JP3366910B1 - Method for increasing vitamin U content in plants - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for increasing the content of vitamin U in a plant. SOLUTION: By treating a plant containing vitamin U with methionine, the vitamin U content in the plant can be increased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for increasing the vitamin U content in plants. More specifically, it includes methionine treatment of a plant containing vitamin U,
The present invention relates to a method for increasing the vitamin U content in plants.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Due to the diversification and complexity of society, modern people are exposed to various stresses. Along with this, the prevalence of gastric ulcer, which is one of the modern diseases, is increasing. The causes of gastric ulcer include the above-mentioned stress as a main cause, and the risk factors include overeating and overeating, gastric infection by bacteria, and ingestion of cigarettes, strong alcoholic beverages, coffee and the like. Avoidance of these causes or risk factors depends largely on individual health care, and it is difficult to prevent gastric ulcer. Also, gastric ulcers often go unnoticed until symptoms appear.

As a countermeasure against gastric ulcer caused by such a cause, it is preferable to always try to prevent it in dietary habits, and recently, intake of vitamin U having an antiulcer action has been attracting attention. Vitamin U has been used as a component of gastrointestinal medicine for a long time and is also known as a substance having an effect of improving liver function and an antioxidant property.

A typical example of the plant containing vitamin U is cabbage. Cabbage is a vegetable often eaten, and in order to obtain the above-mentioned anti-ulcer effect, it is said that daily intake of 200 g to 500 g of cabbage is a standard. However, achieving this intake is burdensome.

On the other hand, there is a method of extracting and ingesting vitamin U from a plant containing vitamin U, but in this case, the stability of vitamin U becomes a problem. That is, vitamin U
The heat and high pH promote non-enzymatic degradation. Therefore, conventional amino acid extraction methods, eg 70%
In reflux heat extraction using methanol, thermal decomposition occurs, so that it is difficult to obtain an extract liquid containing vitamin U at a high concentration. Therefore, most of the vitamin U currently provided is chemically synthesized as described in JP-A-51-19111.

[0006]

Under such circumstances, foods containing a high concentration of natural vitamin U are desired.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present inventors have conducted extensive studies on a method for increasing the content of vitamin U in a plant. As a result, the plant containing vitamin U is treated with methionine, which is essential for the biosynthesis of vitamin U. The present invention was completed by finding that the content of Vitamin U in plants increases due to

The present invention comprises a step of treating a plant containing vitamin U with methionine, wherein the vitamin U in the plant is treated.
It relates to a method of increasing the content.

In a preferred embodiment, the methionine treatment is carried out in a methionine treatment mixture containing 0.005% to 30% by weight of methionine.

[0010] In a further preferred embodiment, the methionine treatment is carried out at 4 ° C to 50 ° C.

[0011] In another preferred embodiment, the methionine treatment is further carried out by adding lactic acid bacteria.

[0012] In a further preferred embodiment, the plant containing vitamin U is cabbage.

The present invention also provides vitamin U in the above plant.
It relates to a plant having an increased content of vitamin U, which is obtained by a method for increasing the content.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Examples of vitamin U-containing plants used in the present invention include cabbage, red cabbage, purple cabbage, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, radish, radish, cabbage radish, wasabi, etc. Plants: Lettuce, celery, celery, parsley, carrots and other plants of the Umbelliferae family; cucumber, pumpkin, melon,
Fruits of the Cucurbitaceae family such as squirrel and watermelon; onion, leek,
Liliaceae plants such as leeks, garlic and asparagus; Camellia plants such as tea tree, toucha, assamcha and hisakaki; and other algae such as Asakusa nori, wakame, kelp, alame, agar beetle, hijiki; mandarin orange, Fruits such as plum, grape, apple, oyster, banana and pear; and the like. Among these, cabbage and broccoli of the Brassicaceae, lettuce of the Asteraceae, and leeks of the lily family are preferably used. Especially cabbage is preferably used.

The cabbage may be of any kind as long as it is used for food. Red cabbage can also be preferably used because it can be fermented while maintaining its red color. The variety of cabbage is also not particularly limited. The vitamin U content is preferably 1 mg to 30 mg, and more preferably 1 mg to 5 mg, per 100 g of cabbage.

