Shijimi, the brackish-water bivalve Corbicula japonica, is one of the most important fishery resources in Aomori Prefecture. We worked on developing a new product using Shimiji extract to promote the prefecture’s industry. In the course of researching the stabilization of the quality of Shimiji extract, we found that the ornithine content of the extract increased when the bivalve was frozen. It was not influenced by the period of freezing. This phenomenon was not apparent in the scallop, little-neck clam, or hard clam. We applied various low-temperature conditions for processing the bivalve from 4°Cto －10°Cand measured the ornithine content of each extract. The ornithine content was maximized by processing at －4°C. The increase in the ornithine content was reduced when the bivalve was stored at 5°Cor 15°Cafter processing at －4°C, and this decrease was reversed when the bivalve was again processed at －4°Cafter warming. Based on these experimental results, it was thought that freeze processing the bivalve increased the ornithine content of the extract. Furthermore, a novel ornithine-containing tripeptide, named acorbine, was found in the bivalve and is believed to be the source of increased free ornithine.

The morphology of triacylglycerol (TAG) crystals significantly affects the efficiency of their fractionation during the processing of fats and oils to improve their functionality. Large stable crystals, formed by fast crystallization, improve the fractionation efficiency. The purpose of this study was to determine optimal crystallization to improve the morphology of stable β form crystals that are suitable for dry fractionation. The polymorphic transformation behaviors from unstable forms to stable forms were investigated by polarized light microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The solid-solid transformation of unstable α and β' forms of monosaturated TAGs into β forms was investigated. The β form was nucleated in the β' form and grown, by solid-solid transformation, to a larger crystal to improve its separation efficiency. In contrast, the β form transformed from the α form retained the original morphology of the α form. The size of the obtained β form crystals increased with an increase in the crystallization temperature of the initial β' forms. The temperature of polymorphic transformation affected the rate of transformation, while the influence of temperature on the size of transformed crystals was limited. We also clarified the influence of the difference in fatty acid chain length of the examined TAGs. The present study demonstrated that crystal morphology can be modified, depending on the crystallization procedure, to improve the fractionation efficiency.

We made rosé sparkling wine from Muscat Bailey A and Pinot Noir grapes. Production was performed by in-bottle secondary fermentation from the juices obtained by the direct pressing method. As a result, it was possible to make rosé sparkling wine from Muscat Bailey A. However, sparkling wine made from Pinot Noir was white, not rosé. Both sparkling wines scored well in sensory evaluations.

Since retort pouch food is sterilized under high temperature and high pressure, the physical properties are supposed to change with the progression of sterilization. However, an adequate technique to measure the state of food during sterilization has not yet been established. In this study, we measured the electrical impedance of rice samples (rice-water system) in a tray-type retort container continuously throughout the sterilization process. In addition, we measured the hardness of rice grains in retort pouches that were sterilized for various sterilizing times using a material tester. We found that the impedance vector locus for the samples was plotted linearly, and the slope of the regression line of the vector locus was evaluated as an indicator of the changes in the sample. During the heating process (13 minutes at room temperature to 120°C of retort chamber temperature) and sterilization process (30 minutes at 120°C of retort chamber temperature), the slope value decreased with processing time. After the sterilization process started (after 13 minutes from the start of the heating process), the central temperature of the sample was almost constant, but the slope value continued to decrease. We thought that the change in the slope value represented some kind of physical and/or chemical change in the sample. Samples with different sterilizing times showed decreasing hardness of rice grains as well as decreasing slope values as the sterilizing time increased. It was determined that there is a high correlation (R²＝0.693) between the slope value and the hardness of rice grains. The results showed that the above is one possible method to non-destructively and continuously measure how the hardness of retort-packed rice changes during sterilization and to evaluate changes with slope values used as an indicator of hardness.