Since the daily activity index (x) is used as a measure for determination of the recommended energy intake shown in the Japanese Recommended Dietary Allowances, the index for a group of people with the same occupation must be sufficienty representative of their activity level. In order to see if the currently used reference value for housewives (x=0.35) is appropriate, 24-hour energy expenditure and the daily activity index in the 48 middle-aged Japanese women exclusively engaged in household tasks were assessed by 24-hour heart rate and diary methods. The 24-hour energy expenditure determined by the diary method (1, 983±249 kcal) was significantly greater than that by the heart rate method (1, 544±258 kcal). The two estimates of the daily activity index from these methods were 0.60±0.14 and 0.36±0.23, respectively, Differences in the values between the two methods are due to a tendency of overestimation of activity in the diary record that does not appropriately reflect dominant activity. As a groug mean, the value of 0.35 is judged to have a good reflection of daity activity for the housewives, but a wide range of variation among them must be taken into consideration in determining an individual's daily energy intake. The conventional diary method for the estimation of energy expenditure had much greater error than the heart rate method. Thus, the determination of energy intake for an individual using a diary record may result in a greater overestimation than that determined by the currently used daily activity index for the housewives.

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Five female college students were given cansecutively four types of test diet containing graded levels of protein and dietary fiber for 20 days (5 days for each dietary period). At the second and the third day of each dietary period the subjects were given orally the stable isotope ⁵⁸Fe, 344μg, with each meal for six consecutive meals. Complete fecal collections were made during the entire study. Aliquot of the sample were analyzed for total iron content by atomic absorption spectrometry and for ⁵⁸Fe using neutron activation analysis. Absorption of administered ⁵⁸Fe label was calculated from the oral dose of the lable and the total ⁵⁸Fe content of the fecal pool from marker to marker, given at breakfast an the first days of each dietary period and on the day after the experimental period.
⁵⁸Fe absorption differed markedly by individuals and also by meals from 1.6 to 71%. When the subjects were fed a habitual Japanese diet, ⁵⁸Fe absorption r nged from 22 to 41%. However, in the high-fiber diet containing the same amount of meat, fish and ascorbic acid but brown rice instead of polished rice, ⁵⁸Fe absorption markedly decreased in all subjects.

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The present study was undertaken to determine whether starvation could affect the exocrine pancreatic function in the rats. Male Wistar-Imamichi rats of 9 weeks of age were starved and changes in concentration of pancreatic enzymes during starvation period were examined. Amylase concentration started to drop from day 3 of starvation and decreased progressively to a level of 20% of that in the control rats on day 12. The concentrations of protease and trypsin, however, remained relatively unchanged by day 3 or 6, from that time, started te increase. Protease concentration reached a value, three and half times higher than that of the control rats on day 12. Plasma glucose concentration showed a slight decrease in the starved rats as compared to the control rats during starvation period. Plasma insulin level, in contrast, in the rats starved for 3 days was about one-tenth of that in the control rats. A treatment of insulin prevented a decrease in amylase concentration in the starved rats. Similar changes in pan reatic enzyme concentrations, decrease in amylase and increase in protease, were observed in the alloxan diabetic rats and the decrease in amylase concentration was recovered by insulin treatment. Based on these findings, it is concluded that the change in amylase concentration during the starvation period may be a result of a decrease in plasma insulin concentration.

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Intestinal microflora of Macaca fascicularis fed with commercial pellets was studied. The monkeys were grown and bred in a controlled condition followed by being divided into five groups according to their age.
Total counts of microbes were around 10¹⁰/g-feces in four groups ranging from group A (0.5-1 year old), group B (2-3 years old), group C (4-5 years old) to group D (6 years old). However, a slight decrease in the counts (10^9.7/g-feces) was observed in group E (over 10 years old).
In general, Enterobacteriaceae, Streetococcus, Eubacterium and Bacteraidaceae were always predominant in all groups. In group A, major microbes were Bacteroidaceae, Eubacterium and Bifidobacterium which constituted almost 90% of total counts. In group B, Streptococcus was the most predominant species along with Eubacterium and Bacteroidaceae. Constitution of microflora in group C was almost the same as group B except for an increase in Streptococcus. In group D, Eubacterium and Bacteroidaceae increased again, with a decrease of Streptococcus, so that this group was different from group B or C. Group E was unique in which Streptococcus and Megasphaera were the least as compared with other groups, and Eubacterium and Bacteroidaceae remained predominant.
In view of the changes in the intestinal microflora, the monkeys are classified into four groups, namely 0.5-1 year old, 2-5 years old, 6 years old and over 10 years old of age groups.
It was concluded that Macaca fascicularis was a comparable animal to human in the nutritional and metabolic studies.

