TW201531230A - Pet food and production method for pet food - Google Patents

Abstract

This pet food is characterized by being obtained via the granulation of a starting material by extrusion molding, and by having a water content of 12 mass% or lower and a hardness of 24.5 N or lower.

Description

Method for manufacturing pet food and pet food

The present invention relates to pet food. More specifically, it relates to pet foods that are easy to eat and highly hobby.

The present application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-273329, filed on Jan.

In recent years, the health orientation of pet foods has also increased, and pet foods which are good for the health of pets and have excellent taste of pets are desired. In addition, the need for dry pet food is increased in terms of ease of acquisition or storage.

One of the methods of forming pet foods is listed as extrusion molding. Extrusion is excellent as a method of producing a uniform shape of pet food with high productivity.

When the pet food is extruded, an extrusion molding machine (extruder) is usually used. An example of the configuration of the extrusion molding machine is known as an extrusion molding machine integrally having a kneading machine portion, a drum portion, and a knife. The part of the mixer is mainly used for the mixing of raw materials. In addition to the rotating part of the drum In addition to the functions of the raw materials of the foods, there is generally a function of mixing and heat-treating the raw materials of the extruded pet food. The raw material of the pet food which has been partially mixed and heat-treated by the drum is finally discharged from a metal cover attached to the end of the extrusion molding machine in a specific shape, and cut and formed by a knife.

A method for producing a pet food formed into a plate shape by using an extrusion molding machine and mixing a plurality of types of raw materials (Patent Document 1) has been disclosed.

[Previous Technical Literature] [Patent Literature]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-127233

Wet and semi-wet (half-life) pet foods with more water than dry pet foods have a tendency to suppress the degree of hardness by modulating a larger amount of water, making it easier to control pet foods. hardness. Further, the dry-formed pet food tends to be hardened by drying the starch which is sufficiently gelatinized.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a problem is to provide a dry pet food which is a pet food which is excellent in pet feeding property by extrusion molding and which is not used in the past, and a method of producing the pet food.

The main reason for the decrease in pet feeding ability is that the pet food is too hard. In particular, in recent years, many small pets such as small dogs have been raised, and since the bite force is weak, it is considered that if the pet food is hard, the tendency to be disgusted is more intense. In this regard, the conventional pet food manufactured by extrusion molding is considered to be because the pet food is too hard, and the preference is lowered.

The present invention has found a dry pet food which is obtained by controlling the hardness of a pet food obtained by extrusion molding to obtain a pet food having excellent pet feeding property, and thus completed the present invention. That is, the present invention is as follows.

(1) A pet food characterized in that the raw material is granulated by extrusion molding, and the water content is 12% by weight or less and the hardness is 24.5 N or less.

(2) The pet food according to the above (1), wherein the raw material comprises a starch source.

(3) The pet food according to (2) above, wherein the degree of gelatinization of the starch is from 18% to 90%.

(4) The pet food according to the above (2) or (3), wherein the starch source is a material having a gelatinization temperature of 65 ° C or higher.

(5) The pet food according to any one of the above (2), wherein the wheat flour is used as the starch source.

(6) The pet food according to any one of (2) to (5), wherein bread flour is used as the starch source.

(7) A method for producing a pet food according to any one of the above (1), wherein the raw material is formed by extrusion molding. grain.

(8) The method for producing a pet food according to the above (7), wherein the raw material containing the starch source and the fat or oil is mixed.

(9) The method for producing a pet food according to the above (7) or (8), wherein the raw material is heat-treated in a drum of an extrusion molding machine in a range of from 60 °C to 140 °C.

(10) The method for producing a pet food according to the above (9), wherein the raw material is heat-treated in a drum of an extrusion molding machine in a range of from 100 ° C to 140 ° C, and the heat treatment time is an extrusion molding machine. The passage time in the above temperature range in the drum is 1 second or longer and 10 seconds or shorter.

(11) The method for producing a pet food according to the above (9) or (10), wherein water is added to the raw material heat-treated in the drum of the extrusion molding machine, and the amount of water added is for the aforementioned extrusion The raw material subjected to heat treatment in the drum of the forming machine is 10% by weight or less.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a dry pet food which is a pet food which is produced by extrusion molding, has a low degree of hardness, and is excellent in pet feeding property.

Fig. 1 is a flow chart showing an example of a method for producing a pet food of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing an example of a method for producing a pet food of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of a method for producing a pet food of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of a method for producing a pet food of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a front view (a) and a perspective view (b) of a dog-shaped presser which can be used for measuring the hardness of the pet food of the present invention.

"pet food"

The pet food of the present invention is obtained by granulating a raw material by extrusion molding, and has a water content of 12% by weight or less and a pet food having a hardness of 24.5 N or less.

Extrusion molding can be carried out using a conventional extrusion molding machine (extruder). For example, a metal cover may be attached to the front end of the extrusion molding machine, and the shape of the metal cover may be formed by extruding the raw material from the metal cover. The productivity of pet food can be rapidly improved by using an extrusion molding machine.

