is passed through an ultrafiltration membrane before being passed through a reverse osmosis membrane.

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