Nano food - structurally designed functional food made from wood pulp -

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23580236
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Wood science
• Research Institution: Kobe Women's University
• Principal Investigator: YAMANE Chihiro 神戸女子大学, 家政学部, 教授 (70368489)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): UEDA Kazuyoshi 横浜国立大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (40223458)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: セルロース / 再生セルロース / 構造 / 構造形成 / 分子動力学 / 機能性食品 / 食物繊維 / パルプ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Food materials prepared from cellulose aqueous sodium hydroxide solution have been studied for the first time in the world. In order to create new food materials made of regenerated cellulose, the mechanism of structure formation from cellulose solution, suitable structure for the food materials and physiological functions of the materials have to be clarified. The following results have been obtained by this study: (1) the starting structure from the solution was proved to be a molecular sheet detected by synchrotron X-ray scattering (SPring-8); (2) poly saccharides prevented the molecular sheet tightly forming, which resulted in the structure of low crystallinity with excellent oral sensation; (3) surface energy of regenerated cellulose was calculated using computational procedure as scientific basis to investigate physiological functions of the food materials.

Free Research Field

再生セルロースの構造と応用に関する研究