This technology provides pharmaceutical and food compositions for preventing and treating valvular calcification diseases, such as valvulopathy and aortic stenosis, using quinoline-3-carboxamide compounds—represented by paquinimod, tasquinimod, and laquinimod—or their salts as active ingredients. These compounds inhibit the expression of calcification and related protein markers in valvular interstitial cells.
Aortic stenosis is a major cardiovascular disease where inflammation and calcification restrict valve opening. Without treatment, the mortality rate reaches 50% within two years of symptom onset, yet no effective medication currently exists. The only standard treatment, valve replacement surgery, is burdensome for elderly patients, costing approximately 30 million KRW and carrying risks of stroke, paravalvular leakage, and artificial valve durability issues. Clinical trials repurposing hyperlipidemia or osteoporosis drugs, such as PCSK9 inhibitors or niacin, have shown limited efficacy as they are not specific to valvular calcification.
This technology is based on the discovery that compounds of Formula 1—where R1 is ethyl, methoxy, or chlorine; R2 is hydrogen or trifluoromethyl; and R3 is methyl or ethyl—prevent the osteogenic transition of valvular interstitial cells, thereby inhibiting the calcification markers OPN and RUNX2. The composition is designed for a daily dosage of 0.001 to 10 g. It can be applied as a treatment to slow the progression of aortic stenosis in the elderly, as an adjuvant therapy for valve replacement surgery, or as a functional food for cardiovascular health, offering an oral alternative to surgery and reducing the burden on high-risk elderly patients.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT for the discovery of biomarkers and therapeutic targets to inhibit intractable aortic valve calcification using multi-omics data-based deep learning.
This technology is a composition for preventing, improving, and treating atopic dermatitis and contact dermatitis using bazedoxifene or its pharmaceutically acceptable salts as an active ingredient. The same active ingredient can be widely formulated into pharmaceuticals, quasi-drugs, foods, health functional foods, cosmetics, and feed compositions.
Topical corticosteroids are commonly used to treat atopic dermatitis, but long-term use can lead to side effects such as skin atrophy, pigmentation issues, and Cushing's syndrome, while topical calcineurin inhibitors carry concerns regarding the risk of skin malignancies and lymphoma. Antihistamines only temporarily soothe itching and do not provide a fundamental cure. Similarly, for allergic contact dermatitis, it is difficult to identify the causative agent, and treatments have been limited to suppressing symptoms with steroids or antihistamines, leaving a lack of truly safe therapeutic options.
This technology leverages the ability of bazedoxifene to inhibit the expression of inflammatory interleukins, thereby alleviating external dermatitis symptoms such as erythema and weeping, as well as epidermal thickening and itching. The pharmaceutical composition can be formulated not only as oral or injectable agents but also as topical applications such as creams, gels, ointments, emulsions, sprays, and transdermal patches. It can be applied to treatments for pediatric and adult atopic dermatitis, soothing cosmetics for sensitive skin, and pet dermatitis management feed, offering an alternative that manages itching and skin thickening without the burden of skin atrophy associated with long-term steroid use.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT for research on identifying unresolved somatosensory mechanisms through the discovery of novel receptors and their operating principles.
This technology involves creating a nanoemulsion by encapsulating allyl isothiocyanate (AITC)-containing ingredients, such as mustard oil, in an oil phase composed of oil and surfactants, then adding it to kimchi to prevent flavor degradation and extend shelf life. The nanoemulsion is designed to act on spoilage yeast at low concentrations while requiring much higher concentrations to affect lactic acid bacteria, allowing for selective inhibition of the two microorganisms.
During distribution, kimchi often suffers from a shortened shelf life due to the growth of spoilage yeasts like Kazachstania servazzii, which cause packaging to swell, textures to soften, and white films to form on the surface. While AITC, the main component of mustard oil, has strong antifungal properties, its pungent taste, aroma, volatility, and low water solubility made it difficult to incorporate into kimchi. Even when encapsulated, it previously had the limitation of inhibiting Leuconostoc and Lactiplantibacillus bacteria, which are essential for kimchi's flavor.
This technology achieves stable 100–1,000 nm particles by mixing polysorbate or saponin (HLB 14–17) with lecithin (HLB 4–8) to reach a combined HLB of 10–13, while maintaining an absolute zeta potential of at least 30 mV. By ensuring the ratio of the MIC for lactic acid bacteria to the MIC for spoilage yeast is 6 or higher, it achieves selective inhibition. It offers an encapsulation efficiency of over 70% and a 4℃ water solubility 1.3 times higher than non-encapsulated AITC. Applicable to long-term distribution of export-grade kimchi, various products like cubed radish or mustard leaf kimchi, and refrigerated fermented side dishes, it masks the pungent mustard odor and delays packaging swelling and white film formation while preserving the authentic flavor produced by lactic acid bacteria.