The size of the plant containing these vitamin U is not particularly limited. That is, those that are not crushed at all; crushed materials that have been treated with a cutter, slicer, etc.
It may be a crushed product or paste treated with a mixer, juicer, blender, mass colloider, or the like. From the viewpoint of the production efficiency of vitamin U, the length of one side is 1 mm to 1
A solid crushed product of about 0 cm is preferable.

In the method of the present invention, when methionine is treated, these vitamin U-containing plants may be used alone or in combination of two or more kinds. Alternatively, each methionine-treated product can be mixed after the treatment.

The method for increasing the vitamin U content in the plant of the present invention will be described below. In the present invention, plants containing vitamin U are treated with methionine. Treating a plant containing vitamin U with methionine, which is required for vitamin U biosynthesis, increases the content of vitamin U in the plant. Here, methionine treatment means vitamin U
It means contacting a plant containing methionine with methionine or a food material rich in methionine, and leaving or shaking at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time.

The methionine used in the present invention is L
-Methionine, D-methionine, or mixtures thereof. As a food material rich in methionine, for example, casein, milk, yogurt, skim milk powder,
Dairy products such as cheese; plant seeds such as germ, soybean, rice, soybean protein and processed products thereof; beef, pork, chicken,
Meat such as fish meat and processed products thereof; egg white; and the like.

In the methionine treatment of the plant containing vitamin U, the plant containing vitamin U may be brought into direct contact with the methionine powder or the food material containing methionine. However, in order to perform the methionine treatment efficiently, it is preferable to prepare a solution having a predetermined methionine concentration and subject the plant containing vitamin U to the dipping treatment. Methionine is preferably contained in the methionine-treated mixture in an amount of 0.005% to 30% by weight, more preferably 0.01% to 10% by weight. Here, the methionine-treated mixture refers to a mixture containing a plant containing vitamin U, methionine or a food material containing methionine, and water.

When a plant containing vitamin U is mixed with methionine or a food material containing methionine and water, the order is not particularly limited. That is, water may be added to a plant containing vitamin U, and then methionine or a methionine-containing food material may be added, or methionine or a methionine-containing food material may be mixed with water to prepare a vitamin It may be added to plants containing U. When milk or yogurt rich in methionine is used as methionine, it can be added as it is without adding water.

Salt may be added to the methionine-treated mixture obtained as described above for the purpose of bacteriostatic action. Instead of salt, a substance having an osmotic pressure adjusting action can be added. Examples of such substances include saccharides that increase osmotic pressure, such as pentose (xylose, arabinose, ribose, etc.); reducing high-molecular carbohydrates such as starch; lactose; galactose; When reducing high-molecular weight carbohydrates are used, anaerobic bacteria such as Clostridium or spoilage bacteria may grow, so caution should be exercised when using them. The amount to be added may be determined in consideration of the osmotic pressure.

The methionine treatment mixture can then be treated at a given temperature for a given time. Temperature is 4 ° C to 50
It is performed at ℃. 20 ° C when priority is placed on time efficiency
-40 ° C. is preferable, and 4 ° C.-1 in the case of emphasizing quality aspects such as removal of blue odor of methionine-treated product or treatment liquid.
It is preferable to carry out at a low temperature of 0 ° C. Here, the methionine-treated product refers to a methionine-treated mixture treated with methionine. The treatment liquid refers to a supernatant or a filtrate obtained from a methionine-treated product by a separation operation such as centrifugation or filtration.

These temperature settings may be combined. For example, when treated at 4 ° C. for 5 days, the amount of vitamin U in the obtained methionine-treated product is 1.2% higher than that before the treatment.
The amount is twice or more, preferably 1.5 times or more, more preferably 2 times or more, further preferably 3 times or more. On the other hand, 2
When treated at 0 ° C to 30 ° C, the above 4 ° C and 5
A methionine-treated product containing the same amount of vitamin U as the conditions of the day is obtained. Therefore, a methionine-treated product having no blue odor can be obtained in a short time by first treating at 20 ° C. to 30 ° C. and then at a lower temperature.

The processing time may be determined according to the processing temperature. For example, in the case of 20 ° C to 50 ° C, it is carried out for 3 hours to 48 hours, preferably 6 hours to 24 hours. In the case of 4 ° C to 10 ° C, it is 5 days to 20 days. By the methionine treatment of the present invention, the amount of vitamin U contained in the plant is 1.2 times or more, preferably 1.5 times or more, more preferably 2 times or more, further preferably 3 times or more, as compared with that before the methionine treatment. become.

