Taste-improving agents and tea drinks containing thereof
View Patent ↗The present invention provides an agent for improving taste of tea drinks, comprising at least one glyceroglycolipid, preferably monogalactosyl diacylglycerol or digalactosyl diacylglycerol, as an active ingredient. The agent of the present invention is for use to enhance kokumi, to mask astringent taste, and to prevent precipitates. The agent of the present invention is effective especially in improving tea drinks containing ground tea leaves. The present invention also provides a method for producing tea drinks containing ground tea leaves and at least 1.0 μg/ml of glyceroglycolipids and having an absorbency of 0.25 or below at 680 nm, and tea drinks containing glyceroglycolipid, which method comprises grinding tea leaves into an average particle size of 1-100 μm (preferably 1-50 μm, more preferably 1-20 μm), and mixing the resulting ground tea leaves with neutral (pH 5-7, preferably 5.5-7, especially preferably 6-7) water to elute the glyceroglycolipids into the water.
1. A tea drink comprising a ground tea leaf, at least 1.0 μg/ml of glyceroglycolipids, and 0.10-5.0 mg/ml of catechins; and having an absorbency of 0.25 or below at 680 nm;
wherein the tea drink comprises 0.002-0.025 parts by weight of the glyceroglycolipids per 1 part by weight of catechins; and
wherein the proportion of glyceroglycolipids to an insoluble solids content, calculated as
amount
of
glyceroglycolipids
(
μg
/
ml
)
absorbency
at
680
nm
,
is 7 or above.
2. The tea drink of claim 1 comprising at least 1.5 μg/ml of glyceroglycolipids.
3. The tea drink of claim 1 , wherein the tea drink comprises 0.002-0.020 parts by weight of the glyceroglycolipids per 1 part by weight of catechins.
4. The tea drink of claim 1 , wherein the tea drink comprises 0.003-0.015 parts by weight of the glyceroglycolipids per 1 part by weight of catechins.
5. The tea drink of claim 1 , wherein the proportion of the glyceroglycolipids to an insoluble solid content, calculated as
amount
of
glyceroglycolipids
(
μg
/
ml
)
absorbency
at
680
nm
,
is 10 or above.
6. The tea drink of claim 1 , wherein the proportion of the glyceroglycolipids to an insoluble solid content, calculated as
amount
of
glyceroglycolipids
(
μg
/
ml
)
absorbency
at
680
nm
,
is 12 or above.
7. The tea drink of claim 1 comprising 0.20-4.0 mg/ml of catechins.
8. The tea drink of claim 1 comprising 0.25-3.0 mg/ml of catechins.
9. The tea drink of claim 1 comprising 0.30-2.0 mg/ml of catechins,
10. The tea drink of claim 1 comprising 0.35-1.0 mg/ml of catechins.