NOVEL BLACK GARLIC EXTRACT FROM SEPARATED GARLIC BULBS AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREOF

Abstract

The present invention relates to a novel black garlic extract using garlic bulbs separated into six bulbs as a raw material instead of conventional whole garlic and a preparation method thereof. There is an excellent effect of providing a novel black garlic extract with various functionalities of high sweetness and high viscosity and improved flavor and reddish brown color as well as induce high-concentration conversion of 10 times or more to a S-allyl-cysteine compound in which a functional ingredient of raw garlic having antioxidation, reduction in blood cholesterol, improved liver function, and enhanced blood pressure is present in a small amount of 10 ppm or less by maximizing conversion of starch into reducing sugar for most preferably 15 days in a 90% to 100% saturated steam state and a liquefied enzymatic action temperature of 75° C. to 80° C. or lower without separate enzyme addition, and optimizing the action of proteases.

Claims

1. A method of preparing a black garlic extract comprising the steps of: (a) separating whole garlic into garlic bulbs and washing the garlic bulbs; (b) fermenting and ripening the washed garlic bulbs obtained in step (a) as a raw material in a saturated state of humidity of 90% to 100% and under a medium-high temperature condition of 75° C. to 80° C. as a liquefied enzymatic action temperature or less; (c) first juicing the ferment-ripened material obtained in step (b) to obtain an extract; (d) further fermenting and ripening the remaining raw material after the juicing in step (c) under a 80° C. to 90° C./90% to 100% saturated state for 2 to 3 days by adding water and then second juicing the ferment-ripened material and mixing the second juiced material with the first juiced extract; and heating and concentrating the mixed juiced extract obtained in step (d) at 100° C. to inactivate an enzyme.

2. A high-viscosity reddish brown black garlic extract prepared according to the method of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a process of preparing a novel black garlic extract as an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 2 is a photograph of high-viscosity reddish-brown black garlic with improved reducing sugar content and other functionalities prepared according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Technical Problem

[0029] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a black garlic extract and a preparation method thereof with improved sweetness and flavor and enhanced redness and viscosity by penetrating heat conduction and saturated water uniformly rather than using whole garlic by physically using garlic bulbs while applying a humidity condition in a hot saturated state for at least 2 weeks in an optimal condition of 75° C. to 80° C./95% to 100% of a liquefied enzymatic reaction for a carbohydrate ingredients constituting garlic.

Technical Solution

[0030] An object of the present invention is achieved by preparing a black garlic extract comprising the steps of (a) screening whole garlic and separating and washing garlic bulbs from the whole garlic; (b) fermenting and ripening the washed garlic bulbs obtained above in a saturated state of 95% to 100%, a medium-high temperature of 75° C. to 80° C. as a liquefied enzymatic action temperature, for 2 to 3 weeks, most preferably 15 days, instead of conventional conditions of ultra-high temperature of 90° C. to 100° C. and low humidity of 35% to 60% or less; (c) first juicing the ferment-ripened material obtained in step (b) to obtain an extract; (d) further fermenting and ripening the remaining raw material after the juicing in step (c) under 80° C. to 90° C./saturated steam conditions for 2 to 3 days and then second juicing the ferment-ripened material and mixing the second juiced material with the first juiced extract; and heating and concentrating the mixed juiced extract obtained in step (d) at 100° C. for 30 minutes to inactivate an enzyme, and evaluating its palatability and functionality.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS

[0031] According to the present invention, not only there is an effect of providing a novel black garlic extract with a high-viscosity reddish-brown color and improved sweetness and flavor which has never existed so far, but also there is an excellent effect of providing a food composition of a new material with improved various palatability and functionalities at the same time by using the novel black garlic extract as described above.

MODES OF THE INVENTION

[0032] Hereinafter, the most preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in more detail with reference to the accompanying FIG. 1, but the following Examples just provide the most preferred technical details for those skilled in the art to easily implement the present invention, but the present invention are not limited to only Examples of the present invention. It goes without saying that a change in a type of liquefied enzyme, a simple change in temperature and humidity for the enzyme treatment, etc. are included to the scope of the present invention.

EXAMPLES

Example 1

[0033] Preparation of High Viscosity/Reddish Brown Garlic Extract of the Present Invention

[0034] 11 kg of 6 bulbs of raw garlic was prepared, a root portion was cut, and then white whole garlic was put into a cylindrical separator for separating grains to be separated into garlic bulbs and washed to obtain 10 kg of garlic bulbs.

[0035] The entire garlic bulbs washed above were put in a stainless steel steamer and autolyzed and then fermented and ripened at 80° C. or less as an optimum activity temperature of a liquefied enzyme, most preferably 75° C. in a saturated steam state of 95% or more for at least 2 weeks, most preferably 15 days.

