JPH0376557A - Freeze-dried bean curd - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prepare freeze-dried bean curd effective in lowering the cholesterol level in blood plasma by using lecithin and/or phytosterol as components. CONSTITUTION:In the preparation of freeze-dried bean curd by conventional process, the bean curd is incorporated with (A) 1-10% (preferably 2-4%) of lecithin and (B) 0.5-5% (preferably 1-2%) of phytosterol, or (C) 1-10% of lecithin and 0.5-5% of phytosterol.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Application in Industry A) The present invention relates to frozen tofu, and more specifically, the present invention relates to frozen tofu. Prevention of arteriosclerosis is related to frozen tofu, which is expected to have beneficial effects.

(Background of the Invention) In recent years, ischemic heart disease and cerebral infarction are increasingly occurring at younger ages, which has become a problem in Japan. Arteriosclerosis, which is the main cause of these diseases, is often caused by the deposition of cholesterol and other lipids on the arterial walls, and hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipidemia are cited as risk factors. Japanese people used to have lower blood plasma cholesterol than people in Europe and the United States, but due to changes in their dietary habits in recent years, it has been reported that there is no significant difference among young people in their teens. The need to take preventive measures against arteriosclerosis, mainly focusing on the prevention of arteriosclerosis, is becoming increasingly emphasized.

It is known that the concentration of loresterol in plasma varies depending on various factors in the food that is ingested, and it is generally reported that vegetable protein lowers plasma cholesterol more than animal protein. . In addition, various factors have recently been discovered in foods that play a role in regulating physical condition and preventing diseases, and the mechanism of action of these factors is also being clarified.

In view of this current situation, among the foods that are consumed on a daily basis, foods that have particularly enhanced effects such as health promotion and disease prevention are
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has approved it as a functional food J, and consideration is being given to institutionalizing the labeling of its efficacy.

(Prior Art) There have been reports on the plasma cholesterol lowering effect of soybean protein (Huff, M.W., Carroll
K, in ; J, Nutr,, Vol 110,
p1876 N14185゜1980), frozen tofu and yuba made from soybeans also have a plasma cholesterol-lowering effect, and it is reported that the acting factor is phytosterol (Kimiyo Michi, Ikuko Ezawa; "Nutrition Hi-Food J, 18-
3°9200 to 203.1965).

There is also a separate report on lecithin, which is used as a health food for promoting cholesterol metabolism and lowering triglyceride levels. J.
G. Brook.

5hai Lim, M, ^viran; Bioch
eaial Medicine And Matab
ollc Biology 35. p31-39.
1988) Report that there is no L1 effect (A, C, Bey
nen and L, G, M, Van G11s; Exp
erimentia 39-5.1983).
There is not necessarily a well-established theory regarding the effect of soybean lecithin on lowering plasma cholesterol concentration.

Under the above-mentioned background, there are cases where the lecithin and phytosterol are sold in capsule form as medicines for patients with plateau JfII disease or hypercholesterolemia.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) By the way, frozen tofu, which is one of Japan's traditional foods, is made from soybeans, so it does not contain lecithin and phytosterols, which are effective ingredients for lowering plasma cholesterol. However, since the content of phytosterols in ordinary frozen tofu is extremely small, usually around 0.07, it is hardly expected that the intake of ordinary frozen tofu will have any effect on lowering plasma cholesterol.

Furthermore, even if lecithin does have a plasma cholesterol-lowering effect, the amount of soybean lecithin contained in frozen tofu is generally only about 0.3%, which is extremely small. There is no expectation that the intake of alcoholic acid will have a lowering effect on plasma cholesterol.

Regarding the plasma cholesterol lowering effect of frozen tofu, the results of a clinical trial commissioned by the Nagano Frozen Tofu Association and Tokushima University School of Medicine found that eating 4 slices of frozen tofu every day lowers plasma cholesterol. However, it is not realistic to eat 4 slices of frozen tofu every day (1 slice is about 15 g of dry matter and about 100 g of rehydrated tofu) every day.

