Marine Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods in Japan
The utilisation of natural products from marine resources for the production of nutraceuticals and functional foods is now common. For example, formula milk products enriched in docosahexaenoic acid by adding purified fish oils are available in Japan and
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The utilisation of natural products from marine resources for the production of nutraceuticals and functional foods is now common. For example, formula milk products enriched in docosahexaenoic acid by adding purified fish oils are available in Japan and other countries. There are now more than 200 food products which contain added fish oil. Topics on other natural compounds from marine resources will be introduced. These include milt proteins which can be isolated from fish gonad and decrease the growth rate and heat resistance of certain spoilage bacteria and therefore used in food preservation as an antibacterial agent. Transglutaminase and £-polylysine improve the elastic properties of heat-induced gel (kamaboko) produced from low grade surimi. Many advanced scientific studies on isolation and utilisation of bioactive natural products for pharmaceutical applications, including anti-microbial, antimould, anti-virus and anti-tumour compounds, have been carried out. Certain bioactive compounds have already been applied to pharmaceutical uses. Eicosapentaenoic acid ethyl ester encapsulated products with over 92% of purity are used for pharmaceutical for arteriosclerosis and for hyperlipidemia. Chitosan sheets are used as an artificial protector against skin damage such as cut and burns in surgical operations. This chapter summarises the use of marine nutraceuticals and functional foods in Japan.
16.1 Introduction According to the up-to-date annual report on Japanese fisheries [34], Japanese fishery products output in 1998 amounted to 6.7 million metric tonnes (valued at 2.0 trillion yen), and has gradually decreased for the last decade. In the same year, annual imported fishery products amounted to 5.2 million metric tonnes. Japan supplied fish for 57o/o of its own fishery products (not including animal feed or fertiliser) in 1998, which is a 23 o/o decrease since 1988. Under these severe conditions surrounding the fisheries of Japan, maximum recovery from marine resources is very important because there are few underutilised marine resources in Japanese coastal areas. In this chapter, some topics on value-added utilisation of marine resources carried out in Japan are introduced.
16.2 Fish Oils with Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (a:>3-PUFA) Fish oils are produced from the whole body or guts of various fish species. Their main component is triacylglycerol which is rich in PUFA such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Epidemiological research C. Alasalvar et al. (eds.), Seafoods — Quality, Technology and Nutraceutical Applications © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002
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of Dyerberg et al. [4] on comparison between the Inuit inhabitants in Greenland and the inhabitants in Denmark itself revealed that ( 1) in both cases 40 o/o of the total calorie intake came from fat-based high-calorie foods and (2) death originating in coronary heart diseases (CHD) was lower among the Inuit people living in Greenland. Based on more detailed comparative studies on food consumption
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