The purpose of this study was to investigate nutritional and functional ingredients and antioxidant activity after fermenting rice bran using Lactobacillus brevis for 24, 36, and 48 hours. The results of the analysis of the nutritional ingredients revealed that there was no significant difference in the carbohydrate, crude protein, crude fat and ash content regardless of the fermentation process and fermentation time. The amount of dietary fiber was significantly different between the unfermented and fermented rice bran and was observed to be the highest after a 48-hour fermentation. The -oryzanol, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and total phenolic contents were significantly higher in the fermented rice bran compared to the unfermented rice bran (p<0.05) and the GABA and total phenolic contents increased significantly as the fermentation time increased (p<0.05). The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6- sulfonic acid (ABTS), superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities used to measure antioxidant effects significantly increased as the fermentation time increased (p<0.05). From these results, it was confirmed that the antioxidant effect and functional components, namely -oryzanol, GABA, and the total phenolic content of rice bran improved with fermentation. Based on these results, fermented rice bran could be presented as a functional material for use in high value-added industries.

This study compared the texture characteristics and consumer acceptance of cooked wheat noodles produced in four countries, which were Korea, Japan, China, and Italy. Noodle types were selected after FGI (focus group interview). Eleven noodles were studied, and they were categorized into four types: udon, fried udon, oriental noodles of various thickness, and pasta. Color was measured as L (lightness), a (redness), and b (yellowness) values using a colorimeter. Lightness decreased when noodles were cooked, whereas redness and yellowness of cooked noodles were unchanged. Texture properties of wheat noodles in terms of hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, and chewiness were measured using the Rheometer. Italian spaghetti (spgt_IL), Korean fried udon (yk_udng_KR) had highest values for hardness. Korean udon had the highest value for springiness, whereas Chinese medium noodle (mid_CN) had the lowest value (p<0.05). Chinese thick noodle (thick_CN) and fettuccine (fettc_IL) showed lower hardness but higher springiness. Cohesiveness was significantly higher for Japanese udon (udng_JP), Chinese medium noodle (mid_CN), and Chinese thick noodle (thick_CN), whereas values for Korean thin noodle (thin_KR) and Korean fried noodle (yk_udng_KR) were significantly low (p<0.05). Spaghetti (spgt_IL) showed significantly high values for chewiness (p<0.05). For overall acceptability, thick Korean noodle showed the highest score with a level of 'slightly like'. Taste and texture attributes were highest among all noodles, and its high scores for chewiness and smoothness might contribute to its overall acceptance. Korean thick noodle, Korean udon, and Japanese udon were not significantly different from Korean or Japanese thin noodles. Japanese fried noodle (yk_udng_JP) showed the lowest acceptance among noodles in terms of color, flavor, taste, and texture. Chinese thick and medium noodles showed lower scores for overall acceptability, whereas chewiness was not significantly different from other noodles. Spaghetti and fettuccine showed lower scores in terms of overall acceptability, taste, texture, springiness, and chewiness.

In this study, physio-chemical, mechanical, and sensory characteristics of Tofu containing 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0% Adenophora remotiflora powder were examined. In addition, we examined the potential of utilizing Adenophora remotiflora powder as a functional food material by estimating total phenol contents, electron-donating abilities, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities of the hot water and ethanol extracts of Adenophora remotiflora powder in the range from 0~2.0%. The total phenol content of the ethanol extracts of Adenophora remotiflora powder was 487.93μg/mL while the that of the water extract of Adenophora remotiflora powder was 403.70μ/mL. The electron-donating abilities of the ethanol and water extracts of Adenophora remotiflora powder were 75.37 and 86.10%, respectively. The hydroxyl radical scavenging activities of the ethanol and water extracts of Adenophora remotiflora powder were 65.50 and 66.22%, respectively. We also evaluated the quality characteristics of Tofu containing Adenophora remotiflora powder. In the case of color values, as the level of Adenophora remotiflora powder increased, the values of L (lightness) and a (redness) decreased, whereas that of b (yellowness) increased. In the case of mechanical properties, as the level of Adenophora remotiflora powder increased, hardness, gumminess, and chewiness values increased (p〈0.05), whereas springiness and cohesiveness values decreased (p〈0.05). In the case of sensory evaluation, MPT1.0 scored significantly higher in color, flavor, tenderness, texture, and overall quality. To sum up, Tofu containing 1% Adenophora remotiflora powder showed the highest overall preference.

The contents of total flavonoids, total antioxidant status and superoxide scavenger activity of edible plants were measured. Among twenty one samples of leafy vegetables and teas, mugwort (Artemesia capillaris) and green teas gave high total flavonoids contents, 48.2 mg/g sample and 44.7 mg/g sample, respectively. The highest concentration of total flavonoids among eighty nine samples analyzed was 52.1 mg/g sample from propolis. When samples were tested for total antioxidant status, a kind of groundsel showed the highest Total Antioxidant Status(TAS) value, 13.4 mM among leafy vegetables and teas and green tea gave high TAS value, 11.84 mM. On the other hand, purslane gave the lowest TAS value, 0.01 mM. The superoxide scavenge activity was measured from the extracts of all edible plants. The superoxide scavenge activity of polygonatum(81.1%) and chrysantemum (78.5%) were the highest among leafy vegetables, teas and medicinalplants. On the other hand, ginseng, poria, cassiae semen and dioscoreae rhizoma showed no superoxide scavenge activities.