Journal of Japanese Society of Biorheology

Show abstractHide abstract

Texture is important in terms of both food palatability and the safety of eating. Recently, the importance of texture has been emphasized for the development of nursing-care foods in recent aged society, where the number of patients with mastication and swallowing difficulties is increasing. Texture design of these food products is now one of the most important tasks in the food industry in Japan. This article reviews the importance of texture as an essential attribute of food development and also the usefulness of hydrocolloids as a texture modifier, which also serves to enhance favorable flavors or to mask unfavorable flavors during oral processing. The article also covers recent trials by our research group on electromyography and in vivo acoustic analysis to describe the food texture and to find some objective parameters relating to the mastication and swallowing eases. Finally, some industrial outputs will be introduced as a result of our texture studies, particularly the development of gelling agents for dyspagia diets.

View full abstract

Download PDF (820K)

Many of the patients administered Dai-kenchu-to reported that they felt warm in their four limbs and trunk. We examined the effects of Dai-kenchu-to on blood flow in the gastrointestinal tract to ascertain whether it had any peripheral circulation-improving activity. Mature beagle dogs were treated with general anesthesia. After laparotomy, ischemic intestine was made in the jejunum, and a silicon tube was inserted into the body of the stomach for drug administration. At the ischemic intestine, marked decreases of mean blood velocity and volume were observed; however, they were significantly improved with administration of Dai-kenchu-to. Dai-kenchu-to was given to the dogs and the peripheral circulation-improving activity was confirmed.

View full abstract

Register with J-STAGE for free!