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Author

Hiroko Egawa

Other affiliations: Meirin College
Bio: Hiroko Egawa is an academic researcher from Niigata University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Long-term care insurance & Primary nursing. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 4 publications receiving 5 citations. Previous affiliations of Hiroko Egawa include Meirin College.

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that the inhalation of nutmeg oil, myristicin and methyl eugenol produced appetite-enhancing effects in mice and a structure–activity study showed that a carbonyl group on the aliphatic chain prevented habituation to aroma compounds, which is important information for identifying suitable phenylpropanoid compounds for long-term treatment of loss of appetite.
Abstract: Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) is widely used to flavour sweet and savoury foods and has been used as a herbal medicine to enhance appetite in Asian countries. Nutmeg oil contains compounds such as myristicin and methyl eugenol. Previously, we found that inhalation of phenylpropanoid compounds increased appetite in mice. These volatile aroma compounds with appetite-enhancing effects have attracted the attention of healthcare professionals who care for older people with dementia because many of these older people have hypophagia, which leads to frailty and becoming bedridden. Thus, appetite-enhancing agents that are inexpensive and easy to administer are particularly desirable. In this study, we showed that the inhalation of nutmeg oil, myristicin and methyl eugenol produced appetite-enhancing effects in mice. Methyl eugenol alone has shown appetite-enhancing effects and locomotor-reducing effects at the same dose. In a previous study, benzylacetone produced those two effects at the same dose and also increased the body weight of mice significantly; methyl eugenol, however, did not because the mice experienced olfactory habituation after repeated inhalations of methyl eugenol. A structure-activity study showed that a carbonyl group on the aliphatic chain prevented habituation to aroma compounds, which is important information for identifying suitable phenylpropanoid compounds for long-term treatment of loss of appetite.

8 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Masticatory performance of denture wearers was compared with that of the normal subjects by analyzing the behavior of the mechanical properties of the bolus by using the index of the ability to comminute bolus and Triangle Diagram was completed.
Abstract: Masticatory performance of denture wearers was compared with that of the normal subjects by analyzing the behavior of the mechanical properties of the bolus. The index of the ability to comminute bolus was described as the total number of masticatory strokes until swallowing and therefore this was chosen as the first index. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the data of six parameters; 80% energy, elasticity, viscosity, hardness, adhesiveness, and cohesiveness, indicated that the cohesiveness was independent of the other parameters and should be evaluated as the second index of the ability to dilute bolus with saliva. Two factor scores of the other parameters were calculated using the standardized scoring coefficient obtained from PCA and factor analysis on the data of the normal subjects, which realized to compare two groups on the same plane of factor scores. The movement of factor scores on the factor plane would indicate the total behavior of mechanical properties of bolus and was chosen as the third index of the ability to knead bolus. Triangle Diagram (TD) was completed by using these three indices. On the TD, all the subjects were lower level at least in one index than the normal subjects in all the foods.

4 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of viscoelastic properties of rice dough on the mechanical properties and the microstructure of rice crackers was experimentally investigated to predict and control the quality of the rice cracker in the early stage of the lengthy manufacturing process.
Abstract: Influence of the viscoelastic properties of rice dough on the mechanical properties and the microstructure of rice crackers was experimentally investigated to predict and control the quality of the rice cracker in the early stage of the lengthy manufacturing process. Various rice doughs steamed for 5, 30, or 60 min and kneaded for 5, 10, or 15 min were examined. Longer steaming and kneading resulted in lower G' and G″ and higher tan δ, specific volume of the rice crackers, decreased nonuniform and deficient network, and thinner cell wall in rice cracker sections. There was a high correlation between tan δ of rice dough and specific volume of the rice cracker samples (R2 > 0.79). The hardness of the rice crackers increased with extending the kneading time for 5 and 30 min as the tan δ increased, while those of the rice crackers made from the rice doughs steamed for 60 min decreased inversely. These results indicated that qualities of rice crackers can be predicted and quantified by measuring viscoelasticity of actual rice doughs during the process. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Improved methods to control quality of end product in manufacturing process and to develop new products with unique textures are desired. We established the new method to quantify the rice dough and this method has already been used for confirming equivalency or improvement of rice dough during manufacture of rice crackers when instrument or condition have changed.

3 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that properly modified food textures could contribute to improve the quality of meals by preventing undernutrition among the elderly with mastication difficulties.
Abstract: Undernutrition caused by difficulties in masticating is of growing concern among the elderly Soft diets are often served at nursing homes; however, the styles differ with nursing homes Improperly modified food texture and consistency may lead to further loss of nutritive value Therefore, we developed a method to produce a soft diet using chicken The texture-modified chicken was prepared by boiling a mixture of minced chicken and additive foodstuff that softened the meat The best food additive was determined through testing cooking process, size after modification and texture The optimum proportions of each component in the mixture were determined measuring food texture using a creep meter Teriyaki chicken was cooked using the texture-modified chicken, and provided to a nursing home The amount of food intake by elderly residents was subsequently surveyed This study involved 22 residents (1 man and 21 women; mean age 914±53 y) Consequently, yakifu, which was made from wheat gluten, was the most suitable additive foodstuff The hardness of the texture-modified chicken, with proportions of minced chicken, yakifu, and water being 50%, 10%, and 40% respectively, was under 40,000 N/m2 The intake amount of the texture-modified chicken of subjects whose intake amount of conventional chicken using chicken thigh was not 100% was significantly higher These findings suggest that properly modified food textures could contribute to improve the quality of meals by preventing undernutrition among the elderly with mastication difficulties

3 citations