A few novel strains of lactic acid bacteria were isolated from local foods, such as traditional Japanese pickles, in Niigata. We attempted to apply these strains to food fermentation to create new plant-based foods.Latilactobacillus sakei UONUMA strains (UONUMA-1, UONUMA-2, and UONUMA-3) isolated from Japanese pickles in snow caverns in the Uonuma region of Niigata have potential for use in biopreservation. Additionally, these strains were able to reform the flavor of koji amazake. Lactiplantibacillus paraplantarum YAMAKOSHI strain, which is isolated from traditional non-salt "Izekomina" pickles from the Yamakoshi region of Niigata, has the characteristics of yielding a viscous and sticky fermented food.These characteristics were exploited to produce foods such as lactic acid fermented koji amazake, rice bran pickles, vegetable paste, yogurt, and gelato for commercial use. Furthermore, a yogurt-like beverage, solely made from rice, was successfully produced and commercialized.

In this study, we quantitatively analyzed the methiin and alliin contents of Chinese chive stems according to the processing conditions and preservation method using high-performance liquid chromatography. As a result, changes in the methiin and alliin contents of frozen preserved Chinese chive stems were observed. The contents of methiin and alliin increased approximately 3.5- and 5.6-fold, respectively, after freezing. Also, methiin and alliin contents were increased by finely cutting the Chinese chives. When the frozen Chinese chives were thawed at a temperature of 30 to 50 °C, partial conversion to an odorous component by the action of alliinase was observed, which affected the methiin and alliin contents. In addition, the amount and ratio of extracted methiin and alliin were affected by the harvest month of Chinese chives and the concentration of ethanol during extraction, and it was revealed that the ratio of methiin and alliin was about 80 : 20. As described above, we developed a method to increase the functional components methiin and alliin, and report basic data that can be applied for zero waste of Chinese chive stems. As a result, it was found that as the freezing period became longer, the cell destruction of garlic chives progressed and the amounts of methine and alliin increased.

In order to investigate contamination by ergot in wheat, we developed a simultaneous analysis method for detecting 12 types of ergot alkaloids. Based on the results of a comparative examination of purification conditions using various mini-columns, a quick and easy pretreatment method using Captiva EMR-Lipids was developed, and its performance was confirmed by a spiked recovery test. Use of this analysis method to survey commercially available wheat showed that no ergot alkaloids were detected, suggesting that the possibility of contamination by ergot alkaloids was low.

The ingestion of agricultural products containing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) may improve blood pressure conditions, as indicated by Foods with Function Claims entries. Recently, a modified Luffa aegyptiaca product was developed to have high GABA content. The objective of this study was to investigate the quantification of GABA levels in Luffa aegyptiaca by simple methods used in research and development and product quality assurance. The results showed a significant and strong positive correlation between the HPLC method and the enzymatic assay, suggesting that the use of an enzymatic assay for GABA quantification is equally as robust as the HPLC method.