Coffee flavor is considerably influenced by the quality of green coffee beans. Therefore, specialty coffee has a richer aroma, higher acidity, and a more distinct flavor profile compared to commercial coffee. The current methods for evaluating specialty coffee quality are mainly SCA sensory evaluation and complementary techniques such as taste sensing systems and NIRS. However, because the flavor profiles of specialty coffees have become complex over the years, we propose a new quality index method based on physicochemical numerical values.

Heshiko, a salted mackerel product fermented with rice bran, is known to have a characteristic taste and flavor formed through a long-term aging process. This study aimed to elucidate the correlation between taste-active components increased with the fermentation period and sensory characteristics including basic tastes and flavors of Heshiko preparations with different NaCl contents (10 % and 18 %, w/w) added in the salting process. Irrespective of NaCl content, sensory scores of mouthfulness, continuousness and mellowness as flavor factors in addition to sourness and umami as basic tastes were elevated with increases in water-soluble taste-active components including L-amino acid and lactic acid. The sensory scores for Heshiko preparation aged for 6.5 months with 10 % NaCl were higher than those with 18 % NaCl. Much higher contents of D-amino acid were detected in the Heshiko preparation with 10 % NaCl. In particular, D-Alanine occurred with higher content showing a flavor modification effect. The addition of D-Alanine with the same content in Heshiko preparation with 10 % NaCl to that with 18 % NaCl enhanced the sensory score of continuousness and mellowness, suggesting an important role of D-Alanine in the characteristic taste and flavor of Heshiko.

In this study, two different quantification methods of β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) were compared. The ISO 13875-compliant HPLC method is the gold standard method for measuring β-LG concentration in yogurt. However, it requires expensive equipment and technical expertise. Therefore, it is difficult for manufacturers to conduct HPLC analysis in factories. We evaluated the caliber of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) as a simple, alternative method of β-LG quantification. We found the measurement accuracy of ELISA for β-LG to be equivalent to that of HPLC. Hence, ELISA can be employed as an affordable method of β-LG as antiallergy ingredients for food with functional claim.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the origin of deposits observed on the surface of glucomannan (GM) granules in polished konjac flour samples. Konjac flour was immersed in an ethanol solution of appropriate concentration, stained with methylene blue, and then microscopically observed. Stained materials were observed on the surface of slightly swollen granules exposed to the ethanol solution. Some of the granule surfaces exhibited a “patchwork pattern”, where the portion corresponding to the seam of the patch was darkly stained. Depending on the granule, various types of patches were observed apart and attached. In addition, the granules with patchwork patterns or patches were damaged in streaks. Staining of the adhered matter is thought to be mainly due to the presence of cell walls and the middle lamella containing pectin. It was concluded that the surface of GM granules in konjac flours might have contained parts or fragments of cell walls or the middle lamella, which originally surrounded the GM granules in the konjac corm and were partially damaged or destroyed during mechanical processing.