By "granulation" is meant forming a shape that is edible by a pet. In the present invention, the shape of the shaped food grains is not particularly limited as long as it is a pet edible shape, and for example, a spherical shape, a polygonal column shape, a column shape, a doughnut shape, a plate shape, a go-go shape (curved surface) can be used. Any shape such as a round shape. In addition, the shaped food particles can be small particles that can be bitten by a pet. The shape can also be a large particle shape that the pet can bite multiple times.

The shape of the food granules is not particularly limited, and the short diameter and the long diameter of the food granules placed on the water platform are preferably from 3 to 25 mm from the top, and the food granules on the water platform are from the lower side (lower end) to the top ( The upper end) has a thickness of 3 to 20 mm (granular or block), preferably a short diameter and a long diameter of 3 to 11 mm, a thickness of 3 to 9 mm, and a short diameter and The long diameter is 5~9mm, and the thickness is 5~8mm. In the case of this shape, in the heat treatment and the drying treatment in the subsequent stage, the hardness at the time of adjusting the specific moisture content can be easily adjusted to a preferred range.

The water content of the pet food of the present invention may be 12% by weight or less based on the usual value of the dry pet food, preferably 11.0% by weight or less, more preferably 10% by weight or less. The lower limit of the water content is not particularly limited, but is preferably 5% by weight or more, more preferably 6% by weight or more, still more preferably 7% by weight or more. Specifically, the water content of 7.0 to 10.0% by weight or the range of 8.0 to 10.0% by weight which is the same as the usual dry pet food is suitable.

<Measurement of water content>

The water content (% by weight) of the pet food is determined by a normal pressure heating and drying method.

"Atmospheric Pressure Heating Drying Method"

The weight (W1 gram) of the aluminum weighing can was previously determined to be a constant value. Weigh the weight of the sample into the aluminum weighing can (W2 g). Then use mandatory In a ring type warm air dryer, the sample was dried at 135 ° C for 2 hours. After cooling in a dry environment (in a gel dryer), weigh the weight (W3 g). The water content was determined from the obtained weights using the following formula.

Moisture (%) = (W2-W3) ÷ (W2-W1) × 100

The hardness of the pet food of the present invention may be 24.5 N or less. Further, the pet food is preferably a pet food having a hardness of 19.6 N or less and a hardness of 14.7 N or less, preferably a pet food having a hardness of 9.8 N or less. Further, the lower limit of the hardness is 0.0 N (measurement accuracy or lower).

By making the hardness of the pet food 24.5 N or less, the pet food can be made into a pet edible property. Further, by making the hardness of the pet food 24.5 N or less, the taste of the pet food can be improved.

The hardness measurement of the pet food granules was determined by measuring the following measurement conditions using the following physical property measuring instrument.

<Physical Property Tester>

Manufacturing company: Japan NIDEC SHIMPO company

Machine name: Digital dynamometer (Model: FGN-5B)

<Measurement conditions>

Molding machine: canine type (accessory, conical)

The shape of the above molding machine is shown in Fig. 5.

Value display: fixed display

<test methods>

Place the pet food on a hard disk at the bottom. At this time, it is preferable to use a shape in which the particles of the pet food can be placed upright, which is easy to measure. Further, in order to suppress the sliding of the particles during the measurement, the shape of the disk is preferably a container for digging into a fine groove such as a mortar. One pet food to be measured was placed, and the above-mentioned press machine was vertically pressed from directly above the granules, and a load was applied thereto until a pet food granule was broken. At this time, after the pet food particles are broken, the molding machine does not contact the surface of the container. Read the peak. The measurement N=10 or more, and the average value of the obtained values is the hardness data.

The hardness value unit is converted to Newton (N) by multiplying the value of the hardness (kgw) measured by the aforementioned digital dynamometer (Model: FGN-5B) by 9.8.

When the hardness of the pet food of the present invention is measured using a physical property measuring device other than the above-described digital dynamometer (model: FGN-5B), it may be chewed based on the same conditions as the aforementioned measurement conditions or the conditions of compatibility. Find the waveform.

The method for determining the aforementioned hardness described in the present specification is based on the texture profile of Szczesniak (Szczesniak, A.S.: J. Food Sci., 28, 385 (1963)). Szczesniak systematically categorizes the general terminology of textures in the United States by General Foods, and shows the relationship between the measured value of the texture meter and the evaluation value of the input functional (Szczesniak, AS, Blandt, MA & Freidman, HH : J. Food Sci., 28, 397 (1963)).

The pet food of the present invention is suitable for pets including dogs and cats. Can be given to the bait. Among them, dogs are better provided to dogs because they have a preference for pet foods with lower hardness values.

The hardness of the pet food of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is 24.5 N or less, but a preferred hardness can be exemplified in consideration of the weight, age, and the like of the pet.

For example, when the object of the pet food is a dog, in the case of a size of a small dog (weight: 1 kg to 14 kg), the hardness of the preferred pet food can be exemplified as 19.6 N or less and 14.7 N or less. The hardness of the food can be exemplified as 9.8 N or less.

