Green Tea Extract Composition Stabilization via Parameter Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Green tea extracts undergo changes in color tone and exhibit residual feeling and bitterness during storage, especially when not refrigerated, due to variations in water content and composition.
Innovation Solution
A green tea extract composition is formulated with specific ranges of non-polymer catechins, sugar, iron, and caffeine, along with controlled water content, to minimize residual feeling and bitterness while maintaining flavor and preventing color changes during storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If green tea extract is stored without refrigeration, then convenience of storage and distribution is improved, but color tone changes and quality degradation occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by controlling the water content of green tea extract to 5 mass % or less and adjusting the ratio of catechin polymers to non-polymer catechins. These parameter modifications enable the extract to maintain color stability and quality even when stored at room temperature without refrigeration, thus resolving the contradiction between storage convenience and composition stability.
2Stability of the object's composition
If water content of green tea extract is reduced, then storage stability is improved, but residual feeling and bitterness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes multiple parameters simultaneously: water content is reduced to 5 mass % or less for stability, while the ratio of catechin polymers to non-polymer catechins is adjusted to 0.05 or more. This coordinated parameter adjustment ensures that bitterness and residual feeling are suppressed even at low water content, resolving the contradiction between storage stability and taste quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes composite materials by combining different forms of catechins (polymers and non-polymers) in specific ratios. This composite approach allows the extract to achieve both low water content for stability and acceptable taste by leveraging the complementary properties of different catechin forms.
3Reliability
If non-polymer catechin content is increased, then physiological effect is improved, but bitterness and residual feeling worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by precisely controlling the ratio of catechin polymers to non-polymer catechins to be 0.05 or more. This parameter control ensures that non-polymer catechins (which provide physiological effects) are present in sufficient amounts while their proportion is balanced with polymers to suppress bitterness and residual feeling, thus resolving the contradiction between physiological effectiveness and taste quality.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a green tea extract composition, comprising the following components (A), (B), (C), and (D): (A) non-polymer catechins; (B) a sugar; (C) iron; and (D) caffeine, the green tea extract composition having: a content of the non-polymer catechins (A) of from 25 to 45 mass %; a content of the sugar (B) of from 6 to 13 mass %; a mass ratio between the sugar (B) and the iron (C), [(C)/(B)], of from 0.000005 to 0.00016; a mass ratio between the sugar (B) and the caffeine (D), [(D)/(B)], of from 0.2 to 0.7; and a water content of 10 mass % or less.