This technology utilizes 29-hydroxyprecisiasterone, an ecdysteroid compound identified in Ajuga decumbens, or its salts, as an active ingredient for compositions designed to prevent and treat sarcopenia and muscle atrophy, as well as to promote muscle growth. The same ingredient is formulated for use in pharmaceutical compositions, health functional foods, and animal feed.
Muscle atrophy occurs when muscle protein degradation exceeds synthesis due to aging, prolonged inactivity, or conditions like cancer, diabetes, and sepsis, leading to muscle weakness, increased risk of falls and fractures, and metabolic disorders. While the efficacy of natural products like Coptis chinensis, ginseng, and black ginseng has been reported, Ajuga decumbens was previously used only for anti-inflammatory and bone-healing purposes, with no known effects on inhibiting muscle atrophy or promoting skeletal muscle cell differentiation and hypertrophy.
This technology is based on the finding that this compound increases the expression of mTOR, p70S6K, and the myogenic protein MHC in myotubes, while also increasing myotube diameter and the fusion index. Target conditions include sarcopenia, disuse and denervation-induced muscle atrophy, cachexia, drug-induced and malnutrition-induced atrophy, and muscular dystrophy. Applicable to sarcopenia treatments for the elderly, health supplements for bedridden patients, and functional feed for livestock, this single ingredient derived from an edible plant offers a low-side-effect solution to prevent muscle fiber thinning.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT for the development of methods to identify compound combinations with equivalent efficacy representing the overall activity of natural products.
This technology involves a cell growth-promoting composition and its manufacturing method, created by mixing a sterilized liquid—obtained by removing embryos from 8–12 day embryonated eggs, followed by homogenization, centrifugation, filtration, and sterilization—with serum-free medium and FBS in an 8:1:1 volume ratio. This medium is used to culture and differentiate livestock muscle satellite cells for cultured meat production.
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS), rich in growth factors, has been a key nutrient in cultured meat media. However, because FBS is obtained by slaughtering pregnant cows to collect fetal blood, it raises significant animal welfare and ethical concerns. Limited supply also drives up production costs, and the paradox of increasing slaughter to produce cultured meat necessitates alternatives that minimize serum use.
This technology utilizes embryonated eggs, where embryos accumulate abundant nutrients and growth factors in the yolk and albumen, as a raw material. Extracts are obtained via ultrasonic homogenization and dilution of the supernatant, then combined with Ham's F-10 serum-free medium. In chicken myoblast cultures, this showed higher growth rates than media containing only FBS; antibiotic mixtures and bFGF can also be added. Applicable to pork, beef, and poultry cultured meat, commercial media production, and muscle cell research, it uses inexpensive embryonated eggs to reduce FBS reliance and establish a foundation for slaughter-free mass production.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for the development of optimal muscle tissue engineering and mass production systems for cultured meat.
This technology provides pharmaceutical compositions for the prevention and treatment of cancer, as well as health functional food compositions for prevention and improvement, using extracts from Cyperus exaltatus—a traditional Korean craft crop—as an active ingredient. It targets 25 types of cancer, including prostate, stomach, lung, liver, colorectal, breast, and blood cancers.
Cancer is a refractory disease with the second-highest mortality rate after heart disease. Despite advancements in diagnosis and treatment, the five-year survival rate for many progressive cancers remains between 5% and 50%. Due to aggressive invasion and lymph node or distant metastasis, the survival rate for some cancers has barely improved in 20 years. Meanwhile, Cyperus exaltatus has long been cultivated in regions like Ganghwado and Gyodongdo, used exclusively for crafts such as mats, cushions, and baskets, with no previously reported anti-cancer effects.
This technology extracts Cyperus exaltatus using water, C1-C4 alcohols, or a mixture thereof. The extract arrests the cancer cell cycle to prevent proliferation and inhibits cancer cell motility and metastasis. It also reduces the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), which cancer cells use to degrade surrounding tissue and spread. Applicable as a natural anti-cancer candidate for metastatic solid tumors, a health supplement for cancer recovery, and a functional ingredient for local farmers, this technology transforms a traditional craft crop into an anti-invasion and anti-metastasis agent, creating a new source of income.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Education's Life and Environment Research Institute.
