PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new method of clarification treatment of tea extract by which the clarity of the tea extract can be heightened at an extraction step even when centrifugal separation is not applied.SOLUTION: The method of the clarification treatment of the tea extract includes feeding warm water to tea leaves, or inserting the tea leaves to the warm water, inserting hydrated silt to the resultant mixture, and filtering the extract. The clarification of the extract is carried out suitably without carrying out the centrifugal separation because the tea leaves having a light specific gravity gradually contact with the silt having a heavy specific gravity, to enable the tea leaves to be complicated with the silt by the caking property of the hydrated silt and to descend in the warm water to form a layer comprising the tea leaves and the silt at the bottom part of the extract, and the resultant layer functions as a suitable filtering layer.COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT【課題】遠心分離を行わない場合でも、抽出の段階で茶抽出液の清澄度を高めることができる、新たな茶抽出液の清澄化処理方法を提案する。【解決手段】茶葉に温水を給湯するか、或いは、温水に茶葉を投入するかした後、含水したシルトを投入して抽出液を濾過することを特徴とする茶抽出液の清澄化処理方法を提案する。比重の軽い茶葉と、比重の重いシルトが徐々に接触し、含水シルトの粘結性により茶葉と粘土が絡み合って温水中を降下して、茶葉とシルトとからなる層が抽出液内の底部に形成され、これが好適な濾過層として機能するため、遠心分離することなく好適に抽出液の清澄化を図ることができる。【選択図】なし
