JP2021078483A - Composition for improving intestinal bacterial flora containing processed yacon as active ingredient - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a composition for improving intestinal bacterial flora.SOLUTION: A composition for improving intestinal bacterial flora contains processed yacon as an active ingredient.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

The present invention relates to a composition for improving the intestinal bacterial flora, which contains a processed Yacon product as an active ingredient. The present invention also relates to a composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria, which contains a processed yacon product as an active ingredient.

The intestinal flora that inhabits the human body is composed of more than 400 species of intestinal bacteria, totaling about 100 trillion. In addition to maintaining the function of the large intestine, this intestinal bacterium produces antibacterial substances such as lactic acid as an infection defense mechanism, digests indigestible polysaccharides that cannot be decomposed by the host and supplements nutrients, and is a mucosal immunoglobulin. It also has systemic functions such as IgA production, which accounts for 80%, and immune construction and maintenance such as induction of regulatory T cell differentiation (Non-Patent Document 1). In addition, some of the intestinal bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids when fermenting dietary fiber in the large intestine, and these short-chain fatty acids also play a useful role. Therefore, as one of the attempts to improve the intestinal environment, an attempt to ingest prebiotics, which is a nutrient source for intestinal bacteria, is drawing attention.

Prebiotics are food ingredients that benefit the host by growing specific bacteria in the large intestine. That is, prebiotics are food components that feed on useful intestinal bacteria, and ingestion of them can improve the intestinal environment. The following conditions are required for prebiotics, and oligosaccharides and the like are typical prebiotics.
1. 1. It is not hydrolyzed or absorbed in the upper part of the digestive tract.
2. It is a selective substrate for one or a limited number of beneficial bacteria (such as bifidobacteria) that coexist in the large intestine, promoting the growth of those bacteria or activating metabolism.
3. 3. The gut microbiota of the large intestine can be modified to favor a healthy composition.
4. Induces systemic effects that are beneficial to the health of the host.

The content of the diet has a great influence on the composition ratio of the intestinal flora, and it is said that the intake of a high-fat diet upsets the balance of the intestinal flora. However, there have been no reports on the effect of yacon intake on the composition ratio of the intestinal flora, especially the composition ratio of the intestinal flora when a high-fat diet is ingested.

Honda K. et al., Nature 535, 75-8, (2016)

An object of the present invention is to provide a composition for improving the intestinal bacterial flora.

The present inventors have found that when mice are fed a sample derived from yacon, ingestion of yacon causes changes in the intestinal bacterial flora. In addition, the composition ratio of the intestinal flora changed in the mice bred on the high-fat diet, but when the mice bred on the high-fat diet were fed with the Yacon-derived sample, the mice were fed with the standard sample. It was found that the composition ratio of the intestinal flora was almost the same as that of the mouse. Furthermore, when mice fed a high-fat diet were fed with a sample derived from yacon, the proportion of butyrate-producing bacteria was significantly higher than that of mice fed only on a high-fat diet and mice fed a standard sample. I found it.

That is, the present invention is as follows.
[1] A composition for improving the intestinal bacterial flora, which contains a processed yacon product as an active ingredient.
[2] The composition according to [1], wherein the processed product of yacon is a processed product of a mass root of yacon.
[3] The composition according to [1] or [2], wherein the processed product is a pulverized product, an extract, a juice or a dry powder.
[4] The composition according to any one of [1] to [3], which improves the intestinal bacterial flora under high-fat diet conditions.
[5] The improvement of the intestinal flora is an increase in the proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes and / or a decrease in the proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes [1] to The composition according to any one of [4].
[6] The composition according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the composition is a food composition.
[7] The composition according to any one of [1] to [5], wherein the composition is a pharmaceutical.
[8] A composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria, which contains the processed yacon product according to any one of [1] to [3] as an active ingredient.
[9] The composition according to [8], which promotes the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria under high-fat diet conditions.
[10] The bacterium belongs to Clostridiaceae, a bacterium belonging to Eubacteriaceae, a bacterium belonging to Fusobacteriaceae, a bacterium belonging to Luminococcaceae, and a bacterium belonging to Lachnospiraceae. The composition according to [8] or [9], which is at least one selected from the group consisting of bacteria belonging to).
[11] The composition according to any one of [8] to [10], wherein the composition is a food composition.
[12] The composition according to any one of [8] to [10], wherein the composition is a pharmaceutical.

