阅读说明：本技术 干燥食用植物组合物的制造方法、干燥方法和干燥食用植物组合物和饮食品 (Method for producing dried edible plant composition, drying method, dried edible plant composition, and food or beverage ) 是由 斋藤雄己 角田宏之 香月真央 于 2019-08-09 设计创作，主要内容包括：提供使用食用植物,用于不需要特殊的装置、条件而简易地在保持食品本来具有的特征性且新鲜的风味、色调的状态下制造干燥食用植物组合物的提高干燥效率的方法,和通过该方法得到的品质得到提高的干燥食用植物组合物。干燥食用植物组合物的制造方法,所述干燥食用植物组合物在干燥状态下相对于可食用部分和非可食用部分的总计质量以3质量%以上且70质量%以下含有食用植物的非可食用部分,所述方法包括：将可食用部分和非可食用部分破碎、混合的步骤；和通过在20℃以上且80℃以下的温度下通风干燥而使水分含量干燥至20质量%以下的步骤。(Provided is a method for improving drying efficiency by using edible plants for producing a dried edible plant composition in a state of keeping the original characteristic, fresh flavor and color tone of a food simply without requiring special equipment and conditions, and a dried edible plant composition with improved quality obtained by the method. A method for producing a dried edible plant composition containing non-edible parts of an edible plant in a dry state at 3% by mass or more and 70% by mass or less relative to the total mass of edible parts and non-edible parts, the method comprising: a step of crushing and mixing the edible part and the non-edible part; and a step of drying the moisture content to 20 mass% or less by air-drying at a temperature of 20 ℃ or more and 80 ℃ or less.)

1. A method for producing a dried edible plant composition containing non-edible parts of an edible plant in a dry state at 3% by mass or more and 70% by mass or less relative to the total mass of edible parts and non-edible parts, the method comprising: a step of crushing and mixing the edible part and the non-edible part; and a step of drying the moisture content to 20 mass% or less by air-drying at a temperature of 20 ℃ or more and 80 ℃ or less.

2. The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to claim 1, wherein the air-drying is performed using any one of a conveyor dryer, a flat dryer, and a box-type shelf dryer.

3. The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the edible plant is placed on a screen.

4. The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the edible part and the non-edible part of the edible plant are crushed in at least 1 selected from the group consisting of a cut piece, a chopped piece, and a chopped filling.

5. The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the edible part and the non-edible part of the edible plant are derived from the same edible plant.

6. The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the edible part and the non-edible part of the edible plant are derived from the same edible plant.

7. The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the edible plant is 1 or more selected from grains, potatoes, beans, seeds, vegetables, fruits and fungi.

8. The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the edible plant is at least 1 selected from red pepper, beet, soybean, corn, carrot, pumpkin, pea, kidney bean, sweet potato, broccoli, spinach, kale, and tomato.

9. The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the non-edible part of the edible plant is at least 1 selected from the group consisting of a stalk, a core or a seed of red pepper, a root end, a skin or a stalk of beet, a sheath of soybean (green bean), a covered leaf, a core or a panicle axis of corn, a root end or a stalk base of carrot, a pulp, a seed or both ends of pumpkin, a sheath of pea, a seed coat or a sheath of kidney bean, an epidermis or both ends of sweet potato, a stem and leaf of broccoli, a plant root of spinach, a stalk base of kale, and a stalk of tomato.

10. The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the dried edible plant composition is composed of only edible parts of a plant and non-edible parts of a plant.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the dried edible plant composition is for dietary use in humans.

12. A method for drying an edible plant containing non-edible parts of the edible plant in a dry state at 3 to 70 mass% relative to the total mass of the edible parts and the non-edible parts, wherein the edible parts and the non-edible parts are crushed, mixed, and air-dried at a temperature of 20 to 80 ℃, thereby drying the moisture content to 20 mass% or less.

13. A dried edible plant composition which comprises a non-edible part of an edible plant in an amount of 3 to 70 mass% relative to the total mass of the edible part and the non-edible part in a dried state in which the edible plant composition is air-dried at a temperature of 20 to 80 ℃, and which has a water content of 20 mass% or less.

14. The dried edible plant composition according to claim 13, which is a powder of a dried edible plant, and the d50 after the ultrasonic treatment is 5 μm or more and 2000 μm or less.

15. The composition according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the dry edible plant composition is for dietary use in humans.

16. A food or drink comprising the dried edible plant composition according to any one of claims 13 to 15.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for producing a dried edible plant composition, a drying method, a dried edible plant composition, and a food or drink.

Background

Edible plants generally have a high water content and have a problem in that their original characteristics, fresh flavor and color tone are deteriorated or lost when subjected to drying treatment.

To solve this problem, there are methods such as freeze drying, solar drying, and normal-temperature air drying, which are less likely to cause a heat load that most affects the quality of edible plants during drying. However, in the freeze-drying method, when processing low-priced foods, the equipment is expensive, the operation is complicated, the cost is high, and the versatility is poor. In the case of solar drying and room-temperature air drying, although relatively inexpensive, it takes a long time until the moisture content decreases, and there is a problem that the quality deteriorates with time.

Further, the heat drying method has an effect of shortening the drying time, but it is believed that the heat load inevitably deteriorates the characteristic and fresh flavor and color tone of the edible plant to some extent.

To solve these problems, patent document 1 discloses a plant drying apparatus and a method thereof that can obtain an effect equivalent to natural drying in a short drying period. Patent document 2 discloses a method of moving and stirring a drying object in a drying tank, floating the drying object, supplying air from below, and repeatedly carrying the drying object from a lower portion of the drying tank to an upper portion by air flow. Patent document 3 discloses a method for drying an object to be dried by indirectly heating a wood ceramic capable of emitting far infrared rays in a region having a good drying efficiency, thereby emitting far infrared rays and efficiently drying the object.

However, according to the method of patent document 1, a part of the object to be dried must be buried in the space in which the drying agent in the form of powder particles is stored, and there is a problem that a procedure for classifying the object to be dried must be performed to obtain an edible part thereafter. The methods of patent documents 2 and 3 have a problem that a special apparatus is required.

As an example of a technique for improving the drying efficiency of plants without requiring such materials other than foods or special devices, patent document 4 discloses the following technique relating to a processed tea product: the processed tea product is a food which comprises a base food material and a color developing material using tea leaves as a raw material and is processed into an edible state, wherein the base food material is a material derived from vegetables, and the color developing material is obtained by mixing tea leaves with copper ion water in which the amount of copper ions contained in the color developing material is grasped, and heating the mixture to perform a copper chlorophyll treatment. Patent document 5 discloses the following technique: the mountain vegetable, vegetable or fruit is dried by crushing, freezing and stepwise heating to obtain irregular and thin plate-like granules with large gaps and adhering nutrients and flavors.

However, according to the method of patent document 4, it is necessary to use food materials other than the dried material to be dried, and there is a possibility that the characteristic and fresh flavor inherent in the dried material to be dried is affected. According to the method of patent document 5, although a material other than the object to be dried is not required, a freezing operation for expanding ice cubes in the fiber of the object to be dried to open the inter-fiber space and improve the drying efficiency is necessary, and there is a problem in that the characteristic inherent in the food and fresh flavor components are lost due to the dissolution of ice and the generation of water droplets accompanying the heat drying after freezing.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent No. 6189563

Patent document 2: international publication No. 2012/011600

Patent document 3: japanese patent laid-open No. 2003-226577

Patent document 4: japanese patent application laid-open No. 2010-284095

Patent document 5: japanese patent laid-open No. 2006-212022.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The present invention provides a method for improving drying efficiency by using edible plants for simply producing a dried edible plant composition while maintaining the original characteristic and fresh flavor and color of a food without requiring special equipment and conditions, and a dried edible plant composition with improved quality obtained by the method.

