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Quality Assessment Lab
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A lab that evaluates the quality of food through the components of Japanese pepper (sansho) and strawberries and the mechanisms of taste perception.
AboutAbout the lab
Measuring food quality through components and taste.
The Quality Assessment Lab studies the quality of foods and crops in terms of the components they contain and the mechanisms by which people perceive taste.
The Oikawa group studies metabolomics, the comprehensive analysis of metabolites; the Hayashi group studies how taste is perceived and palatability; and the Ishibashi group studies strawberry metabolism and physiology.
The lab is located in the Agricultural and Life Sciences Research Building on the North Campus and at the Uji Campus.
Undergraduates are assigned to the Plant Production Sciences course in their third year, and to this lab within the course in their fourth year (graduate students belong to the Division of Agronomy and Horticultural Science, Graduate School of Agriculture).
Key terms
- Metabolomics
- A method for comprehensively analyzing as many of the small-molecule compounds (metabolites) in an organism as possible
- Glucosinolates
- Sulfur-containing compounds abundant in Brassicaceae vegetables such as turnip
- Flower bud differentiation
- The switch of a bud that would become leaves or stems into a bud that becomes a flower
NewsLab news
Strawberry fruit research wins an Outstanding Presentation Award at the Japanese Society for Chronobiology
A master's student wins the Best Presentation Award at the Japanese Society for Food Analysis
A paper on the clock genes of strawberry is published in Plant Gene
A paper on the rapid analysis of glucosinolates is published in Mass Spectrometry
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies the quality of foods and crops in three groups. The main themes are metabolomics, the comprehensive analysis of metabolites; the mechanisms of taste perception and palatability; and strawberry metabolism and physiology.
*Illustrative imageComprehensive Analysis of Components in Japanese Pepper
The lab investigates where and how sanshool, the pungent compound of sansho (Japanese pepper), is stored and produced in the plant. Using metabolomics, it also clarifies how components differ by plant part, such as leaves, flowers, and fruits, as well as by production area and variety.
*Illustrative imageDifferences in Turnip Components
The lab has developed a method for analyzing sulfur-containing compounds in turnips, such as glucosinolates, all at once, and uses it to examine changes during germination. By comprehensively analyzing the components of local landraces of turnips from different regions, it aims to clarify differences in quality.
*Illustrative imageMechanisms of Taste Perception
The lab aims to elucidate how taste is received and converted into signals in the taste receptor cells of the tongue. It is also working to determine the three-dimensional structures of the molecules that receive taste.
*Illustrative imageHow Strawberries Form Flower Buds
In strawberry cultivation, it is important to induce seedlings to form flower buds. Using metabolomics, the lab examines metabolites that change in response to the environment during flower bud differentiation, aiming to build an analytical foundation for determining and predicting flower bud differentiation.
MembersFaculty
The Quality Assessment Lab consists of faculty members and master's and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorAkira Oikawa
- ProfessorYukako Hayashi
- Assistant ProfessorMisaki Ishibashi
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Zanthoxylum piperitum Fruits et graines” Didier Descouens / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Comprehensive Analysis of Components in Japanese Pepper: “Zanthoxylum piperitum Maturity fruit” Togabi / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Differences in Turnip Components: “Turnip-ja202211-4” Miya / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Mechanisms of Taste Perception: “Anatomy and physiology of animals Taste buds on the tongue” The original uploader was Sunshineconnelly at English Wikibooks. / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- How Strawberries Form Flower Buds: “Fragaria vesca - metsmaasikas” Ivar Leidus / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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- Related lab (Marine Bioproduction and Utilization Lab): “Seaweed salad ( )” pelican from Tokyo, Japan / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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