Whole egg powder and puffed egg product using the same

Abstract

To provide a processed egg capable of making a puffed egg product which has good restorability when restored with hot water wherein said puffed egg product is characterized in that the whole egg powder has a total free amino acids content of 500 mg/100 g or more. There is also provided a whole egg powder which is suitable to be puffed, characterized in that the whole egg powder has a free methionine content of 10 mg/100 g or more. There is further provided a whole egg powder which is suitable to be puffed, characterized in that the whole egg powder has a free lysine content of 40 mg/100 g or more.

Claims

1. A whole egg powder that is suitable to be puffed, wherein the whole egg powder has a total content of free amino acids in a range of 500 mg/100 g or more.

2. A whole egg powder that is suitable to be puffed, wherein the whole egg powder has a content of free methionine in a range of 10 mg/100 g or more.

3. A whole egg powder that is suitable to be puffed, wherein the whole egg powder has a content of free lysine in a range of 40 mg/100 g or more.

4. A puffed egg product using the whole egg powder according claim 1.

5. A puffed egg product using the whole egg powder according claim 2.

6. A puffed egg product using the whole egg powder according claim 3.

7. The whole egg powder according to claim 1, wherein the whole egg powder is produced of eggs that are three-day old or younger from being laid.

8. The whole egg powder according to claim 2, wherein the whole egg powder is produced of eggs that are three-day old or younger from being laid.

9. The whole egg powder according to claim 3, wherein the whole egg powder is produced of eggs that are three-day old or younger from being laid.

10. The whole egg powder according to claim 1, wherein the whole egg powder is stored at a temperature in a range of 20 C. or lower.

11. The whole egg powder according to claim 2, wherein the whole egg powder is stored at a temperature in a range of 20 C. or lower.

12. The whole egg powder according to claim 3, wherein the whole egg powder is stored at a temperature in a range of 20 C. or lower.

Description

EXAMPLES

(1) The present invention is described in more detail with reference to the following Examples. The characteristics of respective Examples were evaluated according to the methods described below. The present invention is not limited to these Examples.

(2) <Measurement of Amino Acid Content>

(3) The amino acid content was measured as follows.

(4) Test samples were prepared from Examples and Comparative Examples described below. With respect to the amino acid content of a mixture of a non-desugared egg yolk powder and a desugared egg white powder in Comparative Example 2, the amino acid content of the mixture was measured.

(5) (Case of Whole Egg Powder)

(6) To 0.5 g of each whole egg powder in Examples and Comparative Examples was added 25 ml of distilled water, and the resultant was stirred with a stirrer for 1 hour. After the stirring, the sample was diluted up to 50 ml, and filtered through a Grade 2 qualitative filter paper. Then, 5 ml of the liquid sample after filtration and 5 ml of a 2% sulfosalicylic acid solution were taken in a centrifuge tube, and shaken on a shaker for 15 minutes. The shaken liquid sample was allowed to stand still for about 5 minutes, and then filtered through a membrane filter to make a test sample.

(7) (Case of Whole Egg Liquid)

(8) To 1 g of a whole egg liquid was added 25 ml of distilled water, and the resultant was stirred with a stirrer for 1 hour. After the stirring, the sample was diluted up to 50 ml, and filtered through a Grade 2 qualitative filter paper. Then, 5 ml of the liquid sample after filtration and 5 ml of a 2% sulfosalicylic acid solution were taken in a centrifuge tube, and shaken on a shaker for 15 minutes. The shaken liquid sample was allowed to stand still for about 5 minutes, and then filtered through a membrane filter to make a test sample.

(9) Next, an amino acid standard solution was prepared. The amino acid standard solution was prepared by precisely weighing out 0.6 ml of commercially-available Amino Acids Mixture Standard Solution, Type H (manufactured by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.) and 0.5 ml of a 10 mmol/L hydroxyproline solution, which were diluted with 0.02 N hydrochloric acid up to 25 ml.

(10) Next, the quantification of each amino acid was conducted using an amino acid analyzer (JLC-500/V manufactured by JEOL Ltd.). Then, based on the obtained data and the following expression, the content of each free amino acid and the total free amino acids content were calculated.
Content of each amino acid(mg/100 g)=A10.sup.6B/W2100[Expression 1]

(11) (Restorability Test)

(12) Hot water at 95 C. or higher was poured onto 10 g of the dry scrambled eggs of Examples and Comparative Examples and left for 3 minutes. After the 3 minutes, the scrambled eggs were drained, and the weight thereof was measured. The weight increase ratio in each sample was calculated.