Means for solving the problems

As a result of intensive studies in view of the above circumstances, the present inventors have found that a dried plant composition having a fresh flavor and color tone inherent in food can be easily obtained by containing a specific amount of non-edible parts in addition to edible parts of edible plants and pulverizing, mixing, and air-drying the edible parts under a certain condition, and have completed the present invention.

Namely, the present invention provides the following [1] to [15 ].

[1] A method for producing a dried edible plant composition containing non-edible parts of an edible plant in a dry state at 3% by mass or more and 70% by mass or less relative to the total mass of edible parts and non-edible parts, the method comprising: a step of crushing and mixing the edible part and the non-edible part; and a step of drying the moisture content to 20 mass% or less by air-drying at a temperature of 20 ℃ or more and 80 ℃ or less.

[2] The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to [1], wherein the air-drying is performed using any one of a conveyor dryer, a flat dryer and a box-type shelf dryer.

[3] The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to [1] or [2], wherein the edible plant is placed on a screen.

[4] The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the edible part and the non-edible part of the edible plant are pulverized in at least 1 selected from the group consisting of a cut piece, a pulverized piece, and a pulverized filling.

[5] The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of [1] to [4], wherein the edible part and the non-edible part of the edible plant are derived from the same edible plant.

[6] The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the edible part and the non-edible part of the edible plant are derived from the same individual edible plant.

[7] The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of [1] to [6], wherein the edible plant is at least 1 selected from grains, potatoes, beans, seeds, vegetables, fruits and fungi.

[8] The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of [1] to [7], wherein the edible plant is at least 1 selected from red pepper, beet, soybean, corn, carrot, pumpkin, pea, kidney bean, sweet potato, broccoli, spinach, kale and tomato.

[9] The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of [1] to [8], wherein the non-edible part of the edible plant is at least 1 selected from the group consisting of a pedicle or core or seed of red pepper, a root end or skin or petiole of beet, a sheath of soybean (green soybean), a leaf or core or cob of corn, a root end or petiole base of carrot, a pulp or seed or both ends of pumpkin, a sheath of pea, a seed skin or sheath of kidney bean, an epidermis or both ends of sweet potato, a stem and leaf of broccoli, a plant root of spinach, a petiole base of kale, and a pedicle of tomato.

[10] The method for producing a dried edible plant composition according to any one of [1] to [9], wherein the dried edible plant composition is composed of only edible parts of a plant and non-edible parts of a plant.

[11] The method according to any one of [1] to [10], wherein the dried edible plant composition is for dietary use of a human.

[12] A method for drying an edible plant containing non-edible parts of the edible plant in a dry state at 3 to 70 mass% relative to the total mass of the edible parts and the non-edible parts, wherein the edible parts and the non-edible parts are crushed, mixed, and air-dried at a temperature of 20 to 80 ℃, thereby drying the moisture content to 20 mass% or less.

[13] A dried edible plant composition which contains non-edible parts of an edible plant in an amount of 3 to 70 mass% relative to the total mass of the edible parts and the non-edible parts in a dried state in which the edible plant composition is air-dried at a temperature of 20 to 80 ℃, and has a water content of 20 mass% or less.

[14] The dry edible plant composition according to [13], which is a powder of a dry edible plant, wherein d50 after the ultrasonic treatment is 5 to 2000 μm.

[15] The dry edible plant composition according to [13] or [14], wherein the dry edible plant composition is for dietary use by a human.

[16] A food or beverage comprising the dry edible plant composition according to any one of [13] to [15 ].

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for improving drying efficiency for producing a dried edible plant composition by using an edible plant as a dried material, without requiring a special apparatus or condition, while keeping the original fresh flavor and color tone of a food, and a dried edible plant composition with improved quality obtained by the method.

Detailed Description

The present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be implemented by applying any modification without departing from the gist of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a method of making a dried edible plant composition comprising edible parts and non-edible parts of an edible plant, the method comprising: the edible part and the non-edible part are crushed and mixed, the ratio of the non-edible part to the total mass of the edible part and the non-edible part is adjusted to be 3 to 70 mass% in a dry state, and then the mixture is dried by ventilation at a temperature of 20 to 80 ℃, and the moisture content of the mixture is dried to be 20 mass% or less. The "dry" state of the present invention means a state in which the moisture content is 20 mass% or less, and the moisture is more preferably 10 mass% or less, still more preferably 8 mass% or less, and still more preferably 7 mass% or less. The water activity value is preferably 0.85 or less, more preferably 0.80 or less, and most preferably 0.75 or less.

Edible plants in the present invention are plants for human diet containing edible parts and/or non-edible parts thereof. The edible plant of the present invention is not limited as long as it is a food or drink to be supplied to a human, and examples thereof include vegetables, potatoes, fungi, fruits, spices (spices), algae, grains, seeds, beans, etc., and the present invention is more useful for vegetables, potatoes, fungi, fruits, algae, grains, seeds, beans containing a large amount of water (with a water content of about 50 mass% or more, particularly 70 mass% or more), and is most useful for vegetables, potatoes, fungi, fruits, algae, grains, and beans. Specifically, it can be understood which food corresponds to the edible plant by referring to, for example, grains, potatoes, beans, seeds, vegetables, fruits, fungi, algae, and spices among the classifications described in "the food ingredient table 2015 year edition (seventh revision) to supplement 2018" (refer to the food ingredient table specified in japan ministry of health and labor, particularly table 236). One of these food materials may be used, and two or more of these food materials may be used in combination. Since it is difficult to pulverize edible plants having a high fat content, the fat content is preferably 30% by mass or less in the edible plants in a dry state, and more preferably vegetables, fruits, grains, and beans. In addition, these food materials can be used as they are, or after various treatments (for example, drying, heating, removing ash, peeling, removing seeds, ripening, salting, processing of fruit peel, etc.) are applied. In addition, the food material may be classified according to the state of the whole plant corresponding to the non-edible part.

Examples of the vegetables include, but are not limited to, radish, carrot, turnip cabbage, parsnip, turnip, black-boned ginseng, lotus root, beet (preferably beet (beet root): a variety improved for eating beet root), arrowhead, onion, celery, allium chinense, lily root, kale, onion, asparagus, pubescent angelica root, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, rape, komatsuna, broccoli, leek, shallot, eupatorium, coltsfoot, beet (uncultivated grass, swiss beet), watercress, tomato, eggplant, pumpkin, green pepper, cucumber, minnescens, broccoli, edible chrysanthemum, bitter gourd, okra, artichoke, zucchini, beet, cyperus bean, ginger, perilla, horseradish, red pepper, herbaceous herbs (watercress, coriander, swamp parsley, celery, sage, celery, caraway, sage, pimiento, fennel, sage, etc.), sage, etc, Thyme, bay, celery, mustard (mustard), wormwood, basil, oregano, rosemary, peppermint, saporin, lemon grass, dill, horseradish leaf, sweet pepper leaf, stevia), bracken, osmunda, bamboo shoots and the like. Among them, carrot, pumpkin, tomato, red pepper, cabbage, beet (preferably beet (beetroot)), onion, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, kale, and the like are preferable, and carrot, pumpkin, red pepper, beet (preferably beet (beetroot)), broccoli, spinach, kale, tomato, and the like are particularly preferable.

Examples of potatoes include, but are not limited to, sweet potatoes, cassava, yacon, taro, sweet potatoes, konjac, taro (konjac), potatoes, purple potatoes, jerusalem artichoke, sweet potato, yam, arrowroot, and the like. Among them, particularly preferred are purple sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes and the like.

Examples of the fungi include, but are not limited to, Lentinus edodes, Tricholoma matsutake, Auricularia, Maitake Mushroom, Polyporus, Hypsizygus Marmoreus, Pleurotus eryngii, Lentinus edodes, Agaricus blazei, Armillariella mellea, Agaricus blazei, Pholiota nameko, Lactaria, and Lactaria deliciosa.

