JPH067115A - Food/beverage additive for immunopotentiation and method for imparting food/beverage with immunopotentiation effect - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an additive free from concern for side effects, excellent in macrophage-activating effect and natural killer cell-activating effect, containing, as active ingredient, a specific fermentation product. CONSTITUTION:This additive containing, as active ingreadient, a fermentation product which can be obtained inoculating (A) Bacillus subtilis or analogous microbes into (B) vegetables selected from sweet potatoes, potatoes, taros (Colocasia antiquorum), okra and lily roots, followed by aerobic culture. This additive is added at pref. 0.1-50wt.% to a food/beverage.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food and drink additive for immunopotentiation and a method for imparting an immunopotentiation effect to food and drink, which is characterized by adding the additive to food and drink. More specifically, it has a high macrophage activating ability. The present invention also relates to a food / drink additive for immunopotentiation, which has a natural killer cell activating ability and which contains, as an active ingredient, a specific ingredient that enhances the immune function of the living body, and a method for imparting an immunopotentiation effect to foods and drinks using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various diseases which are considered to be based on the reduction of the immune ability of the living body include, for example, cancer and various pathogenic microbial infectious diseases, and various immunity enhancements have been performed so far for the purpose of preventing or treating these diseases. Agents have been reported. For example, OK-432, PSK, lentinan, etc. are actually used as immunotherapeutic agents for cancer (Osaka Prefectural Hospital Pharmacists' Association, "Handbook of Pharmaceuticals (4th Edition)" (issued March 31, 1988). ) Yakugyo Jikhosha, p. 1500), and other immunopotentiating effects of polysaccharides isolated from various microorganisms and plants have been reported (Miyazaki Toshio, "Structure and Bioactivity of Polysaccharides," pages 16-22. (19
90), Asakura Shoten; Taku Mizuno, Journal of Japan Society for Agricultural Chemistry, 63, 86
1-865 (1989)). However, all of these immunopotentiators have problems such as showing serious side effects such as shock symptoms and fever.

On the other hand, in the development of food, its primary and secondary functions, namely, nutritional properties and preference properties, have formed two major fields of research for a long time. A tertiary function called a characteristic was found,
Functional foods have been attracting attention as foods that are useful for the prevention of specific diseases that are being scientifically elucidated. Functional foods having an immunopotentiating effect as described above have also been proposed, for example, those containing the bacterial cells from which the capsule has been removed as an active ingredient (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 244367/1993), those containing egg white (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 3-251537), those containing a milk-derived sialic acid-binding protein (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-284133), and the like are fields in which further research is expected in the future.

Sweet potato, potato, taro, urine and okra, which are raw materials of the active ingredient of the present invention, are all vegetables for daily edible use, and microorganisms of Bacillus subtilis or its related species, such as natto. Bacteria are used in food. Foods that use these in combination include a method in which heat-treated potatoes and other vegetables are inoculated with Bacillus natto and cultured to produce a digestible vegetable material (JP-A-4-51863), steamed potatoes. A method for producing a plant-mayonnaise-like seasoning mainly made from soybeans, which contains mucous potatoes obtained by cultivating Bacillus natto (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52-3846), and the potato protein originates from Bacillus microorganisms. Nutritional composition containing a peptide composition obtained by hydrolysis with a protease of
-20060 publication) is proposed. However, there is no report that any of the foods enhances the immune ability of the living body.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a functional food, which is currently in the spotlight, and which can be easily used without worrying about side effects by using a food that is used for daily use. An object is to provide a food and drink additive for immunity enhancement capable of incorporating the effect and a method for imparting an immunity enhancing effect to foods and drinks using the same.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have found that among the tertiary functions which are considered to have potential in foods, the immunopotentiating effect, particularly the immunopotentiating effect, is used for fermentation treatment by microorganisms. Yamano yam, which has been used for daily diet and has not been shown to have an immunopotentiating effect as it is, does not show an immunopotentiating effect as it is, but by performing fermentation treatment using a Bacillus microorganism, particularly Bacillus subtilis. It has an excellent defense effect against infection, and this effect is not the effect of Bacillus subtilis itself,
We found that the effect of the ingredients in yam was caused by changes such as decomposition, and filed a patent application for a functional food containing this fermented product as an active ingredient (Japanese Patent Application No. 3-4735). . Therefore, as a result of further fermenting a large number of foods and further examining the manifestation or activation of the immunopotentiating effect, sweet potato, potato, taro, yurine and okra were infected with Bacillus subtilis or its closely related microorganisms. The fermented product obtained by inoculating and culturing the same has high macrophage activating ability and natural killer cell activating ability not found in the untreated homogenates of these vegetables, and enhances the immune ability of the living body. The present invention has been completed by finding that it has an effect and found that an additive for food and drink for immunity enhancement containing the fermented product as an active ingredient solves the above-mentioned problems.

