JPH06253780A - Defecation-promoting food - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Structure] A food having a defecation promoting effect, which comprises a water-soluble alginate or ester having an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000.
Preferably 1 to 20% by weight of alginate or ester.
It is a contained beverage. [Effects] Even when alginic acid having a low molecular weight is used, the function as a dietary fiber is sufficiently exerted and a defecation promoting effect is obtained. Unlike conventional high-molecular-weight alginic acid, the low-molecular weight makes it possible to broaden the range of applications as foods, and in particular, it is possible to obtain beverages having a concentration not heretofore obtained with a low viscosity that is easy to drink.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a defecation-promoting food containing a water-soluble alginate or ester as an active ingredient. More specifically, it has an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 10,000.
It relates to a health food containing 100,000 water-soluble alginates or esters.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is stimulant laxatives that have immediate effects in order to promote defecation and improve various symptoms associated with chronic constipation, etc., but stimulant laxatives may not work if taken continuously,
It has the drawback of not being able to control bowel movements. On the other hand, swelling laxatives such as dietary fiber (swelling laxatives) are safe but weak in action.

The intestinal regulating effect of ingesting dietary fiber has been known for a long time. Since dietary fiber is not digested or absorbed in the digestive tract, the amount of feces increases and peristaltic movement is enhanced. At this time, since the transit time of the intestinal contents into the intestine is shortened, the production of putrefaction products and carcinogens produced in the intestinal tract, especially in the large intestine is reduced, and the time of contact with the intestinal tract membrane is reduced. Is also known to be suppressed.

Dietary fiber has been considered to be an indigestible polymer component that is not decomposed by human digestive enzymes. Among them, there are fibers that are assimilated and decomposed by bacterial groups present in the human intestine. In particular, when a high-molecular weight dietary fiber is made to have a low molecular weight to be soluble, it is easily assimilated and decomposed by intestinal bacteria.
Depending on the type of dietary fiber, there is also one that has the effect of growing Bifidobacteria that live in the human intestine, and in such cases, as a result of the increased production of acetic acid and lactic acid,
It is said that bowel movements will improve. Further, it is said that the growth of bifidobacteria suppresses the growth of harmful bacteria and the promotion of immune function suppresses carcinogenesis in the large intestine, which is useful. However, if dietary fiber is used by harmful bacteria to produce a substance that adversely affects the intestinal host, it is not preferable as the original intestinal regulating effect. Also,
Excessive intake of dietary fiber also has harmful effects such as suppression of absorption of minerals in the body. Thus, simply dietary fiber does not have the effect of regulating the intestine, and ingestion of a large amount does not improve the effect.

Therefore, by ingesting a small amount of dietary fiber,
Studies are underway to develop a sufficient intestinal function. The health food consisting of oligosaccharide and edible dietary fiber described in JP-A-63-63366 contains 3 to 15% of oligosaccharide consisting of 3 to 10 monosaccharide units and 3 to 30% of dietary fiber. However, it is intended to have a synergistic effect of the bifidobacteria-proliferating effect of oligo and the like and the intestinal regulating and defecation effects of dietary fiber. Also,
By combining soluble dietary fiber and galacto-oligosaccharides, it improves the intestinal environment, reduces and reduces spoilage products,
A composition for improving the intestinal environment, which is intended to be used as a food or a medicine for treating / preventing hepatic encephalopathy and colon cancer (JP-A-3-15)
1854). Similarly, a composition comprising cellulose and fructooligosaccharide for improving constipation, facilitating bowel movement, and improving fecal property (JP-A-1-319421) aims at improving bowel movement in dialysis patients due to renal failure. Each of these uses a combination of oligosaccharides having a small molecular weight and dietary fiber having a large molecular weight.

It is known that alginic acid obtained by extracting from brown algae also has a function as dietary fiber. Alginic acid is a polyuronide polysaccharide, which is a copolymer of D-mannuronic acid (hereinafter, referred to as M) and L-guluronic acid (hereinafter, referred to as G), and is packed between cells of brown algae. The ratios and sequence order are species, season,
It depends on the location of the alga. Alginic acid obtained by extraction from brown algae with an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate or the like usually has a high molecular weight, and it is used as an alkali metal salt such as a sodium salt to form an aqueous solution. It is known that water-soluble high-molecular-weight alginate has many uses in sizing agents, food processing, paints, etc. It also has a function as dietary fiber that is not decomposed by human digestive enzymes, and has many health benefits. Has been. However, alginic acid is poorly soluble in water and easily gels, and water-soluble salts such as sodium alginate also gel at a concentration of several% or more, for example, 2%.
It can only be used as a dilute solution and its range of use is limited.

