This photo provided by Jeonbuk National University shows researchers checking cattle at a farm.
JEONJU, May 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Low carbon beef from Korean premium “hanwoo” cattle that is raised in a customized low carbon environment is expected to come to the market in the near future.
Melliens, a startup founded by a faculty member of Jeonbuk National University, recently marketed low carbon Hanwoo called Locacow, which have been raised using a system that tracks and predicts a cow’s carbon footprint through genetic big data analysis.
This beef is produced by picking a verified calf with an exemplary low carbon footprint and raising it in a customized low carbon environment.
To this end, the university’s research team analyzed the genetic information and type of about 20,000 calves with lower carbon emissions among 500,000 hanwoo cows over the past ten years by using its in-house gene-based beef tracking platform.
The carbon footprint required to produce 1 kilogram of ordinary beef is estimated at about 25.5 kilograms. However, Locacow requires only 8.9 kilograms of carbon, a level equivalent to 35 percent of that of ordinary beef.
The research team completed a patent application for a low carbon stockbreeding platform and verification technology in and outside Korea.
“The low-carbon genetic trait can be passed on to the next generation if a calf with excellent genetics is picked and raised in customized low carbon way,” the research team said.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
