JP2008208030A - Inhibitor for lipid accumulation in liver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To find the new function of sweet potato stems and leaves to broaden the application range of the sweet potato stems and leaves, and to provide a new inhibitor for lipid accumulation in the liver. <P>SOLUTION: They are intended to provide an inhibitor for lipid accumulation in the liver which comprises a processed product of sweet potato stems and leaves as the active ingredient, and to provide a food containing the inhibitor for lipid accumulation in the liver. Because of having excellent effects of inhibiting neutral fat accumulation and inhibiting total cholesterol accumulation in the liver, this inhibitor for lipid accumulation in the liver can prevent or ameliorate fatty liver and relieves the risks of cirrhosis, diabetes, hyperlipemia, hypertension, arteriosclerosis and so on. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liver lipid accumulation inhibitor containing a processed product of sweet potato stover.

Sweet potato stems and leaves are known to contain health-effective ingredients such as vitamins and minerals, and are being promising as food ingredients for the purpose of preventing lifestyle-related diseases. In recent years, it has been clarified that these foliage contains a high content of polyphenols, and further, their functions are being studied earnestly. Such sweet potato foliage has been eaten as it is or simply boiled, and in modern times when food is abundant, it is hardly eaten, and such useful sweet potato foliage is processed and processed It is almost never used as food. Therefore, in recent years, techniques for processing such sweet potato stems and leaves as foods are being proposed (Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP 7-11878 A JP-A-6-62783

  However, according to the prior art (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2), there is a problem that sweet potato stems and leaves are merely used as one of vegetables or merely as a raw material for food. That is, a new application utilizing the properties of sweet potato stems and leaves has been desired.

  In recent years, due to dietary changes, fat (sugar, sugar, alcohol, especially neutral fat) is accumulated in the liver due to excessive intake of fat, sugar and alcohol. There is an increase in fatty liver. In recent years, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease that develops even without excessive intake of alcohol has increased and has become a problem. Furthermore, it has been pointed out that fatty liver increases the risk of cirrhosis, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and arteriosclerosis.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is not to use sweet potato stover as a simple vegetable or as a simple food material, but to use a new property utilizing the properties of sweet potato stover. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a lipid improving agent in the liver (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “liver”).

  As a result of intensive studies on the functionality of sweet potato foliage, the present inventor has found that the processed product of sweet potato foliage has an excellent inhibitory effect on lipid accumulation in the liver, and has completed the present invention.

  That is, the present invention relates to a liver lipid accumulation inhibitor containing a processed product of sweet potato stover.

  The present invention also relates to a food composition or a pharmaceutical composition containing the liver lipid accumulation inhibitor.

  The hepatic lipid accumulation inhibitor of the present invention has an excellent effect of inhibiting hepatic lipid accumulation.

  Therefore, the use of sweet potato foliage can be expanded by the new function of suppressing the accumulation of liver lipids in the sweet potato foliage.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. The present invention relates to a hepatic lipid accumulation inhibitor (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a hepatic lipid accumulation inhibitor of the present invention) comprising a processed product of sweet potato stover. The present invention also relates to a food (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the food of the present invention) containing a liver lipid accumulation inhibitor. In addition, this invention is not restrict | limited by the following embodiment. That is, the present invention can be modified within the scope of the contents described in the claims.

(1: sweet potato stover)
The present invention is a liver lipid accumulation inhibitor containing a processed product of sweet potato foliage. First, a brief description of sweet potato stems and leaves. In the present invention, “sweet potato stem and leaf” refers to “at least one of sweet potato stem and sweet potato leaf”. Of course, the sweet potato stalks and leaves include those containing both sweet potato stalks and sweet potato leaves.

  In the sweet potato stem and leaf used in the present invention, the variety of sweet potato is not particularly limited. For example, varieties of sweet potato stems and leaves such as Joy White, Koganesengan, Shiroyutaka, Satsumasuchi, Ayamurasaki, and Suio can be used in the present invention. Among them, in the present invention, it is preferable to use a sweet potato foliage of “Suiou” which is a specific variety. In particular, “Suiou” has a high polyphenol content and is characterized in that the foliage is regenerated again even after the foliage is once harvested. Furthermore, Suiou is rich in polyphenols even in the regenerated foliage. For these reasons, in the present invention, it is particularly preferable to use a sweet potato stem and leaf.

