The objective of this study was to develop fermented adzuki bean pastes using rice koji and to elucidate their physicochemical properties. After rice koji was prepared using nine kinds of koji molds, the enzyme activities of these koji were measured. Rice koji for special ginjo sake production with relatively high α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities were suitable for production of adzuki bean paste, and the optimal mixture ratio of rice koji and steamed adzuki beans was 50:50. Finally, use of rice koji flours with a particle size range of 212-425 μm produced acceptable high-quality adzuki bean paste with less roughness and having a melt-in-the-mouth feel after fermentation for 3 days at 55°C. Color analysis indicated that the experimentally prepared bean paste had a vivid color with high degrees of redness and yellowness when compared with commercially available adzuki bean pastes. Textural analysis revealed that tested bean paste had moderate hardness, adhesiveness, and viscosity. Moreover, noticeable differences in sugar composition and free amino acid composition were observed between fermented adzuki bean paste and commercially available adzuki bean pastes. The bean paste also had a low Brix% and energy and was rich in γ-aminobutyric acid when compared with commercially available adzuki bean pastes. These results suggested that a new health-conscious adzuki bean paste could be developed.

Chemical sanitizers are commonly used to produce ready-to-eat fresh-cut vegetables. Sodium hypochlorite is widely used for this purpose; however, it sometimes changes product quality. To solve this problem, we developed a novel procedure that can omit disinfection after cutting vegetables. In this novel “Ozone-slice process”, ozonated water containing a surfactant was poured onto slice cutters during cutting. From the viewpoint of product bacteriological quality, no significant differences were observed between the ordinal “Chlorine-immersion process”, which uses sodium hypochlorite solution after cutting, and this novel process. The ascorbic acid content in products processed by chlorine immersion was lower than in those produced by the Ozone-slice process. In contrast with the ordinal process, the novel process did not tend to affect product color or taste. From the viewpoint of the products’ sensory attributes, the novel method gave preferable results compared to the ordinal process.

In recent years, considering throughput, a simple quantitative method using normal-phase liquid chromatography (NP-HPLC) has been established for the assessment of foods with functional claims that contain plasmalogens. To certify the content of functionally related ingredients, we aimed to verify the validity of the analytical values obtained with this method. We built a simple quantitative method using NP-HPLC equipped with charged aerosol detector (NP-HPLC simple method) to quantify phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, and their subclasses in a soft capsule product which is classified as a food with functional claims. The amount of plasmalogens per 2 soft capsules, which is the recommended daily intake, was determined and compared with value obtained using the 2D-HPLC method. As a result, the validity of the analytical value was confirmed. We believe that the NP-HPLC simple method can be used to assess plasmalogens in not only soft capsules but also other foods.