OIST and Onna Village's New High-Performance Rice Named "Churaotome"

On June 28, 2023, the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) held a naming ceremony for a new strain of high-performance rice that it has researched and developed in collaboration with Onna Village.

OIST presented a letter of appreciation and a 1 kg bag of Churaotome harvested in Onna Village as a commemorative gift to each of the winners, Ayako Shirao and Yasuko Shinzato, who came up with the trademark name "Churaotome”. OIST also presented a letter of appreciation to Onna Village Mayor, Yoshimi Nagahama, and partner farmer, Moriyasu Ogido, for their extensive support of the five-year field experiment for Churaotome, including providing the farmland, and planting, managing and harvesting the rice.

From left, OIST Executive Vice President Granot-Mayer, name creators Ms. Yasuko and Ms. Shirao, Cooperating farmer Mr. Ogido, Onna village mayor Mr. Nagahama, OIST President Dr. Markides and Plant Epigenetics Unit Professor Dr. Saze

History

The Churaotome research and development project was initiated in 2012 by Professor Hidetoshi Saze, who heads the Plant Epigenetics Unit at OIST. His research is aimed at developing a new strain of digestion-resistant rice that can be harvested with high yields in Okinawa's subtropical climate.

With the cooperation of Onna Village, a research team led by Professor Saze conducted a five-year field experiment on a new strain of rice with digestion-resistant starch, successfully harvesting a total of 834 kg in the past six harvests. The variety name "Onna-OIST-2020" was registered in honor of its origin in Onna Village. Subsequently, in addition to the variety name, a public contest was held in Okinawa for the trademark name, and "Churaotome" was chosen as a name suitable for a prefectural product that would become widely popular.

Cultivation of Churaotome in a field in Onna Village

Efficacy and evaluation of Churaotome

Nanshoka-Mai, or rice with digestion-resistant starch, is a new breed of rice rich in starch that does not break down into glucose as easily. This rice strain was first developed by a research team at Kyushu University approximately 30 years ago. Gathering evidence suggests that rice with digestion-resistant starch provides benefits such as suppressing the elevation of blood sugar levels, reducing neutral fat and LDL (harmful) cholesterol levels, and preventing lipid accumulation in the liver, leading to the expectation that it will not only prevent obesity but also lifestyle-related diseases in general. Using genomic information, the OIST research team efficiently crossed digestion-resistant rice with a local strain suited to Okinawa's climate to introduce its genetic characteristics, resulting in the successful growth and harvesting of Churaotome in Onna Village.

In 2022, a team led by Yuta Nakamura, Assistant Professor at St. Marianna University School of Medicine in Kanagawa Prefecture, evaluated the efficacy of Churaotome consumption in patients with type 2 diabetes and confirmed that it significantly reduced postprandial blood glucose levels compared to normal rice. To explain the mechanism, the researchers said that based on the dynamics of gastrointestinal hormones, it is suggested that the absorption of carbohydrates may have been prevented not only in the upper part of the small intestine, but also in the lower part. The validation results of this study were published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition in March 2023.

OIST and Onna Village's New High-Performance Rice Named "Churaotome"

Future business development

Researchers have already looked into the development of products using Churaotome. There is potential for product development in a wide range of applications, such as combination with brown rice and white rice, rice flour, etc. There are high expectations for the use of Churaotome as a food product produced by OIST, Onna Village, and Okinawa Prefecture in the near future.

Mayor Nagahama attended the naming ceremony, and expressed his hopes for Churaotome saying, "I hope that Churaotome from Onna Village will be widely loved in and outside Okinawa, even overseas, and that this will be an opportunity to promote the village's industry and strengthen ties with OIST."

Karin Markides, President of OIST, said, "OIST is very proud of this collaboration with Onna Village, and we would like to do more activities together," and thanked Onna Village for the generous support, expressing her hopes for the success of the new Okinawan product cultivated in Onna Village.

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You can see more photos from the ceremony in OIST Flickr Album.