  As the sweet potato stalks and leaves used in the present invention, it is preferable to use the above-ground stalks or leaves produced during sweet potato cultivation. In particular, when the length from the ground to the candy stalk is measured, that is, when the length from the ground surface to the tip of the candy shoot is measured, the length is 10 cm or more, preferably 30 cm or more, more preferably 60 cm or more. Should be used. Moreover, it is more preferable to collect and use the foliage in a state of maintaining a green color. Such sweet potato stover and young leaves of sweet potato stover are easy to process because the plant itself is soft, and when it is used as it is as a dry powder, a dry powder with good touch can be obtained.

  The hepatic lipid accumulation inhibitor of the present invention contains young leaves of sweet potato stalks and leaves, and the “young leaves of sweet potato stalks and leaves” are the leaves and leaves in a state of maintaining a green color. In addition, it is preferable to use the foliage within 60 cm from the front-end | tip part of a sweet potato stem and leaf as "the young leaf of a sweet potato stem and leaf" in this invention. This “stem and leaf within 60 cm from the tip of the sweet potato stem and leaf” is preferably used because it contains a large amount of polyphenol.

  In the present invention, when the length of the sweet potato stalk is exposed from the ground, that is, when the length from the ground surface to the tip of the sweet potato stalk is measured, the length is within 300 cm, preferably within 200 cm, more preferably It is preferable to use sweet potato stems and leaves that are within 150 cm. In particular, when the length exceeds 150 cm, the tip of the sweet potato stems and leaves becomes easy to touch the ground, and as a result of being easily damaged by pests, a sufficient amount of sweet potato stems and leaves may not be harvested.

  The sweet potato stalks and leaves described above are preferably processed after washing the adhering mud and the like with water.

(2: Processed sweet potato leaves)
The “processed product of sweet potato stover” of the present invention is a sweet potato stover that has been subjected to some processing. Examples of such “processed sweet potato stover” include (a) washed sweet potato stover, (b) dried sweet potato stover, (c) powdered sweet potato stover, (d) squeezed Examples include sweet potato stems and leaves that have been made into juice, (e) an extract-treated sweet potato stem-and-leaf extract, and (f) a heat-treated sweet potato stem-and-leaves. Below, the example of processing of a sweet potato stem and leaf is demonstrated.

(2-1: Heat treatment)
When sweet potato stover is used as a dry powder or extract powder, it may be used as it is as a dry powder or extract powder. However, it is preferable to obtain a dry powder or extract powder after heat treatment such as blanching treatment (blanching), dry heat treatment, microwave treatment, infrared ray or far infrared ray treatment, water vapor treatment or the like. This is because by performing the heat treatment, the enzyme in the sweet potato leaves is deactivated and the quality can be stabilized. Moreover, fading of sweet potato stems and leaves can be prevented. When performing such a heat treatment, the sweet potato foliage may be cut so that the major axis is about 1 mm to 30 cm as necessary for the convenience of the treatment process.

  As the blanching treatment, a method used by those skilled in the art may be used in order to prevent the color of currophyll, which is a pigment of a green plant, from fading. An example of such a blanching process is hot water. Note that the optimum conditions for this blanching treatment vary greatly depending on the plant used. In some cases, flavoring and nutrients are impaired by the blanching treatment, and the physiological activity of useful components may be deactivated. Therefore, in the present invention, by using hot water having a pH of 5.4 or more, preferably pH 5.6 to less than 8.4, a sweet potato foliage having a high active ingredient (for example, polyphenol) content can be obtained. That is, by carrying out heat treatment at pH 5.4 or higher, preferably pH 5.6 to 8.4, more preferably pH 5.6 to 8.0, most preferably pH 5.6 to 7.6, etc. The highly active sweet potato stover and polyphenol derived from sweet potato stover can be efficiently obtained.

  In the blanching treatment, 0.01 to 5.0% by mass, preferably 0.2 to 3.0% by mass of sodium chloride may be added from the viewpoint of improving the flavor. By adding sodium chloride in this way, it is possible to obtain sweet potato foliage with a greener color and a better flavor.

