Thirty years have passed since a group of botanists, fascinated by the medicinal herb Ashitaba of Hachijojima – an island renowned for longevity – began cultivating and improving the plant.
Today, this subtropical herb has been reborn in Ibaraki as a new variety of Ashitaba that can sprout even in the frozen winter.
With the hope of sharing this delicious and healthy vegetable with many people, our Ashitaba growers’ cooperative has cultivated farmland in the rural mountains of Kasama, where we carefully raise the plants together.
We have named our Kasama-grown Ashitaba “Sato-banquet Ashitaba,” likening it to a warm rural hospitality dinner party. We sincerely hope that this sun-soaked Sato-banquet Ashitaba will reach your tables and bring vitality to people living in today’s modern world.
Ashitaba grows quickly, and its name comes from the saying that even if you pick the leaves, they will sprout again tomorrow. This green and yellow vegetable is rich in excellent nutrients, including chalcones, coumarin, beta-carotene, B vitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin E, as well as calcium and potassium.
Angelica keiskei is a plant that has been used as food and folk medicine since the Edo period, mainly in the Izu Islands. The chalcone polyphenols (yellow pigment components) contained in angelica keiskei are known to have various effects, including anti-cancer, anti-tumor, anti-thrombotic, and anti-AIDS effects. In addition, academic research has recently been published showing that the component coumarin has preventive and therapeutic effects against Alzheimer's disease.
Research into the functional effects of niacin has been published in Newsweek and Nature, and a study using mice by Professor Frank Madeo's research team at the University of Graz (Austria) found that it has anti-aging effects that protect myocardial cells and extend lifespan.
Its many other disease-fighting effects have been presented at academic conferences, including its effectiveness in improving lifestyle-related diseases, high blood pressure, and cholesterol, preventing hay fever, relieving gout and constipation, and as an anti-diabetic, anti-dementia, and anti-osteoporosis agent. The new Ashitaba variety, born in Ibaraki Prefecture, is delicious and easy to use in any dish, and is listed on the national herbal medicine list as "kanso," so it can also be used as an ingredient in medicinal cuisine.
The new variety "Satota Ashitaba" has been grown in the lush greenery of the Kasama Satoyama countryside, using reduced pesticides and organic fertilizer, resulting in a fragrant, delicious, and healthy plant. Please take this opportunity to try it.
●Year of establishment: 1898
●Major business activities:
①Tea cultivation, manufacturing, development, sales, export, OEM processing
② Powder and tea bag contract processing
③Freeze-dried products, processing and sales
④Manufacture and sale of confectionery
⑤Ashitaba tea production and processing
●Manufacturing equipment: Tea factories, confectionery factories, freeze-drying machines
●Licenses and Certifications
①HACCP (JFS-B certified factory)
②GMP certification
③ Confectionery manufacturing industry