However, to date, no attempt has been made to further add lecithin or phytosterol to frozen tofu to exert a plasma cholesterol lowering effect.

The present inventor provides frozen tofu that can be expected to have an excellent plasma cholesterol concentration lowering effect by fortifying lecithin and phytosterols to such frozen tofu, which only contains extremely small amounts of lecithin and phytosterols. We have considered this as much as possible.

The results of this study surprisingly revealed that frozen tofu manufactured with the addition of lecithin or butystyrol, which is conventionally sold and taken as a capsule, is not as effective when consumed alone. The present inventors have discovered that the effect of lowering plasma cholesterol is significantly enhanced compared to when lecithin or phytosterol is taken alone.

Based on these surprising findings, the present inventors have further succeeded in achieving a sufficient effect of lowering plasma cholesterol concentration, and in addition, they have been able to make it possible to reduce the concentration of cholesterol in the plasma without sacrificing the flavor of the food. The present invention was developed with the aim of providing frozen tofu that can be eaten without having to eat it.

(Means and effects for solving the problem) The frozen tofu of the present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object, is characterized by containing 1 to 10% lecithin, preferably 2% lecithin, which is an active ingredient that lowers plasma cholesterol concentration. The content is about 4%.

The present invention can also be realized by using frozen tofu containing 0.5-5%, preferably 1-2% of phytosterol as an active ingredient for lowering plasma cholesterol concentration. Frozen tofu containing both lecithin and butostyrol in the above-mentioned ranges can exhibit particularly excellent effects of lowering plasma cholesterol.

The present invention will be explained in detail by the following examples, but when lecithin is contained in frozen tofu, it has no substantial effect if it is less than 1%, and on the other hand, even if lecithin is contained in excess of 10%, frozen tofu It is appropriate to contain it within the above range because it impairs the flavor of the food and makes it unsuitable as a food.

In addition, when adding butystyrene to frozen tofu,
If it is less than 0.5%, the effect will not be sufficient, and if it exceeds 5%, no further improvement in the effect will be observed, and the flavor of frozen tofu will be impaired, so it should be contained within the above range. is appropriate.

In addition, when the frozen tofu of the present invention contains lecithin and hiphytosterol, it has been confirmed that it exhibits a particularly excellent effect of significantly lowering plasma cholesterol, although the reason is not necessarily clear. In this case, the effects of lecithin hyphytosterol on the flavor of frozen tofu do not interact with each other, so when these components are added alone, they can be added in similar amounts.

The lecithin used to produce the frozen tofu of the present invention can be a by-product of unsaponifiable matter during the production of soybean oil or corn oil, and it can also be free from phytosterols. For example, it is also possible to use a by-product obtained by deodorizing scum oil when producing soybean oil or corn oil. In order to add these to frozen tofu, they can be added, for example, by adding a predetermined amount of the saponified product or deodorized scum to soybean milk prepared according to a conventional method, and emulsifying it with an emulsifying machine.

(Example) The present invention will be explained below based on examples.

The preparation of the feed used in the test and the measurement of the effect on plasma cholesterol concentration using this test feed were conducted in accordance with the following.

In addition to 20% protein, the quick-made test feed contains 10% lard, 1% cholesterol, 0.3% sodium cholate, 5% mineral mixture, 1% vitamin mixture, and 3% cellulose. and the rest was 100% cornstarch. As the above proteins, frozen tofu protein and casein, which is known to increase plasma cholesterol concentration, were used.

Plasma Cholesterol The concentration of plasma cholesterol was measured using male Wistar rats as experimental animals. Groups of 7 rats were fed the same test diet for each region and kept for 3 weeks, during which the plasma cholesterol concentration was measured. The level was quantitatively measured using an enzymatic assay kit: Cholesterol GIN (manufactured by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.).