  In addition, when performing dry heat treatment, microwave treatment, infrared ray, far infrared ray treatment, water vapor treatment, it is preferable to perform a heat treatment after performing a pH adjustment treatment such as spraying a solution adjusted in pH onto sweet potato foliage. . This pH adjustment treatment may be a method commonly used by those skilled in the art. When adjusting under basic conditions, sodium hydroxide, sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate (eg eggshell calcium, scallop shell calcium, coral calcium, etc.) What is necessary is just to process using the calcium oxide etc. which are obtained by baking calcium. Of course, alkaline ionized water or the like may be used. In the pH baking treatment, an organic acid such as acetic acid, citric acid, ascorbic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, fumaric acid, etc. may be used for adjustment under acidic conditions. What is necessary is just to adjust the quantity of these pH adjusters suitably with the adjuster to be used.

  The heating temperature in the heat treatment is higher than 80 ° C., preferably 90 ° C. or higher. The heating time in the heat treatment is less than 5 minutes, preferably 3 minutes or less, and most preferably 10 seconds to 3 minutes.

  In order to maintain the green color and flavor, it is preferable to immediately cool the sweet potato stalks and leaves after the heat treatment. The cooling may be performed by a method commonly used by those skilled in the art, such as by immersing in cooling water or quenching with cold air. For example, when immersed in cooling water, water at 30 ° C. or lower, preferably water at 20 ° C. or lower may be used. The lower the cooling temperature, the brighter the green color of the sweet potato stems and leaves, the more beautiful it looks. The cooling time is an arbitrary time according to the amount of sweet potato stems and leaves processed, but it is preferable that the sweet potato stems themselves have a temperature equal to the cooling temperature.

(2-2: Drying treatment and powdering treatment)
After the harvested sweet potato stalks and leaves are washed, the sweet potato stalks and leaves may be dried to obtain a dried product (eg, dry powder) for long-term storage. In addition, in order to prevent quality deterioration and increase the commercial value, it is also possible to obtain a dried product (dried powder) of sweet potato stems and leaves using the sweet potato stems and leaves that have been subjected to the heat treatment described below. The drying method is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a method using a hot air dryer, a high-pressure steam dryer, an electromagnetic wave dryer, a freeze dryer, a direct-fired heater, a rotary air dryer, and the like.

  The sweet potato stems and leaves may be subjected to a powdering treatment as shown below. The powdering of sweet potato stems and leaves may be performed by any method commonly used by those skilled in the art, such as a hot air dryer, a high-pressure steam dryer, an electromagnetic wave dryer, a freeze dryer, and a vacuum concentrator. Of course, you may carry out with a direct-fire type heating machine, a rotary-type ventilation dryer, etc.

  Among them, in order to obtain a dry powder, it is preferable to use a hot air dryer, a direct-fired heater, or a rotary draft dryer from the viewpoint of manufacturing cost and drying efficiency. When obtaining the extract powder, a vacuum concentrator is preferable from the viewpoint of production cost and drying efficiency.

  The drying temperature is about 60 to 150 ° C. under normal pressure, so that a dry powder of sweet and colorful sweet potato leaves can be obtained. Under reduced pressure, drying can be performed while reducing loss of nutritional components when the temperature is 60 ° C. or lower, preferably 60 ° C. or lower.

  When the extract of sweet potato stover is used as an extract powder, for example, it may be pulverized using a spray dryer such as a spray dryer. When a spray dryer is used, an excipient such as dextrin, cyclodextrin, starch or maltose is added as necessary to increase the recovery rate. Preferably, dextrin is used, and the ratio of squeezed to dextrin is preferably 1:10 to 5: 1 by mass ratio in order to facilitate powdering by adding dextrin.

  The dried product or extract powder obtained by drying may be dried until the moisture content in the dried product or extract powder is 5% by mass or less.

