Cation Permeability in Soybean Aleurone Layer

The permeation of water and ions into bean seeds is essential for processing and cooking of beans. The permeability of cations, K, Na, Ca, and Mg ions, into soybean seed tissue, especially aleurone layer, during water uptake was investigated to characterize the ion permeation into soybeans. Aleurone layers and seed coats contained relatively high concentration of endogenous K and Ca ions, and endogenous Ca ion, respectively. The amounts of Ca ion entered seed coats and aleurone layers were greater than those of other ions, respectively. Ion contents per dried aleurone layer and dried seed coat were almost same from each other. The release of Ca and Mg ions toward the inside tissue from the aleurone layer was observed during water uptake. The cell wall column of aleurone layers adsorbed more K and Na ions than Ca and Mg ions. These results suggest that the Ca ion entered soybean seeds is actively transported from the seed coat to the embryo through the aleurone layer. The active migration of Ca to soybean embryos would be greatly usefull for producing foods enriched with Ca in processing and cooking of soybeans

野菜冷凍時の細胞傷害とドリップ生成

最近の食生活では冷凍食品は不可欠な存在になっている．国内で生産される冷凍食品の大部分は調理食品であるが，農産物や水産物も冷凍食品として役立っている．最近では野菜冷凍食品の生産量が増え，輸入される野菜冷凍食品の量も増えている．しかしながら，大部分の野菜では90％以上が水分であるため，冷凍処理過程で生成した氷結晶が細胞を傷害し，解凍後に大量のドリップを生成して野菜の品質を低下させるというデメリットを生じる．そのため，野菜の種類によって冷凍に不適なものも多く認められる．野菜冷凍時の細胞内氷結晶の成長を抑制すれば，ドリップ量の増加を防ぎ食品テクスチュアの低下を抑制することが可能である．本総説では，野菜の冷凍条件が細胞内の氷結晶と解凍時のドリップ量に及ぼす影響について紹介する．野菜の種類によって細胞内氷結晶の形状が異なり，細胞質氷核成分が氷結晶成長に影響する可能性も示した．細胞内凍結状態およびドリップ量の差異は，野菜の細胞質成分と冷却速度が関係することを述べ，ドリップ量と細胞内氷結晶の間に密接な関係が存在することを解説した．departmental bulletin pape

Soymilk Fermented with Lactic Acid Bacteria Reduces Plasma TNF-α and Visceral Fat Mass in Rats Fed a High Fat and High Cholesterol Diet

As the administration of lactic acid-fermented soymilk（ LFS） tends to reduce the adipose tissue mass of rats, LFS is assumed to suppress the inflammation in overweight rats. Thus, we investigated the effects of LFS on anti-inflammation and related gene expression in adipose tissues using male Sprague-Dawley rats fed a high fat and high cholesterol diet （HFC diet）. HFC diet included 30% fat and 0.5% cholesterol, and 25% of the HFC diet was replaced with dried LFS for HFCL diet. Rats were fed the AIN-93G, HFC and HFCL diets for 5 weeks, respectively. Plasma TNF-α of rats in the HFCL group was significantly decreased compared with that of rats in the HFC group. The mass of visceral fat in the HFCL group tends to be lower than that in the HFC group. Although the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 （MCP-1） was not significantly repressed in mesenteric adipose tissue of the HFCL group, the expression of TNF-α of the HFCL group was significantly reduced compared with that of the HFC group. The change in TNF-α expression seems to be higher than that in MCP-1 expression, because MCP-1 contributes to macrophage infiltration in adipose tissue, where macrophage secretes TNF-α. These results suggested that the ingestion of LFS induced to suppress the inflammation of visceral fat tissues in rats fed a high fat and high cholesterol diet.departmental bulletin pape

Factors Affecting Water Permeability of Aleurone Layer in Soybean Seeds

The effect of the immersion condition of soybean seeds on the water permeability in aleurone layer was investigated to clarify the water permeability at the initial stage of water sorption. The amounts of water absorbed in seeds coated with only aleurone layer (embryos uncovered with seed coat) and untreated seeds (embryos covered with seed coat and aleurone layer; intact seeds) were compared under several conditions of temperature, pH, ion species, and salt concentration. The relative weight in both types of seeds increased with the rise of soaking temperature, but it decreased after 180min at 50℃. Whereas both water uptakes were inclined to be little affected by soaking pH, the remarkable increase in the water uptake of seeds coated with only aleurone layer was observed only by soaking in sodium acetate buffer (pH 4.0). Although a lower concentration of KCl (0.01M) stimulated both water uptakes compared with water, a higher concentration of KCl (0.1M and 0.2M) depressed inversely them. The rates of water uptake in both types of seeds changed depending upon ionic strength rather than ion species. From these results, it was found that the state of water sorption in soybean seeds having the aleurone layer scarcely changed even if the seed coat was removed. It is suggested that the water permeability of soybean seeds is mainly due to the characteristics of aleurone layer

Democratic (S)fermions and Lepton Flavor Violation

The democratic approach to account for fermion masses and mixing is known to be successful not only in the quark sector but also in the lepton sector. Here we extend this ansatz to supersymmetric standard models, in which the K\"ahler potential obeys underlying S_3 flavor symmetries. The requirement of neutrino bi-large mixing angles constrains the form of the K\"ahler potential for left-handed lepton multiplets. We find that right-handed sleptons can have non-degenerate masses and flavor mixing, while left-handed sleptons are argued to have universal and hence flavor-blind masses. This mass pattern is testable in future collider experiments when superparticle masses will be measured precisely. Lepton flavor violation arises in this scenario. In particular, \mu \to e \gamma is expected to be observed in a planning future experiment if supersymmetry breaking scale is close to the weak scale.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figure

小麦粉の一部を乾燥オカラで置換した二種のケーキの製造と評価

Two kinds of okara-containing cakes, sponge cake and chiffon cake, were produced, and the microstructure, physical property, and characteristic of taste were investigated. Twenty percentage of wheat flours of the cakes were substituted with dry okara. The difference between the microstructures of cakes with and without okara was obviously observed in both types of cakes. While the height of both cakes was slightly decreased by the substitution of wheat flour, the hardness of cakes scarcely changed by the substitution. The significant difference in sensory evaluation between cakes with and without substitution was scarcely observed in two types of cakes

乾燥オカラの食品素材としての特性

Although a great deal of okara, soy milk residue, is produced, most of okara are dealt as an industrial waste. We propose the use of okara foods containing a large amount of dietary fiber and isoflavon for preventing disease derived from life custom. The properties of dry okara ground by different grinding methods, grindstone (GR), rotary mixer (RO), and hammer (HA) were examined, respectively. The microstructures of surface of okara particles were partially different from one another. The methods affecting the surface area of the particles were as following order: HA > GR > RO. The methods affecting the sedimentation volume in water and water-absorption amount were as following order: HA > GR > RO. It was found that the grinding method using GR is the intermediate one among three kinds of grinding methods

小麦粉の一部を乾燥オカラで置換した三種のパンの製造と評価

Three kinds of okara-containing breads, white bread, bagle, and nun, were produced, and the microstructure, physical property, and characteristic of taste were investigated. Twenty percentage of wheat flour of the breads was substituted with dry okara. The difference between microstructures of breads with and without okara was slightly observed in three kinds of breads, respectively. While the height or thickness of breads was decreased by the substitution of wheat flour, the hardness of breads was increased by the substitution. The significant difference in sensory evaluation of three kinds of breads was observed between breads substituted and not substituted with okara