JP2004024229A - METHOD FOR ENRICHING gamma-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology capable of improving the extent of enriching γ-aminobutyric acid by infiltrating glutamic acid into natural raw materials even on keeping the original shape of the natural material. <P>SOLUTION: This method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid in the natural raw materials such as raw leaves, young buds, shoots, fruits, etc., of a plant is provided by treating the natural raw materials with a reduced pressure for degassing, then adding glutamic acid or a salt of glutamic acid to the natural raw materials and then producing γ-aminobutyric acid by decarboxylating glutamic acid. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

【００４４】
１４日後に得られたうこぎ葉は、グルソウ１．５％区で約３８ｍＭ、グルソウ３．０％区で約４６ｍＭの高濃度のγ−アミノ酪酸を含むものとなった。
【００４５】
また、ＧＡＢＡ転換率は、グルソウ１．５％区で約５０％、グルソウ３．０％区で約３２％であり、多くのグルタミン酸がγ−アミノ酪酸に転換されたことが確認された。
【００４６】
また、うこぎ葉は原形を留めていた。
【００４７】
以上の実験結果から、本実施例によればγ−アミノ酪酸が高濃度のうこぎ葉が得られることが確認された。
【００４８】
同様に、お茶葉、桑葉等の他の天然素材で実験を行ったところ、いずれも高濃度のγ−アミノ酪酸を含むものが得られた。[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid in plants.
[0002]
Problems to be solved by the prior art and the invention
In recent years, there are concerns about the progress of aging, the spread of eating habits, the deterioration of living environment, and the like, and with this, the interest in health in daily life has increased significantly. Therefore, the health, safety and security of the ingredients are also strongly demanded in the dietary life, and the demand for foods containing ingredients which are said to be effective in maintaining and promoting health, foods for specified insurance, beverages and quasi-drugs Is increasing.
[0003]
By the way, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is said to be effective for maintaining and promoting health, and is one of the components that has been receiving attention. This γ-aminobutyric acid is said to have a blood pressure lowering effect and a tranquilizing effect.
[0004]
This γ-aminobutyric acid is produced by decarboxylating glutamic acid by a glutamic acid decarboxylase that is universally present in a living body.
[0005]
Therefore, a method of enriching γ-aminobutyric acid utilizing the principle of the production of γ-aminobutyric acid and using natural materials such as tea leaves, mulberry leaves, vegetables, brown rice, rice germ, lactic acid bacteria, yeast, etc. Is being developed.
[0006]
On the other hand, when γ-aminobutyric acid is enriched using a natural material as described above, the degree of γ-aminobutyric acid enrichment (the degree of increase in the amount of γ-aminobutyric acid) is naturally limited by the content of glutamic acid. . Therefore, in the method of producing γ-aminobutyric acid from glutamic acid in a natural material, there is a limit to the degree of γ-aminobutyric acid enrichment.
[0007]
Therefore, when enriching γ-aminobutyric acid using brown rice, wheat germ, lactic acid bacteria, yeast, etc., glutamic acid (or salts of glutamic acid) is added to the reaction system, and glutamic acid is supplemented to make γ-aminobutyric acid. A technique for increasing the degree of enrichment (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-236766) has been proposed.
[0008]
By the way, in the technique of enriching γ-aminobutyric acid in a natural material by adding glutamic acid, it is necessary to make the added glutamic acid contact with glutamic acid decarboxylase in the natural material. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 3-236763 employs a method in which vegetables such as tomatoes are ground and then sodium glutamate is added.
[0009]
However, this method of destroying natural materials such as grinding is not practical in the case of tea leaves, for example, because the tea leaves no longer retain their original shape, which reduces the commercial value.
[0010]
Therefore, for example, there is a method in which glutamic acid is made into a solution and a natural material is immersed in this solution to allow glutamic acid to penetrate as much as possible into the natural material. And the degree of enrichment of γ-aminobutyric acid is low.
[0011]
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above situation, and a technique capable of increasing the degree of enrichment of γ-aminobutyric acid by allowing a large amount of glutamic acid to penetrate into a natural material while maintaining the original form of the natural material. To provide.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The gist of the present invention will be described.
[0013]
A method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid in a natural material such as fresh leaves, shoots, shoots and fruits of a plant, which comprises subjecting the natural material to degassing under reduced pressure, adding glutamic acid or a salt of glutamic acid to the natural material, And a method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid, which comprises decarboxylating this glutamic acid to produce γ-aminobutyric acid.
[0014]
The method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid according to claim 1 is characterized in that glutamic acid or a salt of glutamic acid is added to a natural material in a solution state.