That is, according to the present invention, a fermented product obtained by inoculating a microorganism selected from the group consisting of sweet potato, potato, taro, jurine and okra with Bacillus subtilis or its closely related microorganism and culturing the same The present invention provides a food and drink additive for immunity enhancement as an active ingredient, and a method for imparting an immunopotentiation effect to food and drink, which comprises adding the additive to a beverage or food.

The present invention will be described in detail below. The immune-enhancing effect in the present invention means not only the effect of activating the immune function of the living body, but also the effect of restoring that function to a normal state when the immune function of the living body is lowered for some reason. Is also included.

Sweet potatoes, potatoes, used in the present invention,
All of taro, yurine and okra are commercially available for food and do not have any adverse effects on the human body. Sweet potato is a bindweed family (Convo
Lvulaceae) is a tuber root of I. batatas of the genus Sweet potato (Ipomaea), and there are many varieties such as Norin No. 1, Red Norin, Kintoki, and any varieties can be used in the present invention.

[0010] Potato is a genus of Solanaceae.
It is a tuber of S.tuberosum, a plant of (Solanum), and there are many varieties such as Baron, May Queen, Norin 1 and Benmaru,
In the present invention, any kind of product can be used.

[0011] Taro is a corm of C. antiquorum, a plant of the genus Araceae (Colocasia), and its varieties are extremely large. In Japan, red buds, earthen drops, Ishikawa early life, taro, eight-headed crabs, etc. It is cultivated in large numbers and is mainly classified by the way potatoes are attached, but in the present invention, any variety can be used.

[0012] Lilium is a lily family (Liliaceae)
is a bulb of a plant belonging to ium), and is a lily (L.lancifoli
um), Kouniyuri (L. leichtlinii), Yamayuri (L. aurat)
um) or the like, but any of them can be used in the present invention.

Okra is a genus of Malvaceae
(Hibiscus) is a young pod after flowering of the American neri (H. esculentus).

These vegetables do not show the immunopotentiating effect aimed at by the present invention when they are ingested as they are or after being cooked by ordinary heating, but Bacillus subtilis (Bacillus subtilis) or its By inoculating a microorganism of a closely related species and culturing it, an immune enhancing effect can be expressed. The microorganisms closely related to Bacillus subtilis as used herein include, for example, Bacillus pumilus and B. licheni.
formis) and the like. The natto fungus (B.natto) used in the production of natto, which has been conventionally known as a nutritional food, is now classified as the same as Bacillus subtilis, and may be mentioned as a particularly preferable microorganism. it can.

The method of culturing is not particularly limited,
As a specific method, for example, the following method can be shown. The raw material vegetables are cut into flat plates or prisms, shallowly accumulated, cultured and fermented. Cut the raw vegetables into dice, add an appropriate amount of water, and cultivate and ferment with stirring. Peel and grind the raw material vegetables, add water, remove insolubles, and culture and ferment. The microorganisms are separately cultured in an appropriate culture medium until the end of the logarithmic growth phase to collect the cells, and the same amount of raw vegetables as the culture medium is mixed and cultured to ferment. The bacterial cells collected in the same manner as above are crushed under cooling using a means such as ultrasonic waves to prepare an extract of bacterial cells, and the raw material vegetables are mixed and fermented.

