POWDERY FOOD CONTAINING STARCH-CONTAINING PLANT-DERIVED POWDER

Abstract

A method for easily controlling the smell of dried starch and bringing out a sweet starch flavor characteristic of a plant in a powdery food containing a powder derived from a starch-containing plant is provided. A powdery food comprises a powder derived from a starch-containing plant. The powdery food has a starch content of 10 mass % or more in terms of dry mass, a dietary fiber content of 1 mass % or more in terms of dry mass, a particle size d50 of 1,000 μm or less after ultrasonication, and a 2,3-butanediol content of 50 ppb or more and 40,000 ppb or less and/or a diethylene glycol monoethyl ether content of 5 ppb or more and 40,000 ppb or less.

Claims

1. A powdery food comprising a powder derived from a starch-containing plant, the powdery food satisfying following characteristics (1) to (4): (1) the powdery food has a starch content of 10 mass % or more in terms of dry mass; (2) the powdery food has a dietary fiber content of 1 mass % or more in terms of dry mass; (3) the powdery food has a particle size d50 of 1,000 μm or less after ultrasonication; and (4) the powdery food has a 2,3-butanediol content of 50 ppb or more and 40,000 ppb or less and/or a diethylene glycol monoethyl ether content of 5 ppb or more and 40,000 ppb or less.

2. The powdery food according to claim 1, comprising 2,3-butanediol and diethylene glycol monoethyl ether.

3. The powdery food according to claim 1, wherein the powdery food has a content of the powder derived from the starch-containing plant of 10 mass % or more with respect to a whole of the powdery food.

4. The powdery food according to claim 1, wherein the powdery food has a content of starch derived from the powder derived from the starch-containing plant of 50 mass % or more with respect to a whole of the powdery food.

5. The powdery food according to claim 1, wherein the starch-containing plant is one or more selected from the group consisting of grains, potatoes, pulses, nuts, vegetables, fruits, and mushrooms.

6. The powdery food according to claim 1, wherein the starch-containing plant is one or more selected from the group consisting of corns, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and lotus roots.

7. A food comprising the powdery food according to claim 1.

8. A drink comprising the powdery food according to claim 1.

9. A method for manufacturing the powdery food according to claim 1, the method comprising a step of crushing a starch-containing dried plant having a moisture content of 20 mass % or less.

10. A method for manufacturing a powdery food having a particle size d50 of 1,000 μm or less after ultrasonication, the method comprising crushing a dried plant having a starch content of 10 mass % or more in terms of dry mass and a dietary fiber content of 1 mass % or more in terms of dry mass, wherein the powdery food contains 50 ppb or more and 40,000 ppb or less of 2,3-butanediol and/or 5 ppb or more and 40,000 ppb or less of diethylene glycol monoethyl ether.

11. A method for manufacturing a food/drink containing a powdery food having a particle size d50 of 1,000 μm or less after ultrasonication, the method comprising crushing an edible plant having a starch content of 10 mass % or more in terms of dry mass and a dietary fiber content of 1 mass % or more in terms of dry mass, wherein the powdery food contains 50 ppb or more and 40,000 ppb or less of 2,3-butanediol and/or 5 ppb or more and 40,000 ppb or less of diethylene glycol monoethyl ether.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the powdery food contains 2,3-butanediol and diethylene glycol monoethyl ether.

Description

EXAMPLES

[0075] One or more embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to Examples, but these Examples are illustrative only for convenience of description, and one or more embodiments of the present invention are not limited to these Examples in any sense.

[0076] As shown in Tables 2 and 3, dried powders of pumpkin, sweet potato, corn, and lotus root were selected as starch-containing plants. 2,3-Butanediol and/or diethylene glycol monoethyl ether in pure form (manufactured by Tokyo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was diluted with water to an appropriate concentration and was added to and mixed with the powders, and the resultant was adjusted to have certain contents thereof (1 mL of water (control) or a dilution of diethylene glycol monoethyl ether adjusted to an appropriate concentration was added to 10 g of a dried powder derived from a starch-containing plant, followed by well mixing. The concentration of 2,3-butanediol and/or diethylene glycol monoethyl ether was adjusted in terms of content with respect to the powdery food).

