As the 20^th anniversary of the scientific discipline called Molecular Gastronomy is being celebrated, the programme of the discipline seems now to be well determined. Also two formalisms for describing the building of dishes are fused into one, called CDS/NPOS formalism.

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To determine the effect of pressure-shift-freezing, boiled egg was pressurized at 200 MPa and -18℃. The structure, texture and the amount of drip of this egg were compared to those of eggs frozen at atmospheric pressure in a pressure vessel at -18℃ and frozen in freezers (-18, -30 or -80℃). Freezing time was shortest to longest with amount of drip least to greatest when the sample was pressure-shift-frozen at 200 MPa and -18℃ < frozen in a -80℃ freezer < placed in a pressure vessel at 0.1 MPa and -18℃ < -30℃ freezer < -18℃ freezer, respectively. Ice crystals were smaller in the pressure-shift-frozen albumen than in the other treated albumen. As freezing temperature increased, the space that surrounded the yolk spheres became large due to formation of ice crystals. However, the rupture stress and strain of pressure-shift-frozen gel did not change greatly. Thus, pressure-shift-freezing was effective in improving the quality of frozen boiled egg.

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The cooking properties of hasshomame, the Japanese velvet bean (JVB) and Florida velvet bean (FVB), both being mucuna beans, were investigated and the optimum cooking conditions were determined. Both beans contain more protein and lipid than other starchy beans, and around 4 g of L-DOPA/100 g of raw beans. The JVB water absorption was much less than that of FVB, soy and azuki beans. It was increased by roasting, scratching the skin or being hulled, and improved by soaking in hot water in a temperature range of 40-90℃. However, soaking at 50-70℃ hardened the beans. Boiling for 40 min after soaking at 90℃ for 4 h were considered as the optimum cooking conditions for JVB. The amount of L-DOPA decreased to about 40% after soaking and then to 25% after cooking. It was concluded that JVB and FVB have high potential as food materials by applying the optimum conditions determined in this study.

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Yogurt-gel samples, prepared by mixing yogurt with gelatin or agar-derived gelling agents with various molecular weights, were tested to determine how the different physical properties of the samples affected their ease of eating by healthy subjects and the suprahyoid muscular activity while swallowing. The samples with a bolus evaluated as “easily mobile while being conveyed from the oral cavity to the pharynx” were found to require significantly shorter suprahyoid muscular activity time, as well as significantly smaller momentum of suprahyoid muscular activity than the other samples. Each sample bolus was substantially deformed while being conveyed from the oral cavity to the pharynx. The results suggest that the physical properties obtained from substantial deformation of the yogurt-gel samples had an effect on the momentum of suprahyoid muscular activity taking place while swallowing the samples.

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The effect of several types of salt on the physical properties of Japanese noodles was determined. The physical properties and a sensory evaluation of Japanese noodles made with edible salts were also investigated. The effect of different types of salt showed that the dough made with potassium chloride was easily extensible, whereas the dough made with calcium sulfate was difficult to stretch. It is considered that this effect was due to the differing degree of gluten formation. Boiled Japanese noodles made with magnesium chloride and with calcium chloride were softer than those made with other salts. Although the physical properties of raw Japanese noodles differed according to the type of edible salt used, the difference was not significant. There was no difference in the physical properties or sensory evaluation of boiled Japanese noodles according to the type of edible salt used. It is considered that Japanese noodles made with edible salts do not differ in either texture or taste.

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The effects of carbonyl compounds on flavor score as an index for the deterioration of frying oil was investigated. The differences in composition and quantity of carbonyl compounds were measured to assess whether a sample oil could be identified by a sensory evaluation. Although it was possible to recognize the difference of carbonyl value in the initial stage of deterioration of the oil, this became more difficult as the deterioration advanced. The influence of such other factors as viscosity and polar compounds is thought to have been the reason for this.

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To clarify the relationship between the edge shape and sensory evaluation of Japanese kitchen knives (JKKs), we measured the roughness, sharpness and ground taste of four edges of JKK at 50%, 70%, 80% and 100% of completion as sharpened by two experts, and examined the relationship between these parameters. The 70% and 80% edges were significantly (P<0.05～0.01) rougher than the other edges, while the 100% edge was the smoothest of all as measured on a photomicrograph. The edge surface roughness and edge angle measured by a laser displacement meter tended to be similar among the edges. The scores for the sharpness and “ground taste” evaluated by an expert, using Sheffe's method of pair comparison, tended to be higher for the 100% edge than the other edges. The sharpness of the 100% edge was greater than that of 50% edge, even when the roughness of 100% edge was limited, and the roughness of the edge was significantly correlated negatively (p<0.05) with the sharpness. Thus, a small degree of roughness of a knife edge may improve the sharpness when the variation in surface roughness and edge angle is relatively small.

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A sensory evaluation was carried out on taro corms of seven varieties cooked in four different ways: steamed, steamed and seasoned with miso, boiled with seasoning, and cut and boiled in miso soup. The taste quality and texture related to stickiness, firmness and mealiness were evaluated.
Among the varieties, there were significant differences in the taste quality of the two kinds of steamed dishes, but there were no significant differences in the taste quality of the boiled dish and that boiled in miso soup. There were significant differences among varieties in every texture assessment with all cooking methods. There was a positive correlation between the assessment for taste quality and the texture related to mealiness with all cooking methods.

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Vol. 42 (2009) No. 1 p. 9

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