Abstract: It is to provide a method for producing cooked rice with improved loosening properties, anti-aging property, and/or water retentivity, comprising adding and mixing a quality improving agent which is a degradation product of substituted modified starch with a viscosity of 15 mPa·s or higher at 30% by mass in an aqueous solution and 3000 mPa·s or lower at 10% by mass in an aqueous solution, wherein the degradation product of substituted modified starch is obtained by using, as a base material, one or more substituted modified starches selected from the group consisting of hydroxypropyl starch, hydroxypropylated distarch phosphate, and starch sodium octenylsuccinate, and is prepared by subjecting substituted modified starch to hydrolysis treatment with an enzyme in the process of rice cooking for preparing cooked rice.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide an agent for suppressing elevation of blood alcohol concentration and a method for suppressing elevation of blood alcohol concentration, the agent and the method enabling prevention of an intoxication state upon drinking and further prevention of hepatic dysfunctions due to drinking such as fatty liver. Provided are an agent for suppressing elevation of blood alcohol concentration, comprising a dextrin as an active ingredient, and a method for suppressing elevation of blood alcohol concentration, comprising, when alcohol is ingested, ingesting 0.5 parts by mass or more of a digestible dextrin and/or an indigestible dextrin relative to 1 part by mass of the ingested alcohol.

Abstract: Novel findings have been made that a carbohydrate composition in which a highly branched dextrin and isomaltulose are mixed at a specific ratio, wherein the highly branched dextrin has a structure in which glucose or isomaltooligosaccharide is bound to a non-reducing terminus of a dextrin via an ?-1,6 glycosidic bond, and has a DE value of 10 to 52, enhances an suppressing effect on digestion of the highly branched dextrin by isomaltulose, that is, synergistically suppresses the digestion, thereby leading to the completion of the present invention.