Abstracts of Annual Congress of The Japan Society of Home Economics

This paper describes a Fijian traditional food “Fijian bread”, which is made from fermented cassava, based on the investigation in a small isolated island Lakeba where people keep the traditional dietary life compared to other Fiji islands. In Lakeba island, the “Fijian bread” is made by the following processes: (1) cut cassava into a few pieces without peeling (2) keep the cassava pieces in water for 3 – 14 days to ferment them (3) grind the fermented cassava pieces (4) mix the ground fermented cassava with wheat flour and coconut milk (5) bake the obtained dough in coconut shell or taro leaf. This study focuses on the fermentation process because Fijian people enjoy the difference of the taste and smell of the “Fijian bread” according to the fermentation period and condition. The microscope observation shows that the fermentation liquid contains various yeast fungi and lactic acid bacilli.

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Melinjo is a native plant of Indonesia whose leaves and seeds are commonly consumed as vegetable and exhibit high antioxidant activity, which have potential to be used as a natural source of antioxidant in food products. Melinjo seeds contain gnetin C, a dimer of resveratrol, as well as its glycosides, gnemonosides A and D, which are reported to have various functions, such as antioxidant and anti-tumor effects. In this study, separation of gnetin C and gnemonosides A and D from melinjo seeds was developed by using several kinds of synthetic resin adsorbents. Polyphenols of melinjo seeds were extracted from freeze-dried seed powder by 50% ethanol. Polyvinyl polypyrrolidone (PVPP), aromatic adsorbents SP70 and SP850, and anion exchange resins WA20 and WA30 were used as the adsorbents. The extracted polyphenols were absorbed to each resin in the column, then were eluted with aqueous ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, and sodium hydroxide solution. After separation, the antioxidant activity and palatability of gnetin C and gnemonosides A and D were evaluated. These synthetic resin adsorbents except for WA20 absorbed gnetin C and gnemonosides A and D. The stepwise elution from SP70 and SP850 with aqueous ethanol separated gnetin C and gnemonosides A and D. However, the polyphenols absorbed to PVPP could be eluted by sodium hydroxide solution but could not be separated.

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