Research on the Functional Health Properties of Non-nutritive Food Components

Associate Professor (Functional Food Science)

KANOH Naomi

Foods contain not only nutrients essential for sustaining life but also non-nutritive components that, while not necessary for basic survival, can contribute to maintaining and promoting health.

In our laboratory, we focus particularly on such non-nutritive components as isothiocyanates, the pungent compounds found in wasabi and daikon radish, and polyphenols, bitter, astringent, and pigmented compounds widely present in plants.

Our research investigates the mechanisms by which these compounds may inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells and promote efferocytosis—the process by which phagocytes remove dead cells—thereby helping to suppress inflammation.

Since there are no fundamental cures for cancer or chronic inflammatory diseases, our goal is to contribute to public health by proposing dietary strategies for disease prevention based on scientific evidence.

▲Experimental Data Demonstrating the Activation of Efferocytosis by Resveratrol

▲BITC Induces Chromosomal Mis-segregation and Cell Death in Cancer Cells