9529215 Nakamura This award supports a 24 month Science and Technology Agency of Japan (STA) Postdoctoral Fellowship for Dr. Takashi Nakamura at the National Foods Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan. Dr. Nakamura will work with Dr. Mitsutoshi Nakajima of the Process Engineering Laboratory on a research project entitled "Purification of Inulin and Inulo-oligasaccharides through Enzyme Extraction and Nanofiltration of the Jerusalem Artichoke". The proposed research will concentrate on membrane technology and its application to the purification of fats and sugars from agricultural and biological products. For sugars, the focus of the application of membrane technology will be on the Jerusalem artichoke, a Hokkaido agricultural product, and the extraction and purification of inulin and inulo-oligosaccharides. The use of the appropriate enzymes in the hydrolysis of fats and oligasaccharides as well as establishing a well supported model to accurately predict the permeate flux are necessary in creating viable and cost- effective membrane technologies for the food industry. As the use of fats and sugars are widespread in the food industry, the research will investigate and determine the degree to which membrane technologies can be used to achieve cost-efficient industrial processing. The proposed research is of considerable theoretical and practical interest to the bio-engineering community and the benefits to be obtained from collaborative research will be valuable to both participants. Furthermore, the research will likely yield positive results for the United States and Japan as well as the international scientific community as a whole. As such, the research satisfies the objectives of the program in its emphasis on the exchange and transfer of scientific knowledge through international collaboration. ***
