JP2003219835A - Nutritional auxiliary food and method for producing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a nutritional auxiliary food capable of enriching minor elements required for human bodies and formed into a state readily digested and absorbed as a food and a method for producing the food. <P>SOLUTION: This nutritional auxiliary food is obtained by cultivating edible plants of a species of pasture grass under hydroponic conditions using a culture solution containing the specific minor elements, individually preparing plants enriched with the specific elements in which the content of the specific minor elements is enriched, powdering the plants enriched with the specific minor elements, respectively, providing technical products of food materials enriched with the specific minor elements, using one or more kinds of the technical products of the food materials enriched with the specific minor elements as a raw material and enriching the content of the minor elements. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dietary supplement, a health food, and an enteral nutritional supplement supplied in the form of tablets, capsules, liquids, semisolids, etc. ) And methods for producing these dietary supplements.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, nutrients, essential minerals, and other trace elements (hereinafter, also referred to as trace elements) necessary for maintaining health are usually ingested by daily diet.

The trace elements are, for example, elements such as iron, cobalt, manganese, chromium, nickel, vanadium, copper, molybdenum, zinc, iodine, selenium, arsenic and tin. As quantity
Something like Table 1 is presented.

[0004]

[Table 1]

[0005] Trace elements are generally known as elements excluding oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and ordinary elements, which are the main components of the living body, among the elements, and constitute a high molecular compound such as vitamin. It is known to be an ingredient and involved in physiological functions, and deficiency (decrease in trace elements) occurs when the amount is less than an appropriate amount, and excessive symptoms cause excessive symptoms.
Plays an important role in physiological functions.

However, trace elements are directly and indirectly involved in many other body constituents and physiological functions in addition to the physiological actions shown in Table 1, and it is difficult to determine the required amount of each trace element individually. Alternatively, depending on the trace elements, the intake of one trace element may affect the required amount of another trace element.

[0007] Against this background, it is necessary to supplement the amount excreted out of the body on a daily basis, rather than precisely defining the required amount of the trace element and strictly controlling the intake amount of each trace element. Based on the idea that at least trace elements will not be deficient, there is also a way of thinking that an equilibrium maintenance amount that compensates for the amount of trace elements lost daily is used as an index of daily required amount.

It is also said that fresh vegetables and fruits have a high content of vitamins but a low content of trace elements. The ingredients such as vegetables, seafood and meat which are raw materials for cooking are cultivated by the method of cultivating the materials. It is believed that there are considerable variations depending on the growing method. For example, recent foods have the same name, such as the fact that various kinds of foods with different breeding methods are supplied from the world's production sites as a result of technological innovation of varieties and cultivation methods and development of transportation means and distribution mechanisms. Even in foods, various differences occur in the composition of nutrients, and there is a large difference in the content of trace elements contained in each food, making it difficult to uniformly label the ingredients.

[0009] Further, even if the same food, depending on the cooking method and the physical condition at the time of ingestion, the required amount of nutrients and trace elements cannot be ingested, or even if a predetermined amount is ingested, The modern diet has many factors that cause the deficiency of trace elements such as uneven intake, and thus the supplement food market is booming, such as supplementing the deficiency of trace elements with dietary supplements.

[0010] For example, regarding nutrients and trace elements necessary for nutritional physiology, pharmaceuticals and nutrition called multivitamins and supplements (hereinafter referred to as supplements) to which synthetic nutrient enhancers, elemental compounds or various active ingredients are added. Supplements are marketed, and people may choose to supplement their intake of certain nutrients with dietary supplements for their own lifestyle and other reasons. Ingestion of elements is possible.

[0011] However, the supplements that have hitherto been marketed have a bioavailability (bioavailability) after the supplement has been ingested into the body and whether the amount absorbed as nutrition has the expected absorption efficiency, Also, regarding whether the target trace element can be absorbed into the human body as calculated after being orally ingested by a human,
I wasn't sure.

[0012] Further, even if the individual trace elements considered necessary by each person are optionally fortified or ingested in combination, easy supplements with little adverse effect have not been supplied. .

[0013]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a new nutraceutical product using a plant living body enriched with a specific trace element and enriched with a trace element required for the human body as a raw material for the product, and such a nutritional supplement. It is an object to provide a method for producing food.