This technology involves creating nanoliposomes by encapsulating propolis extract within a coating layer composed of phospholipids and sterols in a 6–10:1 mass ratio. These nanoliposomes are added to water-based acidic foods to enhance storage stability. The nanoliposomes feature a particle size of 150nm or less, a polydispersity index of 0.3 or less, a zeta potential of -30mV or less, and an encapsulation efficiency of at least 88%.
While propolis is rich in antioxidants, antibacterial agents, and immune-boosting components like flavonoids, its resinous and waxy nature makes it poorly water-soluble, and its dark yellow color and distinct flavor have made it difficult to incorporate into moisture-rich foods. Existing nanoparticles coated with biodegradable polymers focus on improving bodily absorption, failing to address solubility and storage issues in food. In low-pH products like soft drinks or processed fruit, the bonds between coating materials weaken, causing rapid leakage of active ingredients and particle aggregation.
This technology uses phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol as coating materials, with a core-to-coating mass ratio of 1:10–25, increasing solubility in 4°C water by more than three times compared to unencapsulated extract. The nanoliposomes are added to foods with a pH of 5 or lower at a concentration of up to 10% (w/v) on a dry basis, suppressing ingredient release in acidic environments and masking the bitter taste and off-flavors of propolis. Applicable to fruit/vegetable juices, processed fruit products, and pickles, it allows for the clear integration of propolis antioxidants into acidic foods while preventing ingredient leakage and off-flavors during storage.
This invention was developed with research support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for expanding the application of functional ingredients to general foods.
This technology involves a method for producing an egg substitute by filtering the water left over from boiling black beans, concentrating it to 15–25 brix using centrifugal thin-film concentration, and spray-drying it into a powder. This powder mimics the foaming properties of eggs and maintains foam stability, making it ideal for egg-free baking and sauce production.
With growing interest in health, the environment, and animal welfare, the number of vegetarians in Korea reached approximately 2 million by 2020. However, vegans who avoid all animal products and those with egg allergies have struggled to find alternatives for bread, pastries, and mayonnaise, which rely on eggs for binding, emulsification, and foaming. Existing egg substitutes often contain egg white proteins, failing to be fully plant-based, or lack the necessary foaming capabilities for meringues and sauces, unlike microalgae powders.
This technology involves a two-stage filtration process using 100–500㎛ and 20–80㎛ filters, followed by centrifugal thin-film concentration at 70–100℃ and 500–2,000rpm. If necessary, the concentrate is sterilized at 50–150℃, filtered again, and spray-dried at an inlet temperature of 150–200℃ and an outlet temperature of 80–120℃. The resulting powder offers superior foaming capacity and stability compared to egg whites, whole eggs, or existing substitutes, and is easier to store and transport. It can be used in vegan baked goods like muffins, sponge cakes, and macarons, as well as egg-free mayonnaise and dressings. It also helps reduce wastewater by repurposing bean-boiling water into a shelf-stable plant-based foaming agent.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for the optimal production of aquafaba derived from domestic functional legumes and the development of multi-purpose products.
This technology features a pharmaceutical composition and health functional food for preventing and treating obesity, using a peptide of 12 to 17 amino acids centered on the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5 as the active ingredient. The peptide consists of SEQ ID NO: 5 itself or a form with H or HH added to the C-terminus and Y, YF, or YFR added to the N-terminus, either individually or in combination.
Obesity is a disease associated with complications such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Recently, sarcopenic obesity—where muscle loss leads to a lower basal metabolic rate and subsequent fat gain—has been on the rise, yet effective treatments remain scarce. Previous anti-obesity drugs like fenfluramine were withdrawn due to pulmonary hypertension and heart valve lesions, sibutramine due to cardiovascular side effects, and orlistat causes gastrointestinal discomfort and inhibits fat-soluble vitamin absorption, highlighting a lack of fundamental, side-effect-free treatments.
This technology includes a peptide in the form of SEQ ID NO: 6 with both ends extended. This peptide suppresses appetite by lowering the expression of hypothalamic orexigenic factors AgRP and NPY, and increases energy expenditure by enhancing UCP-1 expression in adipose tissue. It prevents fat accumulation in adipocytes and promotes lipolysis while simultaneously stimulating muscle biosynthesis and inhibiting muscle atrophy. It can be applied to treatments for sarcopenic obesity, health functional foods for weight management and muscle maintenance in the elderly, and protein supplements to prevent muscle loss during dieting, effectively breaking the yo-yo cycle caused by metabolic decline after weight loss.
