Establishment of a support system for the development of functional food and cosmetic products

There has been growing interest in inside-outside beauty products. Companies in Fukuoka Prefecture were not able to develop such products as expected because of the lack of collaboration with skin health research experts. The diverse and complex needs of the companies did not closely match the specific materials or technologies developed by public research or other institutions. In this work, we describe the support system we have established for the development of functional food and cosmetic products. The system consists of a series of technologies such as the extraction, analysis, isolation, identification, concentration and enrichment of bioactive compounds; the functional analysis of food materials, with special focus on skin care function; and drying and powdering. Thirty-eight products have been successfully released by the companies through the application of this system. In conclusion, the support system we established was considered useful to promote the development of functional food and cosmetic products in Fukuoka.