[0015]
Further, the method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid according to any one of claims 1 and 2 relates to the method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid, wherein the natural material is rabbit.
[0016]
A method of enriching γ-aminobutyric acid in a natural material such as fresh leaves, shoots, shoots, and fruits of a plant, wherein the natural material is placed in a container, and then the container is depressurized to remove air bubbles in the natural material. Then, a glutamic acid solution or a solution of a glutamic acid salt is added to the container under reduced pressure, and the reduced pressure is released, whereby the glutamic acid solution or the glutamic acid salt solution is permeated into the portion from which the bubbles have been removed. Then, the present invention relates to a method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid, which comprises decarboxylating glutamic acid in the glutamic acid solution or the glutamic acid salt solution to produce γ-aminobutyric acid.
[0017]
Function and effect of the present invention
According to experiments repeated by the present inventors, natural materials such as fresh leaves, shoots, shoots, and fruits of plants contain many bubbles, and the glutamic acid added by these bubbles and the decarboxylation of glutamic acid in the natural material are added. It was confirmed that contact with the enzyme was inhibited.
[0018]
Therefore, in order to remove air bubbles in the natural material, the natural material was subjected to degassing under reduced pressure, and then glutamic acid (or a salt of glutamic acid) was added to the natural material. It was confirmed that the amount increased.
[0019]
Since the present invention is as described above, it is possible to obtain foods and the like enriched in γ-aminobutyric acid at a high concentration.
[0020]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
[0021]
Natural materials such as fresh leaves, shoots, shoots and fruits of the plant are placed in a vacuum container. If necessary, the natural material may be subjected to an appropriate pretreatment (sterilization, etc., addition of glutamate decarboxylase, etc.).
[0022]
Subsequently, the pressure inside the depressurized container is reduced to near vacuum. This reduced pressure is set to such an extent that the natural material retains its original shape and to the extent that bubbles in the natural material are removed (the extent to which the bubble portion is crushed). Specifically, the pressure is preferably set to 70 Torr (about 933 Pa) or less.
[0023]
This depressurized state is maintained for about 5 minutes to close bubbles in the natural material.
[0024]
Subsequently, a solution of glutamic acid (or a glutamic acid salt) (for example, an aqueous solution of glutamic acid) is introduced into the depressurized container while maintaining the depressurized state by using a pressure difference between the depressurized container and the external pressure. If the natural material has a large liquid content, for example, a method in which powdery glutamic acid is charged into a vacuum container may be adopted.
[0025]
The introduced glutamic acid solution permeates into the portion from which the air bubbles have been removed (the portion crushed by the above) by a gas-liquid displacement phenomenon.
[0026]
Further, in order to make the glutamic acid solution permeate well, after the glutamic acid solution is put into the reduced pressure container, the reduced pressure is released (by the release of the reduced pressure, the portion from which the bubbles have been removed is restored). This state is maintained for 10 minutes or more.
[0027]
Subsequently, the mixture is left for a predetermined time, and the added glutamic acid is decarboxylated with glutamic acid decarboxylase in a natural material to produce γ-aminobutyric acid. At this time, since glutamic acid has penetrated into the inside of the natural material (the portion from which the air bubbles have been removed), the glutamic acid comes into good contact with glutamic acid decarboxylase and is decarboxylated, resulting in γ-aminobutyric acid.
[0028]
The decarboxylation of γ-aminobutyric acid is carried out under anaerobic conditions so that the action of glutamate decarboxylase is favorably exhibited. The anaerobic condition may be created by enclosing a nitrogen gas or an inert gas in the decompression container, or may be created by maintaining the inside of the decompression container under reduced pressure, Alternatively, the natural material impregnated with glutamic acid may be transferred to a decompression-resistant container, and may be produced by reducing the pressure in the decompression-resistant container.
[0029]
In this embodiment, the natural material itself is in a state of low oxygen due to the reduced pressure for removing the air bubbles. Therefore, it can be said that the natural material itself is in an anaerobic state, and it is considered that the action of glutamate decarboxylase is favorably exhibited also by this.
[0030]
At the time of decarboxylation of γ-aminobutyric acid, a glutamate decarboxylase or a food material containing glutamate decarboxylase (eg, yeast) may be added.
[0031]
In addition, the temperature of the reaction system is maintained at 20 to 45 ° C. so that glutamic acid decarboxylase works well during the decarboxylation of γ-aminobutyric acid.
[0032]
The natural material enriched in γ-aminobutyric acid obtained by the above steps is subjected to various processes (for example, tea processing for tea leaves) according to its use, and then shipped as a product. Further, for example, a storage step such as drying, immersion, and freezing may be performed. Further, it may be further processed into a powder or a tablet.
