Utilization of Future Food Resource 'Galsaenggeojeori'
Huons Foodience announced on the 14th that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation and technology know-how transfer related to the development of health functional food ingredients with Professor Lee Sam-bin (Dean of the College of Natural Sciences) and Professor Lee Seung-wook (Department of Food Processing) at Keimyung University.
Huons Foodience recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the College of Natural Sciences at Keimyung University at its headquarters in Geumsan. (From left) Chungmo Lee, CEO of Huons Foodience, Sambin Lee, Professor at Keimyung University. Photo by Huons Foodience
Earlier, the company signed a technology transfer agreement in May with the Keimyung University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation for "Improvement of fatty liver using brown mealworm protein hydrolysate." Brown mealworm is an edible insect containing protein and unsaturated fatty acids, and is evaluated as a future food resource, according to the company.
Through this agreement, Huons Foodience plans to develop health functional food ingredients using brown mealworm protein hydrolysate. The company explained that the various functional research results and patented technologies on brown mealworm protein hydrolysate accumulated by the Keimyung University research team will help Huons Foodience enter the fatty liver improvement market.
Professor Lee Seung-wook’s research team revealed that brown mealworm protein hydrolysate contains liver-protective peptides that activate the 'Nrf2' antioxidant regulatory gene. Additionally, through experiments on a non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) animal model, they confirmed significant results in normalizing fatty liver tissue as well as in liver tissue and blood lipid concentrations.
According to statistics from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease increased by 43% over five years from 2017 to 2021. Market research firm Research and Markets forecasts that the global market size for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease will reach $84.34 billion (approximately 117 trillion KRW) by 2029.
A Huons Foodience official stated, "Through this agreement, we will continuously conduct research for the development of health functional food ingredients as well as various concept products utilizing brown mealworm."
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