• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.22 no.2 s.92
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• pp.122-130
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• 2006

This study was conducted to investigate the consumer perceptions of Koreans and foreigners towards Korean and Thai foods and restaurants. Self-administered questionnaires were collected from 129 foreign residents and 291 Koreans who have been members or the Thai travel association in the seoul area. statistical data analysis was performed using the SPSS v 10.0 program. From the evaluation of Korean and Thai foods and restaurants by foreigners, Thai foods/restaurants showed significantly higher ratings in the attributes of 'Food appearance', 'Food smell', 'Overall food taste', and 'Exotic food taste' In the attributes of 'Use of various food seasonings', 'Variety of food ingredients', 'Variety of menu', 'Food sanitation', and 'Fast restaurant service', Thai food/restaurants showed higher ratings than Koreanfood/restaurants. Korean foods were considered more salty than Thai foods. However, overall satisfaction of Thai and Korean foods/restaurants was similar at about '3.7' points on the 5-point Likert scale. From the evaluation by Koreans, there were no significant differences in the attributes of 'Food appearance', 'Food smell', and 'overall food taste'. however. the rating or 'Exotic food taste' was significantly higher in Thai foods. In the attributes of 'Use of various food seasonings', 'Variety of food ingredients', and 'Variety of menu', Thai food/restaurants showed higher ratings than Korean food/restaurants. Interestingly, the evaluation of sanitation of restaurants was opposite to that of foreigners.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1014-1032
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• 2020

This work aimed to investigate the psychobiotic effects of six bacterial strains on the mind and behavior of male Wistar rats. The probiotic (PRO) group (n=7) were rats pre-treated with antibiotics for 7 days followed by 14-day probiotic administration, antibiotics (ANT) group (n=7) were rats treated with antibiotics for 21 days without probiotics. The control (CON) group (n=7) were rats that received sham treatment for 21 days. The six bacterial strains with probiotic properties were mostly isolated from Thai fermented foods; Pedicoccus pentosaceus WS11, Lactobacillus plantarum SK321, L. fermentum SK324, L. brevis TRBC 3003, Bifidobacterium adolescentis TBRC 7154 and Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis TBRC 375. The probiotics were freeze-dried into powder (6×10⁹ CFU/5 g) and administered to the PRO group via oral gavage. Behavioral tests were performed. The PRO group displayed significantly reduced anxiety level and increased locomotor function using a marble burying test and open field test, respectively and significantly improved short-term memory performance using a novel object recognition test. Antibiotics significantly reduced microbial counts in rat feces in the ANT group by 100 fold compared to the PRO group. Probiotics significantly enhanced antioxidant enzymatic and non-enzymatic defenses in rat brains as assessed using catalase activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay, respectively. Probiotics also showed neuroprotective effects with less pyknotic cells and lower frequency of vacuolization in cerebral cortex. This multi-strain probiotic formulation from Thai fermented foods may offer a potential to develop psychobiotic-rich functional foods to modulate human mind and behaviors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.348-355
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• 2008

For globalization of Korean food, It is essential to research and analyze target markets in advance. However until recently, there has been a lack of food research in regions of select countries in order to create systematic plans for marketing Korean foods. Therefore this study aimed to investigate the recognition of Korean foods as compared to other Asian foods in young adults living in Vaxjo, Sweden. Over 90 percent of the Swedish students had experienced Thai and Chinese cuisines, indicating their popularity as Asian foods in Sweden. The participants were attracted to six positive attributes of Asian food: 'fresh vegetables', 'low fat', 'chicken and sea food', 'exotic ingredients', 'good value for the money' and 'unknown foods'. The favorite type of Asian food was Thai food and Korean food was the least tried, as over 50% of respondents linked it to 'unknown food' attributes. Based on these results, in order to introduce Korean food more successfully, focus should be placed on the unique and unknown attributes of Korean food, as well as emphasis placed on its healthfulness, to stimulate the curiosity of target markets such as young Swedish adults.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.658-672
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• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Although children of ethnic minority groups are experiencing a transition from a predominance of undernutrition to overnutrition, there is little evidence of a dual-malnutrition burden. Therefore, this study examined the double burden of malnutrition among school-aged ethnic minority children living in mountainous areas and its association with their diets. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2019 to March 2020 in 3 mountainous areas of Northern Vietnam among 1,556 ethnic minority school-aged children. The prevalence of under-nutrition (stunting and thinness) and over-nutrition (overweight and obesity) were measured using the WHO 2006 child growth standards (height-for-age and BMI-for-age Z-score). Nutritional practices were evaluated by the frequency of food consumption based on a 4-level scale. RESULTS: The percentage of children with stunting and thinness were 14.0% and 5.4%, respectively, while the figure for overweight/obesity was 9.4%. The factors positively associated with stunting were living in a family with more than 2 children or being Muong/other ethnicities compared to the Tay ethnicity. Children who consumed fish/shrimps/crabs or milk weekly/daily were less likely to be undernourished compared to those who never consumed these foods. By contrast, children who never consumed foods rich in vitamin A precursors and vitamin A and fruit or consumed daily snacks/junk food were more likely to be overweight/obese. CONCLUSIONS: Undernutrition remains a common issue among school-aged children and adolescents of ethnic minority groups, while over-nutrition exists simultaneously. Public health nutrition programs promoting adequate diets and positive lifestyle changes related to nutrition are essential to tackle the double burden of malnutrition among ethnic minority children.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.324-334
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• 2022

