Solid State Fermentation for Sustainable Agricultural development: “Hakko” Tradition

Picture credit: Yamakoshi Ta

Japanese fermentation, Hakko, is a value-add to agricultural products in several ways in Japan. It allows boosting the shelf life of products to about a year without refrigeration while maintaining nutritional value and generating a dose of healthy probiotics — live microorganisms crucial to good digestion that can account for the 84.5 years of life expectancy of the Japanese people. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) using koji is a traditional Japanese method for producing various Japanese fermented foods and beverages. Rice inoculated with koji mold becomes koji rice. Niigata Prefecture is the largest producer of rice in Japan and Koshihikari is the most famous rice brand produced in Japan using this method.

Facing the Japan Sea, only a 1.5 h train ride from Tokyo, the Niigata Prefecture attracts an abundance of visitors due to its ski resorts, national parks, and numerous hot springs. As Japan’s premier rice-growing region using clear mountain water, this region is also famous for its sake and rice-based processed food. However, rice agriculture, and consequently Japan's food security, is facing two issues: the falling rice demand and the receding number of farmers.  The annual rice consumption per inhabitant has been drastically reduced from 120 to 50 kg/year as consumers migrated to wheat-based products, and the number of farmers receded by 50’000/year. Part of the solution strategy is based on exportation, by focusing on high-end quality and value-added products.

Under the auspices of the COI-NEXT (Center of Innovation Next) program of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Nagaoka University of Technology launched in 2023 "Rice Destinations”—a bio-community centre for the future of the Niigata Region. Based on the synergy between the fermentation tradition and scientific research, this centre fosters a transition towards a sustainable food production system created in the countryside and enables "a society where young people can continue to live". Its objective is to present these novel tradition-based products to global agricultural and industrial communities and to invite them to visit and explore.

Some promotional events are expected to be organized in Europe later this year.

Source: Japan Bioindustry Association