METHOD FOR PRODUCING VEGETABLE PROTEIN-CONTAINING FOOD

Abstract

Provided is a vegetable protein-containing food having an excellent texture, preferably also having good flavor/taste. The vegetable protein-containing food can be produced by adding transglutaminase and glucose oxidase or adding transglutaminase, glucose oxidase and phospholipase to a food raw material containing a vegetable protein.

Claims

1. A method for producing a plant protein-containing food, the method comprising: adding a transglutaminase and a glucose oxidase to a food raw material containing a plant protein.

2. The method according to claim 1, which further comprises adding a phospholipase to the food raw material.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the phospholipase is phospholipase D.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transglutaminase is added in an amount of 1.010.sup.4 U or larger per 1 g of the food raw material, and the glucose oxidase is added in an amount of 1.010.sup.4 U or larger per 1 g of the food raw material.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the phospholipase is added in an amount of 1.010.sup.3 U or larger per 1 g of the food raw material.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the plant protein-containing food is a food prepared by mixing a binding material containing the food raw material containing a plant protein, with another food raw material in a crumble form, and cooking the mixture, and wherein the amounts of the transglutaminase and glucose oxidase to be added are read as amounts per 1 g of the binding material.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the plant protein-containing food is a food prepared by mixing a binding material containing the food raw material containing a plant protein, with another food raw material in a crumble form, and cooking the mixture, and wherein the amounts of the transglutaminase, glucose oxidase, and phospholipase to be added are read as amounts per 1 g of the binding material.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plant protein is a soybean protein.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plant protein-containing food is a meat substitute food.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plant protein-containing food is a Hamburg steak type food.

11. An enzyme preparation for producing a plant protein-containing food, the preparation containing a transglutaminase and a glucose oxidase.

12. The enzyme preparation according to claim 11, wherein the plant protein-containing food is a meat substitute food.

13. The enzyme preparation according to claim 11, which further contains a phospholipase.

Description

EXAMPLES

[0063] Hereafter, the present invention will be more specifically explained with reference to examples.

[0064] Soybean Hamburg steaks were prepared with the composition mentioned in Table 1. In Table 1, the blending amounts are indicated in terms of weight %. The granular soybean protein and powdery soybean protein were produced by processing soybeans to increase the protein content thereof to 50% by weight or higher, and granulating or powdering them, and granular soybean protein produced by Fuji Oil Co., Ltd., and powdered isolated soy protein produced by Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. were used for them, respectively.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Raw materials Blending amounts Granular soybean protein 18.7% Powdery soybean protein 8.8% Stir-fried onion 6.7% Seasoning Sugar 1.0% group Umami seasoning 0.1% Spice 0.1% Salt 0.8% Protein hydrolysate 0.9% Canala oil 2.9% Water 60.0%

[0065] The granular soybean protein was rehydrated with hot water, then dehydrated, allowed to absorb 40% by weight of the seasoning group mixture (including water), and thereby made into crumbled soybean.

[0066] Test samples were added to the total amount of the remaining seasoning group mixture, they were mixed, and the obtained mixture and the powdery soybean protein were mixed to obtain a binder. As the test samples, an enzyme solution or water was added in an amount of 0.1% by weight based on the total amount of the raw materials mentioned in Table 1. The used enzymes were as follows. The enzymatic activities were measured by the methods described above, respectively. The amounts of the enzymes based on the product weight are shown in Table 2. [0067] Transglutaminase (TG): Activa (registered trademark) TG, Ajinomoto Co., Inc. [0068] Glucose oxidase (GO): Sumizyme PGO, Shin Nihon Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd. [0069] Phospholipase D (PLD): PLD, Nagase & Co., Ltd.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 U/g based on product TG GO PLD Control Comparative sample 1 1.4 10.sup.3 U/g Comparative sample 2 7.0 10.sup.3 U/g Comparative sample 3 3.5 10.sup.2 U/g Comparative sample 4 1.3 10.sup.3 U/g Comparative sample 5 6.4 10.sup.3 U/g Comparative sample 6 3.2 10.sup.2 U/g Test sample 1 1.3 10.sup.3 U/g 1.4 10.sup.3 U/g Test sample 2 6.4 10.sup.3 U/g 1.4 10.sup.3 U/g Test sample 3 2.2 10.sup.2 U/g 2.4 10.sup.2 U/g Test sample 4 3.2 10.sup.2 U/g 7.0 10.sup.3 U/g Test sample 5 6.4 10.sup.2 U/g 7.0 10.sup.3 U/g Test sample 6 3.2 10.sup.2 U/g 3.5 10.sup.2 U/g Test sample 7 6.4 10.sup.2 U/g 7.0 10.sup.2 U/g Test sample 8 6.4 10.sup.2 U/g 7.0 10.sup.2 U/g 0.275 U/g Test sample 9 6.4 10.sup.2 U/g 7.0 10.sup.2 U/g 1.375 U/g