The laxative effect of high molecular weight sodium alginate on flaccid constipation patients is described in Mikio Inoue, Noriichi Morita, Yoshihisa Saeki, Jikken and Shinyaku, 19 (5), 1211 (1982). It is known that sodium alginate acts as a bulking laxative, but administration of a small amount of sodium alginate alone has a weak effect of promoting defecation,
The combined use of sensitizing laxatives sennoside AB with high molecular weight sodium alginate was investigated. It was also found that high molecular weight sodium alginate alone is likely to induce diarrhea when the amount used is increased.

As described above, in conventional defecation-promoting foods and laxatives, the action of dietary fiber alone is too mild, and ingestion of a large amount causes diarrhea, suppresses absorption of minerals into the body, or is difficult to ingest. In many cases, other low molecular weight components and stimulant laxatives are combined to produce the intestinal regulating effect and the like even when the intake amount of dietary fiber is small. In addition, when alginic acid, which is a dietary fiber derived from algae, is used as it is, it has a high molecular weight, so its solubility in water is very low even as a water-soluble salt, and it gels. It had to be used as a very dilute solution of. At such a low concentration, it is necessary to drink a large amount in order to ingest the required amount of dietary fiber as a beverage. Further, even when used as jelly or pudding, it is only possible to add about 1 to 2% which has been used as a gelling agent so far, and an amount intended to ingest alginic acid as dietary fiber (for example, 5 %) Could not be blended because the mouthfeel and texture of the food were impaired.

[0009]

An object of the present invention is to provide a food having a sufficient defecation promoting effect by utilizing alginic acid as a dietary fiber. In addition,
The purpose of the present invention is to broaden the range of use of high molecular weight alginic acid, which has been limited until now, to facilitate the use of alginic acid as a food for promoting defecation, and particularly to facilitate the use thereof as a beverage.

[0010]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventors have increased solubility by making alginate or ester, which is usually used in a high molecular weight, into a low molecular weight having an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000. It was found that it is possible to provide a defecation-promoting food having a sufficient defecation-promoting effect and no side effects, while lowering the viscosity and expanding the range of use of alginic acid.

The gist of the present invention is a defecation-promoting food containing a water-soluble alginate or ester having an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000. A preferred embodiment of this food is a beverage containing 1 to 20% of a water-soluble alginate or ester having an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000.

[0012]

The structure of the present invention will be described in detail below together with its operation. The alginate or ester having an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000 used in the present invention is a salt or ester of a high molecular weight alginic acid derived from algae which has been conventionally used, but is enzymatically decomposed or hydrolyzed by an acid, hot hydrolyzed under pressure, It is one having an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000 among those treated by. Further, among alginic acids obtained by extracting from brown algae, low molecular weight ones having an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000 can also be used. As a method for lowering the molecular weight, pressurized hot water treatment is preferable because it can selectively decompose alginic acid to a desired molecular weight range. The average molecular weight is the weight average molecular weight measured by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) using pullulan as a standard substance.

Examples of the water-soluble alginate include sodium salt, potassium salt and ammonia salt of alginic acid, and examples of the ester include propylene glycol ester. When the average molecular weight of alginate or ester is 10,000 to 100,000, if it is lower than 10,000, the function of alginic acid as a dietary fiber is not exerted to obtain a sufficient defecation promoting effect, and if it exceeds 100,000, it becomes a beverage. This is because the viscosity in the case of doing so increases and gels.

It has been known that high molecular weight alginic acid has a function of promoting elimination of harmful substances to the human body as a dietary fiber, a function of regulating intestinal function, etc. However, due to the above-mentioned properties, its use form and content are naturally limited. The effect of promoting defecation was not sufficient by itself.

