We aimed to compare, with minimum error, the quality of cabbages (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata) cultivated with continuous application of chemical or organic fertilizer in fields from 2002 to 2010. To this end, we studied the influences of reduction of sample size, sample weight, and degree of plant growth in each treatment on the quality of cabbage. ① We found that constituent composition varied throughout the cabbage sphere. Therefore, it was necessary to obtain the representative aliquot for the analysis of nitrate and other constituents. ② In the 11^th planting, many qualitative characteristics (such as head density, _L-ascorbic acid content, and nitrate content) were found to be correlated with the head weight of samples. Thus, the need for comparison of samples with equal weight, not simply representative weight, was confirmed. ③ For most analyzed characteristics, small differences were observed between cabbages subjected to the 2 manure treatments with different degree of growth, only when the samples compared were of equal weight. By using these sampling methods, we compared the quality of cabbages cultivated with continuous application of chemical fertilizer or manure. On comparison of samples of representative weights, we found that the cabbages cultivated using manure had greater spheroidicity, dry matter and L-ascorbic acid contents, with lower head density and nitrate content. However, significant differences were found only in spheroidicity, head density, and nitrate content (only at the 11^th planting) between cabbages subjected to the 2 treatments, when comparing samples with equal weights.

　The baking quality of heated (80℃, 30min) skim milk was higher than that of non-heated skim milk. The results of 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (Blue native-PAGE/sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE) showed polymer formation between casein micelle, α-lactalbumin (α-La) and β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg). The α-La molecule was observed to interact with β-Lg, which was bound to κ-casein on the surface of the casein micelle with intermolecular disulfide bonds. The heated mixture of casein, α-La, and β-Lg reduced the decline in the baking quality of milk. However, α-La and β-Lg were the factors originally responsible for the decline in the baking quality. Thus, we observed that a heated polymer of casein, α-La, and β-Lg is an important factor determining the baking quality of milk.

　We examined the ability of cumin to suppress the production of verocytotoxin (VT) by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157. An extract of cumin seeds was prepared with 70% ethyl alcohol. When EHEC O157 cells were grown at 37℃ to the stationary phase in Luria-Bertani medium supplemented with 0.02% cumin extract, the production of both VT1 and VT2 was significantly suppressed. Neither growth inhibition nor a delay in the lag phase was observed under these culture conditions. An active component of the cumin extract was purified by high-pressure liquid chromatography and was identified as 4-isopropylbenzaldehyde (IPBA). When we examined the suppressive effect of IPBA on VT production by EHEC O157, the amounts of both intracellular and extracellular VTs were found to decrease with an increase in IPBA concentration. Our results suggest that IPBA may be potentially useful in reducing the virulence of EHEC O157.

　The utility of water heat, temperature conditioning, and sugar treatment for reducing the chilling injury of sweet basil leaves was investigated. Water heat treatments (38－42℃ for 0.5－3 h) and temperature-conditioning treatments (12－35℃ for 8 h－6 d) reduced chilling injury, as did sugar treatment either alone or in combination with temperature conditioning. A combination of temperature conditioning and sugar treatment, especially with 1 M sucrose or 1 M glucose, was more effective than sugar treatment or temperature conditioning alone.