Examples of fruits include, but are not limited to, papaya, chinese white pear (white pear, chinese pear), pear, quince, western papaya, willow fruit, Shipova, apple, american cherry (black cherry, dark cherry), apricot (apricot, peach), plum (plum), prunus cerasus (cherry, sweet cherry), tart cherry, prune, plum, peach, ginkgo (ginkgo), chinese chestnut, akebia stem (akebiaquinata), fig (fig), persimmon, blackcurrant (blackcurrant), raspberry (raspberry), kiwi fruit (kiwi), elaeagnus punica (elaeagnus punica, hogwood, cornel), mulberry fruit (mulberry ), rubus berry (cranberry), kiwi fruit (bergenia, kiwi fruit, etc.), sesame apple, pomegranate (pomegranate), pomegranate, ape (punica), hoya (ape), kiwi fruit), hippoppy fruit (kiwi), hippoppy fruit, hippophae japonica, sea buckthorn (sea buckthorn), sea buckthorn, prune, plum), prune, sea buckthorn), currants (currant, gooseberry), dates (jujube), tamarind (red plum, bush plum), lonicera caerulea (black fruit yingshenle), bilberry, gooseberry (currant, redcurrant), grapes (grape), blackberry, blueberry, dragon fruit (dragon fruit ), schisandra fruit, raspberry, prunus tomentosa, tangerine, kumquat, trifoliate orange, loquat (loquat), wild peach (prunus persica, bayberry), luo han guo, tropical fruits (tropical fruits such as mango, mangosteen, papaya, custaro, hybrid custaro, banana, durian, peach, guava, pineapple, acerola cherry, passionfruit, dragon fruit, branches, mayonnais fruit), strawberry, watermelon, melon, avocado, miracle, orange, lemon, plum, orange, lime, grapefruit, orange substitute grapefruit, orange, etc.

Examples of the algae include, but are not limited to, macroalgae such as kelp, undaria, marine algae, enteromorpha, and porphyra, and microalgae such as green algae, red algae, blue algae, dinoflagellate, and naked algae. Specific examples include ulva, enteromorpha (green laver), ulva pertusa, vitis amurensis (sea grape), cladophora, vitis vinifera, kohlrabi, lilium brownii (sea lettuce), reef membrane, enteromorpha, caulerpa pachymenia pachyphylla, enteromorpha, Sargassum horneri, dictyota, alexandrium, sea algae, sea sedge, sea tangle, sea lettuce, cockscomb, coerulea frutescens, sea sedge, rock silk, Sargassum thunbergii, sea Okamura, laver, dictyotis, sea tangle (sea algae), hemerocallis, Sargassum horneri (copper algae, silverleaf, sempervivax, damascena), sea oak, sea algae, sea wing algae, sea green algae, sea tangle, sea algae, sea tangle (sea algae), sea algae, sea tangle, sea algae (sea algae), sea algae, sea tangle, sea algae, verbena columnifolia, Nemacystus decipiens (Nemacystus decipiens), Chordaria crassifolia, Undaria pinnatifida, Porphyra tenera, Chondrus crispus, Gelidium amansii, Gracilaria verrucosa, Grateloupia filiformis, Gracilaria panniculata, Gracilaria panulifera, Gracilaria tonsurgii, Cladonia japonica, Giralla fragaria, Gracilaria divaricata, Gracilaria ciliate, Gracilaria tenuis, Gracilaria verrucosa, Scenedesmus parviflora (Gloiopeltis), Porphyra (Porphyra tenera yezoffii, Porphyra yezoensis), Gloiopeltis parviflora, Iphigenia breynia speciosa, Sclerotia fallaxa, Sclerotia pularia glauca, Porphyra tenera, Gymnocladia elata, Porphyra tenera, Porphyra, And (e) herba Gelidii (Gelidium amansii). Among these algae, some microalgae such as green algae have very strong cell walls, and therefore, it is preferable to use the microalgae after pretreatment for breaking the cell walls or to use algae other than the microalgae.

Examples of seeds include, but are not limited to, almonds, cashews, pecans (pecans), macadamia walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, coconut meat, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, cones, walnuts, chestnuts, gingkoes, sesame, brazil nuts, and the like. Among them, preferred are almonds, cashews, macadamia walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, coconut meat, and the like.

Examples of the beans include, but are not limited to, kidney beans (kidney beans), cashew nuts, red beans, white beans, black beans, kidney beans, tiger beans, lima beans, red beans, peas (for example, yellow peas, white peas, green peas, peas of immature seeds obtained by harvesting seeds in an immature state together with sheaths and characterized by green appearance of the beans), pigeon peas, mung beans, cowpeas, red beans, kidney beans, soybeans (in particular, green beans), chickpeas, lentils, peanuts, lupines, carex peas, carob beans (locust beans), beautiful beans, pinto beans, coffee beans, cocoa beans, and jumping beans. Note that, in the food material treated with a part of edible parts (green beans, peas, etc.) as vegetables, whether or not it is beans may be determined from the state of the whole plant (soybeans, peas, etc.) together with non-edible parts (sheaths, etc.). Among them, peas (in particular, peas of immature seeds whose seeds are harvested together in an immature state and whose beans have a green appearance), soybeans (in particular, green beans of immature seeds whose soybeans are harvested together in an immature state and whose beans have a green appearance), kidney beans and the like are preferable.

Examples of the grains include, but are not limited to, corn (particularly preferably sweet corn), rice bran, wheat, barley, corn, oat, triticale, rye, buckwheat, phorbol, quinoa, barnyard grass, millet, giant corn, sugarcane, amaranth, and the like. Among them, preferred are corn (particularly preferred is sweet corn), giant corn, and the like.

Examples of the spices (spices) include, but are not limited to, white pepper, red pepper, hot pepper, horseradish, mustard fruit, nutmeg, cinnamomum zeylanicum, cardamom, fennel, crocus sativus, chili oil, clove, zanthoxylum piperitum, orange peel, fennel, licorice, fenugreek seed, dill seed, zanthoxylum bungeanum, piper longum, orange fruit, and the like.

In the present invention, the "non-edible part" of the edible plant means a part of the edible plant which is not suitable for a normal diet or a part which is discarded in a normal eating habit, and the "edible part" means a part in which a waste part (non-edible part) is removed from the whole edible plant. Particularly, in the case of edible plants containing a thick dietary fiber layer or chaetoceros, the portions containing a thick dietary fiber layer or chaetoceros are poor in drinkability and compatibility with other foods, and the portions that have not been used for eating and discarded are large in number.

In the edible plant used in the present invention, the edible part and the non-edible part may be derived from different kinds of edible plants, respectively, but from the viewpoint of uniformity of flavor, it is preferable to contain the edible part and the non-edible part derived from the same kind of edible plant. It is further preferred that the edible part and the non-edible part comprise edible plants derived from the same individual. That is, by using a part or all of edible parts and a part or all of non-edible parts of edible plants derived from the same individual, the edible plants can be utilized without waste.

Examples of the non-edible parts of the edible plants include skins, seeds, cores, and residues of the various edible plants described above. Among them, although not limited thereto, corn (e.g., sweet corn, etc.), red pepper, pumpkin, beet, broccoli, spinach, carrot, kale, soybean (particularly green bean), pea, kidney bean, sweet potato, tomato, rice, onion, cabbage, apple, grape, sugarcane, citrus (e.g., satsuma mandarin, grapefruit, etc.), etc., are preferably used in the present invention because they have rich nutrients left therein. Specific examples of the non-edible part of the edible plant include, but are not limited to, the leaf, the core, or the cob of corn (e.g., sweet corn), the stalk, the core, or the both ends of red pepper, the pulp, the seed, or the both ends of pumpkin, the root, the bark, or the petiole of beet, the stem and leaf of broccoli, the root of spinach, the root or the petiole of carrot, the petiole of kale, the sheath of soybean (green bean), the sheath of pea, the seed coat, or the sheath of kidney bean, the skin, or the both ends of sweet potato, the stalk of tomato, the shell of rice (rice), the skin (protective leaf) of onion, the root and the head, the core of cabbage, the core of apple, the peel and the seed of grape, the residue of sugarcane, the skin, the seed, and the pulp of citrus (e.g., citrus unshiu, grapefruit, etc.). It is preferable that the composition does not contain components harmful to the human body to such an extent that they affect the human body.