As described above, the defecation-promoting effect of high molecular weight alginic acid is weak, and ingestion of a large amount thereof has a side effect of suppressing in vivo absorption of diarrhea and minerals. If, for example, about 2 g is ingested in order to achieve a defecation-promoting effect, sticking in the mouth causes difficulty in swallowing. In addition, it is necessary to have a 2% by weight concentration as a beverage to be taken once, but an aqueous solution of this concentration has a viscosity of 5%.
It becomes 00-600 centipoise. Easy to drink has a viscosity of 1
Although it is less than 00 centipoise, only a low content beverage can be produced to achieve such a viscosity, and a large amount is consumed to obtain the required amount. Specific examples of low molecular weight commercially available high molecular weight sodium alginate are shown below.

Experimental Examples 1 to 7 5 g of a commercially available sodium alginate produced from Giant Kelp and 95 g of water were thoroughly mixed and then put into an autoclave. The alginate was heat-treated and decomposed under the conditions shown in Table 1. The pressure inside the autoclave is the autogenous pressure under operating temperature conditions, and is approximately 0.1 kg / cm ² G, 130 at a processing temperature of 100 ° C.
It was about 2 kg / cm ² G at ° C. After the heat treatment was completed, the average molecular weight of the product was measured by GPC (gel permeation chromatography) using the sample collected from the solution of the low molecular weight sodium alginate obtained, and the solution viscosity at 30 ° C was measured by the rotational viscometer. Was measured.

Experimental Example 8 Experimental Example 6 was repeated using 10 g of sodium alginate and 90 g of water.

Comparative Example As a comparative example, the results of measuring the molecular weight and viscosity of untreated sodium alginate are shown in Table 1.
It was shown to.

[0019]

[Table 1]

As described above, sodium alginate having a molecular weight of 2.7 million can be reduced in molecular weight by heat treatment under pressure. 5.2-5 for untreated sodium alginate.
It has a very high viscosity of 26,500 cP at a concentration of 3% and is not a drink. On the other hand, the viscosity of sodium alginate having a molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000 used in the present invention was as low as 1 to 20 cP.

When the alginate or ester having an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000 according to the present invention is used, a defecation promoting effect is exhibited with an intake amount lower than the conventionally required dietary fiber amount of 5 to 6 g / day. Moreover, this low molecular weight water-soluble alginate or ester does not alter the composition of the human intestinal flora, but it reduces intestinal spoilage products such as ammonia. This suppresses the activity of various enzymes derived from intestinal bacteria that are considered to be involved in carcinogenesis, like the water-soluble dietary fiber derived from corn hulls described in JP-A-3-209331. Presumed to be present. Thus, reducing intestinal spoilage products without changing the intestinal microflora has an advantage that the intestinal environment is less affected.

The defecation-promoting food of the present invention can be expected to have an effect of promoting defecation by ingesting 2 g or more per day of an alginate or ester having a low molecular weight in the above range. Preferably 2
You should take ~ 5g.

To use this food in the form of a beverage, 1 to 100 parts by weight of an alginate or ester having an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000 is used.
It is dissolved in water or fruit juice or other suitable drinking liquid to a concentration of 20% by weight. If it is less than 1% by weight, a large amount is consumed to ingest a preferable amount, and if it is more than 20% by weight, the viscosity is too high as a beverage. The preferred concentration is 2
~ 5% by weight.

The food of the present invention is not limited to beverages, but can be used in the form of jelly or pudding. In this case, even if added in an amount of 1 to 5% by weight, it can be produced without affecting the physical properties and texture of food. When conventional high molecular weight alginic acid is blended with jelly, pudding or the like, even if a small amount thereof has a great influence on the physical properties of foods, it has been impossible to blend it in a large amount. The low molecular weight alginate or ester of the present invention can be used in the form of a powder, and can also be dissolved in a certain amount of water or warm water as a stick-shaped food for drinking. The powder can also be added when baking other foods, for example cakes.

To the defecation-promoting food of the present invention, various kinds of additives such as flavors, sweeteners, colorants, preservatives and the like which are usually used in accordance with a conventional method can be added. In addition, in order to enhance the function as a health food, other dietary fiber and health enhancer
It is also possible to add one kind or two or more kinds (for example, iodine, iron, etc.).

[0026]

[Examples] Experimental examples demonstrate the defecation-promoting effect of the low molecular weight alginate of the present invention, and Examples show specific examples of the food of the present invention.

