Thickening composition and method for producing same

Abstract

A thickening composition which contains specific amounts of a metal salt-enclosing dextrin and a thickening polysaccharide and which has a good dispersibility raises the viscosity rapidly, and has an excellent thickening effect can be produced by the steps of obtaining the metal salt-enclosing dextrin by mixing, dissolving, and homogenizing a dextrin and a metal salt in water, followed by drying, and adding the metal salt-enclosing dextrin to the thickening polysaccharide followed by mixing or granulation. The thickening composition makes it possible to provide a thickening composition which has a good dispersibility, raises the viscosity rapidly, and offers an improved thickening effect per unit mass in a wide variety of water-containing foods such as water, teas, refreshing beverages, dairy beverages, soups, and thick liquid foods.

Claims

1. A thickening composition, consisting of: a thickening polysaccharide; and a metal salt-enclosing dextrin, wherein the metal salt is selected from the group consisting of calcium lactate, calcium acetate, calcium gluconate, calcium pantothenate, calcium ascorbate, magnesium sulfate, trisodium citrate, and tripotassium citrate; the thickening polysaccharide is selected from the group consisting of xanthan gum, carrageenan, guar gum, locust bean gum, tara gum, and glucomannan; a mass ratio of the thickening polysaccharide to a total metal salt-enclosing dextrin is from 46:54 to 70:30; and a ratio in parts by mass of the total metal salt is 3.5 to 12.8 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharide, wherein the dextrin has a DE of 8 to 25.

2. The thickening composition according to claim 1, wherein the ratio in parts by mass of the total metal salt is 3.5 to 7.6 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharide.

3. A method for producing the thickening composition according to claim 1, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining the metal salt-enclosing dextrin by mixing, dissolving, and homogenizing the dextrin and the metal salt in water, followed by drying; and adding the metal salt-enclosing dextrin to the thickening polysaccharide, followed by mixing or granulation.

Description

EXAMPLES

(1) Hereinafter, the present invention is described in further detail based on Examples; however, the present invention is not limited to these Examples.

Example 1

Influence of Mass Ratio of Metal Salt to Thickening Polysaccharide on Solubility of Thickening Composition

(2) To aqueous solutions each obtained by dissolving 100 g of a dextrin (TK-16 (DE18) manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) in 300 g of ion-exchanged water, a metal salt (magnesium sulfate) was dissolved so as to achieve the concentrations shown in Table 3 in the resultant enclosure materials. Then, the solutions were spray dried with a spray dryer to prepare metal salt-enclosing dextrins (enclosure materials). Next, thickening compositions were prepared by powder blending of these enclosure materials with a thickening polysaccharide (xanthan gum (NOVAXAN (granulated) manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.)) at the mass ratios shown in Table 3. For each of the thickening compositions prepared at these ratios, the ratio (in parts by mass) of the metal salt relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharide was calculated (Table 3). In addition, the solubility of each of those thickening compositions was evaluated by the method shown in Table 1 using the evaluation criteria shown in Table 2. In the evaluation of the solubility, when the scores of both the dispersibility and the rise in viscosity were 3 or higher, the solubility was evaluated to be Good (G). When at least one of the scores was lower than 3, the solubility was evaluated to be Poor (P).

(3) Based on the results, it was found that, in the range where the mass ratio of the thickening polysaccharide to the enclosure material was from 46:54 to 70:30, the solubility of the thickening composition was evaluated to be Good, when the test sample had a ratio in parts by mass of the metal salt of 3.5 to 12.8 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharide (Table 3).

(4) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Solubility evaluation method Dispersibility Prepare 100 g of ion-exchanged water in a 200 ml beaker at 20 C. Add a thickening composition in an amount equivalent to 1 g of the thickening polysaccharide to the beaker, and allow the mixture to stand for 3 seconds. Then, stir the mixture with a spatula for 1 minute. Visually observe the state after the stirring. Rise in Prepare 100 g of ion-exchanged water in a 200 ml beaker viscosity at 20 C. Add a thickening composition in an amount equivalent to 1 g of the thickening polysaccharide under stirring with a spatula. Stir the mixture for 30 seconds. Measure the viscosity one minute after the start of the dissolution with a BM-type viscometer (TOKIMEC). The viscosity was subjected to a 5-grade evaluation using the criteria shown in Table 2.

