In order to prevent E. coli O 157: H 7 food poisoning, a procedure must be devised to ascertain that the temperature has reached 75°C inside a hamburger steak. In this study, the relationship was established between the internal temperature of a beef hamburger steak and the condition of the meat juice expressed from the inside. In the process of baking in a gas-convection oven at 230°C, the color of the meat juice initially turned from red to brownish yellow. When the lowest internal temperature of the hamburger patty had reached 75°C, the juice became decidedly transparent and, as a sensory test showed, the steak was in a suitably cooked condition.

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A computer simulation was used to carry out a quantitative study of the effects of the size and shape of a sample on the optimum cooking time at 99.5°C. The softening ratio was evaluated on the basis of a thermal conduction analysis combined with the softening rate constant. The optimum cooking time, which is defined as the time required for the optimum softening ratio, was obtained at the center of various differently shaped samples. When the sample volume was kept constant, the optimum cooking time was in the order of sphere>cube>cylinder or rectangular brick>slab. In the case of constant volume, the larger the surface area, the shorter the optimum cooking time. The increase in optimum cooking time of the slab sample with increasing volume was remarkably small due to the low ratio of volume to surface area. It has been quantitatively proved that a slab is best for a short optimum cooking time and for efficient control of hardness during food processing.

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We studied the effects of onion on the flavor of soup stock which had been prepared from beef and water.
Scum, which contained crude protein, crude fat and unpleasant substances, was obtained by skimming the surface of the soup stock with a polypropylene sheet. The SDE extract from the scum of the soup stock had an unpleasant odor of boiled beef. Aliphatic aldehydes were found to be the main components of the scum extract by GC and GC-MS analyses, and these seemed to cause the unpleasant odor of the soup stock.
SDE extracts from the soup stock with and without onion were prepared and analyzed. The soup stock prepared with onion had a sweet soup flavor, with a less unpleasant odor than the soup stock without onion. The content of aliphatic aldehydes in the soup stock with onion was lower than that of the soup stock without onion.
The effects of onion slices, an onion distillate and some antioxidants on inhibiting the oxidation of corn oil by heating it in water were examined. Quercetin and the onion slices inhibited the production of aliphatic aldehydes. These results show that quercetin and unknown non-volatile components of onion inhibited the oxidative degradation of fat by heating and contributed to the desirable flavor of soup stock.

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Samples of savory cup custard obtained from the food service industry were analyzed for the concentration of egg solution by the amount of protein, for the ratio of egg yolk solution by the total amount of phophorous, and for the quantity of dried bonito by the amount of histidine.
The concentration of egg solution in the samples of savory cup custard prepared by the food service industry varied from 21.9% to 33.2%. The ratio of egg yolk to egg solution and the bonito concentration in the samples from special shops were larger than in those from general shops.
The sensory evaluation result showed that the savory cup custard with an egg solution concentration of 25%, a breaking strength of 3734±267 Pa and a storage modulus of 135±18 Pa was most favored by the panelists.
The ratio of egg yolk to egg solution corresponded to the breaking strength. It is clear that both the 30∼40% and 65∼80% ratio of egg yolk to whole egg contributed to the firmness of a good savory cup custard. It is suggested that the addition of egg yolk to whole egg is the best method for preparing savory cup custard. The samples prepared at the ratio of 65∼80% egg yolk to whole egg did not have a smooth texture and strong egg yolk flavor which is not a desirable feature in a good-quality savory cup custard.

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The effect of cooking on the properties of a special egg enriched with vitamin E and α-linoleic acid was studied and compared with that of a normal egg (control). The elasticity and viscosity of the heated special egg white were higher than those of the normal egg white, although the difference was not significant. Enrichment with vitamin E and α-linoleic acid had no a pronounced effect on the elasticity or viscosity of the heated egg white, but influenced the cohesiveness of the heated special egg yolk and the viscosity of the egg yolk. The addition of vitamin E and α-linoleic acid increased the emulsifying properties of the special egg yolk. The lipid particle size of the special egg yolk was smaller than that of the normal egg yolk, so it is suggested that the lipid particle size is related to the cooking properties of egg yolk.