Example 1 After soaking 1 kg of soybeans overnight, approximately 6 times as much water as the soaked soybean C was added and pulverized. After boiling the pulverized liquid for 2 minutes, the okara fraction was filtered through a filter cloth to obtain soy milk. 7 for this soy milk
After adding 0 g of soybean lecithin (lecithin content: 39%) and dispersing and emulsifying it with a distributor, a calcium chloride solution was added to coagulate the protein. Place it in a solidified molded box,
Hardened wood with moisture content of 82-84% 11 = rotten. After cutting this firm tofu into appropriate pieces and freezing it at -10℃,
After being kept in a room at 3℃ for 2 weeks, dehydrated and heated to 50-60℃.
The dried tofu was dried to obtain frozen tofu. When the lecithin content in this frozen tofu was measured, it contained about 5% lecithin.

Frozen tofu containing 1% and 10% lecithin was also produced in the same manner.

In order to confirm the effect of lowering the concentration of cholecystylol in the plasma of these frozen tofus (equal amounts of soybean protein and casein from the above frozen tofus were used as protein in the test feed (each 10% of the total amount of feed).
A test diet was prepared containing:

When the rats were fed the entire amount of this test feed, and 1 to 3 weeks later, their plasma cholesterol was measured. showed low plasma cholesterol levels.

As a control, rats were fed a test diet containing frozen tofu as soy protein (10% casein + 10% frozen tofu without lecithin) prepared in the same manner as above, except that soybean lecithin was not added, and the same plasma cholesterol level was maintained. The results of measuring changes in are shown in Table 1 as Experimental Example 1.

In Table 1, Experimental Example 1: Control (frozen tofu without lecithin) Experimental Example 2: Frozen tofu with 1% lecithin Experimental Example 3: Frozen tofu with 5% lecithin Experimental Example 4: Frozen tofu with 10% lecithin As is clear from the results in the table, the plasma cholesterol levels of the rats of Experimental Example 2 fed the test feed prepared using frozen tofu to which 1% lecithin was added were higher than those of the rats of Experimental Example 1 to which no lecithin was added. ), the plasma cholesterol level was significantly lower than that of the rats, and in Experimental Examples 3 and 4, in which the amount of lecithin added was increased, the decrease in plasma cholesterol level was even more remarkable.

In addition, when lecithin was added to 10% or more, a decrease in plasma cholesterol level was observed, but the flavor as a frozen tofu was impaired, resulting in a lack of appropriate value as a frozen tofu food.

Example 2 The following test was conducted in order to confirm that frozen tofu to which lecithin was added additively increased the reduction in plasma cholesterol concentration compared to when lecithin was ingested alone.

That is, protein (20% of the total amount of test feed) and casein 20% (Experiment Example 5: hereinafter referred to as "casein food")
, "10% casein + frozen tofu without lecithin" (Experimental example 6: hereinafter referred to as "frozen tofu base group"), "20% casein + 10% lecithin" (Experimental example 7; hereinafter referred to as "lecithin base group")
).

"10% frozen tofu with 10% casein + 10% lecithin"
(Experimental Example 8; hereinafter referred to as "lecithin-enriched frozen tofu base group") was used to prepare test feeds, and this was fed to rats in the same manner as in Example 1. After 1 to 3 weeks, the plasma cholesterol of rat 1 was measured. The results are shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2 As is clear from this test result, "Frozen tofu base group"
Compared to the casein ingredients, plasma cholesterol was lower, but the lecithin group containing lecithin
However, the reduction in plasma cholesterol was not sufficient.

In contrast, the lecithin-enriched frozen tofu group, in which frozen tofu with the same amount of lecithin as in the lecithin group was given, was significantly more effective than the lecithin-enriched frozen tofu group, or the lecithin group, in which the lecithin group was fed with just frozen tofu. It was found that plasma cholesterol levels decreased, and that frozen tofu made of soybean protein had a synergistic effect with soybean lecithin.