The pet food having the above hardness can be easily fed even for a small dog having a weak bite force, and the taste for the present invention can be made higher. For pets such as young pets, elderly pets, cats, and other small pets that have the same or the same bite force as small dogs, they can also adapt.

<raw material>

The raw material (animal raw material) constituting the pet food is not particularly limited, and the raw materials used in the conventional pet food can be used. For example, meat from livestock such as cattle, pigs, chickens, and various fish can be used. In addition to these protein-based raw materials, cereals containing more carbohydrates, or plant-based ingredients containing more dietary fiber, which are usually required by pets, may be used.

The raw material of the aforementioned pet food may also contain a starch source. Any starch may be used as the raw material containing starch. For example, as a raw material to be used as a starch source, it is exemplified as a cereal containing more starch and steamed bread. Classes, beans, roots of plants, roots of plants, etc.

By using a starch source in the raw materials of pet food, the nutritional value of pet food can be balanced and improved. And can improve the preference of pet food. The starch source may be used singly or in combination of two or more.

Starch gelatinization is a series of phenomena of water absorption, swelling, disintegration and dispersion of starch. The gelatinized starch increases the viscosity and becomes a paste (paste), which causes the entire raw material containing the gelatinized starch to adhere, and becomes a main cause of hardening the pet food.

When the starch is gelatinized during the manufacture of the pet food, the gelatinization degree of the starch of the pet food of the present invention is preferably from 18% to 90%, more preferably from 30% to 80%, because the hardness of the pet food is increased. It is even better for 40% to 70%. Herein, the "degree of gelatinization of starch" of a pet food is a degree of gelatinization of the starch contained in the pet food granules to be produced. Pet foods having a small degree of gelatinization of starch tend to have a small degree of hardness. Therefore, by making the degree of gelatinization of the starch into the range of 18 to 90%, the preference of the pet food can be further improved.

The degree of gelatinization of the pet food is determined by the second method of glucoamylase (refer to the "Monitoring of the Starch Degree Determination Method by HPLC Method" in the 51st issue of the Customs Central Analysis).

Hereinafter, means for avoiding starch gelatinization during the production of pet food will be described.

First, using a raw material containing starch having a higher gelatinization temperature as a starch source, the pet food can be made by inhibiting the degree of gelatinization of the starch. The hardness of the product becomes smaller. The gelatinization temperature is the temperature at which the gelatinization is maximum.

That is, the starch source is preferably a material having a gelatinization temperature of 65 ° C or higher, more preferably a material having a gelatinization temperature of 75 ° C or higher, and more preferably a material having a gelatinization temperature of 80 ° C or higher. That is, the starch source preferably has a gelatinization temperature of 65 ° C or more, more preferably a gelatinization temperature of 75 ° C or more, and more preferably a gelatinization temperature of 80 ° C or more. When the heat treatment is carried out in the production of pet food, the degree of gelatinization of the starch during the production of the pet food can be suppressed by setting the gelatinization temperature of the starch to 65 °C or higher.

As the starch having a gelatinization temperature of 65 ° C or higher, there is a cereal starch. The gelatinization temperature of starch is higher in cereal starch and lower in taro starch. For example, the gelatinization temperature of the wheat starch of the cereal starch is 80 ° C to 85 ° C, and the gelatinization temperature of the corn starch of the cereal starch is 75 ° C to 80 ° C. In contrast, the starch starch of the taro starch has a gelatinization temperature of 60 ° C to 65 ° C.

The cereal starch is exemplified by starch derived from rice such as wheat starch, corn starch, and glutinous rice starch.

Further, as the starch having a gelatinization temperature of 65 ° C or higher, other than the cereal starch, tapioca starch, mung bean starch, and the like are exemplified.

Among them, the aforementioned starch source preferably uses wheat flour. By using wheat flour, the gelatinization of the starch is less likely to occur during the manufacture of the pet food, the degree of hardening of the pet food can be made smaller, and the preference for the present invention can be further improved.

On the other hand, starch gelatinization will result from the manufacture of pet food. The hardness of pet foods increases, but the hardness of pet foods can also be avoided by using a starch source with a high degree of gelatinization as a raw material. The high degree of gelatinization is exemplified by, for example, a degree of gelatinization of a starch of a raw material of 60% or more. Such a starch having a high degree of gelatinization can use a processed food having a higher degree of pre-gelatinization. Such a starch source can be exemplified by bread flour, biscuit powder, baked wheat flour, and the like. Further, raw materials such as bread flour and the like having a degree of gelatinization of 60% or more and wheat flour can be used as raw materials for pet food. By using a raw material having a degree of gelatinization of starch of 60% or more as a starch source, the degree of hardness of the pet food can be suppressed while the starch gelatinization degree of the pet food can be improved, and the digestibility of the pet food can be improved.