It is to be understood that the parts and ratios of non-edible parts in the edible plant used in the present invention are those skilled in the art who handle the food or processed food. For example, the "waste portion" and the "waste ratio" described in the japanese food standard ingredients table 2015 year edition (seventh revision) are referred to and treated as the portion and ratio of the non-edible portion, respectively. Table 1 below shows examples of edible plants and their "waste parts" and "waste ratio" (i.e., parts and ratios of non-edible parts) described in the japan food standard ingredients table 2015 edition (seventh revision).

[ Table 1]

Edible plant	Part of non-edible part (waste part)	Ratio of non-edible parts (waste ratio)
			Vegetables/green soybean/raw soybean	Pod fruit	45%
Vegetable/(corn)/sweet corn/immature seed, raw	Leaf, pistil and cob	50%
			vegetable/(pumpkin)/Japanese pumpkin/fruit, raw vegetable	Pulp and seedsAnd both ends	9%
Vegetables/(green peppers)/red peppers/fruits, raw (red peppers)	Pedicel, core and seed	10%
			Vegetables/beet/root, raw vegetable	Root, bark and petiole	10%
Vegetable/broccoli/inflorescence, raw material	Stem and leaf	50%
			Vegetable/(tomato)/tomato/fruit, raw vegetable	Pedicel	3%
Vegetables/(cabbage)/cabbage/nodulated leaf, raw vegetable	Core	15%
			Vegetables, spinach, and raw materials	Root of plant	10%
Vegetables/kale/leaf, raw vegetable	Base of petiole	3%
			Vegetables/(peas)/green sheets/raw vegetables	Pod fruit	55%
Vegetables/kidney bean/unripe bean/raw bean	Seed coat and pod	80%
			vegetable/(Ginseng)/root, bark, raw vegetable	Root end and petiole base	3%
Sweet potato and starch/sweet potato/root tuber, raw potato	Epidermis and both ends	10%

The edible plant in the present invention contains edible parts and non-edible parts, but the lower limit of the ratio of the non-edible parts in a dry state to the total mass of the edible parts and the non-edible parts may be 3 mass% or more from the viewpoint of sufficiently achieving the effect of improving the drying efficiency. The content is, for example, 5% by mass or more, and preferably 9% by mass or more, depending on the type of the edible plant. On the other hand, the upper limit may be 70% by mass or less from the viewpoint of suppressing undesirable dry odor (old odor, pulp odor), but may be 60% by mass or less, or 50% by mass or less, for example, from the viewpoint of drinkability, flavor, and the like, depending on the type of edible plant.

In the present invention, when the non-edible part is mixed within the above-described predetermined range regardless of the type of edible plant, the drying rate becomes faster than that of the drying treatment of only the edible part, the time until the moisture content reaches 20 mass% is also shortened, and the drying efficiency is improved. With this, the effect of improving the characteristic and fresh flavor and color tone inherent in edible plants is achieved. In particular, the flavor of the edible part is further developed by that the edible part and the non-edible part of the edible plant are derived from the same edible plant species, so preferably, the edible part and the non-edible part of the edible plant are derived from the same individual edible plant. The reason why the drying efficiency is improved if the mixing ratio of the non-edible parts is not less than a certain value is considered to be that the fragments containing a large amount of hard dietary fibers contained in the non-edible parts of the edible plants are warped or rounded in shape by drying, thereby causing pores in the object to be dried and improving the aeration efficiency of the entire object to be dried. On the other hand, if the amount of fragments containing a large amount of hard dietary fibers is too large, undesirable dry odor (old odor, pulp odor) is strongly expressed by drying, and the flavor of the whole object to be dried is poor.

In addition, the present invention also includes foods and drinks containing the dried edible plant composition of the present invention. That is, by the effect of the dry edible plant composition of the present invention, in a food or beverage containing the dry edible plant composition, a characteristic and fresh flavor and color tone inherent in an edible plant can be imparted to a food or beverage to be added, and the flavor of the food or beverage can be improved. The amount of the dry edible plant composition of the present invention added to the added food or beverage is not particularly limited, and may be appropriately adjusted so that the flavor of the edible plant serving as the raw material can be imparted to the food or beverage, and the ratio of the dry edible plant composition to the total amount of the food or beverage is preferably 10 mass% or more, more preferably 20 mass% or more, more preferably 30 mass% or more, and particularly preferably 40 mass% or more in terms of the dry weight ratio. The upper limit is preferably 100 mass% or less.

The food or drink of the present invention is not limited at all, and examples thereof include liquid foods such as drinks (e.g., soup and smoothie), liquid, semisolid or solid foods such as seasonings (e.g., mayonnaise, ketchup, butter, and margarine), semisolid or solid foods such as confectionery (e.g., water-broken, bar, cracker, caramel, soft candy, and tablet), and powdery foods such as dry seasonings.

In addition, a part of the bacteria having spore forming ability is passed throughSpores are formed in an environment where proliferation is inappropriate, such as low moisture and high temperature, and strong heat resistance is obtained, and the spores remain in food to become quality unsuitable for human diet, and thus become an index of quality deterioration and the like. It is also known that these bacteria having spore forming ability are generally easily mixed from soil or the like, and when drying a part (non-edible part such as skin or sheath of food, edible part exposed to the outside) which has a high chance of contacting soil, it is preferable to use the drying method of the present invention because the time of exposure to an environment such as low moisture and high temperature in which spores are easily formed can be shortened with the reduction of drying time, and the product is suitable for human diet. On the other hand, since long-time drying is generally required to suppress the number of viable bacteria, the feed and the like are dried for a long time, but as described above, the number of spore bacteria is likely to increase. Unlike the dry edible plant composition of the present invention which is used for dietary purposes of humans and has a quality suitable for human edibility, the dry edible plant composition of the present invention can be adjusted to a quality in which the number of live bacteria is suppressed while the number of spore bacteria is suppressed. Specifically, the number of the dried general viable bacteria is 10⁶The amount per gram or less is preferably adjusted to a value of 10 because the food quality is suitable for human diet⁵The ratio of the carbon atoms to the carbon atoms is adjusted in a manner of less than one/g.

Further, quality control not generally required in livestock feeds and the like is required in order to obtain quality suitable for human consumption. Specifically, the content of harmful substances such as light metals (arsenic) and heavy metals (lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, tin, and the like) derived from soil or the like adhering to the non-edible parts must be not more than a certain level (for example, 0.4 ppm or less of cadmium). For this reason, the dried edible plants of the present invention must be carefully washed in the previous stage of drying.

In the drying treatment of the edible plant, it is preferable that the surface of the dried material is exposed to the environment as much as possible. For example, when the object to be dried is placed on a shelf of a ventilation dryer, a conveyor of a conveyor ventilation dryer, or a bottom of a flat dryer, a porous plate such as a screen plate or a metal mesh, or a cloth (mesh) is laid on the shelf, a tray, the conveyor, or the bottom of the flat dryer, thereby improving the drying efficiency of the edible plant of the present invention and the effect of improving the original characteristic, fresh flavor and color tone of the edible plant. The present effect is not limited to the above-described method, and may be appropriately selected as long as the surface of the object to be dried is exposed to the environment as much as possible. The size of the screen may be appropriately adjusted as long as the object to be dried does not fall off, and from the viewpoint of drying efficiency, the mesh size is preferably 10 mm or less, more preferably 6 mm or less, further preferably 4 mm or less, further preferably 2 mm or less, and further preferably 1 mm or less.