Ingestion of Yacon-derived samples can improve the intestinal flora. In addition, butyrate-producing bacteria can be increased by ingesting a sample derived from yacon.

FIG. 1 is a graph comparing changes in the amount of bacteria of the genus Bacteroides and the genus Bacteroides in feces between mice in the Yacon-administered group and mice in the control group. FIG. 2 shows the diversity of the intestinal flora of mice fed a high-fat diet and mice fed a standard diet in terms of dietary conditions (high-fat diet or standard diet) and drinking conditions (water, dextrin-containing water, or yacon). It is a graph which shows the result of having performed Shannon analysis and phylogenetic diversity analysis on (containing sample water). The horizontal axis is the number of reads, and the vertical axis is the diversity represented by the Shannon index or the phylogenetic diversity analysis index. FIG. 3 is a graph showing the results of main coordinate analysis under drinking water conditions under high-fat diet conditions. FIG. 4 shows the results of phylum-level analysis of the effects of high-fat diet intake and yacon intake on the composition ratio of the intestinal flora of mice. FIG. 5 shows the results of analyzing the effect of yacon intake on the intestinal butyrate-producing bacteria of mice under high-fat diet conditions.

The present invention provides a composition for improving the intestinal bacterial flora (hereinafter, the composition for improving the present invention) containing a processed product of Yacon as an active ingredient.

As used herein, Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) refers to a perennial plant that is native to the Andean highlands of South America and belongs to the genus Sigesbeckia, Asteraceae. The yacon used in the improving composition of the present invention is not particularly limited in variety and strain as long as it is usually available. For example, the varieties include "salad otome (Yacon Norin No. 1)" and "salad okame (salad okame)". "Yacon Norin 2)", "Andean Snow (Yacon Norin 3)", etc. are "Bolivia", "Peru A", "Shirai", "Yu 1", "Yu 2", "Peru 1" , "Peru 3", "Peru 4", "CIP205002", "CIP205004", "CIP205009", "CIP205028", "CIP205029" and the like. "Salad Otome (Yacon Agriculture and Forestry No. 1)", "Salad Okame (Yacon Agriculture and Forestry No. 2)", and "Andean Snow (Yacon Agriculture and Forestry No. 3)" can be obtained from the National Research and Development Corporation Agriculture and Food Industry Technology Research Organization. .. In addition, "CIP205002", "CIP205004", "CIP205009", "CIP205028", and "CIP205029" can be obtained from the International Potato Center.

The improving composition of the present invention contains a processed Yacon product as an active ingredient. Yacon plants are composed of above-ground parts (tubers, stems, leaves, flowers, seeds, etc.) and underground parts (tuberous roots, inside tuberous roots, tuberous root bark, etc.). The yacon contained in the improving composition of the present invention may be any part above ground, underground or both, but the root of yacon contains a large amount of sugar, polyphenol, water-soluble dietary fiber and the like. These can be active ingredients for improving the intestinal flora. Therefore, the processed product of yacon contains the processed product of the underground part of yacon, preferably the processed product of the mass root of yacon. Examples of sugars contained in the roots of yacon include fructooligosaccharides, glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Examples of polyphenols contained in the roots of yacon include chlorogenic acid, 3,5-di-O-cafe oil quinic acid, 2,4-di-O-cafe oil altralic acid, and 3,5-di-O-. Café Oil Altral Acid, 2,5-di-O-Café Oil Altral Acid, 2,3,5-Tri-O-Café Oil Altral Acid, 2,4,5-Tri-O-Café Oil Altral Acid, 4-O-Café Oil-2,7-Anhydro-D-glycero-β-D-galacto-Octo-2-uropyranosonic Acid, 4,5-di-O-Café Oil-2,7-Anhydro-D -glycero-β-D-galacto-oct-2-uropyranosonic acid, 4,5-di-O-cafe oil-2,7-anhydro-D-glycero-β-D-galacto-methyl octo-2-uropyranosonic acid And so on. Examples of the water-soluble dietary fiber contained in the root of Yacon include inulin, poorly soluble dextrin, β-glucan and pectin.