In any of the methods, usually, a sterilization treatment is carried out before inoculating a microorganism and culturing. the above~
In the method (1), the method (2) is particularly preferable because it can be expected that the consumption of the nutrients of the raw material vegetables required for the growth of the microorganism can be minimized. The method (1) is particularly preferable because, in addition to the reason (1), the degree of fermentation can be freely controlled. That is, it is unclear by what kind of reaction the expression of the immune enhancing effect by the microorganism is achieved,
When protease activity was measured as one of the indicators, it was confirmed that there was a positive correlation between the protease activity of the extract of sonicated cells and the immunopotentiating effect expressed by this extract. By using, it is possible to obtain an immunopotentiating effect of a desired strength.

Depending on the culturing method, it is not necessary to use anything other than the raw vegetables or raw vegetables and water as the culture medium, but if necessary, it is particularly limited as long as it is a culture medium for other commercially available general bacteria. Can be used without. For example, dried broth, heart infusion broth, trypsoya broth and the like manufactured by Nissui Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. can be used. Further, a mixture prepared by mixing ingredients such as meat extract and peptone can also be used.

Next, the temperature for culturing is about 20 ° C.
The temperature may be adjusted to -40 ° C, particularly preferably about 30 ° C to 35 ° C. In addition, since the growth of the microorganism used in the present invention requires oxygen, the culture is performed under aerobic conditions. Especially for sedimentary culture, thin the sedimentary layer to facilitate ventilation,
It is desirable to avoid close packing. For liquid culture,
Shaking, swirling or aeration / agitation methods are preferable. The time required for culturing varies depending on the type and amount of the microorganism to be inoculated, but it is usually about 72 hours to 200 hours.
It is preferable to set the time. The completion of the fermentation reaction can be determined by, for example, sterilizing the culture solution and then expressing the macrophage activating ability.

The obtained culture solution is sterilized by heating or solidified.
The cells are removed by liquid separation, such as centrifugation or membrane filtration. However, in the case of heat sterilization, since the microorganism used in the present invention is a spore bacterium, more severe conditions are required than other general microorganisms, and under such conditions, the progress of the browning reaction and changes in physical properties. Since there is a possibility that the immune enhancing effect is diminished, it is desirable to adopt a method other than heat sterilization in order to avoid this. In the case of sedimentary culture, the bacterial cells may not be removed, but may be dried or frozen to suppress the growth and metabolic activity of microorganisms.

The fermented product thus obtained may be liquid or solid depending on the culture method, and may be used as it is for the immunopotentiated food or drink of the present invention. May be dried by means such as freeze-drying, and when it is solid, it may be dried and pulverized to be used in the form of powder.

The active ingredient thus obtained can be eaten without being processed as it is, for example, as seasoned with natto, but in the present invention, known excipients for foods, emulsifiers, Preservatives, preservatives, stabilizers, sweeteners, colorants, flavors and the like may be appropriately mixed to be processed into various forms such as liquid, stick, cube, card, granule and tablet. These unprocessed or processed products,
It can be used as an additive to various foods. For example, it can be used as a raw material for seasonings such as miso, soy sauce, and mentsuyu, as well as for addition to desserts and confectionery, as a binder during noodle production, and as a sprinkle. The active ingredient content is
It may be appropriately determined in consideration of the purpose of use, for example, when used as a tablet, about 10 to 50% by weight of the whole food,
3% by weight of the whole when added to miso or noodle soup
When added to confectioneries such as snacks and snacks, it is advisable to set the amount to about 0.1 to 1% by weight of the whole.

The thus obtained food / drug additive for immunopotentiation of the present invention is used by adding it to various foods. Usually, in adults, the amount of active ingredient is about 200 mg to 1,000 m per day.
If you ingest it to g, you can expect the desired effect.

[0023]

EXAMPLES Next, the production examples of the active ingredient of the present invention and the test examples for the effects will be described, and the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the examples, but the present invention is not limited to these. Absent. In the examples, the method for producing confectionery is described in Toshio Igarashi, "The Complete Collection of Western Confectionery Processes Top, Middle, Bottom, Complete Edition".
(1982) Numata Shoten; “Culinary Encyclopedia” edited by Shufu to Seikatsusha (1977)
Shufu-to-Seikatsusha; Referenced Asakura Shoten, "Confectionery Dictionary" (1981) edited by Nagao Watanabe.

