Fruits and vegetables should be examined to assess their quality before shipment to the market. Near-infrared spectroscopy has garnered considerable attention as a non-destructive quality evaluation method because it enables simple and rapid analysis. In this study, besides collecting data from previous studies on ripening stage red fruits, we used newly harvested cherry tomatoes at all ripening stages to create the calibration curve applicable to all ripening stages and different fruit colors and shapes. Thus, the highly accurate calibration curve with the correlation coefficient of r = 0.98, SEC = 0.78, 0.35, SEP = 0.81, 0.43, EI = 16.2, 12.3% for lycopene contents and Brix (n = 234 and 558, respectively) was created in the non-destructive analyses of the lycopene contents and Brix of cherry tomatoes. Subsequently, the lycopene contents and Brix were analyzed with non-destructive (with the same fruits) and destructive (a conventional method with different fruits) analyses to compare changes with regard to storage day. Fruits at ripening stage breaker and red were used in these analyses. In addition, the lycopene contents and Brix of different fruit shapes and ripening stage cherry tomatoes were analyzed in the non-destructive analysis over time using the same fruits. Four varieties of cherry tomatoes at ripening stage were used: mature green, breaker, pink, and red. Compared with the destructive analysis, the non-destructive analysis required less number of fruits and facilitated simple and rapid measurement with the same fruits. This study is the first to analyze the components of cherry tomatoes using the same fruits over time with the non-destructive quality measurement.

　Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT), which causes food-borne botulism, is produced by Clostridium botulinum. BoNT associates with nontoxic non-hemagglutinin and a complex of hemagglutinin (HA) composed of three HA-70, six HA-33 and three HA-17, forming a large progenitor toxin complex (PTC). Since the PTC displays higher oral toxicity than pure BoNT, it was presumed that nontoxic proteins are critical for food poisoning. A unique serotype C variant strain (C-Yoichi) produced a PTC with many amino acid substitutions in the C-terminal region of HA-33. Here, we demonstrated that the oral toxicity of PTC from variant strain (_33vPTC) in mice was approximately 90-times higher than that of PTC from wild-type strain (_wtPTC), although both PTCs showed similar intraperitoneal toxicities in mice. Co-administration of sugar containing galactose moieties with _33vPTC reduced oral toxicity of _33vPTC in mice. Thus, the _33vPTC dominantly binds to the cell surface galactose moieties when the _33vPTC is internalized into the body via the small intestine. Furthermore, _wtPTC can bind to mucins; however, the _33vPTC displayed a significantly lower mucin-binding capacity than that of _wtPTC. Consequently, the intensive amino acid substitutions in HA-33 in the _33vPTC may causeavoidance of the trapping by mucins before toxin enters the body via intestinal wall.

　Pepino (Solanum muricatum Ait.) is a juicy fruit that has melon like taste and odor, hence it is suitable for eating raw. Pepino cultivation was introduced in Japan in the 1980s, but its production has decreased due to the low soluble solid content of the fruit. Therefore, pepino fruit with a high soluble solid content was developed using cultivation techniques. In this study, we compared the general characteristics, color difference, hardness, taste, and odor in pepino fruits produced from different cultivars using different cultivation methods. 'Royal custard' pepino differed from the other two varieties in mineral contents such as potassium and sodium, and odor. On the other hand, the soluble solid content (°Brix) of 'Gold No. 1 (hydroponics)' variety was 14.3, which is considerably high, indicating the possibility of popularizing pepino to be eaten raw. Furthermore, the results show that the difference in cultivation methods, soil culture and hydroponics, may affect not only the general characteristics but also the taste and odor of pepino fruit. Our findings suggest the potential of popularizing pepino fruit in Japan by optimizing the cultivar and cultivation methods.

　Phenolic compounds significantly affect sake quality as bitter taste or smoke odor. To effectively manage sake quality, a simultaneous quantification method was developed for eight major phenolic compounds found in sake using high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and fluorescence detectors. This method was realized under the temperature condition that the quantified content value of volatile phenols did not increase through phenolic acid decomposition compared with the real content value and that preprocessing was not required. Good response linearities were obtained for all phenolic compounds, with the determination coefficients (r²) of the calibration curves ranging from 0.9999 to 1.0000. The precision values of the peak area and retention time as relative standard deviations (%) of each compound were below 3% and 0.1%. In addition, the limit of quantification (LOQ) was the threshold level in the sensory test, and the LOQs of guaiacol, 4-vinylphenol, 4-vinylguaiacol, ethyl ferulate, tyrosol, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, and ferulic acid, were 14 μg/ℓ, 1.6 μg/ℓ, 2.6 μg/ℓ, 0.039 mg/ℓ, 8.9 mg/ℓ, 0.47 mg/ℓ, 0.18 mg/ℓ and 0.14 mg/ℓ, respectively, using the proposed method. These results showed that a simple, sensitive, and reliable quantification method was achieved.