In order to study low salinity Oiji (cucumber pickled in salt) with a reduced content of sodium, which was accomplished by replacing the salt in this saliferous food, we produced Oiji using sea tangle and, then performed physicochemical and sensory evaluations. It was found that the moisture content of Oiji was decreased with increasing the amount of added sea tangle. The pH and acidity were significantly different between the samples made with sea tangle, and the pH and acidity showed no consistent tendency according to the amount of sea tangle powder added. The salinity of Oiji was the highest in the control Oiji (2.92%), and the higher the amount of sea tangle added, the lower was the salinity in the Oiji with the salt replaced by sea tangle (2.78 to 2.89%). The sodium content of Oiji was also the highest in the control Oiji (591.65 mg/ 100 g) and significantly decreased with the increasing addition of sea tangle (560.43~366.71 mg/100 g). The color value of Oiji showed a significant difference between the samples, with no consistent tendency according to the amount of added sea tangle powder. The hardness of Oiji was significantly greater in the Oiji with the salt replaced by 40% of sea tangle, with greater hardness noted as the amount of added sea tangle powder increased (217.70 g). As a result of the acceptance test of Oiji, there were significant differences between the samples in overall acceptance, appearance, and taste, showing that the Oiji with salt replaced by 30% of sea tangle was significantly highest in overall acceptance and taste. The attribute difference test showed a significant difference only for the brown color, while no significant differences were found between the samples for off-flavor, bitter taste, fermented taste, salty taste, sour taste, hardness and crispness. The above results demonstrated that when sea tangle was substituted for 30 to 40% of the salt content, the Oiji with a low content of sodium and low salinity can be produced with a high level of taste and overall preference. Therefore, this study firmly demonstrated that 30 to 40% of the salt can be replaced by sea tangle as a substitute in order to produce Oiji that has low salinity, a low sodium content.

In this study, ultrasonic spray pyrolysis combined with salt-assisted decomposition, a process that adds sodium nitrate (NaNO3) into a titanium precursor solution, is used to synthesize nanosized titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles. The added NaNO3 prevents the agglomeration of the primary nanoparticles in the pyrolysis process. The nanoparticles are obtained after a washing process, removing NaNO3 and NaF from the secondary particles, which consist of the salts and TiO2 nanoparticles. The effects of pyrolysis temperature on the size, crystallographic characteristics, and bandgap energy of the synthesized nanoparticles are systematically investigated. The synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles have a size of approximately 2–10 nm a bandgap energy of 3.1–3.25 eV, depending on the synthetic temperature. These differences in properties affect the photocatalytic activities of the synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles.

This study investigated the sensory characteristics and antioxidative activity of the reduced salt dried bulgogi bibimbap containing AF-343, a dandelion-derived compound extract. A sample with a 30% reduced salt had a sodium amount of 659.01 mg, which was significantly lower than that of the sample before the reduction (p<0.05). The textural hardness of the SW (Standard sample with the AF-343), showed the lowest value of 1.03 N/cm2, indicating that the AF-343-containing sample could have a slightly softer texture than the non-containing sample. In the analytical sensory test, the AF-343- containing samples showed a synergistic effect on the aroma and flavor of bulgogi, with values of 5.7 and 8.4, respectively, which were significantly higher than that of the non-containing sample group (4.3 and 4.4, respectively). The hardness by the sensory test was slightly hard with values of 7.2-8.1 in all samples, indicating that textural improvement was needed. In the acceptance test, all the samples scored with slightly lower values of 4-5 points, highlighting the need for future studies to improve the sensory characteristics of dried bibimbap. The flavonoid contents of AF-343-containing SW and RW sample groups were 68.21 and 64.31 mg GAE/100 g, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the samples without AF-343 (49.06 and 44.82 mg GAE/100 g, respectively) (p<0.05). The ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities were similar to those of the flavonoid contents. As a result, in the production of AF-343-containing reduced-salt dried bulgogi bibimbap, more study on the textural improvement will be needed to achieve better palatability.

Current synthesis processes for titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles require expensive precursors or templates as well as complex steps and long reaction times. In addition, these processes produce highly agglomerated nanoparticles. In this study, we demonstrate a simple and continuous approach to synthesize TiO2 nanoparticles by a salt-assisted ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method. We also investigate the effect of salt content in a precursor solution on the morphology and size of synthesized products. The synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles are systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron micrograph, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. These nanoparticles appear to have a single anatase phase and a uniform particle-size distribution with an average particle size of approximately 10 nm. By extrapolating the plots of the transformed Kubelka-Munk function versus the absorbed light energy, we determine that the energy band gap of the synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles is 3.25 eV

High surface carbon aerogels with hierarchical and tunable pore structure were prepared using ionic liquid as carbon precursor via a simple salt templating method. The as-prepared carbon aerogels were characterized by nitrogen sorption measurement and scanning electron microscopy. Through instant visual observation experiments, it was found that salt eutectics not only serve as solvents, porogens, and templates, but also play an important role of foaming agents in the preparation of carbon aerogels. When the pyrolyzing temperature rises from 800 to 1000°C, the higher temperature deepens the carbonization reaction further to form a nanoporous interconnected fractal structure and increase the contribution of super-micropores and small mesopores and improve the specific surface area and pore volume, while having few effects on the macropores. As the mass ratio of ionic liquid to salt eutectics drops from 55% to 15%, that is, the content of salt eutectics increases, the salt eutectics gradually aggregate from ion pairs, to clusters with minimal free energy, and finally to a continuous salt phase, leading to the formation of micropores, uniform mesopores, and macropores, respectively; these processes cause BET specific surface area initially to increase but subsequently to decrease. With the mass ratio of ionic liquids to salts at 35% and carbonization temperature at 900°C, the specific surface area of the resultant carbon aerogels reached 2309 m2 g–1. By controlling the carbonization temperature and mass ratio of the raw materials, the hierarchically porous architecture of carbon aerogels can be tuned; this advantage will promote their use in the fields of electrodes and adsorption.

The rate of salt and sugar into pickled cabbages was determined, and physicochemical characteristics, such as sensory, texture, and pH, of vinegar pickled cabbages during storage were examined at different storage temperatures and vinegar concentrations. The rate of salt and sugar penetration was faster in smaller size and on leaves rather than the stem of cabbage. Also, higher salt and sugar concentration and higher storage temperatures led to increase in salt and sugar permeation rate. As a result of sensory test, lower storage temperature is the most suitable, and 6% vinegar concentration was the mostly appropriate. Hardness and cohesiveness were decreased significantly at the initial 1st week storage time, but storage temperature did not show any significant effect. Addition of vinegar contents enhanced the hardness, but decreased cohesiveness. The pH was lowered with increasing vinegar content, indicated most significant factor on pickled cabbage. In general, salt and sugar contents rather than storage temperature have greater influence on permeation rate, and especially, addition of vinegar affects the texture of pickled cabbage.