[Production Example of Active Ingredient] Production Example 1 100 g of peeled taro (8 heads) was ground with 200 g of water in a homogenizer, gently stirred at room temperature for 1 hour, and then centrifuged at 10,000 × g for 30 minutes. Then, 100 ml of the resulting supernatant was put in a 500 ml Sakaguchi flask, a cotton stopper was placed, and heat sterilization was performed at 121 ° C. for 20 minutes. Add to this the culture medium of the same composition in advance at 30 ℃
2 ml of Bacillus subtilis culture broth cultivated for 24 hours at 30 ° C. was inoculated and shake cultivated at 30 ° C. for 120 hours.

After the culture is completed, the culture solution is kept at 5 ° C. and 13,000 × g.
The cells were precipitated by centrifugation for 30 minutes, and the obtained supernatant was freeze-dried to obtain 0.97 g of a light gray powder. The composition of this product was 26.4% protein and 18.6% carbohydrate. In the same manner, fermented products of sweet potato (the variety used was Red Agriculture Forest), potato (the variety used was Baron), jurine and okra were obtained.

[Test Example of Immune Enhancement Effect] Test Example 1; Macrophage Activation Test in Vitro 1 × 10 1 cell line J774.1 derived from mouse macrophage
RP containing 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) at ⁵ cells / ml
The cells were suspended in MI1640 medium (manufactured by Nissui Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) and dispensed in 90 μl aliquots into a 96-well microplate for cell culture. Then, a 2% physiological saline solution of a homogenate of each fermented product and each unfermented vegetable (hereinafter referred to as "unfermented product") obtained in the above Production Example (a physiological saline solution containing 2% by weight of the sample) Sample solution prepared by serially 2-fold serially diluting the solution dissolved in 1) with physiological saline, add 10 μl to each well, and incubate in a 5% carbon dioxide incubator at 37 ° C. The cells were cultured for 72 hours. After culturing, macrophage activation was examined by observing changes in J774.1 cell morphology under a microscope. In other words, J774.1 is a small globule in the control group in which physiological saline was added instead of the sample solution and cultured, but in each test group, macrophages are activated and changes in morphology such as elongation or expansion occur. , Using this as an index (A. Amemura et al .; Agric. Biol. Chem., 51, pp.264
9-2656 (1986)), the minimum activation concentration in which a change in morphology was recognized as compared with the control group was determined and shown in Table 1.

[0027]

[Table 1]

From Table 1, each unfermented product has almost no activation ability to J774.1, whereas the fermented product which is an active ingredient of the food and drink additive for immunity enhancement of the present invention is It is clear that all of them have high activation ability.

Test Example 2: In vitro test for activation of natural killer cells Mouse cell line YAC-1 derived from lymphoma was cultured in RPMI1640 medium containing 10% FCS, and cells 1 × 10 6 in logarithmic growth phase were obtained.
^{To a} suspension of ⁵ cells / ml in a medium of the same composition, add an acetone solution of carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA).
Add CFDA to a final concentration of 100 μg / ml,
YAC-1 was labeled by culturing at 37 ° C for 1 hour (Y. Suzuki et al .;
J. Immunoassay, 12 (1), pp.145-157 (1991)).

On the other hand, the spleen of a BALB / c mouse (6 weeks old, male) was excised, disentangled on a sterilized wire net, and containing 10% FCS.
After washing 3 times with PRMI1640 medium, the cells were placed in a petri dish and cultured in a medium having the same composition as above at 37 ° C. for 2 hours to remove unnecessary cells such as macrophages attached to the wall surface of the petri dish to obtain natural killer cells. The number of cells is 1 × 10 ⁶ /
Resuspend in RPMI1640 medium containing 10% FCS to make
Add the resulting natural killer cell suspension to a 24-well plate.
Dispense 1.8 ml each, and add 0.2 ml of each concentration sample solution of each fermented product and unfermented product obtained in the above Production Example prepared in the same manner as in Test Example 1 into each 5% carbon dioxide incubator. After culturing at 37 ° C for 24 hours, the natural killer cells were activated.

