ι-Carrageenan forms a strong viscoelastic gel which releases a small amount of liquid by syneresis, but smells like seaweed. This study investigates the gelling abilities of ι-carrageenan with water and sugar or milk added, and attempts to form a preferred ι-carrageenan gel for practical use.
Added milk reduced the seaweed-like smell of ι-carrageenan gel, while markedly increasing the gel strength. The most desirable ι-carrageenan gel was obtained at the following concentrations of ι-carrageenan with the respective materials added; 1.8-2.0% with water; 1.2-1.4% with water and 15% sugar; 0.5-0.7% with water and 50% milk; 0.4-0.6% with water,42.5% milk and 15% sugar.
A desirable gel could be formed by using a ι-carrageenan and κ-carrageenan mixture, that had appropriate hardness, released a small amount of liquid by syneresis, and maintained the gel structure, The ratio for the most desirable gel with milk and sugar was 70-50% of the preferred κ-carrageenan concentration to 30-50% of the preferred ι-carrageenan concentration, respectively.

View full abstract

The surface of newly cut cucumber fruit is astringent. It was found that the liquid exuded from the vascular bundles beneath the skin contained formate. We consider that this formate localized in the vascular bundles was the astringent substance in cucumber, because an aqueous solution of sodium formate had high astringency. It is traditionally believed that when the cut end of cucumber fruit is scrubbed against the cut surface of the remaining fruit, the unpleasant taste of the fruit is depressed. We compared the amounts of exudate from cut surfaces after cutting the fruit across the middle between the scrubbed fruit and the untreated fruit. The scrubbing treatment decreased the amount of exudate. It was confirmed by a sensory test that the astringency of the cucumber was depressed by the scrubbing treatment. We conclude that the scrubbing treatment was effective for discarding the liquid containing formate in the bundles and resulted in depressing the astringency of the fruit.

View full abstract

Simmer-cooking group, Kinki branch office, The Japan Society of Cookery Science A questionnaire survey was conducted in 2006 on college students' and kindergartners' families to investigate simmer-cooking use in the Kansai area. Many of the respondents reported cooking and eating simmer-cooked dishes three or four times a week. However, half of the respondents did not purchase prepared simmer-cooking products. The frequency of cooking and eating simmer-cooked dishes significantly differed according to the age of the respondents, their likes and dislikes for cooking, the cooking time available for meals and the number in the family. Compared with the results obtained in 2000, a larger number of respondents in 2006 did not purchase prepared simmer-cooked products, and correctly used basic seasoning and mixed seasoning products for simmercooking.

View full abstract