Onion vinegar, which has an undesirable flavor and taste formed through alcohol and acetic acid fermentation, possesses additives that can improve sensory quality. Thus, the objective of this study was to present an optimized blending ratio using response surface methods for an onion vinegar beverage by adding Omija extracts. This study was performed to formulate an Omija-onion vinegar beverage (OOVB) and investigate its antioxidant properties and antimicrobiological effects. The experimental design was conducted using an optimal mixture model of response surface methodology which generated eighteen experimental trials with overall acceptance as the responses. According to the statistical analyses, OOVB demonstrated a ratio containing onion vinegar, water, brown sugar, apple extracts and Omija extracts of 10, 72.3, 4.4, 12.2 and 1.1 (weight ratio), respectively. The OOVB revealed desirable nutrition values (phenolics compounds 19.3 mg/100 g, total flavonoids 3.1 mg/100 g, quercetin 1.9 mg/100). The OOVB displayed antibacterial effects in Gram negative Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Gram positive Staphylococcus aureus. The findings revealed that OOVB was 18% in DPPH radical inhibitionand 11% in superoxide dismutase-like activity thus, OOVB has nutritional value and good quality as well as potential biological activities for functional beverages.

This research has attempted to investigate the volatile flavor compounds of onion products through acetic fermentation, and to create a natural beverage with beneficial biological properties which can also fulfill customer quality standards. Onion products (OAF (M): Onion extracts at five days of acetic fermentation, OAF (F): Onion extracts at ten days of acetic fermentation) were produced by acetic fermentation. Volatile flavor compounds from onion extracts, OAF (M) and OAF (F) were used by Mixxor liquid extractions and analyzed by GC/MSD. Compounds of 49, 75 and 69 were identified in onion extracts, OAF(M) and OAF(F) respectively. Among the major volatile flavor compounds classes, sulfur containing compounds (36.7%), acids (31.2%) and aldehydes (13.5%) in onion extracts were changed into acids (69.6%) and alcohols (24.6%) in OAF (M) and acids (80.6%) and alcohols (15.5%) in OAF (F). During acetic fermentation acetic acid, 1,3-butanediol (odorless) and 2,3-butanediol (onion flavor) increased remarkably, sulfur-containing compound such as 2,5-dimethylthiophene having anti-oxidant activities was detected by fermentation.

This study aimed to provide volatile flavor compounds of three onion products through thermal process and alcohol fermentation, to meet the quality standard of onion products. The identified components of onion extracts (OE) included 49 (18 sulfur-containing compounds, 5 alcohols, 8 acids, 3 ketones, 4 esters, 4 aromatic compounds, 2 aldehydes, 1 pyrazines and 4 miscellaneous compounds), and 55 (17 sulfur-containing compounds, 15 alcohols, 5 acids, 11 ketones, 3 aromatic compounds, 2 aldehydes and 1 pyrazine) in autoclave-sterilized onion extracts (SOE); and 69 (10 sulfur-containing compounds, 27 alcohols, 11 acids, 11 ketones, 6 esters, 1 aromatic compound and 3 pyrazines) in onion wine (OW), respectively. Among the major flavor classes, sulfur-containing compounds (36.8%), acids (31.3%) and aldehydes (13.6%) in OE were changed to alcohols (46.5%) and ketones (27.3%) in SOE whereas, alcohols (56.3%) and acids (26.6%) in OW. Moreover, 1,3-butanediol, 2,3-butanediol, and 3-hydroxy-2-butanone were highly detected in SOE whereas, acetic acid, 3-methylbutanol, 2-phenylethanol and 1,2,3-propanetriol in OW.

Commercialized production of onion vinegar, which has biological activities formed through alcohol and acetic acid fermentation, requires standardization. The objective of this study was to determine optimal conditions of sugar contents (11~15 °Brix) and agitation rate (100~300 rpm) of fermenter in the alcohol-acetic fermentation for producing onion vinegar. The alcohol and total acidity contents increased, whereas contents of total sugars decreased during alcohol fermentation. Contents of alcohol of 13 and 15 °Brix reactants were about 8% in 36 hr and total acidities of all samples were below 0.2% in 60 hr. During acetic fermentation, total acidity increased with highest value at 9 days (3.2% in 100 rpm), 10 days (4.1% in 200 rpm) and 8 days (4.3% in 300 rpm), respectively. From these results, sugar contents (13 °Brix) were measured for alcohol fermentation and agitation rate (300 rpm) for fast fermentation method of vinegar. The contents of total phenols, flavonoids and quercetin in onion vinegar were 33.3 mg/100 g, 3.0 mg/100 g and 2.0 mg/100 g, respectively. Onion vinegar showed an antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli and Enterobacter aerogenes. Antioxidant effect of onion vinegar was 26.23% in DPPH radical inhibition and 58.58% in superoxide dismutase like activity, respectively. Fibrinolytic activity was 1.51 plasmin unit/mL in onion vinegar. In conclusion, onion vinegar processed by alcohol and acetic fermentation had nutritional values and potential biological activities.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of health functional foods and preference for desired onion peel products. Questionnaires were distributed to 582 adults (34.2% male, 65.8% female) living in Gyeongnam province. The major information sources on biological effects of onions cited by respondents were TV/radio (37.1%), followed by nearby people (32.8%) and Internet (11.0%), in that order. Reducing cholesterol effect was the most important factor in terms of perception and concerns relating to biological function of onions. Over 73% of subjects had experience of eating processed onion products, and among all types of onion products, onion juice (53.5%) was the most frequently eaten. The most considered factors for processing onion peel-derived functional foods were taste & odor (29.6%), convenience of eating (28.9%), and nutrition value (27.1%), in that order.

We analyzed the fatty acid and dimethyl acetal (DMA) compositions of phospholipid (PL) classes [phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)] obtained from the reproductive organs of male (testis, vas deferens, seminal vesicle and spermatophoric sac) and female (ovary, oviduct, oviducal gland and nidamental gland) common squid. The PL contents in the male and female reproductive organs were 0.45-1.94 and 1.25-5.88 g/100 g tissues, respectively. The prominent PL classes in the male and female reproductive organs were PC (39.1-54.5% and 59.8-77.0%, respectively) and PE (30.6-40.6% and 18.7-31.8%, respectively). The prominent fatty acids of PC and PE in the reproductive organs were docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3), 16:0, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3), 20:1n-9, 18:0 and/or 20:4n-6. The percentage of DHA was higher in PC of male and female reproductive organs, while that of EPA was higher in the PE of both reproductive organs. The PE of male and female reproductive organs contained 18:0, 16:0, 16:1 and 20:0 DMAs, which derived from plasmalogen, especially 18:0 DMA was the richest (5.26% of total fatty acids and DMA) in the PE of the testis in all the organs tested. Consequently, these results suggest that the reproductive organs of male and female of the squid could be used as good sources for PC, PE, n-3 PUFA and plasmalogen.