Rice, the staple food in this country, provides a 60% of total caloric intake and a 30% of protein. Fortification of rice grain with lysine becomes feasible as the price of lysine declined and the techniques for the enrichment of the grain with lysine in a premix formula was developed by the author; this unique “double soaking method” eliminates the washing/cooking loss of the enrichment ingredient (s). The lysine-enriched rice is expected to make a great contribution for improving the quality of the national diet and thus to give a great impact on the nutrition welfare.
An abundant crop of rice is ensuing for these several years in this country. Supplementation of a small amount of the lysine-enriched rice at the time of cooking is found to improve the palatability of the cooked product; stale flavor, the characteristic off-flavor of long-stored rice, is eliminated. Added lysine easily reacts with volatile carbonyl compounds which are responsible principles for the stale flavor, and seemingly forms non-volatile products. Under-water/-ground and sea- or lake-bed are proposed as adequate places for rice storage. Husked or brown rice packed in a laminated plastic film bag under a controlled atmosphere is found stored long in these stations. The costs of construction and maintenance of this novel storage system appear fairly low compared with those needed for the temperature-controlled storage in powered stations built on the ground; rice and other seed crops can be reserved for needs of a nation-wide scale with least deteriorative changes.

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Since the preparation of enzyme solution under mild condition is the principal step for the study of urea dehydrogenase of green algae which have rigid cell wall, the extraction of enzyme from algae was examined.
No activity was detected after extraction by sonication at 10 KC or by grinding with quartz sand or glass powder in a mortar, even though algae had been dried with acetone.
A little activity was extracted by grinding and sonication of autolysed algae with toluene. A much higher activity was obtained when fresh algae had been alternately freezed and thawed with dry ice several times before sonic extraction. However, the enzyme was inactivated by treatment with butanol.
Usual grinding of lyophilized algae in a mortar was also unfavorable. However, the active solution was prepared from algal powder which had been sufficiently ground in a ball mill for several days.

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On the basis of some conditions for preparing urea dehydrogenase solution from green algae, the procedure was settled as follows.
Algae were freezed and thawed with dry ice several times, lyophilized and ground sufficiently in a ball mill. The powder was suspended in phosphate buffer of pH 8, sonicated at 10KC for 15-20 minutes and extracted at 35°C for 30-60 minutes. The extract was fractionated with acetone at -10°C between 33% and 75%. The pellet was dissolved in cold H₂O, after washing it, if deep green color was expected, with cold 75% ethanol to fade. The solution was dialysed against cold running H₂O for 3 hours and sonicated at 10KC for 5 minutes immediately or after addition of Tris-HCl buffer of pH 7.5. The supernatant obtained by the centrifugation at 10, 000r. p. m. for 15 minutes was employed as the enzyme solution.

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After establishing the formation of NADH₂ by algal urea dehydrogenase, some properties of the enzyme were examined. The enzyme has the optimum temperature at 35°C and inactivated by heating. At pH 7.6, its stability as well as activity is the highest. It is not effected by FAD and FMN, but activated by small amount of inorganic phosphate, by which ammonia dehydrogenase is inhibited. Tris-HCl buffer is suitable for assay. Cysteine has no effect on the activity, while increase of the optical density is brought about in the control containing no urea. Activity is more or less elevated by addition of boiled algal extract. Contrary to liver urea dehydrogenase, algal enzyme prefers NADP to NAD, although both are reduced. The enzyme is not adsorbed by DEAE-cellulose, similar to ammonia dehydrogenase, while purification to some extent is attained.

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Animal experiments were conducted to determine whether administration of dehydroascorbic acid to guinea pig produces diabetes as in the case of rat or prevents diabetes and elevates succinic dehydrogenase which has been in low level by deficiency of ascorbic acid. In one experiment effect of deficiency of ascorbic acid on pyruvic dehydrogenase in liver was also studied.
1) Whereas succinic dehydrogenase activity was decreased significantly in deficiency of ascorbic acid, pyruvic dehydrogenase activity did not.
2) After administration of dehydroascorbic acid to deficient animals ascorbic acid concentration in both plasma and liver and level of succinic dehydrogenase in liver recovered to normal.