  In addition, when drying a sweet potato stem and leaves as it is, it is preferable to perform drying in two steps. When drying sweet potato stover or processed material of sweet potato stover in two stages, first, primary drying is performed at 60 to 80 ° C. until the water content becomes 25% by mass or less. Next, it is good to perform secondary drying at a temperature higher than that at the time of primary drying until the moisture content of the primary dried sweet potato stover becomes 5% by mass or less. At this time, if the drying temperature is less than 60 ° C., the drying speed is slow, which is not preferable. Moreover, when the drying temperature exceeds 100 ° C., it may cause scorching, which is not preferable. In this case, by performing secondary drying at around 80 ° C., a colorful sweet potato leaf powder with a high polyphenol content can be obtained. In addition, when drying at 90 degreeC, for example, the preferable temperature difference of primary drying and secondary drying is about 5-15 degreeC, Preferably it is good to set it as about 10 degreeC. By performing this two-step drying process, the drying time is shortened, and at the same time, the green color and flavor of the sweet potato leaves are maintained. Moreover, by setting the temperature difference within a certain range as described above, moisture management of the sweet potato leaves in the drying process becomes easy, and drying can be performed efficiently.

(2-3: Fine powder processing)
When the sweet potato stalks and leaves are dried as they are, they can be pulverized into fine powders to make the particle size smaller and uniform. Since the sweet potato stalks and leaves have different plant parts from the stem part, the leaf part and the petiole part, it is preferable to go through a coarse pulverization process and a fine pulverization process from the viewpoint of increasing the efficiency of pulverization.

  The coarse pulverization step is a step of cutting dried green leaves with any machine or tool known to those skilled in the art, such as a cutter, a slicer, and a dicer. As for the size of the cut green leaves, the major axis is 20 mm or less, preferably 0.1 to 10 mm. It should be noted that this step can be omitted if the paste is crushed before drying.

  Subsequently, the coarsely crushed sweet potato foliage (or processed sweet potato foliage) is finely pulverized. However, when sterilization is required by uniform heating, heat treatment is performed before the fine pulverization step. By applying this heat treatment, the coarsely crushed sweet potato stalks and leaves can be heated uniformly, and efficient sterilization can be performed while improving the flavor of the green leaves. This heat treatment is performed at 110 ° C. or higher, and a high-pressure sterilizer, a heat sterilizer, a pressurized steam sterilizer, or the like can be used. In addition, since this heat processing can also acquire the same effect by processing similarly the extract powder obtained from the sweet potato stem and leaves, you may heat-process an extract powder.

For example, in the case of heat treatment by pressurized steam sterilization, the coarsely crushed sweet potato stover is subjected to heat treatment with saturated steam at 110 to 200 ° C. for 2 to 10 seconds under a pressure of 0.5 to 10 kg / cm ² , for example. The If necessary, the moisture contained during heating with saturated steam is further dried.

  The pulverization step is pulverized so that 90% by weight passes through the 200 mesh section. The pulverization is performed using any machine or tool normally used by those skilled in the art, such as, for example, a crusher, a mill, a blender, and a stone mill. It is well known that the texture is improved by fine pulverization, and preferably, the texture is improved not only by the steps of coarse pulverization, heating, and fine pulverization, but also when added to food. It becomes easy to mix.

  Moreover, in the case of squeezing before making an extract powder, first, squeezing is produced using a squeezing machine etc. without using the above-mentioned drying, and when used for foods such as beverages in a liquid state, 80 ° C to 130 ° C. What is necessary is just to perform heat sterilization at ° C.

(2-4: Extraction process)
For the extract of sweet potato stems and leaves, add a solvent to the raw leaves of cut sweet potatoes or processed sweet potatoes (preferably dry powder of sweet potatoes and leaves), and extract at a temperature of 4 ° C to 100 ° C for 10 minutes to 48 hours. That's fine. Examples of the solvent that can be used here include water, hot water, a water-containing organic solvent (for example, a water-containing alcohol such as water-containing ethanol), an organic solvent (particularly, a polar organic solvent such as ethanol and methanol), and the like. Of course, the extract obtained by such extraction may be synthesized adsorbent (Diaion HP20, Sephabies SP825, Amberlite XAD4, MCIgelCHP20P, etc.) or dextran resin (Sephadex LH-20, etc.) as necessary. Natural polyphenols commonly used by traders may be purified by separation methods.