(13) (Organoleptic Evaluation)

(14) The organoleptic evaluation was made as follows. Hot water at 95 C. or higher was poured onto the dry scrambled eggs of Examples and Comparative Examples and left for 3 minutes. After cooked, the resultant scrambled eggs were tasted by five panelists under blind condition to be evaluated based on the following evaluation criteria. The average score of the evaluations by the five panelists was taken as the results of the organoleptic evaluation.

(15) <Evaluation Criteria>

(16) 5: Soft and good texture

(17) 4: Good texture

(18) 3: Relatively poorly soft but no problem in eating

(19) 2: Poorly restored and hard somewhere

(20) 1: Poorly restored and difficult to masticate.

Example 1

(21) A powder mixture was prepared by mixing 225 g of -waxy cornstarch, 6 g of sodium hydrogen carbonate serving as a puffing agent, and 18 g of glucono-delta-lactone with a mixer for 3 minutes.

(22) Then, while 700 g of whole egg liquid (3 days after egg-laying) bought in a shop and a solution prepared as a seasoning liquid by adding and dissolving 40 g of sugar, 20 g of salt, 20 g of sodium glutamate and 2 g of inosinic acid/guanylic acid were added to the above powder mixture, the mixture was kneaded with a mixer at 40 rpm for 4 minutes to prepare small lump products. The mean grain size of the small lump products was 8 mm.

(23) Then, in a household microwave oven, the small lump products were heated at 0.25 g/W for 120 seconds, and then rapidly cooled to room temperature with a cooling fan. The cooled small lump products were hot-air dried in a fluidized bed granulator at 40 C. for 80 minutes and cooled to provide scrambled eggs.

Example 2

(24) Scrambled eggs were prepared in the same manner as Example 1, except that 250 g of a commercially-available whole egg powder (stored at low temperature after production) and 500 g of water were added to the powder mixture in place of the whole egg liquid in Example 1.

Examples 3 to 10

(25) Scrambled eggs were prepared in the same manner as Example 2, except that 250 g of a commercially-available desugared whole egg powder was added as processed eggs to the powder mixture in place of the whole egg powder in Example 2. The whole egg powders in Examples 3 to 10 are from different lots of the same type from the same manufacturer.

Example 11

(26) Scrambled eggs were prepared in the same manner as Example 2, except that 250 g of a commercially-available desugared whole egg powder (produced by a different manufacturer from one in Examples 3 to 10) was added as processed eggs to the powder mixture in place of the whole egg powder in Example 2.

Example 12

(27) Scrambled eggs were prepared in the same manner as Example 3, except that the desugared whole egg powder used in Example 3 was stored at 40 C. for 2 weeks before use as processed eggs.

Comparative Example 1

(28) Scrambled eggs were prepared in the same manner as Example 2, except that a commercially-available whole egg powder which is different (different type) from that in Example 2 was used as processed eggs.

Comparative Example 2

(29) Scrambled eggs were prepared in the same manner as Example 2, except that a mixture prepared by mixing 185 g of a commercially-available non-desugared egg yolk powder and 65 g of a commercially-available desugared egg white powder was used as processed eggs.

Comparative Example 3

(30) Scrambled eggs were prepared in the same manner as Example 2, except that the whole egg powder used in Example 2 was stored at 40 C. for 2 weeks before use as processed eggs.

(31) The free amino acids content of each sample is shown in Table 1.

(32) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Total free amino Free acids content Free methionine lysine content (mg/100 g) content (mg/100 g) (mg/100 g) Example 1 589.6 15.1 59.8 Example 2 545.3 11.3 40.9 Example 3 622.8 14.9 57.2 Example 4 566.7 13.2 46.0 Example 5 619.7 14.3 53.9 Example 6 591.3 13.1 55.2 Example 7 558.1 13.6 44.9 Example 8 661.1 14.7 60.1 Example 9 620.7 13.9 50.1 Example 10 608.9 14.0 48.6 Example 11 597.4 12.8 56.4 Example 12 572.6 13.3 45.4 Comparative 490.4 9.4 36.0 Example 1 Comparative 184.1 1.5 14.3 Example 2 Comparative 482.4 7.7 30.0 Example 3

(33) As observed from Table 1, the total free amino acids content in all of Examples 1 to 12 was 500 mg/100 g or more. In particular, the values for the total free amino acids content of the desugared whole egg powders were all high. The desugared whole egg powder (Example 8) had a value higher than that of the whole egg liquid shortly after egg-laying (Example 1). On the other hand, the non-desugared whole egg powder (Example 2) had the lowest value for the total free amino acids content in the Examples. These results suggest that, in a case where powdered eggs are used, desugared powdered eggs have a higher value for the total free amino acids content.