(5) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Evaluation criteria of solubility Evaluated items Score Dispersibility Rise in viscosity 5 Extremely good dispersibility 1,100 cp or higher without any unmixed lumps or with a trace amount of unmixed lumps. 4 Good dispersibility despite the 850 cp or higher and lower presence of a small amount of than 1,100 cp unmixed lumps. 3 Acceptable dispersibility despite the 600 cp or higher and lower presence of some unmixed lumps. than 850 cp 2 Poor dispersibility with the presence 350 cp or higher and lower of many unmixed lumps. than 600 cp 1 Very poor dispersibility is with the lower than 350 cp formation of large unmixed lumps in some portions.

(6) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Relationship between Mass Ratio of Enclosure Material to Thickening Polysaccharide and Solubility of Thickening Composition Ratio of Ratio in parts metal salt Mass ratio of by mass of in thickening metal salt enclosure polysaccharide to relative to 100 Solubility material enclosure material parts by mass Rise Test (% by Thickening Enclosure of thickening in sample mass) polysaccharide material polysaccharide Dispersibility viscosity Evaluation 1 0.2 46 54 0.2 1 2 P 2 3.0 3.5 5 5 G 3 10.9 12.8 5 4 G 4 11.5 13.5 5 2 P 5 0.0 50 50 0.0 1 2 P 6 0.1 0.1 1 2 P 7 0.5 0.5 1 2 P 8 3.5 3.5 4 5 G 9 5.2 5.2 5 5 G 10 7.6 7.6 5 5 G 11 11.4 11.4 5 4 G 12 12.8 12.8 5 4 G 13 18.0 18.0 5 1 P 14 1.5 60 40 1.0 1 1 P 15 7.1 4.8 5 4 G 16 7.6 5.1 5 4 G 17 22.5 15.0 5 1 P 18 2.3 70 30 1.0 1 1 P 19 8.2 3.5 4 5 G 20 11.4 4.9 4 5 G 21 29.9 12.8 4 3 G 22 33.1 14.2 5 1 P 23 10.6 78 22 3.0 1 1 P 24 45.5* 12.8 3 3 G *The metal salt was successfully enclosed in the dextrin, but the hygroscopicity of the enclosure material increased, so that the storage stability and the recovery in the spray drying were greatly lowered.

Example 2

Influence of DE of Dextrin on Solubility of Thickening Composition

(7) Enclosure materials were prepared by the same method as in Example 1. Here, calcium lactate was used as the metal salt, dextrins having DEs shown in Table 4 (all the dextrins were manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) were used as the dextrin, and the resultant ratio of the metal salt in each enclosure material was 5.2% by mass. Next, these enclosure materials were subjected to powder blending with xanthan gum, serving as a thickening polysaccharide, at a mass ratio of 50:50 to prepare thickening compositions in each of which the ratio in parts by mass of the metal salt was 5.2 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharide. The solubility of each of these thickening compositions was evaluated by the same method as in Example 1. Based on the results, it was found that the solubility of a thickening composition was evaluated to be Good, when the DE of the dextrin was 8 or higher (Table 4). However, when the DE exceeded 25, the yield of the enclosure material remarkably decreased in producing the enclosure material, and hence a DE exceeding 25 was impractical. In addition, a DE exceeding 18 is preferable, especially because the rise in viscosity is extremely good.

(8) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Influence of DE of dextrin on solubility of thickening composition Solubility Rise in Test sample DE of dextrin Dispersibility viscosity Evaluation 25 3 1 1 Poor 26 8 3 3 Good 27 11 5 4 Good 28 18 5 5 Good 29 25 5 5 Good 30 40 5 5 Good

Example 3

Influence of Type of Metal Salt on Solubility of Thickening Composition

(9) Enclosure materials were prepared by the same method as in Example 1. Here, the metal salts shown in Table 5 were used as the metal salt, the dextrin TK-16 (DE18) (manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used, and the resultant ratio of the metal salt in each enclosure material was 5.2% by mass. Next, these enclosure materials were subjected to powder blending with xanthan gum, serving as a thickening polysaccharide, at a mass ratio of 50:50 to prepare to prepare thickening compositions in each of which the ratio in parts by mass of the metal salt was 5.2 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharide. The solubility of each thickening composition was evaluated by the same method as in Example 1. Based on the results, when the metal salts of test samples 32 to 39 were used, the solubility was evaluated to be Good (Table 5).