In the present specification, the processed product of yacon refers to a sample obtained by processing yacon. Here, the processing is not particularly limited as long as it is a treatment capable of extracting the above-mentioned active ingredient contained in yacon, but for example, a pulverization treatment, an extraction treatment, a juice squeezing treatment, or a combination of these treatments may be used. It may include.

The method of pulverization treatment is not particularly limited, but extraction may be performed by a conventional method that can be used for foods, pharmaceuticals, and the like. For example, yacon may be crushed by friction or by the action of shear stress. For example, a method of mechanically shearing by appropriately combining a kitchen knife, a hand mixer, a comitrol (registered trademark), or the like can be adopted. Further, as a pretreatment for pulverizing the yacon, a drying treatment or a freeze-drying treatment may be performed in advance.

The method of the extraction treatment is not particularly limited, but it may be extracted by a conventional method using a solvent that can be used for foods, pharmaceuticals and the like. For example, 1 to 50 times, preferably 10 to 30 times the amount of water or a hydrous organic solvent is added to a crushed sample obtained by crushing yacon, and the temperature is at room temperature to the boiling point of the solvent used for about 1 to 24 hours. Immersion or heat extraction treatment can be performed in the range. If necessary, the enzyme treatment or the extraction treatment under pressure may be performed. This enzyme treatment may preferably be treatment with cellulase, amylase, or protease. Further, these extraction processes may be performed only once or twice or more.

Extraction with water can be carried out at a predetermined temperature by adding water to the above-mentioned crushed sample of Yacon and heating if necessary. When water is added for extraction, the extraction temperature is preferably 5 to 100 ° C, more preferably 30 to 100 ° C. If the temperature is too low, it is difficult to extract the active ingredient contained in yacon, and if it is too high, the active ingredient may be decomposed.
Further, the extraction with the hydrous organic solvent can be carried out at a predetermined temperature by adding the hydrous organic solvent to the above-mentioned pulverized sample of Yacon and heating it if necessary. Examples of the organic solvent used for the hydrous organic solvent include lower alcohols (methanol, ethanol, etc.), ethyl acetate, acetone, chloroform, n-hexane, etc., preferably ethanol. When extraction is performed by adding a hydrous organic solvent, the extraction temperature varies depending on the type of the organic solvent, but for example, when hydrous ethanol is used, it is preferably 5 to 70 ° C, more preferably 30 to 70 ° C. Similar to extraction with water, if the temperature is too low, the active ingredient contained in yacon is difficult to extract, and if it is too high, the active ingredient may be decomposed. The solvent content of the hydrous organic solvent used in the extraction treatment is preferably 100% (v / v) or less, more preferably 5 to 70% (v / v), and 20 to 50% (v). / v) is the most preferable. In particular, it is more preferable to carry out the extraction using hydrous ethanol having an ethanol concentration of preferably 5 to 70% (v / v), more preferably 20 to 50% (v / v). As described above, an extract can be obtained by extracting the active ingredient contained in Yacon in a solvent and then filtering to remove the extraction residue.

The method of squeezing the juice can be carried out by squeezing yacon or a crushed sample of yacon as it is. The juice can be obtained by squeezing the active ingredient of Yacon in a solvent and then filtering to remove the squeezed residue.

Further, in order to obtain an extract or juice containing a high concentration of the active ingredient of yacon, it may be concentrated, fractionated or purified by a method usually used by those skilled in the art. Further, the obtained extract or juice may be dried and powdered by means such as freeze-drying, vacuum-drying, and spray-drying.

By processing as described above, a pulverized yacon, an extract, a juice or a dry powder can be obtained from the yacon.

