New Aspects of fermentation by KOJI, Aspergillus oryzae
The Japanese traditional dietary culture was registered as an intangible heritage by UNESCO in 2013 due to its uniqueness. The flavors of Japanese foods are characterized by traditional fermented ingredients such as Shoyu, Sake and Miso. The microorganism which has been historically used for manufacturing these fermented ingredients is Aspergillus oryzae called Koji. We are aiming to utilize Koji fermentation technologies accumulated in Japan to solve upcoming social problems. Because A. oryzae cells contains large amounts of protein and A. oryzae can grow on various organic materials, we could produce protein-rich edible A. oryzae cells from food waste. Additionally, we succeeded in omega-3 fatty acid production in A. oryzae cells. We believe that integration of these technologies would realize new food system which simultaneously achieve economic value creation and ecological sustainability.
Short bio
Junichi MANO is a Principal Scientist of Institute of Food Research, NARO. He has focused on the application of genetic engineering technologies in food industry. Actually, he contributed to establish Japanese official testing methods for detecting genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are practically used for ensuring compliance with the GMO labeling or safety assessment regulations. For this contribution he received Award for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2019. He has also expertise in microbiology and has investigated food recycling system utilizing genetically engineered microorganisms to reduce food loss and food waste.
Laboratory of the speaker
Division of Food Processing and Biomaterials Research, NARO
Invited by
Tristan Rossignol, Young-Kyoung Park
