Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine

Hokkaido, which is known as a food base of Japan, is the northernmost area of cultivation for many of the nation's major crops. We're conducting research to search for genes necessary for the breed improvement of rice and adzuki beans, with the aim of stabilizing crop production in regions where cultivation in limited.
However, the rapid increase in various allergic diseases in the face of a lack of decisive treatments and other countermeasures has become a social problem. It's not just conventional animal proteins that are now causing food allergies. They can be caused by even a single grain of a staple such as rice or wheat, and the age of onset has broadened to cover everyone from infants to adults, making food allergies a serious problem. Therefore, we're working with researchers who specialize in allergies and immunology to elucidate the mechanism of anti-allergic responses associated with specific rice varieties. We're also working to develop a breeding method to suppress allergic reactions.
The aim of the research is to propose measures for food allergy reductions afforded by the daily consumption of rice and to contribute to safe, healthy eating habits.

• Search for new health functionalities of cooked rice and development of strengthening method
• Elucidation of ingredients of cooked rice and development of improved method to determine the taste
• Elucidation of temperature stress tolerance mechanism of adzuki and development of strengthening method
• Elucidation of flowering system of adzuki and development of control method of flowering period