2. Proposal for the development of appropriate meat management technology to improve the sustainability of meat production
3. Natural Resources Institute, Luke - A sustainable future and well-being from renewable natural resources
4. Others(Notification of recruitment of overseas members/ projects to be posted)
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Regarding the issuance of the e-mail magazine for overseas members
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The Field for Knowledge Integration and Innovation (FKII) has decided to strengthen cooperation with overseas organizations and has been actively recruiting overseas members since last year.
As one of the tools to promote information exchange in Japan and overseas, we have decided to issue the e-mail magazine for overseas members.
We plan to deliver several times and irregularly by the end of the fiscal year.
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1. Regarding the FKII Website (English) update
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The Field for Knowledge Integration and Innovation (FKII) has been strengthened cooperation with overseas organizations and we updated FKII Website as one of the tools to promote information exchange in Japan and overseas. In addition to explaining the structure of FKII in an easy-to-understand manner, you can see examples of R&D platforms and events that the council has held before.
We look forward to your visit to our website.
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2. Proposal for the development of appropriate meat management technology to improve the sustainability of meat production
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Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University
Research Director, Assistant Professor
Shuji Ueda
Characterized by its beautiful marbling, Japanese Black cattle (Wagyu) beef is very tender and flavorful. Kobe beef is one of the most premium ingredients that attracts chefs from across the globe. Kobe University is located in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, where Kobe beef is produced. We use various techniques to study the aroma and nutritional components of the meat and understand the factors that determine its flavor.
We have comprehensively analyzed the lipid components of Wagyu beef to identify lipids that are closely related to the Wagyu aroma (Ref; #1: Metabolites 2022, 12(4), 332). We also showed that Wagyu beef contains a lot of characteristic lipids called triolein, whose fat melting point is extremely low (Ref; #2: Metabolites 2021, 11(4), 203). Furthermore, we developed a technique to determine the country of origin of beef based on differences in its lipid composition and trace nutrients (Ref; #3:Metabolites 2022, 12(9), 777).
These results scientifically demonstrate the unique characteristics of a wide variety of meats. In the future, these analytical techniques and data can serve as scientific expressions that visually appeal to consumers about the features and attractiveness of foods.
Climate change and rapid population change have cast doubt over the stability of the global food supply. Industry 4.0, which aims to streamline the manufacturing industry using Internet technology, is a plausible solution to the food supply crisis. Kobe University has launched the "Research and Development Platform for Appropriate Management Technology of Japanese Black cattle and Other Domestic Meat" to address the food supply issue in the Field for Knowledge Integration and Innovation. The platform aims to develop efficient production technologies and distribution means for livestock products by automating meat quality assessment and digital management of products.
We have set ourselves two challenges to overcome through our platform. The first is the digital transformation (DX) of livestock production to ensure safer quality control of livestock products. We plan to develop machine learning to assess data quality and blockchain technology to improve the DX environment for transparent commodity trading. Second, we plan to propose ways to reduce the burden on the environment of waste generated during the meat production process to improve production efficiency. Meat production produces many unutilized by-products, and our goal is to create new value-added processed foods that use these by-products. We are also working on extracting healthy nutrients and developing natural flavors and fragrances using these by-products.
Maintaining the diversity of food production through international cooperation is essential for ensuring the stability of the global food supply. If you are interested in our work, please contact us.
< Contact >
Research and Development Platform for Appropriate Management Technology of Japanese Black cattle and Other Domestic Meat
Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University
Research Director
Assistant Professor Shuji Ueda
Email: uedas@people.kobe-u.ac.jp
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3. Natural Resources Institute, Luke - A sustainable future and well-being from renewable natural resources
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Luke(Natural Resources Institute Finland)
Tuula Jyske, Research manager, senior scientist
Riikka Linnakoski, Group manager, senior scientist
Jutta Kauppi, Manager of International relations
Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) is Finnish, government owned research institute under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Finland. Luke's mission is to trough research create value and solutions for customers by solving local and global challenges. Luke provides research and expert services, in order to advance the bioeconomy and the sustainable use of natural resources. Luke has vast experience in national and international research collaboration and project management and is currently participating in over 710 ongoing projects, of which more than 120 are EU-funded.
Luke connects with strategic partners both locally and globally and promotes bioeconomy research with Circular bioeconomy research program
Strategic goal of Luke's research is to bring research-based facts and solutions to replace non-renewable, fossil and synthetic products with bio-based ones that are more climate and environment friendly. One of our international spearheads is Circular program's research on sustainable use of natural resources and nature-inspired solutions. We are now actively seeking for new partners and collaborators both within research and industry to enhance co-creation of new research projects for development of biobased, sustainable product innovations and to accelerate their market entry into commercially scalable solutions.
The research themes currently under development at Luke include the utilisation of forest and food industries' by-products in different biorefinery approaches as a source of food, feed, fibres, recycled fertilizer products, and functional, bio-based ingredients for various other value-added products, such as cosmetics and health promoting products, as well as energy .
New products from forests
One good example of our research in Circular program is the area focusing on "By-products from the forestry industry". We investigate the opportunities to create new products out of industrial side streams, such as sawdust and bark, which can be converted into value added ingredients by using non-toxic separation techniques to produce e.g., hemicellulose and polyphenols for thickeners or preservatives in food and cosmetics, or to add antibacterial, antiviral, or anti-inflammatory functionality to various products. Several scientific articles and media outputs have been published by Luke's researchers and with partners (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj5erkJTIl4).
New protein sources from plant based innovations
The second example is from the research area that focuses on finding added value uses for food industry's sidestreams. We constantly scan opportunities to accelerate new business, based on our research innovations. For example, industrial biomass side streams can be exploited to produce alternative mycoprotein using fungal mycelium. Mycoprotein can be directly used in consumer products, such as novel, protein-rich, plant-based alternatives to meat, or indirectly, as animal feed. Mushrooms can also be used to make myco-composites and leather-like materials suitable for various applications. We are also preparing the commercialization of our patented fungal-derived ingredient that combines antiviral efficacy with other functional effects, providing added value to high-end and functional cosmetics products.
< Contact >
Embassy of Finland Trade Section Business Finland
Senior Advisor Inka-Liisa Häkälä
E-mail: inka-liisa.hakala@businessfinland.fi
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4. Others
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< Notification of recruitment of overseas members >
Field for Knowledge Integration and Innovation (FKII) is recruiting overseas members who wish to collaborate with Japanese members, mainly in the fields of agriculture, forestry and fisheries and food. Once you register as a member of FKII, you can participate in events for members (events co-sponsored by the embassy, etc. that promote information exchanges between domestic and overseas members) and may be allowed to send information to members with e-mail newsletters.
< Notification of recruitment of projects to be posted >
Field for Knowledge Integration and Innovation (FKII) is recruiting projects to be published in the e-mail newsletter for members (scheduled to be issued several times a year). Would you like to widely disseminate information about your cooperative achievements/ schedules with Japan or hopes of collaboration with members by e-mail newsletter?
If you would like to publish it, please contact the secretariat of FKII (PwC Consulting LLC).
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Please visit the website of Field for knowledge Integration and Innovation (FKII) The Council of Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration.
If you would like to inquire, publish your projects or unsubscribe from this e-mail newsletter, please contact us here.
Secretariat of Council of Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration
PwC Consulting LLC
E-mail:jp_cons_fkii_jimu@pwc.com
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to noreply@fkii-jimu.com
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