When wheat flour or bread flour is used as the starch source, the ratio of the wheat flour or the bread flour to the whole raw material of the pet food is preferably 40 to 70% by weight, more preferably 45 to 65% by weight, and even more preferably 50 to 60%. weight%. Moreover, the weight of the wheat flour and the bread flour used is preferably wheat flour: the bread flour is 75:25 to 25:75, more preferably 65:35 to 35:65, and even more preferably 55:45 to 45:55. . By using both wheat flour and bread flour, two effects of high palatability by using wheat flour and improvement of starch gelatinization degree of pet food obtained by using bread flour are obtained.

The above-mentioned wheat flour is not particularly limited, and any of high-gluten flour, medium-gluten flour, and low-gluten flour may be used. Further, the degree of purification of the wheat flour is not particularly limited, and any of a whole powder, a final powder, a third powder, a second powder, a first powder, or the like may be used.

However, in addition to the gelatinization of starch, another major reason for the increase in the hardness of pet foods is the formation of gluten during the manufacture of pet foods. (gluten). When cereals such as wheat flour are used as raw materials for pet food, glutenin and glutenin contained in seeds of cereals are used as a source to form gluten. Therefore, in order to suppress the amount of gluten formation, it is preferred to use wheat flour which is less gluten-derived as a source of protein, and among wheat flour, high-gluten flour, medium-gluten flour, and low-gluten flour are preferably used as low-gluten flour. In addition, the pet food can be prevented from being cured by using a raw material such as bread powder which denatures the protein gluten by heat.

The type of the pet to which the pet food of the present invention is administered is not particularly limited, but in order to deliver the pet food to the pet owner, it is suitable for giving a specific type of pet of a specific size, a specific age, etc., so when the pet food of the present invention is packaged for sale, The pet food content suitable for giving a particular pet can be displayed on the aforementioned package for sale. For example, in order to deliver to the pet owner that the pet food is suitable for giving pet food to a small dog, the content of the pet food suitable for the small dog may be displayed on the package and sold.

In the scope of this specification and the patent application, the term "pet" refers to an animal raised by a person. The more narrow meaning is that the pet is the animal that the owner plays. Moreover, "pet food" means a feed for pets. The pet food of the present invention can be manufactured and sold as "animal feed" or "animal bait".

"How to make pet food"

The method for producing a pet food of the present invention is a granulator by extrusion molding a raw material. An example of a method for producing a pet food of the present invention will be described below with reference to a manufacturing flow chart shown in Figs. 1 to 3 .

The embodiment shown in Fig. 1 uses a kneading machine or the like to make another crushing. The raw materials such as the machine are mixed. At this time, water may be further added to the aforementioned raw materials and mixed. The kneading machine may also be a device separate from the extrusion molding machine, or may be used as an integrated one. Fig. 1 shows a case where a kneading machine integrated with an extrusion molding machine is used. Next, the mixture of the obtained raw materials is sent to a drum of an extrusion molding machine, and heat treatment and mixing are carried out in the drum. Accordingly, the heat treatment and mixing of the raw materials can be simultaneously performed. Next, the pet food is granulated by extrusion molding the heat-treated and mixed raw materials. Subsequently, the pet food of the present embodiment can be obtained by drying at a temperature of, for example, 100 to 140 ° C until the water content in the food granules is 12% by weight or less and the hardness is reached.

After drying, the pet food of the present invention may be further coated with a coating agent such as a seasoning or a flavor such as a fat or oil, an animal extract or an amino acid.

The embodiment shown in Fig. 2 is a modification of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1. The raw material is mixed and heat-treated in a drum of an extrusion molding machine to obtain a mixture of heat-treated raw materials, without mixing the raw materials before. The method.

The embodiment shown in Fig. 3 is a modification of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1. It is a method of performing extrusion molding using only an extrusion molding machine by mixing and heat-treating a raw material without using an extrusion molding machine.

<raw material>

The aforementioned raw materials can be applied to users who are generally used as raw materials for pet foods. As an important nutrient contained in the aforementioned raw materials, there are proteins and carbohydrates.

The protein may be exemplified as a plant-derived protein, an animal-derived protein, or a mixture thereof. Specifically, the plant-derived protein is exemplified by, for example, gluten, wheat protein, soybean protein, rice protein, corn protein, and the like. The animal-derived protein can be exemplified by, for example, a protein such as a muscle, a viscera, or the like of cows, pigs, chickens, and fish and shellfish, a protein of cow's milk, or a mixture thereof. These proteins can be used as a nutrient source because they contain fat, vitamins, iron, and the like.

The aforementioned carbohydrate may be exemplified by carbohydrates of cereals such as corn, wheat, barley, oats, rice, and soybean. In addition to carbohydrates, these cereals can be used as a nutrient source because they contain protein, ash, minerals, vitamins, and the like.

In addition to the protein and the carbohydrate described above, the raw material may be added as a raw material of fats and oils, vitamins/minerals, seasonings, extracts of animal proteins (extracted substances), dietary fibers, and the like.

