Heat-induced gel was prepared from emulsified fish oil by adjusting the proportions of protein, water and oil in fish meat surimi. To investigate the effect of the dispersion of fish oil particles in surimi on the physical properties of heat-induced surimi gel, the stirring conditions for surimi and fish oil were changed. It was thus clarified that the gel-forming ability of the emulsified surimi is improved and the oxidation of the fish oil is suppressed by dispersing the oil finely and uniformly in the fish meat surimi. Improvement in gel-forming ability varied depending on the type of oil emulsified and the species of fish used for the surimi paste. Over the years, new products based on these developments have been in high demand in Tokyo. Therefore, using this technology, we developed a tofu-like surimi-based product with a texture like tofu that uses raw soybean powder and soybean oil obtained by grinding soybeans, which have been attracting attention as a health food. The resulting cured surimi, or kamaboko, was named “Tokyo-age”．

We examined a method to estimate the changes in hardness of enzyme-treated beef in a retort pouch using electrical impedance measurement. Beef shoulder meat immersed in papain enzyme solutions for 1 minute and enclosed in pouches were used as the samples. The impedance of samples before and after papain enzyme treatment was measured by a LCR meter. After immersing the beef samples in each papain enzyme solution (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5%) and deactivated enzyme solution for 1 minute, samples were enclosed in pouches and impedance at 24370Hz was measured over time. Additionally, portions of beef samples prepared under the same conditions as for impedance measurement were removed and subjected to measurement of changes in hardness (fracture energy) over time using a rheometer. In the samples immersed in the 0% enzyme solution (distilled water) and deactivated enzyme solution, both impedance and fracture energy did not significantly change in a time-dependent manner. In contrast, in the samples immersed in the 0.5, 1.0, or 1.5% enzyme solution, impedance values decreased and rupture energy showed a tendency to decrease in a time-dependent manner. According to the regression lines of impedance and fracture energy, the correlation coefficients were determined to be R²＝0.933, 0.984, and 0.986 for each enzyme concentration. Thus, the results of our study demonstrate that impedance measurement is a feasible method to nondestructively estimate the changes in hardness of enzyme-treated beef samples in retort pouches.

To clarify the chemical and mechanical characteristics of Steller sea lion（SL）meat, the fatty acid composition, free amino acid content and shear force value of SL meat were analyzed. The major fatty acids were 16：0, 18：0, 18：1 and 22：6. The fatty acid composition was similar to that of whale and tuna. The major free amino acids were anserine, carnosine, glutamine, alanine and taurine, and their composition was similar to that of pork. Moreover, the shear force value was almost the same as that of pork loin. These results suggested that SL meat can be utilized as a functional food containing n-3 fatty acids, anserine and carnosine.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of young barley leaf extracts (YBL) on the relative abundance of genus Prevotella in feces of rats fed a high-fat diet. Rats consumed a high-fat diet containing 2% or 10% (w/w) YBL for 4 weeks. The bacterial composition of feces collected before and during the fourth week of feeding was measured by a terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. Results demonstrated that 4-week consumption of YBL significantly increased the relative abundance of Prevotella but decreased that of Bacteroides compared to before treatment. Consequently, 4-week supplementation of YBL in the diet raised the Prevotella-to-Bacteroides ratio in the feces of rats fed the high-fat diet.