Example 3 13 g of deodorized scum crude oil (phytosterol content 17%) was added to soy milk produced in the same manner as in Example 1, and frozen tofu was produced in the same manner as in Example 1. When this frozen tofu was analyzed, it contained approximately 2% phytosterol.

Similarly, add phytosterol to 0.5% and 5%.
Frozen tofu containing

In order to confirm the plasma cholesterol concentration lowering effect of each of these frozen tofus, a test feed containing the same amount of soybean protein hcasein from frozen tofu (each 10% of the total amount of frozen tofu) was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 above. The plasma cholesterol levels of the rats were measured 1 to 3 weeks after the rats were fed the same diet. The results are shown in Table 3 as Experimental Example 9N11.

Table 3 As is clear from the results in Table 3, in Experiment 9, in which rats were fed test feed prepared using frozen tofu with 0.5% phytosterol added, the plasma cholesterol level of rats was lower than that of phytosterol. The plasma cholesterol level was considerably lower than that of the control rats (Experimental Example 1) in which no addition of butystyrene was added, and this tendency was even more pronounced in Experimental Examples 10 and 11, in which the amount of butystyrene added was increased. Ta. Further, even when 5% or more of phytosterol was added, no further decrease in plasma cholesterol level was observed.

Example 4 The following test was conducted to confirm that Thl tofu supplemented with phytosterols additively increased the reduction in plasma cholesterol concentration compared to when phytosterols were ingested alone.

That is, protein (20% of the total test feed), casein 20% (Experimental Example 12), casein 10% + phytosterol-free frozen tofu (Experimental Example 13), casein 20% + phytosterol 10% %” (Experimental example 14:
(hereinafter referred to as “phytosterol elementary group”), “casein 1
Test feeds were prepared using the lophytosterol-enriched frozen tofu base group (referred to as ε), and the feeds were fed to rats in the same manner as in Example 1, and the plasma cholesterol of the rats was measured 1 to 3 weeks later. The results are shown in Table 4 below.

Table 4 As is clear from the test results, plasma cholesterol was reduced even in the "phytosterol base group" in which only phytosterols were added, but in the "phytosterol-enriched frozen tofu base group" in which the same amount of phytosterol was added together with frozen tofu. Plasma cholesterol is significantly lowered, and phytosterol and soybean protein 'J! Complementary effects of L-hi were observed.

Example 5 The following test was conducted to confirm the plasma cholesterol lowering effect when phytosterols and lecithin were added together.

Soy milk was prepared in the same manner as in Example I, 13 g of deodorized scum crude oil and 70 g of soybean lecithin were added, and frozen tofu was produced in the same manner as in Example 1ε.

The contents of the phytosterol phylecithin in this frozen tofu were 2% and 5%, respectively.

A test feed was prepared using this frozen tofu in the same manner as in Example 1ε and fed to rats, and changes in plasma cholesterol were measured. The results are shown in Table 5 below as Experimental Example 17.

In addition, similar tests were conducted using test feeds in which the amount of lecithin added was changed to 1% and 10% (exchanged to 2% phytosterol), and the results are shown in Table 5 as Experimental Examples 16 and 18.

Table 5 As is clear from the test results, in rats fed the test feed prepared using frozen tofu to which butostyrol and lecithin were added, these lecithins,
Compared to the case where phytosterol was added alone, plasma cholesterol was significantly lowered, and it was confirmed that there was a phase-opening effect.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the frozen tofu of the present invention is produced by adding lecithin and phytisterol to the extent that the flavor of the frozen tofu is not impaired, and has recently become a problem in Japan. Lecithin and phytisterol, which are sold as drugs for patients with hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia, are used alone and have a significant lowering effect on plasma cholesterol compared to e, or compared to regular frozen tofu. However, there are high expectations for the usefulness of functional foods.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Frozen tofu containing 1 to 10% lecithin. 2. Frozen tofu containing 0.5-5% phytosterol. 3. Lecithin 1-10% and phytosterol 0
．． Frozen tofu containing 5-5%.