<mixing ‧ heat treatment>

A mixture obtained by mixing the aforementioned raw materials can be obtained by mixing the aforementioned raw materials at a desired blending ratio. The method of obtaining the above mixture can be carried out by a conventional method in which a raw material is mixed while being pulverized by a kneading machine.

The method for producing a pet food of the present invention may be carried out by mixing the raw material containing the starch source and the fat or oil. Since the raw material contains a starch source, it also contains oil and fat, and the oil can weaken the adhesion of the raw material, so that the hardness of the pet food can be reduced.

In addition, since the raw materials contain oil in addition to the starch source, It is believed that the fatty acid forms a complex with the amylose of starch to inhibit gelatinization, which can reduce the hardness of pet food.

The above-mentioned fats and oils contained in the raw materials may be fats and oils originally contained in meat or cereals. However, by rapidly dispersing the raw materials when mixing, the adhesion of the raw materials is weakened, and it is expected that the effect of suppressing gelatinization is improved, so that it is preferable to In addition to the fats and oils contained in other raw materials, fats and oils are additionally added as raw materials.

The fats and oils added are enumerated as animal fats and vegetable fats. Animal oils are preferably listed, for example, as tallow.

It can be exemplified to mix raw materials with, for example, the formulation (% by weight) shown in Table 1.

That is, the raw materials used in the present invention are listed as corn or glutinous processed products such as corn, wheat flour, soybeans, and bread flour, meats such as minced chicken and chicken extract, and fish and shellfish such as minced fish. Choose the right mix. Vitamins, minerals, seasonings, dietary fibers, and the like may be further added to the aforementioned raw materials.

In the method for producing a pet food of the present invention, in the case where the raw material is heat-treated in the drum of the extrusion molding machine, it is preferably extruded into The water content of the raw material heat-treated in the drum of the machine is set to be low. This is because the swelling of the starch granules requires sufficient moisture.

Therefore, the moisture content in the above mixture is not particularly limited, but the water content of the entire raw material before being heat-treated in the drum of the extrusion molding machine is preferably a composition containing 20% by weight or less of water, more preferably 18%. The composition of the moisture of the weight% or less is more preferably a composition containing 16% by weight or less of water.

In order to adjust the water content of the heat-treated raw material as a whole, water may be added to the heat-treated raw material in the drum of the extrusion molding machine. The amount of water added is preferably 10% by weight or less, more preferably 8% by weight or less, still more preferably 6% by weight or less based on the heat-treated raw material.

In the present specification, the temperature at which the heat treatment is performed in the drum of the extrusion molding machine means the set temperature of the machine used for the heat treatment. The starch in the mixture can be moderately gelatinized by heat treatment. By gelatinization, the effect of improving the flavor and texture of the obtained food granules is obtained.

The aforementioned heat treatment can also be carried out in plural times. Further, the apparatus used for the heat treatment is also not particularly limited. Further, the addition of the aforementioned water may be carried out simultaneously with the heat treatment. For example, a method in which warm water or steam is added to a raw material using a kneading machine is used. In addition, the warm water or the steam at this time may be treated as "water" added to the raw material to be heated in the drum of the extrusion molding machine, and it is preferred to use warm water or steam for the raw material. The amount of addition is set to the above-mentioned preferred amount of water added. Further, the water may be added in the form of an aqueous solution in which other substances are dissolved. For example, it may be added as a variety of extracts (extracts) for improving the taste or in a state of containing a water absorbing agent such as glycerin.

In the method for producing a pet food of the present invention, it is preferred to heat-treat the raw material in a drum of an extrusion molding machine in the range of 60 ° C to 140 ° C. The range of 60 ° C to 140 ° C is more preferably 60 ° C ~ 130 ° C, and more preferably 60 ° C ~ 120 ° C.

The heat treatment can be carried out plural times, and each heat treatment can be carried out at different heat treatment temperatures. For example, after heating for a certain period of time in the range of 60 ° C to 100 ° C, heat treatment is performed for a certain period of time in the range of 100 ° C to 140 ° C. The range of 100 ° C to 140 ° C is preferably 100 ° C to 130 ° C, and more preferably 100 ° C to 120 ° C.

By setting the heat treatment at a lower temperature of 60 ° C to 100 ° C, the gelatinization of the starch contained in the raw material of the pet food can be suppressed, and the degree of hardness can be reduced.

The ratio of the heat treatment time in the range of 60 ° C to 100 ° C to the heat treatment time in the range of 100 ° C to 140 ° C with respect to the total time of the heat treatment performed in the drum of the extrusion molding machine There is no particular limitation, but it is, for example, 60 ° C to 100 ° C: 100 ° C to 140 ° C, preferably 0.1: 0.9 to 0.9: 0.1, more preferably 0.25: 0.75 to 0.9: 0.1, and even more preferably 0.5: 0.5. 0.9: 0.1, preferably 0.7: 0.3 to 0.8: 0.2.

