Mokpo National University Chemistry Professors Nam Sang-ho and Lee Yong-hoon Research Team Develop Chemical Analysis Method to Determine Origin of Doenjang

Famous Journal in Food Chemistry Field, Food Chemistry, Scheduled for Publication in January Next Year

Left) Professor Nam Sang-ho Right) Professor Lee Yong-hoon (Photo by Mokpo National University)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jeong Hyeong-seok] A research team led by Professors Nam Sang-ho and Lee Yong-hoon from the Department of Chemistry at Mokpo National University, in collaboration with Professor Jeong Hoe-il from the Department of Chemistry at Hanyang University and the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, announced on the 6th that they have developed a chemical analysis method to trace the production origin of 97 types of Doenjang distributed domestically.

Doenjang is a representative East Asian food sauce and additive made by mixing and fermenting soybeans as the main ingredient with salt, wheat flour, and various additives. In Korea, many food companies distribute Doenjang products, a significant portion of which are produced in China.

This study combined LIBS (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy), a simple chemical analysis method that reveals elemental composition, and NIR (Near-Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy), which shows molecular structure, to distinguish whether Doenjang available in the market was produced domestically or in China with 99.6% accuracy.

Professor Nam Sang-ho, the corresponding author of the paper, explained the principle: “Scientifically determining the origin of agricultural food products is very important for distribution management. LIBS effectively detects inorganic elements contained in the salt used to make Doenjang, while NIR senses differences in organic nutritional composition that vary depending on soybean varieties or organic additives. The information obtained from these two chemical analyses served as independent chemical fingerprints that complementarily distinguished the production origin of Doenjang.”

Professor Lee Yong-hoon said, “Solving real-life problems using chemistry, as in this study, is enjoyable and rewarding. Through this research, I want to inform students that majoring in chemistry can lead to employment in food companies or public institutions as food analysis experts, contributing to quality and distribution management.”

The research results are scheduled to be published in the January 2023 issue of Food Chemistry (I.F. = 9.231), which ranks in the top 5.6% by impact factor among journals in the field of food chemistry.

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