Abstract
A study was made on the physical properties, masticability and sensory attributes to develop an easy-to-eat boil-in-the-bag food that uses burdock, a root vegetable favored by senior citizens. The results indicate that the longer the time spent in pressurizing and heating the burdock, and the larger the surface area of the shape into which the burdock is formed, the more tender the burdock becomes when cooked. The study also revealed that forming the burdock into a shape that allows it to be masticated from a diagonal angle relative to its fibers, the less the time required for mastication and the easier it was to eat. These results imply that burdock can be cooked until it is sufficiently tender to eat with ease by optimizing the time spent in pressurizing and heating the burdock, and by forming into a shape with sufficient surface area for heating and with the fibers arranged diagonally for mastication.