The methionine treatment may be started at low pH. Vitamin U is stably maintained by maintaining a low pH. For example, p in the methionine treated mixture
Reduction of H or maintenance of low pH is carried out by addition of a pH lowering agent, use of water subjected to electrolysis treatment or cation exchange treatment, and the like.

As the pH lowering agent, hydrochloric acid, gluconic acid,
Examples thereof include citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, ascorbic acid and sorbic acid. Gluconic acid is preferable for suppressing the sourness of the methionine-treated product. These pH reducing agents are about 0.1% by weight based on the methionine treated mixture.
It is preferable to add about 1.2% by weight, about 1% by weight of gluconic acid and about 0.3% by weight of other organic acids.

When the added water is electrolyzed, an electrolytic cell having a diaphragm is used, and water on the anode side is used. If the pH of the obtained electrolyzed water is too low, it may be adjusted with ion-exchanged water.

When the added water is subjected to cation exchange treatment,
If necessary, a strongly acidic ion exchange resin or a weakly acidic ion exchange resin may be used. When the pH of the obtained cation-exchanged water is too low, it may be adjusted with ion-exchanged water as in the above.

It is also possible to add to the methionine-treated mixture an enzyme which decomposes the cell wall of the plant containing vitamin U. These enzymes include pectin degrading enzymes (eg, polygalacturonase, pectin lyase,
Pectinesterase, protopectinase, etc.), cellulolytic enzymes (eg, cellulase, hemicellulase, etc.) and the like. These enzymes can be used as a mixture, and a preparation containing protopectinase, hemicellulase, and cellulase is preferably used.
These are added in an amount of about 0.001 wt% to about 0.2 wt% with respect to the methionine-treated mixture, but it depends on the degree of purification of the enzyme. By the addition of such an enzyme, a large amount of nutrients contained in the cells of the plant containing vitamin U are eluted into the treatment liquid, so that a treatment liquid having a high nutrient content can be obtained. Furthermore, as a result of these enzymes acting on the cell wall (membrane) of the plant containing vitamin U, the treatment liquid contains a large amount of cellobiose, cellooligosaccharides, etc., and the effect that the treatment liquid is imparted with functionality can be obtained. . In particular, it contains vitamin U, which has an anti-ulcer action, nucleic acid components, glutamic acid, etc., and becomes rich in nutrients. When using polygalacturonase, the optimum pH of this enzyme is on the alkaline side, so
It is preferable to add before decreasing.

Methionine treatment includes cases where plants containing vitamin U are fermented by suitable treatment temperatures or times. That is, when a lactic acid bacterium or the like attached to a plant containing vitamin U proliferates to anaerobically produce a useful substance, or when a lactic acid bacterium, a yeast, an acetic acid bacterium or the like is newly added to produce a useful substance. including. Fermentation includes lactic acid fermentation, acetic acid fermentation, citric acid fermentation, alcoholic fermentation, and fermentation by a combination thereof. Among these, lactic acid fermentation is preferable, and an organic acid having an intestinal-regulating action is produced by lactic acid bacteria, and a fermented product having a higher gastrointestinal function improving effect can be obtained. In addition, since lactic acid fermentation can maintain a low pH, vitamin U is stably maintained.

Lactic acid bacteria may be added to accelerate the fermentation. The lactic acid bacterium is preferably added in an amount of 0.005 to 5.0 parts by weight, more preferably 0.01 to 2.0 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the methionine-treated mixture. When lactic acid bacteria are added, it is also preferable to keep the pH low in order to create an environment in which the bacteria can proliferate preferentially. For example,
With Lactobacillus plantarum, if the pH is adjusted to about 4.0 and then the fermentation is started, the fermentation can be completed in a short period of time.

Examples of lactic acid bacteria include Leuconostoc mesentroides, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Streptococcus thermophilus, Streptococcus faecalis, Bifidobacterium. -Longum or the like is used alone or in combination. For example, when used alone, Lactobacillus plantarum is preferable in terms of its acid resistance, growth temperature, and growth rate.

Further, glutamic acid or a salt thereof can be added for preferential growth of lactic acid bacteria. The amount of glutamic acid added is about 0.05 to 1% by weight, preferably about 0.2% by weight, based on the methionine-treated mixture.