Further, the present invention makes it possible to orally ingest such trace elements in a form as close to food as possible, so that the trace elements are easily digested and absorbed by the human body, and in a form other than daily food. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dietary supplement devised to reduce as much as possible the unexpected adverse effects that may occur due to continued intake of specific nutrients and trace elements and the risk of overdose.

[0015]

The invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that an edible plant of a grass species containing a particular trace element in abundance is used as a raw material for food. Is.

According to the invention described in claim 1, the edible plant of grass species is made to contain abundant specific trace elements necessary for the human body, and the edible plant of grass species is used in whole or in part as a raw material. Is a dietary supplement. Therefore, for each type of trace element, an edible plant of grass species grown to contain the trace element in abundance (hereinafter referred to as a specific element-enriched plant).
If you supply a dietary supplement that uses, a person who wants to ingest a specific trace element will eat a dietary supplement rich in that trace element, which is substantially the same as eating a food. , Any desired trace element can be taken orally.

Therefore, after ingestion, the mechanism of digestion and absorption of the human body is easy to work, and since the intake is similar to that of daily food, there is little possibility of excessive intake or habit, and this nutrition is reduced. It is possible to provide a dietary supplement that reduces as much as possible the possibility of unexpected adverse effects that may occur due to continued intake of supplements.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, an edible plant of a grass species cultivated so as to abundantly contain one specific trace element is cultivated individually for a plurality of trace elements, It is a dietary supplement characterized by using one or more of edible plants of elements as a raw material of food.

According to the dietary supplement of the second aspect of the invention, as in the first aspect of the invention, for a person who wishes to ingest a specific trace element, the living body of the specific element-enriched plant is used as a food. Not only can we provide dietary supplements that are used as raw materials for foods and reduce the possibility of excessive intake of trace elements, etc. When cultivating edible plants of grass species separately for each element and making a dietary supplement containing multiple trace elements, use multiple edible plants cultivated for each target trace element as nutrients Because it's a supplement,
It is possible to provide a food having a trace element composition that is stable in quality.

Further, all trace elements are cultivated as individual edible plants of grass species for each trace element, stored, processed as raw materials for dietary supplements, and mixed until they are orally ingested. Therefore, it is unlikely that the trace elements in the state of being contained in edible plants of grass species will be altered or that the strengthened trace elements will chemically react with each other. It is possible to provide a dietary supplement that is kept stable.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, an edible plant of a grass species that is rich in one specific type of trace element is processed into a fine shape and blended to obtain the trace element at a predetermined concentration. It is a dietary supplement characterized in that a food material to be contained is individually prepared for a plurality of kinds of trace elements, and one or more of the food material is used as a raw material.

According to the dietary supplement of the third aspect of the present invention, as in the first aspect of the present invention, a person who desires to ingest a specific trace element is rich in the specific trace element. It is possible to simply provide a dietary supplement that uses a plant living body as a raw material of a food, or after producing a dietary supplement containing a plurality of trace elements as in the invention of claim 2, until it is orally ingested. Not only can it be supplied as a foodstuff for dietary supplements to prevent alteration, but it is also possible to finely chop and process specific element-enriched plants into fine powders, and plants containing each trace element can be used for each type of trace element. , Food ingredients adjusted to contain a predetermined concentration (predetermined content or more) (hereinafter also referred to as specific trace element-enriched foods) are used, so nutrition supplements enriched with desired trace elements When making food , It can determine the content of the trace elements required by the amount of the particular trace elements reinforced food, in which very simply, it is possible to provide a homogeneous dietary supplements with enhanced trace element content.

In this case, the specific trace element-enriched food material rich in specific trace elements is, for example, the whole leaves (whole grass) of leaves, stems, and roots of a plant cultivated for each kind of trace element. If the concentration of trace elements in the powder is high by performing micro-processing such as liquefaction, etc. Is mixed to adjust the amount of the trace element food material to a predetermined concentration.

As described above, since a food material containing a predetermined concentration of each trace element is prepared and used as a raw material for a dietary supplement, a dietary supplement having a uniform content of the trace element is produced. It can be easily made and provided.

