Friday February 17, 2023 at 09.00 a.m. – Khon Kaen University and Innobic (Asia) Co. Ltd. held a press meeting to release news about the MOU signing ceremony for intellectual property transfer of the “Mulberry Leaf and Vietnamese Coriander Porridge” product. The ceremony was chaired by Assoc. Prof. Charnchai Panthongviriyakul, M.D., President of Khon Kaen University and Dr. Buranin Ratanasombat, Chairman of the PTT New Business Group and Infrastructure and Chairman of Innobic (Asia) Co. Ltd. Administrators of the two parties attended as witnesses. The event took place at Sarasin Room, 2nd Floor, Sirikunakorn Building, Khon Kaen University.
Assoc. Prof. Charnchai Panthongviriyakul, M.D., President of Khon Kaen University explained that the research teams of Khon Kaen University are determined to produce good and quality research work that results in commercial benefits. At the same time, people will have research-based consumption goods to use. The products, which are research outcomes are usually made from domestic raw materials and thus reducing overseas import. What is to be proud of is that the product being promoted is made from mulberry leaves and Vietnamese coriander, which are abundant in Isan. It is the intention of the research team to add value to mulberry leaves and Vietnamese coriander.
The intellectual property of “Mulberry Leaf and Vietnamese Coriander Porridge” has been developed by the research team led by Prof. Jintanaporn Watanatorn, Ph.D., Acting Director of the Research Institute for Development of Human Capacity and Health Promotion of Khon Kaen University. It was the team’s intention to develop the formula to solve the health problem of the elderly, who usually have problems about memory and bone mass. In addition, the product also adds value to farm products. Similarly, Innobic (Asia) Company also has the vision to be a leading company in bio-science in the region. The Company has one goal to upgrade the quality of life of people and is determined to deploy life science businesses. This corresponds to the vision of Khon Kaen University to become a World-Leading Research and Development University. One goal under this vision is research, development and usefulness of research outcome. The research outcome and the business result from the intention of both parties.
Prof. Jintanaporn Watanatorn, Ph.D., Acting Director of the Research Institute for Development of Human Capacity and Health Promotion of Khon Kaen University said that when we get older, the balance of bone structure is not as good, and bone becomes deteriorated instead of forming. The direct means to solve the problem is to solve it at the source. The research team found out that indigenous plants like Vietnamese coriander and mulberry leaves contain a lot of antioxidants, especially phenolic and flavonoid as well as high calcium content.
In addition, health foods and important nutritional matters should be safe and of great efficiency for solving health problem. This needs control from upstream, mid-stream and downstream. The upstream level involved raw material, which should be controlled so that was contaminant-free. The best part should be collected and this can be achieved through “Good Agricultural Practices’. After this, there was the preparation of In Vitro matter or experimenting at glass tube level in order to study the key matters. Moreover, what the team had been doing more than others was studying the bioactive property that was related to the characteristics of the disease in question. For instance, before obtaining the extract from mulberry leaves, various solvents had to be developed until the best was obtained.
For the Vietnamese coriander, the best was selected and mixed in different proportions until the best proportion was obtained. Then it had to be experimented in the real situation by testing in experimented animals until it showed its potentiality. Next, this could be tested with human volunteers at menopause age. The volunteers proved to have better memory. In addition, we found that rats or tested animals developed bone thickness. At the same time, the volunteers proved that they have more cells that build bone mass while the cells that deteriorate bones became less. The results in human then correlated to what was found in experimented animals.
“Next, we made functional ingredients or natural extracts from plants and animals that are normally used for medicine, food supplements or health drinks. We tried to make a prototype product and collected feedbacks before making the real products. The matters were mixed in health porridge and the results were good. When they were used in drinks, the result was also good. Therefore, the functional ingredients were proved to be viable in value adding for food and drink industries.”
Dr. Buranin Ratanasombat, Chairman of the PTT New Business Group and Infrastructure and Chairman of Innobic (Asia) Co. Ltd. said that besides business in medicine, medical tools and technology, the Company carries out business in pharmaceutical nutrition with the objective to let consumers have quality food to eat and thus are protected against diseases that come with the new age conditions. The strategy of the Company is to join with experts and to support potential research for commercial purposes, which will be accepted both in the country and abroad. This will lead to security in nutrition of Thai people.
“The porridge with mixtures of mulberry leaves and Vietnamese coriander is a product from quality research. The study uses the local plants in the Northeast as the raw materials that can enhance strength of different parts of the body that usually malfunction in the elderly. Thailand now is entering the aged society and this product should benefit people. The Company plans to sell the products in packages in the 4th quarter of this year. It will be an alternative for Thai people, especially those at old age, to consume convenient but useful products. The business also adds values to the raw materials in the locality and promotes local economy. We have plans to use these plants in other food products in the future.”
News: Rawiporn Saisaenthong