[0036] At this time, it was confirmed that functional substances such as S-allyl-cysteine present in the raw garlic cells were activated, and autolysis in which starch was saccharified and liquefied by various sulfur-containing compounds and various carbohydrase enzymes was induced by the action of protease such as glutamyl transpeptidase, etc.

[0037] In the Example of the present invention, unlike known prior arts, while raw garlic was autolyzed at 80° C. or less, reducing sugar and amino acids converted directly in the cells of garlic were combined to induce the garlic to be changed to a brown color as a result of the Millard reaction. At the same time, the activation of a red-based natural red pigment contained in the bark of 6 bulbs of garlic was induced to be maximized, and a final ferment-ripened material had a reddish brown color (see FIG. 2).

[0038] According to the Example of fermenting and ripening the garlic at 80° C. or less in the saturated steam state of the present invention, there is also a feature in that the production of Allcine, a spicy ingredient, is appropriately induced by minimizing the inhibition of Allinase present in garlic cells.

[0039] Further, according to the present invention, it was characterized that the garlic bulbs were fermented and ripened at 80° C. or less in the saturated steam state to induce fermenting and ripening for 15 days naturally by various proteases such as glutamyl transpeptidase present in cells in the garlic, thereby inducing and converting an increase in content of a S-allyl-cysteine (SAC) compound, which was a functional substance of garlic. It has been known that this ingredient was present in a trace amount of 10 ppm or less in raw garlic.

[0040] According to the present invention, it was characterized that under a temperature condition of 80° C. or less in a saturated steam state of 90% or more, the activation of various liquefied enzymes such as α-amylase derived from 6 bulbs of raw garlic was suppressed as much as possible to suppress the conversion of oligosaccharides with neutralization of 7 or more as a starch ingredient and increase the contents of glucose and maltose as a whole preferably at the beginning of ferment-ripening, thereby enhancing both high viscosity and sweetness (FIG. 2).

[0041] According to the results of multiple experiments by the present inventors, in a saturated steam state of 90% or more and 100% and under a reaction temperature conduction of a liquefied enzyme in garlic cells, that is, 80° C. or less, rapid saccharification for at least 2 weeks, most preferably 15 days was most suitable for maximizing the viscosity and sweet ingredients of the autolyzed product. On the other hand, within 2 weeks at 75° C. to 80° C., sufficient saccharification was not made, resulting in lowered sweetness and low redness. At 2 weeks or more, a large amount of olygosaccharides was produced by the action of the liquefied enzyme, resulting in a decrease in the viscosity of the final garlic extract product, but an increase in browning degree.

[0042] As described above, after a quality test of a sample subjected to fermenting/ripening of the garlic bulbs was completed, the garlic bulbs were put in a juicer and first juiced to obtain 6 kg of a black garlic extract of 34 Brix (stored separately). Then, the remaining juiced bark after first juicing was added with 2 L of washing water, and then put in a steamer and second fermented/ripened for 2 to 4 days at 80° C. to 90° C. of an action temperature or more of the liquefied enzyme, and then second juiced to obtain 3 kg of a black garlic extract of 16 Brix. 6 kg of the first black garlic extract (34 Brix) obtained above and a juiced bark separately therefrom were added with 2 kg of water and then put in a steamer so that a liquefied enzyme was applied, additionally fermented and ripened at 80° C. to 90° C./for 2 to 4 hours, and the remaining starch was converted into oligosaccharides. Thereafter, 3 kg of a black garlic extract (16 Brix) obtained by second juicing was mixed with the first juice and then heated and concentrated at 100° C. to inactivate all of the enzymes and obtain about 3.6 kg of a reddish brown garlic extract (70 Brix) of the present invention.

[0043] As described above, the saccharification enzymes act first to obtain a first extract with relatively high viscosity and high redness and then the liquefied enzymes act again to obtain a second extract with relatively low viscosity and high brown degree. The heat-concentrated extract of the mixed extract has a reddish-brown color with excellent functionality and improved palatability.

[0044] This was confirmed by the following experiments according to Examples 2 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 involving separate enzyme treatment under conditions different from the most preferred Example 1 of the present invention.