This technology is a pharmaceutical composition for cancer prevention and treatment, featuring a novel anticancer peptide consisting of 7–10 amino acids, with the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 as its core. The peptide is either SEQ ID NO: 4 itself or a form with Y, YF, or YFR added to its C-terminus, and it can also be formulated as a health functional food or anticancer adjuvant.
Conventional cytotoxic anticancer drugs attack normal cells, causing systemic toxicity and various side effects. Monoclonal antibody targeted therapies like cetuximab, trastuzumab, and bevacizumab, developed to overcome these issues, have limited efficacy in patients with mutations in downstream signaling genes. Consequently, there is a persistent demand for cancer treatments with novel mechanisms of action.
This technology utilizes a peptide containing the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, which has been shown to inhibit cancer cell proliferation and metastasis, induce apoptosis, and improve drug resistance. It is specifically designed to be used as an adjuvant for cancers that have developed resistance to chemotherapy, focusing on restoring the efficacy of existing treatments. Applicable to solid tumor treatments (e.g., lung, colon, breast cancer), combination adjuvants for resistant patients, and health functional food ingredients, these short peptides are easy to synthesize and modify, expanding treatment options for resistant cancers that do not respond to targeted antibodies.
This technology is a pharmaceutical composition for preventing and treating chronic pain, containing as an active ingredient the beta-amyloid peptide of SEQ ID NO: 1, a polynucleotide encoding it, or an expression vector containing said polynucleotide. It targets neuropathic pain induced by central nervous system injury and also includes health functional food compositions using the same active ingredient.
Neuropathic pain is a chronic condition caused by nerve damage or nervous system dysfunction, characterized by allodynia, hyperalgesia, and spontaneous burning sensations that can persist for years. Clinical treatments like anticonvulsants (carbamazepine, gabapentin) and opioids often fail to provide sufficient relief, require repeated dosing with significant side effects, and morphine specifically carries risks of tolerance and fatal overdose. Meanwhile, the physiological function of beta-amyloid, known primarily as a cause of dementia, has remained unclear, leaving it unexplored for pain therapy.
This technology is based on the discovery that elevated neural activity and associated pain following nerve injury can be regulated by beta-amyloid administration. Unlike conventional methods that temporarily block calcium ion channels or TRPV1/TRPA1, this approach corrects hypersensitive pain processing by normalizing synaptic plasticity. Gene delivery can utilize viral vectors such as AAV1–AAV16 serotype adeno-associated viruses or lentiviruses, or non-viral vectors like nanoparticles, exosomes, liposomes, or plasmids. Applicable to treating pain from spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, post-stroke central pain, and diabetic neuropathy, it offers the potential for long-term pain control via gene therapy, replacing the need for repeated doses of traditional analgesics.
This technology covers the seeds, plants, and breeding method for 'Ojeong5,' a new lettuce variety developed by selecting and stabilizing mutants from the ROCHPEA head lettuce line after radiation exposure. Deposited under KCTC19244P, this variety features improved heading, heat tolerance, and yield compared to the original.
While the domestic salad market is growing rapidly, most lettuce is grown from imported seeds. Domestically developed salad lettuce varieties are scarce and lack competitiveness, leading farmers to avoid them. Furthermore, recurring summer heatwaves, heavy rains, and typhoons cause significant crop damage, leading to supply instability, price spikes, and limited salad availability. There is an urgent need for heat-tolerant varieties.
This technology involves cultivating radiation-exposed M1 seeds to obtain M2 seeds from high-value individuals, selecting those with superior phenotypes and heading characteristics, and ensuring genetic stability through repeated cultivation to finalize 'Ojeong5.' This variety features dark black seed coats, an anthocyanin content of 3–6 units/mg, and increased expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis genes such as PAL, CHS, DFR, and ANS. It produces large, dark green heads with an average fresh weight of 600–730g and can be identified via 180–220bp bands using SSR primer PCR. Applicable to summer highland and lowland cultivation, contract farming for fresh-cut salads, and domestic seed distribution, it helps maintain yields during heatwaves, reducing reliance on imports and mitigating summer price volatility.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT for the development of bolting-resistant lettuce through genetic analysis of the reproductive growth transition phase.
