For the purpose of improving bean sprouts production, the effects of intermittent, short time CO₂ treatment on the growth and quality of the bean sprouts of soybean, mung bean and adzuki bean examined. Three kinds of mixed gases containing 600, 800 and 1200ppm of CO₂ were prepared. CO₂ treatment was performed by introducing the mixed gases into the sprouting bed for 60 minutes a day for consecutive 7 days, beginning 12 hours after the start of cultivation. The CO₂ treatment greatly affected the growth and quality of bean sprouts; the CO₂ treatment at 600 and 800ppm markedly stimulated the elongation and thickening of hypocotyls, thus enabling the production of socalled "futomoyashi" or high quality thick bean sprouts with gloss, semi-transparency, and substanti- ality. Also the treatment greatly elevated the vitamin C content in the bean sprouts, remarkably improving the marketability of the bean sprouts together with the favorable effects described above. It was assumed that the most appropriate harvesting time for the bean sprouts treated with 600 and 800ppm of CO₂ was about 3 days after planting, when the length and thickness of bean sprouts fulfilled the marketability standard, the vitamin C content was greatly elevated, and both the hardening of hypocotyls and the development of lateral roots were moderate. Consequently, the cultivation period was shortened by 3-4 days compared to the conventional method. On the whole, it was concluded that 600ppm was the optimum CO₂ concentration in treating bean sprouts, although no significant differences in effectiveness were observed between 600 and 800ppm. In the conventional method of culture, unfavorable levels of CO₂ may accumulate over long periods, giving a harmful effect. It may be helpful to improve the method of culture by aerating the chamber and adding CO₂ for a short period each day.

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It is known that oryzanol (mixture of triterpene alcohol ferulate, by-product from rice bran) shows a weak antioxidative activity against autooxidation of fats and oils. To know this effect on thermal oxidative deterioration of oils, γ-oryzanol was added to refined edible soybean oil, which was free from any additives such as silicone oil, citric acid, etc., and heated for 2.75h at 190°C with air and steam. The determination of iodine value, carbonyl value, mean molecular weight and color of heated oils indicated that the addition of γ-oryzanol retarded the thermal oxidation of soybean oil, in concentration from 0.5 to 1% (w/w). Moreover, it was suggested that ferulic acid, particularly hydroxyl group in it, is responsible for the effectiveness of oryzanol, through the experments using the constituents of γ-oryzanol (24-methylene cycloartanol, cycloartenol, cyclobranol and ferulic acid) and oryzanol acetate. No synergistic effect of butyl hydroxyl toluene or δ-tocopherol was observed on the inhibitory effect of oryzanol, which was maintained for rather a long time during prolonged heating.

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The phytic acid content of commercial soybean milk in Japan was from 0.52 to 1.11mg/g. Phytate in soybean milk was hydrolyzed by wheat phytase. The enzyme was immobilized on Dowex MWA-1, MSC-1, Duolite ES-762 with glutaraldehyde. The activity yield was in the range of 4.5-21% depending upon the immobilization method. The optimum pH and K_m values of the immobilized enzyme on Duolite ES-762 were similar to those of the free enzyme. On the other hand, the optimum pH of the immobilized enzyme on Dowex MSC-1 shifted by one pH unit toward the alkaline region, and its K_m value was considerably increased. The optimum temperature did not change by immobilization. Immobilized enzymes on Duolite ES-762 and Dowex MSC-1 were used for the hydrolysis of phytate in soybean milk.

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Starches were prepared from mung bean and broad bean flour by both an alkali method and a fermentation method. The chemical composition and physico-chemical properties of each starch and a powder of commercial Harusame were determined. The results are summarized as follows: Starch prepared by the fermentation method was four times higher in the protein content; lower in transmittance of photopastegram at 98°C; and lower in consistency and breaking force of gel, compared with the starch prepared by the alkali method. The amylose contents of commercial Harusame and starches were: approximately 20% for the products of Japan, 30.1% for the product of China, and 33.2 and 34.5% for mung bean and broad bean starch, respectively. Though broad bean starch has a higher amylose content than mung bean starch, consistency and breaking force of the gel were lower than mung bean starch. The commercial Chinese Harusame noodle, "Lungkow vermicelli" was assumed to be manufactured from mung bean starch prepared by the fermentation method.

