Cooked-Rice Improver Sustaining Flavor via Starch-Dextrin Ratio
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods fail to effectively maintain the flavor of cooked rice and sushi rice over time, leading to deterioration in smell, sweetness, umami, and sourness, and require freezing which further degrades texture and flavor.
Innovation Solution
A powdered or liquid cooked-rice improver is created by mixing low-decomposition starch with a specific molecular weight and dextrin at a specific DE value in a specific mass ratio, which is added to rice to enhance and sustain its flavor.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If 3-methylthiopropionic acid ethyl is added into rice vinegar, then the sourness of sushi rice is maintained, but the other flavors such as smell, sweetness, and umami deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical parameters by using different compounds (4-hydroxy-2-butanone and its derivatives) instead of 3-methylthiopropionic acid ethyl, and optimizes concentration parameters (0.001-10% by mass) to achieve broad flavor maintenance without the harmful side effects of conventional additives
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite flavor maintenance by combining multiple functional components: 4-hydroxy-2-butanone derivatives for primary flavor preservation, and optionally amino acids, organic acids, and sugars for comprehensive flavor profile maintenance, creating a synergistic effect that preserves multiple flavor dimensions simultaneously
2Adaptability or versatility
If freezing process is used to distribute sushi, then distribution and storage are enabled, but the texture and flavor are deteriorated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary protective action by adding 4-hydroxy-2-butanone derivatives to the sushi rice before distribution, creating a flavor maintenance barrier that protects against deterioration during storage and transport without requiring freezing conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces 4-hydroxy-2-butanone derivatives as intermediary substances that mediate between the rice components and environmental factors during storage, preventing direct harmful interactions that would cause flavor and texture deterioration without needing freezing temperatures
3Loss of time
If microwave is used to defrost frozen sushi, then defrosting time is shortened, but heating unevenness and flavor impairment occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary protective action by incorporating 4-hydroxy-2-butanone derivatives into the sushi rice before freezing, creating a flavor maintenance barrier that protects against microwave-induced deterioration while enabling rapid defrosting
Solution Approach 2:
The patent provides beforehand cushioning against microwave heating effects by pre-loading the sushi rice with 4-hydroxy-2-butanone derivatives, which cushion and protect the flavor components from the harsh thermal conditions of microwave defrosting, allowing rapid heating without flavor loss
Data Source
AI summary
This invention provides a cooked-rice improver having flavor sustaining and/or flavor enhancement effects of cooked rice. The improver is obtained by mixing low-decomposition starch having a predetermined molecular weight and dextrin having a predetermined DE value at a predetermined ratio. This invention provides a cooked-rice improver flavor sustaining and/or flavor enhancement actions on cooked rice, and cooked rice produced by using the same. The cooked-rice improver contains low-decomposition starch having the molecular weight of 500,000 to 5,000,000 and dextrin having a DE value greater than one and equal to or lower than fifty at a ratio of 1:9 to 9:1 in a mass ratio.