Gyeongbuk Province Finds Brain Health Solution in 'Hwasalnamu' Leaves

Helping Improve Cognitive Function in Digital Dementia, Students, Middle-aged, and Elderly

On the 22nd, the Gyeongbuk Forest Resources Development Institute held a performance report meeting on the development of functional foods for middle-aged and elderly health improvement, revealing the efficacy of the leaves of the arrowwood tree.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Trainee Reporter Lee Seryeong] Gyeongsangbuk-do's efforts to find answers to brain health from native plants are bearing fruit.

On the 22nd, the Gyeongsangbuk-do Forest Resources Development Institute announced that in research aimed at overcoming degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and senile dementia, they discovered components that improve brain health functions from materials like Euonymus and jujube.

As the use of smart devices becomes routine, even younger generations are experiencing "digital dementia," struggling to remember phone numbers or addresses. This development signals a positive outlook for efforts to slow cognitive decline and the progression of dementia.

The Gyeongbuk Forest Resources Development Institute, aiming to secure high value-added income sources through the development of new forest product materials, collaborated with Professor Kim Jeongsang's research team from the Department of Food Engineering at Kyungpook National University to conduct research on health improvement for middle-aged and older adults, discovering materials such as Euonymus and jujube.

On the 22nd, they held a report meeting on the research achievements of functional food development for middle-aged and older adult health improvement, discussing ways to utilize the research results and follow-up studies.

The institute revealed that rutin, abundantly contained in Euonymus leaves, has antioxidant effects that inhibit cell aging and neuroprotective efficacy, helping to improve brain health functions.

They have published numerous papers on the research results in international academic journals, registered patents for memory improvement, and developed prototypes.

Euonymus is a landscaping tree used as a fence. Its branches are used medicinally, the first shoots are used as spring vegetables, and the old leaves are used as functional raw materials for improving brain health functions.

Called Euonymus because the tree resembles feathers attached to an arrow, its leaves turn red in autumn, allowing people to enjoy the fall foliage.

The institute plans to accelerate the development of foods made from leaf extracts, seeing a substantial potential demand from students preparing for exams, middle-aged, and elderly people who need brain health function improvement.

If Euonymus leaves are registered as raw materials for health functional foods, large-scale cultivation complexes will be established, and agreements for raw material supply with companies will be signed, securing sustainable income sources for forestry workers.

They plan to promote follow-up research such as efficacy verification for Alzheimer's improvement and clinical trials, expand the commercialization base through registration of functional raw materials with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and establish pilot complexes involving forestry workers for technology transfer.

Director Jeong Cheolhwa said, "In the pandemic era where infectious diseases are widespread, health functional foods are not a choice but a necessity," adding, "We will build a functional raw material supply hub using forest products nurtured by Gyeongbuk's forests to make it a future core driving industry."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.