The amylose content and the amylopectin unit-chain distribution were determined by gel filtration chromatography (GFC) to obtain the physicochemical properties of low-amylose rice starch. The gelatinization and retrogradation properties of rice starch and flour samples were also determined by a viscosity and gel texture analysis. Four kinds of low-amylose rice and one kind of large-grain rice were tested as samples, while Nipponbare, as a reference, and two kinds of glutinous rice and high-amylose rice, as a comparison, were also examined. The amylose content of the four kinds of low-amylose rice was in the range of 7.2-10.4% by GFC. The amylose content was lowest in Hokuriku 161, being followed by Milky Princess, Asatsuyu, Snow Pearl and Nipponbare with respective contents of 8.1%, 8.9%, 10.4% and 17.1%. The longer chain length fraction of amylopectin, Fr. II, was in the range of 23.0-24.3%, and the shorter chain length fraction, Fr. III, of 66.6-68.5%. The ratio of Fr. III /Fr. II in the low-amylose rice samples was in the range of 2.8-2.9, being lower than that of Nipponbare at 3.0. Breakdown of the low-amylose rice starch and flour samples was large, while the setback was small, these being similar characteristics to those of glutinous rice. The texture of the low-amylose starch and flour pastes was soft when first prepared, and the viscosity characteristics were similar when cooled to 50°C. There was little change in the firmness and adhesiveness of the rice starch and flour gels while storing at 5°C for seven days, these characteristics differing from those of Nipponbare.

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Steamed hemispherically shaped bread rolls were lightly reheated by microwave, and the distribution of hardness and water content was examined. Since the refracted angle of incident microwaves from air to the bread is small due to its fairly large dielectric constant at 2, 450 MHz, the microwave energy tend to be concentrated at the center of the hemispherically shaped roll. On the basis of this phenomenon, several pieces were cut from different positions in the roll that had been reheated by microwave. The hardness and water content of each piece were measured and compared with those of similar pieces whose water content had been adjusted by air-drying. A similar correlation between the hardness and water content was found for the microwave-reheated and air-dried pieces. It is concluded that the hardening of bread reheated by microwave was mainly due to a reduction in the water content by microwave heating.

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The food waste and eating habits of families with students and college staff at 6 universities in Aichi and Gifu prefectures of Japan were investigated. The total number of participants was 711 families involving 2, 553 people. The average weight of food waste was 199 g/person/day, which appears to be less than that of other big cities such as Tokyo and Osaka. Families with cooks over 30 years of age had a higher weight of food waste than the average, while cooks in their teens and twenties showed less than the average. With the exception of single families, the higher the number of family members, the lesser the weights of food waste. The weight of food waste by the citizens of Nagoya was significantly lower than the average, because of the enforced recycling policy for waste materials. The percent age putting food waste out as garbage was 84.8%, and the percent age taking care of food waste by themselves was 19%. The average percentage of meals consumed at home was 74.4%, the highest being breakfast and supper; there was little difference by distinct or number of family members. Families with cooks over 40 years had a strong tendency to consume meals at home and produced less weight of food waste.

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The influence of dietary environment on the nutritional awareness, eating habits and appreciation of school lunch services were studied by a questionnaire investigation conducted on 172 students in the first to third grades of three junior high schools in Yamanashi Prefecture. The students were classified into three groups from the results of a cluster analysis of the questionnaire answers; group 3 had high awareness of the effects of diet and eating family dinner together on health and socializing, group 1 had unhealthy nutritional awareness and eating habits, and group 2 had doubtful nutritional awareness and eating habits. A significant relationship was found between the nutritional awareness, eating habits and eating environment of the three groups. Five factors were extracted from the appreciation of the school lunch service by the factor analysis : factor I, palatability; factor II, nutrition and socializing; factor III, dietary education; factor IV, school lunch information to the home; factor V, school lunch environment. The scores by group 1 for the five factors were negative and the lowest among the three groups. The nutritional awareness and eating habits were found to be closely related to the appreciation of the school lunch service.