(10) TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Influence of type of metal salt on solubility of thickening composition solubility Test Rise in sample Metal salt Dispersibility viscosity Evaluation 31 None 1 2 Poor 32 Magnesium sulfate 5 5 Good 33 Calcium gluconate 5 4 Good 34 Calcium, pantothenate 5 5 Good 35 Calcium acetate 5 4 Good 36 Calcium lactate 5 4 Good 37 Calcium ascorbate 5 4 Good 38 Trisodium citrate 5 4 Good 39 Tripotassium citrate 5 3 Good 40 Calcium chloride 5 1 Poor

Example 4

Influence of Type of Thickening Polysaccharide on Solubility of Thickening Composition

(11) An enclosure material was prepared by the same method as in Example 1. Here, magnesium sulfate was used as the metal salt, the dextrin TK-16 (DE18) (manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used, and the resultant ratio of the metal salt in each enclosure material was 5.2% by mass. Next, the thickening polysaccharide shown in Table 6 was subjected to powder blending with the enclosure material or TK-16(DE18) at a mass ratio of 50:50 to prepare thickening compositions in which the ratio in parts by mass of the metal salt was 5.2 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharide. The solubility of each thickening composition was evaluated by the same method as in Example 1. Based on the results, it was found that -carrageenan improved the solubility as in the case of xanthan gum.

(12) TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 Influence of type of thickening polysaccharide on solubility of thickening composition Ratio in parts by mass of Type of metal salt relative to 100 Solubility Test thickening parts by mass of thickening Rise in sample polysaccharide polysaccharide Dispersibility viscosity Evaluation 41 -Carrageenan 5.21 5 5 Good 42 None 1 3 Poor

Example 5

Influence of Combination of Thickening Polysaccharides on Dispersibility of Thickening Composition

(13) An enclosure material was prepared by the same method as in Example 1. Here, magnesium sulfate was used as the metal salt, the dextrin TK-16 (DE18) (manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used, and the resultant ratio of the metal salt in each enclosure material was 5.2% by mass. The thickening polysaccharides used were the combinations of thickening polysaccharide 1 and thickening polysaccharide 2 shown in Table 7 at a mass ratio of 2:1. Next, the mixtures of the thickening polysaccharides were subjected to powder blending with the enclosure material at a mass ratio of 50:50 to prepare thickening compositions in each of which the ratio of the metal salt was 5.2 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharides. The solubility of each thickening composition was evaluated by the same method as in Example 1. Based on the results, by using the combinations of various thickening polysaccharides, thickening compositions having sol/gel characteristics different from those achieved in the cases where the thickening polysaccharides were used alone, without affecting the dispersibility of the thickening compositions. This indicates that thickening compositions which have various sol/gel characteristics according to the application and which are excellent in dispersibility can be obtained by changing the combination or ratio of thickening polysaccharides.

(14) TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 7 Influence of combination of thickening polysaccharides on dispersibility of thickening composition (the ratios of thickening polysaccharide 1 to thickening polysaccharide 2 were all 2:1) Combination of thickening polysaccharides Test Thickening Thickening sample polysaccharide 1 polysaccharide 2 Dispersibility Sol/gel characteristics 43 Xanthan gum None 5 Formation of sol having pseudoplastic viscosity 44 Guar gum 5 Formation of sol or gel having higher viscosity than that in the case of xanthan gum alone 45 Locust bean gum 5 Formation of sol or gel having higher viscosity than that in the case of xanthan gum alone 46 Glucomannan 5 Formation of sol or gel having higher viscosity than that in the case of xanthan gum alone 47 Tara gum 5 Formation of weak gel or sol 48 -Carrageenan None 5 Formation of sol or gel with low stringiness 49 Guar gum 5 Formation of sol or gel having higher viscosity than that in the case of -carrageenan alone 50 Locust bean gum 5 Formation of sol or gel having higher viscosity than that in the case of -carrageenan alone 51 Glucomannan 5 Formation of sol or gel having higher viscosity than that in the case of -carrageenan alone 52 Tara gum 5 Formation of weak gel or sol

Example 6

Influence of Granulation on Dispersibility of Thickening Composition

(15) Enclosure materials were prepared by the same method as in Example 1. Here, magnesium sulfate was used as the metal salt, the dextrin TK-16 (DE18) (manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used, and the resultant ratios of the metal salt in the enclosure materials were as shown in Table 8. Next, each of these enclosure materials and xanthan gum (NOVAXAN (transparent type) 80 mesh manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.), serving as a thickening polysaccharide, were granulated by being introduced into a fluidized-bed granulator (flow coater (FLO-5) manufactured by Freund Corporation) at the corresponding mass ratio shown in Table 9. Note that all the ratios in parts by mass of the metal salt were adjusted to 12.8 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharide.