Experimental Example A 26 healthy women (19 to 63 years old) were divided into two groups, 18 in the administration group and 8 in the placebo group, and the number of defecation days and the number of defecations per week were examined. 2 g of low molecular weight sodium alginate for the administration group
A drink containing (average molecular weight: 50,000) was ingested twice after breakfast and after lunch. The placebo group was given a drink having the same composition as the administration group except that sodium alginate was not added. The study period was 4 weeks, 1 week before the administration of the drink and 3 weeks during the administration. As a result, as shown in Table 2, the number of defecation days and the number of defecations in the administration group were significantly increased as compared with those before the administration. Regarding the number of days and number of defecation before administration, there was no significant difference as a result of the significant difference test between the placebo group and the administration group.

[0028]

[Table 2]

In addition, as a result of selecting significant humans having constipation in the above-mentioned administration groups and performing a significant difference test, as shown in Table 3 below, significant differences in both the number of days and the number of times were recognized.

[0030]

[Table 3]

Experimental Example B Six healthy adult males (aged 22 to 46) were administered the drink of the present invention used in Experimental Example A twice a day (4 g / day as sodium alginate) for 2 weeks, and before administration 1 2 times during administration
A total of 4 times of feces were collected, one time after administration and one time after discontinuation, and fecal flora, pH, ammonia content, and short chain fatty acid content were measured. The results are shown in Table 4.

Administration of low molecular weight sodium alginate did not affect the total number of bacteria or the number of Bifidobacterium, but the ammonia content tended to decrease. Also,
The pH and short-chain fatty acid composition did not change during the test period.

The analysis of the fecal flora is performed by Mitsuoka (“The world of intestinal bacteria-isolation and identification of anaerobic bacteria”, Fuyusho Shobo Shinsha,
1984), the ammonia content in feces was measured using "Ammonia-Test Wako" (manufactured by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.). Short-chain fatty acids were analyzed by liquid chromatography using a fatty acid labeling kit (YMC).

[0034]

[Table 4]

From the above experimental results, the low molecular weight alginate or ester of the present invention is useful as a food material for promoting defecation.

Example A health food having the following formulation was prepared using the low molecular weight alginate of the present invention. Example 1 Sodium alginate having an average molecular weight of 50,000 20 g Citric acid 2 g Reduced maltose starch syrup 60 g Fructose glucose syrup 60 g Water was added to make the total amount 1000 ml.

Example 2 Sodium alginate having an average molecular weight of 30,000 50 g Sodium citrate 5 g Apple juice 10 g Honey 5 g Water was added to the above to make a total volume of 1000 ml.

Example 3 Sodium alginate having an average molecular weight of 10,000, 50 g, citric acid, 1 g, sodium citrate, 5 g, orange juice, 10 g, honey, 5 g.

Example 4 Sodium alginate having an average molecular weight of 50,000 20 g Powdered sugar 160 g Butter 160 g Wheat flour 160 g Eggs 4 or more were mixed and put in an oven at 180 ° C., and the temperature was lowered to 160 ° C. and baked.

[0040]

As described above in detail, when a low-molecular weight alginic acid in a specific range is used, it is used in an amount smaller than the conventionally required intake of dietary fiber and in combination with other components having an intestinal regulating effect. It is possible to provide a food product having a sufficient defecation improving effect without doing so. That is, when alginic acid having an average molecular weight of 1 to 100,000 among water-soluble alginates or esters is ingested, the defecation state of humans having a tendency of constipation is improved, and side effects such as diarrhea do not occur.

Further, by lowering the molecular weight of alginic acid, the required amount of alginic acid can be contained in the food without impairing the texture, and foods having a sufficient defecation promoting effect can be provided in various forms. In particular, when used as a beverage, a beverage having a concentration of about 2 to 5% by weight, which has not been obtained up to now, can be easily drinkable with a low viscosity, which is a preferable form of the defecation-promoting food.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Yamagishi 4-53-3 Kitahama, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A defecation-promoting food containing a water-soluble alginate or ester having an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000. 2. The defecation-promoting food according to claim 1, which is in the form of a beverage containing 1 to 20% of a water-soluble alginate or ester having an average molecular weight of 10,000 to 100,000.