WO2010047548A2

WO2010047548A2 - An aseptic packing cooked rice which made with the deep seawater and a manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2010047548A2
Application number: PCT/KR2009/006134
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chang Yong Lee; Hyo-Young Jeong; Jae Young Han
Original assignee: Cj Cheiljedang Corporation
Priority date: 2008-10-23
Filing date: 2009-10-22
Publication date: 2010-04-29
Also published as: KR101048580B1; WO2010047548A3; KR20100045313A

Abstract

Disclosed are aseptically packed instant rice and a method of manufacturing the same. The aseptically packed instant rice is so rich in minerals such as magnesium, sodium and potassium as to have excellent nutrition and the sensation when eaten and can be stored for a long period of time because it is cooked with mineral-enriched deep seawater which is formulated from mineral-enriched desalted water and desalted water so as to impart a condition of hardness and guarantee an excellent sweet taste, savoriness, texture, glutinosity and elasticity to the rice.

Description

AN ASEPTIC PACKING COOKED RICE WHICH MADE WITH THE DEEP SEAWATER AND A MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF

The present invention relates to aseptically packed instant rice cooked with deep seawater and a method for manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to aseptically packed instant rice which is so rich in minerals such as magnesium, sodium and potassium as to have excellent nutrition and the sensation when eaten and which can be stored for a long period of time because it is cooked with mineral-enriched deep seawater which is formulated from mineral-enriched desalted water and desalted water so as to impart a condition of hardness and guarantee an excellent sweet taste, savoriness, texture, glutinosity and elasticity to the rice. Also the present invention is concerned with a method of preparing the aseptically packed instant rice.

Deep seawater is defined as seawater which is deeper than 200 m below the surface which cannot be reached by sunlight. Found to have advantageous characteristics such as being highly clean with far less pathogens, abundant in various minerals, and being balanced in essential trace elements, etc., deep seawater has attracted intensive attention due to the possibility of being developed as a clean resource in the 21st century.

In Korea, the National Assembly passed a law concerning the use of deep seawater in 2007, and the enforcement ordinances thereof started to be put into operation in February, 2008. On the basis of the law, deep seawater has been developed for application in various fields such as those related to food preparation, food additives, cosmetics, medicines, etc. The legal forms of deep seawater stipulated by the enforcement ordinances are as follows.

Table 1

Type	Condition
Desalted Deep Seawater	Desalinated from raw water and processed into edible water according to the water quality standard.
Concentrated Deep Seawater	Processed so as to have a salinity of 50 psu or higher
Mineral-enriched Desalted Deep Seawater	Processed so as to have a hardness lower than that of raw water by decreasing the sodium chloride content of the raw water or by adding mineral-enriched deep seawater to the desalted water
Mineral-enriched Deep Seawater	Processed so as to have a hardness greater than that of raw water by decreasing sodium chloride content to increase a (Ca + Mg)/Na ratio to 1.0 or higher
Deep Seawater Brine	Enriched in sodium chloride, processed to meet Article 2(3) of the salt management law.

An analysis of patent applications for deep seawater reported that it was mostly used in the preparation of foods, such as Kimchi, tofu, etc., food additives such as salt, and cosmetics or medicines, and in water-taking apparatuses and systems. Most of the patent applications are related to the food field, with the preparation of foods, food additives, beverages and alcoholic drinks accounting for more than 60% of the total patent applications related to deep seawater.

In the field of food preparation, deep seawater is applied to a variety of foods including fermented foods, such as Kimchi (Korean Patent Application No. 10-2002-0030835), Korean hot pepper paste (Korean Patent Application No. 10-2002-0032308) and Korean bean paste (Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0135960), bean-related foods such as tofu (Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 2006-0126051 and 2007-0032749), fermented beans (Korean Patent Application No. 10-2003-0089580) and bean sprouts (Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0016046), beer (Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-0134426), drinks (Korean Pat. Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-0084333), and rice cakes (Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-0034703).

Nowhere has the application of deep seawater to boiled rice products including aseptically packed, instant rice been found in previous patent applications.

