In recent years, the rice cake market has grown considerably in terms of research and development of products suitable for consumer needs and beneficial to health at the same time. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the number of consumers consuming antioxidant-rich foods and immunity-boosting foods to improve health and promote healthy eating habits has increased. Pistachio rice cakes have been tested and found to be high in polyphenols, which have good antioxidant activity and strengthen the immune system. Therefore, research was conducted on pistachio rice cakes to develop safe, health functional, and sustainable food. In order to maximize the sales potential of pistachio rice cakes, a survey was conducted among Korean adults to investigate perception of pistachio, pistachio rice cake purchasing behavior, and popularization plans. Pearson’s correlation analysis was performed to examine the correlation between pistachio perception, pistachio rice cake purchasing behavior, and pistachio rice cake popularization measures, and they were found to have a close relationship. In addition, as a result of multiple regression analysis, perception and purchasing behavior of pistachio rice cake products were found to have a significant positive (+) effect on rice cake technology development, development of brand specializing in rice cakes, and cultivation of traditional rice cake experts. This study suggests that continuous research and development of food safety and sustainability of rice cakes are required, and it is expected to be utilized as basic data to form a research basis that can be a strategy for increasing sales in the rice cake industry.

In modern society, interest in health is increasing, and more consumers are taking care of their health due to COVID-19. As a result, immunity enhancement and antioxidant foods help to promote health, and the intake rate is increasing. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate quality characteristics and antioxidant activity by adding 0%, 3%, 6%, 9% and 12% pistachios to rice cake, a traditional Korean food. The moisture content and pH decreased as the amount of pistachio added and the chromaticity L and a values tended to decrease, but the b values increased. It was confirmed that the polyphenol, ABTS a DPPH significantly increased as the amount of pistachio added increased. As a result of confirming the functionality and overall preference, it is suggested that the 9% content is the best, and this experiment is expected to improve the quality of rice cake and improve the nutritional balance, so that it can become an antioxidant functional food. As far as we know, it is the first study to prove that pistachios and rice cakes are combined, suggesting that rice cakes with added pistachios, a physiologically active substance, are healthful foods.

As the importance of diseases related to aging has been highlighted worldwide, interest in antioxidant functional foods is increasing. In Korea, P. tenera, which is rich in polyphenol compounds and is beneficial to health, has been consumed for a long time, and over time, it has been re-examined in the West, and the demand is increasing. However, due to the lack of studies using laver, this paper experimented with adding P. tenera to rice cake, a traditional Korean food that lowers the risk and incidence of chronic diseases. As the amount of P. tenera added increased, the water content increased, and there was no significant difference in pH. As the added content of P. teneraincreased, the total phenol content was significantly increased from 31.38 (control) to 40.80 (3% sample), 49.18 (6% sample), 55.04 (9% sample), 55.78 (12% sample), and flavonoids were significantly increased at 13.27 (12% sample). ABTS significantly increased from 4.81 (control) to 9.50 (6% sample), 18.89 (9% sample), and 37.24 (12% sample). The increase in the content of P. tenera suggests that the phenol contained in P. tenera has an antioxidant effect. In the sensory evaluation, the 12% sample received the highest score of 3.57 in overall preference. Therefore, P. tenera Jeolpyeon was confirmed to have excellent antioxidant effect and overall preference, suggesting that it has potential as a health functional food