The third coffee meeting of the Graduate Program in Food Science (GP-Food) of Tohoku University was held on April 18, 2025. Students, researchers, and lecturers gathered at the common space on the 2nd floor of the Graduate School of Agricultural Science Building to participate in lectures and carry out discussions revolving around unused resources and functional food.
The coffee meeting started with Dr Oscar Tiku’s (Project Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University) lecture, about his work related to「Leveraging Underutilized Fish through Adaptable Gastronomy」. We learned that climate change has greatly changed the species of fish caught by fishermen, and underutilized fish, which were not familiar in the conventional market, should be further utilized. The novel concept of 「Adaptable Gastronomy」 which helps to discover the new values of the underutilized fish, should be promoted to overcome the problems faced while promoting these fish, including the unstable supply, the unpopularity of underutilized fish, and the lack of experience of chefs and cooks to handle these fish. On the other hand, the collaboration between fishermen and the chefs, the reconstruction of the local food culture, and the changes in consumer awareness can contribute to overcoming the institutional challenges.
After that, Tina Huang, a PhD student from Taipei Medical University who is also working in the R&D department of Medgaea Life Science Ltd., gave a lecture about 「Function Food Development: Insights from the industry」. We learned that complex requirements such as strict certification systems, science-based proof, and multiple stages of evaluation tests have greatly affected the cost of the development of functional food. In particular, there are three elements (safety, efficacy, and stability) that make up the core of test designs. While introducing the specific test contents, she also gave some explanation about the support system of her company. This flexible and specialized support connects the system and the market, enabling the smooth launch of novel functional foods.
After the lectures, a quiz session based on the presentation’s content was held. The participants were able to deepen their understanding and learn things in a fun way. In addition, various discussions were held throughout the meeting, and it was a great opportunity to deepen interdisciplinary perspectives and form networks. It was indeed a wonderful time spent together.