In the case of lactic acid fermentation, lactic acid bacterium metabolic sugar can be added. This addition of sugar is useful when fermenting a plant having a low sugar content. Therefore, when fermenting a plant containing 3% by weight or more of sugar, it is not necessary to add sugar. However, sugar may be added for the purpose of promoting fermentation and adding sweetness to the beverage. The added sugar is a sugar used for growth and fermentation of lactic acid bacteria, and examples thereof include, but are not limited to, sucrose, glucose, fructose and maltose. These sugars are preferably added so that the sugar content together with the sugar content of the plant is about 3% by weight, but it may be higher.

The lactic acid fermentation is preferably carried out under anaerobic conditions. Anaerobic conditions are obtained by degassing the methionine-treated mixture, by sealing the fermentor, filling it with a gas such as nitrogen gas, carbon dioxide gas, reducing the pressure, or by combining them. In addition, the fermentation of the methionine containing vitamin U also improves the flavor by fermentation under anaerobic conditions.

It is also possible to stop fermentation by adding sugar. Examples of such sugars include sugar alcohols (eg, sorbitol), oligosaccharides (eg, maltooligosaccharides, chitooligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharides), and the like. Such oligosaccharides are effective for intestinal regulation, prevention of dental caries, etc., and can impart functionality as a food product to a methionine-treated product or treatment solution.

After the completion of the methionine treatment, the treatment liquid can be recovered from the obtained methionine-treated product. A known method such as centrifugation or filtration can be applied to the recovery of the treatment liquid.

The treatment liquid may be concentrated into a pasty food material. For concentration, various methods such as membrane concentration, heat concentration, vacuum (reduced pressure) concentration, and freeze concentration are used. Considering the stability of vitamin U, membrane concentration and freeze concentration that do not require heating are preferable.

If necessary, these methionine-treated products or treatment solutions are sterilized and stored. Sterilization is
It is carried out by a method used by those skilled in the art such as air flow sterilization, high pressure sterilization, and heat sterilization. Sterilization is preferably carried out at the lowest possible temperature and in the shortest time in order to retain various nutrients.
From the viewpoint of stability, it is preferable to heat treat vitamin V on the acidic side.

The treatment liquid thus obtained may be used as a health drink containing a vitamin U-containing plant-derived nutritional component and a lactic acid bacterium product, as it is, or in various seasonings such as granulated sugar and honey. , A sweetener such as sorbit, an acidulant such as alcohol, citric acid, malic acid, and tartaric acid, a flavor, a pigment, and the like can be added to adjust the taste to a desired value.

If the obtained treatment liquid is mixed with other fermented juice or vegetable juice such as carrot juice or mixed vegetable juice, it can be made into a juice with higher nutritional value. The mixing ratio is arbitrary. Also,
Even if the mixed juice is not completely sterilized at 120 ° C. for 4 minutes, it can be sterilized under sterilization conditions of 100 ° C. or lower as long as it has a low pH. For example, if the pH is 4.0 or less, 65
It can be sufficiently sterilized under sterilization conditions of 10 ° C for 10 minutes. Alternatively, the treatment liquid can be mixed with a liquid obtained by another production method, or mixed with vegetable juice or the like to be contained in food.
For example, it may be mixed with agar or the like to prepare jelly, or sherbet, frozen yogurt or ice cream.

In one embodiment, the methionine-treated product or treatment liquid is dried and powdered to obtain a dry form of food material, for example, methionine-treated powder (one form of methionine-treated product) or treatment liquid powder (of treatment liquid). One form). Drying of methionine-treated product or treatment solution
Although various methods commonly used by those skilled in the art are used, freeze drying and spray drying are preferably used. When spray-drying, if necessary, an excipient such as dextrin, cyclodextrin, starch or maltose is added. Dextrin is preferably used, and when the methionine-treated product is dried, the weight ratio of the methionine-treated product and the dextrin is preferably 1: 5 to 10: 1. When the treatment liquid is dried, the treatment liquid and the dextrin are preferably mixed. The weight ratio is preferably 1:10 to 5: 1.

