The cooking quality and sensory attributes of Mutsuhomare harvested in Aomori prefecture were investigated for five kinds of samples:
Mutsuhomare, Akitakomachi, Koshihikari, blend rice I (Mutsuhomare: Akitakomachi= 3: 7) and blend rice II (Mutsuhomare: Koshihikari=3: 7)
1) The shape of the three cultivars of rice grains (length, width and thickness) were very similar. The amylose content of Mutsuhomare was the highest at 28.0%, but it was decreased by blending.
2) The gelatinization temperature ofMutsuhomare, which was measured by three different methods. Brabender viscography, dynamic viscosity and differential scanning calorimetry was lower than that of the other samples. The maximum viscosity of Mutsuhomare was 432 B. U., this being intermediate between 489 B. U. for Akitakomachi and 395 B. U. for Koshihikari. The blended samples also had intermediate values.
3) The textural properties of Mutsuhomare were very similar to those of Akitakomachi, in respect of hardness, adhesiveness, cohesiveness and springiness. The blended samples resembled Mutsuhomare for textural properties.
4) The sensory attributes of cooked rice were obtained by the SD method, and flavor was evaluated as significantly different in all the samples. The scores for the appearance of blends I and II were lower than the others while sweetness, koku and aftertaste for flavor were evaluated as intermediate. The shape of cooked Mutsuhomare rice was liked the most.
5) The overall evaluations of the three cooked cultivars and two blends were not significantly different, so the blends provide a suitable way to enhance the cooked appearance.

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The quality and sensory attributes of various rice cultivars which were grown under experimental conditions fertilized with chlorous or sulfide manure were investigated.
1) The gelatinization characteristics of the resulting rice flour were no different among the cultivars. The gelatinization temperature measured by three different method was, for example, lower for Koshijiwase than for Koshihkari by photopastegraphy, while it was lower for Koshihikari than for Koshijiwase by dynamic viscoelasticity.
2) Koshijiwase and Koshihikari granules were a little harder than the others. In the ase of each manure, the rice grains cultivated with chlorous manure were harder with Koshijiwase, while Koshihikari grains cultivated with sulfide manure were harder.
3) The textural properties of each cooked sample of Koshihikari were harder than those of Koshijiwase. When the hardness and adhesiveness with related with the amount of manure, Koshzjiwase with less and Koshihikari with more resulted in harder grains.
4) The palatability evaluation obtained by the S. D. method showed Koshijiwase to be most liked in the order or less chlorous manure, more chlorous manure, less sulfide manure, and more sulfide manure. Koshihikari was evaluated in the same manure order as that for Koshijiwase.

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To elucidate the components characterizing the taste of konbu-dashi, the omission test was conducted by removing the one components from the synthetic soup stock with glutamic acid, aspartic acid, 5'-AMP, mannitol, potassium chloride and sodium chloride prepared according to the analytical data. Further, the taste of synthetic soup prepared from commercially available seasoning was evaluated by changing the ratio between potassium chloride and sodium chloride.
The results were summarized as follows:
1) The components largely contributing to the taste of konbu-dashi were glutamic acid, potassium and sodium.
2) The synthetic soup prepared commercially available seasoning seasoned with sodium chloride and potassium chloride was high in overall evaluation as compared with that seasoned only with sodium chloride.

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The total vitamin C (VC) content of raw sweet potatoes of 8 various types was 82 ±13 mg/100g (dry matter) on the average. Beniazuma had the highest total VC content. The total VC content in five parts of the sweet potato was compared. The head part had the highest total VC content (110± 15mg/100g) and the tail part had the lowest (91± 11mg/100g). The total VC remaining after steaming or microwave cooking was about 60%, almost the same in each instance. However, the total VC remaining after baking was about 50%, which was less than after steaming or microwave cooking.

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We investigated quantitatively the difference of the external shapes (weight, size), free amino acids and lentinic acid in six different varieties (Donko type ; Jyodonko, Namidonko, Kotsubudonko, Koshin type ; Jyo-ko-shin, Namiko-shin, Chayori) of dried Shiitake mushroom which were collected during 1983-1990 from Shizuoka, Ohita and Miyazaki prefectures. There was a difference in the total weight, cap weight and cap diameter among the varieties and were grouped into Donko and Ko-shin by the F value calculated for the rate of cap diameter per cap thickness. The amount of free amino acids were in the range of 2, 395-2, 732mg, with an average of 2, 600mg for Donko and in the range of 2, 450-2, 796mg, with an average of 2, 565mg for Ko-shin, with no significant differences beings seen among the varieties. The main free amino acids were glutamine, glutamic acid, arginine, asparagine, alanine and ornithine and the similarity index for amino acid pattern calculated by the Tamura method showed close similarities among the six varieties. The amount of lentinic acid was in the range of 903-1, 156mg, with an average of 1, 025mg for Donko and in the range of 820-1, 000mg, with an average of 899mg for Ko-shin, showing a difference between Donko and Ko-shin types.

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