The present study was carried out to investigate the physicochemical properties of hot water extracts of red ginseng powder prepared by two-stage hot air drying method using steamed ginseng and steaming liquid for 2.5 h under high-temperature and high-pressure autoclave condition. The total polyphenols, total flavonoids, total sugar, acid polysaccharides and crude saponin in hot water extracts from red ginseng powder were analyzed and determined, and the flavor components of ginseng were measured using color difference meter and an electronic tongue. The total polyphenol, total flavonoid, total polysaccharide, and acid polysaccharide of the red ginseng hot water extract obtained by autoclaving (ARG) were 9.06 mg GAE/g, 3.38 mg NE/g, 35.22 g/100 g, and 10.90 g/100 g, respectively. The final contents of the total polyphenols, total flavonoids, crude saponin were higher than those determined using other red ginseng methods; the time required for steamed red ginseng production reduced. The total ginsenoside content of ginseng including Rb1 was 10.69 mg/g, which is the lowest ARG. The processing conditions affected the conversion to ginsenosides unique to red ginseng. Red ginseng and steaming liquid obtained from the autoclave are expected to be in need for non-food materials and products as well as foods by improving the flavor components through conversion of red ginseng components into low molecular weight.

The purpose of this study was to prepare blueberry syrup (cheung) using fructooligosaccharide instead of the traditionally used sucrose. The sugar content, pH, and colorimetric values were measured to evaluate the quality of the prepared syrup, and the antioxidant activity and phenolic compound content were determined to assess the physiological activity of the syrup. The L* value (lightness), pH, and color were high in syrups containing a high proportion of fructooligosaccharide. The a* value (redness) was high in syrups subjected to heat treatment, and the b* value (yellowness) tended to be the opposite of the L* value. Moreover, syrups containing heat-treated fructooligosaccharide showed higher polyphenol, flavonoid, and anthocyanin contents than the unheated syrups did. The antioxidant activity of the blueberry cheung depended on the content of phenolic compounds. The highest value was obtained in the cheung prepared using a heat-treated 1:1 mixture of blended raw blueberry and fructooligosaccharide (S2). These findings suggest that our familiarity with the taste of the sweetener used influences our taste preference. It is therefore necessary to study other newly developed sweeteners apart from fructooligosaccharide to find a suitable alternative to sucrose.

The objective of this study was to characterize three different commercial (A, B and C) and two handmade (HM-AP, atmospheric pressure; HM-RP, reduced pressure) strawberry jams in relation to soluble solids, pH, total acid, total polyphenol, anthocyanin, color values, texture properties, and sensory evaluation. The soluble solid contents varied from 62.33 to 68.33 °Brix, and the pH ranged from 3.59 to 3.70. The color L and a values were the highest in the HM-RP strawberry jam (p<0.05). The total polyphenol contents of commercial jams A, B, and C were 56.10, 97.59, and 105.85 mg GAE/100 g, respectively, and those of the HM-AP and HM-RP of handmade jams were 156.13 and 189.94 mg GAE/100 g. The anthocyanin contents of A, B, and C commercial jams were 1.51, 0.95, and 0.80 mg/100 g, respectively, and those of the HM-AP and HM-RP handmade jams were 2.64 and 9.16 mg/100 g. The phenolic contents of the HM-RP jam were significantly much higher than those of the other jams. The hardness ranged from 5.67×103 (HM-AP jam) to 41.91×103 (jam B) dyne/cm2, the jelly strength ranged from 40.08 (HM-AP jam) to 180.33 (jam B) dyne, and the strength ranged from 83.84 (jam C) to 302.93 (jam B) g. The sensory evaluation of the color, flavor, sweetness, sourness, viscosity and overall acceptability of the HM-RP jam showed higher values than those of the other jams. Especially, the highest value of the color score was found in the HM-RP jam. The electon donating abilities of jams A, B, and C and of the HM-AP and HM-RP jams were 44.27, 41.70, 53.06, 69.08, and 73.21%, respectively. These results indicated that the HM-RP strawberry jam prepared with reduced pressure using micro-oxygen technology was a good source of phenolic compounds, total polyphenols and anthocyanin, and had a high level of antioxidant activity.