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It has long been known that the final step in manufacturing of Tenobe-somen, the so-called yaku, is the necessary storing procedure after the desiccation process of somen so as to provide the most favourable texture when eating the cooked somen. In order to search further insights into the factors affecting the yaku phenomenon, a comparative study on the rheological properties of a series of pastes prepared from the powdered somens before and after the yaku was made within a short span of aging after the paste preparation by means of a cone-plate viscometer at 10°C. An increase of the steady-flow viscosity and thixotropy followed by a decrease was observed for the pastes prepared from somens before the yaku, while this tendency was much reduced with the samples prepared by use of the powdered somens after the yaku. Such the difference in rheological properties between the two types of the samples is seemingly brought about by the presence of fatty acids liberated in somens during the procedure of yaku. This can be confirmed experimentally using the model system composed of wheat starch, oleic acid, salt and water, so that the fatty acids produced in somens by the yaku procedure may play an important role in the textural properties of cooked somens.

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The mechanical properties and electric impedance of tea leaves were measured for various steaming durations in order to obtain the basic informations for the automation of steaming process in the manufacture of tea. Dynamic elastic modulus at 10Hz and the initial apparent elasticity in extension measurement decreased remarkably with increasing the steaming duration. The breaking strain increased by 40% caused by steaming only for a short time (30s) with comparison to raw leaves. Steamed leaves elongated at initial stage of extension, while raw leaves stretched only a little until just before the breaking. Both the magnitude and the frequency dependence of electric impedance were more eminent for raw leaves than steamed leaves. The large air chambers of intercellular spaces in spongy parenchyma of raw leaves were observed but shrinked rapidly by steaming. The differences of physical properties between the leaves of various positions on the stem were also examined: larger firmness, higher electric impedance and lower moisture content were found at the lower positions on the stem than at the upper positions for the raw leaves.

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Hesperidin contents in the component parts of Satsuma mandarin fruit were studied. In addition, changes in the hesperidin content of Satsuma mandarin juice during processing were also estimated. (1) In the quantitative analysis, hesperidin in fruit could be dissolved extreamely in alkaline solution at pH 11 with stirring for 10 minutes. (2) Hesperidin contents were 3800mg/100g in albedo, 900mg/100g in segment membrane and flavedo, 100mg/100g in juice vessicles, and less than 50mg/100ml in juice on the average. (3) Hesperidin content in juice was influenced by extracting pressure; hesperidin in juice increased from 37.9 to 75.2mg/100ml by increasing pressure in a hand press. Hesperidin content in juice extracted by In-Line juice extractor was 98mg/100ml. (4) Soluble hesperidin content in juice was about 100mg/100ml after the extracting, finishing and centrifuging process, but decreased below 20mg/100ml after the evaporating process. (5) Hesperidin in juice containing 18.0% of pulp after the In-Line juice extractor process was insolubilized about to 61%, but after removal of pulp from the juice, more than 85% of hesperidin was soluble even after 1 hourHesperidin in clarified juice was not insolubilized at all even after 5 hours. (6) In the concentrated juice of 50° Brix, 80-95% of hesperidin was insoluble in the presence of pulp, but only 5% of it was insolubilized in clarified juice. Hesperidin solubility in juice at the evaporating process was greatly influenced by the pulp content of juice.

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The "Sunki" is one of the Japanese pickles pickled without salt but only by the lactic acid fermentation. The authors tried to pickle green vegetables, i.e., 'Ohtaki-kabura' and 'Komatsu-na', with lactic acid instead of the addition of lactic acid bacteria, and compared them with fermented ones. The results are as follows: (1) Crude protein content of the pickles made by the lactic treatment is higher than that of the fermented ones. (2) Free amino acid content of the lactic acid treated pickles is higher than that of the fermented ones. (3) It is concluded that "Sunki" like pickles can be prepared only by the addition of lactic acid instead of lactic acid fermentation. (4) Green colour of vegetables remains more freshly and taste is better in the pickles with lactic acid than fermented ones.