In the present invention, the ratio of the non-edible part to the total mass of the edible part and the non-edible part may be adjusted by crushing the edible part and the non-edible part separately, or by crushing the edible part and the non-edible part simultaneously. From the viewpoint of homogeneous mixing of the edible part and the non-edible part, it is preferable to mix the edible part and the non-edible part and then crush them. In addition, from the viewpoint of the simplicity of the crushing operation, it is more preferable that the edible plants are not divided into edible parts and non-edible parts and are crushed together. In the method of the present invention for drying edible parts of edible plants (i.e., the method of separating edible parts of edible plants from a mixture of edible parts and non-edible parts, i.e., the method of separating edible parts of edible plants having an improved flavor and color tone inherent in edible plants from a mixture of edible parts and non-edible parts after drying), the method of crushing the edible parts of edible plants may be appropriately adjusted to the extent and manner that the edible parts and the non-edible parts can be easily distinguished by, for example, cutting the edible parts in advance.

In the present invention, crushing means an operation for improving drying efficiency, and the manner thereof is not limited as long as the surface area of the edible plant is increased. Specific examples thereof include cutting into a sheet or a block, cutting into a powder or a stuffing, breaking, chopping, and grinding. From the viewpoint of a mechanism for improving drying efficiency, a method of cutting into pieces, a method of cutting into powder, or a method of cutting into stuffing are more preferable, and cutting into pieces is more preferable than cutting into slices because the effect of the present invention can be more strongly achieved by cutting into stuffing than by cutting into pieces. In addition, if the method is a method such as cutting into pieces or crushing into slices, the edible part and the non-edible part of the edible plant after the drying treatment are easily distinguished, and the method can be used as a method for improving the drying efficiency according to the quality of the edible part, and thus is industrially preferable. As a means after the crushing, as long as the surface area of the edible plant is increased, the edible part and the non-edible part of the edible plant can be uniformly mixed. Specifically, the average distance between the cut surface of the edible plant to be crushed and the cut surface on the opposite side of the cut surface of the edible plant is more preferably 5 cm or less, more preferably 3 cm or less, more preferably 2 cm or less, and most preferably 1 cm or less. However, if the cutting is performed in a state where the degree of dripping is clearly defined, components derived from the original characteristic and fresh flavor and color of the edible plant are lost together with the water, and therefore, the degree and mode of crushing may be appropriately adjusted so as to be a degree and mode of crushing to a degree where dripping is not generated. Specifically, the average distance between the cut surface of the crushed edible plant and the cut surface on the opposite side thereof may be 100 μm or more.

The method of the crushing treatment used in the present invention is not particularly limited. The temperature during crushing is not limited either, and may be any of high-temperature crushing, normal-temperature crushing, and low-temperature crushing. The pressure during the crushing treatment is not limited either, and may be any of high-pressure crushing, normal-pressure crushing, and low-pressure crushing. However, from the viewpoint of maintaining the original characteristic and fresh flavor and color tone of the edible plant of the present invention, a method that allows treatment at a lower temperature and a high shear in a short time is preferable. Examples of the apparatus for performing the crushing treatment include machines such as a cutter, a mixer, a stirrer, a grinder, a kneader, a pulverizer, a crusher, and a grinder, and any of them may be used, or a plurality of them may be used in combination.

In the present invention, an edible plant to be dried is crushed, and the mixing ratio of the edible part and the non-edible part is adjusted to a certain range, and the edible part and the non-edible part are mixed so as to be homogeneously dispersed. Thereafter, the edible plant containing the edible part and the non-edible part is subjected to a drying treatment by means of air drying.

The drying method by the air drying used in this case is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include air drying methods generally used for drying foods, for example, high-temperature drying, fluidized bed drying, spray drying, drum drying, low-temperature drying, and other drying methods in which air is blown or the object to be dried is moved. Among them, a method of drying by leaving the object to be dried still and ventilating air is preferable from the viewpoint of not impairing the shape of the food material. In addition, a method of drying in a drying chamber having a certain sealing property is more preferable from the viewpoint of energy efficiency. The air dryer is not particularly limited as long as it is a general air dryer, and is particularly preferable because it is a box-type shelf dryer, a conveyor dryer, or a flat dryer, such as a parallel flow drying method in which the object to be dried is blown in parallel, or a method in which air is blown or sucked in a vertical direction from the top and bottom surfaces of the dryer, because of its high equivalent ratio. The "ventilation" state of the ventilation drying here means that the air volume is 180 m³H (passing wind speed 0.05(m/s) and passing area 1 (m)²) Product of) above. The preferable ventilation conditions in the drying process are not limited to these, and examples thereof include a fan for blowing air whose temperature has been adjusted by a heater or a cooler by a static pressure of usually about 30 to 50 mm water column or more, and a ventilation condition of 180 m in a drying cabinet³The air volume of/h or more is within a range in which the object to be dried does not scatter (appropriately adjusted depending on the type and shape of the object to be dried), and the object to be dried is directly and continuously fed into the drying chamber, or the object to be dried is directly and continuously fed or sucked from the vent holes on the conveyor and the bottom surface of the dryer.

Specific examples of the air drying include low-temperature air drying, normal-temperature air drying, high-temperature air drying, fluidized bed drying, and drum drying. From the viewpoint of the characteristic and fresh flavor inherent in edible plants and the small degree of change in color tone, and the controllability of odor (scorched flavor and the like) other than food, the temperature-controlled air-drying is preferable, and the lower limit of the ambient temperature (which means the average ambient temperature during the drying period) in the specific drying room may be 20 ℃ or more, and among these, 30 ℃ or more is preferable. On the other hand, the upper limit is preferably 80 ℃ or lower, more preferably 70 ℃ or lower, and still more preferably 60 ℃ or lower. The time required for drying may be adjusted appropriately to the temperature and the degree of crushing so that the edible plant has original characteristics and the degree of change in fresh flavor and color tone becomes smaller.

In the present invention, the moisture content of the edible plant composition after drying treatment may be usually 20% by mass or less, and from the viewpoint of storage stability, it is preferably 15% by mass or less, more preferably 10% by mass or less, further preferably 8% by mass or less, and further preferably 7% by mass or less. In the measurement of the moisture content in the present invention, a method generally used for measuring ingredients of food can be used, and for example, a measurement method according to the method described in the japanese food standard ingredient table can be used. Specifically, a method of subjecting an edible plant to a reduced-pressure heat-drying method can be used. The water activity value is preferably 0.85 or less, more preferably 0.80 or less, and most preferably 0.75 or less. In the measurement of the water activity value in the present invention, a commercially available water activity measuring apparatus can be used.

The present invention also includes a method for drying an edible plant containing non-edible parts of the edible plant in a dry state at 3% by mass or more and 70% by mass or less relative to the total mass of the edible parts and the non-edible parts, wherein the edible parts and the non-edible parts are crushed, mixed, air-dried at a temperature of 20 ℃ or more and 80 ℃ or less, and the moisture content is dried to 20% by mass or less.

The method for producing the dried edible plant composition is carried out by mixing the non-edible parts of the edible plant in a certain ratio to the edible parts, but in the case where the dried non-edible parts are not required, they may be removed after the drying treatment. In the case of this method, the degree or manner of crushing may be appropriately adjusted so that the non-edible portion can be removed after the drying treatment.

That is, in this embodiment, the drying method of the present invention can be considered as an efficient drying method of edible parts of edible plants.

