The ascorbic acid content of raw and steamed storage roots of 3 sweet potato cultivars with different starch pasting temperatures was measured. The cultivars were “Beniazuma”, “Hoshikirari” and “Quick Sweet”, and their pasting temperatures measured by RVA were approximately 75°C, 65°C and 55°C, respectively. The total ascorbic acid contents per fresh weight of raw roots of “Beniazuma”, “Hoshikirari” and “Quick Sweet” were 275.88±38.93μg/g, 244.70±50.48μg/g and 218.26±50.20μg/g, respectively. After steaming, these values changed to 154.27±31.94μg/g, 170.20±26.20μg/g and 175.18±44.38 μg/g. Therefore, about 57%, 71% and 80% of the ascorbic acid contents in raw roots of “Beniazuma”, “Hoshikirari” and “Quick Sweet” were remained after steaming, respectively. The steaming process resulted in maltose generation at ca. 50°C for “Quick Sweet”, ca. 60°C for “Hoshikirari” and ca. 80°C for “Beniazuma”, according to their starch pasting temperatures. The sweet potato cultivar “Okikogane” in which maltose is not generated upon heating due to the lack of beta-amylase activity remained less than 50% of total ascorbic acid presented in raw roots after steaming. These results indicated that sweet potato cultivars with low starch pasting temperatures retained a larger percentage of total ascorbic acid content presented in their raw roots after steaming due to their early generation of maltose.

An acoustic analysis of sounds generated during the swallowing of gels with similar taste but different textures was conducted. These gels may have relevance as care foods for dysphagic patients. The profiles of the swallowing sounds of each subject were divided into three parts: the time required for the epiglottis to close (t₁), the time required for the bolus to flow (t₂), and the time required for the epiglottis to open (t₃). The time required for the bolus to flow through the pharynx, t₂, tended to decrease as the concentration of the gel increased, and approached that of yogurt, which is rarely aspirated. In addition, t₂ tended to decrease with an increase in the “hardness” obtained from TPA tests or with an apparent steady viscosity, μ, of the gel bolus. The time t₂ correlated well with the maximum velocity through the pharynx, V_max, which has been reported to correspond to the width of the velocity distribution of the bolus in the pharynx and to be a good predictor of aspiration risk. Therefore, the acoustic analysis of sounds could be a simple method for evaluating the velocity distribution of the bolus in the pharynx.

An interlaboratory study was performed to evaluate an analytical method for the determination of β-cryptoxanthin in satsuma mandarin (Citrus unshiu Marc.). The detection limit (S/N=3) and determination limit (S/N=10) of β-cryptoxanthin in this method were 0.4mg/kg and 1.2mg/kg, respectively. Eleven participating laboratories independently analyzed five test materials (five pairs of blind duplicates) using high performance liquid chromatography. After removal of outliers, the repeatability (RSD_r) and reproducibility (RSD_R) of the evaluated methods were 2.0-4.2% and 9.0-14%, respectively, in a concentration range from 4.7mg/kg to 23mg/kg. The HorRat values of the β-cryptoxanthin concentration were calculated to be 0.75 to 1.1. The present study showed that this method has acceptable precision. The expanded uncertainty U(k=2) was 21%.

Buckwheat honey has high antioxidant activity among the different types of floral-source honeys, and is therefore consumed as an anti-aging food. However, because of its characteristic odor and taste, known as malty flavor, it is not favored in the marketplace. In reference to a previous report indicating that the malty flavor is mainly derived from 3-methylbutanal, we attempted to remove aldehydes from buckwheat honey by treatment with adsorptive materials or ultrafiltration membrane. We also evaluated the influence of storage on fluctuations in the malty flavor by organoleptic examination of buckwheat honey preserved for 2∼4 months at 20°C. As a result, the buckwheat honey treated with silica gel MIZUKASORB A showed improved flavor compared to samples treated with other adsorptive materials. Although the UF membrane treatment was also effective, the characteristic smell showed a tendency to recur during storage. In the silica gel treatment process, the amount of 3-methylbutanal was reduced by 20%, while the UF membrane treatment process showed a 96% reduction, the highest reduction rate among the treatments. In the honey treated by UF membrane, pentanal increased during storage. For all samples, the total amount of polyphenol showed no changes after treatment, and DPPH radical scavenging activity was increased during storage. Thus, the functionality of buckwheat honey was maintained even after these treatments.

The present study examined the effect of three growth temperatures on the starch gelatinization temperature and β-amylase activity of two cultivars of green soybean in experimental plots. The β-amylase activity of ‘Fuki’ at climate chamber of 25°C was significantly higher (p<0.01) than that grown in a field. On the other hand, we found no significant difference between three plots of ‘Shin-tamba-guro’ upon comparison of their β-amylase activities. However, when comparing the starch gelatinization temperature, the values for the three plots were significantly different (p<0.01): gelatinization temperature increased with a rise in growth temperature. Thus, we suggest that the production of maltose in green soybean is affected by temperature during the ripening process.

This paper describes modification of the inhibitory effects of fruiting bodies of Auricularia polytricha (cloud ear mushroom) on postprandial blood glucose elevation in mice when cultivated on different media. A significant suppression of blood glucose level was identified for fruiting bodies cultivated on medium containing 75% bagasse and 20% rice bran. It was thus clarified that the medium composition can influence the level of suppression of blood glucose elevation through oral intake of the mushroom.

Mouse 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes were cultured in low- and high-glucose Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% FCS, and were induced to adipocytes in the presence of insulin, or insulin and berberine. While glucose was consumed within 2 days of culture in low-glucose medium, significant concentrations of glucose were observed in high-glucose medium. Berberine was also shown to enhance glucose consumption. Cellular glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity and triglyceride accumulation of differentiated 3T3-L1 cells in high-glucose medium were higher than those in low-glucose medium. Berberine showed strong anti-adipogenic activity with decreased GPDH activity and triglyceride accumulation.

The current status of genome sequencing projects for hexaploid wheat and its relatives is reviewed. Wheat genome sequencing has become more feasible following the introduction of various techniques that reduce the complexity of its genome. Aneuploid stocks, namely ditelosomics, allowed us to sort individual chromosome arms by flow-sorting. Chromosome arm-specific DNA samples were prepared from the sorted chromosome arms for sequencing. The assemblies of the shotgun sequencing of the arm-specific DNA samples were published in 2004, where hypothetical wheat gene sequences can be found. This review is a milestone publication for wheat science that marks the dawn of the post-genomic era. I summarized the available molecular marker techniques for wheat.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important food crop in the world, as it is a staple food for more than half of the world's population. Rice grain quality largely determines its market price and consumer acceptance. Rice grain quality is determined by a set of complex traits encompassing a wide range of characteristics including processing suitability of rice flour and cooking characteristics of cooked rice grain. Decoding the rice genome sequence provides a distinct advantage in the isolation of important genes associated with grain quality and cooking characteristics of rice. Recently, we identified one of the genes responsible for biosynthesis of storage protein in rice endosperm and a genetic factor in the eating quality of cooked rice grain. These genetic factors could be exploited for the development of novel rice cultivars with high grain quality.