Ammonia emanating from the human skin surface is known to cause unpleasant body odour. Lactulose has been used as a bifidobacterial growth factor and a medicine for lowering blood ammonia because of its metabolization to lactic acid and short-chain fatty acids. However, no study has been previously conducted on the effect of lactulose on the dermal emission of ammonia at any dosage levels. This study aimed to investigate the prebiotic effect of lactulose at a food dosage level of 4 g d^－1 on the dermal emission flux of ammonia in 12 healthy volunteers using a passive flux sampler coupled with ion chromatography. A significant decrease in the dermal emission was found after 8 days, and the emission flux was found to decrease with an increase in the number of faecal bifidobacteria. Thus, the daily intake of lactulose at the studied food dosage level improved the colonic microflora and reduced the dermal emission of ammonia.

It has concerned that the odor from irrigation and drainage canals (creeks) for agriculture due to increasing of discharges from domestic effluents into them. This study conducted the odor evaluation of water and sediment samples collected from a creek using gas chromatography olfactometry (GC-O) and odorant database. Odor compounds in the sediment could be tentatively identified (2-methylfuran; pyridine; thiazole; diallyl sulfide; benzyl methyl sulfide; benzyl acetate; dibenzyl ether) and this result suggests that the usefulness of this technique. Further development of the technique is required for rapid evaluation of odorants in agricultural and urban canals.

The yeast Hanseniaspora uvarum was isolated from kumquat and grape, and identified microbially using MALDI-TOF MS and nucleotide sequence analysis of the D1/D2 region of 26S rDNA. Bread made using this yeast smelled of cheese. Volatile compounds in this bread were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The concentrations of 3-methyl-1-butanol and phenylethyl alcohol were clearly less than those in ordinary bread. This may explain why the smell of cheese in bread made with Hanseniaspora uvarum is not noticeable in ordinary bread.

As one difficulty of strawberry cultivation, the large amounts of runners obtained during growth of offspring are discarded. Therefore, we attempted to develop strawberry runners as roasted tea to present an effective utilization method. Comparison of roasted teas made from runner, leaves, and stems demonstrated from sensory evaluation that roasted teas from runners produced both roast and sweet sensations. Their aroma components were identified using GC-MS. Results elucidated the possibility of producing roasted tea from strawberry runners. More effective use of runners can be expected to contribute to waste reduction.