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Round slices of cucumber were soaked in nine kinds of aqueous solution composed of a fixed concentration of either 2.5,5.0, or 10.0% NaCl and various concentrations of sorbitol between 10.0and 40.0%. These aqueous solutions covered a wider range of NaCl concentration than those previously examined. The permeation of sorbitol and NaCl into the flesh, as well as the moisture content(%) of the flesh were investigated with the progress of soaking time at 4°C.
The permeation of NaCl into the flesh increased with increasing NaCl concentration in the soaking solution and was unaffected by the coexistence of sorbitol, whereas the permeation of sorbitol increased with increasing sorbitol concentration, but was slightly affected by the coexistence of NaCl. NaCl and sorbitol permeated into the flesh while maintaining a uniform weight ratio throughout the soaking process. The ratio of NaCl and sorbitol was largely dependent on the composition of the soaking solution.
The NaCl or sorbitol concentration in the cucumber flesh increased proportionally with increasing partial osmotic pressure of NaCl or sorbitol in the soaking solution, although the rate of increase for sorbitol was relatively less with the higher ranges of partial osmotic pressure provided by sorbitol. There was a strong negative correlation between the concentration of permeated NaCl or sorbitol and the moisture content of the flesh. The relationship varied somewhat according to the composition of the soaking solution.
There was a strong positive correlation between the rate of reduction of the moisture content of the flesh and the combined osmotic pressure for all the soaking solutions examined. These results provide useful data for practical control of the quality of soaked cucumber products.

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The appropriate picking time for dokudami (Huttuynia cordata) tea is generally considered to be at the termination of the flower-like white involucre. Therefore, we classified the growth period of dokudami into the sprouting, seed setting, and true leaf stages, analyzed the contents of inorganic components at these stages, and analyzed contents of inorganic components in the leaves and flowers in the seed setting stage. In addition, the importance of the tea picking time was evaluated by a correlation analysis and principle component analysis.
Among the inorganic components of dokudam i, the content of potassium was the highest, and the contens of calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese and zinc increased with growth. The content of copper was high in the flowers after diplophase parthenogenesis.
Inorganic components increased at a potassium: calciu m ratio of about 6: 1 and at a manganese: magnesium ratio of about 80: 1. The calcium: potassium ratio changed inversely to the copper content that was observed in the flowers and in the true leaf stage.
A principle component analysis revealed calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, and copper as the principle components.
These appeared to be the principle inorganic components of dokudami and to increase due to diplophase parthenogenesis. A principle component analysis a ccording to the growth stage showed that the specificity of flowers could be estimated from two-dimensional scatter diagrams. The appropriate picking time for dokudami tea is empirically considered to be at the termination of the involucre, and the analysis according to the growth stage and the analysis of the flowers and leaves confirmed this. To improve the abnormal gustatory that is sensation associated with a modern diet or with insufficient intake of inorganic components by aged persons, dokudami tea brewed from a herbal plant provides a readily drunk remedy.

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The effect of the viscosity of cornstarch on the taste intensity of the saltiness of NaCl and of the sweetness of sugar was studied by using the magnitude estimation technique with a 0.9 wt. % NaCl solution and a 10 wt. % sugar solution, no added cornstarch being used as the standard. The perceived taste intensity of both saltiness and sweetness was not changed from the standard with a 4 wt. %cornstarch solution, but was reduced with the 8 and 10 wt. % cornstarch solutions. The salty and sweet tastes with 10 wt. % cornstarch were 80% and 65% of the standard values, respectively. Viscosity at a shear rate 50 s^-1 was increased markedly in solutions with a cornstarch concentration of more than 2 wt. %. These results suggest that the perceived taste intensity of saltiness and sweetness was decreased by the highly viscous starch solutions.

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We compared the dishes offered at Shinto shrines in the Nara and Kyoto area on the ocation of festivals. The research in this study into the current offerings of food according to Shinto rites proved helpful in understanding the meals of ancient times.
The use of fish, shellfish and seaweed varied region ally. At the time of the Kasuga festival, most are served uncooked, whereas at the Iwashimizu festival and Kamo festival, dried seafood are relatively common, and flying fish were offered at the Kamo festival.
The Kamo festival and Iwashimizu festival origin ally took place when could obtain abundant seafoods and farm products, so people these days use various other materials for preparing the offerings.
In respect of the cooking method, fish are sliced and stacked in parallel crosses at the Kasuga festival, whereas black soybeans, soybeans and red beans are offered instead of fish at the On festival. The use of vegetables also varies on the Kasuga festival, On festival and Kakitsu festival occasions. Chinese sweets are also offered at Shrines. Hyakumi-no-Onj iki is an offering in which all the materials are round-shaped, its other distinctive feature being the use of vegetables harvested locally.

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