In consideration of this fact, the present inventor has made an intensive effort to devise aseptically packed, instant rice using deep seawater. As a result, the present inventor determined the hardness condition required to impart boiled rice with a sweet taste, savory flavor, excellent texture, high glutinosity and high elasticity, and found that when using mineral-enriched desalted deep seawater, formulated with mineral enriched deep seawater and desalted deep seawater on the basis of the hardness condition, the boiled rice was better for the health due to more abundant minerals such as magnesium, sodium and potassium, had superior taste and could be stored for a longer period of time than when using purified water.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide aseptically packed, instant rice which is good for the health thanks to being rich in minerals such as magnesium, sodium and potassium, which has an excellent sensation when eaten and which can be stored for a long period of time.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for cooking aseptically packed instant rice with mineral-enriched deep seawater.

Being richer in minerals including magnesium, sodium, potassium, etc. than rice cooked with purified water, the aseptically packed instant rice cooked with the deep seawater formulation adjusted for the hardness condition optimal for the sweet taste, savoriness, texture, glutinosity and elasticity of boiled rice in accordance with the present invention is good for the health, exhibits an excellent sensation when eaten and can be stored for six months or longer.

FIG. 1 is a process flow of preparing aseptically packed, instant rice cooked with deep seawater in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing changes in sweetness of taste versus hardness of the deep seawater.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing changes in savoriness versus hardness of the deep seawater.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing changes in texture versus hardness of the deep seawater.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing changes in glutinosity versus hardness of the deep seawater.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing changes in elasticity versus hardness of the deep seawater.

In accordance with an aspect thereof, the present invention provides aseptically packed instant rice having a desalted deep seawater content of 40 ~ 70 weight %, based on the total weight of the rice.

It is possible to produce aseptically packed instant rice with a desalted deep seawater content of 40 ~ 70 weight % by cooking with desalted deep seawater.

The water content of boiled rice depends on the amount of cooking water used. The optimal water content of boiled rice ranges from 55 to 65 weight %. When the water content is below the lower limit, the rice has the sensation of hardness. On the other hand, a water content higher than 65 weight % makes the rice slushy. However, a water content of 40 ~ 70 weight %, slightly outside the optimal range, may be allowed to cook preferable packed rice.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides an aseptically packed, instant rice which is cooked with mineral-enriched deep seawater whose hardness is adjusted into a range of from 30 ~ 240 by mixing mineral-enriched desalted deep seawater with desalted deep seawater so that the aseptically packed, instant rice has a desalted deep seawater content of from 40 to 70 weight %.

In another preferred embodiment, deep seawater to be used as cooking water has a hardness of from 60 to 180, more preferably a hardness of from 90 to 120 and most preferably a hardness of 120. It is obtained by formulating mineral-enriched deep seawater with desalted deep seawater so as to adjust the hardness to the preferable value.

Richer in minerals such as magnesium, sodium and potassium, the aseptically packed instant rice cooked with deep seawater in accordance with the present invention is nutritionally better compared to that cooked with purified water.

Further, the hardness criteria which guarantees superiority in sweet taste, savoriness, texture, glutinosity and elasticity was determined and is used in the present invention. A mineral-enriched deep seawater formulation prepared by mixing mineral-enriched desalted deep seawater with desalted deep seawater in such a way that the formulation meets the optimal hardness criteria is used as cooking water for the aseptically packed instant rice, so that it is superior in overall taste quality and can be stored for 6 months or longer without denaturation.

Consequently, the aseptically packed instant rice cooked with deep seawater in accordance with the present invention is improved in both nutrition and the sensation when being eaten, compared to the conventional instant rice cooked with purified water.

In accordance with another aspect thereof, the present invention provides a method for preparing aseptically packed instant rice, comprising cooking washed rice with desalted deep seawater.

In a preferred embodiment, the washed rice is cooked with mineral-enriched deep seawater ranging in hardness from 30 to 240, the mineral-enriched deep seawater being formulated by mixing mineral-enriched desalted deep seawater with desalted deep seawater.

In a more preferred embodiment, the mineral-enriched deep seawater, used as cooking water, has a hardness of 60 ~ 180, more preferably a hardness of 90 ~ 120, and most preferably a hardness of 120.

