Research and development of functional food materials and functional foods with the goal of "contributing to the maintenance and improvement of people’s health through food" were conducted. Phosphoryl oligosaccharides of calcium (POsCa), highly branched cyclic dextrin (HBCD), and α-glucosylhesperidin (Hsp-G) were synthesized using enzymes, and POsCa was utilized for caries prevention, HBCD increased endurance performance, and Hsp-G improved poor blood circulation, which could be put into practical use. Subsequently, based on the knowledge and experience gained from these studies, the research was expanded. In oral hygiene, we have developed biscuits for the elderly that are easy to chew and swallow, and tablets that suppress halitosis by removing tongue coating using protease. Research on glycemic control derived from endurance performance studies has led to the development of rice crackers for diabetics and the research on persimmon polyphenols found they suppress postprandial blood glucose. The knowledge of autonomic nerves gained in research on blood circulation led to the development of stress-reducing chocolate using GABA and the search for ornithine that promotes sleep. In addition, a study on the post-growth health of offspring born from undernourished mother based on the DOHaD theory found that cross-generational nutrition was very important.

Anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic activities of dietary fiber (lentinan and fucoidan) are reviewed. We reported that lentinan, β-1,3; 1,6-glucan derived from Lentinula edodes, suppresses intestinal inflammation and ameliorates symptoms of colitis. Furthermore, as a mechanism, our study revealed that lentinan suppresses intestinal inflammation by Dectin-1-mediated regulation of tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 transfer to the surface of the intestinal epithelial cells. We revealed that fucoidan derived from Saccharina japonica inhibits mast cell degranulation through the upregulation of galectin-9 content in the blood. We found that residual amounts of IgE on RBL-2H3 cells were decreased by the addition of galectin-9. Galectin-9 was demonstrated to be capable of removing IgE even if IgE was already bound to mast cells and to suppress the mast cell degranulation induced by antigen. This study shows that lentinan and fucoidan might become effective therapeutic agents for patients who have already developed intestinal bowel diseases and type I allergic diseases, respectively.

We established a method for visualizing the three-dimensional oil distribution in rice crackers, and analyzed the correlation with sensory evaluations of texture to clarify the effect of oil permeation on the texture. The internal structure of the model rice crackers permeated by oil was investigated at 5 levels (oil content ranging from 10 % to 50 %), and the permeation distribution was recorded by X-ray micro-computed tomography (CT). To clarify the relationship between the degree of permeation and the texture, texture evaluation terms related to oil were classified into 8 groups, e.g., crispness (as "kari-kari" in Japanese), tenderness ("shittori"), and hardness ("zaku-zaku"), by cluster analysis, and the model rice crackers were evaluated using these terms. The oil content tended to be higher near the surface than in the deep interior proportion to the total amount of permeated oil. The crispness increased up to 30 % oil content but dropped sharply at 40, 50 %, showing that the oil content and texture were not well correlated. On the other hand, the oil distribution analysis showed that permeation into the deep interior influenced the crispness and tenderness, and permeation into the middle layer enhanced the hardness. The model enabled quantification of the optimum oil distribution to create the desired texture.

Sour beer production has been gradually increasing in Japan. Generally, sour beer is brewed by natural fermentation, long-term aging in wooden barrels, or by the kettle souring method. Here, the kettle souring method was selected because this method has advantages over other methods in terms of handling and preventing contamination at the brewing site. To develop a sour beer unique to Shizuoka Prefecture, lactic acid bacteria isolated in Shizuoka and a beer yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae NMZ-0688 that was developed previously, were utilized. Four optimal strains of lactic acid bacteria (Lactiplantibacillus plantarum TIG-0372, L. plantarum NMZ-1139, Lacticaseibacillus casei TIG-0429, and Schleiferilactobacillus harbinensis NMZ-1200) were selected from 147 isolated strains with high lactic acid productivity at 40 °C after preculturing at 30 °C. Yeast resistant to 2-deoxyglucose was reared from S. cerevisiae NMZ-0688 to improve the fermentation ability of the wort. The 2-deoxyglucose-resistant yeast increased the fermentation efficiency to a level equivalent to that of commercial beer yeast and was selected as the optimal strain. Eight types of small-scale brewing tests were performed with various combinations of these strains. Sensory evaluation by experts showed that the sour beers brewed by microorganisms from Shizuoka Prefecture had a fruity aroma, mainly due to isoamyl acetate, and a refreshing sour taste, which was attributed to the lactic acid.

We used synchrotron radiation microbeam X-ray diffraction (SR-μ-XRD) analysis to examine the effect of emulsifier crystal orientation and lattice periodicity on fat crystallization. Palm mid-fraction (PMF) and sorbitan esters (i.e., sorbitan tristearate (STS) and sorbitan tribehenate (STB)) were used as the fat and emulsifiers, respectively. The major findings were as follows. Diffraction patterns for the PMF crystal-mixed STS showed that the orientation of the lamellar planes of STS crystals and PMF α forms was similar. However, the orientation of some of the lamellar planes between STB crystals and PMF α forms was different in the PMF crystal-mixed STB. The findings showed that crystallization of PMF on STS crystals occurs via epitaxial growth, whereas PMF crystallization on STB crystals occurs via heterogeneous nucleation. Further, the findings suggest that the nucleation mechanism for the PMF α form was dependent on similarities between the molecular structure of the PMF α form and STS or STB, and that these similarities influenced the crystallization temperature for the PMF α form. The crystallization of PMF mixed with STB that occurred via heterogeneous nucleation therefore appeared to be affected by the differences in chain length between the PMF α form and STB, as well as steric hindrance of STB molecular structure including the hydrophilic group.

Chloroform is required for the Folch method, which has historically been used in lipid research. A push to limit chloroform use has become a global trend arising from international efforts to reduce the amount of halogenated solvents. Based on these circumstances, a comparative study was conducted to replace the lipid / fatty acid analysis method in the ingredient list manual to a method that does not require chloroform. Since no significant difference was observed between the method using chloroform and the Hex-IPA method for lipid extraction, it was judged that the Hex-IPA method can be applied to lipid analysis of fish and shellfish from the viewpoint of chloroform reduction. In the analysis of fatty acid amount and composition, the equivalence between the method using chloroform and the Hex-IPA method was confirmed with some exceptions. Moreover, in some samples with low lipid content, such as northern shrimp, the results for the method using chloroform and the Hex-IPA method differed; thus, further investigation is warranted.