Gastrodia elata has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for treating headaches, dizziness, and convulsive illness for centuries. G. elata has traditionally been processed by steaming or blanching to increase the content and quality of its main ingredients. This study aimed to identify changes in physicochemical properties and active ingredients of G. elata depending on the steaming time. Data of this study could be used to develop traditional medicine and health foods. No steaming was used as a control. Steaming time was 5, 10, 20, 30, 60, or 120 min. The drying yield according to the steaming time ranged from 20.2% to 22.9%, with the lowest drying yield at 120 min. As the steaming time increased, gastrodin content increased more than that in fresh G. elata due to inhibition of β-glucosidase enzyme activity, 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol condensation, and parishin decomposition. Steamed G. elata did not show higher total polyphenols, total flavonoids, or ABTS radical scavenging activities than fresh G. elata even with an increase of steaming time. The steaming time to improve the quality of G. elata may varied depending on the size of G. elata. Thus, it is important to set the steaming time taking these characteristics into consideration.

In order to investigate the optimal UVB (ultraviolet B) treatment conditions for vitamin D2 enhancement of freeze-dried ear mushroom, sample size (below 300 μm~whole), UV treatment temperature (30~60℃), treatment density (6.25~50.0 mg/cm2) and the samples mixing frequency (1~32 times) were treated differently. After that, chromaticity, vitamin D2 and ergosterol (vitamin D2 precursor) contents were investigated. As a result of the investigating, effective UVB treatment conditions for vitamin D2 enhancement are as follows. The sample sizes were 2~4 mm and finely crushed pieces. The treatment temperatures were 50℃ and 60℃. The treatment density was 12.5 to 25.0 mg/cm2, and the number of sample mixing was 8 times or more. As the amount of vitamin D2 increased by UVB treatment, the ergosterol content generally tended to decrease. However, under some UVB treatment conditions, the vitamin D2 content was not high despite the decrease of ergosterol content. Under the conditions set in this experiment, it was possible to obtain ear mushrooms with enhanced vitamin D2 up to 26,968.7 μg/100 g. Therefore, it is thought that the ear mushroom is highly likely to be used as a vitamin D source and nutritionally fortified food ingredient.

To apply UV-C as a non-heating sterilization method to increase the microbiological safety of fresh seedless watermelon products, reductions in E. coli and quality changes by treatment dose (0, 2, 4, 8, 14, 20 kJ/m2) were investigated. The pH, sugar content, and hardness of watermelon inoculated with E. coli were not significantly different according to the UV-C treatment dose, but the polyphenol content was significantly decreased compared to the controls (425.4 GAE μg/g F.W.). When treated with 2 and 4 kJ/m2, the lycopene content was 31.6 and 30.9 μg/g F.W., respectively, which was increased compared to the controls (28.5 μg/g F.W.). The arginine and citrulline content was also significantly increased compared to the controls. The number of E. coli was significantly decreased compared to the controls following UV-C treatment. Considering the degree of E. coli reduction, lycopene content, arginine content, citrulline content, and UV-C irradiation time, subsequent experiments were conducted by selecting a UV-C treatment dose of 2 kJ/m2. The results of confirming the degree of reduction in the number of E. coli colonies by a single treatment and combined treatment with UV-C 2 kJ/m2 and 70% ethanol showed that the combined treatment was most effective as colonies were decreased by 2.3 log CFU/g compared to the controls. Therefore, it is judged that UV-C 2 kJ/m2 radiation and combined treatment with 70% ethanol could be applied as a non-heating sterilization method for fresh watermelon slices.

This study was conducted to effectively supplement vitamin D and increase the consumption of ear mushroom based on the investigation of the quality characteristics of cookies containing ear mushroom supplemented with vitamin D. Cookies were made of 0%, 1%, 3%, and 5% ear mushroom powder treated by ultraviolet B. Increased addition of ear mushroom powder led to a decrease in the bulk density of the dough as well as a spread factor, color value, and hardness of the cookies. There was no significant difference in the loss rate, but the water content of the dough and cookies was increased. The total polyphenol content of cookies added with 1~5% ear mushroom powder was higher than that of the 0%. The DPPH free radical scavenging activity of cookies added with 5% ear mushroom powder (23.8%) was 2 times higher than that of the 0% (10.9%). The vitamin D2 content of cookies added with 5% ear mushroom powder (835.5 μg/100 g D.W.) was 44 times higher than that of the 0% (19.0 μg/100 g D.W.). Consequently, ear mushroom powder is considered to be suitable for the production of functional cookies because of high values of antioxidant activity and vitamin D2 content.

Although aronia (Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliott) contains higher levels of polyphenols and more antioxidant activity than other berries, it is a berry that is difficult to eat raw due to its strong astringent taste and lack of sweetness. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of tannin reduction of aronia by bioconversion method using mushroom mycelia cultures. Aronia and liquid cultures of Lentinula edodes and Phellinus linteus mycelia were mixed and then treated for 48 hours at 60°C. Tannin content, total polyphenol, total flavonoid and antioxidant activities (DPPH, ABTS radical-scavenging activities and FRAP activities) were investigated. The tannin content decreased from 64.2 mg ECE/g to 57.9 mg ECE/g (9.8% reduction) when treated with liquid culture of L. edodes and from 77.3 mg ECE/g to 47.9 mg ECE/g (38.1% reduction) from treatment with a liquid culture of P. linteus. Therefore treatment with mushroom mycelia culture solution may improve the palatability of aronia reducing the astringent taste.

