Eye health food is a functional food developed and produced in developed countries since the 1990s. The "computer family" is prone to dry eyes, and common eye and eye diseases such as retinal macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma, etc. are commonly seen in the elderly, prompting the rapid development of eye health foods. However, it is worth noting that the eye-catching food market in the developed countries is still struggling in our country.

The main force of functional foods in Europe and the United States

As early as 2006, the US eye-health food sales accounted for 75% of the total sales of the functional food market in the country. Japan's eye-health food sales also accounted for 49% of the total sales of the country's health food market. At present, there are more than 300 manufacturers of eye-healthy food products in the United States.

The eye-care foods sold on the European and American markets can be roughly divided into two major categories: vitamin-type eye-healthy foods and berry-type plant extract eye-healthy foods. Vitamins are represented by VC+VE capsules, VC+β-carotene capsules and VA capsules. Among the berry plant extract eye health foods, the earliest developed and applied is the blueberry, which is used to protect the macula and "rhodopsin".

Currently, there are hundreds of blueberry-based eye-protection foods on the European and American markets. The main blueberry eye-protecting foods are: blueberry + lutein, blueberry + grape seed extract, and blueberry + VC (VA )Wait.

In addition to blueberries, carotenoids are the second most widely used vegetable raw materials for eye protection. These products mainly include lutein, lycopene, cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, capsanthin and astaxanthin, among which astaxanthin can be used to prevent fundus bleeding, macular degeneration and cataract. The carotenoids have sold thousands of tons in the international market and are mostly used for eye health food production.

Other raw materials for eye-healthy foods with improved vision are black beans, millet grass and grape seed extract.

Black beans are best produced in Danbo, Shaanxi Province of China, containing more than 18 kinds of anthocyanins, especially the highest content of cyanidin, which can improve the macular degeneration. There are a variety of black bean eye health foods on the Japanese market, which are very prosperous.

The rice grass is one of the unique plants of North America. In the United States, there are at least dozens of eye-protecting foods based on Xiaomi Cao, which are sold well.

The main components of grape seed extract are also anthocyanins. In the United States, eye care products made from blueberries, bilberry extracts, grape seed extracts, carotenoids and vitamins are the best, especially blueberry eye protection products. They are very popular in the European market and have annual sales. Tens of millions of dollars. In the Japanese market, there are also blueberry and blueberry extracts. However, Japan does not have blueberry resources in its own country. All blueberries required are imported from overseas. 90% of the blueberry fruits grown in northeast China are exported to the Japanese market.

Chinese market has not really started

In recent years, the artificial cultivation of blueberries in our country has developed rapidly, and tens of thousands of hectares of planting bases have been formed, producing thousands of tons of fresh fruit each year. Most of the blueberry extracts are exported to overseas markets such as Japan, with less domestic sales.

However, China has not yet formed a domestic blueberry downstream product market. Until 2006, there were only “eye treasures” of Shenzhen Haiwang Pharmaceuticals, Tianjin “Yowis Eye Care Package” and several other small-scale manufacturers producing only a few blue eye-protective foods based on blueberries. . Most of these products are sold at a low level and are not well known in the domestic market. Their total sales volume is less than 1/10 of the annual sales of a "Beauty Beauty Capsule."

In fact, there is no shortage of eye health food resources in China. Blueberries originating in Europe and the United States have been introduced on a large scale in the country; in northern areas, grapes are grown in large areas, and grape seeds are also the main source of anthocyanins; black bean production ranks first in the world.

Eye health food ingredients in addition to the grass, can basically domestic.

What's more, China has an extremely large group of overused people, such as primary and middle school students, and staffers who use computers as the main operating tools (such as IT industry practitioners and animation production staff). These groups need eye-protection foods. Middle-aged and elderly people are another major eye-protection food users. Theoretically speaking, hundreds of millions of people in China need to take eye health food regularly, and their terminal sales should reach tens of billions of yuan.

In addition, the development of eye health foods in China also has the advantages of Chinese medicine that other countries do not have, at least 20 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines have the role of Liver Ming Ming, such as white chrysanthemum, grass Cassia, Campanulaceae, fine tea, rushes, hawthorn fruit, white peony and so on. Many domestic ophthalmic drugs are proprietary Chinese medicine preparations.

However, the eye care market has not really started in our country. However, from another perspective, the huge market has not really started but it also means that it has a broad market prospect.