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Changes in the intestinal microflora of Macaca fascicularis fed with two different enteral feedings were studied. Enteral feedings used are S-185 and ED-AC, which differ from each other in composition, especially in the source of nitrogen, carbohydrate and fat.
Eight monkeys with an average age of five were divided into two groups and fed with each feedings at each four weeks (crossover method).
From statistical analysis of microbial counts, both feedings appeared to have affected the constitution of three microbial groups, namely Streptococcus, Bifidobacterium and Peptococcaceae, present in the feces. The counts of Bifidobacterium were higher (ca. 10¹⁰/g-feces) in the monkeys fed with S-185 than in those fed with ED-AC (10⁶-10⁸/g-feces). In contrast, Streptococcus and Peptococcaceae became slightly higher (10⁷-10⁸/g-feces, 10⁹/g-feces, respectively) when the monkeys were fed with ED-AD, compared to the group fed with S-185 (10⁵-10⁸/g-feces, 10⁸-10⁹/g-feces, respectively).
Competition was found between Bifidobacterium and Bacteroidaceae in both groups, so that Bifidobacterium was higher than Bacteroidaceae in the monkeys fed with S-185. This phenomenon was reversed in the monkeys fed with ED-AC.
Changes in the constitution of microflora may have resulted from the difference in the composition of two enteral nutritions, especially in the difference of nitrogen and carbohydrate sources.
The predominancy of Bifidobacterium in the monkeys fed with S-185 may be supported by the fact that lactose and oligosaccharides contained in S-185 can be transported to the lower digestive tract, where Bifidobacterium exists, without being absorbed from small intestine. S-185 is considered better than ED-AC regarding the increase of Bifidobacterium in the digestive tract. These results might be apply to the adult human.

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A hot air process was developed for the preparation of a whole product of antarctic krill. Specifications of the hot air processing test machine were as follow: Heater unit (100V, 1.5kW), Blower unit (Turbo fan, 2m3/min), Processing unit (<400g/batch, test sample: 200g/batch) and Temperature control unit (120-250°C, test temperature: 180°C). The hot air process was compared with the boiling process in 3% NaCl (an analogue of sea wates) in terms of product, solid yields, and the extent of protein denaturation. The extent of NaCl permeation was measured for the boiling process. The following results were obtained:
1) Product yields in the hot air process were lower than those in the boiling process. However, solid yields in the former (94-98% to raw material) were greater than those in the boiling process (87-96% to intact krill).
2) The extent of protein denaturation was slightly higher in the boiling process. However, such a difference seems to have no influence on the final product of krill.
3) NaCl in the product was increased to about a 3-fold value (2.6%) of the intact krill by the boiling process in 3% NaCl for 3 minutes.
4) Calculated value of fuel consumption (A-heavy oil) for the hot air process and the boiling process were 11.8kg and 62.4kg per 1, 000kg of krill, respectively.

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We have reported the hot air process for the preparation of whole product of antarctic krill in the previous paper. In this study we compared various ingredients and properties of each products made by the hot air process (H-2) and the boiling process (H-1) in 3% NaCl solution (an analogue of sea water), fihe following results were obtained:
1) Total nitrogen (N) and crude fat yields in the H-2 were higher than those in the H-1. The yield of 2.5% TCA soluble N (peptide-N, amino-N, nucleotide-N) in the H-1-5M (-5M: 5 minutes heating) and the H-2-5M were 48.5% and 82.4%, respectively.
2) Peptic digestibility of raw krill (frozen krill) was 81.2%. The products in the H-1-5M and the H-2-5M showed digestibilities of 70.7% and 80.3%.
3) TBA (2-Thiobarbituric acid) values (as malondialdehyde nmol per gram of solid matter) of raw krill and the H-1-5M and the H-2-5M products were 13.3, 60.3 and 80.2nmol.
4) Carotenoid (as astaxanthin) yields in the H-1-5M and the H-2-5M were 95.2 and 92.1%.
5) The color of the H-2-5M product was close to that of intact krill. However, the color of the H-1-5M product orange.
The previous and present findings suggested that the hot air process was a very effective process for the preparation of a whole product of the antarctic krill.

