This study explored a novel, processed food "breadcrumb-like okara", which can be substituted for breadcrumbs.

Breadcrumb-like okara can be prepared by filtration of bean-curd refuse through a colander and subsequent drying. In comparison with the grains of dried breadcrumbs, those of breadcrumb-like okara were more spherical. Change to the color of breadcrumb-like okara depended on its moisture content rather than the drying temperature.

Furthermore, foods with breadcrumb-like okara coating contained higher dietary fiber content than those coated with dried breadcrumbs. However, food with breadcrumb-like okara coating absorbed more oil, were more tough, possessed a brighter and more intense yellow color, and were more flavorful. Moreover, the water weight of breadcrumb-like okara before frying correlated with the weight loss, oil content, breaking stress, and breaking stress-strain ratio of the fried foods quality.

We investigated the impact of whole egg, egg yolk, egg white, and lecithin, on the rheological properties of bread dough to elucidate their effects on the physical properties including softness, specific volume, and microstructure of bread. Dynamic viscoelasticity measurements demonstrated that the dough made with whole egg, egg yolk, or lecithin all depicted higher tan δ above 35°C. Scanning electron microscopy indicated that the bread produced employing whole egg, egg yolk, or lecithin contained large gas cells with thin cell walls and starch granules surrounded by a gluten network. These results revealed that the inclusion of egg yolk or lecithin made the dough more viscous and expanded it in wide temperature ranges resulting in enhanced extensibility, gas retention, and expansibility as compared to egg white or without egg. Bread produced using egg yolk or lecithin had higher specific volume, softer crumb, and preferable texture.

The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in cooking and processing characteristics of apricot varieties in enzymatic browning. Five apricot varieties from Nagano Prefecture were examined for their characteristics in enzymatic browning. The total polyphenol content was significantly lower in "Shinshu sour" than the other four varieties, and polyphenol oxidase activity was significantly lower in "Shinshu sour" and "Shinyo" than the other three varieties. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity was significantly lower in "Shinshu sour" than in the other four varieties. There was a significant difference in brownness between "Shinshu Sour" and "Shinshu Ohmi". As the antioxidant activity and total polyphenol content results were similar, it was concluded that polyphenols are the main antioxidants in apricots.

To obtain fermentation seed culture, we cultured traditional "Inaniwa udon" dough in 5% or 10% saline medium. The concentration of halotolerant yeast obtained in the saline cultures exceeded 10⁶ colony forming units(CFU)/ml. However, the number of lactic acid bacteria was as low as 10⁴ CFU/ml, which differed from that of conventional fermented seed cultures. Hyphopichia burtonii, a halotolerant yeast, was predominant in 5% and 10% saline cultures.Addition of this saline culture to the bread dough promoted dough expansion, increased the specific volume of the bread (from~3 cm³/g to~4 cm³/g), and decreased the hardness of the bread compared to the control. Additionally, the 5% saline culture was found to be a better fermentation seed culture than the 10% saline culture.