The effects of fermented soymilk on lipid metabolism and intestinal environment were investigated on rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed on high-fat diets containing 15% (convert in protein) of fermented soymilk for 5 weeks. The fecal cholesterol, and serum cholesterol, triglyceride and phospholipid concentration were significantly decreased (p<0.01) in those rats fed on fermented soymilk when compared with the high-fat diet. The mean fecal water content and fecal weight were significantly increased (p<0.05) in those rats fed on fermented soymilk when compared with the high-fat diet. The number of clostridia, including Clostridium perfringens, in faces were significantly increased (p<0.01) during the high-fat diet. During the fermented soymilk intake, the counts of Clostridium perfringens, were decreased significantly (p<0.05) compared with the values before the intake. The number of Bifidobacteria, Bacteroides and Eubacteria were increased slightly during the intake. Fecal concentration of ammonia and indole were decreased slightly during the intake. The results obtained showed that the fermented soymilk intake improved the serum cholesterol concentration and intestinal environment.

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The cross-flow micro-filtration performances of two kind of ceramic membrane modules, the rotating disk membrane module (RD module) and the agitated disk membrane module (AD module), were compared in this paper in the recovery process of soy sauce from soy sauce sediment, i.e. soy sauce sediment concentration process. Pseudo-plastic fluid characteristics of the concentrated soy sauce sediment cause a problem when the rotating is stopped suddenly by electricity failure, and so on. The RD module and AD module had lower pressure drop of the membrane modules than the conventional multi-tubular membrane module (MT module), so they could be operated at higher shear velocity under lower pressure deference across the membrane. Also, AD module had superior permeate flux to that of RD module at the same rotation rate of the rotor by the effect of both its impeller shape and the clearance between membrane and the impeller. That of RD module, however, hardly depended upon the baffle shape and the clearance between the membrane and the baffle. The permeate of AD module had good quality as soy sauce because of shorter processing time depending upon higher flux without qualitative change. The yield of soy sauce from raw soy sauce was estimated to be 99.7% by application of AD module instead of 80% of traditional process. It was concluded that AD module was the best membrane module to condense suspension from lower viscosity to higher one among the modules and other polymer membrane modules in terms of soy sauce quality, higher permeate flux, and lower pressure drop.

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Recently, several reports about sterilization effect of electrolyzed water have been published. The electrolyzed water is expected as one of attractive application for sanitation of fresh food, however, to install this electrolyzed water, we have to clear the potential of the microorganism control for real food. In this paper, we try to reveal the mechanism of the microorganism control, and also try to check the food quality change during the treatment. Therefore, to evaluate the effect of the electrolyzed water, we examined the several test for making sterilization mechanism clear and observed microorganism behavior on food surface. At first, for the purpose of making sterilization effects clear in vitro condition, we did microorganism test with several injection ratio and number. Then, we studied the effects of catalase on the enumeration of stressed Escherichia coli cells after acidic electrolyzed water treatment. Moreover, we studied sterilization effect of acidic electrolyzed water for E. coli on an agar block on the assumption as one of food model. In addition, we studied sterilization effects for sliced raw tuna as one sample of food surface treatment. The change in the quality of food surface was observed by scanning electron microscope, color meter and so on. Steriliaation effects are dependent the condition of injection ratio and mixing numbers. These results suggest that it is important to keep available chlorine concentration for keeping the potential to the microorganisms'control. The increasing of E. coli number with the addition of catalase was suggested that the weak concentration of electrolyzed water gave the injured microbes. The Observation of cultivated E. coli behavior on agar block showed the microorganism behavior. Acidic electrolyzed water sterilizes microorganisms on sliced raw tuna, however, after treatment, the color change of surface of tuna and the protein denaturation were observed. These results suggest that when the electrolyzed water treatment is applied to control the microorganism on surface, the effect against food surface must be considered.

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Pork loins were cured with pickle containing 8% or 16% sodium chloride at 0°C or 8°C. Changes with time in microflora and chemical properties of the cured pork loins were determined. Desirable bacteria, including salttolerant bacteria, lactic acid bacteria and yeast were predominant under the curing condition of 8% sodium chloride in the pickle and at 8°C. It was thought that these bacteria contributed to the maintenance of well-balanced microflora in the cured meat. The sodium chloride concentration in cured pork loins rose faster in the pickle containing 16% sodium chloride than in the pickle containing 8% sodium chloride and at 8°C than at 0°C. However, 8% sodium chloride is thought to be better because the sodium chloride concentration in pork loins cured with the pickle containing 16% sodium chloride became too high. Nitrite radical concentration in the pickle containing 16% sodium chloride was lower than that in the pickle containing 8% sodium chloride. Total free amino acid content at 8°C was higher than that at 0°C. No notable differences in a composition of ATP-related compounds and in free fatty acid content were found. These results suggest that 8% as sodium chloride in pickle and 8°C as curing temperature are desirable in the pickle curing method.