  In addition, as an extraction solvent, it is preferable to use water or a hydrous polar solvent (hydrous ethanol, hydrous ethanol, etc.) from the point which can extract polyphenol efficiently. For example, 0.5 parts by mass to 50 parts by mass of water or ethanol containing 90% by volume or less of water or ethanol content is added to 1 part by mass of sweet potato stover and extracted at 10 ° C to 100 ° C for 30 minutes to 48 hours. By doing so, an extract can be obtained. When the extraction time is 30 minutes or less, sufficient extraction efficiency cannot be obtained, but since a lot of polyphenols are contained in the sweet potato foliage, in this case, the sweet potato foliage is made into a dry powder or the extract powder It is preferable that

(3. Liver lipid accumulation inhibitor of the present invention)
The hepatic lipid accumulation inhibitor of the present invention contains a processed product of sweet potato stems and leaves. By containing these components, an excellent effect of suppressing lipid accumulation in the liver can be obtained. This can also prevent or treat non-alcoholic fatty liver. Furthermore, if a lipid absorption inhibiting component or a lipid metabolism promoting component described later is added, a synergistic effect with that component can be expected. That is, a combination of a sweet potato stem and leaf component and a lipid absorption inhibitory component or a lipid metabolism promoter component can be expected to have an excellent effect rather than a combination of a sugar or lipid absorption inhibitory component or a metabolism promoting component.

  There is no restriction | limiting in particular in the compounding quantity of each of these components. However, the amount of the sweet potato stem and leaf processed product should be such that the daily intake per adult is 10 to 3,000 mg, preferably 10 to 1,000 mg as the total amount of polyphenols. . In addition, in the case of the dried powder of sweet potato stems and leaves, it may be blended so as to be 0.1 to 30 g, preferably 0.1 to 10 g.

(4. Food of the present invention)
The food of the present invention contains a liver lipid accumulation inhibitor. That is, it contains a sweet potato stem and leaf processed product.

  Since the compounding quantity of sweet potato foliage processed products etc. changes with the form and dosage form, what is necessary is just to adjust suitably. For example, in the case of a sweet potato stover extract, the lower limit of the sweet potato stover extract (dry weight) is 0.0001 part by mass or more, preferably 0.001 part by mass or more with respect to 100 parts by mass of food. The upper limit of the sweet potato stem and leaf extract (dry mass) is 50 parts by mass or less, preferably 30 parts by mass or less. In the case of dried sweet potato leaves, the lower limit of the dried sweet potato leaves is preferably 0.01 parts by weight or more, and the upper limit of the dried sweet potato leaves is 80 parts by weight or less, Preferably it is 50 mass parts or less.

  In addition, excipients, extenders, binders, thickeners, emulsifiers, colorants, fragrances, other food ingredients, seasonings, pharmaceutical ingredients, etc. may be added to the food of the present invention as necessary. Also good. Furthermore, the food containing the hepatic lipid accumulation inhibitor of the present invention may be formed into a form such as a granule or a tablet depending on the application. As for the dosage form of the food to which the ingredients of the present invention are added, capsules such as hard capsules and soft capsules, tablets or pills as necessary, or powder, granules, tea, tea bags, Or it can shape | mold into forms, such as a bowl shape, or can be used as it is as a drink. Depending on their shape or preference, they may be eaten as they are, or they may be dissolved in water, hot water, milk or the like. In the case of powdered tea bags, etc., the ingredients may be leached before drinking.

  Examples of food materials that can be added to the food of the present invention include royal jelly, propolis, vitamins (A, C, D, E, K, folic acid, pantothenic acid, biotin, derivatives thereof, etc.), minerals (iron, magnesium) , Calcium, zinc, etc.), selenium, α-lipoic acid, lecithin, polyphenols (flavonoids, derivatives thereof, etc.), carotenoids (lycopene, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, lutein, etc.), xanthine derivatives (caffeine, etc.), fatty acids, proteins (Collagen, elastin, etc.), mucopolysaccharide (hyaluronic acid, etc.), amino sugar (glucosamine, acetylglucosamine, galactosamine, acetylgalactosamine, neuraminic acid, acetylneuraminic acid, hexosamine, salts thereof, etc.), oligosaccharide (isomalto-oligo) Sugar, cyclic o Sugar beet, etc.), sphingolipids and phospholipids and derivatives thereof (phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, ceramide, etc.), sulfur-containing compounds (such as alliin, sepaene, taurine, glutathione, methylsulfonylmethane), sugar alcohols, lignans ( Sesamin, etc.), animal and plant extracts containing these, root vegetables (turmeric, ginger, etc.), green leaves of gramineous plants such as wheat powder, green leaves of cruciferous plants such as kale.

