Kohsei Foods (Ibigun, Gifu Prefecture; President Shunsuke Satomura) has launched a brown rice koji powder designed specifically for improving meat quality as a commercial-use product. The product, named “Asper Powder NK” (800g, pictured), has been available since August 18.
The product enhances “meat quality improvement effect of koji enzymes,” which is inherent in shio-koji. It exhibits “high proteolytic activity under a wide range of conditions from weakly acidic to weakly alkaline,” while also delivering multiple benefits such as “reduction of off-odors from livestock meat” and “yield improvement.” By resolving the challenges of existing products and strengthening functionality, the company aims to encourage adoption.
Traditionally, koji enzymes have long been used in the form of shio-koji, and their meat-tenderizing effects are widely recognized. However, shio-koji and conventional koji-derived enzymes show high proteolytic activity only under weakly acidic conditions, and their effectiveness declines significantly under neutral to weakly alkaline conditions.
In commercial meat processing, however, treatment often takes place under neutral to weakly alkaline conditions, making it difficult to benefit from koji enzymes—a weakness that has been a limiting factor.
Moreover, with the rise of the clean-label movement in recent years, which emphasizes minimizing food additives, demand has grown for a natural koji-based ingredient that remains effective under neutral to weakly alkaline conditions.
To address this issue, the company identified optimal conditions regarding “types of rice,” “types of koji enzymes,” and “fermentation conditions,” successfully developing “Asper Powder NK” as a natural material that demonstrates strong meat-quality improvement effects even across a broad pH range.
The key features of “Asper Powder NK” can be summarized as follows:
1. Clean-label compatibility, made solely from brown rice koji powder (addresses demand for reduced food additive use).
2. Strong meat-quality improvement effects under conditions (weakly acidic to weakly alkaline) where conventional shio-koji could not function effectively.
3. Reduction of off-odors from livestock meat, enhancing applicability across a wide range of meat qualities.
4. Improved water retention, leading to better yield (helpful against rising raw material costs).
Shelf life is 10 months at room temperature (below 20°C). The recommended addition ratio is 1–5% relative to meat weight, with an action time guideline of at least 30 minutes at room temperature (20°C), or 3–15 hours under refrigeration.