This study was conducted to provide basic data for product development and marketing strategies for the Thai home meal replacement (HMR) market, to reflect the changing trends in household sizes in Thailand. The results of analyzing the characteristics and differences of HMR consumption behavior between single-person households and multi-person households in Thailand were as follows: It was found that single-person households use HMR to save money and for the convenience in cooking and preparation. In the preference by HMR type, multi-person households showed a higher preference for all types of products than single-person households. Thai consumers, regardless of their household size, mainly use department stores and large shopping malls to purchase HMR, and they most prefer to get information through Internet advertisements. The shelf life, quality, taste, hygiene, and freshness of HMR were the main considerations for their selection. Based on the results of this study, the Thai market requires the development of HMR products that are reasonable in terms of cost and preparation time. In addition, it is necessary to develop products that can satisfy consumer needs, such as nutritional enhancement and therapeutic foods, products that are organic, eco-friendly, cater to various menus, and address the premium segment.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.152-160
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to compare conditions of Korean Restaurants in Hong Kong with those of Thai ones, which have already succeeded in globalization, by investigating and analyzing the characteristics of the two parties in Hong Kong, a world-wide international city. For these purposes, we selected 10 Korean restaurants & 10 Thai restaurants in Hong Kong, and visited the selected restaurants during the period from 2007.7.9 to 2007.7.14, to examine indoor spaces and food-related elements were recorded in detail, photographed and analyzed. The results of study is as follows ; we have first found that Korean restaurants did not show any humane properties linked to restaurant concepts and indoor space, did link Korean images through their trade names, and showed decorative culture based on traditional house and dietary-life cultural properties based on traditional Korean Bansang table setting at large. On the other hand, 4 (22.5%) out of the entire cases in Thai restaurants showed religious characteristics with strong Buddhist colors revealed, and all cases showed traditional Thai food cultures, from which we could find out dietary-life cultural properties. Second, whereas there were one case of Korean restaurants in which tradition was main and modernity was assistant, five cases in which tradition and modernity were paralleled in value, and two cases in which modernity was main and tradition was assistant, Thai restaurants had one case where tradition was main and modernity was associative, four cases in which tradition and modernity were paralleled in value, and four cases where modernity was main and tradition was assistant. This means that the Thai restaurants did not insist only on tradition, but showed efforts to transmit luxurious and refined Thai images to people from the world. Third, whereas Korean restaurants had to do with all kinds of menu, were equipped with brazierson their tables uniformly, and showed any differences because they did not use different tableware in accordance with foods, Thai restaurants divided the dinner into the hors d'oeuvre, the main, and the dessert or systemized menu structure by categories in accordance with cooking styles, and tableware selection in accordance with menus, table setting, food materials, and food styling using flowers were consistently expressed.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.661-670
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• 2007

To investigate the market potential for developing Gochujang(a traditional Korean hot pepper soybean paste) products in the UK including the European market, a qualitative consumer study utilizing focus groups was conducted on the $23rd{\sim}25^{th}$ of May, 2005. The focus group approach utilizes small groups of consumers and is very effective in determining the ways in which a product can be used, by examining consumer perceptions on the overall sensory properties of a product as well as variations in taste, flavour, and texture. A series of six consumer group studies were carried out in three different locations around the UK. Each group involved approximately eight respondents(a total of 48 respondents) and ran for at least 90 minutes. The respondents were recruited by specific criteria to achieve a cross-section of ages and genders. All respondents purchased, prepared, and ate home-cooked Oriental/Far Eastern cuisine. Consumer reactions to Gochujang in its traditional form, and in manufactured products, were explored in terms of appearance, texture, flavour, and taste the consumers' perceived uses and applications for products were also examined. Many consumers were familiar with ethnic cuisines such as Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indian, and Tex/Mex, already preparing these foods using various convenience products at home at least twice a week. However, Korean cuisine was not mentioned by any of the respondents. The Gochujang sauce presented during the interview had broad based appeal mainly as a dipping sauce, and to a lesser degree as a marinade. Traditional Gochujang has the potential to inspire consumers who are looking for novel and authentic world cuisine products. From the sensory evaluations of various prototypes developed according to consumer reactions during the focus group interviews, three prototypes(a sauce for chicken, dipping sauce type, and BBQ sauce type) were determined for further consumer preference studies.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.262-266
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• 2005