This study investigated the quality characteristics of black soybean sediments to diversify the availability of soybean. The cooking method selected for black soybean sediment preparation was a pressure cooking process without soaking, considering the isoflavone content. The black soybean sediments were prepared by the addition of 0, 10, 30, 50 and 100% (w/w) black soybean. When 0% to 100% black soybean was added to the black soybean sediments, the moisture and crude protein contents increased from 53.17% to 54.41% and from 12.07% to 21.68%, respectively. The total isoflavone content of the black soybean sediments was increased from 2.69 μg/g to 696.09 μg/g, respectively, by the addition of black soybean. The anthocyanin content of the black soybean sediments ranged from 279.29 μg/g to 387.8 μg/g by the addition of black soybean. The total polyphenol content and the total flavonoid content of the black soybean sediments range from 1.72 mg/g to 2.00 mg/g and 0.89 mg/g to 0.92 mg/g, respectively, by the addition of black soybean. Given the isoflavones, total polyphenol, and anthocyanin content of the black soybean sediments, it is appropriate that the ratio of added black soybeans is at least 50% after the pressure-cooking process, regardless of soaking.

The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in vitamin B6 content according to the varieties, regions, and harvest times of vegetables and fruits in Korea using high performance liquid chromatography. We verified the accuracy of the analytical method with standard reference material 1849a and achieved reliability for internal analysis quality control with a mixture of cereal, whole wheat, and flour. As a result of the analysis, vitamin B6 contents (μg/100 g) were 6.9~86.5 in peppers, 5.1~17.2 in paprika, 4.4~5.0 in strawberries, 4.0~52.9 in tomatoes, 7.7~7.8 in Chinese cabbage, 17.3~23.3 in radishes, 13.4~37.6 in apples, 2.3~12.7 in peaches, and 3.7~12.7 in grapes. In general, the difference in vitamin B6 content showed by varieties, harvest times, and regions. Peppers showed the most difference as 79.6 μg/100 g among the varieties, and apples showed a difference as 22.8 μg/100 g by regions. According to the harvest times in grape ‘Mihwang’, there was a difference of 7.5 μg/100 g. We will collect an amount of nutritional data on various food materials, and continue to build a reliable and integrated nutritional database. And then the database will be used in the 10th revision of the Korean Food Composition Table.

To examine the possibility of ear mushroom (EM) as a source of natural vitamin D, the UVB (ultraviolet B) was treated according to sample drying status, drying methods before UVB treatment and harvest time. And then, vitamin D2 and ergosterol contents were investigated. According to the sample drying status, the vitamin D2 contents of fresh and freeze-dried EM (whole) increased to 4,634.4~4,780.9 μg/100 g D.W. (dry weight) under UVB dose 52.5~70.0 kJ/m2 and above 18,693.1 μg/100 g D.W. under above 105 kJ/m2, respectively. By drying methods before UVB treatment, vitamin D2 contents of EM powder (below 500 μm) that dried in the vinyl house and freeze-dryer increased to 4,886.2~5,132.9 μg/100 g D.W. under above 105 kJ/m2 and 17,103.7 μg/100 g D.W. under 70 kJ/m2, respectively. Ergosterol content decreased with increasing UVB dose in all experiments. According to the harvest time, vitamin D2 content under UVB dose 210 kJ/m2 showed marked difference and in order of June, July, August, October and April. As for the results, the optimum harvest time, drying method before UVB treatment, sample size, UVB dose for the EM contained high vitamin D2 content were June, freeze-drying, whole, and 105 kJ/m2, respectively.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality characteristics and antioxidant activity by collecting four times on six samples of Jeonbuk regional soybean pastes (Doenjang) traditionally prepared for this study. The water content of samples decreased according to progress of the aging period and the water content of the fourth sample collected was 42.40~59.64% (p<0.05). The salinity of the fourth Doenjang samples was 11.80~18.60%. The amino-type nitrogen content was 122.67~540.33 mg% immediately after the preparation of Doenjang in the Jeonbuk region and the content of the fourth collection samples increased from 251.49 to 982.36 mg% (p<0.05). The isoflavone glycosides decreased but daidzein, genistein and glycitein, which are aglycones, increased during aging periods. The total polyphenol content of the fourth collected samples was 11.99~19.27 mg GAE/g (p<0.05). The DPPH radical scavenging activity, ABTS radical scavenging activity and FARP of the fourth Doenjang samples were 51.88~81.21%, 84.14~90.32%, and 1.08~3.11 mg Trolox/g, respectively. As a result of quality analysis on Doenjang, the superiority of traditional Doenjang has been proven by the increase of amino nitrogen content and antioxidant activity according to the aging period. However, factor analysis on quality differences of regional Doenjang should be conducted to ensure standardization and quality improvement.