To the activated natural killer cell suspension, YAC-1 previously labeled with CFDA was added to 1/100 of the cell suspension.
The mixture was added at a ratio of 40 volumes and cultured in a 5% carbon dioxide incubator at 37 ° C. for 3 hours. After culturing, the cells were precipitated by centrifugation at 800 xg for 2 minutes, and the supernatant was analyzed with a fluorometer (excitation wavelength 490nm, measurement wavelength 530nm), and YAC-1 affected by natural killer cells. The cytotoxic rate of was calculated by the following formula.

[0032]

[Equation 1] Cytotoxicity% = (experimental value-spontaneous release value) / (maximum release value-spontaneous release value) x 100

In the above formula, the experimental value is the measured value of the labeled YAC-1 released by the natural killer cells activated in the sample solution, and the natural release value is the value obtained without adding the natural killer cell suspension. Is the measured value of free labeled YAC-1 when cultured under the same conditions, and the maximum free value is
It is the value measured by adding a 1% sodium dodecylsulfate aqueous solution to the cell suspension at the end of the culturing to dissolve the cells and containing all the labeled YAC-1. The above results are shown in Table 2.

[0034]

[Table 2]

From Table 2, the natural killer cells are activated by the fermented product which is an active ingredient of the food additive for immunity enhancement of the present invention, and are excellent cells against the lymphoma-derived cell line YAC-1. It is clear that it exhibits toxic activity. That is, it is clear that the active ingredient of the food / beverage additive for immune enhancement of the present invention has a high ability to activate natural killer cells.

Test Example 3 Influenza virus infection test using mice ddy mouse (20 to 25 g, not infected with a specific pathogen)
32 males) were divided into 6 groups as described in Table 3 below, 1
~ 3 groups as a control group, 4 ~ 6 groups as a test group, the test group,
A 1% saline solution of the fermented taro fermented product obtained in the above Production Example was orally administered once a day from 1 day before to 7 days after influenza virus inoculation (the active ingredient intake was 2 mg a day), and the control group was used. To the test group, 0.2 ml of physiological saline was administered at the same administration intervals as in the test group. Influenza virus
A-PR-8 strain grown in embryonated eggs was treated with 10 ³ P of physiological saline.
FU, 10 ⁴ PFU and 10 ⁵ PFU diluted respectively were prepared, and 10 ³ PFU, 2nd group and 5th group were prepared for the 1st and 4th groups.
10 ⁴ PFU in the group, the third group and Group 6 were intranasally infected mice were anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium (Nacalai Tesque, Inc.) by 10 ⁴ PFU. Feed the animals for 15 days after administration and weigh them for 15 days.
The survival status of each group on the day is shown in Table 3, and the daily weight change and the change in survival number of the third group as a control group are shown in (A) and (B) of FIG. The daily changes in body weight and the changes in survival number of the 6 groups are shown in (A) and (B) of FIG.

[0037]

[Table 3]

From Table 3 and FIGS. 1 and 2, the mice to which the active ingredient of the food / beverage additive for immunopotentiation of the present invention was administered,
After the infection with the influenza virus, the life of the mice was clearly prolonged compared with the mice to which nothing was administered, and the recovery of the body weight was found to be good.

[Production Examples of Active Ingredients and Test Examples] Examples of obtaining fermented products by various culture methods are described below. Manufacture example 2 and its test example 200 g of taro (8 heads) that had been peeled and cut into a prism of 5 × 5 × 30 mm was placed in a large petri dish and sterilized by heating.
This was inoculated with 5 ml of Bacillus subtilis culture liquid that had been cultivated for 24 hours in advance, and the mixture was cultured at 30 ° C. for 96 hours. After the completion of the culture, the culture was lyophilized as it was to obtain 30.5 g of an off-white solid fermented taro. 500 mg of this fermented product
Was extracted with 10 ml of warm water, and the obtained extract was subjected to a macrophage activation test in the same manner as in Test Example 1.
The minimum activation concentration was 1.6 μg / ml, and a natural killer cell activation test was conducted in the same manner as in Test Example 2. As a result, a lymphoma-derived cell line YAC-derived at a concentration of 30 μg / ml was tested.
The rate of cytotoxicity to 1 was 20%.

