JP4666652B2 - Oral skin improver containing cranberry extract as an active ingredient - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an oral skin improver comprising a cranberry extract as an active ingredient.

  Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) Is a plant of the Azalea family Vulgaris genus Cloverberry that grows in cold regions such as North America and grows small fruits. In the United States, varieties have been improved and cultivated on a large scale. Although cranberry fruits can be eaten as they are, they have been widely used as dried fruits and as raw materials for beverages such as juice, cooking sauces, jams, and jelly sweets. In addition, it is known that ingestion of cranberry juice is effective for urinary tract infections (see Non-Patent Document 1).

Conventionally, as examples of cosmetics using cranberries, skin crushing agents and cosmetics mainly composed of an anthocyanin polymer cranberry fruit pressed filtrate and / or extract (see Patent Document 1), cranberry fruit juice and A skin external preparation (see Patent Document 2) containing a medicinal agent such as a cranberry fruit extract and a whitening agent, an antioxidant, an anti-inflammatory agent, a cell activator, and an ultraviolet light inhibitor is known. However, these are all external preparations for skin and have not been known for oral use.
J. et al. Am. Med. Association, 271: 751-754, 1994. Japanese Patent No. 3156828 JP 2002-275080 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an oral skin improver comprising a cranberry extract as an active ingredient.

  As a result of intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have found that the cranberry extract is useful as an oral skin improvement agent and completed the present invention. That is, this invention is an oral skin improvement agent described below.

(1) An oral skin improvement agent comprising a cranberry extract as an active ingredient.

(2) The oral skin improver has one or more of the functions of moisturizing the skin, adjusting the amount of sebum, maintaining the elasticity of the skin, or maintaining the peripheral blood circulation, (1) Oral skin improver.

(3) A food or drink or a pharmaceutical comprising the oral skin improver according to (1) or (2).

FIG. 1 shows the measurement results of skin condition changes by self-reporting described in the examples. FIG. 2 shows the measurement results of visual inspection and palpation by a beauty specialist described in the examples.

  The present invention is an oral skin improver comprising a cranberry extract as an active ingredient.

  The cranberry extract as an active ingredient is, for example, a fruit juice obtained by squeezing cranberry fruit by a conventional method or a concentrate thereof, and an excipient such as dextrin is added to and mixed with the fruit juice or the concentrated fruit juice. This refers to those containing solid content in cranberry juice obtained by means such as spray drying or freeze drying, or extracts extracted from cranberry fruits, pericarps and seeds using a suitable solvent. These cranberry extracts exhibit an effect of improving the skin when taken orally.

  Examples of the active ingredient in the cranberry extract obtained in the present invention include polyphenols such as proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins and flavonol glycosides, organic acids such as quinic acid and citric acid, inorganic substances and vitamins. Among these, those containing a large amount of polyphenols such as proanthocyanidins and anthocyanins and organic acids such as quinic acid are preferable.

  The solvent used for the extraction treatment is not particularly limited, and a normal polar solvent, a bipolar solvent, or the like can be used. As the solvent, for example, water, an organic solvent or a solvent containing the same, a mixed solution of water and an organic solvent, or the like can be used. Examples of the organic solvent include lower alcohols (specifically ethanol, methanol, propanol, butanol), ethers (specifically diethyl ether), halogenated hydrocarbons (specifically chloroform), nitriles (specifically In addition to acetonitrile), esters (specifically ethyl acetate), ketones (specifically acetone), etc., there are hexane, dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethylformamide, etc., but from the viewpoint of workability, ethanol, Methanol or ethyl acetate is preferred. Two or more organic solvents may be mixed and used.

In addition, in order to concentrate and refine | purify the active ingredient in a cranberry extract, you may perform further solvent extraction, a synthetic adsorbent, an ion exchange resin process, etc.
As shown in the examples, the cranberry extract has functions such as moisturizing the skin, adjusting the amount of sebum, maintaining the elasticity of the skin, and maintaining the peripheral blood circulation, and thus is useful as an oral skin improvement agent.

  Moisturizing the skin means maintaining a good skin moisture content and improving the smoothness, smoothness and moistness of the skin.

  The adjustment of sebum amount means that the amount of sebum is adjusted well to improve the oiliness, acne, pimples, etc. of the skin.

  Keeping skin elasticity means maintaining good skin elasticity and improving skin tension and sagging under the eyes.

  The term “peripheral blood circulation maintenance” refers to maintaining good peripheral blood circulation function and improving cooling performance.

  The agent of the present invention can be used in liquid or solid form as it is or added to food and drink, water or pharmaceuticals. As long as it can be used for oral use, the form of the agent is not particularly limited, and it can be a tablet, capsule, granule, powder, or liquid. The intake of the active ingredient may be appropriately set according to the concentration / purification degree of the active ingredient, the purpose of administration, and the condition of the user's skin. For example, when used for oral use, The amount of active ingredient per day is 0.0001 to 50 g / kg, preferably 0.0005 to 25 g / kg, more preferably about 0.001 to 10 g / kg.

  The oral skin improver of the present invention is preferably used continuously, and is preferably used continuously for at least 2 weeks, preferably 4 weeks or more, more preferably 8 weeks or more.

  Hereinafter, methods for confirming the skin-improving action of the cranberry extract of the present invention and the results thereof are shown by Examples. The present invention is not limited to these examples.

