This study examined domestic consumption trends in the development of mushroom-based alternative food products. It found that 85.5% of consumers were aware of alternative foods, with a higher recognition rate among younger age groups and variations based on household composition and monthly income. Additionally, 70% of consumers familiar with alternative foods had tried them. Among those who had not, taste (16%) and purchasing challenges (15%) were the primary barriers. Minced meat was the most commonly consumed alternative (25%), while dumplings (7%) and burgers (1%) were less popular. Notably, dumplings and burgers showed the highest potential for development using mushroom-based ingredients. These findings provide valuable foundational data for advancing mushroom-based alternative food products.

Protein is an essential nutrient for humans to sustain life, but it is predicted that it will be challenging to secure protein through the traditional livestock industry in the future. Microalgae has high future value as an alternative protein food source due to resource utilization and sustainability advantages. In order to increase productivity, the culture conditions of microalgae, Chlorella vulgaris, Dunaliella salina, and Scenedesmus obliquus were examined in this study. The optimal culture conditions of C. vulgaris were mixotrophic culture, 25oC culture temperature, 7.0 initial pH, 10% initial inoculation, stirring culture, 3000 Lux light intensity, and 24L:0D light/dark cycle period with red LED. For D. salina, the optimal culture conditions were mixotrophic culture, 20oC culture temperature, 8.0 initial pH, 10% initial inoculation, stirring culture, 6000 Lux light intensity, and 12L:12D light/dark cycle period with white LED. For S. obliquus, the optimal culture conditions were mixotrophic culture, 30oC culture temperature, 8.0 initial pH, 10% initial inoculation, stirring culture, 4500 Lux light intensity, and 14L:10D light/dark cycle period with fluorescent light. These findings can be used as important information for increasing the production of microalgae as an alternative protein material resource in the future.

Umami taste-yielding foods, such as, Joseonganjang, dried anchovies, dried shiitake, dried Konbu (kelp), and Yukjeot, are widely used in the Korean cuisine as soup base. While Umami taste enhancement related to Kokumi taste substances has been proposed in human sensory studies, the potential action of Kokumi taste substances has not been explored on calcium-sensing receptors (CaSR), here referred to as Kokumi taste receptors. In this study, we investigated the effect of Umami taste-yielding foods on Kokumi taste receptors using cells expressing human CaSR. We monitored the temporal changes in intracellular Ca2+ in HEK293T cells expressing CaSR in response to aqueous extract of Joseonganjang, dried anchovies, dried shiitake, dried Konbu, and Yukjeot. Kokumi substances tested-glutathione and γ-Glu-Val-Gly- evoked intracellular Ca2+ influx in a concentration-dependent manner. A similar increment of intracellular Ca2+ influx was induced by Joseonganjang, Yukjeot, and dried anchovies, but not by dried shiitake and dried Konbu. Only Joseonganjang- and Yukjeot-evoked intracellular Ca2+ influx was significantly reduced by NPS 2143, a CaSR-specific antagonist. These data indicated that some Umami substances/Umami-yielding materials could activate CaSR, but this property was not observed for all the Umami tasting substances.

자연발화 현상은 산업현장 또는 우리 생활 속 어디에서나 발생하며 물질이 대기 중에서 점 화원 없이 스스로 발화되는 현상이다. 화학반응 속도가 빨라져 발생하는 열이 증가하게 되어 자연발화의 위험성은 더욱 커진다. 본 연구에서는 식품과 화장품 소재로 이용되는 안전한 원료를 배합하여 다양한 자연발화 현상 중 특히 석탄 자연발화 방지제를 제조하였다. 인도네시아산 저열량, 저급탄에 대한 Lab 과 Field Test를 통하여 석탄 자연발화 억제 효과를 확인하였다. 옥외 현장 테스트 결과, 비교군(90일 후 발화)에 비하여 본 연구에서 제조한 발화방지제는 120일 이상 우수한 자연 발화억제 효과를 나타내었으 며 실내저탄장에서 50일 동안의 CO의 농도변화를 비교하여 CO 농도 제어 효과를 확인하였다. 비교군 인 석탄, 기존의 발화 방지 방법보다 우수한 결과를 확인하였다. 또한, 환경을 고려한 토양 및 수질 시 험, 작업 근로자를 고려한 발화방지제의 MSDS, 수질, 안 자극 등의 공인시험을 통하여 환경과 근로자 작업환경의 안전성 등을 연구하여 2024년부터 적용되는 실내저탄장용 석탄 발화방지제의 가능성을 확인 할 수 있었다.

현미의 도정으로 얻어지는 미강은 다양한 생리활성 물질을 함유하고 있으나 쉽게 산화되는 특성으로 많이 활용되지 못하고 있다. 하지만 미강의 산화는 간단한 열처리에 의한 효소의 불활성화로 억제될 수 있다. 제분 부산물인 미강은 단순히 쌀의 호분층만 함유하는 것이 아니라, 쌀눈도 함유되어 있다. 미강은 여러 개의 층으로 구성되어 있으며 외부 및 내부층을 분리하여 쌀눈과 함유 기능성 성분들을 분석해본 결과, 쌀눈에는 미강층에 비해 미타민 E 및 phytosterol의 함량이 높았으며, 내부층은 γ-oryzanol 함량이 가장 높았고 tocotrienols, squalene and octacosanol 함량이 외부층보다 높았다. 미강의 섬유질을 분해하는 다양한 효소의 처리는 항산화력이 우수한 phenolic acids의 함량을 높여주며, 간단한 혐기적인 물리적 스트레스 처리는 미강 생합성 효소인 GAD 활성을 높여 gamma-aminobutyric acid(GABA)의 함량을 증진시키는 효과를 나타냈다.또한 기질인 글루탐산 및 PLP의 첨가는 잔유 GABA의 함량을 100배이상 증가시키는 효과를 보였다. Aspergillus sp.과 같은 식용 곰팡이를 활용한 고형분 발효처리를 하면 ferulic acid와 같은 활성성분의 함량을 증가시키고 tyrosinase inhibitory 효과 등을 극대화하여 화장품의 기능성 소재로서의 활용 가능성을 보여주었다

The present study was conducted on 200 food handlers employed at restaurants with open-kitchens in Seoul to evaluate their food sanitation knowledge levels and practices. A majority of participants (88%) replied that open-kitchens are more hygienic than common kitchens due to the sanitary cooking process. The correct answer rate was 94.3% for sanitation of instruments and utensils and environmental sanitation, whereas food handling sanitation (66.8%) was ranked at the bottom among food sanitation knowledge. Total scores of food sanitation knowledge were significantly influenced by education level and ages of food handlers (p<0.001). Personal hygiene knowledge level of food handlers regarding institutional food service was higher than that of food handlers at restaurants and bakeries (p<0.001). Food sanitation practices scores showed significant differences in personal hygiene (p<0.001) and environmental sanitation (p<0.05) according to certificate possession. As the result of correlation analysis between food sanitation knowledge and practices, there was no significantly positive correlation, whereas a significant positive correlation was observed between knowledge of food handling and personal hygiene practices (p<0.05). The results show need for improvement in both knowledge and practice levels of open-kitchen food handlers. Consistent and customized food sanitation education program should be developed to protect against food poisoning at open-kitchen restaurants.