JPH02117655A - Water hyacinth carotene - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a water hyacinth carotene useful for the prevention of degenerative diseases including cancers and the prevention of aging, etc., from fresh or dried water hyacinth which is easily available in large quantities by extracting the water hyacinth with a carotene-extractant. CONSTITUTION:The objective water hyacinth carotene can be produced by extracting fresh or dried water hyacinth with a carotene-extractant such as petroleum ether, benzene or n-hexane. Especially, n-hexane is preferable because of its excellent extracting performance and low toxicity. The objective carotene can be easily produced in large quantities from a raw material which is easily available in large quantities from nature or by cultivation. The process is useful for the effective utilization of hardly disposable water hyacinth.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Industrial application field> Eichhornia crassip
cs (Matl,) S.

1m5) is a perennial aquatic plant native to South America, distributed throughout the tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions.

This hotiaoi! It has a strong reproductive capacity, and from spring to autumn it grows more than twice as much as the LO['J, and its removal requires a huge amount of money and energy f,'A.

In addition, water hyacinth exhibits a high reproductive capacity even in sewage, and can be used for water purification, especially the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus that cause eutrophication, and heavy metals in sewage, as well as for use as feed and fertilizer for animals and plants. It is also effectively used as a soil conditioner and in methane fermentation as biomass.

The present invention was made as part of the effective utilization of water hyacinth, and relates to its useful component - hydrangea carotene.

<Prior art> Carotene (Carot, cnc) is C41JII, l
It is a kind of red or yellow carotenoid hydrocarbon that exists in nature and consists of an ionone ring and a polyene ring. Depending on the bond, it can be divided into three types: α-carotene, β-carotene, and γ-carotene.

All of these carotenes are known to have the effect of provitamin A, and there are detailed reports on β-carotene in particular (Food and Development).

1 (23), +356~P61 ('88)). This paper includes not only the effects of β-carotene as a natural colorant and provitamin A that converts into vitamin A in the body, but also antioxidant effects, immunostimulatory effects, anti-carcinogenic effects, and prevention of the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays. , its action as an effective medicine is described. Conventional carotene, as reported in this paper, was produced by culturing the microorganism Euglena as a raw material, which had the disadvantage of a very low yield rate. In particular, complete controlled culture using artificial light in a culture tank is currently considered difficult to commercialize due to cost and technical constraints.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> The present inventors have focused on β-carotene, which has many effective effects, and have studied methods that can obtain a large amount of the raw material and obtain it effectively.

Water hyacinth, which is abundant in nature or used for wastewater purification, will appear withered in winter if left untreated.
They often rot and damage the environment.

The present invention aims to provide carotene from water hyacinth, which has not hitherto been used as a raw material, by utilizing the water hyacinth before it withers.

<Means for Solving the Problems> This is the first attempt to obtain carotene from water hyacinth, and the carotene of the present invention can be obtained by extracting carotene from fresh or dried water hyacinth (regardless of water content) It is extracted with a chemical agent. The carotene extractants mentioned here are petroleum ether, benzene, and n-hexane, and n-hexane exhibits particularly high extraction ability.
It is also excellent with low toxicity. By extracting with these solvents, carotenes with various compositions are extracted according to the nature of the extractant, resulting in a comprehensive carotene with complex components.

<Function> According to the present invention, carotene can be efficiently obtained from water hyacinth by solvent extraction. In addition, compared to conventional culture methods, raw materials can be obtained easily and in large quantities, so carotene can be provided in large quantities.

<Example> Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to Examples.

The operating procedure for obtaining the water hyacinth carotene of the present invention is shown in FIG.

The collected water hyacinth was collected during the growing season in May. Wash this water hyacinth thoroughly and store it at 80℃.
It was dried for 24 hours. 3g of this dried water hyacinth has n-
200 mQ of hexane was added and extraction was performed using a Soxhlet extractor over 5 hours. This extracted intracellular free carotene. The amount of carotene in each of the obtained solutions was determined by the following spectrophotometric method.

First of all, in order to understand the behavior of β-carotene in various solvents, the absorbance i! I'J was determined. The results are shown in Figure 2. Petroleum ether, benzene, and n-hexane were used as solvents according to literature. The concentration of carotene was 2 μg/
mQ, spectrophotometer
ctcr 228A (manufactured by Hitachi, Ltd.). ■ is a substance dissolved in petroleum ether and has a wavelength of 452 nm.
.

It showed peaks at 479 nm and 427 nm. ■ is the spectrum 1 of a substance dissolved in benzene, which draws a similar curve, but its sensitivity is slightly higher than the absorbance of petroleum ether.
It only got better. ① is a solution of n-hexane, and a peak is seen at the same position as ①, but the absorbance was approximately three times that of ① petroleum ether. From these results, n-hexane dissolved β-carotene best among the three types of solvents, so n-hexane was used as the solvent from now on.

The calibration curve was created as follows. The concentration of each β-carotene standard solution was set to 0 to 2 μg/rnQ.

Then, the highest peak at 452 nm is A, and the second highest peak is 13. The third highest peak was designated as C, and a calibration curve was created using these (Figure 3).

Based on these, when the water hyacinth extract was actually measured using a spectrophotometer: Although a peak was observed at 479 nm as shown in Figure 4,
There was a large peak in the vicinity that was thought to be due to a fat-soluble substance, and it was difficult to quantify it.

Therefore, further fractionation was performed by column chroma 1-graphy. The fat-soluble components of water hyacinth are passed through an aluminum oxide column to form ether: ligroin.
After fractionation with a mixed solution of No. 95, the globin was removed by evaporation with ether, and the residue was diluted with n-hexane to a certain amount, and the absorbance was measured again (FIG. 5). As a result of quantification using the above-mentioned calibration curve, it was found that 153.3 μg/g of β-carotene was contained per dry water oyster, which was 8.1 μIE/g when converted to fresh water.

<Effects of the Invention> Since the raw material for the water hyacinth carotene of the present invention can be obtained in large quantities in nature or through cultivation, it can be mass-produced without solid walls, and its production has improved
This opens the way to the effective use of water hyacinth, which was difficult to dispose of. Carotene is attracting a lot of attention in relation to the prevention of adult diseases including cancer, anti-aging, and cosmetics, and this will be further promoted by the provision of water hyacinth carotene of the present invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flow sheet 1- showing the extraction process of water hyacinth carotene. Figure 2 shows visible absorption spectra of various solvents. FIG. 3 is a calibration curve for β-carotene. FIG. 4 is a visible absorption spectrum of water hyacinth extract obtained by n-hexane. Figure 5 (Visible absorption spectra of column chroma 1 to fractions of Doma water hyacinth extract.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Water hyacinth carotene extracted from fresh or dried water hyacinth using a carotene extractant. 2. Water hyacinth carotene according to claim 1, wherein the carotene extractant is an organic solvent such as petroleum ether, benzene, or n-hexane.