As described in the examples described later, since there was a difference in the rate of increase of some intestinal bacteria between the mice to which the sterile distilled water was administered and the mice to which the sample water containing yacon was administered, the intake of yacon was the intestinal bacteria. It was suggested that it would bring about changes in the flora. Furthermore, the composition ratio of the intestinal flora changed between the mice fed with the standard sample and the mice fed with the high-fat diet. Specifically, mice fed a high-fat diet had a lower proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes and an increased proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes compared to mice bred with standard samples. did. However, when mice fed a high-fat diet were fed a Yacon-derived sample, it was found that the mice maintained a composition ratio of the intestinal flora that was almost the same as that of the mice fed the standard sample. Reducing the ratio (F / B ratio) of Firmicutes bacteria to Bacteroidetes bacteria in the intestinal flora can prevent or improve obesity (accumulation of visceral fat), hypertension, constipation, etc. It is known to be useful. Therefore, the processed Yacon product is contained in the improving composition of the present invention as an active ingredient for improving the intestinal bacterial flora.

In the present specification, the improvement of the intestinal flora means the composition ratio of bacteria in the intestinal flora in a subject who has ingested the composition for improvement of the present invention as compared with the composition ratio of bacteria in a healthy subject as compared with before ingestion. Or it refers to approaching the composition ratio of bacteria that has a beneficial effect. The gut microbiota to be improved is not particularly limited as long as it is a bacterium that constitutes the gut microbiota, but bacteria belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes and bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes are preferable. Can be mentioned. Therefore, an improvement in the intestinal flora is preferably an increase in the proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes and / or a decrease in the proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes. The increase in the proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes means that the proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes is 5% or more, 6% or more, 7% as compared with before administration of the improving composition of the present invention. 8% or more, 9% or more, 10% or more, 11% or more, 12% or more, 13% or more, 14% or more, 15% or more, 20% or more, 30% or more, 40% or more, 50% or more or Refers to raising it further. In addition, the decrease in the proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes means that the proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes (Firmicutes) is 5% or more, 6% or more, as compared with before administration of the improving composition of the present invention. 7% or more, 8% or more, 9% or more, 10% or more, 11% or more, 12% or more, 13% or more, 14% or more, 15% or more, 20% or more, 30% or more, 40% or more, 50% Refers to lowering more or more. In particular, the yacon-derived sample increased the proportion of bacteria belonging to the decreased Bacteroidetes and decreased the proportion of bacteria belonging to the increased Firmicutes in mice fed a high-fat diet. , Preferably, the compositions of the present invention improve the intestinal flora under high-fat diet conditions. Here, the high-fat diet refers to a diet in which fat energy accounts for 30 to 40% or more of the total energy intake.

In the present specification, the subject is a human or an animal such as a mouse, a guinea pig, a chimpanzee, a sheep, a goat, a dog, a cat, a cow or a horse, and is preferably a human.

The improving composition of the present invention can be used as a food composition (hereinafter, the improving food composition of the present invention). The food composition for improvement of the present invention may be in a form that can be orally ingested, such as a solution, a suspension, a powder, or a solid molded product, and is not particularly limited. Specific examples include supplements (powder, granules, soft capsules, hard capsules, tablets, chewable tablets, quick-disintegrating tablets, syrups, liquids, etc.), beverages (carbonated beverages, lactic acid beverages, sports beverages, fruit juice beverages, vegetable beverages, soy milk beverages, etc.) , Coffee drinks, tea drinks, powdered drinks, concentrated drinks, nutritional drinks, alcoholic drinks, etc.), sweets (gummy, jelly, gum, chocolate, cookies, candy, caramel, Japanese sweets, snacks, etc.), instant foods (instant noodles, Retort foods, canned foods, microwave foods, instant soups, miso soups, freeze-dried foods, etc.), oils, fats and oils foods (mayonnaise, dressings, butter, cream, margarine, etc.), flour products (bread, pasta, noodles, cake mix, etc.) Bread flour, etc.), seasonings (sauce, processed tomato seasoning, flavor seasoning, cooking mix, soups, etc.), processed livestock products (meat ham, sausage, etc.).

If necessary, the food composition for improvement of the present invention may contain, for example, prebiotics such as fructooligosaccharide, galactooligosaccharide, trehalose, sorbitol, or xylose, or probiotics such as lactic acid bacteria or bifidobacteria. ..

The improving composition of the present invention can also be used as a medicine (hereinafter, the improving medicine of the present invention). The dosage form of the improving emulsion of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is an oral preparation, for example, a solid preparation such as a powder, a tablet, a granule, a coated tablet, a powder, or a capsule, or a liquid or suspension. It can be a liquid preparation such as an agent, an emulsion, or a syrup agent.