The invention according to claim 4 cultivates an edible plant of a grass species by hydroponic culture using a culture solution in which the content of a specific trace element is enhanced to enhance the content of a specific trace element. A step of making a specific element-enhanced plant, a step of finely processing this specific element-enhanced plant to make a specific trace element-enriched food material containing a large amount of a specific trace element, and one using the specified trace element-enhanced food material A method for producing a dietary supplement, comprising the step of processing into a food in which the content of the above trace elements is adjusted to a substantially predetermined value.

According to the method for producing a dietary supplement of the present invention as defined in claim 4, when a dietary supplement containing a specific trace element is produced, first, a culture in which the content of the specific trace element is enhanced is performed. Cultivate edible plants of grass species by hydroponic culture using liquid to make specific element-enriched plants with enhanced content of specific trace elements, and then microfabricate this specific element-enhanced plant to produce specific trace amounts. To prepare a foodstuff fortified with a specific trace element containing a large amount of elements, and further to prepare such a foodstuff fortified with a specific trace element to prepare a dietary supplement fortified with the content of the specified trace element to a predetermined value. As a result, it is possible to easily produce a dietary supplement of a predetermined quality that is rich in one or more specific trace elements, with a small variation in quality.

The invention according to claim 5 uses alfalfa as an edible plant of a grass species used as a raw material for a dietary supplement or a method for producing a dietary supplement according to any one of claims 1 to 4. It is a thing.

The alfalfa used in the dietary supplement of the present invention as defined in claim 5 and its production is a pasture grass which is also called Japanese purple palm, whose stems and leaves are used as feeds. Alfalfa is a plant that is also used for food, called sprouts.

Although this alfalfa is originally a grass as described above, it is a plant that has already been widely used for human consumption, and is an edible grass species used as a raw material for the dietary supplement of the present invention. It can be called a representative of plants.

The reasons for using grass species plants as raw materials for dietary supplements are as follows. First of all, alfalfa is a perennial grass of the legume family that is widespread all over the world. It grows quickly and produces a large amount of crops. Seed (Medicago sativa)
L. ), A hybrid of yellow flowers and purple flowers, which is often found in the middle of cold regions and warm regions (Medicago media Per
s. ), Etc., the range of growth environment is wide, so the cost of facilities such as cultivation facilities and temperature control of cultivation is high. Target of specific element-enriched plants for strengthening the content of specific trace elements using hydroponics. Is suitable.

Secondly, alfalfa is already edible as a kind of bean sprouts.
Even if it is a dietary supplement that is premised not to be consumed in large amounts like daily foods, raw materials that are expected to have harmful effects on the human body should be avoided as much as possible as raw materials for supplements. .

As described above, alfalfa is one of the most suitable plants for growing by hydroponics and for producing dietary supplements using the same. According to the inventions of claims 1 to 4, which uses alfalfa, The dietary supplement of the present invention can be easily produced, and the dietary supplement of the present invention can be simply provided.

[0033]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention provides an environment for selective absorption of trace elements during the cultivation of edible plants of grass species to grow edible plants in which the content of specific trace elements is enhanced, and The ingredients are used as raw materials to provide a dietary supplement.

Cultivation of a specific element-enriched plant in which the content of a specific trace element has been enhanced was born by paying attention to the fact that the plant has a property of selectively absorbing a specific element depending on the cultivation conditions. This cultivation environment and conditions are realized by hydroponics.

FIG. 1 shows an example of such a hydroponic cultivation apparatus.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a cultivated plant 2, and
Cultivation beds 3 for growing plants by giving a culture solution in an artificial environment are growth environment adjusting devices that prepare the environment of the culture bed 1 and supply the culture solution.

The cultivating bed 1 is cultivated in a vessel-shaped cultivating tank 4 having a wide opening surface on the upper side, and a planting panel 5 and a cultivating tank 4 for setting plants 2 to be hydroponically cultivated on the opening surface of the cultivating tank 4. It is composed of a liquid supply pipe 6 for circulating a liquid, a liquid discharge pipe 7 and the like.

The planting panel 5 is a plate-like support mechanism for supporting a plant to be hydroponically grown on the surface of the culture liquid of the cultivation tank 4.
Is supported by the planting panel 5 via a sponge-like soft urethane holder 8, for example.

