BioOne

Plant-derived natural products are commonly used in bio-products such as pharmaceuticals, functional foods, and functional cosmetics, and continue to serve as direct or indirect starting materials for the development of high-value bio-products.

The KRIBB established the first ‘Korea Plant Extract Bank’ under the “Native Plant Utilization Technology Development Project (2000–2010)” in 2000, and over the past 20 years has produced and distributed extracts from approximately 1,800 native plant species (over 6,700 samples by plant part), supporting the distribution of more than 1.16 million plant extract samples and providing compositional analysis services.
Additionally, from 2006, through Phase 1 and 2 of the Overseas Plant Resource Acquisition Project (International Collaborative Research Program 2006–2021), the KRIBB has operated an overseas plant extract bank, securing over 40,000 overseas plant samples and distributing over 2.5 million samples, making it the largest domestic and international plant extract bank in Korea.

Through the “Natural Products Cluster Promotion Project” initiated in 2021, the Korea Plant Extract Bank has transitioned into the Natural Products Central Bank, integrating domestic and overseas plant resources to provide standardized extracts through a single platform, creating a one-stop system where researchers can search and utilize natural product analysis technologies and compositional/efficacy information, aiming to become a world-class natural product resource and information bank.
We have selected over 1,200 high-utility domestic species, including frequently used and endemic plants, and 2,000 useful overseas ethno-botanical species as strategic resources. We are building a big data platform integrating habitat- and plant-part-based extract profile comparative analysis, qualitative and quantitative analysis of active compounds, structural data, and standard efficacy information (for domestic resources), and developing utilization programs to serve as a close-support gateway for the development of raw materials for natural product-based products.
While the Natural Products Central Bank may not be the final star in natural product pharmaceutical development, it will quietly fulfill its role as a national infrastructure for natural product resources and R&D, supporting domestic companies in developing globally competitive new products.

The IBMRC strives to contribute to national growth by identifying natural product-based drug candidates, functional foods, and pharmaceutical lead compounds.

Established in 2006 as the International Biological Material Research Center (IBMRC), the center serves as a national infrastructure for discovery, acquisition, preservation, and utilization support of international biological materials.

To this end, four joint research hubs were established in China, Costa Rica, Indonesia, and Vietnam, creating an international cooperation network to secure biological resources from China, Central and South America, Southeast Asia, and the Indochina region.
To date, the center has acquired approximately 40,000 materials from 54 institutions across 39 countries and has distributed around 2.5 million extracts.

The center supports a sustainable bioeconomy by supplying diverse international biological materials to domestic industry, academia, and research institutions, while contributing to national growth through the development of natural product-based drugs, functional foods, and pharmaceutical candidates.

We strive to create value from Korea’s native natural resources through the development of functional cosmetics, food products, and natural-product-based pharmaceuticals.

The KIST Gangneung Natural Products Research Center, a specialized institution for natural product research, has considered what researchers and companies most need and are curious about in developing new natural product materials. As part of this effort, we established a domestic library of Korea’s native natural products.

The KIST Natural Products Library focuses on securing domestic native plant extracts with excellent anti-inflammatory or neuro-protective effects, or suitability as food ingredients, and organizes detailed sample information and constituent compound profiles.
These features are designed to provide researchers using the samples through distribution and deposit with diverse information about the research materials and support efficient research execution.
Research institutions and companies can jointly use the library samples and analytical equipment at the KIST Gangneung Natural Products Research Center to study compositional changes in plants based on natural habitats or cultivation conditions, or to support the development of functional cosmetics, foods, and natural-product-based pharmaceuticals.

The bank serves as a hub for medicinal herb resources, supporting everything from resource discovery and efficacy validation to the development of materials for industrial applications.

Since 2006, the KIOM has been conducting research on securing and utilizing medicinal herb resources. Currently, at the Herbal Medicine Resources Research Center, established in 2018 in Naju, Jeollanam-do, the KIOM leads efforts in scientific standardization of medicinal herb resources, expansion and value innovation, and aims to establish a global hub for medicinal herb resources.

The KIOM houses the largest collection of medicinal herb resources in Korea, including approximately 30,000 specimens of leaf and medicinal materials stored in the Medicinal Herb Standard Specimen Repository, registered in the 2013 Index Herbariorum, and the Korean Herbal Medicine Standard Resource Center, established in 2015. The institute also serves as a key national center for medicinal herb research, designated in 2020 as the Forest Biological Resource Management Agency by the National Forest Seed Variety Center (NFSV), and in 2021 as a National Reference Standard Medicinal Herb Characteristic Data Center by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS).

In addition to the Standard Specimen Repository and Resource Bank, the Herbal Medicine Resources Research Center is equipped with various facilities and equipment essential for research, including authentication laboratories, analytical laboratories, efficacy research labs, cell laboratories, animal laboratories, and plant tissue culture labs. The center provides technical support to academia and industry through resource distribution, authentication, analytical training, and open access to research equipment.

Since September 2021, the center has been designated as the Plant-Derived Natural Product Resource Bank under the “Natural Products Cluster Promotion Project,” responsible for producing standardized extracts of domestic medicinal herbs, building a physicochemical analysis information database, and establishing a distribution system linked with the Natural Products Central Bank. Through this, it plays a central role in integrating the natural products cluster operations and enhancing the utilization value of domestic native plant resources.

We aim to contribute to the utilization and value enhancement of domestic food resources through the establishment of the Domestic Plant-Derived Food Resource Bank.

The Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI), the only government-funded research institution in the field of food, is establishing a food material bank with the goal of enhancing the value of domestic food resources. This involves producing standard extracts of functional food resources, conducting chemical analyses, and building a database to establish an effective utilization system.

Plant-derived food resources have long been used as medicinal and food resources with rich clinical experience, and they are considered key resources for the development of functional foods and medicines for disease prevention and improvement in the future. Therefore, establishing a national management system for functional food resources is crucial.
As part of these efforts, the KFRI Korea Food Material Bank has secured over 500 types of standard extracts from domestic food resources and built a database with analysis of their components and characteristics. This information is provided to research institutions and food-related companies.

Since September 2022, the KFRI has taken on the role of the Plant-Derived Food Resource Bank in the ‘Natural Products Cluster Promotion Project.’ This includes producing standard extracts of strategic domestic food resources, building a component analysis database, and establishing a distribution system connected to the Natural Products Cluster Central Bank. Through this, the KFRI supports the efficient research and development of functional food resources.