Abstract: To provide an agent promoting secretion and/or suppressing decrease of adiponectin, and an eating and drinking product and a feed promoting secretion and/or suppressing decrease of adiponectin. Provided are an agent promoting secretion and/or suppressing decrease of adiponectin, and a eating and drinking product and a feed promoting secretion and/or suppressing decrease of adiponectin, having as an active component a culture supernatant of Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Propionibacterium, yeast, Leuconostoc, and Lactococcus.

Abstract: To provide an agent promoting secretion and/or suppressing decrease of adiponectin, and an eating and drinking product and a feed promoting secretion and/or suppressing decrease of adiponectin. Provided are an agent promoting secretion and/or suppressing decrease of adiponectin, and a eating and drinking product and a feed promoting secretion and/or suppressing decrease of adiponectin, having as an active component a culture supernatant of Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Propionibacterium, yeast, Leuconostoc, and Lactococcus.

Abstract: Micellar whey protein obtained by the heat treatment of whey protein having undergone limited hydrolysis by a proteolytic enzyme and containing whey protein molecules having a micellar structure similar to that of casein micelles, the micellar whey protein being characterized in that:(1) the molecules are in the form of micelles of irregular shape having a molecular weight of not less than 1,000,000 and a molecular size of 30 to 500 nm;(2) the micellar whey protein is soluble in water and gives a milk-white solution; and(3) the micelles associate together in a solution having a pH in the acid range of 3 to 6 to form insoluble aggregates.This micellar whey protein is so stable that it does not undergo gelation even when heated in solution, and can hence be widely utilized in liquid drink compositions, processed foods and the like.

Abstract: A denatured whey-protein-containing solution which can be converted to an irreversible gel without heating characterized by the fact that said whey-protein-containing solution is produced by diluting a solution of non-denatured whey protein to an extent that coagulation of the whey protein does not occur when the solution is heated at a temperature higher than that required to denature the whey protein, and then heating this diluted solution to a temperature higher than that required for denaturing the whey protein, to produce a soluble association of denatured whey protein molecules without causing coagulation, which solution undergoes irreversible gelation simply by the addition thereto of monovalent or divalent salt-derived ions to form a transparent, non-heat-coagulated gel product which is highly resistant to water dissociation and stable to heat and therefore can be used extensively in raw, frozen, or heat-processed foods or other foodstuffs.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a process for the efficient production of .kappa.-casein GMP on an industrial scale. The production of high-purity .kappa.-casein GMP is realized by using an effluent of rennet-casein curd free of whey proteins, lactose and the like as a starting effluent, adjusting the pH of the effluent to an acidic range to remove calcium phosphate and then subjecting the resulting effluent to a desalting treatment. .kappa.-Casein GMP is used as a standard substance for the assay of sialic acid. It has also attracted attention for its physiological activities and other properties.

Abstract: The invention provides a low calorie meat product and a process for producing the product, which comprises dissolving protein in water, heating the protein solution at a higher temperature than that of protein denaturation, cooling the protein solution to a storage temperature of meat to obtain cold emulsion, injecting the cold emulsion into meat, and freezing the meat to obtain gelled protein.

Abstract: The invention provides a process for producing marbled meat, which comprises dissolving protein in water, heating the protein solution at a higher temperature than a protein denaturation temperature, adding fat to the solution to emulsify the fat, cooling the obtained emulsion to a cold storage temperature of meat, and injecting the cold emulsion into the meat, and freezing to obtain gelled protein.

Abstract: The present invention provides a process for producing protein food materials which comprises heating a solution containing whey protein as the major component, and freezing the solution in a stationary state to obtain textured protein food materials.