[0033]
In this embodiment, as described above, a natural material (food material) in which γ-aminobutyric acid is enriched at a high concentration can be obtained.
[0034]
Hereinafter, the experimental results of this example will be described.
[0035]
Saw leaf is used as a natural material.
[0036]
The umbilical leaf contained about 30 (cc / 100 g) of air bubbles.
[0037]
First, as a preliminary experiment, eel leaves were placed in a decompression container and depressurized. Subsequently, after water was put into the depressurization container, the decompression was released and maintained for 10 minutes, and the eel leaves were taken out and weighed. The weight of the sorghum leaves after being placed in the decompression container was increased by 20% (the decompression conditions and the like were the same as in the above-mentioned Example). That is, it was confirmed that about 2/3 of the bubbles could be removed by the vacuum degassing treatment.
[0038]
Subsequently, an experiment was performed to confirm whether or not γ-aminobutyric acid can be actually enriched.
[0039]
As the glutamic acid, a solution of sodium glutamate was used. The solutions were prepared with 9% (by weight) and 18% (by weight) glutamic acid. According to the preliminary experiment, the concentration of glutamic acid in sorghum leaves is 1.5% (weight) or more when a 9% (weight) solution is used, and the glutamic acid concentration is 18% (weight) when a solution of 18% (weight) is used. The glutamic acid concentration becomes 3.0% (weight) or more (in the table, they are described as 1.5% for gluso and 3.0% for gluso, respectively).
[0040]
1 kg of sorghum leaves were placed in a net bag (the sorghum leaves did not float out of the glutamic acid solution but completely settled), and after being placed in a vacuum container, the pressure was reduced to 10 Torr (about 1333 Pa) or less. After maintaining the reduced pressure state for 5 minutes, the solution of sodium glutamate was charged into a reduced pressure container, the reduced pressure was released, and the mixture was allowed to stand for 10 minutes to perform gas-liquid replacement.
[0041]
Subsequently, the eel leaves were taken out of the vacuum container, and 200 g each of the leaves were sealed in a barrier film having a low oxygen permeability in a sealed state. An oxygen scavenger was also filled in the barrier film. This was stored in a thermostat at 30 ° C., and glutamic acid was decarboxylated by the action of glutamate decarboxylase to produce γ-aminobutyric acid.
[0042]
The glutamine concentration and the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentration were measured on the first day, 2, 5, and 14 days after storage in a thermostat at 30 ° C., and the γ-aminobutyric acid conversion rate (GABA conversion rate) was calculated.
[0043]
The results are shown in Table 1 below.

[0044]
14 days later, the sorghum leaves contained a high concentration of γ-aminobutyric acid of about 38 mM in the 1.5% section of glucose and about 46 mM in the 3.0% section of glucose.
[0045]
Also, the GABA conversion rate was about 50% in the 1.5% section of gluso and about 32% in the 3.0% section of gluso, confirming that a large amount of glutamic acid was converted to γ-aminobutyric acid.
[0046]
Also, the leaves of the sorghum remained in their original form.
[0047]
From the above experimental results, it was confirmed that according to the present example, elite leaves having a high concentration of γ-aminobutyric acid could be obtained.
[0048]
Similarly, when experiments were conducted using other natural materials such as tea leaves and mulberry leaves, those containing high concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid were obtained.

Claims (4)

A method of enriching γ-aminobutyric acid in a natural material such as fresh leaves, shoots, shoots, and fruits of a plant, comprising subjecting the natural material to degassing under reduced pressure, adding glutamic acid or a salt of glutamic acid to the natural material, A method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid, comprising decarboxylating this glutamic acid to produce γ-aminobutyric acid. The method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid according to claim 1, wherein glutamic acid or a salt of glutamic acid is added to the natural material in a solution state. The method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid according to any one of claims 1 and 2, wherein the natural material is corn. A method for enriching γ-aminobutyric acid in a natural material such as fresh leaves, shoots, shoots, and fruits of a plant. After the natural material is placed in a container, the container is depressurized to remove air bubbles in the natural material. Then, a glutamic acid solution or a solution of a glutamic acid salt is added to the container in a reduced pressure state, and the pressure is released to allow the glutamic acid solution or the glutamic acid salt solution to permeate the portion from which the bubbles have been removed, Subsequently, γ-aminobutyric acid is produced by decarboxylating glutamic acid in the glutamic acid solution or the glutamic acid salt solution to produce γ-aminobutyric acid.