Awamori lees (AL), a by-product generated during manufacturing of Awamori, is rich in protein, dietary fiber and organic acids. As large amounts of AL have been dumped to date, this study attempted to develop a usage for AL as a feedstuff and/or as a functional food material. We investigated the effect of AL on growth and serum and liver lipid concentrations in 5-week-old rats fed a diet with 3% cholesterol for 2 weeks followed by diets supplemented with 5, 25 and 50% AL for 4 additional weeks. The body weight gain and feed intake for each AL-supplemented diet group was the same as that for the control group. Liver weight, and serum and liver total cholesterol concentrations were dose-dependent decreased in the AL-supplemented groups ; however, the serum HDL-cholesterol level was unaffected by AL intake. The 50% AL group showed significantly lower serum and liver triglyceride concentrations. Fecal weight increased with the amount of AL in the diet, with a 5-fold increase in total bile acid content in the 50% AL group. These results show that AL can effectively reduce lipid concentrations, suggesting its use as feedstuff and/or functional food material.

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Muscular proteolysis of chum salmon causes muscle softening and can be accelerated by freeze-thawing the muscle. This study investigated the effect of proteolysis in frozen-thawed chum salmon muscle on the sustainability of salmon-color. We defined the meat quality characteristic (normal and softened muscle) based on the amount of proteolytic products in frozen-thawed chum salmon muscle and correlated it with the optical characteristic of the muscle. We found that degeneration due to softening of the muscle after thawing was increased relative to higher reflectance in the muscle surface compared with that for unfrozen muscle. When color change of the softened muscle was evaluated using the CIELAB color system, L*, an indicator of lightness, significantly increased, while b*, an indicator of hue, shifted to a much higher value for yellow. Taken together, we concluded that excessive proteolysis of chum salmon muscle affects the salmon-color, which could impair the favorable clear salmon-red color.

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Rice bread was made using a mixture of wheat gluten and rice flour from nine high-yielding cultivars and Koshihikari. The rice flour characteristics and rice bread quality using these cultivars were examined to elucidate the difference in bread properties and to determine the characteristics suitable for rice bread making. The amylose and protein contents of the nine high-yielding cultivars were equivalent to or higher than those of Koshihikari. The content of damaged starch, which had been reported to correlate with bread loaf volume, was lower than 4% in rice flour of all cultivars. Rice bread made from high-yielding cultivars had less caved-in shapes and showed equivalent or higher specific loaf volumes than bread made from Koshihikari. Among all the cultivars, Momiroman with the highest amylose content (26.0%) and Kusahonami with a high gelatinization temperature made the hardest breads, which were respectively 1.4 and 3.0 times harder than bread made from Koshihikari. There was no significant correlation between protein content and specific loaf volume or bread hardness. These results indicate that rice flour with about 20% amylose content and low gelatinization temperature makes equally or better shaped bread than Koshihikari, while rice protein has no strong effect on bread shape or texture.

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β-Cryptoxanthin (β-CRY) is a carotenoid pigment especially found in satsuma mandarins (Citrus unshiu Marc.). Recent epidemiologic studies have reported inverse associations of serum β-CRY with the risk for cancer, diabetes and liver dysfunction. This double-blinded, placebo-controlled study examined the effect of β-CRY-fortified mandarin juice on liver function and the serum lipid profile. At total of 26 obese male subjects with mild dyslipidemia received mandarin juice fortified without (n=13) or with β-CRY (n=13) once a day for up to 8 weeks. After the intake of mandarin juice for 4 and 8 weeks, a significant increase in serum β-CRY was observed in both groups ; the level was notable for the β-CRY-fortified juice group. Serum alanine aminotransferase and γ-glutamyltransferase levels in the β-CRY-fortified juice group were significantly lower at 8 weeks than those at 4 weeks. Cross-sectional analysis showed significant inverse correlations between serum liver enzyme and serum β-CRY concentrations at 4 and 8 weeks ; there were no correlations at baseline. These inverse correlations were more evident at 8 weeks. Moreover, serum HDLand LDL-cholesterol levels in the β-CRY-fortified juice group were decreased after 8 weeks, but were not significant different from the non-fortified juice group. These results suggest that intake of β-CRY-rich mandarin juice may be effective for improving liver function.

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Chemical mediator release inhibitory activity, DPPH radical scavenging activity, and deoxyguanosine oxidation inhibitory activity of 14 dried herb extracts were examined. Their total polyphenol and flavonoid (flavonol compound) content was also determined. Extracts of peppermint (Mentha piperita), laurel (Laurus nobilis), basil (Ocimum basilicum) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) inhibited histamine release from rat peritoneal cells (PCs) by less than 50%, while those that contain large amounts of polyphenol strongly inhibited it. Extracts of thyme (Thymus vulgaris), spearmint (Mentha spicata), marjoram (Origanum majorana), sage (Salvia officinalis), oregano (Origanum vulgare), peppermint, freeze-dried thyme, rosemary (sun or freeze-dried) also inhibited leukotriene (LT)B₄ release by about 50%. Those extracts that suppressed LTB₄ release tended to contain large amounts of polyphenols and flavonoids. Extracts that suppressed histamine and LTB₄ release showed high DPPH radical scavenging and deoxyguanosine oxidation inhibitory activities. Thus, in herb extracts possessing antioxidant activity, polyphenols may play an important role in the suppression of chemical mediator release by scavenging radicals.

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Eight major anthocyanins were determined in 61 processed foods made from purple-fleshed sweet potato commercially available in Japan. The total content of major anthocyanins ranged from 53.22 to 936.26mg/100g for 10 primary processed foods, including dried powders, dried flakes, and dried sweet potatoes ; 1.19 to 131.95mg/100mL for 13 beverages including soft drinks and fermented vinegars ; 33.00 to 376.39mg/100g for 11 deep-fried foods, including chips and fried dough cookies ; and 1.01 to 69.75mg/100g for 27 secondary processed foods, including Western and Japanese sweets, and jams. The peonidin-based anthocyanins exceeded 70% of the total anthocyanin content for 9 of the primary processed foods, 13 of the beverages, 6 of the deep-fried foods, and 21 of the secondary processed foods. The ingredients of these processed foods were estimated to be purple-fleshed sweet potato cultivars Ayamurasaki and Murasakimasari.

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Validated analytical methods have been adopted in Codex Alimentarius Commission for international regulatory analysis. They also have been needed in the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) because of increased international business through the import and export. In this regard, the Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center (FAMIC) have designed the candidate analytical methods and conducted their interlaboratory studies in commission of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. All procedures were performed under the international harmonized protocol of method-performance study. In this article, the general procedure for analytical methods in the JAS is summarized. Practical interlaboratory studies, performed at FAMIC, are also introduced on determination of crude protein and ash in macaroni products.

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