In the cultivation tank 4, a distribution pipe 9 for evenly distributing the fertilizer nutrients of the culture solution sent from the liquid supply pipe 6 to the cultivated plant 2 and a liquid surface height of the culture solution are set to a predetermined level. A drainage regulator 10 for maintaining the range is provided.

In the cultivation bed 1, the illuminance of the illumination given to the plant 2, the temperature and concentration of the culture solution, an EC measuring device (not shown) for adjusting the concentration of the components of the solution, and the pH for monitoring the pH concentration are further provided. A measuring device (not shown) is provided, and the culture solution that has finished supplying the nutrients to the cultivated plant 2 is returned to the growth environment control device 3 via the drainage pipe 7.

The growth environment adjusting device 3 includes a pH automatic adjusting device 11 for adjusting the pH of the culture liquid, a culture liquid automatic additional fertilizer device 12 for adjusting the nutrient content of the fertilizer of the culture liquid, a circulation pump 13 of the culture liquid, lighting, and temperature control. Devices (not shown), an automatic control device 14 for these devices, and the like.

The automatic pH adjusting device 11 is a device for adjusting the pH of the culture solution within a prescribed range, and has an adjusting tank 15 containing a sodium hydroxide solution or diluted nitric acid,
It is a device for adjusting the pH by supplying a sodium hydroxide solution to the culture solution when raising the pH, and supplying diluted nitric acid to the culture solution when lowering the pH.

The culture medium automatic fertilizer feeder 12 has two stock solution tanks 16 and 17, and the solution is measured with an electric conductivity (EC) measuring device so that the fertilizer concentration of the culture solution is maintained within a prescribed range. While analyzing, the culture solution is supplied from the stock solution tank 16 to supplement the deficient fertilizer nutrients.

The stock solution tank 16 stores a culture solution for replenishing the cultivation tank 4 with fertilizer nutrients necessary for the plant 2 to grow normally.

Examples of the culture solution composition that serves as fertilizer nutrients for hydroponics include nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potassium, calcium,
In addition to a large amount of elements such as magnesium and sulfur, it is a minor element such as iron, zinc, boron, manganese, and copper.

These nutrients may be supplied by, for example, a culture solution in which lime nitrate, magnesium sulfate, boric acid, chelated zinc, copper sulfate, etc. are dissolved.
For convenience, a commercially available fertilizer for hydroponic cultivation for leafy vegetables may be diluted with water to a predetermined concentration and stored in the stock solution tank 16.

In addition, the stock solution tank 17 contains a specific type of trace element whose content is desired to be enhanced so that the plant to be hydroponically forcibly absorbed and enriched in the living body of the plant. Contains a stock solution for adding.

A circulation pump 13 and a pump 18 are provided in the liquid supply pipe 6 and the drainage pipe 7 that connect the cultivation bed 1 and the growth environment control device 3 to supply and circulate the culture liquid.

The suction port 19 of the circulation pump 13 is connected to the drainage pipe 7 of the cultivation tank 4, and the discharge port 20 thereof is the liquid supply pipe 6 of the cultivation tank 4.
The culture solution is constantly circulated between the culture solution and the cultivation tank 4 of the growth environment control device 3 to supply oxygen, so that the component concentration and pH of the culture solution are maintained within a predetermined range.

On the other hand, the growth environment adjusting device 3 is provided with a communication tank 21 for temporarily storing a culture solution, and the communication tank 21 is
It is connected to the suction port 19 side and the discharge port 20 side of the circulation pump 13 via the pipes 22 and 23, and the pump 1
The culture solution whose concentration is controlled by 8 is supplied from the communication tank 21 to the cultivation tank 4 via the pipe 22, the suction port 19, and the circulation pump 13.

In addition to the control of the circulation pump 13 described above, the automatic control device 14 is based on the data obtained from the measuring device.
By controlling the pump 18, the fertilizer concentration and pH of the culture solution
And a mechanism for automatically controlling the temperature of the cultivation bed 1, the environment such as illumination (illuminance), and the concentration of the culture solution for growing the plant 2.

As will be described later, the automatic controller 14
Controls the nutrients of the fertilizer of the culture solution automatic topdressing device 12 according to the growth state of the hydroponic plant 2, so that the plant 2 being cultivated is enriched with a specific trace element. It also has a mechanism to do so. In addition, 24 is an aeration device for supplying oxygen to the culture solution.