In the crushing and drying, one or more kinds of seasoning and food additives other than the edible plant to be dried may be included within a range not to impair the effects of the present invention (the effect of improving the drying efficiency of the edible plant, and the effect of improving the original characteristic and fresh flavor and color tone of the edible plant accompanying this effect). Examples of the seasoning and food additive include soy sauce, flavor enhancer, alcohols, saccharides (e.g., glucose, sucrose, fructose, glucose fructose, fructose glucose syrup), sugar alcohols (e.g., xylitol, erythritol, maltitol), artificial sweeteners (e.g., sucralose, aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame K, etc.), minerals (e.g., calcium, potassium, sodium, iron, zinc, magnesium, etc., and salts thereof), flavors, seasonings (e.g., amino acids), extracts, pH regulators (e.g., sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, lactic acid, citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, acetic acid, etc.), cyclodextrin, antioxidants (e.g., vitamin E, vitamin C, tea extract, green-bean extract, chlorogenic acid, flavor extract, caffeic acid, rosemary extract, vitamin C palmitate, green tea extract, malic acid, acetic acid, etc.), and the like, Rutin, quercetin, fructus Pruni mume extract, semen Sesami extract, etc.), emulsifier (such as glycerol fatty acid ester, acetic acid monoglyceride, lactic acid monoglyceride, citric acid monoglyceride, diacetyl tartaric acid monoglyceride, succinic acid monoglyceride, polyglycerol fatty acid ester, polyglycerol condensation linolenic acid ester, Quillaja saponaria extract, soybean saponin, tea seed saponin, sucrose fatty acid ester, etc.), coloring agent, thickening stabilizer, etc.

However, from the viewpoint of the rising natural preference at present, it is preferable not to contain a so-called emulsifier and/or colorant and/or thickening stabilizer (for example, a substance described as "colorant", "thickening stabilizer", "emulsifier" in "food additive substance name table for representation" of food additive representation pocket manual (2012 edition)). Among them, it is particularly desirable that the food additive is not contained (for example, a substance described in "food additive substance name table for indication" in a pocket manual (2012 edition) for food additive expression) is used for food additive application).

Further, the present invention includes a dried edible plant composition which contains a non-edible part of an edible plant in an amount of 3 to 70 mass% relative to the total mass of an edible part and a non-edible part in a dried state of air-drying at a temperature of 20 to 80 ℃, and has a moisture content of 20 mass% or less.

The dried edible plant composition of the present invention is not limited in particle size or shape based on the effect obtained by the production method of the present invention, but when eaten, a hard texture due to a thick dietary fiber layer or a texture due to fuzz, which is one of factors that inhibit the edibility and is considered to be a non-edible part, remains due to drying, and therefore, when eaten, the dried edible plant composition of the present invention is preferably adjusted in size or shape to a level at which the influence thereof is not felt.

Specifically, the upper limit of d50 of the fine particles obtained by subjecting a dispersion of a dry powder obtained by further finely pulverizing a dried edible plant composition to an ultrasonic treatment is preferably 2000 μm or less, preferably 1000 μm or less, more preferably 500 μm or less, even more preferably 300 μm or less, and even more preferably 200 μm or less. The lower limit is not particularly limited, and may be 5 μm or more from the viewpoint of handling as a dry powder. The method of the fine grinding treatment is not particularly limited. The temperature for the fine pulverization is not limited, and may be any of high-temperature pulverization, normal-temperature pulverization, and low-temperature pulverization. The pressure in the fine pulverization is not limited, and may be any of high-pressure pulverization, normal-pressure pulverization, and low-pressure pulverization. However, from the viewpoint of efficiently obtaining a dry edible plant powder, a method is preferred in which foodstuffs and other ingredients as materials of the composition can be treated with high shearing force for a short time under pressurized conditions and under elevated temperature conditions. Examples of the apparatus used for the micro-pulverization treatment include machines such as a mixer, a stirrer, a grinder, a kneader, a pulverizer, a crusher, and an attritor, and any of them may be used. Examples of the apparatus include media-stirring mills such as dry bead mills and ball mills (rotary, oscillatory, etc.), jet mills, high-speed rotary impact mills (pin mills, etc.), roll mills, and hammer mills.

In addition, d50, which is the particle diameter of the dry powder, is defined as the ratio of the cumulative value of the frequency% of the particles on the larger side to the cumulative value of the frequency% of the particles on the smaller side when the particle diameter distribution of the dry powder is divided into two from a certain particle diameter, which is 50: a particle size of 50. The d50 of the particle diameter of the dry powder can be measured using, for example, a laser diffraction particle size distribution measuring apparatus described below. The "particle diameter" herein indicates a value measured on a volume basis unless otherwise specified.

The measurement conditions for d50 of the fine particles in the dispersion of the dry powder of the present invention are not limited, and the following conditions can be set. First, any solvent may be used as long as it hardly affects the structure of the dried powder of the dried edible plant in the measurement. By way of example, ethanol is preferably used. The laser diffraction type particle size distribution measuring apparatus used for the measurement is not limited, and for example, the Microtrac MT3300 EXII system of マイクロトラック seed ベル, incorporated by reference. There is no limitation to the measurement application software, and DMS2(Data Management System conversion 2, マイクロトラック. planting ベル, incorporated by reference) can be used, for example. In the case of using the aforementioned measurement device and software, at the time of measurement, after washing is performed by pressing the washing key of the software, zeroing may be performed by pressing the setchero key of the software, and the sample may be directly put into the sample by loading until the concentration of the sample falls within an appropriate range. The sample before disturbance, that is, the sample without ultrasonic treatment, was adjusted to have a concentration within an appropriate range within 2 times of the loading after the sample was loaded, immediately followed by laser diffraction at a flow rate of 60% for a measurement time of 10 seconds, and the obtained result was recorded as a measurement value. On the other hand, in the case of measuring a disturbed sample, that is, a sample subjected to ultrasonic treatment in advance may be put in, or ultrasonic treatment may be performed using the aforementioned measuring apparatus after the sample is put in, and then the measurement may be performed. In the latter case, a sample that is not subjected to the ultrasonic treatment is introduced, the concentration is adjusted to an appropriate range by loading the sample, and then the ultrasonic treatment is performed by pressing the ultrasonic treatment key of the software. After 3 times of defoaming treatment, loading treatment was again performed, and after confirming that the concentration was still within the appropriate range, laser diffraction was rapidly performed at a flow rate of 60% for a measurement time of 10 seconds, and the obtained result was recorded as a measurement value. As parameters for measurement, for example, a distribution expression can be given: volume, particle refractive index: 1.60, solvent refractive index: 1.36, the upper measurement limit (μm) is 2000.00 μm, and the lower measurement limit (μm) is 0.021 μm.

In the case of obtaining d50 of the dry powder of the present invention, it is preferable to measure the particle size distribution of each Channel (CH) and then obtain the particle size distribution of each channel using the particle size of each measurement channel described in table 2 below as a standard. Specifically, for each channel in table 2 below, the frequency of particles having a particle diameter equal to or smaller than a predetermined particle diameter in each channel in table 2 below and larger than a predetermined particle diameter in a numerically larger channel (the lower limit particle diameter in the maximum channel in the measurement range) was measured, and the particle frequency% of each channel (which is also referred to as "% of particle frequency of" ∘ "channel") was determined with the total frequency of all channels in the measurement range as a denominator. For example, the% frequency of particles of 1 channel means the% frequency of particles having a particle size of 2000.00 μm or less and 1826.00 μm or more.

