Natural oils and fats are valuable resources as available materials used for foods, cosmetics, medicines, surface-active agents and many other industrial stuffs. With a view to utilizing natural oils and fats more effectively, the following works were performed and the useful scientific and technological findings were obtained; 1. The development of various analytical methods for quality control of oils and fats, 2. The improvement of oxidative stability of unsaturated oils by using the various natural compounds, 3. The utilization of unavailable raw oils and fats materials.

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This study deals with the preparation and practical applications of molecular assemblies formed by various natural amphiphiles using “water” and supercritical “carbon dioxide” which exist abundantly in nature. Microbial glycolipids, which are produced from natural resources such as vegetable oil, give not only a high surface activity at considerably low concentrations but also versatile assemblies including sponge (L₃), bicontinuous reverse cubic (V₂), and lamella (L_α) phases. We also explored the application of glycolipid having moisturizing and antibody binding actions induced by their self-assembly in the field of cosmetics and medical device. Moreover, one step liposome preparation method using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) was developed without the use of any toxic organic solvent. We then succeeded in putting liposome technology to food industry by producing liposome encapsulating Ukon (Curcuma longa, L.) extract.

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