(16) The solubility of each of the thus prepared granulated thickening compositions (granulated products) was evaluated by the same method as in Example 1, and compared with that of the corresponding powder mixture (non-granulated product). Based on the results, it was found that each granulated product had a more improved dispersibility than the non-granulated product.

(17) TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 8 Influence of granulation on dispersibility of thickening composition (the ratios in parts by mass of the metal salt were all 12.8 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharide) Ratio of metal salt Mass ratio of thickening in polysaccharide to enclosure enclosure material Solubility Test material Thickening Enclosure Non-granulated/ Rise in sample (% by mass) polysaccharide material granulated Dispersibility viscosity 53 8.5 40 60 Non-granulated 4 3 54 granulated 5 5 55 12.8 50 50 Non-granulated 5 4 56 granulated 5 5 57 29.9 70 30 Non-granulated 4 3 58 granulated 4 5

Example 7

Preparation of Beverage Containing Thickening Composition

(18) (Tea)

(19) To 100 g of tea (trade name: Oi Ocha, ITO EN, LTD.), 2 g of the thickening composition (test sample 36) prepared in Example 3 and containing calcium lactate was added, and the mixture was stirred with a spatula. The thickening composition was dispersed all over the liquid rapidly, no unmixed lumps were formed, and the expression of viscosity was good. This thickened tea had a good flavor, and was suitable for use as a tea for people with mastication and swallowing disorders.

(20) (Refreshing Beverage)

(21) To 100 g of a refreshing beverage (trade name: AQUARIUS, Coca-Cola (Japan) Company Limited), 2 g of the granulated product (test sample 56) containing the thickening polysaccharide and the enclosure material at a mixing ratio of 50:50 was added, and the mixture was stirred with a spatula. The granulated product was dispersed all over the liquid rapidly, no unmixed lumps were formed, and the expression of viscosity was good. This thickened refreshing beverage had a good flavor, and was suitable for use as a refreshing beverage for people with mastication and swallowing disorders.

Example 8

Influence of Mass Ratio between Enclosure Material and Thickening Polysaccharide on Flavor of Food

(22) Enclosure materials were prepared by the same method as in Example 1. Here, magnesium sulfate was used as the metal salt, the dextrin TK-16 (manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was used, and the resultant ratios of the metal salt in the enclosure materials were as shown in Table 10. Next, these enclosure materials were subjected to powder blending with xanthan gum, serving as a thickening polysaccharide, at the mass ratios shown in Table 10 to prepare thickening compositions in each of which the ratio of the metal salt was 5.2 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharide.

(23) Subsequently each of the thickening compositions in an amount equivalent to 1 g of the thickening polysaccharide was added to 100 g of instant coffee (NESCAFE GOLD BLEND (Nestle Japan Ltd.)) containing 1.5 g of coffee powder. Thus, coffee beverages containing the thickening compositions were obtained. A sensory test (N=5) of the flavor of each of the obtained beverages was conducted by five panelists using the criteria shown in Table 9, and the most frequent value was employed as the score. A beverage with a score of 2 or lower was evaluated to be Poor (no flavor was noticeable), a beverage with a score of 3 was evaluated to be Fair (the flavor was slightly poor), and a beverage with a score of 4 or higher was evaluated to be Good (the flavor was unchanged). Based on the results, it was found that the flavor was reduced with the increase in mass ratio of the enclosure material, and the flavor was reduced or deteriorated when the mass ratio of the thickening polysaccharide to the enclosure material was 40:60 or lower.

(24) TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 9 Evaluation criteria of sensory test Score Evaluation criteria Evaluation 5 The flavor hardly changed in comparison with the case Good where no thickening composition was added. 4 The flavor did not greatly change in comparison with the case where no thickening composition was added. 3 The flavor was slightly poor in comparison with the Fair case where no thickening composition was added. 2 The flavor was noticeable only slightly. Poor 1 No flavor was noticeable at all.

(25) TABLE-US-00010 TABLE 10 Influence of mass ratio between enclosure material and thickening polysaccharide on flavor of coffee (the ratios in parts by mass of the metal salt were all 5.2 parts by mass relative to 100 parts by mass of the thickening polysaccharide) Mass ratio Ratio of between enclosure metal salt in material and thickening enclosure polysaccharide Test material Thickening Enclosure sample (% by mass) polysaccharide material Score Evaluation 57 2.2 30 70 1 Poor 58 3.5 40 60 3 Fair 59 5.2 50 50 4 Good 60 12.1 70 30 5 Good