EP-4129073-B1 - METHOD FOR PRODUCING PLANT-BASED FERMENTED MILK

Inventors

• IKENAGA, Naoya
• OUE, Yuna
• YANAGISAWA, MASANOBU

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20210326

Claims (5)

1. A method for producing a plant-based fermented milk, the method comprising: adding a protein hydrolyzate containing at least 3% by weight and at most 35% by weight of free amino acids to a mixture containing a plant-based milk and a lipid, so that the resulting mixture containing the protein hydrolyzate, the plant-based milk and the lipid is used as a raw material, wherein the protein hydrolyzate is contained in an amount of 0.1 to 2% by weight with respect to the solid content of the raw material, and the content of the free amino acids is calculated by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and wherein the lipid is derived from the plant-based milk, or an oil or fat added separately from the plant-based milk; and subjecting the raw material to fermentation.
2. The production method according to claim 1, wherein the lipid content in the raw material is 5 to 80% by weight in the solid content.
3. The production method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fermentation is lactic acid fermentation.
4. The production method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fermentation is yeast fermentation.
5. The production method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fermentation is a fermentation using diacetyl-producing bacteria.

Description

[Technical Field] The present invention relates to a method for producing a plant-based fermented milk. [Background Art] Milk raw materials, such as cow's milk, fresh cream, and skim milk powder, have a unique milk flavor and are thus preferred. Meanwhile, against the background such as the increase in lifestyle-related diseases due to excessive intake of animal fats, the increase in milk allergic patients due to excessive intake of milk products, the rise of health consciousness, and soaring of prices of milk raw materials due to concerns about supply shortages caused by a population increase, there is an increasing trend worldwide to use plant-based raw materials that can be substituted for milk raw materials. Under such circumstances, as substitutes for milk-fermented foods such as yogurt and cheese, soy milk-based fermented foods have been researched and developed for some time, and a relatively large number of products thereof are also being sold on the market. Moreover, recently, in addition to soy milk, products based on other plant-based milks such as coconut milk and almond milk have also begun to be sold all over the world, and the market for plant-based fermented milks has an expanding trend worldwide. Meanwhile, in the case of lactic acid fermentation based on oil-containing plant-based milks such as soy milk and coconut milk, a unique unpleasant deteriorated odor is generated over time compared to fermented foods based on milk raw materials, and even if the milk raw materials are partially replaced, the deteriorated flavor has a great influence on the quality of the whole product. Plant-based milks may have a fresh and favorable fermented flavor, like yogurt and cheese, immediately after fermenting the plant-based milks, but the flavor may not be maintained, and the flavor may deteriorate over time, or the flavor may deteriorate due to a heat sterilization treatment after fermentation. In order to deal with such a problem, as described in, for example, Patent Literature 1 to Patent Literature 4 and the like, an advanced manufacturing technique, such as performing fermentation by combining specific lactic acid bacteria, performing fermentation under anoxic conditions, or performing filling into a container with extremely low oxygen permeability after fermentation, is required in the related art. Patent Literature 5 discloses a milk substitute composition containing a component derived from soybean, and a milk substitute food and drink using the same. In Patent Literature 6 a process for manufacturing a solid fermented soy milk product, comprising a fermentation step in which a fermentation substrate containing soy milk and with adjusted malic acid and free amnio acid concentrations, is fermented with heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria is described. Patent Literature 7 discloses a method of preparing a fermented soybean milk comprising subjecting a soybean milk to fermentations with yeast and lactic acid bacteria, and subjecting the resulting fermented soybean milk to a deactivation treatment to deactivate the yeast and bacteria by heating and a removal treatment to remove alcohol and carbon dioxide gas contained therein. As a result, a fermented soybean milk which is a beverage suiting everybody's taste and a packed product thereof which is not subject to expansion or deformation during storage, are obtained. In Patent Literature 8 a method for producing a soymilk fermentation product, comprising an enzyme treatment step of hydrolyzing soy milk with a peptide bond hydrolase to obtain fermentation substrate, and a fermentation step of fermenting the fermentation substrate with lactic acid bacteria to obtain a fermentation product is described. [Citation List] [Patent Literature] [Patent Literature 1] Japanese Patent No. 3307255[Patent Literature 2] Japanese Patent No. 3327155[Patent Literature 3] Japanese Patent No. 3498551[Patent Literature 4] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-75688[Patent Literature 5] JP 5 879997 B2[Patent Literature 6] US 2015/296823 A1[Patent Literature 7] US 5 972 394 A[Patent Literature 8] US 10 299 490 B2 [Summary of Invention] [Technical Problem] The generation of an unpleasant deteriorated odor can be suppressed to a certain degree by the techniques of Patent Literature 1 to Patent Literature 4, but there was a problem of lack of versatility due to various restrictions, such as not being applicable to bacterial strains of specific lactic acid bacteria having a preferable physiological function, and requiring a large investment in novel fermentation equipment. In view of such circumstances, the present invention addresses the problem of providing a method for producing a plant-based fermented milk that is highly versatile regardless of the type of microorganisms, such as lactic acid bacteria, and the status of production equipment and has little deterioration in flavor after fermentation. [Solution to Problem] As a result of intensive studies, the present inventors h