The total heat treatment time in the drum of the extrusion molding machine is preferably in the range of 5 to 30 seconds, more preferably in the range of 5 to 20 seconds, and more preferably in the range of 5 to 15 seconds.

When an extrusion molding machine is used in the heat treatment, the raw material is used. When the continuous drum is divided into a plurality of sections, each of the sections may be set to have a heating temperature of a different value for heat treatment. As an example, in the continuous drum, as described above, the heating temperature in the range of 60 ° C to 100 ° C and the range of 100 ° C to 140 ° C can be set.

More preferably, the heat treatment method in the plurality of continuous drums is such that the temperature of the drum at the center of the extrusion molding machine is set to a high temperature, and the set temperature of the drum near the discharge port and the discharge port is set to The temperature is lower than the temperature of the drum at the center. When the temperature near the raw material input port of the continuous drum is too high, the water vapor pressure in the drum becomes high, and pressure is applied to the raw material inlet port, so that the raw material cannot be put into the drum. Further, when the temperature near the discharge port in the drum is too high, the expansion is remarkable, and the particles are not easily formed. Therefore, in order to effectively heat in a short time, it is preferable to change the temperature of a plurality of drums, and to heat at the highest temperature in the center part.

For example, first, heat treatment is carried out in the range of 60 ° C to 100 ° C, followed by heat treatment in the range of 100 ° C to 140 ° C, followed by heat treatment in the range of 60 ° C to 100 ° C.

In the method for producing a pet food according to the present invention, when at least a part of the heat treatment is performed in the drum of the extrusion molding machine, the raw material is preferably heat-treated by using an extrusion molding machine in a range of from 100 ° C to 140 ° C. The heat treatment time is preferably from 1 second to 10 seconds, more preferably from 1 second to 7 seconds, more preferably from 1 second to 5 seconds, in the drum of the extrusion molding machine.

Moreover, it is preferable to set the pet food of the present invention to have the aforementioned hardness regardless of whether or not the heat treatment is performed using an extrusion molding machine. The above heat treatment conditions are determined.

However, a screw is usually installed in the drum of the extrusion molding machine, and the raw material put into the drum is conveyed forward by the screw. The screw is divided into a transfer screw that is used for the purpose of transporting the raw material, a kneading screw that is used for the purpose of stirring the raw material, and a cooking screw that is used for the purpose of efficiently heat-treating the raw material. Further, depending on whether the screw has a grooving (cutting thread of the screw wing), it is roughly divided into a cutting screw and a non-cutting screw which is not cut. Among them, the cutting screw is preferably used as a kneading screw because the original screw is not conveyed by the grooving portion of the screw and the agitating portion is not agitated.

Therefore, when the screw used for the purpose of stirring the raw material is used, the above-described mixing is performed in the drum.

The screw that can be used in the drum in the production of the pet food of the present invention is not particularly limited, and a conveying screw used for the purpose of conveying the raw material is preferably used, and a non-cutting screw is preferably used. By using a non-cutting screw to prevent excessive kneading of raw materials, it is easy to obtain a pet food of the above hardness.

In particular, when cereals such as wheat flour are used as raw materials for pet foods, gluten is formed, and it is considered that the degree of hardness of pet foods is increased. Since gluten is promoted by kneading, a non-cutting screw is preferably used from the viewpoint of suppressing the amount of gluten formation.

Therefore, when the screw used for the purpose of stirring the raw material is not used, the above-described mixing is not performed in the drum as compared with the case of using it. That is, in the manufacture of the pet food of the present invention, it is preferred not to perform before the drum. Said to mix. A flow chart showing an example of a method for producing a pet food when the above mixing is not performed in the drum is shown in Fig. 4 .

<Drying treatment>

The method for drying the pet food obtained after heating is not particularly limited, and a conventional method such as a natural drying method, a drying method of blowing a warm air, a method of drying under reduced pressure, and a method of drying by freeze drying may be used. Among these drying methods, the method of blowing warm air and drying is preferable because the flavor of the pet food can be improved.

The temperature of the warm air to which the food particles are boiled is not particularly limited, but the temperature of the warm air is preferably 150 ° C or lower. The lower limit of the temperature of the warm air is not particularly limited, and is usually a temperature exceeding room temperature (20 ° C), preferably 30 ° C or higher. If it is more than the above temperature range and the lower limit of the time range, the food granules can be dried in a short time. If it is below the upper limit of the above temperature range, excessive heating of the food particles can be prevented.

Further, by drying at a high temperature for a short period of time, the drying treatment time is preferably from 90 to 140 ° C, and more preferably from 100%, from the viewpoint that the degree of hardness of the pet food can be kept relatively low while being relatively low. At 110 ° C, the heat treatment time is preferably from 1 minute to 120 minutes, more preferably from 5 minutes to 60 minutes, and even more preferably from 10 minutes to 30 minutes.

The temperature of the aforementioned heat treatment may be the same as or different from the temperature of the drying treatment. The moisture content and hardness of the food granules can be adjusted to specific values by the aforementioned drying treatment.