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Both XTT (3'-[1-(phenylamino)-carbonyl]-3, 4-tetrazolium)-bis (4-methoxy-6-nitro) benzenesulfonic acid hydrate) assay and ferricyanide assay systems were applied to the evaluation of heattreated milk samples which depend on reducibility of heat induced substances in milk. Although the both values were similar in magnitude immediately after the heat treatment, apparent differences were observed in their values measured after storage. The protein reducing substance value (PRS) by ferricyanide assay was almost constant during the storage, but XTT reducibility decreased gradually depending on the storage conditions. It was revealed that aminoreductones, which are the XTT-reducing substances, did not contribute to the reaction with ferricyanide, suggesting that XTT assay differs from ferricyanide assay in the principle of the method. The data obtained by XTT method are applicable to the estimation of the storage conditions of the sample. The XTT assay is another useful method for evaluation of heattreated and further stored milk products, as more convenient and faster than the ferricyanide assay.

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The relations between preservation conditions and quality change of the cookies that were made as one of fat rich confectioneries containing tea leaf were discussed. Preserved in the dark, the rise of the POV of the cookies with tea leaf was retarded according to the content of the tea leaf added. In contrast, in the light, the POV of the cookies with the tea leaf rose remarkably in a short period. This rise of the POV was considered to be caused by the photosensitizative action of chlorophyll in the tea leaf.

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The fermentation of cacao beans is an important process for the quality development. There is a variety of fermentation methods depending on the countries, areas, cultivars and so on. The object of this investigation is to study the composition of Indonesian cacao beans (Java Criollo) before, during and after the fermentation for total three days at two commercial plantations. The results were as follows. 1) Sucrose which is the main sugar component in the cacao beans decreased during the fermenta- tion. Gradually, pH value decreased and acid value increased in a day. 2) The content of alkylpyrazines which are the important flavor components in the cacao beans increased remarkably in 1 to 3 days. 3) The total polyphenol content did not change (6.5-7.4%) significantly during the fermentation. The(-)- epicatechin content did not change in 0 to 1 day but decreased slightly after 1 to 3 days. DPPH radical scavenging activity also decreased slightly during the fermentation.

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Foods fortified with dietary fiber as ingredients for health improvement are prevailing in the market. Dietary fiber used in these foods are considered to have different physiological ability depending on extract conditions.
In this study, artificial digestibility of IDF and SDF fractions obtained by the modified Prosky method from raw and heated soybean was investigated, and the effects of heating on polysaccharides were also examined. Soybean DF fractions were digested by intestinal juice and successive digestion, and the reducing sugars produced from SDF were much more increased than from IDF fraction. Degradation ratio of soybean DF fraction became higher in the order, raw, micro wave, roasted and autoclaved samples.

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Many epidemiological researches suggest that biofunctional components in vegetables could play an important role in keeping health well. The contents of biofunctional components (chlorogenic acid, 1-O-, 5-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 1-O-, 5-O-dicaffeoyl-3-O-succinylquinic acid) in the root of burdock (Arctium lappa L., Compositae, total 13 cultivars and market items, each 5-10 samples), which is one of very popular vegetables in Japan, were estimated by HPLC. The mean values of total contents varied from 1.7 to 7.9mg/g dry weight. The content of each component varied significantly among many of the cultivars, although the ratios of three components were roughly the same.

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Beni-koji (Monascus sp.) making was done by applying the multiple tomo koji addition technique as follows. Rice materials were mixed with mature beni-koji seed at the beginning of beni-koji making (50% the weight of total rice, tomo koji) and incubated at 28°C, 70% RH, for 3 days (the first addition). And then the same procedure was repeated two times (the second and the third additions). Consequently, the GABA content and the glucose producing activity increased with an increase in the number of addition and they peaked on the fifth days of the third addition and thereafter decreased. The living bacterial numbers during beni-koji making increased to the first day of the second addition and thereafter decreased. From the foregoing observation, it was proved that a benikoji of high quality with a high GABA content and a high glucose producing activity can be safely obtained by this novel beni-koji making technique.

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