With such a cultivation device, hydroponics is carried out using edible plants of grass species. Under the above-mentioned cultivation environment, normal hydroponic culture is carried out as a period (vegetative phase) in which edible plants of planted grass species are rooted and corresponding leaves are grown.

During this trophic period, edible plants of grass species develop true leaves, which in turn form leaves and stems, and extend roots.
When green leaves develop and perform photosynthesis, and when the roots expand and form ducts, they absorb nutrients well, and not only the stems and leaves grow according to the plant's original method of inorganic nutrition. , Lateral branches develop from individual axils, and a unique foliage structure is established. As for the root, the main root repeats branching, and adventitious roots are formed, and as a whole, a root system that forms wide and dense roots is formed.

The nutrient phase period varies depending on the cultivation conditions such as temperature, illuminance, and nutrient concentration of fertilizer, but after the nutrient phase period, plants are cultivated as an element absorption period.

The plant has a property of well absorbing the one dissolved in water under the condition that the nutrient is deficient as compared with the fertilizer nutrient required by the plant.

Utilizing this property, the culture solution for cultivation in the elemental absorption period reduces the concentration of nutrients of ordinary fertilizers as compared with the culture solution in the nutritional phase, so that the plant can be forcibly absorbed by the plant. A culture solution with increased nutrient concentrations of various trace elements is supplied to cultivated plants. A plant having an element absorption period grown in such a special culture solution grows into a specific element-enriched plant rich in a specific trace element.

The trace elements added to the culture solution for cultivating the plant enriched with specific elements include iron, cobalt, manganese, chromium, nickel, vanadium, copper, molybdenum, zinc,
Examples include iodine, selenium, arsenic, and tin.

These trace elements are added in the form of elemental compounds that are easily soluble in water, such as salts and hydroxides of trace elements, to a culture solution in which the concentration of plant fertilizers that is normally used is reduced.
It is prepared as a culture solution with enhanced individual element concentration.

The trace element compounds added to the culture solution include
For example, the compounds shown in Table 2 are used.

[0061]

[Table 2]

As long as the trace element compound added to the aqueous solution is a substance which is easily dissolved in water, compounds other than those shown in Table 2 can also be used in the culture solution for hydroponic cultivation of the specific trace element-enriched plant.

When the plant was continuously grown in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 using the culture solution containing one specific element to be forcibly absorbed by the plant, the plant was added to the culture solution. The specific trace element is absorbed in the living body and incorporated into the cell tissue, and the plant becomes a specific element-enriched plant containing only individually added elements in a particularly high concentration.

For example, the specific element-enriched plant can be individually harvested as an iron-enriched plant with an enhanced iron content or a zinc-enriched plant with a zinc component.

For a specific element-enriched plant in which one specific element is forcibly absorbed, the content of the element is analyzed in advance to produce a dietary supplement, and the trace element is analyzed in a predetermined ratio (predetermined). (Concentration equal to or higher than the specified concentration) is processed into a food material fortified with specific trace elements.

However, since the trace elements contained in the plant are different in the leaves, the stems and the roots, before the analysis, the whole part used as food, for example, the leaves of the specific element-enriched plant When the whole stem is used as a food material, the whole plant is pulverized and homogenized before the component analysis.

When the leaves and stems are used as food, the leaves and stems are powdered and analyzed.

As a method for quantifying elements, plasma spectroscopic analysis is optimal because of its excellent reproducibility. The analysis value of the specific element-enriched plant cultivated individually for each trace element is used as data for determining the content of each individual trace element when producing the specific trace element-enhanced foodstuff.

[0069]

[Table 3]

The specific trace element-enriched foodstuff is produced, for example, by adjusting the content of the trace element to the value shown in Table 3,
This specific trace element-enriched foodstuff is used as a main ingredient in the production of supplemental nutrition foods.

[0071]

[Example] An example using alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) will be described as an example of an edible plant of a grass species.

First, seeds of alfalfa are sowed, and when the seedlings have 3 to 4 true leaves, they are planted in the hydroponic device shown in FIG.

Cultivation conditions for hydroponic cultivation are 14 hours (in consideration of the weather conditions around Tokyo in July), and under artificial lighting, the average illuminance amount is 100,000 Lux or more / hour, and the average temperature is The culture liquid temperature is set to 28 ° C., the culture liquid temperature is set to 26 ° C., the nighttime average temperature during non-sunshine is set to 21 ° C., and the culture liquid temperature is set to 20 ° C.

