The daily intake of flavonoids by 100 Japanese school children living in Hiroshima Prefecture was measured directly by HPLC. The daily intake of flavonoids was 70.6±106.2 (median 36.4) mg/day on average. Among them, the intake of isoflavone was 19.1±33.8 (median 11.0) mg/day, accounting for approx. 27% of the total intake. As regards flavonoid variants, hesperetin marked the greatest amount of intake, followed by genistein and then quercetin, suggesting a high degree of contribution by the customary eating of citrus fruit, soybean, and soybean products to the intake amount of flavonoids. Regarding the comparison between obese children and non-obese children, the former showed somewhat higher flavonoid intake level regardless of sex, but there was no significant difference between the groups. The intake of flavonoids by girls was greater than that by boys in both obese and non-obese groups, which implies that the girls took a greater amount of vegetables, fruit, etc., than the boys.

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The effects of freeze-dried broccoli (BR), its water extract (BE) or isolated soy protein (ISP) on lipid metabolism were investigated in 5-week-old male Wistar rats fed cholesterol enriched diets for 10 days. Increases in the concentrations of serum total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein (LDL)+very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL)-cholesterol (LDL+VLDL-C) were significantly suppressed in the 5% BR group in comparison to those of the basal diet group as control. The hypocholesterolemic activity of BR was comparable to that of ISP. Also, TC and LDL-C levels in the 2.5% BE group were significantly lower than those in the control group. The hypocholesterolemic activity of the 2.5% BE group was comparable to that of the 5% BR group. This study suggests that broccoli has cholesterol-lowering effects on hypercholesterolemic rats, and the hypocholesterolemic components of broccoli are mainly contained in the water extract.

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Kumiss is a traditional fermented milk drink of Mongolian Nomads. This fermented mare's milk product is produced by the combined fermentation activities of lactic acid bacteria and lactose fermenting yeast. During the summer season, the average adult male Mongolian Nomads used to consume about three liters of kumiss per day. The objective of this study was to analyze the nutritional intake of kumiss in the Mongolian Nomad's diet. Our field survey and study concluded that among Mongolian Nomads families, adult males are dependent on kumiss, which alone accounts for 50% of their total energy intake. A drought in 1999 and severe cold in the winters of 2000 and 2001 resulted in great losses to domestic animals stocks. As a result, the Mongolian Nomads were forced to rely upon food resources other than kumiss. Production of traditional fermented dairy products, including kumiss, is decreasing in Mongolia for many reasons. This decline has resulted in a large decrease in the nutrient and calorie intake of the Mongolian Nomad. This drop in production and related drop in consumption of fermented milk products by the nomads may result in malnutrition, under nutrition or other health problems. If the Mongolian Nomads are unable to find a suitable food substitute soon, other serious dietary problems may result.

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It has been considered that supraphysiological doses of vitamin B₆ suppress tumor growth and metastasis in rodents. However, our recent studies have demonstrated that azoxymethane-induced colon tumorigenesis in mice is markedly suppressed by moderate doses of dietary vitamin B₆ similar to the dietary level for humans. The anti-tumorigenetic effect of vitamin B₆ appears to be mediated by suppressing cell proliferation, oxidative stress and nitric oxide (NO) synthesis in the colon. Furthermore, we have found that vitamin B₆ inhibits angiogenesis, which plays an important role in tumor growth and metastasis. Taken together, vitamin B₆ would be an attractive nutrient to prevent the development of colon cancer.

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We discovery of the use of milk form livestock as a means of subsistence was the origin of pastoralism, which was spread all over Eurasia. In this paper, classification of the milk cultural sphere in arid areas of Eurasia is attempted from the viewpoint of the milk processing system. As a result of our case study on the milk processing systems of some 50 tribes, the following results were obtained. Milking and use of milk from livestock originated in Southeast Asia, and those techniques spread to surrounding areas at the stage of milk souring and preservation. Then, the milk processing systems to the north and to the south of latitude 40°N, at an average yearly temperature 15°C, were developed separately. Cream separation, butterfat processing from the cream by heating, use of the fermented milk as the solidifying additive, production of alcoholic fermented milk in northern areas, extraction of fat from the fermented milk by churning, and use of rennet as the solidifying additive in southern areas, were all developed separately. Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis: “the dualism of the milk cultural sphere in and areas of Eurasia”.

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Buckwheat is a widely utilized traditional food. It belongs to the Polygonaceae family. This paper will discuss the scientific aspects of buckwheat.

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Amaranth and quinoa, ancient food crops of American origin, have been attracting attention as new food resources, because of their high protein and mineral contents. We describe herein their nutritive value and physiological function. We also discuss on the applications and prospects of these foodstuff in patients with food allergy.

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Allergens in plant foods are extremely complicated. In the course of investigation of the allergens in latex, most of the allergens in plant foods have been shown to be involved in defense-related proteins, particularly in six of the fourteen well-known pathogenesis-related proteins. Also many other allergens are classified into bioactive proteins such as protease/α-amylase inhibitor and seed storage proteins. Recently, asparagine-linked sugar chains have been found to be common epitopes in allergens that possess their sugar moieties.

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Wheat originated in the center of Eurasia, and has spread all over the world. Humans know that wheat is unique because it is the only grain whose flour, when mixed with water, gives a dough that can be leavened, extended and molded, and baked into an attractive and tasty bread or noodles. Our recent study suggests that the breadmaking properties of domestic flour were improved by gaseous acetic acid treatment, and new food materials such as karukade and maitake mushroom are introduced in breadmaking.

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