After drying, it can be further included to contain crude tallow, seasoning or A coating agent such as a fragrance, which coats the pet food of the present invention.

The coating method is not particularly limited and can be carried out, for example, by a vacuum coating method.

The vacuum coating method is a method in which the heated food particles are brought into contact with or adhered to the coating agent, and then the pressure is reduced, and then the atmosphere is slowly opened. The coating agent may be in the form of a liquid or a powder. The aforementioned coating agent can be used to improve the preference (fed) of the pet. The obtained pet food preferably has the aforementioned hardness regardless of the presence or absence of coating.

[Examples]

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail by way of examples, but the invention is not limited to the examples below. Hereinafter, the % expressed in the examples means the weight %.

Hereinafter, the methods for producing pet foods of Examples 1 to 9, Reference Examples 1 and 2, and Comparative Example 1 will be described.

First, each of the raw materials used in the manufacture of the pet foods of Examples 1 to 9 and Reference Examples 1 and 2 was prepared in accordance with the blending ratio (% by weight) of Formulations 1 to 7 shown in Table 2. Similarly, each raw material used for the manufacture of the pet food of Comparative Example 1 was prepared at the mixing ratio of the comparative example formulation shown in Table 2.

Each formulation was mixed using a pre-conditioner (kneading machine) and heat treated at 80-110 ° C for 1-2 minutes. At this time, water is added to the raw material immediately before the heat treatment in the drum. The amount of the water added in each of the examples is shown in the column of the added water in Table 3 below. Next, a plurality of drums of the extrusion molding machine are continuously connected by a drum number 1 to 6, and a screw is used in each of the drums to sequentially pass the raw material from the drum 1 to perform heat treatment, heat treatment, and mixing. For the drum, the inner diameter is 83 mm, the screw length is 1040 mm, and the passage time of the raw material drum 1 to the drum 6 is set to about 10 seconds. The passing speed in each drum of the raw material is constant. The shape of the screw used in the manufacture of each of the examples, the reference examples, and the comparative examples is shown in Table 3.

The heat treatment conditions in the above-mentioned drums 1 to 6 are shown in Table 4 below.

Next, the raw material was extruded to the drum 6 and extruded from the metal cap, and granulated to obtain a slightly cylindrical food pellet having a diameter of 8 mm and a height of 8 mm. Subsequently, the obtained food granules were dried at about 100 to 120 ° C for about 20 minutes in a dryer to obtain a pet food of the present invention.

The hardness of the obtained pet food was measured using a digital dynamometer of the above physical property measuring machine using a conical die press. These results are shown in Table 3.

The moisture content of the pet food is determined by the above-described atmospheric pressure heating and drying method. These results are shown in Table 3.

The gelatinization degree of the pet food of Reference Example 1, Example 1, Example 3, Example 4 and Comparative Example 1 was measured by the second method of the aforementioned glucoamylase. The measurement department was commissioned by the Food Analysis Center of the Japanese Foundation. These results are shown in Table 3. The degree of gelatinization was measured using 1.25 g of the sample. The value of the degree of gelatinization is the average of the analytical values of the two samples.

[Evaluation of hobby]

The taste of each pet food produced by the dog was evaluated by the following method.

The results are shown in Table 3. In Table 3, the expression value A of "value A: numerical value B" indicates the degree of preference (degree) of the pet food for each test subject, and the value B indicates the degree of preference (degree) of the pet food to be compared. . Value A + value B = 100. For example, the preference result of Example 1 is "83:17". This indicates that the preference for the pet food of Example 1 was 83, and the preference for the pet food of Comparative Example 1 was 17.

The evaluation method of hobby is as follows.

First, the pet foods of the pet foods of the test subjects 1 to 2, the examples 1 to 5, and the pet foods of the comparative examples and the pet foods of the respective comparison objects (Comparative Example 1, Reference Example 1, and Example 6) were combined. ), prepare a total of 8 groups of pet food. For each group, 10 or 20 dogs were used as monitoring tests for 2 days. In Table 3, the test for medium-sized dogs was monitored by Miguel dogs, and the tests for small dogs were monitored with dachshund dogs, Pomeranian dogs, red VIPs, Yorkshire dogs, and butterfly dogs.

On the first day, the pet food of each group started from the left and the other side started from the right, and the dog 1 was given a specific amount at the same time, and the dog's consumption amount was measured after a certain period of time. The amount given was 250 g when given to MiGlu, and 100 g when given to small dogs. The amount of consumption of the dog was measured in MiGlu 20 minutes after the pet food was given, and the small dog was performed 60 minutes after the pet food was given.

The food intake of the pet food of the test example and the food intake of the pet food of the comparative example were determined by percentage in the weight of the total pet food consumed on the first day of the dog. The percentage obtained from 10 or 20 dogs monitored was taken as the average of the results on day 1.

On the second day, among the pet foods of each group, one side started from the right and the other side started from the left, and the dog 1 was given 40 g at a time, and the amount of the dog was measured after one hour.