The methionine-treated product or treatment liquid thus obtained is combined with other food materials such as royal jelly, vitamins, minerals, chitin / chitosan, and lecithin, if necessary. In the case of a health material having an anti-ulcer effect, a combination with vitamin C having an anti-stress effect is preferable. Further, it is formed into capsules such as hard capsules and soft capsules, tablets or pills, or powders, granules, tea bags and the like. These can be drunk as they are, or by dissolving them in water, hot water, milk, or the like, or by leaching the ingredients, depending on the shape or taste.

The present invention will be described below, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

[0046]

Examples (Examples 1 to 6) After washing cabbage with water,
100 mL of 0.1 wt% methionine aqueous solution was added to 100 g of cabbage crushed into 1 mm square blocks. The resulting methionine-treated mixture was placed in a vinyl bag, deaerated, and treated under the conditions shown in Table 1. After processing,
The methionine-treated product was made into a paste with a juicer, and half of each sample was centrifuged to collect the treatment liquid. The obtained methionine-treated product and treatment solution are lyophilized,
A methionine-treated powder and a treated liquid powder were used, and the amount of vitamin U contained in each was measured by liquid chromatography. The measuring equipment and conditions are as follows. The results are shown in Table 1. Vitamin U amount measurement conditions Model: JLC-600 / V (manufactured by JEOL Ltd.) Column: LCR-6 Φ 4 mm x 120 mm (manufactured by JEOL Ltd.) Mobile phase: citrate buffer (JEOL Ltd.) Reaction Liquid: Ninhydrin reagent (manufactured by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.) Specimen: To 1 g of methionine-treated powder or powder of treated liquid, 25 mL of purified water was added and dissolved, followed by filtration with a filter to provide 20 μL of the dissolved liquid. Standard reagent: Vitamin U (manufactured by Tokyo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.)

Comparative Examples 1 to 6 Examples 1 to 1 except that purified water was added instead of the 0.1 wt% methionine aqueous solution.
The same procedure as in Example 6 was performed, and the amount of vitamin U contained in the obtained methionine-treated powder and the treated liquid powder was measured by liquid chromatography. The results are also shown in Table 1.

[0048]

[Table 1]

It can be seen from Table 1 that the treatment with methionine contains vitamin U at a high concentration. Furthermore, as a result of calculating the rate of increase in the vitamin U content due to the addition of methionine as an example / comparative example, 20 ° C to 30 ° C
The highest value was 2.2 times to 2.3 times. Furthermore, at the treatment temperature of 10 ° C., no significant increase in the vitamin U content was observed in 12 hours, but in the 5 days, the vitamin U content was 1.5 to 2 times that in the case where methionine was not added. It became 0.0 times.

(Examples 7 to 11) After washing the cabbage with water, 100 g of the cabbage was crushed into blocks of 1 mm square.
100 mL of a 0.1% by weight methionine aqueous solution was added. The resulting methionine-treated mixture was placed in a vinyl bag, degassed, treated at 25 ° C., and the methionine-treated product was separated over time. The subsequent operation of the obtained methionine-treated product was carried out in the same manner as in Examples 1 to 6, and the amount of vitamin U contained in the methionine-treated powder and the treated liquid powder was measured by liquid chromatography. The results are shown in Table 2.

Comparative Examples 7 to 11 Example 7 except that purified water was added instead of the 0.1 wt% methionine aqueous solution.
Was carried out in the same manner as described above, and the amount of vitamin U contained in the obtained methionine-treated powder and the treated liquid powder was measured by liquid chromatography. The results are also shown in Table 2.

[0052]

[Table 2]

From the results shown in Table 2, it is understood that the methionine-treated product containing the high concentration of vitamin U and the treated liquid powder can be obtained by the methionine treatment in a short time.

(Examples 12 and 13) Cabbage 1 was prepared by washing the cabbage with water and then crushing it into blocks of 1 mm square.
1 L of 0.1 wt% methionine aqueous solution was added to kg. Transfer the resulting methionine-treated mixture to a fermentor,
The gas phase was replaced with nitrogen and treated at 25 ° C. for 12 hours. The subsequent operation of the obtained methionine-treated product was carried out in the same manner as in Examples 1 to 6, and the amount of vitamin U contained in the methionine-treated powder and the treated liquid powder was measured by liquid chromatography. The results are shown in Table 3.

Comparative Examples 12 and 13 The procedure of Examples 12 and 13 was repeated, except that purified water was added instead of the 0.1 wt% methionine aqueous solution, to obtain the methionine-treated powder and the treated liquid powder. The amount of vitamin U contained was measured by liquid chromatography. The results are shown in Table 3.
Are also shown.