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How the variation of acid and sugar concentrations affects the consumer preference for beverages containing 10%, 20% and 30% pineapple juice, and how the concentration of pineapple juice affects the taste of beverages were examined by sensory tests. (1) Beverages containing 30% pineapple juice were preferred significantly than those containing 10 and 50% juice. (2) For the beverage containing 10% juice, beverages containing 0.15% acid were disliked significantly than those of other acid level, but there was no significant difference in the preference for beverages having different acid concentration in all other tests. (3) Beverages with a Brix of °14.0 were preferred but those of 11.0 were not preferred in all juice content levels tested. (4) Main amino acids contained in pineapple juice were asparagine 69.2mg/100ml, alanine 35.0mg/100 ml and aspartic acid 13.5mg/100ml. (5) Organic acid composition of pineapple juice was citric acid 82.8%, malic acid 16.9% and succinic acid 0.3%.

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Rapid determination method of various phosphates in several kinds of foods were developed. Five grams of homogenized sample were defatted with 10ml of ethylether, and extracted twice with 10 and 5ml of ice-cold 20% trichloroacetic acid solution while cooling for 1min by using test tube shaker and filtered through cotton plug. The Filtrates were mixed and made up to 20ml. One ml of the extracted solution was neutralyzed with 1N NaOH and diluted with 300ml of 5 mM EDTA·2Na-EDTA·4Na solution (pH 5.0). This solution was poured into anion exchange column (Dowex 1×4, 100-200 mesh, chloride form, 1×8cm) and the column was washed with 30ml of the above 5mM EDTA solution. The ortho-, pyro-, tri- and another poly-phosphates were separatively eluted with 50ml of 0.09, 0.19 and 0.30M KCl in 5mM EDTA solution, and 50ml of 2N HCl solution. Ten ml of each eluate was added with 1ml of 1.5% ammoniummolybdate·HCl solution and heated for 10min in boiling water bath and after adding with 1ml of 1% hydrazize-sulfate again heated for 10min, then absorbance at the wavelength of 830nm was measured. Recovery of phosphate and polyphosphates were 69.3-104% within the addition level of 0.02-2%.

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The fatty acid composition was determined on the lipids extracted from chicken muscles (breast, thigh, leaflet muscle in breast, neck), skin, and internal organs (gizzard, heart, spleen, liver). Samples were obtained from "Yamato" and "Broiler" type chickens that were raised in the experiment station. Five of saturated fatty acids (C_14:0, C_16:0, C_18:0, C_20:0, C_24:0), 5 of monounsaturated fatty acids (C_15:1, C_16:1, C_18:1, C_20:1, C24:1) and 5 of poly-unsaturated fatty acids (C_18:2, C_20:3, C_20:4, C_22:4, C_22:5) were detected by using a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. The distribution of 7 kinds of fatty acids (C_14:0, C_16:0, C_16:1, C_18:0, C_18:1, C_18:2, C_20:4) which exist more than the other fatty acids were investigated. As the results, the predominant fatty acids of lipids were C_18:1, C_16:0, C_18:0, C_18:2, and C_20:4 acids. Particularly, C_18:1 and C_16:0 acids were abundant in breast, thigh, leaflet muscle in breast, neck, skin, and gizzard, on the contrary C_20:4 acid was more in heart than in others. The fatty acid composition between "Yamato" and "Broiler" was similar in all positions.

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A new method was proposed for measuring sugar content in cow's milk based on conductometry in the presence of strong electrolyte (1.125 M NaCl). By use of citric acid and tannic acid for deproteinazation, sample conductivity depended on the sugar content without any influences of protein and fat. The lactose (monohydrate) content estimated from the proposed method agreed with that obtained from chloramin T method (the method of I.D.F.) with an error of 0.04%.

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A method is described for the hydrochloric acid extraction and determination of total sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, manganese, copper and zinc in NBS standard reference materials (wheat flour, rice flour and citrus leaves), Kiritampo and marine alga. The sample was weighed in a polyethylene or polypropylene bottle and 50-200 times volume of 1 or 3% hydrochloric acid was added. After extraction for 1 hour with occasionally shaking, filtrate or supernatant was analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results obtained using this procedure agreed with the certified values or those obtained after dry-ashing or wet-digestion of the samples. But, this procedure could not be applied to determination of total iron, because iron was extracted uncompletely. Na, K, Mg, Ca, Mn and Zn in cereals and marine alga and Na, K, Mg, Mn and Zn in leaves were extracted with 50 times volume of 1% hydrochloric acid. Ca in high level and Cu in leaves were extracted with 100 times volume of 3% hydrochloric acid. The pretreatment of a large number of samples can be performed economically, simply and rapidly using this procedure.

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