JPWO2008105325A1 - Citrulline-containing beverage - Google Patents

Abstract

Development of a beverage that can exhibit various useful functions of arginine and is easy to drink and excellent in stability is desired. A beverage containing citrulline 0.5-10% by weight, sugars 0.1-40% by weight and organic acids 0.1-5% by weight.

Description

  The present invention relates to beverages containing citrulline, sugars and organic acids.

  Citrulline is not an amino acid that constitutes proteins in vivo, but it is one of the intermediates of the urea cycle, and it is produced from arginine together with nitric oxide (NO), which is known as a substance that has a vasodilatory effect. It is condensed and regenerated to arginine. In citrulline, ammonia metabolism is promoted (Non-Patent Document 1), blood flow is improved by vasodilation (Non-Patent Document 2), blood pressure is lowered (Non-Patent Document 3), neurotransmission (Non-Patent Document 4), and immunostimulation (Non-Patent Document). 5) Useful effects such as active oxygen elimination (Patent Document 1) are known.

On the other hand, arginine has been reported to promote growth hormone secretion (Non-patent Document 6). Since growth hormone has the action of promoting protein synthesis, sugar metabolism, lipid metabolism, etc., it is expected that muscle intake and wound healing will be promoted by taking arginine. Arginine is a raw material for NO, and NO is produced from arginine by the action of NO synthase. Actually, effects such as vasodilation (Non-Patent Document 7), suppression of blood pressure increase (Non-Patent Document 8), and improvement of sexual function (Non-Patent Document 9) by arginine intake have been reported. In addition, arginine includes animals such as immunostimulation (Non-Patent Document 10), insulin secretion (Non-Patent Document 11), ammonia detoxification (Non-Patent Document 12), and polyamine synthesis promotion (Non-Patent Document 13) Many effects are known to be exhibited when taken orally. For this reason, in expectation of this effect, arginine is ingested in the form of pharmaceuticals, functional foods and the like.
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  Development of a beverage that can exhibit various useful functions of arginine and is easy to drink and excellent in stability is desired.

Therefore, as a result of various studies, the present inventors have found that a beverage produced by using citrulline instead of arginine and further optimizing the content of sugars and organic acids can supply arginine into the body and is easy to drink and stable. As a result, the present invention was completed.
That is, the present invention relates to the following (1) to (4).
(1) A beverage containing citrulline 0.5 to 10% by weight, sugars 0.1 to 40% by weight and organic acids 0.1 to 5% by weight.
(2) The beverage according to (1) above having a pH of 2 to 5.
(3) The beverage according to (1) or (2) above, wherein the saccharide is glucose, fructose or sucrose.
(4) The beverage according to any one of (1) to (3) above, wherein the organic acid is citric acid, malic acid or ascorbic acid.

  According to the present invention, various useful functions of arginine can be exerted, and a beverage that is easy to drink and excellent in stability can be provided.

Citrulline used in the present invention includes L-citrulline and D-citrulline, and L-citrulline is preferred.
Citrulline can be obtained by a chemical synthesis method, a fermentation production method, or the like. Citrulline can also be obtained by purchasing a commercial product.
Examples of methods for chemically synthesizing citrulline include the methods described in J. Biol. Chem. 122 , 477 (1938) and J. Org. Chem. 6 , 410 (1941).

Examples of the method for fermentative production of L-citrulline include the methods described in JP-A-53-0775387 and JP-A-63-068091.
L-citrulline and D-citrulline can also be purchased from Sigma-Aldrich.
In the present invention, a citrulline salt may be used instead of citrulline.

Examples of citrulline salts include acid addition salts, metal salts, ammonium salts, organic amine addition salts, amino acid addition salts, and the like.
Acid addition salts include inorganic acid salts such as hydrochloride, sulfate, nitrate, phosphate, acetate, maleate, fumarate, citrate, malate, lactate, α-ketoglutarate And organic acid salts such as gluconate, caprylate, adipate, succinate, tartrate and ascorbate.

