Instant Green Tea Potassium Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing instant green teas lack excellent taste and flavor, vivid green color, and resistance to sedimentation during preparation and serving.
Innovation Solution
An instant green tea formulation comprising a green tea extract, antioxidants, and potassium, with a specific method of preparing an extraction solution using a potassium-containing solvent and adding antioxidants and powder tea before drying, to achieve a potassium content of 0.8 to 5.6 mass %.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If instant green tea is produced by conventional methods (spray-drying or vacuum-drying of tea leaf powder or extraction solutions), then production efficiency is improved and preparation time is reduced, but taste and flavor quality deteriorates compared to traditionally brewed green tea
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by controlling the potassium content within a specific range (0.8 to 5.6 mass %) and adjusting pH to the neutral zone during extraction. These parameter optimizations resolve the contradiction by enabling instant green tea production that maintains taste and flavor quality equivalent to traditional brewing while achieving rapid preparation through modern drying methods.
2Productivity
If instant green tea is produced by conventional methods, then production speed is improved, but color vividness deteriorates (fading green color)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by adding antioxidants during the extraction step, before the drying process. This preliminary antioxidant protection prevents color fading that would otherwise occur during subsequent drying and storage, thereby maintaining vivid green color in the final instant green tea product while enabling rapid production.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potentially harmful oxidation effect (which causes color fading) into a benefit by intentionally adding antioxidants. These antioxidants neutralize oxidative damage during processing, transforming what would be a detrimental effect into a protective mechanism that preserves color vividness throughout production and storage.
3Loss of time
If instant green tea is prepared as a powder for quick mixing, then preparation time is reduced, but sedimentation resistance deteriorates during the period from preparation to serving
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by creating an instant green tea composition that includes tea extract, antioxidants, and potassium compounds in specific proportions. This composite formulation improves sedimentation resistance compared to simple tea powders, maintaining suspension stability during the period from preparation to serving while preserving the quick-preparation advantage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution results in an instant green tea with excellent taste and flavor, vivid green color, and resistance to sedimentation, providing a quality comparable to traditionally brewed green tea.
Implementation Method 1
a step of preparing an extraction solution from tea leaves with an extraction solvent
Implementation Method 2
a step of drying the extraction solution after the addition step
Data Source
AI summary
According to one embodiment, there is provided an instant green tea which contains a dry green tea extract, a drying auxiliary agent, antioxidants, a tea powder and a specific amount of potassium, and a method of producing the instant green tea includes the step of extracting tea leaves with an extraction solvent which contains a drying auxiliary agent and a first antioxidant and has been adjusted to a pH value within the neutral range by using a first potassium preparation to give a liquid extract, the step of adding a second antioxidant and a tea powder to the liquid extract thus obtained, and the step of drying the liquid extract after the completion of the addition step as described above.