(Skin improvement effect by oral intake of cranberry extract)
Twenty-four healthy women aged 33 to 38 who agreed to participate in the study were divided into two groups (12 subjects), a test group and a control group. In the test group, 125 ml of a commercially available beverage containing 65% cranberry juice (cranberry UR65, Kikkoman Corporation) was drunk daily in the morning and evening. In the control group, a seasonal variation measurement monitor was used without specifying drink intake. The test period was 4 weeks. At the start and after 4 weeks, changes in skin condition and physical condition by self-report, skin diagnosis by a beauty specialist, skin moisture content and elasticity, and measurement of peripheral blood circulation function were performed. Each measurement was carried out after sitting for 20 minutes in an environmental test chamber adjusted to 23 ° C. and humidity 50% RH after washing the face.

  Changes in skin condition and physical condition due to self-report were conducted by questionnaire survey, and the changes were quantified. FIG. 1 shows changes in the skin condition by self-assessment after 4 weeks with reference to the start time. In the average value of 12 people, the test group showed an improvement trend in all the evaluation items compared with the control group. In particular, statistically significant differences were observed in the items of “oiliness”, “beam”, “acne / pimple”, “transparency”, and “overall skin evaluation”. As a result, the skin improvement effect by oral ingestion was confirmed in the test group.

  Skin diagnosis by a beauty specialist was performed by visual inspection and palpation, and the changes were quantified. FIG. 2 shows changes in skin condition due to visual inspection and palpation after 4 weeks with reference to the start time. In the average value of 12 people, the test group showed an improvement trend in all the evaluation items compared with the control group. In particular, statistically significant differences were observed in the items of “eye wrinkles”, “sagging under eyes”, “goodness of elasticity”, and “overall skin evaluation”. As a result, the skin improvement effect by oral ingestion was confirmed in the test group.

  The skin moisture content was determined by measuring the moisture content of the stratum corneum at the cheek center using an electrical conductivity type trade name SKICON-200 (manufactured by IBS). As a result, the amount of change in the amount of water after 4 weeks with respect to the start time was +6.9 μS in the test group and −0.7 μS in the control group, and a good skin moisturizing effect was observed in the test group. The oral skin improvement agent of the present invention has a function of moisturizing the skin in combination with the results of improvement of “smoothness” by self-reporting, “smoothness” and “moistness” by palpation. I understand.

  The amount of sebum was determined by measuring the sebum level on the left eyebrow using a transmitted light ratio type cebumeter and patterning it. As a result, the amount of sebum after 4 weeks on the basis of the starting time was 4 improvement in the test group, 4 unchanged, 4 worse, 0 improved in the control group, 7 no change, 5 worse became. This indicates that the amount of sebum that deteriorated in the control group, which is a seasonal variation monitor during the test period, is maintained in the test group. Considering the results of the improvement of “oiliness” and “acne / pimple” by self-reporting, it can be seen that the oral skin improvement agent of the present invention has a function of regulating sebum amount.

  The skin elasticity was measured by using a cute meter SEM575 (manufactured by Integral Co., Ltd.) and measuring the skin elasticity (suction return rate) of the region on the right cheekbone. As a result, the rate of change in skin elasticity after 4 weeks with reference to the start time was + 5.9% in the test group and -3.9% in the control group, which showed a good skin elasticity improvement effect in the test group. Admitted. Combined with the results of self-reported improvement of “beam”, improvement of “sag under the eyes” by visual inspection, and improvement of “goodness of beam” by palpation, the oral skin improvement agent of the present invention maintains the elasticity of the skin. It turns out that it has the function of.

  The peripheral blood circulation function was measured using a BC checker (acceleration pulse wave measurement system, manufactured by Future Wave) with the index fingertip placed on the sensor portion and the fingertip pulse wave as a score value. As a result, the amount of change in the peripheral blood circulation function score value after 4 weeks with respect to the start time was +3.9 in the test group and -23.9 in the control group. This indicates that the peripheral blood circulation function deteriorated in the control group, which is a seasonal variation monitor during the test period, is maintained in the test group. Considering the result of improvement of “coolability” by self-reporting, it can be seen that the oral skin improvement agent of the present invention has a function of maintaining peripheral blood circulation.

  The oral skin improvement agent of the present invention has functions such as skin moisturization, sebum amount adjustment, skin elasticity retention, peripheral blood circulation retention, and the like, and is useful in the fields of pharmaceuticals and foods.

Claims (8)

  An oral skin improvement agent characterized by containing cranberry extract as an active ingredient, wherein the oral skin improvement agent is used for moisturizing the skin, adjusting the amount of sebum, or maintaining the elasticity of the skin. An oral skin-improving agent, characterized by   The oral skin-improving agent according to claim 1, wherein the cranberry extract contains polyphenol and an organic acid.   The oral skin improvement agent according to claim 1, wherein the cranberry extract contains proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins, flavonol glycosides, quinic acid and citric acid.   The oral skin improver according to claim 1, wherein the cranberry extract contains proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins and quinic acid.   The oral skin improver according to claim 1, wherein the cranberry extract is taken as an active ingredient and is taken in an amount of 0.0001 to 50 g / kg per day with respect to the weight of the user.   The oral skin-improving agent according to claim 1, wherein the cranberry extract is taken as an active ingredient and is taken in an amount of 0.0005 to 25 g / kg per day with respect to the weight of the user.   The oral skin-improving agent according to claim 1, wherein the cranberry extract is taken as an active ingredient in an amount of 0.001 to 10 g / kg per day with respect to the weight of the user.   The oral skin improving agent according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the oral skin improving agent is further used for maintaining peripheral blood circulation.

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