Proactive Approaches in Biodiversity

Palm oil is a vegetable oil that has been widely used as a raw material for food and industrial products and has a high yield per unit area. Palm kernel oil, extracted from the seeds, is a raw material for surfactants used in detergents and shampoos, and is one of Kao’s main raw materials. 80% or more of it is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia, countries that are home to tropical rainforests and valuable areas for biodiversity that are rich in wildlife. An analysis conducted by Kao also identified this as a theme that should be addressed with the highest priority.

Kao has been working to minimize impact of chemicals released into the environment through development of safer chemicals and proper chemical management.
We are currently conducting research into RNA contained in the environmental water (environmental RNA, eRNA) in order to establish a simple and highly accurate method for ecological surveys. An analytical method that uses RNA as an indicator, which is more easily degraded than DNA, has an advantage that they are less susceptible to the influence of DNA derived from food ingredients, for example, contained in domestic wastewater that flows into rivers, etc., and is less likely to falsely detect organisms that are not present in the area^{*2 , *3} . Furthermore, being able to conduct analysis without relying on observation or capture means that research can be conducted without stressing organisms or reducing number of richness and abundance of species inhabiting the area.
So far, in addition to a comprehensive method for analyzing fish eRNA in water of the river^*2 , we developed methods for assessing arthropods (aquatic insects) and algae, which are indicators of water quality^*4 . This has revealed the potential to assess biodiversity and water quality more easily than by surveys through observation or collection.
Organisms in the environment are exposed to many stresses daily. If we can detect signs of decline in the number of richness and abundance of species inhabiting there before it occurs, we can implement appropriate environmental conservation activities more quickly. We discovered that eRNA-sequencing using eRNA in water may be a useful tool for analyzing stress in aquatic organisms^*5 . The key was to develop a method for analyzing within a short period of time to minimize degradation of eRNA . From this study, we discovered genes that act as stress markers and found that eRNA in water shows higher sensitivity to stress markers than organismal RNA (RNA contained within the body and in the skin).
These Kao’s methods have potential to comprehensively analyze the number of richness and abundance of species, and their response of stress with a high degree of accuracy without need to capture living organisms, and Kao believes these methods will be beneficial to conserve biodiversity and ecosystems.

Kao initiated a demonstration study to produce nonedible bio-based nonionic surfactant from non-edible biomass using cassava residue, which is a biomass waste product. Utilizing Kao’s enzymes and enzyme production technologies, cassava residue can now be efficiently broken down into sugars, the raw material for some chemicals. By conducting the saccharification process from enzyme production to saccharification at the same plant site, we also aim to reduce CO₂ emissions from transportation.
In 2023, we developed a technology that produces gallic acid, an important industrial material, from glucose. We have already begun selling this as “Bio Gallic Acid.” Gallic acid is used as a raw material for items such as semiconductors in electronic devices and anti-rust agents for boilers. It is a plant-derived polyphenol extracted from insect galls (gallnuts) found in plants in the family Anacardiaceae and one of the rarest biological resources with limited production area since it is only found in certain trees.