Quality evaluation of food and agricultural products using water molecule network

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H05010
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Agricultural environmental engineering/Agricultural information engineering
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Ogawa Yuichi 京都大学, 農学研究科, 准教授 (20373285)
• Research Collaborator: Suzuki Tetsuhito ; Shiraga Keiichiro ; Nakajima Syuusaku ; Imai Yasutaka ; Horiuchi Syuuhei ; Tatsumi Ayuko
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: テラヘルツ波 / 水分子 / デンプン / 水分活性 / 照射影響

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, terahertz (THz) spectroscopy, including information on water molecular dynamics, was applied to agricultural products and foods and the development of analysis methods and their potential applications were explored. We established a method to evaluate the hydration state in aqueous solution and were succeeded in revealing the bulk water dynamics with weak hydrogen bonds, which is different from existing water activity. The absorption spectrum showed the possibility of quantitative evaluation of starch. Furthermore, we found that the polymerization of actin is enhanced by irradiating THz waves to water molecules which are the place of biological reaction. Although the detailed mechanism is unknown, since the reactivity can be changed by non-thermal effects, the possibility of applying to new food and agricultural processing technology could be found.

Free Research Field

生物センシング工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

農産物・食品の加工や分析への電磁波利用は、我々の食の安全や安心を支える基盤技術となっている。一方、多様化する消費者ニーズや激変する生産環境等を考えると、新たな分光分析手法の開発は必須である。テラヘルツ帯に水の吸収が多いことを考えると、水分子の詳細な情報が隠されていると期待される。これに基づいて農産物等を評価するという試みは世界的にも例を見ない。そこで本研究では、この挑戦的な課題に取り組み、計測手法や評価法および利用法を開発してきた。ここで得られた結果は、従来の分光法とは全く異なる品質評価法を提案するとともに、非加熱的に生体分子の反応性を制御するという新しい食品加工を提案するものである。