Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI) said on the 4th that an extract of Lithospermum erythrorhizon (gromwell) developed by the institute has obtained approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as an individually recognized health functional food ingredient for "helping maintain muscle strength that may decrease due to aging."
As people get older, sarcopenia, in which muscle mass and strength naturally decline, occurs. This leads to increased risk of metabolic diseases, reduced physical activity, and higher rates of falls and death. Therefore, maintaining muscle strength with aging is drawing attention as a key factor for a healthy and active later life.
In response, the institute has pursued development of food material–based technologies to prevent muscle aging for a super-aged society. The resulting "gromwell extract" consistently showed effects of increasing muscle strength and muscle mass in models of obesity-related sarcopenia, muscular atrophy, and age-related sarcopenia. In particular, the gromwell extract was found to alleviate muscle loss through a mechanism that inhibits muscle protein degradation, and three related studies were published in international journals.
This technology was transferred to Daygen Co., Ltd., and Daygen carried out production process optimization, raw material safety verification, and human application trials based on it. When middle-aged and older adults with an average age around 66 took gromwell extract (1 g/day) for 12 weeks, statistically significant improvements in quadriceps strength and overall muscle strength were confirmed compared with the control group.
Daygen Co., Ltd. is building domestic gromwell cultivation complexes and a varietal standardization management system for a stable supply of raw materials, thereby securing a foundation for producing high-quality ingredients. With this approval of an individually recognized ingredient as a turning point, the company plans to push forward in earnest with product diversification using gromwell extract and a raw material supply business.
A Daygen official said, "Gromwell extract is a representative achievement that combines the excellence of Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI)'s natural product–based research with the commercialization capabilities of KFRI's family corporations, and we will enhance the competitiveness of the domestic raw material industry not only in muscle health but also across various functional areas, while contributing to the development of domestic agriculture through a cooperative, co-prosperity model between growers and corporations."
An Ji-yun, head of the aging research division at the institute who led the technology development, said, "As a natural-material ingredient, gromwell extract is the first in Korea to be recognized for the 'function of maintaining muscle strength due to aging,' and it will help prevent the decline of muscle strength in older adults and improve quality of life in a rapidly aging society."