Limonoid glucosides contents of eight commercially grown citrus cultivars including Satsuma mandarin, Hassaku, Iyo, Kiyomi tangor, Natsudaidai, Siranuhi, Sweet Spring tangelo and Sanbokan were analyzed. Influence of canopy depth during fruit development on limonin 17-β-D-glucopyranoside (LG) contents of Satsuma mandarin was also investigated. Total limonoid glucosides concentrations of analyzed fruit ranged from 70 to 260 ppm and Iyo, Sweet spring tangelo and Kiyomi tangor contained relatively high concentration of limonoid glucosides. LG ratio for total limonoid glucosides was lower in Sweet Spring tangelo, Kiyomi tangor, Nastudaidai, Siranuhi and Sanbokan than in previously reported major citrus cultivars which contained LG predominantly. With early ripening cultivar of Satsuma mandarin, LG started to be synthesized at the middle of August. The LG concentration was gradually increased until the harvest season and reached around 100 ppm in November. The LG content of the fruit picked from exterior canopy was constantly higher than those from interior canopy during the fruit development. This suggests that the differences in light intensity due to the different canopy positions affects the LG contents of the fruit. Fruit with higher LG content could be produced by increasing the light intensity during the fruit development.

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A new type of method of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), named “partial seal packaging” was designed. A perforated OPP bag (25, μm of thickness and 85×600mm of size) has been used for chinese chives commercially. The center seal part of the non-perforated bag was modified by sealing partially with O.4mm of fused part width, O.6mm of non-fused part width, and 4 mm of sealed lane width to adjust gas permeability. Characteristics of this method and the effects on the freshness of chinese chives were studied. The gas permeability of the bag was 4, 110ml/m²·24hr·atm for oxygen and 9, 300ml/m²·24hr·atm for carbon dioxide. The concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the partial seal packaged bag after storage under 20°C for 5 days was about 5 % and about 11%, respectively. With the chinese chives in this condition, the levels of sugar and ascorbic acid retained high and the occurrence of yellow leaves and decayed leaves were markedly suppressed. The fluctuation of carbon dioxide concentration in partially sealed bags was smaller than that of oxygen concentration. The freshness of chinese chives retained when the partial seal bags were used during simulated shipping in summer compared with the current packaging. Consequently this packaging method is considered promising as low cost MAP for chinese chives.

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Using a mixture of samac bark and fruit in equal quantity (SBF), which is used in the sugarcane wine- “basi” brewing in the Pangasinan of Philippines, we have prepared basi with and without the addition of barks, and have studied the impact of barks addition on the growth of microorganisms and the ingredients of basi. No impact of SBF addition was seen on the growth of yeasts like Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and no difference was found in the alcohol yields between basi with and without SBF addition. The growth of lactic acid bacteria was completely inhibited by SBF, indicating that the growth of lactic acid bacteria-the cause of souring-can be suppressed by the addition of barks in basi fermentation. Besides, the basi after fermentation with the addition of SBF had a strong astringency resulted from the polyphenol components dissolved from SBF. Though basi with SBF addition had a sugar concentration as high as 11.2%, as its sweetness had been moderated by the astringency of polyphenol, it had a mild taste, showing an important significance of barks addition to confer astringency in basi fermentation.

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There has been an increasing amount of attention to the health benefits of consuming blueberries (lowbush blueberry, highbush blueberry and rabbiteye blueberry) recently. Hence, blueberries contain anthocyanins, and the anti-oxidant activity of anthocyanins was reported in recent research. Blueberry fruit often have been consumed in jam, however the changes in anthocyanin pigments during jam process are still unclear. Using 10 cultivars and 3 selections of blueberries, we investigated the changes in anthocyanin composition during jam manufacturing. In fresh fruit, 8 to 14 anthocyanins were found, and the anthocyanin compositions were differing from each cultivar (selection). The anthocyanin compositions of the blueberry jams were almost same with that of the fresh fruit. From these results, it is concluded that the anthocyanin composition in blueberry fruit do not change during jam manufacturing.

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Sekihan is a Japanese traditional food that is usually cooking to steam glutinous rice with adzuki beans or cowpea beans and those boiling extract. We describe identification of cowpea peel anthocyanin and cowpea boiling extract antocyanin, and the effects of heating time on the color of cowpea boiling extract. Cowpea peel anthocyanins were identified to be cyanidin 3 -glucoside, delphinidin 3 -glucoside and acylated delphinidin type pigment. The cowpea boiling extract anthocyanins were almost the same pigments as cowpea peel anthocyanins. The absorption of cowpea boiling extract increased in 440-600nm as the longer heating time. Especially, the absorption in 487nm increased conspicuously. The anthocyanin concentration of cowpea boiling extract increased until heating for 15 min.. Then, that decreased by heating for 30 min.. Compared with the cyanidin 3-glucoside solution (0. 12mg in 1004 of Mcllvain buffer, pH 6. 4), the cowpea boiling extract seemed a far dark color (L*, a*, b* values), and had a very high value at 531nm (absorbance at Amax-visible of anthocyanin). This result shows that the color of cowpea boiling extract is not created only with the anthocyanin and made by the interpositions of other components.

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Soy milks were produced by the heat-squeezing method and the non heat-squeezing method from four varieties of soybean seeds, Suzuyutaka, Tohoku 126, Tohoku 135 (variety lacking lipoxygenase activity), and Tohoku 139 (variety containing small amount of allergen). Contents of isoflavone and relating compounds were then compared to find the processing way of soy milk containing large amounts of isoflavone. (1) Large amounts of isoflavone were detected in the seed of Tohoku 126 and the content was 437mg / 100g seed. While the isoflavone content in the seed of Tohoku 139 was only 107mg / 100g seed. (2) Most of isoflavone in the soybean seeds was malonyl type, and malonylgenistin was the most predominant isoflavone. Ratio of malonyl type in total isoflavone in the soybean seeds was 66.7-91.6%, and that of aglycon type was only 0.82.5%. (3) Total isoflavone content in soy milk varied with the varieties of soybean seed, and its content in each soy milk was 1 / 6-1 / 8 as much as in the corresponding soybean seed. Isoflavone content in soy milk (Y) and that in soybean (X) were correlated with 1% level of significance under the formula of y = 0.1348x + 0.5626 (r = 0.993). (4) Total isoflavone content in Tofu confected by the heat-squeezing method from whole soybean and hulled soybean was higher than that in Tofu by the non heat-squeezing method. (5) When soy milk was produced by the heat-squeezing method from whole soybean and hulled soybean, isoflavone in soy milk from whole soybean was efficiently extracted after adding water until six-fold volume of soybean used as materials. Total isoflavone content in soy milk from hulled soybean increased in response to the volume of adding water. Total isoflavone content in Okara milk from hulled soybean was not changed by the volume of additional water. (6) Ratio of the content of malonyl type, glycosyl type, and aglycon type of isoflavone in Tofu from whole soybean and hulled soybean confected by the heat-squeezing method and the non heat-squeezing method was almost the same. (7) Contents of protein and solid matter in Tofu produced from Okara milk were higher than that in Tofu from whole soybean and hulled soybean. Moreover, dietary fiber was detected in the Okara Tofu.

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