The food intake of the pet food of the test example and the food intake of the pet food of the comparative example were determined by percentage in the weight of the total pet food consumed on the second day of the dog. The percentages obtained from the 20 dogs monitored were taken as the average of the results on day 2.

Finally, the results of Day 1 and Day 2 were averaged to determine the ratio of food intake (hobby) of the final result. The higher the value of the preference, the more the monitored dog prefers to eat.

From the results shown in Table 3, it can be understood that the pet foods having the hardness of 24.5 N or less in Examples 1 to 5 and Example 7 are pet foods of Comparative Example 1 and the pets of Reference Examples 1 and 2 having a hardness of more than 24.5 N. Food has a higher hobby.

Moreover, it can be understood that the lower the hardness of the pet food, the higher the preference for the pet food. This can be understood from the comparison of the results of the preference test of Example 1 with the raw material of the same formulation 1 and the comparison of the preference test of Example 1 with the medium dog. The pet food of Example 1 has a taste test which is smaller than the pet food of Reference Example 1 and is compared with the pet food of Reference Example 1 as compared with the pet food of Reference Example 1. High hobby. Similarly, a comparison between the reference example 2 of the same formulation 1 and monitored by the small dog and the preference test of the example 2 can be understood. The pet food of Example 2 had a higher preference than the pet food of Reference Example 2 in a preference test in which the degree of hardness was lower than that of the pet food of Reference Example 2 and Comparative Example 1 was used as a comparison object. Further, in the preference test conducted by Comparative Example 1 as a comparison object (reference example 2, example 2 to example 5), the pet food of Example 3 having the smallest degree of hardness had the highest preference. Sex.

Further, from the results shown in Table 3, it is found that the lower the degree of starch gelatinization of the pet food, the lower the hardness of the pet food. These can be grasped by comparing the gelatinization degree of the pet foods of Reference Example 1, Example 1, and Example 3, which were produced using 62% of wheat flour as a raw material. Among the three pet foods, the lower the gelatinization value and the lower the hardness of the pet food.

On the other hand, in the pet food of Example 4 produced by using 62% of bread flour as a raw material, since the bread flour was used instead of the wheat flour, it was found that the degree of hardness of the pet food was improved while suppressing the degree of hardness to be low.

Moreover, when low-gluten flour is used especially in wheat flour, it is known that the hardness of the pet food can be lowered. According to the comparison between Example 1 and Example 3, the pet food of Example 3 produced by using low-gluten flour instead of the third-class powder was found to have a low degree of hardness and a high degree of preference.

In the mixing of raw materials, mixing raw materials containing starch sources and fats also has the effect of reducing the hardness of pet foods. From the comparison of Example 7 and Example 8, it is known that 3% tallow is reduced by the self-mixing raw material. The pet food of Example 8 produced by the formulation had a higher degree of hardness than the pet food of Example 7.

In addition, it is known that pet food is produced by adding water to the raw material to be heat-treated in the drum of the extrusion molding machine, and the amount of water added is 10% by weight or less based on the heat-treated raw material. A pet food manufactured under the condition that the amount of water added is more than 11% by weight is low in hardness.

The components, the combinations thereof, and the like of the embodiments described above are merely examples, and the additions, omissions, substitutions, and other changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Further, the present invention is not limited by the embodiments, and is limited only by the scope of the patent application (claim).

[Industrial availability]

The pet food of the present invention is a dry pet food, and can provide a pet food which is manufactured by extrusion molding, but has a low degree of hardness and is excellent in the edible taste of pets, and can be widely applied to the field of pet animals.

Claims (11)

A pet food characterized by granulating a raw material by extrusion molding, having a water content of 12% by weight or less and a hardness of 24.5 N or less. The pet food of claim 1, wherein the aforementioned raw material comprises a starch source. The pet food of claim 2, wherein the gelatinization degree of the starch is 18% to 90%. The pet food of claim 2 or 3, wherein the starch source is a material having a gelatinization temperature of 65 ° C or higher. A pet food according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein wheat flour is used as the aforementioned starch source. A pet food according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein bread flour is used as the aforementioned starch source. A method of producing a pet food according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the raw material is granulated by extrusion molding. The method of producing a pet food according to claim 7, wherein the raw material containing the starch source and the fat or oil is mixed. The method of producing a pet food according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the raw material is heat-treated in a drum of an extrusion molding machine in a range of from 60 ° C to 140 ° C. The method for producing a pet food according to claim 9, wherein the raw material is heat-treated in a drum of an extrusion molding machine in a range of from 100 ° C to 140 ° C, and the heat treatment time is in the drum of the extrusion molding machine. The passage time in the temperature range is 1 second or longer and 10 seconds or shorter. The method of producing a pet food according to claim 9 or 10, wherein water is added to the raw material heat-treated in the drum of the aforementioned extrusion molding machine, and the amount of water added is heated in the drum of the aforementioned extrusion molding machine. The raw material to be treated is 10% by weight or less.