SAGA &#8212; Immersed in research into how ice plants can be used to forestall soil damage caused by salt, Akihiro Nose, a professor in Saga University's agriculture department, was surprised when a student suggested the plant might be edible as well.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2009/nn20091128f3a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='180'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Seed money: In September, Takahiro Ogawa of venture firm Nokendo tends ice plants developed by Saga University. </B> KYODO PHOTO</FONT></TD> </TR> </TABLE> </PHOTO> <PARAGRAPH>Pointing to an ice plant from South Africa, the student commented, 'This is apparently edible.''</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>For 10 years Nose has researched the plant, which draws salt from the soil. It never occurred to him that ice plants, so named for the way their leaves appear to be covered with ice crystals, could be food.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>A look on the Internet revealed the plant sells for a high price as a food, and even as a mild drug.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Finally, Nose tried the plant himself. 'It was salty, crispy and refreshing,' he said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>While continuing his research, Nose put the plant on the market in 2006, calling it 'barafu.' Currently, a venture firm named Nokendo, run by Nose and former students, is working to find a sales channel.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'Barafu also has a pretty appearance,' said Takahiro Ogawa, 31, who is in charge of sales for Nokendo, pointing out another of the plant's appealing features to consumers. Sales contracts with local farmers and the development of processed food containing ice plant, including ice cream, are under way, he said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Saga University is among an increasing number of institutions of higher learning that developed food products as an offshoot of research projects.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Last summer, 28 institutions, including Hokkaido University, Shinshu University in Nagano Prefecture and Yamagata University, marketed products at a special sale in a department store.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Hokkaido brought kelp, Shinshu exhibited what it called ruby honey, while Yamagata laid out bread made from rice powder. The bread, which the university said was invented by using the technique of inflating plastic, was popular with customers of every age.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Universities say the commercialization of university-brand foods can help publicize research results in a way that people can understand, and could also help university officials attract students as the population declines.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>If their efforts bear fruit, they can kill many birds with one stone, one university official said.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>But universities involved in the development of foodstuffs face a rough road to commercialization as they lack sales outlets and business knowhow.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>There are some exceptions, too. Kindai 'maguro' –

reared from fry to tuna by Kinki University in Osaka Prefecture, is an exceptional hit product that emerged from academic research. The university began to study artificial breeding of tuna in 1970 and succeeded in developing fry into fully grown tuna in 2002 for the first time in the world.

Kindai tuna, the result of trial and error over a period of more than 30 years, is now a brand-name fish and has impressed gourmets.

Tokihiko Okada, head of the university's Fish Nursery Center, said raising fry was considered impossible in the past, adding that it was even more difficult to induce tuna to spawn.

Compared with natural tuna whose meat is firm because of swimming in the sea, Okada said cultivated tuna are less active and therefore fattier.

Upon shipping, each tuna is given a diploma from the university, he said.