In a concrete embodiment, the present invention provides a method for preparing aseptically packed instant rice, comprising:

washing rice with water;

immersing the washed rice in water;

filling a heat-resistant plastic vessel with the immersed rice;

sterilizing the rice in the vessel at a high temperature under high pressure;

cooking the rice with steam from mineral-enriched deep seawater ranging in hardness from 30 to 240; and

applying nitrogen gas to the rice in a clean room, following by packaging the cooked rice.

In an embodiment, the sterilizing is carried out by repeating an autoclaving process four to ten times at 130 ~ 150 ℃ for 4 ~ 8 sec under a high pressure each time.

In another embodiment, the mineral-enriched desalted deep seawater may be supplied after undergoing microfiltration, UV sterilization or a combination thereof.

The packaging may be performed with a lead film.

Below the constitution of the present invention is described in detail.

As used herein, the term “boiled rice” or “instant rice” is intended to refer to rice which has been boiled in water to be neither too slushy nor too hard. The boiled or instant rice may be prepared using any kind of rice. For example, white or brown rice, classified according to milling degree, nonglutinous or glutinous rice, classified according to contents of amylase and amylopectin, or white or black rice, classified according to colors, may be used alone or in combination.

Deep seawater may be classified into the five types of desalted water, concentrated water, mineral-enriched desalted water, mineral-enriched water and deep water saline. For use in cooking aseptically packed instant rice, it is important to select deep seawater of a suitable type and to determine the composition of the deep seawater.

The deep seawater suitable for use in the present invention is a proper mixture of seawater purified through osmosis (hereinafter referred to as “desalted deep seawater”) and mineral-enriched desalted deep seawater prepared by decreasing the sodium chloride content of raw water or by adding mineral-enriched deep seawater to the desalted water (hereinafter referred to as “mineral-enriched deep seawater”).

When the desalted deep seawater free of inorganic ions is used alone, the boiled rice becomes flavorless with no characteristic sweet taste because almost all of the mineral ingredients responsible for the taste of water have been removed. Hence, the deep seawater with a high mineral content, such as magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium, etc., is employed. However, an exceedingly high mineral content, although nutritionally beneficial, deteriorates the sensation when the boiled rice is eaten, such as its texture and elasticity. Therefore, it is important to find a mineral content which satisfies both the sensation when eaten and the nutrition of boiled rice.

In the present invention, deep seawater mixtures with a variety of ratios of mineral-enriched deep seawater to desalted deep seawater were prepared to meet various hardness criteria of zero (0), 60, 120, 180 and 240 before being used to cook the rice. The cooked rice was evaluated for quality indices for the sensation when eaten by specially trained panels. As a result, the optimal harness condition for guaranteeing excellent sensation when eaten and nutrition was determined. Of course, the aseptically packed instant rice with the optimal deep seawater was compared with that cooked with purified water.

When cooked with the deep seawater formulation of the present invention, the aseptically packed, instant rice was found to be storable for 6 months or longer, have nutritionally mineral ingredients, and have an excellent sensation when eaten.

Particularly, when cooked with a mixture of mineral-enriched deep seawater and desalted seawater and formulated to have a hardness of from 90 to 120, the aseptically packed, instant rice scored the highest in all of the test items which were sweetness of taste, savory flavor, texture, elasticity and glutinosity. In addition, the aseptically packed instant rice cooked under the hardness criteria in accordance with the present invention is far richer in mineral content than is that cooked with purified water, and can be stored for 6 months or longer.

Below, a detailed description is given of the process of preparing aseptically packed instant rice using deep seawater.

First, nonglutinous rice is washed with purified water to remove starch and other impurities from the surface thereof and is then immersed at 10 ~ 25℃ for 1 ~ 2.5 hours in purified water. Thereafter, the rice is dewatered and placed in a heat-resistant plastic vessel, followed by autoclaving the vessel four to ten times at 130 ~ 150 ℃ for 4 ~ 8 sec. Then, the rice is steamed at 100 ℃ for 30 ~ 40 min, preferably for 35 min with the mineral-enriched deep seawater which is adjusted to have a hardness of from 30 to 240 after undergoing microfiltration and UV sterilization. After cooking, the vessel is purged with nitrogen gas in a clean room (class 100 or less, a room contains 100 or less of particles of size 0.5 μm or larger per cubic foot of air according to Cleanliness standards of Cleanroom by National Aeronautics and Space Administration) so as to delay acidification, followed by sealing the vessel with a lead film to completely cook the rice, cooling, drying and packaging to afford an instant rice product.

