Flavor components in the steam generated during cooking rice grown in Hiroshima Prefecture, Hinohikari, in different years were identified and effects of long storage and washing method of rice before cooking on the flavor components were examined. In addition, the antioxidant potential of the flavor components were evaluated. The causative substances, such as aldehydes, alcohols, and fatty acids, of odor in old rice increased in increasing storage period. Furthermore, it was indicated that the increase in the number of polishing times in rice washing lowered the amounts of odor com-pounds in the steam and the antioxidant potential of the components.

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We carried out practical food education activities at vegetable retailers and supermarkets, for example by organizing “food workshops.” Following this education, the number of consumers who recognized the food balance guidelines rose from around 40% to 60%, allowing them to identify their optimal dietary habits, and the amount of their vegetable intake jumped from 280 to 320 grams. These figures suggest that the activities in store helped consumers to improve their food awareness and change their dietary behaviors.

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This study investigated processes for making bread using rice flour milled by impact crushing. Rice flour was classified into the following three particle-size classes: class 1 as < 100μm, class 2 as < 150μm, and class 3 as < 212μm. The highest evaluation was given to class 2; for this class, 7 of 10 items, including its total evaluation, received the highest score. In particular, a glutinous feeling, “mochi-mochi” was significantly higher in this class than in the other classes. This glutinous feeling and the cohesiveness of rice flour bread were highly associated with the total evaluation, while the specific volume and softness of wheat flour bread. Hence, these properties are proposed as new evaluation indexes for rice flour bread.

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The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between the additive rate of fiber powder with various particle size distribution and mechanical properties of powder added to udon noodle. Milled sawdust from hinoki cypress, which was sieved to three classes of 45-100, 100-250 and 250-355 µm, was employed as a dietary fiber model. The additive rate of the fiber powder was set to 1%, 3%, and 5% as mass percentages. The compression load of the raw dough with added powder and elastic modulus E₀ of both raw and boiled dough were increased along with the increase of the additive rate. However, the shear load of raw dough and cohesiveness showed a slight decrease with an increase in the additive rate. In contrast, the compress load of both raw and boiled dough and the elastic modulus E₀ of boiled dough significantly varied with the particle size distribution of added powder and the powder distribution in the dough, visualized using SEM, showed more of a spread, even if the additive rate was the same. It seems as though these results indicate the total number of powders added to the dough could affect the structural characteristics of the raw and boiled udon dough, such as gluten network structures.

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