The improving agent of the present invention uses an excipient, a binder, a lubricant, a surfactant, a diluent, a preservative, a stabilizer, a flavoring agent, a moisturizer, a preservative, an antioxidant, or the like. , The above-mentioned preparation can be prepared according to a conventional method.

The dose of the improving drug of the present invention can be appropriately determined depending on the age and body weight of the subject, symptoms, administration time, dosage form and the like. For example, when the improving drug of the present invention is orally administered, the total amount of the processed product of Yacon, which is the active ingredient, is in the range of 0.1 to 10,000 mg / kg body weight, preferably 5 to 500 mg / kg body weight per day for adults. It can be administered once a day or in several divided doses (2 to 5 times).

The present invention also provides a composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria (hereinafter, the composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria of the present invention) containing a processed product of yacon as an active ingredient. The processed yacon product contained as an active ingredient in the composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria of the present invention may be the same as the processed yacon product contained as an active ingredient in the improving composition of the present invention.

As described in Examples described later, it was found that the number of butyrate-producing bacteria in the subject was significantly increased by ingesting the Yacon-derived sample to the subject. Some enterobacteria, including butyrate-producing bacteria, produce short-chain fatty acids when fermenting dietary fiber in the large intestine, and these short-chain fatty acids are also known to play a useful role. Therefore, the processed Yacon product is contained in the composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria of the present invention as an active ingredient for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria.

The butyrate-producing bacteria whose increase is promoted by the composition for promoting the increase of butyric acid bacteria of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is an intestinal bacterium that produces butyric acid. Examples of such butyric acid bacteria include bacteria belonging to the family Clostridiaceae, bacteria belonging to the family Eubacteriaceae, bacteria belonging to the family Fusobacteriaceae, bacteria belonging to the family Luminococcaceae, and Lachnospiraceae. Bacteria belonging to the family (Lachnospiraceae) are mentioned, and among them, bacteria belonging to the family Luminococcaceae and bacteria belonging to the family Lachnospiraceae are preferably mentioned. The increase in butyrate-producing bacteria means that the amount of butyrate-producing bacteria is 5% or more, 6% or more, 7% or more, 8% or more, 9% or more, 10 as compared with before administration of the composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria of the present invention. % Or more, 11% or more, 12% or more, 13% or more, 14% or more, 15% or more, 20% or more, 30% or more, 40% or more, 50% or more or more.

The composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria of the present invention can be used as a food composition (hereinafter, the food composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria of the present invention) in the same manner as the composition for improving the present invention. The form of the food composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria of the present invention may be the same as the form of the food composition for improvement of the present invention.

The composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria of the present invention can be used as a medicine (hereinafter, the medicine for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria of the present invention) in the same manner as the composition for improving the present invention. The dosage form, dosage, etc. of the butyrate-producing bacteria increasing promoting drug of the present invention may be the same as the dosage form, dosage, etc. of the improving drug of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1
As the processed material for the yacon used in this experiment, powdered yacon processed by Fine Co., Ltd. was used. This powdered yacon is composed of 50% of dried powder of yacon root extract + 50% of dextrin, and is hereinafter referred to as yacon powder.

In order to confirm the effect of yacon powder when ingesting standard feed, an experiment was conducted in which yacon powder was administered to mice. In the experiment, 10 BALB / c male and 10 female mice were used, for a total of 20 animals. 4-week-old mice were fed standard diet and distilled water. Five-week-old mice after 1-week pre-breeding were fed with Yacon-containing sample water or normal sterile distilled water and bred for 8 weeks (until the mice were 13 weeks old). As the sample water containing yacon, one in which yacon powder was dissolved in distilled water at a concentration of 1.0% was used. Male mice and female mice were divided into two groups, a yacon group (n = 10/5 males, 5 females) fed with yacon-containing sample water, and a control group (n = 10/5 males, 5 females) fed sterile distilled water. 5 females) were set.

Mice were bred in a plastic cage lined with sawdust in an air-conditioned room with a room temperature of 22-23 ° C, a humidity of 40-60%, and a 12-hour light-dark cycle. Feed and drinking water were allowed to be ingested freely. Body weight, food intake, and beverage volume were measured at the start of the experiment and once a week during the experimental breeding period.