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The quality and quantity of the dietary fiber were determined for the fermented soybean products, natto and tempeh in camparison with respective non-fermented control. Natto was made by fermenting whole soybean with Bacillus natto and two kinds of tempeh were prepared by fermenting dehulled soybean with Rhizopus oligosporus and R. oryzae. Prior to the analysis of the dietary fiber, samples were defatted by n-hexane and followed by pronase digestion. In this study, total dietary fiber is defined as the 80% ethanol insoluble residues including enzymatically non-digestible protein. The alcohol insoluble residue was further fractionated by extraction with 0.25% aqueous ammonium oxalateoxalic acid solution into oxalate soluble fraction (pectic substances) and oxalate insoluble residues. The dietary fiber of the oxalate insoluble residues were analysed by the detergent fiber method of Van Soest and the analyses of component sugar were carried out after acid hydrolysis. The neutral sugars released from the pectic substances or the oxalate insoluble residues were estimated by GLC as alditol acetate, and hexsosamine was determined by the Cessi's colorimetric method. Galacturonic acid was estimated by a modified carbazol method after polygalacturonase (EC 3.2.1.15) treatment.
The amount of total dietary fiber in both natto and tempeh decreased slightly during fermentation. The pectic substances in natto increased 14% as compared to the control. Among its component sugars, the relative amount of arabinose, galactose and galacturonic acid increased during the fermentation, while no significant change was observed in the amount of dietary fiber and the component sugars in the oxalate insoluble residues. The hemicellulose fraction decreased in the case of tempeh by the fermentation, but a marked increase of glucosamine was observed in the oxalate insoluble residues. The increase may reflect the contribution of mycelia polysaccharides to the dietary fiber of tempeh.

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The purpose of the present study was to investigate an application of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) to the direct multielement analysis of total diet samples. The diet samples were collected from three areas in Japan; Mito during the period 1983 and 1984 and Sapporo and Kyoto during late 1960s. The collected samples were dry-ashed in an oven and then wetashed with an acid mixture, and were analyzed for 15 mineral elements. Sodium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium as major matrix elements were first determined. After performing matrix matching between the sample and standard solutions for these five elements, the remaining 10 minor and trace elements were determined. Average daily intakes per person in the three cities were as follows: sodium 4.7g, potassium 2.0g, phosphorus 1.1g, calcium 0.58g, magnesium 0.21g, iron 12 mg, zinc 7.7mg, aluminum 4.7mg, manganese 4.0mg, strontium 2.3mg, copper 1.3mg, barium 0.45 mg, nickel 0.22mg, molybdenum 0.18mg, and yttrium 4mg. Intakes of most of the elements by the Japanese were lower than those reported by the ICRP for Western Europeans and North Americans. Somewhat higher values were seen for sodium, manganese and strontium.

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The influences of lactose, lactulose and sorbitol on the utilization of iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) were investigated.
Twenty-four male albino rats of Wistar strain with initial body weight averaging 75g were used in the experiment. After feeding of control diet for several days, the rats were randomly divided into four groups: lactose, lactulose, sorbitol and control groups. They were housed individually in metabolic cages, and were fed with their respective diet for 46 days.
Results obtained are as follows: 1) Lactulose group indicated higher retention of iron and copper as compared with the control group. 2) Lactulose group showed higher absorption of zinc and copper as compared with the lactose group. 3) Sorbitol group indicated higher copper retention as compared with the control group.

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The Individuality Index by Suzuki and Okazaki was applied to evaluate a variety of 3, 000 school lunch menus prepared by a few dietitians during the 20-year period from 1962 to 1982 in Okayama City.
The score (where D is the frequency of appearance of a foodstuff concerned in 150 menus) of foodstuffs was calculated. This score has proved useful for analysis of the number of foodstuffs consumed and the analysis of year-to-year variation.
The calculated individuality index for each menu was useful for analysis of food consumption in the day-to-day and year-to-year variation of school lunch menus over a period of 20 years.

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Propionic acid and its salts as food additives in breads, sweetened breads and cakes were determined as total propionic acid by gaschromatography, and the acid as a metabolite of microorganisms in cheese, soybean paste and soy sauce was also determined. Propionic acid contents in breads, sweetened breads and cakes were 0.0025-0.0045, 0.0042-0.0485 and 0.0021-0.6525g/kg, respectively. The amounts of the acid in sweetened breads produced by the manufacturer “A” were about 10 times as much as those in a similar type of bread prepared by other manufacturers. The propionic acid contents in breads, sweetened breads and cakes prepared in summer were higher than those prepared in winter. Milk, cheese, soybean paste and soy sauce per se contained propionic acid at levels of 0.0005-0.0009, 0.0154-0.0261, 0.0020-0.0050 and 0.0027-0.0060g/kg, respectively.

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