A good growth result was obtained by adjusting the hydrogen ion concentration of the culture solution to pH 6.0.

Under the above-mentioned cultivation conditions, the planted alfalfa was rooted and cultivated as a trophic phase for about 5 to 7 weeks.

In the meantime, in the alfalfa, the true leaves develop and sequentially form leaves and stems, and not only the stems and leaves grow, but also the side branches develop from the individual axils, resulting in a unique foliage structure. To establish.

As for roots, the main root repeats branching, and adventitious roots are formed, and as a whole, a root system in which the roots are broadly and densely formed is formed.

Next, the alfalfa is treated for about 2 to 3 weeks as an element absorption period (the period varies depending on the type of trace element).
Cultivate. During the element absorption period, cultivation is performed with a culture solution in which an element solution and a fertilizer solution are mixed. The environmental conditions for cultivation are the same as those in the trophic phase.

The fertilizer in the elemental absorption period is prepared by diluting the above-mentioned fertilizer exclusively for hydroponic culture for leaf vegetables by 2 to 3 times to reduce the concentration of the fertilizer solution, and preparing it in the stock solution tank 16 of the automatic topdressing device.

On the other hand, the stock solution containing each individual trace element was adjusted to a concentration of 0.1 to 0.5 molar considering the content of the trace element in the grown specific trace element-enriched food (Table 3). Meanwhile, each individual element preservation stock solution is separately prepared in the stock solution tank 17 of the culture solution automatic fertilizer applicator.

An aqueous solution of the elemental compound in the stock solution tank 17 to which one specific element desired to be forcibly absorbed by alfalfa is added is mixed with the diluted fertilizer solution in the stock solution tank 16 to obtain a culture solution fortified with a specific trace element. It is supplied to the cultivation tank 4.

The trace elements in the culture solution sent to the cultivation tank 4 are absorbed from the root hair of alfalfa, accumulated in the root trunk, and further transferred to the stem and leaves.

The individual element content is 5 to 500 m per plant.
It is expected to be around g.

Since alfalfa is used in the main cultivation, the element content range varies remarkably depending on the growth environment and the culture solution conditions, and in order to prevent this and reduce the variation in the quality of alfalfa, it is cultivated in advance. The conditions must be carefully validated.

In this way, when the alfalfa was continuously grown in the apparatus of FIG. 1 using the culture solution containing one specific element to be forcibly absorbed in the alfalfa,
Alfalfa is an alfalfa that absorbs a specific trace element added to a culture solution into a living body and incorporates it into a cell tissue, and contains only individually added elements at a particularly high concentration.

The trace elements which were forcibly absorbed by alfalfa by hydroponics and made rich in content were iron, cobalt, manganese, chromium, nickel, vanadium, copper,
Elements such as molybdenum, zinc, iodine, selenium, arsenic, and tin are harvested as, for example, iron-enriched alfalfa or cobalt-enriched alfalfa.

The whole (whole grass) of the leaves, stems, and roots of the alfalfa (specific element-enriched plant) in which the above trace elements are individually fortified to have a content of a predetermined value or more is pulverized for nutrition. It is used as a raw material (foodstuff fortified with specific trace elements) for producing supplements.

The alfalfa, which was harvested and analyzed for the content of trace elements, washed the whole roots, stems, and leaves with deionized water for each specific trace element, and dried by freeze-drying,
If necessary, for example, it is dried in a 70 ° C. oven for about 1 hour.

Next, the dried whole grass is pulverized using a ball mill and sieved with an 18-mesh stainless sieve to obtain a raw material for producing a dietary supplement for each specific trace element. .

The specific trace element-enriched foodstuffs made of alfalfa prepared as a raw material for dietary supplements have different trace element contents for each individual grown, so it is preferable to adjust the ingredients.

Also, in view of the relationship with the conventionally required amount of trace elements, the analysis value of the trace element content indicates that the content of the trace element in the individual food ingredient for each trace element is a predetermined value. It can be used as data when adjusting to a value (for example, the value shown in Table 3) or when producing a dietary supplement with stable quality.