[0077] The food/drink (smoothie) of Test Example 53 was prepared by mixing 10 mass % of a dried powder of corn with water, filling a 180-mL glass bottle with 150 mL of this mixture, sterilizing the bottle in a hot water bath (temperature reached: 60° C.), cooling, and performing capping. The concentrations of 2,3-butanediol and diethylene glycol monoethyl ether in the dried plant powder of corn were previously adjusted to the values shown in Table 4 according to the above-described method.

[0078] The particle size d50 after ultrasonication, the starch content, and the insoluble dietary fiber content were measured under the above-mentioned preferable conditions. Subsequently, these powdery foods (dried powders) and the food/drink (smoothie) were subjected to sensory inspection for the effect of reducing the dry odor of starch, the effect of enhancing the sweet flavor of starch, and comprehensive evaluation. Furthermore, powdery foods were produced by mixing the sample of Test Example 25 and sodium chloride at the proportions shown in the table and were verified whether the effects of one or more embodiments of the present invention were exhibited or not.

[0079] The evaluation criteria are as follows.

<Evaluation criterion No. 1: dry odor of starch>
5: Superior because dry odor of starch is not perceived at all;
4: Slightly superior because almost no dry odor of starch is perceived;
3: Dry odor of starch is perceived but at an acceptable level;
2: Slightly inferior because dry odor of starch is slightly strongly perceived; and
1: Inferior sense dry odor of starch is strongly perceived.

[0080] Here, dry odor was evaluated in terms of unpleasant offensive odor that fresh edible plants do not inherently have, such as a fishy or earthy odor.

<Evaluation criterion No.2: sweet flavor derived from starch>
5: Superior because sweet flavor derived from starch is strongly sensed;
4: Slightly superior because sweet flavor derived from starch is slightly strongly perceived;
3: Acceptable because sweet flavor derived from starch is perceived;
2: Slightly inferior because sweet flavor derived from starch is hardly perceived; and
1: Inferior because sweet flavor derived from starch is not perceived.

[0081] Here, sweet flavor derived from starch was evaluated in terms of a preferable sweet taste or a sweet aroma reminding it that fresh edible plants inherently have or obviously produce when cooked.

<Evaluation criterion No.3: Comprehensive evaluation>
5: Superior because original flavor of starch-containing plant is strong;
4: Slightly superior because original flavor of starch-containing plant is slightly strong;
3: Acceptable because original flavor of starch-containing plant is sensed;
2: Slightly inferior because original flavor of starch-containing plant is somewhat weak; and
1: Inferior because original flavor of starch-containing plant is weak.

[0082] The sensory inspectors were chosen from inspectors who had received training for the following discrimination tests A) to C) and showed particularly excellent results, had experience in product development and a wealth of knowledge about the quality of foods, such as taste and texture, and were capable of performing absolute evaluation on each sensory inspection item.

[0083] A) Taste quality discrimination test of correctly discriminating samples for five tastes (sweetness: taste of sugar, sourness: taste of tartaric acid, savoriness: taste of sodium glutamate, saltiness: taste of sodium chloride, and bitterness: taste of caffeine) from aqueous solutions produced so as to have a concentration close to the threshold of each component and two samples of distilled water, seven samples in total;

[0084] B) Concentration difference discrimination test of correctly discriminating concentration differences in five sodium chloride aqueous solutions and five acetic acid aqueous solutions having concentrations slightly different from each other; and

[0085] C) Triangle discrimination test of correctly discriminating a soy sauce of maker B from two soy sauces of maker A and the soy sauce of maker B, three samples in total.

[0086] In each of the evaluation items, all the inspectors evaluated standard samples in advance, and each score of the evaluation criteria was standardized. The sensory inspection was then performed with objectivity by 10 inspectors. The evaluation of the each item was made by selecting a rating closest to the inspector's own evaluation in five-grade scale of each item. The total result of the evaluation was calculated from the arithmetic mean values of the scores by 10 inspectors.