After pre-breeding, feces were collected 4 and 8 weeks after the start of administration of sterile distilled water or sample water containing yacon, and DNA was extracted using Qiagen's MO BIO DNeasy PowerSoil kit. A flora analysis was performed.

There was no difference in body weight change and food intake between the Yacon group and the control group. Regarding the amount of beverage, the average weekly intake was higher in the Yacon group. In addition, it was the bacteria of the genus Bacteroides and the genus Bacteroides that showed a difference in the amount of change in the intestinal bacterial species in feces. The rate of increase of bacteria in those genera was significantly higher in the Yacon group (Fig. 1). In FIG. 1, the graph on the left shows the amount of change in bacteria of the genus Bacteroides, and the graph on the right shows the amount of change in bacteria of the genus Bacteroides. In both graphs, the left column is the group to which Yacon was administered, and the right column is the control group to which distilled water was administered. This result suggests that the intake of yacon causes changes in the intestinal flora.

Example 2
We investigated the effect of yacon on the composition of intestinal bacteria in mice when fed a high-fat diet. Thirty 9-week-old C57BL / 6JJmsSlc male mice were used in the experiment. Nine-week-old mice were fed standard diet and distilled water. Experiments were conducted for 8 weeks (ie, until 18 weeks of age) to examine the effect of yacon administration on high-fat diet intake in 10-week-old mice after 1-week pre-breeding. As the yacon-containing sample water, dextrin-containing water in which yacon powder was dissolved in distilled water at a concentration of 1.0% and dextrin used in yacon powder at a concentration of 0.5% was continuously prepared. High Fat Diet 32 (hereinafter referred to as HFD) of Nippon Claire Co., Ltd. was used as a high-fat diet. This feed is an ultra-high fat feed with a fat-derived calorie ratio of about 60% in total energy.

Thirty male mice were divided into the 6 groups described below (n = 5). That is, (1) the group in which HFD was ingested and the sample water containing yacon was drunk (Yacon-HFD), (2) the group in which the standard feed was ingested and the sample water containing yacon was ingested (Yacon-standard feed), ( 3) HFD and drink dextrin-containing water (dextrin-HFD), (4) standard feed and drink dextrin-containing water (dextrin-standard feed), (5) HFD A group was set to ingest and drink distilled water (water-HFD), and (6) a group to ingest standard feed and drink distilled water (water-standard feed). Mice were bred in a plastic cage covered with sawdust in the same manner as in Example 1 in an air-conditioned room with a room temperature of 22 to 23 ° C., a humidity of 40 to 60%, and a 12-hour light-dark cycle. Feed and drinking water were allowed to be ingested freely.

After disclosing the administration of sample water containing yacon, water containing dextrin, or distilled water, feces were collected 3 months later, and DNA was extracted using the MO BIO DNeasy PowerSoil kit in the same manner as in the experiment of Example 1, and then 16Sr metagenomics was used. Bacterial flora analysis was performed.

Α analysis and β analysis were performed on changes in the intestinal flora. Both α analysis and β analysis are methods for analyzing species diversity, but the viewpoints when discussing species diversity are different. That is, α analysis analyzes species diversity in one environment, and β analysis analyzes species diversity between different environments.

Regarding α analysis, shannon analysis and phylogenic diversity analysis were performed for each of dietary conditions and drinking conditions (Fig. 2). Here, the Shannon analysis expresses the diversity by the Shannon index, and the phylogenetic diversity analysis expresses the diversity by the phylogenetic diversity index. In terms of dietary conditions, the high-fat diet group (HFD) resulted in less diversity of the intestinal flora than the standard diet diet group (Fig. 2, Shannon analysis graph in the upper left and upper right). See graph of phylogenetic diversity). On the other hand, regarding the drinking conditions, the results showed that the Yarcon-containing sample water group had more diversity than the dextrin-containing water group and the distilled water group (Fig. 2, the graph of Shannon analysis in the lower left and the lower right). See graph of phylogenetic diversity).