Experimental Example 1

[0045] Experimental Plan for Selecting Optimal Fermenting/Ripening Conditions (Temperature and Humidity) and Time of Garlic Bulbs

[0046] In order to select optimal fermenting/ripening conditions (temperature and humidity) and time of the garlic bulbs according to the present invention, an experiment plan as shown in Table 1 was established and experimented. The experimental results were shown in Table 2.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Experiment scheme of selecting optimal fermenting/ripening (autolysis) temperature and humidity of garlic bulbs Humidity Temperature Treatment Whether to add Classification (%) (° C.) time separate enzyme Example 1 90 70 15 days X Example 2 95 75 15 days X Example 3 100 80 15 days X Comparative 30  45/70  16 h/8 h Rapidase C80 MAX Example 1 1% + Flavozyme 1% Comparative 70  50/75   8 h/7 h Equal Example 2 Comparative 100  60/80   6 h/6 h Equal Example 3

[0047] As a result of the experiment, the content of reducing sugar and the content of SAC were shown in Table 2 below.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Contents of reducing sugar and SAC as result of bioconversion Content of reducing Content of Viscosity Classification sugar (%) SAC (μg/g) (cp) Example 1 3.24 198.4 <40,000 Example 2 4.42 212.3 <70,000 Example 3 4.13 182.4 <50,000 Comparative   0.83/0.27    97.0/52.2  <3,200 Example 1 Comparative   0.42/0.17    32.1/48.3  <1,700 Example 2 Comparative    0.11/0.014    21.2/30.2      <1.2 Example 3

[0048] According to the experimental results, in Example 2, which was fermented and ripened for 15 days at 95%/75° C. of saturated humidity of the present invention, the content of reducing sugar was the highest at 4.42%, and the sweetness was maximized. Therefore, it was suggested that the viscosity (cp) also showed a maximum of 70,000 or more, and the content of SAC was also maximized to be useful as an additive for various food materials.

Experimental Example 2

[0049] Results of Sensory Test for Black Garlic Extract of the Present Invention

[0050] The black garlic extract product manufactured according to Example of the present invention was compared with general commercial black garlic extract products manufactured by other companies K and N. The total number of sensory test panels was randomly selected to 10 persons (5 men and 5 women, respectively), and a sensory test was performed. For the test, a 5-point scaling method was used, and 1 point: worst, 2 points: bad, 3 points: normal, 4 points: good, and 5 points: very good were evaluated, and an average value thereof was indicated (Table 3).

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Sensory test results of black garlic extract Product of present K company's N company's Classification invention product (1) product (2) Appearance 3.6 2.8 2.6 Color 3.6 3.0 2.6 Flavor 4.2 3.2 3.0 Taste 4.4 3.6 2.4 Physical properties 3.6 3.0 2.6 Overall preference 4.4 3.1 2.7

[0051] As can be seen from the experimental results, the black garlic product of the present invention is black, has a dark brown color compared to a low-viscosity K company's product, and has a reddish brown color compared to a low viscosity N company's product, and has a relatively high content of reducing sugar and high viscosity. Thus, the best results were obtained not only in appearance and color, but also in flavor and physical properties. It also showed the most outstanding excellence in the overall preference.

Experimental Example 3

[0052] Experimental Results Using Whole Garlic and Garlic Bulbs

[0053] The present inventors prepared 11 kg of 6 bulbs of garlic (whole garlic) as a raw material and finally obtained about 3.1 kg (65 Brix) of a black garlic extract through the same conditions, procedures and processes (Experimental Example 4) as in Example 2 using the garlic bulbs raw material as a starting material. The content (%) of reducing sugar, the content (μg/g) of S-allyl-cysteine, and the viscosity (cp) of the extract converted through the final fermenting/ripening process were as shown in Table 4 below.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Comparison of bioconversion results between whole garlic and separated garlic bulbs Separated garlic Whole garlic Classification bulbs (Example 2) (Example 4) Note Reducing sugar (%) 4.42 2.84 Content of 212.3 122.1 SAC (μg/g) Viscosity (cp) <70,000 <54,000

[0054] As a result of the experiment, compared to the method of preparing the black garlic extract using whole garlic directly as a raw material, in the method of preparing the black garlic extract through the steps of screening whole garlic and separating garlic bulbs from the whole garlic and washing the garlic bulbs, the fermenting/ripening time was shortened and the decomposition time of cellulose or hemicellulose of the fibrous bark was saved. In addition, under a saturated humidity condition of 95% or higher and a liquefied enzymatic action temperature of 80° C. or less, first, the saccharification of starch by carbohydrase was rapidly proceeded to increase the content of reducing sugar and the viscosity, and further increase the content of S-allyl-cysteine (SAC) by rapid autolysis of proteases. It was considered that the whole garlic had a relatively high content of fiber constituting the bark compared to the garlic bulbs, and thus, the results were obtained. The present inventors have determined that the black garlic extract needs to be prepared using the garlic bulbs.