In this case, the alfalfa rich in a specific trace element is obtained by, for example, finely processing the whole plant of alfalfa cultivated for each kind of the trace element to contain the trace element in a substantially uniform manner. The specified trace element-enriched food material or the whole alfalfa grass thus processed is processed into a powder to homogenize the whole, to obtain a product of the specified trace element-enriched food product (hereinafter collectively referred to as food product material).

When the amount of the trace element contained in the microfabricated alfalfa is extremely high as compared with the predetermined content of the trace element, the alfalfa of the same kind of the trace element of the same type that is also microfabricated and has a low concentration. Incorporating the powder of the above, the raw material for each trace element (specific trace element-enriched food) becomes the content concentration of the trace element of a predetermined value (for example, the value in Table 3 or more). To adjust the ingredients.

If necessary, the raw material of the food material is mixed with an additive (molding agent) such as crystalline cellulose, dextrin, sucrose fatty acid ester, etc., which has been sieved, and then compressed by, for example, a direct powder compression method. Then, each trace element is processed into granules or tablets containing a predetermined trace element.

In this way, the ingredients are adjusted so as to contain a predetermined concentration of the trace element, and a shaped food ingredient is prepared for each trace element so that the ingredient can be ingested orally in any combination. If it is packaged and supplied, it can be used as it is as a dietary supplement that is homogenous in quality and in which a desired amount of a desired trace element can be ingested.

When a dietary supplement is produced from a raw material for which the ingredients have been adjusted in this manner and the shape thereof has been adjusted, the amount of the raw material for each trace element required is simply measured with a simple scale. It is also possible to simply produce and supply a dietary supplement containing a desired amount of the trace elements in a strengthened manner and containing a predetermined amount by simply measuring the amount as a raw material.

It is also possible to manufacture and supply the raw material ingredients and dietary supplements in the form of products such as semisolid agents such as capsules and softgels and liquid agents by changing the dosage form. In this case, the above-mentioned orally ingestible packaging means, for example, in the case of tablets and capsules, as shown in Table 1.
For each of the three trace elements, a single serving of the food ingredient is placed in a bag or capsule-shaped container made of paper or polypropylene packaging material, and is directly labeled on tablets or used as packaging material for forming bags or capsules. It is a distinction of each trace element printed by the color and shape of the tablet.

The packaging of the raw material raw material processed into a liquid or semi-solid preparation is carried out by adding the raw material raw materials of 13 kinds of trace elements shown in Table 1 to an antioxidant, a suspending agent, a stabilizer, and an increasing amount. Mix with additives such as agents (thickening polysaccharides) and put in a container, and if this liquid agent or semi-solid agent is weighed and used in a fixed amount, the necessary amount of trace elements, such as the required amount per day, is appropriately determined. It is made available for ingestion.

Further, as described above, the dietary supplement according to the present invention uses the same food material as the food that people have been ingesting for a long time, while strengthening the element content contained in the food material individually. However, since it can be taken as a dietary supplement or in combination with a fortified dietary supplement, it is more than a dietary supplement mainly composed of trace element compounds and yeasts that also contain picolinate currently on the market, It becomes closer to the form of everyday foods and is easily digested and absorbed.

[0100] Since supplementary foods fortified with a specific trace element desired by the user can be ingested in the same manner as the amount of a normal food or a normal food, the dietary taste, lifestyle and other reasons can be considered. It can be expected not only as a person who supplements the intake of a specific trace element with a dietary supplement, but also as a dietary supplement for people with weak constitution and the elderly.

Furthermore, the dietary supplement according to the present invention solves the problem of trace element intake by means of providing trace elements that are deficient due to trace elements bound to the biological components of edible plants, from the viewpoint of cultivation engineering. As a result, the absorption efficiency into the body is higher than that of a product to which a compound containing a trace element is added, and effective supplementation of the trace element is possible.

In the dietary supplement of the present invention,
Until the ingredients of the fortified food are actually ingested,
At the time of ingestion, it is designed to be taken in combination with the active ingredient of dietary supplements.Therefore, it is possible that the required nutrients and elements may react with each other to change the components or to transform into compounds that are difficult to be digested and absorbed. It is possible to prevent it as much as possible, and it is possible to provide necessary trace elements as a nutritional supplement that is appropriately fortified.