The aseptically packed instant rice prepared through these processes can be stored at room temperature for six months or longer.

The mineral-enriched deep seawater with a hardness of from 30 to 240 can be formulated by mixing the mineral-enriched desalted deep seawater in an amount of 0.4 ~ 4 % by weight with the desalted deep seawater. The hardness range, which has great influence on the product quality, can be adjusted by changing the formulation ratio.

A better understanding of the present invention may be obtained through the following examples which are set forth to illustrate, but are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

EXAMPLES 1 TO 5: Preparation of Aseptically Packed Instant Rice with Deep Seawater

A predetermined amount of nonglutinous rice was immersed at 10 ℃ for 80 min, dewatered and placed in a heat-resistant plastic vessel, followed by sterilizing the vessel at 140 ~ 143 ℃ for 6.5 sec in an autoclaver. Afterwards, the rice was cooked for 35 min with steam kept at 100 ℃ in a cooker while deep seawater mixtures of various hardnesses, formulated with the desalted deep seawater and the mineral-enriched desalted deep seawater after microfiltration and UV sterilization, served as cooking water. Thereafter, nitrogen gas was applied to the rice in a sterilized condition, which was then sealed with a lead film, and allowed to stand for about 12 min to allow cooking to complete and then cooled in 10 ℃ water for 15 min to produce a packaged instant rice product (FIG. 1).

Table 2

Cooking Water with Various Mixture Ratios of Desalted Water and Mineral-Enriched Water

Deep Seawater	Example (Hardness)
Deep Seawater	Ex. 1 (0)	Ex. 2 (60)	Ex. 3 (120)	Ex. 4 (180)	Ex. 5 (240)
Desalted Water (%)	100	99.1	98.1	97.1	96.1
Mineral-Enriched Desalted Water (%)	0	0.9	1.9	2.9	3.9

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 1: Analysis of Aseptically Packed Instant Rice for Quality According to Hardness Criteria

In order to determine an optimal hardness condition, mineral-enriched desalted deep seawater was mixed with desalted deep seawater in such a manner as shown in Table 1 to give cooking water with hardnesses of 0, 60, 120, 180 and 240. Rice was cooked with the water and described by nine panels who had been trained for a long time. 38 main properties accounting for the quality of rice were elicited by the descriptive analysis. Of them, the main factors of sweet taste, savory flavor, texture, glutinosity and elasticity which have great influence on the preference of consumers were examined for changes according to the hardness conditions.

Both the sweet taste and the savory flavor were found to increase with increasing hardness of the cooking water to about 120, but decrease thereafter, following parabolic curves (FIGS. 2 and 3). Also, the cooked rice increased in all of texture, elasticity and glutinosity with increasing hardness to a certain degree, but decreased as the hardness increased over the certain degree, making parabolic curves (FIGS. 4 to 6).

A regression analysis of the main factors greatly influencing the preference of consumers reported that all of the factors of sweet taste, savory flavor, texture, glutinosity and elasticity, gained high scores in hardnesses within the range of from 90 to 120.

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 2: Comparison between Instant Rice Cooked with Deep Seawater and Purified Water

Aseptically packed instant rice cooked with the deep seawater of Examples 1 to 5 was compared for product quality with a control cooked with purified water.

The control was cooked in the same method as in Example 1 with the exception that purified water was used instead of deep seawater.

They were analyzed for mineral content and the results are summarized in Table 3, below.

As is apparent from the data of Table 3, the aseptically packed instant rice cooked with deep seawater in accordance with the present invention is richer in all of the minerals, except for calcium, than is the control.