As a β analysis, a Principal Coordinate Analysis was performed under drinking water conditions under high-fat diet conditions. Principal coordinate analysis is a method of mapping and visualizing a distance matrix between samples in a low dimension while maintaining the distance, and visualizing by dropping high-dimensional data into two or three dimensions. It is something that becomes. In FIG. 3, those having a similar proportion to the type of bacteria revealed by metagenomic analysis are plotted closer. As a result, it was confirmed that both the first component and the second component of the yacon-administered group were far from the control group, and that the composition of the intestinal flora was significantly changed by the yacon administration (Fig. 3).

Changes in the composition ratio of bacteria in feces due to ingestion of a high-fat diet were analyzed at the phylum level. The leftmost group in FIG. 4 is a group in which a high-fat diet is ingested and a sample water containing yacon is ingested, and the second group from the left is a group in which a high-fat diet is ingested and a dextrin-containing water is ingested. The third group is a group in which a high-fat diet is ingested and distilled water is ingested, and the rightmost group is a control group in which a standard sample is ingested and distilled water is ingested. Further, in FIG. 4, bacteria of the phylum Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and other phylums are shown from the top. In FIG. 4, in the group of mice that ingested a high-fat diet and dextrin-containing water, and a high-fat diet and distilled water (second and third from the left), the bacterial composition ratio was higher in the mice that ingested the standard diet (far right). It had changed significantly compared to. Specifically, the number of Firmicutes bacteria increased, and the number of Bacteroides phylum bacteria decreased. On the other hand, in the group that ingested the high-fat diet and ingested the sample water containing yacon (leftmost), the composition ratio of bacteria was almost the same as that in the mice that ingested the standard diet.

Furthermore, changes in the composition ratio of bacteria in feces due to ingestion of a high-fat diet were analyzed at the genus level. As a result, it was confirmed that the ingestion of yacon increased the number of bacteria belonging to the family Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae, which are involved in butyric acid production (Fig. 5). The vertical axis of FIG. 5 shows the percentage of all the bacteria in the feces, which is the sum of the proportions of the bacteria belonging to the family Ruminococcus and the bacteria belonging to the family Lachnospiraceae. The leftmost group in FIG. 5 is a group in which a high-fat diet is ingested and a sample water containing yacon is ingested, and the second group from the left is a group in which a high-fat diet is ingested and a dextrin-containing water is ingested. The third group is a group in which a high-fat diet is ingested and distilled water is ingested, and the rightmost group is a control group in which a standard diet is ingested and distilled water is ingested. The Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae are bacteria belonging to the Firmicutes phylum. In FIG. 4, the bacteria of Firmicutes in the group fed with the high-fat diet and the sample water containing Yacon decreased. It is considered that this is because the number of bacteria of the phylum Philmicrus other than the bacteria belonging to the family Ruminococcus and the bacteria belonging to the family Lachnospiraceae decreased more than the increase of the bacteria belonging to the family Ruminococcaceae and the bacteria belonging to the family Lachnospiraceae.

By ingesting the composition of the present invention, the intestinal bacterial flora can be improved. In addition, butyrate-producing bacteria can be increased by ingesting the composition of the present invention. The compositions of the present invention are extremely useful for ameliorating diarrhea, constipation, intestinal inflammation and the like.

Claims (12)

A composition for improving the intestinal bacterial flora, which contains a processed Yacon product as an active ingredient. The composition according to claim 1, wherein the processed product of yacon is a processed product of a mass root of yacon. The composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processed product is a pulverized product, an extract, a juice or a dry powder. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which improves the intestinal bacterial flora under high-fat diet conditions. The improvement of the intestinal flora is an increase in the proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes and / or a decrease in the proportion of bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes, according to any one of claims 1 to 4. Composition. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the composition is a food composition. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the composition is a pharmaceutical. A composition for promoting the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria, which contains the processed yacon product according to any one of claims 1 to 3 as an active ingredient. The composition according to claim 8, which promotes the increase of butyrate-producing bacteria in a high-fat diet condition. The butyric acid bacterium belongs to Clostridiaceae, Eubacteriaceae, Fusobacteriaceae, Luminococcaceae, and Lachnospiraceae. The composition according to claim 8 or 9, which is at least one selected from the group consisting of bacteria. The composition according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the composition is a food composition. The composition according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the composition is a pharmaceutical.

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