The present study was undertaken to determine whether Chlorella could affect serum lipid levels is hyperlipemia. Each of nine outpatients with hyperlipemia -four males and five female- was given 45 tablets in (9g) of Chlorella per day orally for a period of up to one year, without any change eating habits already adopted before the beginning of the study. During this period, various measurements were made at regular intervals. The results were as follows: 1. Both the total serum cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels tended to be significantly lower not only with long-term administration, but also with short-term administration of Chlorella. 2. No objective or subjective unfavorable side effects were observed during chronic administration of Chlorella, and furthermore, improvements in subjective symptoms were noted. It appears to that hyperlipemia is improved by oral administration of Chlorella without making any sudden change in dietary habits normally required by conventional diet therapy. This suggests the usefulness of Chlorella as a main dietary component or ingredient for a promising, simple and convenient food regimen.

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The effects of intake of palatinose and its condensates on fecal microflora, fecal pH and water content, blood glucose and lipids were investigated in six healthy volunteers. The subjects were first given 24g/day palatinose tablet for 10 days, and then given the same dosage of palatinose candy, including 51.7% palatinose and 46.7% palatinose condensates, for 10 days. As a result of palatinose intake, no dose-related change in the fecal microflora was observed, whereas palatinose condensates significantly increased the number of bifidobacteria and the percentage of microorganisms relative to total fecal microflora. Fecal water content showed no marked change throughout the experimental period. The pH value tended to be reduced by palatinose condensates in comparison with the original value before intake. During both periods of palatinose intake, the levels of triglyceride were slightly higher than those before and after intake.

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The effects of chronic ethanol consumption on diurnal variations (dark period; 20: 00-8: 00, light period; 8: 00-20: 00) in the hepatic enzymes of the ethanol-metabolizing pathway were investigated in C3H/He male mice. After 16 weeks of 10% v/v ethanol treatment, the microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system (MEOS), cytochrome P-450, and aniline hydroxylase were induced in the microsome fraction, and significant changes in diurnal variation were observed in MEOS, microsomal aniline hydroxylase, microsomal aldehyde dehydroxylase (A1DH) and mitochondrial A1DH, but not in cytosolic alcohol dehydrogenase or cytosolic A1DH. The concentration of ethanol in blood showed a peak at 24: 00-2: 00 in both chronic and 1-day ethanol treatments. In 1-day treatment, acetaldehyde in blood disappeared completely at 14: 00, but in chronic treatment it was detected thoughout the day. In chronic treatment, MEOS showed high activity at 2: 00 and 8: 00. At the same time, microsomal high-K_m A1DH also showed high activity and cytosolic high-K_m A1DH was decreased. Mitochondrial low-K_m A1DH was increased at 8: 00 and decreased at 14: 00, both to a significant extent. These results suggest that in the microsomes with chronic ethanol treatment at 2: 00-8: 00, the increase of MEOS caused an increase of high-K_m A1DH, and that this accelerated ethanol and acetaldehyde oxidation.

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Effects of pregnancy on vitamin B₆ nutritional status were studied. Rats were fed on a purified diet containing either 8mg pyridoxine-HCl/kg (group I) or 40mg pyridoxine-HCl/kg (group II). No remarkable differences were seen in the activities of liver aspartate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.2) (AspAT), erythrocyte alanine aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.2) (AlaAT), and gastrocnemius muscle glycogen phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.1) between pregnant and non-pregnant rats. Liver AlaAT activity decreased during pregnancy by 44 and 30% relative to controls in groups I and II, respectively. The activity was not restored to the non-pregnant level by addition of 10^-4M pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) to the reaction mixture. It was therefore concluded that the decrease in liver AlaAT is not due to vitamin B6 deficiency during pregnancy. Pyridoxal (PL) plus PLP contents in plasma from pregnant rats were lower than those in non-pregnant rats, whereas PL plus PLP contents in erythrocytes from pregnant rats were significantly higher than those in non-pregnant rats in both group I and II. Calculated values of PL plus PLP in whole blood were very similar in pregnant and non-pregnant rats.
These results suggest that plasma PLP content is not an accurate indicator of vitamin B₆ status during pregnancy.