Examples of the metal salt include alkali metal salts such as sodium salt and potassium salt, alkaline earth metal salts such as magnesium salt and calcium salt, aluminum salt and zinc salt.
Examples of ammonium salts include salts such as ammonium and tetramethylammonium.
Examples of the organic amine addition salt include salts of morpholine, piperidine and the like.

Examples of amino acid addition salts include salts of glycine, phenylalanine, lysine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid and the like.
Of the above citrulline salts, citrate, malate and ascorbate are preferably used, but other salts or two or more salts may be used in appropriate combination.
The saccharide used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is used in the production of beverages, and may be any of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, sugar alcohols, and sweeteners. Examples of the saccharide include glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, trehalose, xylitol, erythritol, reduced starch syrup, dextrin, starch, sorbitol, maltitol, sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame K, stevia, saccharin sodium, glycyrrhizin dipotassium and thaumatin. Glucose, fructose and sucrose are preferable.

The organic acid used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is used for beverage production. Examples of the organic acid include acetic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, citric acid, malic acid, lactic acid, α-ketoglutaric acid, gluconic acid, caprylic acid, adipic acid, succinic acid, tartaric acid, and ascorbic acid. Citric acid, malic acid and ascorbic acid are preferred.
In the present invention, an organic acid salt may be used in place of the organic acid. Although it will not restrict | limit especially if it is used for manufacture of a drink as a salt of organic acid, Usually, alkali metal salts, such as a sodium salt, are used.

The beverage of the present invention can be produced by a general beverage production method, except that citrulline, sugars and organic acids are added.
The beverage of the present invention may contain preservatives such as acidulants and antioxidants added to ordinary beverages, colorants, flavors and various additives. In addition, vitamins, minerals, and various functional ingredients may be added in the hope of enhancing health functions. Carbon dioxide may be injected to make a carbonated beverage.

The acidulant is not particularly limited as long as it can be used in beverages, and examples thereof include citric acid, tartaric acid, and malic acid.
The antioxidant is not particularly limited as long as it can be used in beverages. Examples thereof include tocopherol, ascorbic acid, cysteine hydrochloride, and L-ascorbic acid stearate.

The colorant is not particularly limited as long as it can be used in beverages. Examples thereof include food yellow No. 5, food red No. 2, food blue No. 2, carotenoid pigment, and tomato pigment.
The flavor is not particularly limited as long as it can be used in beverages, and examples thereof include lemon flavor, lemon lime flavor, grapefruit flavor, and apple flavor.

The concentration of citrulline contained in the beverage of the present invention is usually 0.5 to 10% by weight, preferably 1 to 10% by weight, more preferably 2 to 10% by weight.
As a density | concentration of the saccharide contained in the drink of this invention, it is 1 to 40 weight% normally, Preferably it is 2 to 30 weight%, More preferably, it is 5 to 20 weight%.
As a density | concentration of the organic acid contained in the drink of this invention, it is 0.1 to 5 weight% normally, Preferably it is 0.1 to 2 weight%, More preferably, it is 0.2 to 1 weight%.

Moreover, as pH of the drink of this invention, it is 2-5 normally, Preferably it is 3-4, and pH adjustment of a drink is performed with pH adjusting agents, such as above-described organic acid, inorganic acid, sodium hydrogencarbonate.
Since citrulline is orally absorbed and then converted into arginine in the body, by taking the beverage of the present invention, various useful functions of arginine can be exhibited, and citrulline and saccharides in the beverage By setting the organic acid to the above-mentioned concentration, it is possible to provide a beverage that is easy to drink and excellent in stability.

