A domestic research team has found that sesaminol glucosides, which are compounds found in sesame seeds, is effective in preventing dementia.

The team led by Ha Tae-yeol at the Korea Food Research Institute on Tuesday said that sesaminol glucosides were found effective in protecting the lab rats from memory loss. The rats were injected with beta-amyloid, a known cause of dementia, before they were tested with the compound.

The team said that there is a great possibility to utilize sesaminol glucosides thanks to the lack of their side effects and a sufficient supply of sesame seeds.

The team registered two related patents to commercialize its findings. The team has contributed six papers on the matter to the Science Citation Index (SCI).