Texture modified (TM) rice cakes have been developed specifically for the elderly. We studied the textural properties and muscular activity of the subjects while chewing, and conducted a sensory evaluation to examine the ease of eating these TM rice cakes. The textural properties of a food bolus that was to be swallowed just before eating the TM rice cakes were also determined. The TM rice cake that was developed by us (S), a commercially available TM rice cake (K), and a conventional rice cake were used as samples. With regard to textural properties, we found that S and K had lower adhesive properties than did C. Sensory evaluation studies showed that S and K had a lower risk of getting lodged in the throat than did C. We also found that elderly persons with weak muscular activity found it easier to chew S and K as compared to C. Rice cakes usually get lodged in an elderly person's throat, and this could be the result of a reduction in chewing function with age. Because relations were noted with muscular activity and the risk of rice cakes getting lodged in the throat because of their adhesive properties, it became clear that the TM rice cakes were easier to eat owing to their controlled adhesive properties.

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This study investigates the physical properties and sensory characteristics of minced daikon-sol mixed samples. A sensory evaluation was conducted to compare differences in the perception of these food samples between young and elderly subjects.
i) Differences in rupture stress of daikon affect the ease of eating
The result of the sensory evaluation showed that firmness in the mouth was dependent on the rupture stress of the daikon. With increased firmness, elderly subjects reported lower cohesion in the mouth, as well as mane remains in the mouth. For the elderly, the ease of eating minced food can be improved by softening the solids.
ii) Differences in the proportions of daikon and sol affect the ease of eating
The results of the sensory evaluation showed that the sample containing the highest proportion of daikon was the least cohesive in the mouth, and was the most difficult to swallow for both the elderly and young subjects. However, the elderly subjects evaluated the sample containing the highest proportion of sol to be the most sticky and difficult to swallow.
The food texture suitable for young people was not necessarily good for elderly people in terms of as ease in eating.

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To determine the effects of high pressure and sucrose on improving the quality of frozen-thawed gel, kappa and iota carrageenan gels with 0, 5, 10 or 20% sucrose were frozen at 0.1~686 MP and −20°C. When pressurized at 200~400 MPa, they did not freeze. However, when pressure was released, the gels froze quickly by pressure-shift-freezing. Consequently, ice crystals and syneresis of pressure-shift-frozen κ-carrageenan gel were smaller than gels frozen at other pressures, although rupture stress decreased. Thus, pressure-shift-freezing was effective in improving the quality of frozen-thawed κ-carrageenan gels. Conversely, the trace of ice crystal was not observed in all frozen-thawed ι-carrageenan gels, syneresis was slight, and the quality of gels was the same as non-frozen gel. Thus, freezing tolerance of ι-carrageenan gels was greater than κ-carrageenan gels. The addition of sucrose to both kinds of gels was effective in improving the quality of frozen-thawed gels.

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To determine the effect of an addition of locust bean gum on improving the quality of frozen-thawed κ-carrageenan gel, two kinds of gel with locust bean gum were compared; A-gel was the mixed gel of κ-carrageenan and locust bean gum, B-gel was a marketed gelling agent “PEARLAGAR-8” gel with 8.3% glucose. Both gels with 0, 5, 10 or 20% sucrose were frozen at 0.1~686 MPa and −20°C. When pressurized at 200~400 MPa and −20°C, they froze quickly by pressure-shift-freezing, therefore small/round ice crystals formed and maintained the same course gel network as non-frozen gel. Changes in texture and syneresis were thus prevented. Because B-gel has more glucose than A-gel, the quality of frozen-thawed gel was best to worst in B-gel > A-gel > κ-carrageenan gel. Thus, the additions of locust bean gum and sucrose/glucose to gel were effective in improving quality of frozen-thawed κ-carrageenan gel.

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This study was conducted to measure temporal changes of fatty acids in fish (Maiwashi, sardine family) sauce during fermentation.
In the fish mixture, the significant differences of the total amount of fatty acids in both the control and the linoleic acid added samples were not observed during fermentation. The carbon number 22:6 (DHA) and 20:5 (EPA) decreased during fermentation process while carbon number 16:0 increased. The tendency of the fatty acid compositions of the linoleic acid added sample and the control sample were similar except for the linoleic acid, which significantly degraded in the linoleic acid added sample. The added linoleic acid was in a free form, so it was easy to oxidize and oxidation proceeded as fermentation progress.
In the fish sauce, the total fatty acid was significantly lower than in fish mixture suggesting that the fatty acids might still remain in the fish body during fermentation in both samples. After 12 months fermentation, the composition of other fatty acids in the linoleic acid added sample showed almost the same tendency as the control sample.
From these results, it was clear that the carbon number of some of the long chain fatty acids were cut shorter during fermentation. Linoleic acid did not affect major changes in the composition of fatty acid. This would suggest that addition of linoleic acid could have converted to short chain fatty acids since the composition of fatty acids after 12 months tended to be similar with the control.

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We studied the distribution of five good luck sweets traditional to the city of Kanazawa (goshiki-namagashi, himuro-manju, fukuume, kinkato, and sasagi-mochi) in Ishikawa Prefecture by surveying 34 Japanese confectionery stores in that prefecture.
Only fukuume was made and sold anywhere in Ishikawa Prefecture. Both goshiki-namagashi and sasagi-mochi were seen mainly in the Kaga region except the city of Kaga. The reason for the lack of distribution throughout the Noto Peninsula could be that this region has poor rice yields. The dearth of these sweets in the city of Kaga could be explained by the fact that Kaga residents were unable to adopt the traditional confectionery culture of Kanazawa due to severe economic conditions in the Edo period.
Even if the design of a particular sweet spread to areas outside of its origin, the sweet's cultural background and other various meanings would not always follow. Without this cultural background, such sweets may cease to exist.

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