Production Example 3 and Test Example 200 g of peeled sweet potato (variety: Hongnorin) was cut into about 5 mm cubic dice, 400 ml of water was added, and the mixture was put in a 2 liter volumetric flask and capped at 121 ° C. It heat-sterilized for 20 minutes. The same culture solution of Bacillus subtilis as in Production Example 1 was inoculated into this and subjected to swirling culture (eccentricity = 3 cm, rotation speed = 150 rpm) at 30 ° C. for 120 hours. After the completion of the culture, the culture solution was centrifuged at 13,000 × g for 30 minutes to precipitate bacterial cells and insoluble matters, and the resulting supernatant was freeze-dried to obtain 52.7 g of a pale yellowish brown powder. When this product was tested in the same manner as in Production Example 2, the minimum macrophage activation concentration was 0.8 μg / ml, and the natural killer cell activation was at a test concentration of 30 μg / ml against the lymphoma-derived cell line YAC-1. The cytotoxicity was 20%.

Production Example 4 and its test example 200 g of peeled potato (variety: baron) was treated in the same manner as in Production Example 3 to obtain 27.4 g of light brown powder. When this product was tested in the same manner as in Production Example 2, the minimum macrophage activation concentration was 3.2 μg / ml, and the natural killer cell activation was at a test concentration of 30 μg / ml against the lymphoma-derived cell line YAC-1. The cytotoxicity was 25%.

Production Example 5 and Test Examples 1 liter of broth medium (dried broth manufactured by Nissui Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) was dispensed into a 2 liter volumetric flask for sterilization, and Bacillus subtilis was inoculated into the flask. 30 ° C
Swirl culture for 36 hours (eccentricity = 3 cm, rotation speed = 150 rpm)
After that, the culture solution was centrifuged at 13,000 × g for 30 minutes to obtain 13.5 g of wet bacterial cells. On the other hand, 200 g of okra and 400 ml of water
Coat with a homogenizer, filter with gauze, then centrifuge to obtain a green, slightly turbid supernatant liquid 52
0 ml was obtained. After sterilizing 500 ml of this, the above-mentioned wet cells were inoculated as a solid and swirled at 30 ° C. for 96 hours (same condition as above). After completion of the culture, the culture solution was centrifuged at 13,000 × g for 30 minutes to precipitate bacterial cells and insoluble matter, and the resulting supernatant was freeze-dried to obtain 15.7 g of a green powder. When this product was subjected to a macrophage activation test in the same manner as in Test Example 1, the minimum activation concentration was 3.2 μg / ml.

Production Example 6 and its test example 13.5 g of wet cells obtained in the same manner as in Production Example 5 was suspended in 50 ml of 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), cooled to 0 ° C. and 120
Ultrasonic treatment was performed at W and 20 kHz for 8 minutes. This is 4 ℃, 2
Centrifuge at 8,000 xg for 30 minutes to obtain the supernatant 42.
7 ml was stored frozen. The protease activity of the crude enzyme solution thus obtained was measured using serum albumin as a substrate, and it was 67,360 tyrosine units / g. Meanwhile, Yurine
100 g of water was mixed with 200 ml of water in a homogenizer, ground, and centrifuged to obtain 135 ml of a transparent supernatant. Put this in a 500 ml flask and sterilize, thaw the crude enzyme solution described above, and aseptically add 15 ml of it to 30 ° C.
After shaking culture (amplitude = 4 cm, shaking number = 150 rpm) at 30 ° C., the culture solution was centrifuged at 10,000 × g for 30 minutes to remove insoluble matter, and freeze-dried to obtain 14.1 g of an off-white powder. Obtained. A macrophage activation test was conducted on this product in the same manner as in Test Example 1, and the minimum activation concentration was 12.5 μm.
It was g / ml.