Below, citrulline is converted into arginine in the body after oral administration (Test Example 1), experience after ingesting the beverage of the present invention (Test Example 2), and storage stability of the beverage of the present invention (Test Example 3) 4) and test examples examined for taste (Test Example 5) are shown.
Test example 1
In the test, SD rats (male, 6 weeks old, purchased from Japan SLC) were used. Breeding conditions were room temperature 22 ± 2 ° C., humidity 35 ± 15%, and free intake of feed and water.

  L-citrulline (manufactured by Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd.) is completely dissolved in distilled water and orally administered to 5 L-citrulline administration groups so that L-citrulline is 0.5 g per kg of body weight. Only distilled water was orally administered. Under anesthesia with Nembutal injection (Dainippon Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), before administration, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours and 4 hours after administration, portal vein and inferior vena cava Blood was collected from. Table 1 shows the results of measuring the L-citrulline concentration and L-arginine concentration in the serum by HPLC.

From Table 1, it was revealed that orally administered L-citrulline is rapidly absorbed into the body and converted into L-arginine in the body.
Test example 2
Two drinks of Example 1 were ingested daily for one week for two subjects. After ingestion, one subject said, “He was in good health the day after drinking and exercising,” “When he got up, his fingertips felt warm.” A bodily sensation was obtained.
Test example 3
A taste sensory test was performed on the beverages of Example 1 and Comparative Examples 2 and 3. The results are shown in Table 2.

From Table 2, it is clear that the beverage of Comparative Example 3 containing L-arginine and the beverage of Example 1 containing L-citrulline have substantially the same pH, but have a great difference in ease of drinking. became.

Moreover, as a result of performing the taste sensory test by changing the citric acid concentration in the beverage of Example 1 in various ways, it was found that it is particularly easy to drink when the citric acid concentration is 0.2 wt% to 1 wt%. When the citric acid concentration was 0.2% by weight, the pH of the beverage was 3.6, and when the citric acid concentration was 1% by weight, the pH of the beverage was 3.06.
Test example 4
The beverages of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 were put in test tubes with lids, respectively, sterilized by boiling at 95 ° C. for 15 minutes, then stored at 60 ° C. for 2 weeks, and absorbance (OD 460 nm) serving as an index of pH and Maillard reaction. Was measured. The absorbance was measured by diluting the beverage 10 times with distilled water. The results are shown in Table 3.

From Table 3, it was revealed that the storage stability of the beverage of Example 1 containing citric acid was improved as compared with the beverage of Comparative Example 1.
Test Example 5
The beverages of Example 1 and Comparative Example 2 were each placed in a test tube with a lid and sterilized by boiling at 95 ° C. for 15 minutes. Before and after boiling, the pH and the absorbance (OD 460 nm) serving as an index of the Maillard reaction were measured. The absorbance was measured by diluting the beverage 10 times with distilled water. The results are shown in Table 4.

From Table 4, it was revealed that the beverage of Example 1 containing L-citrulline was more stable than the beverage of Comparative Example 2 containing L-arginine.

  Examples of the present invention are shown below.

Beverages containing citrulline
The above components were dissolved in distilled water to make a total of 30 ml. The pH of this beverage was 3.54.

Comparative Example 1
A beverage was produced by replacing the citric acid of Example 1 with distilled water. The pH of this beverage was 5.4.
Comparative Example 2
A beverage was produced by replacing L-citrulline of Example 1 with L-arginine (manufactured by Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd.). The pH of this beverage was 9.74.
Comparative Example 3
A beverage with the citric acid of Comparative Example 2 increased to 1.5 g was produced. The pH of this beverage was 3.88.

  According to the present invention, various useful functions of arginine can be exerted, and a beverage that is easy to drink and excellent in stability can be provided.

Claims (4)

  A beverage containing citrulline 0.5-10% by weight, sugars 0.1-40% by weight and organic acids 0.1-5% by weight.   The beverage according to claim 1, wherein the pH is 2-5.   The beverage according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the saccharide is glucose, fructose or sucrose.   The beverage according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the organic acid is citric acid, malic acid or ascorbic acid.