Interview with Researchers

Searching for new benefits in food health functions

When I was a student, I majored in molecular biology and genetic engineering in plants. This was research using genetic recombination technology to manipulate the genes of plants to produce substances from plant tissues that are useful for our lives. Specifically, I was engaged in research into genetically modifying tomatoes to produce biodegradable plastics* from the tomato plant. Substance production using plants (molecular farming technology) is a production method that ultimately has a very low environmental impact because it can create the necessary carbon source through photosynthesis. While growing tomatoes, I spent my days thinking about how to efficiently create biodegradable plastics in sufficient volume with the desired physical properties.

I was interested in research into agriculture and food, partly because I had done research using plants. In the 2000s, when I was a student, various foods for specified health use (FOSHU) were introduced into the consumer market. At that time, there was also a growing interest in the functionality of foods. FOSHU foods are foods that have been approved for being labeled as having health functions in accordance with government standards and regulations that require submission of scientific evidence regarding efficacy, safety and so forth of such foods. One of the reasons I decided to join Morinaga Milk was that I wanted to find new benefits in the health functions of food based on my research and to properly communicate the importance of those benefits.

*Biodegradable plastics: Plastics that decompose into low-molecular-weight compounds that do not adversely affect the environment through the through interaction with microorganisms in the natural ecosystem.

Developing functional foods with more added value by pursuing the potential of probiotics

At the Probiotics Research Section of the Food Ingredients & Technology Institute, where I work, we are researching the health functions of microorganisms called probiotics.
Probiotics are live microorganisms that have beneficial effects on the human body. As you may have heard, bifidobacteria and lactobacilli are typical examples of probiotics. Our goal is to explore the potential for uses of probiotics such as bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria, and to develop functional foods with added value based on scientific evidence, thereby contributing to people's healthy and active lives.

I myself have been in charge of basic research and clinical research on the functionality of heat-killed lactic acid bacteria at the Probiotics Research Section.
Some of you may ask, “If probiotics are live microorganisms, why are they heat-killed?” Even heat-killed lactic acid bacteria can be expected to have physiological functions such as immunoregulatory effects. Various research reports have been made on them, making this a topic of great interest.

Enormous potential found in LAC-Shield after 7 years of research & development

Probiotics are living microorganisms, so when added to food, it is necessary to control the temperature, oxygen, pH, etc. of the food to keep these microorganisms alive. However, the number of food forms, other than fermented milk and supplements, to which probiotics can be added is limited. However, if we could find a way to add probiotics to heat-sterilized products, we could greatly expand the use of probiotics to enhance health value in an increased range of food products. At Morinaga Milk, we focused on the immunoregulatory effect of the sterilizing agent, and after seven years of research and development since 2007, we commercialized a heat-sterilized product called LAC-Shield.

As part of the basic research, I was in charge of verifying the infection-preventing action mechanism of LAC-Shield. It has been reported that some lactobacilli and bifidobacteria act on human immunity to prevent and reduce infections in the respiratory and intestinal tracts. In mucosal tissues such as the intestinal tract and respiratory tract, the secretion of an antibody called IgA plays an important role in the defense mechanism against pathogens and viruses. We found that LAC-Shield also promoted the production of IgA.

I want to convey the potential and value of probiotics to as many people as possible.

Currently, in Japan, which is facing a super-aging society, extending healthy life expectancy and realizing well-being are major issues.
In order to respond to these challenges, we wish to communicate in an easy-to-understand way to as many people as possible the value of probiotics through disseminating scientific evidence on the health functions of bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria.
In the future, we will further improve the application technology for various food forms and make it possible to intake probiotics as a matter of course in our daily meals. It is our goal to extend healthy life expectancy by an additional 5 years and create healthy and bright smiles.