[0087] The results are shown in Tables 2, 3 and 4.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Particle Diethylene size after Insoluble glycol Sensory inspection Raw ultrasonication dietary 2,3- monoethyl Sweet material of d50 Starch fiber Butanediol ether Dry odor of aroma of Comprehensive powder (μm) (g/100 g) (g/100 g) (ppb) (ppb) starch starch evaluation Comparative Pumpkin 1104.4 13.3 9.0 300 1 1 1 Example 1 Comparative Pumpkin 87 25.4 7.7 40 1 1 1 Example 2 Test Example 1 50 4 4 4 Test Example 2 100 4 4 5 Test Example 3 500 4 5 5 Test Example 4 1000 5 5 5 Test Example 5 5000 5 5 5 Test Example 6 10000 5 5 5 Test Example 7 20000 5 5 5 Test Example 8 30000 5 5 4 Test Example 9 40000 5 4 3 Comparative Pumpkin 87 25.4 7.7 3 1 1 1 Example 3 Test Example 5 4 4 4 10 Test Example 10 4 4 5 11 Test Example 50 4 5 5 12 Test Example 100 5 5 5 13 Test Example 300 5 5 5 14 Test Example 500 5 5 5 15 Test Example 700 5 5 5 16 Test Example 1000 5 5 5 17 Test Example 2000 5 5 5 18 Test Example 3000 5 5 5 19 Test Example 4000 5 5 5 20 Test Example 20000 5 5 4 21 Test Example 30000 5 5 4 22 Test Example 40000 5 4 3 23 Test Example 50 2000 5 5 5 24 Test Example 1000 100 5 5 5 25 Test Example 30000 10 5 5 5 26 Comparative Corn 1203.3 71 8.3 100 200 2 3 2 Example 4 Test Example Corn 14.18 66 8.8 50 5 4 4 4 27 Test Example 100 10 5 5 5 28 Test Example 500 50 5 5 5 29 Test Example 1000 100 5 5 5 30 Test Example 5000 300 5 5 5 31 Test Example 10000 500 5 5 5 32 Test Example 20000 700 5 4 5 33 Test Example 30000 1000 5 5 5 34 Test Example 40000 2000 5 5 5 35 Test Example 40000 5000 5 5 5 36 Test Example Corn 9.11 74.6 40 1000 100 5 5 5 37 Test Example Sweet 24.91 55.2 3.6 100 5 5 4 38 potato Test Example 100 5 5 4 39 Test Example 500 500 5 5 5 40 Test Example Lotus root 52.05 36.8 6.3 1000 5 5 4 41 Test Example 1000 5 5 5 42 Test Example 2000 100 5 5 5 43

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Proportion of starch- Sensory inspection Raw material containing plant Dry odor of Sweet aroma of Comprehensive of powder mass % starch starch evaluation Test Example Test Example 90.0 5 5 5 44 25 + sodium chloride Test Example 80.0 5 5 5 45 Test Example 70.0 5 5 5 46 Test Example 60.0 5 5 5 47 Test Example 50.0 5 5 5 48 Test Example 40.0 5 5 5 49 Test Example 30.0 5 5 4 50 Test Example 20.0 5 5 4 51 Test Example 10.0 5 5 4 52

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Particle size Diethylene Sensory inspection Raw after Dietary glycol Sweet material ultrasonication Starch fiber 2,3- monoethyl Dry aroma of Form of d50 (g/100 (g/100 Butanediol ether odor of of Comprehensive powder food/drink (μm) g) g) (ppb) (ppb) starch starch evaluation Test Corn Smoothie 14.18 10 3 100 10 5 5 5 Example 53

[0088] As a result, it was revealed that in various powdery foods containing starch at a predetermined proportion or more, the effects of one or more embodiments of the present invention of suppressing the dry odor of starch and enhancing the sweet flavor of starch are exhibited by adjusting, for example, the 2,3-butanediol content and/or diethylene glycol monoethyl ether content and the particle size d50 after ultrasonication in predetermined ranges. It was also demonstrated that it is more preferable to adjust both the 2,3-butanediol content and the diethylene glycol monoethyl ether content in predetermined ranges because the effects of one or more embodiments of the present invention are more strongly shown. In addition, it was demonstrated that the content of the powder derived from a starch-containing plant with respect to the whole of the powdery food may be in a predetermined range. The same evaluation was performed for test plots in which, in addition to 2,3-butanediol and diethylene glycol monoethyl ether, 0.2 ppm of N-acetyl-L-methionine and 0.2 ppm of kaempferol-3-glucoside were further added to the sample of Test Example 25 or 0.01 ppm of N-acetyl-L-methionine and 0.01 ppm of kaempferol-3-glucoside were added to the sample of Test Example 25, and it was confirmed that in these case, the effects of one or more embodiments of the present invention were enhanced compared to the results of Test Example 25.

[0089] Although the disclosure has been described with respect to only a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that various other embodiments may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the disclosure should be limited only by the attached claims.