Example 1 Using the fermented product of taro obtained in Production Example 2, a tablet-type food having the following formulation was prepared. That is, the following components were mixed according to a conventional method, the particle size was adjusted through a 60-mesh wire net, and then one tablet was produced using a tableting machine. Fermented taro obtained in Production Example 2 500 mg D-mannitol 300 mg Crystalline cellulose 100 mg Potato starch 60 mg Carboxymethylcellulose calcium 25 mg Talc 10 mg Magnesium stearate 5 mg ────────────── ───────────────── Total 1000 mg

Example 2 Using the okra fermented product obtained in Production Example 5, a beverage having the following formulation was prepared. Sucrose 10.0 g Citric acid 0.35 g Fermented okra obtained in Production Example 0.50 g Citrus flavor 0.1 ml Purified water balance ──────────────────────── ─ Total volume 100.0 ml

Example 3 Using the fermented ureane product obtained in Production Example 6, a snack confectionery having the following formulation was prepared. Wheat flour 100.0 g Skim milk powder 2.5 g Baking soda 0.2 g Fermented Urine product obtained in Production Example 0.7 g Salt 0.75 g Vanilla flavor 0.2 g Purified water 140.0 g

Example 4 Using the fermented product of taro obtained in Production Example 1, a wafer having the following formulation was prepared. Wheat flour 100.0 g Skim milk powder 2.5 g Baking soda 0.2 g Fermented taro obtained in Production Example 0.7 g Salt 0.75 g Purified water 150.0 g

Example 5 Using the fermented product of sweet potato obtained in Production Example 3, a cheese cracker having the following formulation was prepared. Wheat flour 100.0 g Oil and fat 14.0 g Powdered cheese 8.0 g Yeast extract powder 2.5 g Yeast 1.0 g Nonfat dry milk 1.0 g Fermented sweet potato 1.0 g salt 1.0 g Purified water 130.0 g

Example 6 Using the fermented product of potato obtained in Production Example 4, potato chips having the following formulation were prepared. Dried potato 100.0 g Vegetable shortening 20.0 g Monoglyceride 10.0 g Glucose 8.0 g Fermented potato obtained in Production Example 1.0 g Salt 1.0 g Purified water 110.0 g

All the foods and drinks obtained in Examples 1 to 6 had the immunopotentiating effect imparted or improved by adding the additive of the present invention.

[0051]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The food / beverage additive for immunopotentiation of the present invention has a high macrophage activating ability and natural killer cell activating ability, and contains a specific component which enhances the immune function of the living body. Therefore, by ingesting foods and drinks to which this is added, it is possible to prevent various diseases that are considered to be based on a reduction in the immune capacity of the living body due to infection, stress, and the like. Moreover, since the food / beverage additive for immunopotentiation of the present invention is used for daily edible use, it can be easily taken without fear of side effects.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows that in Test Example 3, daily changes in body weight (A) and changes in the number of survivors (B) of mice (Group 3 = control group) infected with 10 ⁵ PFU of influenza virus without any sample administration. ) Is a figure which shows.

[Fig. 2] In Test Example 3, a mouse (Group 6 = test group) infected with 10 ⁵ PFU of influenza virus by administering a fermented taro, which is an active ingredient of the food and drink additive for immunity enhancement of the present invention, It is a figure which shows the change (A) of daily body weight and the change (B) of the survival number.

[Explanation of symbols]

X: Indicates death of the mouse. ↑: Saline (Fig. 1) or fermented taro (Fig. 2)
Indicates administration.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Yoko Hosoi 5-36-31 Kamata, Ota-ku, Tokyo Takasago International Corporation (72) Inventor Yumiko Matsukura 5-36 Kamata, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. 31 Inside the Research Institute of Takasago International Corporation (72) Inventor Eiko Tamai 5-36-31 Kamata, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside the Research Institute of Takasago International Corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vegetable selected from the group consisting of sweet potato, potato, taro, urine and okra is inoculated with a microorganism of Bacillus subtilis or its related species,
An immunity-enhancing food and drink additive containing a fermented product obtained by culturing this as an active ingredient. 2. A vegetable selected from the group consisting of sweet potato, potato, taro, urine and okra is inoculated with a microorganism of Bacillus subtilis or its related species,
A method for imparting an immunopotentiating effect to a food or drink, comprising adding a fermented product obtained by culturing the same to a beverage or a food. 3. The fermented product is added to a beverage or food in a range of 0.1 to
The method for imparting an immunopotentiating effect to a food or drink according to claim 2, wherein the method is added at a ratio of 50% by weight.