This technology provides pharmaceutical and food compositions for the prevention and improvement of osteoarthritis, using leaf extract from Quercus serrata, a native Korean oak species, as an active ingredient. A compound derived from the extract, represented by Formula 5, exhibits antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects while simultaneously inhibiting cartilage degradation.
Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic degenerative joint disease characterized by the degeneration and loss of articular cartilage. It affects more than one in four adults over 50 in Korea, and the number of patients continues to rise due to aging and increasing obesity. As there is no definitive cure, patients have relied primarily on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). However, long-term use can cause side effects in the digestive and blood coagulation systems, creating a need for safer therapeutic materials.
This technology extracts Quercus serrata leaves using water, C1-C4 alcohols, ethyl acetate, chloroform, hexane, or mixtures thereof. The extract shows low cytotoxicity, scavenges DPPH radicals, and inhibits NO production. It also reduces the activity of inflammasome proteins such as NLRP3, caspase-1, and ASC, and inhibits collagenase activity that degrades cartilage matrix. Applicable as a candidate for natural degenerative arthritis drugs, health functional foods for middle-aged joint health, and ingredients for pet joint supplements, it utilizes leaves from common native trees to manage inflammation and cartilage damage while reducing the burden of long-term NSAID use.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT for the development of osteoarthritis treatment materials using native Korean plants with inflammasome-regulating activity.
This technology is a method for softening root vegetables by immersing them in an enzyme suspension, using vacuum treatment at 50kPa or less to penetrate the enzymes into the interior, and then heating them in a carbonate or bicarbonate solution at 65–110℃. By sequentially combining enzyme treatment and alkaline salt treatment, hard root vegetables are softened in a short time.
As the elderly population grows, demand for senior-friendly foods for those with weak chewing ability has increased, but root vegetables like radishes, carrots, burdock, and lotus roots remain hard even when chopped and cooked. Physical softening methods like vacuum impregnation, high-pressure treatment, and superheated steam can damage appearance, such as color; relying solely on enzymes can liquefy tissue and cause nutrient loss; and existing methods using enzymes and sodium bicarbonate together often fail to penetrate the core, resulting in uneven hardness between the surface and the center.
This technology involves dissolving enzymes such as cellulase, pectin lyase, and polygalacturonase at 0.1–2% (w/v) in a weakly acidic buffer solution (e.g., acetic acid, phosphate, or citric acid), repeating vacuum treatment for 0.5–2 minutes at 1–5 minute intervals, and reacting at 30–60℃ for 30–90 minutes. Subsequently, the enzymes are inactivated at 90–105℃, and the vegetables are heated in a 0.5–5% sodium carbonate, potassium bicarbonate, or sodium bicarbonate solution for 1–30 minutes. This reduces hardness to below 80,000N/㎡ by over 90%, while maintaining a color difference of 9 or less and a nutrient retention rate of over 70%. Applicable to nursing homes, senior welfare facilities, gum-chewable senior-friendly side dishes, baby food, and patient meals, it can quickly achieve textures meeting KS senior-friendly food hardness standards while preserving the shape, color, and nutrition of root vegetables.
This technology features the novel diatom strain Nitzschia palea HY1, deposited at the Korean Collection for Type Cultures (KCTC) under accession number KCTC14876BP. This strain rapidly produces biomass through photosynthesis and accumulates the high-value carotenoid pigment fucoxanthin within that biomass.
Fucoxanthin is gaining attention as a functional food ingredient due to its reported antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-obesity properties. However, most commercial sources are extracts from brown algae like kelp and seaweed, which have very limited content, posing a major hurdle for product development. Previous research on cultivating fucoxanthin-producing diatoms in the freshwater medium FDMed was limited by slow growth rates, resulting in long cultivation times to achieve high biomass and low fucoxanthin productivity.
This technology utilizes a strain identified through electron and optical microscopy and the SSU 18S rRNA sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1). By culturing the strain at 18–23℃ for 5–10 days and increasing the sodium bicarbonate concentration in the FDMed medium from 2mM to approximately 10mM, maximum biomass increases by about 42% and biomass productivity by 180% over a 7-day culture period. Compared to existing international strains, the maximum fucoxanthin content was 46.7% higher, and maximum productivity was 52.8% higher. This can be applied to anti-obesity and antioxidant health supplements, skincare cosmetic ingredients, and photobioreactors that fix carbon dioxide emitted from power plants and factories, allowing for a stable, year-round supply of fucoxanthin in bioreactors instead of relying on seasonal and location-dependent seaweed harvests.