  In particular, in the present invention, if not only the processed sweet potato leaves and leaves but also at least one of a lipid absorption inhibitor and a lipid metabolism promoter, a synergistic lipid accumulation suppression or body fat reduction effect can be obtained. Can do. As a result, for example, an antidiabetic effect and a preventive effect for various symptoms caused by obesity can be expected.

  Examples of the lipid absorption inhibitory component herein include components having an action of excreting bile acids such as chitosan and its derivatives, psyllium and proanthocyanidins, and components having a lipase inhibitory action such as gallotannins, loquat leaves and the like and extracts thereof. Is mentioned. In addition, for example, a plant extract containing a large amount of proanthocyanidins such as a pine bark extract can be used as the proanthocyanidins.

  Lipid metabolism promoting components include riboflavins, tea catechins, isomerized linoleic acid, caffeine, capsaicin, carnitine, coenzyme Q10, soybean peptide, branched amino acid, phosphatidylcholine, allyl sulfide compound, forskolin, bergenin, quercetin , Astilbine, hydroxycitric acid, and salts thereof. Of course, plant extracts containing these lipid metabolism promoting components, for example, extracts of tea, coleus foli, red pepper, yellow potato, soybean, chili, buckwheat, garlic, onion, coffee, etc. are used as lipid metabolism promoting components. It is also possible.

  The lipid absorption suppressing component and the lipid metabolism promoting component are appropriately blended depending on the purpose. For example, only one of the lipid absorption suppressing component and the lipid metabolism promoting component may be added, or both the lipid absorption suppressing component and the lipid metabolism promoting component may be added. Of course, two or more lipid absorption inhibiting components may be added, or two or more lipid metabolism promoting components may be added.

  In particular, processing of sweet potato stalks as so-called “green juice” that is eaten as a drink by powdering green leaves such as wheat leaves (eg, barley leaves), kale, tomorrow leaves, mulberry leaves, etc. that have been eaten for health in recent years By using the product, it can be made into a green juice with a better taste than other green juices due to a synergistic effect with water, and further, it can be mixed with other green juice ingredients that are difficult to ingest. It is also possible to make it easy to take the soup ingredients. Furthermore, it can be used for beverages containing the above food materials, for example, plant fermented juice, vegetable juice (for example, carrot juice), plant extract, fruit juice, etc. In addition, it can be a functional or nutritious beverage.

  Of course, in the food containing the hepatic lipid accumulation inhibitor of the present invention, sugar solution, sugar alcohol, seasoning or the like can be added to enhance the sweetness.

  The dosage form of the food containing the hepatic lipid accumulation inhibitor of the present invention may be a capsule such as a hard capsule or a soft capsule, a tablet or a pill as necessary, or a powder, granule or tea. It can be formed into a tea bag shape or a bowl shape or used as a beverage as it is. Depending on their shape or preference, they may be eaten as they are, or they may be dissolved in water, hot water, milk or the like. In the case of powdered tea bags, etc., the ingredients may be leached before drinking.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on examples. Note that the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the description of the embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims.

(Reference Example 1: Production of dry powder of sweet potato stems and leaves)
When the length from the position where the sweet potato stalks went out of the ground to the tip of the sweet potato stalks was measured, it was cultivated until the length reached about 150 cm. Then, a portion of 60 cm from the tip of the sweet potato stem and leaf was cut from the sweet potato stem and leaf and washed twice with water to obtain 1 kg of sweet potato stem and leaf.