Table 3

Mineral Content by Hardness (Unit:mg/100g)

Mineral	Example (Hardness)
Mineral	Control	Ex. 1 (0)	Ex. 2 (60)	Ex. 3 (120)	Ex. 4 (180)	Ex. 5 (240)
Ca	3.74	3.32	3.35	3.41	3.45	3.5
Na	1.23	1.53	1.71	1.92	2.30	2.61
Mg	2.6	2.71	2.84	2.91	3.50	4.01
K	12.33	13.88	13.95	14.07	14.12	14.21

Each instant rice was also evaluated for taste using a rice taste analyzer (SATAKE) and the results are given in Table 4, below.

As seen in Table 4, the aseptically packed instant rice cooked with the deep seawater showed higher taste values under all hardness conditions, except for a hardness of 0 or 240, than did the control. In addition, the taste values increased with hardness, but decreased as the hardness went over 120, which is coincident with the descriptive analysis of Example 1. A balance between calcium and magnesium, which are in positive relation with texture and glutinosity, respectively, was thought to have a negative influence on the quality of a rice product at a hardness higher than 120.

Table 4

Rice Taste Value by Hardness

Cooking Water	Rice Taste Value
Control	75.40
Ex. 1 (Hardness: 0)	74.40
Ex. 2 (Hardness:60)	78.50
Ex. 3 (Hardness:120)	82.40
Ex. 4 (Hardness:180)	81.50
Ex. 5 (Hardness:240)	74.80

Finally, the aseptically cooked instant rice was subjected to sensory test by housewives aging from 25 ~ 45 years, to evaluate for texture and glutinosity and overall taste according to a 5-point scale method.

The results are given in Table 5, below. As seen in Table 5, all of the aseptically packed instant rice, except for those cooked with a hardness of 0 or 240, was superior in overall taste to the control.

Table 5

Sensory Test Results

Cooking Water	Score (5 Point Scale)
Control	3.72
Ex. 1 (Hardness: 0)	3.70
Ex. 2 (Hardness:60)	3.83
Ex. 3 (Hardness:120)	3.98
Ex. 4 (Hardness:180)	3.88
Ex. 5 (Hardness:240)	3.69

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 3: Microorganism Assay

Biological safety of the aseptically packed instant rice cooked with deep seawater in accordance with the present invention was examined. In this context, after incubation at 35 ℃ for 10 days, the aseptically packed instant rice prepared in Examples 1 to 5 was subjected to a germ growth test. All of the rice products were found to be safe from bacteria as measured by a cell growth assay. Based on these data, it can be inferred that the instant rice of the present invention can be stored for six months or longer without undergoing denaturation.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

As described hitherto, the aseptically packed instant rice of the present invention is so rich in minerals such as magnesium, sodium and potassium as to have excellent nutrition and the sensation when eaten and can be stored for a long period of time because it is cooked with mineral-enriched deep seawater which is formulated from mineral-enriched desalted water and desalted water so as to impart a condition of hardness and guarantee an excellent sweet taste, savoriness, texture, glutinosity and elasticity to the rice.

Claims

Aseptically packed instant rice with a desalted deep seawater content of 40 ~ 70 weight %.
The aseptically packed instant rice according to claim 1, wherein the desalted deep seawater is mineral-enriched deep seawater ranging in hardness from 30 to 240, formulated with mineral-enriched deep seawater and desalted deep seawater.
The aseptically packed instant rice according to claim 1 or 2, cooked with the desalted deep seawater.
A method for preparing aseptically packed instant rice, comprising cooking washed rice with a deep seawater mixture having a hardness of 30 ~ 240, the mixture being formulated with mineral-enriched deep seawater and desalted deep seawater.
The method according to claim 4, comprising:

washing rice with water;

immersing the washed rice in water;

filling a heat-resistant plastic vessel with the immersed rice;

sterilizing the rice in the vessel at a high temperature under a high pressure;

cooking the rice with steam from mineral-enriched desalted deep seawater ranging in hardness from 30 to 240; and applying nitrogen gas to the rice in a clean room, followed by packaging the cooked rice.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the sterilizing is carried out by repeating an autoclaving process four to ten times at 130 ~ 150 ℃ for 4 ~ 8 sec under a high pressure each time.
The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the mineral-enriched desalted deep seawater ranges in hardness from 90 to 120.