Further, since the dietary supplement of the present invention is processed into a dietary supplement from plants individually containing abundant trace elements, and the content is homogenized for oral ingestion. In addition to being difficult to ingest, the dietary supplement of the present invention is closer to biological components than the intake of trace elements based on conventional techniques, and the trace elements in the plant body form a complex or not a strong bond with biological components. Therefore, for example, it is compliant with "Research report that if trace elements are excessively taken into the body, they are toxic to humans, but elements that are combined with plant biological components do not show oral toxicity". It is a thing.

Further, the present invention verified that by selecting alfalfa as an example of an edible plant of a grass species with less harmful effects, it is possible to expect an excellent absorption capacity for humans and it is effective.

Among the cultivated plants, the grass species plant is used in the present invention because the grass species plant is particularly excellent in the ability to absorb elements. Further, alfalfa shown as an example is originally grass, but in the recent boom in healthy food, it is because the plant is actually edible to be eaten by humans as sprouts. By using alfalfa, which is a green leaf by cultivation, it provides a dietary supplement.

Further, the edible plant of the grass species is not limited to alfalfa, but other than this, Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflor) is also used.
UMlam. ), Orchard glass (Dactyli)
s glomerata L. ) And clover (Tri
Leguminous plants such as folium) can achieve the same effect, and these plants are regarded as edible plants of grass species having characteristics and functions according to alfalfa, and are included in the scope of the present invention. is there.

Supplementary foods are not widely used as staple foods, and foods fortified with specific trace elements are limited to those used as raw materials for supplementary foods, so they are not widely known as foods. Even for grass species plants,
As long as it is not harmful if orally ingested, plants of many grass species are used in the specific element-enriched plant of the present invention with a considerable tolerance, and may be orally ingested by processing into specific trace element-enriched foodstuffs. is there.

In the above sense, all edible plants of the grass species are within the scope of the present invention as edible plants of the grass species.

[0109]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The dietary supplement according to the present invention hydroponically cultures edible plants of grass species to individually produce enriched plants containing specific trace elements, and miniaturized these enhanced plant. Since one or more of the specific trace element-enriched foodstuffs is used as a dietary supplement, compared to dietary supplements mainly containing trace element compounds including picolinate and yeast, which are currently on the market, Therefore, it is possible to provide an effective dietary supplement that is easy to absorb.

Further, the dietary supplement of the present invention is simple and effective to produce and use, and is a normal food or a normal food which is a supplement supplemented with a specific trace element desired by the user. The effect is that it can be ingested in the same manner as the amount of wood. Further, as a food material containing each specific trace element, its amount can be easily adjusted, so that there is an effect that natural food can meet various requirements.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hydroponic cultivation apparatus used in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 cultivation bed 2 cultivated plants 3 Growth environment control device 4 cultivation tank 5 planting panels 6 Liquid supply pipe 7 drainage pipe 11 pH automatic adjustment device 12 Automatic culture medium adjustment device 13 Circulation pump 14 Automatic control device 15 pH adjustment tank 16 Stock solution tank 17 Stock solution tank 18 pumps 19 Suction port 20 outlets 21 Communication device

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A dietary supplement characterized in that an edible plant of a grass species that is rich in a specific trace element is used as a raw material of a food. 2. An edible plant of a grass species cultivated so as to be rich in one specific trace element is individually cultivated for a plurality of trace elements, and one of these edible plants for a plurality of trace elements is cultivated. A dietary supplement characterized by using the above as a raw material for food. 3. A foodstuff containing a specific concentration of a trace element by processing an edible plant of a pasture species enriched with a specific one type of trace element into a fine shape and adjusting it. A dietary supplement characterized in that a plurality of trace elements are individually made and one or more of the food materials are used as a raw material. 4. A step of cultivating an edible plant of a grass species by hydroponics using a culture solution in which the content of a specific trace element is enhanced to produce a specific element-enriched plant in which the content of a specific trace element is enhanced. And a step of finely processing this specific element-enriched plant to produce a specific trace element-enriched food material containing a large amount of a specific trace element, and the content of one or more trace elements using the specific trace element-enhanced food material And a step of processing the food into a food having a substantially adjusted value. 5. A dietary supplement and a method for producing a dietary supplement according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the edible plant of grass species is alfalfa.