[0070] The crumbled soybean, binder, and stir-fried onion prepared as described above were mixed. The mixture in an amount of 65 g was molded into a patty having a diameter of 8.0 cm and a thickness of 1 cm. A food processor (Bamix M300, Speed Cutter MK-K3, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.) was used for the mixing. The patty was incubated at 37 C. for 1 hour, and baked at 216 C. in a conveyer oven (Impinger, Lincoln Food Service Products, Inc.) for 4 minutes and 15 seconds for each side. The patty was completely cooled, then vacuum-packed by using a vacuum sealer (degree of vacuum 5500 Pa, sealing strength 1.8 s), and stored in a freezer. The frozen sample was thawed with running water, and then warmed on a hot plate at 160 C. for 1.5 minutes for each side, and mouthfeel, and flavor and taste thereof were organoleptically evaluated by 4 persons of fully trained special panelists.

[0071] As for mouthfeel, meat granule-like mouthfeel of the crumbled soybean was defined as granular feel, and shape-retaining strength of the putty was defined as binding elasticity. As for flavor and taste, weakness of the soybean smell of the putty was defined as weakness of soybean smell, intensity of meat-like flavor and taste was defined as meat-like feel, and fat-like taste and stickiness were defined as juiciness. A combination of higher scores of granular feel and binding elasticity means better meat-like mouthfeel. A combination of higher scores of granular feel and binding elasticity, and weaker soybean smell means better meat-like taste. Those items were evaluated according to the evaluation criteria mentioned in Table 3. Mouthfeel was evaluated for the control sample and test samples 1 to 7, and flavor and taste were further evaluated for the test samples 7 to 9. The results are shown in Tables 4 and 5.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Score 0 Score 1 Score 2 Score 3 Score 4 Granular No Slight Granular Strong Extremely feel difference granular feel feel granular feel strong from control granular feel Binding No Slightly Elastic Strongly Extremely elasticity difference elastic elastic strongly from control elastic Weakness of No Slightly Weak Extremely No soybean soybean difference weak soybean weak smell smell from control soybean smell soybean smell smell Meat-like No Slight meat- Meat-like Strong meat- Extremely feel difference like feel feel like feel strong meat- from control like feel Juiciness No Slightly Juicy strongly Extremely difference juicy juicy Strongly from control juicy

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Granular Binding No. feel elasticity Evaluation results Control 0 0 Binding was sticky, and crumbled soybean was not elastic. Comparative 0.25 0 Crumbled soybean was slightly elastic. sample 1 Comparative 0.5 0 Stickiness of binder was reduced, crumbled sample 2 soybean was elastic, and shape-retaining property was improved. Comparative 1 0 Results were similar to those of Comparative sample 3 sample 2. Comparative 0 1 No change in crumbled soybean was observed, sample 4 but better shape-retaining property than Comparative samples 1 to 3 was observed. Comparative 0 1.5 Results were similar to those of Comparative sample 5 sample 4, but stronger effects than Comparative sample 4 were observed. Comparative 0 1.5 Results were similar to those of Comparative sample 6 sample 5. Test sample 1 1 1 More favorable balance of total mouthfeel than Test sample 3, and slight stickiness were observed. Test sample 2 1 1 Results were similar to those of Test sample 1. Test sample 3 1 1.5 Both binder and crumbled soybean were elastic, and slightly sticky. Test sample 4 3 2 Stronger granular feel than Test sample 1 was observed. Test sample 5 3 2 No significant difference compared with Test sample 4 was observed. Test sample 6 3 3 Granular feel of crumbled soybean was stronger than that of binder. Test sample 7 4 4 The product was elastic as a whole, and showed good balance.

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 No. *Gf *Be *Ws *Mf *Jc Evaluation results Control 0 0 0 0 0 Binding was sticky, and crumbled soybean was not elastic. Test 4 4 0 0 0 The sample was elastic as sample 7 a whole, and showed good balance. Test 4 4 3 2 3 Juiciness was improved in sample 8 PDL addition amount- Test 4 4 4 3 4 dependent manner, and sample 9 natural fatty feel was observed. *Gf, Granular feel *Be, Binding elasticity *Ws, Weakness of soybean smell *Mf, Meat-like feel *Jc, Juiciness

[0072] It was demonstrated that if transglutaminase and glucose oxidase are added to soybean Hamburg steaks, mouthfeel such as granular feel and binding elasticity is improved, and if phospholipase is further added, flavor and taste such as weakness of soybean smell, meat-like feel, and juiciness are also improved.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0073] According to the present invention, a plant protein-containing food showing superior mouthfeel can be produced. According to a preferred embodiment, a plant protein-containing food showing favorable flavor and taste in addition to superior mouthfeel can be produced. The method of the present invention requires neither a special apparatus nor complicated steps, and thus is convenient. Even when a binding material is required for producing a plant protein-containing food, the food can be produced without using albumen, breadcrumbs, starch, or the like. The present invention is useful in the food production industry or food service industry