  After cutting the obtained foliage to about 5 mm, the sweet potato foliage was immersed in 2 L of hot water (90 ° C.) adjusted to pH 8.0 for 1 minute. Next, after cooling with water at 25 ° C., the cooled sweet potato stover is centrifuged for 30 seconds to dehydrate to a certain extent, and then warm air at 70 ° C. for 2 hours until the water content is about 20% by mass. Dried (primary drying). Next, hot air drying (secondary drying) was performed at 80 ° C. for 4 hours so that the final moisture content was 3% by mass. Next, steam sterilization was performed using a saturated water pressure of 150 ° C. for 3 seconds. At this time, the water contained in the sweet potato stover was dried and then finely pulverized using a hammer mill so that 90 mass% passed through the 200 mesh section to obtain a dry powder (80 g) of the sweet potato stover.

(Reference Example 2: Manufacture of sweet potato stem extract)
100 mL of an 80% by volume ethanol aqueous solution was added to 3 g of the dried powder of sweet potato stover obtained in Reference Example 1, and the mixture was heated to reflux at 80 ° C. for 24 hours. Then, it filtered and the extract was obtained. Subsequently, it concentrated under reduced pressure at 50 degreeC and obtained extraction powder (91 mg).

(Reference Example 3: Manufacture of sweet potato stem and leaf extract powder)
3 kg of sweet potato leaves containing young leaves of sweet potato leaves obtained in the same manner as in Reference Example 1 was crushed into a paste with a mascoloider and filtered to obtain squeezed sweet potato leaves. The juice was concentrated under reduced pressure at 40 ° C. to dryness to obtain 55 g of sweet potato leaf extract powder.

(Example 1: Examination of liver lipid improvement effect)
Using a 5-week-old male SD rat (Nippon Charles River Co., Ltd.), the effect on the accumulation of lipids in the liver of the processed sweet potato foliage was verified as follows. First, 18 SD rats were acclimated with a standard feed (MF feed, Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd.) for 1 week. Subsequently, it was divided into 3 groups of 6 animals per group so that the average body weight per group was uniform.

  Each group contains 2% by mass of dry powder of sweet potato stover obtained in Reference Example 1 (Toyo Shinyaku Co., Ltd.), 1% by mass of cholesterol, and 0.25% by mass of cholic acid in the standard feed. What added the component (it was set as test feed 1) was ingested freely.

  In the other group, a standard diet containing 1% by mass cholesterol and 0.25% by mass cholic acid so that each component was added (high cholesterol-loaded diet, referred to as comparative diet 1) was freely ingested. I let you.

  The remaining group received only the standard diet (control diet 1).

  On the 28th day from the start of free intake, the liver of each mouse was removed, and the total lipid in the liver was extracted by the Folch method. Subsequently, the amount of neutral fat was measured using a measurement kit (Triglyceride G-Test Wako, Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.) and the total cholesterol amount using a measurement kit (Cholesterol E-Test Wako, Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.). . The results are shown in Table 1.

  As a result of Table 1, the group that ingested the feed containing the dry powder of sweet potato foliage in the high-cholesterol-loaded diet (test feed 1) was more moderate than the group that consumed the feed that was loaded with high-cholesterol (compared feed 1). It turns out that the increase in the amount of sex fat is suppressed. Furthermore, the increase in the amount of neutral fat was suppressed even compared with the group fed with only the standard feed (control feed 1).

  In addition, it can be seen that the group that ingested the test feed 1 also suppressed the increase in the total cholesterol level compared to the comparative feed 1.

  Therefore, it can be seen that the liver lipid accumulation inhibitor of the present invention has an excellent liver neutral fat accumulation inhibitory effect and liver total cholesterol accumulation inhibitory effect, and is effective in the prevention or treatment of fatty liver.

  Furthermore, it has been pointed out that the liver lipid accumulation inhibitor of the present invention has an excellent liver neutral fat accumulation inhibitory effect and liver total cholesterol accumulation inhibitory effect, which increases the risk of fatty liver. It can also be expected to prevent symptoms such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and arteriosclerosis.

The hepatic lipid accumulation inhibitor comprising the processed sweet potato stem and leaf product of the present invention as an active ingredient is useful because it has an excellent effect of inhibiting hepatic lipid accumulation.

Claims (2)

  A liver lipid accumulation inhibitor containing processed sweet potato stems and leaves as an active ingredient.   A food composition or a pharmaceutical composition comprising the hepatic lipid accumulation inhibitor according to claim 1 or 2.