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The ceroid pigment observed in aged animals and man is produced in vitamin E deficient animals too. When adequate protein was given to rats together with fish oils, unoxidized fish oil did not show any discoloration in uterus whereas oxidized one produced ceroid pigment significantly. On protein deficient diet the effect of vitamin E deficiency caused by feeding fish oil was aggrevated and the discoloration was seen even in rats fed unoxidized fish oil.
Two mg of dl-α tocopherol has partially prevented discoloration caused by fish oil, but 20mg of it was necessary to prevent the production of ceroid pigment completely. In contrast to fish oil, soybean oil, given at the same level did not result any discoloration of body fat.

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The effect of the constitution of fat in the therapeutic diet for a geriatric desease on the metabolic phase has been studied for hospitalized patients without metabolic disease. The constitution of fat in the diet was altered into animal or vegetable matter. In the period of the vegetable fat administration, all of the constituents of diets were replaced by vegetable matter. Serum total choresterol, blood sugar value and serum protein were increased by taking the diets with animal fat, while were contrarily decreased by taking the diets with vegetable fat. Blood pressure, body weight, Co. R., T. T. T., serum protein fraction, serum alkaline phosphatase, neutral fat, acetone body, uric acid, urea-N, basic metabolism and excretion of creatine and creatinine into urine were not significantly affected by the alteration of fat. Data of analysis of the diets concerning to three big nutrients, minerals, amino acids vitamins, acid and base of food, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, etc. were related with the results of the diet cure.
It seems that the therapeutic diet prescribed with a balanced fat containing animal and vegetable fat in equal proportion is expected the good results in the metabolism of the geriatric disease, because it is provided according to almost the same prescription as the general geriatric diet and is easily taken by the patient. It is preferable to administer the therapeutic diet prescribed mainly with the vegetable fat for a certain period together with the pharmaceutical treatment for the medical treatment of Hypolipaemia and Arteriosclerosis.

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The properties of phytase of Aspergillus awamori var. Kawachii were investigated. The enzyme showed optimum activity for phytin at pH 3.5 and 60°C. And the mechanism of hydrolysis of phytin by the enzyme was studied by adopting the calumn chromatography of the hydrolysate on Dowex 1 X 1 (Cl form). Elution was performed with HCl, the concentration of which was increased stepwise from 0.05 to 0.8 N, and phosphate in each fraction was determined.
It may reasonably be assumed that the phytase acts on the phytin-derivatives at random. Inositol and phosphate in each fraction were estimated and the molecular ratio of phosphate to inositol was calculated. The results coincided with those obtained by other reporters.

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It has been well known that carnosine or carnosine-like substance is distributed widely in the skeletal muscules of mammalia and birds. Our previous experiments showed that a mutant strain of Escheriehia coli (#79) requiring β-alanine moiety of pantothenic acid responded highly to either carnosine or carnosine-like β-alanine dipeptide. In the present paper, a basic study to develop a microbiological assay method for carnosine utilizing the mutant strain is described.
By means of this method, the amount of carnosine distributed in the several species of fishes and shell fishes is determined. (a) A large amount of carnosine is detected in the skeletal muscules of eel and a moderate amount in conger eel, cuttlefish, corb-shell, top-shell, ark-shell, and sweetsmelt. (b) On the other hand, only negligible amount of carnosine is found in mackerel, jackmackerel, sardine, flatfish, sea-bream, octopus, tiger prawn, shrimp, crab, short-neck clam, and abalone.

