Short on vitamins?
2005-04-13 11:10
Tokyo - The cabbage once destined to turn yellow sitting in the refrigerator can now get even greener instead.
A fridge that enhances vitamin C and chlorophyll in the food it stores is the latest Japanese invention in a range of "vitamin home electronics" spawned to meet the demands of health-conscious consumers.
Others include a lamp which helps form vitamin D and an air purifier that spreads vitamin C.
What gave birth to the fridge, first launched last September by Mitsubishi Electric, was not so much a technological breakthrough but a change in the way of thinking.
"We upgraded the concept of not reducing vitamins to that of increasing them," said Kazuhiko Mizuno, a company spokesperson in charge of home appliances.
He said the change was "reflecting the consumer tendency to seek healthier food".
The key is a tiny box which creates orange light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that promote photosynthesis in the greens, which are kept in a partitioned, humid space in the fridge.
The company chose a wavelength of 590 nanometers, which looks orange to human eyes.
Vitamins rose by 10%
Mizuno said the choice of wavelength was important as while longer waves which look red are most effective in promoting photosynthesis they also lead to budding and flowering.
The orange light creates chlorophyll in vegetables such as cabbage, making them look greener after several days in the fridge.
And the difference is not only cosmetic. Mitsubishi Electric found that after three days vitamin C rose by 10% in broccoli sprouts, compared with a 25% drop in conventional fridges.
The vitamin was 14-16% higher in cabbages after three days, according to the company's research.
LEDs - which are also key to powering cellphones - are considered suitable for refrigerators as they require less power than conventional lights, have longer life spans and do not get hot.
It costs just 75 yen a year to keep the orange light on 24 hours a day, Mizuno said.
But the fridge will not be exported for now as Mitsubishi Electric doubt other countries have the same market as Japan where consumers are health conscious and mostly urban, making fresh daily vegetables harder to obtain.
"We would not be able to make large sales to people who can get as many vegetables as they want from gardens for cooking," Mizuno said, though he added there could be a market from rich people in big cities such as Shanghai.
The idea has helped boost sales by about 50% of Mitsubishi Electric's main refrigerator line, which includes the nutritious-veggie models.
'Enhanced merits'
Masaru Sonoda, a professor specialising in bio-chemical nutrition at Kyoritsu Women's University, said the fridge took advantage of the fact that vegetable cells are still alive after the harvest.
"A big factor (in maximising the fridge's function) would be how fresh the vegetable is when you buy it," he said.
But he stressed that cutting-edge electronics were no substitute for a balanced diet.
"You would not be short of vitamins if you are healthy through a normal diet," he said.
But for those who are still worried, NEC Lighting offers the "Vitamin Day" series of fluorescent lights, which promote vitamin-D forming in human bodies with enhanced ultra-violet rays of a wavelength between 280 and 320 nanometers.
"As the increase is very small, you don't have to worry about damage" from ultra-violet rays, a company spokesperson said, noting the amount was only 0.001% of natural sun light.
"As the fluorescent lights market is saturated, we need to sell products with enhanced merits," he said.
The product is suitable for offices and rooms which lack outer light or underground complexes, he said.
Zojirushi, a major maker of vacuum bottles and cooking appliances, has been marketing an air purifier that spreads vitamin C and catechin, a type of tannin found in green tea and used as a health supplement.
The "Air Breeze" releases air through a ceramics cartridge with the hidden goodness.
The company says the machine keeps roses fresh for four days if in an enclosed space of one cubic metre, while roses without the machine would wither away.
Back in 2001, Fuji Spinning pioneered the concept of "wearable vitamins", developing a special textile which contains pro-vitamin, which turns into vitamin C when it reacts with chemicals in the skin.
Its "V-UP" T-shirts and underwear hit store shelves in early 2002, with the brand expanding to vitamin E the following year.
The concept has now evolved into "wearable cosmetics" embracing ionised silver for anti-germ effect, seaweed essence for losing weight and extract from Japanese sake rice wine said to be good for the skin.