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In order to develop an efficient method for producing thiamin-rich esculent yeast using rice bran, the optimum condition for thiamin accumulation from rice bran extract by bakers' yeast was investigated. The optimum pH and temperature were the same as those for accumulation from aqueous thiamin hydrochloride solution, and the process involved was considered to be active transport, as in the case of accumulation from aqueous solution. It was considered that sucrose contained in the rice bran extract served as an energy source for the transport. However, results of reaction kinetic experiments indicated that substances present in rice bran extract caused complex promotive and inhibitory effects on the accumulation. It was found that the velocity of thiamin accumulation could be improved by preincubation of the yeast and/or preheating of the rice bran extract.

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Food microorganisms and their skim milk culture supernatants were screened for mitogenic activity in order to select strains with high immunostimulatory activity. Mitogenic activity was determined by the MTT method using spleen cells of C3H/HeN mice. First, 170 strains of heat-killed whole cells were examined. Among 23 strains of Bifidobacterium, only one (B. longum SBT2928) showed mitogenic activity. Among 112 strains of lactobacilli, nine (four strains of L. acidophilus, three of L. casei subsp. casei and two of L. helveticus) showed mitogenic activity, but no activity was observed with L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus or L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis. Two strains of Bacillus exhibited weak activity, but 33 strains of Streptococcus did not. On the other hand, in the supernatants prepared from skim milk cultures of 83 strains of lactobacilli and others, only three strains of L. helveticus exhibited mitogenic activity. In addition, among 56 strains of fungi examined, only one (Aspergillus oryzae EF-08) clearly showed activity in its supernatant. The mitogenic activity of A. oryzae EF-08 supernatant reached a maximum at 48 h, when the degree of proteolysis was 75%. The increase in activity parallelled the degree of proteolysis. These results indicate that the occurrence of mitogenic activity in food microorganisms is strongly dependent on the properties of each individual strain. It is also expected that new mitogenic factors, including peptides, are produced in the supernatants of skim milk cultures of L. helveticus and A. oryzae EF-08.

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A new modification of the enzymatic-gravimetric (Prosky, AOAC) method for determination of total dietary fiber (TDF) is proposed. Termamyl treatment for pre-gelatinization and hydrolysis of starch was replaced by supersonic treatment, microwave heating, and a pressure-pan heating process, and subsequent employment of alternative digestive enzymes which can be obtained easily and economically. Another important modification was the use of Tris buffer (Tris-Maleate-NaOH buffer) instead of the phosphate buffer in the AOAC method to improve the reproducibility of the assay. Reproducibility of TDF values was improved with the use of a supersonic water bath to disperse samples more uniformly in both methods. In eight samples analysed in this study, phosphate buffer gave a higher amount of residual ash, especially phosphate, sodium and calcium. One possible reason was co-precipitation of phosphate and other minerals originating from the phosphate buffer, enzymes or sample during precipitation in alcohol. Enzymes used in this modified method did not decompose purified undigestible polysaccharides like pectin, guar gum, carrageenan and cellulose. The TDF values of several dietary fiber-rich foods determined by the modified method agreed well with those obtained by the AOAC method.

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We examined the effects on soaked rice of prolonged heat-treatment at 75°C in an electric cooker. In a water uptake test of polished rice kept at 25-70°C, the weight gain after soaking at more than 60°C was 300%, whereas that at 55°C and below was about 30%. After prolonged hot-water (75°C) treatment, the rice (abnormally cooked rice) showed heterogeneity in texture in different parts of the cooking vessel. By amylography, the hot-water-treated rice showed partial gelatinization similar to that of rice soaked at 50-60°C for 72h. However, the latter showed a non-gelatinized type of X-ray diffraction pattern, whereas the former showed a gelatinized pattern. Thus, soaking rice in hot water for a prolonged period was found to increase its water uptake and to cause uneven gelatinization due to lack of convection.

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