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The aim of this study was to explain the relation between blouse fabrics and blouse design in the designing process. Sensory tests for visual evaluation were carried out using 17 samples of white fabrics and 17 types of blouse made of corresponding white fabrics. The number of subjects used for the sensory tests was 128 for fabric materials and 59 for blouses. Visual evaluations were carried out by the SD method with 10 pairs of image terms and a 7-point rating scale. The results were analyzed using a t-test factor analysis and correlation analysis. The results obtained are as follows : 1. No difference of visual image between the style of clothing and the fabric was observed in the case where fabrics had distinctive features and the clothing design was simple. 2. A difference of visual image between the style of clothing and the fabrics was observed in the case where the materials did not have distinctive features and the clothing had special design features, with the exception of the “elegant-sporty” category. 3. As for the results of the factor analysis, “elegant, ” “decorative” and “fashionability” factors were extracted both at the fabric and style of clothing levels. However, even in the same factor, adjectives included at the fabric level were not always the same as those at the style of clothing level. 4. As for the correlation between images of fabric and blouse, a high correlation coefficient of 0.6-0.8 was observed in 6 image items such as “elegant-sporty, ” “mannish-feminine” etc. and no correlation was observed in 4 image items such as “expensive look-cheap look, ” “urban-rural, ” “refined-vulgar, ” and “decorative-non-decorative” of which the correlation coefficient was about 0.4. 5. Design images of blouse were divided into 4 groups such as “basic and sporty, ” “basic and elegant, ” “fashionable and elegant” and “sporty and fashionable” by factor analysis. Summarizing these results, in some cases, the design of the blouse suited the fabric material, while in other cases it did not. Classification into four groups by design image can be used as a basic style of clothing by which material images can be fully expressed in designing blouses.

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The purpose of this investigation is to examine the relationship between the consciousness of energy-saving and life styles as well as a housing program. The investigation items were the consciousness towards energy-saving and the environmental protection, life styles and so on. The results are as follows : 1) Those whose energy-saving consciousness is higher, often adopt the ideas connected with energy-saving and protecting the environment when they began to have their houses constructed. They depend on air-conditioning as little as possible and try to live in the natural environment as much as possible. 2) Those whose energy-saving consciousness is higher, conserve electric and gas energy consumption throughout the year. The key to energy-saving is to conserve electric and gas energy consumption during seasons when people consume much energy. 3) The enhancement of energy-saving consciousness is considered to contribute to effective the environmental protection. 4) By contriving and putting effective devices into practice, the consciousness of energy-saving is enhanced and it motivates other similar activities. 5) It was also shown that the effectiveness of activities of the residents' association.

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The antioxidative activity of the 80% ethanol extract from feijoa was compared with those of kiwano, cherimoya, papaya and mango. Suppression of the peroxidation of linoleic acid was measured by the ferric thiocyanate method, and the DPPH radical-and OH radical-scavenging activities were measured by ESR spectrometry. The antioxidative activity of the polyphenol in feijoa was equivalent to, or higher than that in the other fruits. The total polyphenol content of feijoa measured by the Folin Ciocalteu method was 59.2 mg per 100 g of edible matter, close to that of cherimoya. A high correlation was seen between the total polyphenol content and the DPPH radical-scavenging activity.

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Lead (Pb), a metal harmful to health, was found to be leached from ceramic kitchenware into a 5% acetic acid solution when the solution was held in the kitchenware for 90 min. This leaching of Pb was higher from dark-colored ceramic kitchenware such as green and brown than from light-colored ware. Pb was also observed to be leached when the ware containing vinegar samples or organic acids was heated for 1 min in a microwave oven. Acetic acid and oxalic acid, among the organic acids tested, were the most prominent for leaching out of Pb. Contamination of foods by Pb might therefore occur when acidic foods in ceramic kitchenware are heated in a microwave oven.

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The tea-leaf saponins and water-soluble pectin in a green tea infusion were determined. A solid-phase extraction column (Sep-Pak C18 cartridge) was used for separating the infusion into three components. Two milliliters of infusion were injected into the column and eluted with 8 ml of distilled water to recover the fraction containing water-soluble pectin. In the next step, the fraction containing catechins was eluted from the column with 15 ml of 20% methyl alcohol in distilled water, and then the fraction containing tea-leaf saponins was eluted with 5 ml of 80% methyl alcohol in distilled water. The tea-leaf saponins and water-soluble pectin in the individual fractions were respectively determined by the phenol-sulfuric acid and carbazole-sulfuric acid methods. In the various green tea infusions, the tea-leaf saponin concentration of Gyokuro was much higher than those of Matcha, Sencha, Hojicha and Bancha. The water-soluble pectin content in the infusions of Gyokuro and Matcha was much more than those of Sencha, Hojicha and Bancha.

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