The difference in retrogradation from boiling potatoes in hon-mirin and water was compared. The boiled potatoes were preserved under some conditions. The degree of gelatinization was measured by the β-amylase-pullulanase method, the viscosity profiles of potato starch and potato flour were determined with a Rapid Visco Analyzer, and the surface structure of the potatoes after boiling was observed by electron microscopy.
The degree of gelatinization of the Potatoes boiled with hon-mirin was higher than that with water after 8hours of preservation at room temperature and after 24 hours at 5°C.
The maximum viscosity of potato starch after boiling in a lactic acid solution was lower than that after boiling in water, while boiling in a sugar solution increased the maximum viscosity. The viscosity profile resulting from a mixture of sugar, lactic acid and ethanol was similar to that from hon-mirin.

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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.

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The effects of rate of temperature increase and holding temperature during cooking on the amounts of chemical components in rice grains were investigated. Five rates of temperature increase were studied. The total and reducing sugar contents of the rice grains increased with increasing rate of temperature. However, the amount of glucose significantly increased (p<0.001) at lower rates, while the amounts of fructose and sucrose did not chance. The amounts of total amino acids significantly increased (p<0.05) during cooking, although the increase was scarcely affected by the rate of temperature increase. Three temperatures held at 40,60 and 80°C for 15minutes were also studied, The amounts of total and reducing sugars increased, especially with holding at 60°C, glucose significantly increased at 60°C (p<0.001)and 80°C (p<0.05), while fructose and sucrose did not change. The total amino acids significantly increased at 40°C and 60°C (p<0.05) although the effect was much less than that on glucose.

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Desalination using salt water of a low concentration is called “Yobi-shio”, and many cookbooks recommend the use of salt to desalt. Analysis of sodium, potassium, magnesium, free amino acids and 5'-nucleotides was carried out after the desalination using water and NaCl solution, to clarify whether the elution of taste ingredients caused by diffusion was the only factor affecting the taste and what kinds of taste ingredients were affected during the desalination of kazunoko. Sodium and magnesium eluted at lower contents in desalination using NaCl solution than using water, but potassium was not affected. Free amino acids in the soaking solution increased with time and that of desalted kazunoko decreased. The sum of the total free amino acids in desalted kazunoko and that of the soaking solution with desalination using water after 15 hours was 1.8 times that of kazunoko, but that using 3% NaCl was not increased at all. Moreover, the contents of total free amino acids in desalted kazunoko using water after 15 hours was twice that using 3% NaCl solution. Among these free amino acids, the hydrophobic amino acids which are said to be bitter occupied 70%. These results indicate that free amino acids were produced by protease during the desalination using water.

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The purpose of this study is to examine “Hocho-Ambai, ” a culinary magazine in the mid-Meiji era, and clarify how culinary education was treated in that age.
For the analysis, articles printed in all 37 volumes of “Hocho-Ambai, ” (1886 to 1891) and judged to describe the cooking and education of professional cooks in the mid-Meiji era were examined from the viewpoint of gender.
The results obtained are described below. Our analysis clarified that a culinary education was provided in “Hocho-Ambai, ” as (1) a culinary education for male cooks, and (2) a culinary education for females to develop into good wives and wise mothers as well as (3) a culinary vocational education for both genders. The third finding is a new discovery. In that age, a culinary vocational education for women who ran self-supporting restaurants was clearly recognized, and the courses of cooking schools proposed by the Society of Food Research included a vocational education for both genders.

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The influence of the drying methods by sunlight and hot air on the quality of rice was examined. A five-point palatability evaluation of the two methods was conducted by comparing the cohesiveness, taste and three factors of hardness. Cooked rice quality was better by sunlight drying than by hot-air drying from the five-point palatability evaluation. The gelatinization temperature was lower for sunlight drying than for hot-air drying due to the higher maximum viscosity. There was no clear difference in ESEM values, but there was the possibility that a difference in the shape of a starch grain due to drying method influenced the swelling characteristics. These results indicate the superior quality of rice that had been dried in sunlight because of better retention of the original taste.

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Soybeans soaked in water were ground with a domestic mixer and with stone mills (small for cereals and large for soybeans), and the effects of these different grinding methods on the lipid peroxidation of go (a ground unheated soybean slurry) were examined. The mixer increased the sample temperature during grinding, while the stone mills kept it unchanged or reduced it. Mixer grinding increased the PV and TBA values of the extracted oil with decreasing amount of the ground soybeans (30,60 or 90 g). Grinding with the small stone mill led to approximately the same PV as that by mixer grinding (90 g), but to a lower TBA value. Grinding with the large stone mill gave the smallest values for both PV and TBA. An increase in the grinding temperature tended to promote lipid peroxidation by each grinding method. Apart from the effect of temperature, however, the lipid peroxidation of go was suppressed by the use of stone mills, particularly by the large one.

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[in Japanese]

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