(34) Next, with reference to the free methionine content and free lysine content, the free methionine content was 10 mg/100 g or more, and the free lysine content was 40 mg/100 g or more. Similar to the total free amino acids content, the desugared whole egg powder (Example 8) had a higher value than that of the whole egg liquid shortly after egg-laying (Example 1). The non-desugared whole egg powder had high values for the free methionine content and free lysine content.

(35) On the other hand, in all of Comparative Examples 1 to 3, the total free amino acids content was less than 500 mg/100 g. In particular, the mixture of a non-desugared egg yolk powder and a desugared egg white powder had a significantly low value for the total free amino acids content. The same tendency was also seen in the free methionine content and the free lysine content.

(36) From the above results, it was found that all of the total free amino acids content, free methionine content and free lysine content in the Comparative Examples were lower than those in the Examples.

(37) Next, Example 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 3 were compared. In Example 2, Comparative Example 1 and Comparative Example 3, the whole egg powders produced by the same manufacturer were stored at different storage temperatures after powdered. When Example 2 was compared with Comparative Example 1, as observed from the results in Table 1, it was found that the free amino acids content decreased depending on the storage temperature after powdered. Although not shown in Table 1, the amount of glucose was lowered in Comparative Example 1 compared to Example 2. From this fact, it is considered that some reaction between glucose and a free amino acid can take place.

(38) Next, Example 2 and Comparative Example 3 were compared. As observed from Table 1, it was found that even in the whole egg powder stored at low temperature after powdered (Example 2), the free amino acids content was decreased by conducting the storage testing. When Comparative Example 1 was compared with Comparative Example 3, it was found that since Comparative Example 3 (40 C.) was stored under a temperature condition higher than Comparative Example 1 (normal temperature), the decrease in free amino acids content was larger. From the foregoing, it was suggested that even in a non-desugared whole egg powder, a decrease in free amino acids content can be prevented by storing the powder at low temperature after powdered. It was also confirmed that the higher the temperature to which the powder was exposed, the more the free amino acids content decreased. This is considered to be because a free amino acid and glucose hardly reacts with each other under a low temperature condition.

(39) Next, the samples were tested for the restorability and the organoleptic evaluation. The results are shown in Table 2.

(40) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Weight increase ratio Organoleptic evaluation Example 1 6.0 5.0 Example 2 5.0 3.2 Example 3 6.0 5.0 Example 4 6.0 5.0 Example 5 6.0 5.0 Example 6 6.0 5.0 Example 7 6.0 5.0 Example 8 6.0 5.0 Example 9 6.0 5.0 Example 10 6.0 5.0 Example 11 5.5 5.0 Example 12 5.8 4.8 Comparative 3.2 1.8 Example 1 Comparative 3.5 1.4 Example 2 Comparative 3.2 1.2 Example 3

(41) As observed from Table 2, the dry scrambled eggs of Examples 1 to 12 all had good restorability and had a good edible texture in the organoleptic test. Specifically, the weight increase ratio in Examples 1 to 12 was 5 times or more in all cases. Of those, the weight increase ratio in Examples 1 and 3 to 10 was 6 times. On the other hand, the weight increase ratio in Example 2 was the lowest and was 5 times.

(42) Next, referring to the Comparative Examples, the results are such that the restorability was not good in every case and the organoleptic test confirmed the poor restorability. Specifically, in Comparative Example 2 showing the best restorability among those Comparative Examples, the weight increase ratio was only 3.5 times. The lowest weight increase ratio was 3.2 times in Comparative Example 1 and Comparative Example 3.

(43) It should be noted that those having a large weight increase ratio had a good result in the organoleptic test (in other words, those having a good result in the organoleptic test had a large weight increase ratio). In order to have a large weight increase ratio, the samples need to have good hot water absorbability, and in order to have good hot water absorbability, the samples need to be fully puffed to have a porous structure. Here, as described above, it is considered that a free amino acid reacts with glucose to generate a substance which inhibits the puffing of scrambled eggs. For this reason, it is considered that a large free amino acids content means a less substance which inhibits the puffing of scrambled eggs, and thus a fully puffed porous structure can be obtained. In fact, with reference to the results in Table 1, the scrambled eggs formed of the whole egg powder having a high total free amino acids content, free methionine content and free lysine content all had good restorability in general. On the other hand, the scrambled eggs formed of the whole egg powder having a low total free amino acids content, free methionine content and free lysine content all had poor restorability in general. From these, it can be said that the free amino acids content is effective for identifying a whole egg powder which can produce scrambled eggs with good restorability.

(44) As described above, determination of free amino acids content provides a simple method for identifying a whole egg powder which can produce a puffed egg product which is excellent in puffability and restorability. Accordingly, the present invention can reduce poor-quality wastes so that the production cost can be reduced.