[ Table 2]

Channel	Particle size (. mu.m)	Channel	Particle size (. mu.m)	Channel	Particle size (. mu.m)	Channel	Particle size (. mu.m)
								1	2000.000	37	88.000	73	3.889	109	0.172
2	1826.000	38	80.700	74	3.566	110	0.158
								3	1674.000	39	74.000	75	3.270	111	0.145
4	1535.000	40	67.860	76	2.999	112	0.133
								5	1408.000	41	62.230	77	2.750	113	0.122
6	1291.000	42	57.060	78	2.522	114	0.111
								7	1184.000	43	52.330	79	2.312	115	0.102
8	1086.000	44	47.980	80	2.121	116	0.094
								9	995.600	45	44.000	81	1.945	117	0.086
10	913.000	46	40.350	82	1.783	118	0.079
								11	837.200	47	37.000	83	1.635	119	0.072
12	767.700	48	33.930	84	1.499	120	0.066
								13	704.000	49	31.110	85	1.375	121	0.061
14	645.600	50	28.530	86	1.261	122	0.056
								15	592.000	51	26.160	87	1.156	123	0.051
16	542.900	52	23.990	88	1.060	124	0.047
								17	497.800	53	22.000	89	0.972	125	0.043
18	456.500	54	20.170	90	0.892	126	0.039
								19	418.600	55	18.500	91	0.818	127	0.036
20	383.900	56	16.960	92	0.750	128	0.033
								21	352.000	57	15.560	93	0.688	129	0.030
22	322.800	58	14.270	94	0.630	130	0.028
								23	296.000	59	13.080	95	0.578	131	0.026
24	271.400	60	12.000	96	0.530	132	0.023
								25	248.900	61	11.000	97	0.486
26	228.200	62	10.090	98	0.446
								27	209.300	63	9.250	99	0.409
28	191.900	64	8.482	100	0.375
								29	176.000	66	7.778	101	0.344
30	161.400	66	7.133	102	0.315
								31	148.000	67	6.541	103	0.289
32	135.700	68	5.998	104	0.265
								33	124.500	69	5.500	105	0.243
34	114.100	70	5.044	106	0.223
								35	104.700	71	4.625	107	0.204
36	95.960	72	4.241	108	0.187

Examples

The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples, but these examples are merely illustrative examples for convenience of explanation, and the present invention is not limited to these examples in any way.

Example 1 verification of Effect based on mixing of non-edible parts on drying efficiency of edible plants and verification of Effect due to differences in drying methods

Here, sweet corn was selected as a representative example of edible plants, and the influence of differences in the mixing effect and mixing ratio of the non-edible parts and the drying manner of the through-air drying and the dry heat drying (a method of blowing air directly and continuously to the object to be dried, heating the object in dry air without moving the object to be dried) on the drying efficiency was examined.

Seeds as edible parts of sweet corn, cob (core removed from seeds), pistil and bract as non-edible parts are distinguished, and each is crushed in raw state by a mincer (な manufactured by つね, ミートチョッパー MS-12B). The crushed pieces of the edible portion and the non-edible portion were homogenized and well mixed in such a manner that the crushed pieces of the edible portion and the non-edible portion were in the ratio of the non-edible portion shown in table 3. The moisture content of the mixture was measured by a vacuum heat drying method as the moisture content before the drying treatment.

Subsequently, 5 g of these mixtures were weighed and spread on a commercially available paper dish to a thickness of about 5 mm. The resultant was left standing in a hood of a box-type hood dryer (Iokra-making machine ドラッピー DSK-10) and a constant-temperature dryer (Dry Heat type, Tokyo chemical and physical instruments Co., Ltd., WFO-520), and dried at the ambient temperatures shown in Table 3 until the moisture content reached 5%. In the drying treatment, the weight of the dried product was measured as appropriate over time, and the moisture content was determined from the amount of decrease in weight. Further, an approximate curve was obtained from the change with time of the moisture content, and the time (minutes) until the moisture content reached 20 mass% was obtained from the calculation formula.

Further, the quality of the dried edible plant (taste, smell, color tone, overall evaluation) until the water content was dried to 5 mass% was evaluated as follows.

The evaluation criteria for the quality are as follows.

< evaluation reference 1: taste >

5: the edible plant has a fresh taste which is sufficiently superior to the original characteristic of the edible plant before drying.

4: the edible plant has a characteristic and fresh taste which is almost unchanged from that of the edible plant before drying, and is excellent.

3: the taste was slightly less fresh than before drying, but had a characteristic taste inherent in edible plants, and was within the acceptable range.

2: the taste of the edible plants was slightly changed and inferior to the original characteristic taste of the edible plants, which was confirmed to lack the fresh taste before drying.

1: the taste before drying was inferior to the original taste of the edible plant due to lack of fresh taste.

< evaluation reference 2: smell >

5: the food does not have a stale flavor that is considered to be caused by drying treatment, has a fresh flavor that is sufficiently characteristic of an edible plant, and is excellent.

4: it is excellent in that it hardly imparts an old taste which is considered to be generated by drying treatment, and has a characteristic and fresh odor inherent in edible plants.

3: the characteristic smell of hay that is considered to be generated by the drying treatment is slightly felt, but the edible plant has the characteristic and fresh smell inherent in the edible plant, and the allowable range is also obtained.

2: the food is imparted with a hay-like old taste which is considered to be generated by the drying treatment, and is slightly inferior in that the characteristic and fresh smell which the edible plant originally has is slightly lacking.

1: it is considered that the taste is a hay-like taste due to the drying treatment, and the taste is poor because the characteristic and fresh taste of the edible plant is poor.

< evaluation reference 3: color tone >

5: sufficiently has a natural color tone unchanged from that before drying, and is excellent.

4: it had a natural color tone which was almost unchanged from that before drying, and was excellent.

3: although having a slightly shrivelled color tone compared to before drying, it had a natural color tone, within a permissible range.

2: the color tone of the composition was slightly lower than that before drying, and the natural color tone was slightly poor.

1: it had a shrivelled color tone, lost a natural color tone, and was inferior to that before drying.

< evaluation criterion 4: comprehensive evaluation >

5: the overall flavor, color tone intensity and balance are excellent.

4: the overall flavor, color intensity and balance are excellent.

3: the overall flavor, intensity of color tone, and balance are within the acceptable range.

2: the overall flavor, color intensity and balance are slightly poor.

1: the overall flavor, color intensity and balance are poor.

The functional examiner has a particularly excellent picking result after the recognition training of the following a) to C), has a good experience of developing a product, has a rich knowledge of the quality such as taste and texture of food, and can perform an absolute evaluation on each functional examination item.

A) For five flavors (sweet: taste and sour taste of granulated sugar: taste, umami taste of tartaric acid: taste, salty taste of sodium glutamate: taste, bitterness of sodium chloride: coffee taste), an aqueous solution having a concentration close to the threshold value of each component was prepared, two portions of distilled water were added to the aqueous solution to prepare a total of 7 samples, and from the total of 7 samples, the taste quality discrimination test was performed for correctly discriminating the taste of each sample.

B) Concentration difference detection test for accurately detecting the concentration difference between 5 types of aqueous solutions of saline and acetic acid having slightly different concentrations.

C) 3-point identification test for correctly identifying soy sauce of company B from a total of three samples of two soy sauces of company a and one soy sauce of company B.

In any of the above evaluation items, the examiner is preliminarily made to evaluate the standard sample, and after the scores of the evaluation criteria are normalized, a total of 10 functional tests are performed. The evaluation of each evaluation item is performed such that each examiner selects which one is the closest number to his/her own evaluation from the scores of 5 stages of each item. The total of the evaluation results was calculated from the arithmetic mean of the scores of 10 total, and further, the standard deviation was calculated in order to evaluate the variation among functional inspectors.

The results are shown in Table 3.

As a result, it was confirmed that in the air-drying treatment, the drying rate was increased by mixing the non-edible part in the edible part in a range of a certain ratio or more, the time until the moisture content reached 20 mass% was also shortened, and the drying efficiency was improved. However, it is found that if the ratio of the non-edible portion is too high, an undesirable dry odor (old odor, pulp odor) is perceived, which is considered to accompany the drying of the non-edible portion, and the taste and odor are evaluated. Therefore, it is found that the range of the ratio of the non-edible part to the total mass of the edible part and the non-edible part in the dry state may be 3 mass% or more as the lower limit from the viewpoint of sufficiently achieving the effect of improving the drying efficiency, and may be 70 mass% or less as the upper limit from the viewpoint of the preferable quality, and among them, 60 mass% or less is preferable, and 50 mass% or less is more preferable. However, depending on the plant species, it is considered that preferable ranges in terms of the dietary property, the flavor, and the like may vary slightly.

