Enzyme-treated hesperidin, process for producing the same and method of using enzyme-treated hesperidin

Abstract

An enzyme-treated hesperidin, comprising alpha-glucosyl hesperidin, hesperidin and beta-monoglucosyl hesperetin, wherein the content of hesperidin is 0.1 part or less by weight; and that of beta-monoglucosyl hesperetin, 0.1 to 0.5 part by weight, on the basis of 1 part by weight of alpha-glucosyl hesperidin. The present invention also provides a process to produce enzyme-treated hesperidin, which comprises subjecting a solution containing alpha-glucosyl hesperidin and intact hesperidin to alpha-L-rhamnosidase to convert the intact hesperidin into beta-monoglucosyl hesperetin. The enzyme-treated hesperidin, which is excellent in water solubility and is free from crystal precipitation (clouding) even if stored for a prolonged period of time, can be produced from a material containing alpha-glucosylhesperidin and hesperidin by conducting the above simple treatment of material. The present invention further provides a method of using the enzyme-treated hesperidin. The enzyme-treated hesperidin can be used in the prevention of clouding of a canned tangerine and prevention of fading of natural coloring matter.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.