[0056]

[Table 3]

From the results shown in Table 3, it is understood that the methionine-treated product and the treated liquid containing vitamin U at a high concentration can be obtained by the methionine treatment. Further, it was found that the shape of the cabbage used for the methionine treatment is more preferable to the block shape than the paste shape, because the obtained methionine-treated product and the treatment liquid contain a large amount of vitamin U.

(Examples 14 to 17) Four kinds of vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, and leeks) were crushed into blocks of 1 mm square, and 100 mL of 0.1% by weight methionine solution was added to 100 g of each vegetable. Was added.
The resulting methionine-treated mixture was placed in a vinyl bag, degassed, and treated at 25 ° C. for 12 hours. The subsequent operation of the obtained methionine-treated product was carried out in the same manner as in Examples 1 to 6, and the amount of vitamin U contained in the methionine-treated powder and the treated liquid powder was measured by liquid chromatography.
The results are shown in Table 4.

Comparative Examples 14 to 17 Examples 14 to 1 except that water was used instead of the 0.1% by weight methionine solution.
The same procedure as in Example 7 was carried out, and the amount of vitamin U contained in the methionine-treated powder and the treated liquid powder of each vegetable was measured by liquid chromatography. The results are also shown in Table 4.

[0060]

[Table 4]

From the results in Table 4, it can be seen that the vitamin U content in the plant is increased by the treatment with methionine. Furthermore, as a result of calculating the rate of increase in the vitamin U content of each vegetable by the methionine treatment as an example / comparative example, the cabbage was the highest, and the cabbage increased about twice.

(Examples 18 and 19) Cabbage 1 was obtained by washing the cabbage with water and then crushing it into blocks of 1 mm square.
A methionine-treated mixture in which 1 L of 0.1% by weight methionine aqueous solution was added to kg, and a methionine-treated mixture in which 0.5 g of dry lactic acid bacterial powder was added to the methionine-treated mixture were prepared. Transfer each of these methionine-treated mixtures to a fermentor, replace the gas phase with nitrogen, and
Fermentation was carried out at 12 ° C. for 12 hours (Examples 18 and 19). The obtained methionine-treated product was made into a paste with a juicer, and half of each sample was centrifuged to collect a fermentation broth. The obtained methionine-treated product and treatment liquid were freeze-dried to obtain a methionine-treated powder and treatment liquid powder, and the amount of vitamin U contained in each was measured by liquid chromatography in the same manner as in Examples 1-6. The results are shown in Table 5.
Shown in.

Comparative Examples 18 and 19 Example 18 except that water was used instead of the 0.1 wt% methionine solution.
Then, the amount of vitamin U contained in the obtained methionine-treated powder and the treated liquid powder was measured by liquid chromatography. The results are also shown in Table 5.

[0064]

[Table 5]

From the results shown in Table 5, it was found that the vitamin U content was increased even when methionine and lactic acid bacteria were added.

Example 20 After washing the cabbage with water,
1 L of 0.1% by weight methionine aqueous solution and 0.5 g of dried lactic acid bacteria powder were added to 1 kg of cabbage crushed into 1 mm square blocks, the gas phase was replaced with nitrogen, and the temperature was set to 25 ° C.
Fermented for 6 hours. After the fermentation was completed, the treated methionine product was made into a paste with a juicer and centrifuged to collect the treated liquid. This treatment liquid was sterilized by boiling in water at 85 ° C. for 10 minutes, and then dextrin was added so that the weight ratio of treatment liquid: dextrin was 1: 2, and spray drying was performed to obtain a treatment liquid powder. The resulting treated liquid powder was a food material in which an organic acid was produced, had a moderate sourness, was excellent in palatability, and was excellent in improving gastrointestinal function.

[0067]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION By treating a plant containing vitamin U with methionine, the content of vitamin U in the plant can be increased.

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Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for increasing the content of vitamin U in a plant, which comprises the step of treating a plant containing vitamin U with methionine. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the methionine treatment is carried out in a methionine treatment mixture containing 0.005% to 30% by weight of methionine. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the methionine treatment is performed at 4 ° C. to 50 ° C. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the methionine treatment is further performed by adding lactic acid bacteria. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plant containing vitamin U is cabbage.