Further, even in the dry heat drying, it was confirmed that the drying rate tends to be increased by mixing the non-edible part with the edible part, but in the dry heat drying, the drying time is significantly longer than that in the through-air drying, and the effect of improving the drying efficiency with preferable quality was not confirmed.

Example 2 verification of Effect on various edible plants and drying temperature

Here, with respect to the edible plants shown in table 4 except for the sweet corn of example 1, the presence or absence of the drying efficiency improving effect at various drying temperatures was verified. In contrast to example 1, here, each edible plant used only edible parts except for non-edible parts, and the whole edible plant with non-edible parts remaining directly. The mixing ratio of the non-edible portion at this time is shown in table 4.

Crushing of edible plants in a raw state was carried out by using a filling crusher (manufactured by な D つね, ミートチョッパー MS-12B) with respect to only edible parts and whole edible plants including non-edible parts, respectively.

The drying treatment was carried out by the through-air drying treatment in example 1, which confirmed the effect of improving the drying efficiency with preferable quality. Other methods and evaluations were performed in the same manner as in example 1.

The results are shown in Table 4.

As a result, even in any of the pumpkin, green soy bean, and red pepper, the effect of improving the drying efficiency according to the quality was confirmed when the range of the non-edible portion to the edible portion was within a certain ratio regardless of the difference in the drying temperature. That is, the lower limit of the temperature range of the air-drying treatment may be 20 ℃ or more, and from the viewpoint of improvement of drying efficiency, it is preferably 30 ℃ or more. On the other hand, the upper limit is preferably 80 ℃ or lower, and from the viewpoint of preferable quality, it is preferably 70 ℃ or lower, and more preferably 60 ℃ or lower.

EXAMPLE 3 examination of method for further improving drying efficiency

Here, a method for further improving the effect of improving the drying efficiency of the edible plant of the present invention confirmed in examples 1 and 2 was studied.

The test was carried out in the same manner as in example 1, but in the drying treatment, the object to be dried was directly placed on a paper dish in example 1, but here, in order to improve the air permeability of the bottom surface, a commercially available heat-resistant plastic mesh (mesh size 5 mm × 5 mm square, thickness 1 mm) was placed on the paper dish, and the object to be dried was spread thereon to a thickness of about 5 mm.

The results are shown in Table 5.

As a result, it was confirmed that the drying efficiency was almost unchanged in the case of only the edible part compared to the results of example 1 (see table 3), but the drying rate was further increased in the case of including the non-edible part, the time until the moisture content reached 20 mass% was further shortened, and the drying efficiency was further improved. Note that, as in example 1, the flavor and color tone of the dried material were improved by mixing the non-edible portions with the drying treatment of only the edible portions.

EXAMPLE 4 verification of Effect of various edible plants and drying treatment temperature

Here, it was verified whether or not the effect of sandwiching the mesh on the lower surface of the object to be dried, which was confirmed in example 3, was achieved also for various edible plants and drying temperature in the same manner as in example 2. The test was carried out in the same manner as in example 2 except that a commercially available heat-resistant plastic mesh (mesh size 5 mm × 5 mm square, thickness 1 mm) was placed on a paper dish and the dried material was spread thereon to a thickness of about 5 mm, in the same manner as in example 3.

The results are shown in Table 6.

As a result, it was confirmed that, compared with the results of example 2 (see table 4), in the case where the heat-resistant plastic mesh was interposed between the object to be dried and the placing tray, the drying efficiency was almost unchanged in the case of only the edible part regardless of the type of the edible plant and the air drying temperature, but in the case where the non-edible part was included, the drying rate was further increased, the time taken for the moisture content to reach 20 mass% was further shortened, and the drying efficiency was further improved. Similarly, the flavor and color tone of the dried product were improved in the case of mixing the non-edible part as compared with the results of example 2 (see table 4).

Example 5 verification of the Presence or absence of the Effect of the present invention depending on the crushing mode

In examples 1 to 4, the dried material was crushed by a crusher. Therefore, it was also verified whether or not the effect of the present invention was achieved with respect to the dried material crushed in a different manner herein.

Green beans were selected as an object to be dried, and the green beans were broken into pieces (cut into pieces) with a 1 cm width by a kitchen knife over the entire edible part alone and the non-edible part (the whole of the bean-containing sheath). Further, it was verified that green beans were cut into pieces in the vertical direction (horizontal direction with respect to the longitudinal direction) to have a size of about 1/2 (1.5 cm width). These cutting and slicing methods were significantly larger than the treatment with the stuffing breaker of examples 1 to 4. The test was carried out in the same manner as in example 2.

The results are shown in Table 7.

As a result, it was found that the effect of the present invention was achieved even when the crushing mode was different. That is, in the case where the non-edible part is included in the dried product, the drying rate is increased compared to the edible part alone, the time until the moisture content reaches 20 mass% is also shortened, the drying efficiency is improved, and the flavor and color tone of the dried product are also improved compared to the drying treatment of the edible part alone by mixing the non-edible part. Therefore, it is considered that the effect of the present invention is achieved regardless of the crushing mode. However, the crumb shape more strongly achieves the effect of the present invention than the crumb shape, compared to the crumb shape. It is understood that if the edible plant is crushed into chips or slices, the edible part and the non-edible part of the dried edible plant can be easily distinguished from each other, and the drying efficiency can be improved according to the quality of the edible part.

EXAMPLE 6 verification of the Effect of particle size on Dry edible plants

Here, the relationship between the texture of the dried edible plant obtained by the present invention and the particle size thereof was examined. The reason for this is that the dried edible plant of the present invention has high versatility in the powder state from the viewpoint of the method of use thereof, and on the other hand, contains a hard dietary fiber layer derived from the non-edible part of the edible plant, and therefore, the range of particle size suitable for use thereof is examined.

Using the dried edible plants of the present invention having a moisture content of 5 mass% prepared in test example 10 in example 2, prepared in such a manner as to achieve each d50 shown in table 8 using a grinder (sold under osaka ケミカル, ワンダークラッシャー WC-3), the respective tastes were evaluated according to the following evaluation criteria.

< evaluation reference 5: feeling of eating >

5: it has no unpleasant feeling and is excellent.

4: it hardly feels any discomfort when eaten and is excellent.

3: when eaten, the food had a slightly fibrous texture, but was within the acceptable range.

2: when eaten, it is slightly fibrous and slightly astringent.

1: when eaten, the fibrous coarse and astringent taste is obvious and poor.

The results are shown in Table 8.

As a result, it is found that, in a dried edible plant including non-edible parts, if the particle size is large, the dried edible plant tends to feel a slightly hard and coarse texture and a harsh texture due to fuzz.

Therefore, it is understood that the upper limit of d50 after the ultrasonic treatment in the case of preparing the dried edible plant of the present invention into a powder is preferably 2000 μm or less, more preferably 1000 μm or less, even more preferably 500 μm or less, more preferably 300 μm or less, even more preferably 200 μm or less. On the other hand, the lower limit is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of handling as a powder, it is considered preferable if the lower limit is 5 μm or more. In addition, the dry edible plant powder of the test example was added to each of the foods and beverages (milk) by 10 mass%, and as a result, the quality that the original characteristics of the foods, fresh flavor and color tone were felt was obtained.

The range of the particle size is not limited, and it is needless to say that the range of the particle size is more suitable than the range of the dry edible plant of the present invention, which is a problem to be improved in the sense of taste, when the dry edible plant is used.

Industrial applicability

The method for producing a dried edible plant composition, the drying method, and the dried edible plant composition of the present invention are expected to be applied mainly in the field of foods, in terms of the aforementioned improvement in drying efficiency and the effects of improving flavor and color tone associated therewith.