Soybean has been favored by many Thai people and it has been prepared by numerous different methods. Collected samples are as follows: Thua-nao paste from Chiangrai province, dried Thua-nao for Jatujak Market, Bangkok, 3 types of commercial soybean paste, soybean sauce and 2 types of fermented soybean curd cakes with other ingredients. Moisture contents of fresh and dried Thua-nao were 68.5 and $7.6\%$, respectively; therefore the shelf-life of dried Thua-nao can be extended to 1 year with proper packaging. The remainder of the soy foods had moisture contents of 55.4 to $64.4\%$. Fat contents of fresh and dried Thua-nao were 7.4 and $19.7\%$, respectively, whereas other samples contained less than $3\%$. Dried Thua-nao had the highest CHO (carbohydrates) content $(37.4\%);$ in contrast, soybean sauce contained only $4.5\%$. Calcium content was highest in dried Thua-nao followed by fresh Thua-nao; the other fermented soy foods had less than 44.7 mg/l00 g. Salt was added to samples other than Thua-nao resulting in high Na contents. Free and total daidzein contents of dried Thua-nao were 355 and 676 ug/g; similarly free and total genistein contents were 293 and $616.5\;\mug/g$, respectively.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2018

The aims of this work were to characterize and determine bioactivities of crude exopolysaccharide (EPS) extract from Bacillus tequilensis PS21 isolated from milk kefir from Kampaeng Petch, Thailand. B. tequilensis PS21 produced 112.1 mg dried EPS/l from initial 80 g/l lactose in modified TSB media at 52 h, with EPS product yield of 8.9 mg EPS/g lactose and specific product yield of 0.3 mg EPS/mg biomass. The FTIR result confirmed EPS to be a protein-bound polysaccharide and SEM analysis showed the morphology to be a grainy appearance with an uneven surface, covered with pores. HPLC analysis determined EPS as a heteropolysaccharide consisting of five sugar units with the following molar ratios; xylose (17.65), glucose (2.54), ribose (1.83), rhamnose (1.23), and galactose (1). Chemical components of this EPS were predominantly carbohydrate at 697.8 mg/g EPS (65%), protein 361.4 mg/g EPS (34%), and nucleic acid 12.5 mg/g EPS (1%). The EPS demonstrated antioxidant activities at 57.5% DPPH scavenging activity, $37.2{\mu}M\;Fe(II)/mg$ EPS and $34.9{\mu}M\;TEAC\;{\mu}M/mg$ EPS using DPPH, FRAP and ABTS assays, respectively. EPS also exhibited anti-tyrosinase activity at 34.9% inhibition. This work represents the first finding of EPS produced by Bacillus sp. from Thai milk kefir which shows potential applications in the production of antioxidant functional foods and whitening cosmetics. However, optimization of EPS production for industrial exploitation requires further study to ascertain the economic potential.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.635-643
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• 2017

The properties of rice were studied, and 8 rice flour cultivars were used to study the effect of particle size on the physicochemical properties, color value, RVA viscosities, water absorption index (WAI), and water solubility index (WSI) of rice flours. The mean particle size by the 3 particle size classification of 150 mesh, 200 mesh, and 250 mesh was, $90.75{\mu}m$, $60.73{\mu}m$, $39.94{\mu}m$, respectively. Thai rice had the highest amylose content and Samkwang rice had the lowest amylose content. Protein content of rice flours prepared was decreased as the particle size of rice flour decreased. In terms of color values, the L-value and the a-value of rice flour were increased as the particle size of rice flours decreased, while the b-value was decreased as the particle size of rice flours decreased. Using a rapid visco analyzer (RVA), the initial pasting temperature of Thai rice cultivar was found to be the highest; the peak viscosities of Sunpum cultivar and Misomi cultivar, and Samkwang rice were higher than those of other rice flours. The water absorption index and water solubility index were increased as the particle size of rice flour decreased. In order to use processed rice flour for the development of processed foods, proper characteristics of the cultivars and particle size should be considered.