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To make effective use of bell peppers Capsicum annuum L. `grossum' produced in Ibaraki Prefecture that do not meet fresh market standards, the bell peppers were processed into a freezable paste and the residual ascorbic acid was measured. Residual ascorbic acid in paste made from yellow, orange, or red bell peppers with attached skin was approximately 90%, and no substantial decrease was observed relative to fresh bell peppers. Meanwhile, residual ascorbic acid in paste produced first by heating the peppers in an oven toaster and then removing the skins was approximately 60%. Although this represents a 40% reduction relative to fresh bell peppers, these results indicate that there is sufficient potential for utilizing bell pepper paste for cooking or in processed foods depending on how it is used.

Green nuts are the fruiting bodies of members of the genus Plukenetia, which is endemic to the tropical rainforests of Peru and cultivated in tropical rainforests elsewhere. The fruit contains seeds from which green nut oil, also known as Inca Inchi oil, can be extracted by cold pressing. Since the elevation of the tropical rainforests in Peru extend from 400 to 2000m, it is possible that the fats and oils yielded by seeds of Plukenetia species may differ according to the elevation at which they are cultivated. We therefore investigated the physicochemical properties of the fats and oils extracted from green nuts cultivated at mean elevations of 400 to 500m and at 1600m. The aim of the study is to identify additional uses for these fats and oils and to explore more effective means of consuming the fatty acids they contain. The results showed that, compared to green nuts cultivated at high-elevation sites, those cultivated at low-elevation sites contained lower levels of -linolenic acid and higher levels of - and -tocopherol and polyphenols, which protect the oils against oxidation. In addition, the nuts harvested at lower elevations exhibited greater resistance to heating and UV exposure. Thus, oil extracted from the seeds of green nuts harvested from low-elevation sites has superior culinary and storage characteristics.

Polyphenols distributed widely in vegetables, fruits, wine and teas are likely to have beneficial effects on human health, because of their antioxidative activities. Therefore we studied the efficiency of the polyphenol absorption in vitro using the human intestinal epithelial cell line, Caco-2. Caco-2 cells are being widely used as an in vitro model for human intestinal absorption potential. For the absorption experiments, Caco-2 cells were grown in 12-well culture plates (FALCON)at 37℃ under 5% CO_2-95% air atmosphere and constant humidity. The culture medium was changed every other day. After culturing for 2 weeks and removal of the medium, the cells were rinsed 3-4 times with phosphate buffer saline (PBS, pH7.4). PBS alone was added to the plate part, and polyphenol containing PBS to the insert part, and both parts were kept at room temperature for 1-4 hours. The ten kinds of polyphenols tested were D(+)-catechin, catechol, chlorogenic acid, quercetine, rutin, pyrogallol, EGCG, ECG, EC, and EGC. The polyphenols transferred from the insert to the plate were assayed by Folin-Dennis method. There were significant differences among various polyphenols in the efficiency of the intestinal absorption of polyphenols, when Caco-2 cells were employed. The quantity of polyphenol absorption was influenced by their concentrations in PBS. The absorption efficiency of chlorogenic acid was the highest among the 10 polyphenols tested. The ten kinds of polyphenols tested showed no corelation between their molecular weights and the quantity absorbed.