Soup-stocks were prepared from three kinds of Niboshi (little dried sardines) different in size (small, medium and large). The tastes and the extractable components were compared among soup-stocks prepared by different methods in order to find a suitable method for soup-stock from each size of Nibosi. The result showed that the extraction of the components from the small-sized Nibosi was faster than that from the medium-and large-sized Niboshi, and it is considered to be attributed to the largeness of their surface parts. The small-sized Nibosi gave good stock with much umami by boiling for 3 minutes after soaking them in water for 30 minutes, or by boiling them for 5 minutes without keeping in water before heating; while in the case of medium- and large-sized Nibosi, they were cut into pieces so as to make the surface larger, and heated, then boiled thoroughly for 10-30minutes.

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The optimum values for cooking conditions were searched by random centroid optimization method to obtain good quality of cooked indica type rice. It was clarified that the optimum volume of water and the soaking time for indica type rice were 1.86 and 55min., respectively, and the optimum soaking temperature was in the range of 38-42°C. The overall evaluation score of cooked Indica type rice under the conditions described above was 1.1 on a 11 point scale (+5: very good, -5: very bad) using Nihonbare as the control.

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Physicochemical properties were determined with seven kinds of rice (long-grain variety) collected locally in the countries, Thailand and the Philippines. The results obtained were as follows;
(1) The moisture contents were slightly lower. The color tone of white rice was similar to that of common domestic products in Japan but the color degrees were numerically expressed for red and black rice, respectively. The protein contents were similar to those of domestic products in Japan. The amylose contents varied among samples those of the nonglutinous line spread over a wide range of 17.0-30.4%, while the contents of the glutinous line and dull endosperm line were 3.2% and 7.4%, respectively. The alkaline degradation was widely different among the samples.
(2) The compositions of main free sugars were glucose, sucrose and maltose, which were the same as those of Japanese products. The compositions of fatty acids were palmitic, oleic (O) and linoleic acid (L); which were the same as those of Japanese products but the O/L ratios in these samples were higher as a whole, and it was inferred that the stability of these fats might be high.
(3) The characteristic values obtained by viscogram showed remarkably high degree of retrogradation irrespective of the levels of amylose contents in the nonglutinous line. The factors responsible for the characteristic remain to be solved. The glutinous and intermediate glutinous lines showed similar viscosities to those of Japanese products. In these samples, it was also a striking characteristic that breakdown values were generally low.

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“Saibashi” is the chopsticks which are used for various types of cooking including simmering, oiling, saut, frying, etc. and used for dishing up. Althoungh many kinds of chopsticks are sold in the market, few studies have been made as to which type of chopsticks are easy to use and as to how they can be selected in accordance with the type of cooking.
This report was attempted to research on the cooking functionalities of “saibashi” and its selective use in the each type of cooking. With 5 types of dishes being actually cooked, the comparison was made for the following sets of chopsticks sold in the market: (1) short-size (30cm) and long -size (33cm) chopsticks; (2) chopsticks with and without non-slippery treatment; (3) chopsticks with and without strings; (4) metal-made and bamboo-made chopsticks. The evaluations were made according to the 5-point scoring method with 10-11 items.
The following findings were obtained: 1. When used for cooking in direct contact with heat, i. e., frying and saute, long-size chopsticks were preferable because it was unlikely that the hands would feel too hot and would contact the oil. For other types of cooking, however, short-size chopsticks were easier to use.
2. The chopsticks with strings at the top were rated lower in respect to 10 items than those without strings.
3. The chopsticks with non-slippery treatment at the top were rated higher in respect to 10 items than those without non-slippery treatment.
4. The metal chopsticks for frying with the holding parts coated with plastics were rated higher during the frying process than the ordinary type-bamboo chopsticks. In respect to other 9 items, however, the bamboo-made ones were rated higher.
5. For the types of cooking like saute and frying using strong fire, long-size chosticks were preferable. For other types of cooking, however, short-size, no-string and non-slippery chopsticks were easy to use.
From these results it was observed that the chopsticks should be selected in accordance with the type of cooking.

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Bacterial contamination, the amounts of sodium, potassium, and salt, water activity and the free amino acids composition of “Izushi” and “Kirikomi” were examined. The results were as follows:
1. Bacterial counts isolated from “Izushi and Kirikomi” were 10³-10⁸/g. The detected ratio of coliform organisms, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus of “Izushi” and “Kirikomi” were 5.6%,0% and 0%, respectively.
2. The averages of contents of salt and potassium, and water activity of “Izushi” and “Kirikomi”were 2.7%,84.6 mg/100g and 0.93, and 6.7%,88.9 mg/100g,0.89, respectively.
3. The total amounts of free amino acids of “Izushi” and “Kirikomi” were 108.9mg/100g-809.3mg/100g, and 374.6 mg/100g-1,118 mg/100g, respectively. The major free amino acids of “Izushi”were glutamic acid, glycine, anserine and leucine, and the major free amino acids of “Kirikomi” were glutamic acid, alanine and anserine. The contents of glutamic acid were 3.5%-37.5%, and 18.6%-77.6% of total free amino acids, respectively.

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An investigation was made for factors affecting the peculiar gelatinization characteristics observed in rice, particularly in nonglutinous line collected locally in Thailand and the Philippines in the previous report, i. e. a phenomenon with high degree of retrogradation and low breakdown irrespective of the level of amylose content.
The physical and chemical properties of rice samples were considered by the measurements of following 6 items, i. e. α-amylase activity, gelatinization heat by DSC, changes in transmittancy by photopastegraphy, RVA characteristics in starch and CWD-flour (removal-cell wall decomposition product), distribution of side chain length of amylopectin, rice during storage.
Although the high degree of retrogradation of high amylose rice was in accordance with the previous report, it is supposed that rice aging is concerned with the phenomena in which the high degree of retrogradation observed in milled rice flour (and brown rice flour) of low amylose nonglutinous rice was not observed in samples of starch and those removal-cell wall decomposition product. More studies seems to be necessary since rice aging alone cannot adequately explain this remarkable retrogradation.

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Physical and chemical properties of new-character-acquired rice varieties and their application for processed foods were tested.
(1) The physical and chemical properties were measured for the following 11 items, i. e., moisture content, color tone, protein content, amylose content, blue value, photopastegram, degree of alkaline degradation, free sugar component, boiling rice characteristics, water absorption characteristic and viscogram characteristic value.
(2) Five foodstuffs were produced, i. e., which were drink extracted from roasted brown rice, brown rice-meal-containing milk-drink, rice jelly, Ohchikara rice gruel and rice-containing soupdrink. A novelty of the products was found in the rice jelly and rice-containing soup-drink.

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