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It is well known that bovine immune lactoglobulin of cow colostrum contains carbohydrate which is tightly bound to some unknown part of the molecule. Our study was initiated to know the exact nature of the carbohydrate and its mode of linkage to the polypeptide chain of immune lactoglobulin.
Bovine immune lactoglobulin was isolated from skim colostrum by precipitation procedure with ammonium sulfate. Glycopeptide was prepared from heat denatured immune lactoglobulin by repeated digestion with proteinase (pronase-P). The glycopeptide was isolated from the digested material by gel filtration on Sephadex G-25 and G-50. It was then fractionated into five components with DEAE cellulose chromatography. Judging from hexose recovery, about forty six percent of the total hexose was recovered from the pronase digest. One of the components contained 2.8% of nitrogen, 65.5% of hexose, 6.7% of fucose, 27.5% of glucosamine and 1.4% of sialic acid, while the other components contained more nitrogen and less carbohydrate. The ratio of hexose and sialic acid content was also remarkably different among the five components.

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Rats were fed on a balanced amino acid diet which contained threonine-U-C¹⁴ as a tracer. At 24 hours after one meal feeding, distribution of ingested C¹⁴ in expired CO2, urine, muscle, intestinal tracts, liver, and plasma were about 40, 5, 20, 10, 5, and 2%, respectively. In liver and plasma, distribution of C¹⁴ in protein fraction was greater than that in free amino acid (FAA) fraction. In muscle, on the other hand, amount of C¹⁴ in protein fraction was the same as that in FAA fraction till 12 hours after feeding, and then the counts of C¹⁴ in FAA decreased, while that in protein continuously increased. Total maximum counts in organs were obtained at 12 hours after a meal, and the counts in muscle, intestine, and liver decreased afterward. The decrease of C¹⁴ in muscle and plasma was disapparence of FAA fraction and that in liver was due to decrease of both FAA and liver weight.
The amount of protein synthesized was calculated on the basis of some assumptions. During 12 hours, about 100 and 40mg protein were synthesized in muscle and liver, respectively, from dietary amino acids.

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Threonine dehydratase (4. 2. 1. 16), histidase (4. 3. 1. 3), tyrosine aminotransferase (2. 6. 1. 5), and alanine aminotransferase (2. 6. 1. 2) of rat liver were measured under the condition of 1 hour's mealfed and 23 hours' fast regimen. Tyrosine aminotransferase activity changed with diurnal rhysm; i. e. the activity which was lower at fasting period, increased by feeding, decreased to the lowest activity at 8 hours, and then gradually increased to the fasting level. On the other hand, the activities of threonine dehydratase, histidase, and alanine aminotransferase decreased by feeding and returned to the fasting levels afterward.

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Male dd-weanling mice were fed on 18% casein diet and on 6% casein diet for two or three weeks. The survival rates of mice exposed to a single sublethal dose of total body γ-irradiation (1, 000 R) were observed.
The deficiency in protein before irradiation lowered the survival rates of mice. But the decrease in survival rates could be overcome remarkably by the supplement of adequate protein immediately after irradiation. However, addition of excess amount of protein showed an unfavourable influence.

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The preceding papers revealed that the nnortality of a single dose of whole body γ-irradiated mice was greately reduced by the supplement of protein in diets before and after irradiation. In the present paper, the effect of dietary protein reinforcement after γ-irradiation on the incorporation of ⁵⁹Fe into mice blood was reported.
From the results of the experiments, it was shown that the ⁵⁹Fe incorporation into blood was influenced by the dietary protein nutrition before and after irradiation, and that the importance of protein nutrition in the recovery stage from haematopoetic radiation damage. This findings were in quite accordance with the results of the mortality experiments reported previously.

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The present experiments are to investigate the effect of protein quality (amino acid composition) on the haematopoetic activity after irradiation. Groups of mice were fed on the diets free of one of the following amino acids: valine, lysine, tryptophane, leucine·isoleucine, methionine or histidine. Haematopoetic activity was determined by the incorporation of ⁵⁹Fe into blood.
Deficiencies of one valine, leucine·isoleucine, tryptophane or histidine showed great effect, and those of lysine or methionine little effect upon the haematopoetic activity after irradiation. The omis- sion of these four amino acids in the diets considerably delayed the recovery of the activity.

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