Methioninase inhibitor and composition and food or drink containing the same

Abstract

The invention provides a methioninase inhibitor to suppress the production of methyl mercaptan that is a causative substance of a bad smell by inhibiting methioninase originated from bacteria, as well as a composition and a food or drink containing the same, wherein the methioninase inhibitor contains an extract obtained from a plant of the family Myrsinaceae, genus Myrsine, preferably Myrsine seguinii as an active ingredient; and further provides a methioninase inhibitor, as well as a composition and a food or drink containing the same, wherein the methioninase inhibitor contains as an active ingredient one or more selected from the group consisting of myrsinoic acid A, myrsinoic acid B, myrsinoic acid C, myrsinoic acid E and myrsinoic acid F; preferably the myrsinoic acid A, myrsinoic acid B, myrsinoic acid C, myrsinoic acid E and myrsinoic acid F are obtained from a plant of the family Myrsinaceae, genus Myrsine, preferably Myrsine seguinii.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to an inhibitor of methioninase engaged in production of methyl mercaptan that is a causative substance of a bad smell, as well as a composition and a food or drink containing the same.BACKGROUND ART[0002]The main components of a bad smell from an oral cavity are volatile sulfur compounds, and especially methyl mercaptan is known to have a high correlation with the intensity of bad breath. Methyl mercaptan is generated from food debris, intraoral desquamated epithelial cells and salivary proteins metabolized or decomposed by oral bacteria. Volatile sulfur compounds such as methyl mercaptan are known to have adverse effects, such as inhibition of intraoral synthesis of proteins, inhibition of collagen synthesis, inhibition of growth and division of endothelial cells, and increase of permeability of intraoral mucosa. Consequently inhibition of methyl mercaptan is an important task not only for suppression of the bad breath, but also f...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0025]The methioninase inhibitor of the present invention has activity to suppress the production of methyl mercaptan, ammonia and α-ketobutyrate. Consequently, by ingesting orally a food or drink containing the same, or using the same in an oral composition, such as a mouth freshener or a tooth paste, reduction of bad breath, reduction of feces odor and improvement of mouth's and body's internal environment are possible. Additionally the same can be used as an odor inhibitor for the living environment, as for kitchen garbage.BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0026]The present invention will be described in more detail below. Thereby the methioninase inhibitor of the present invention, a composition and a food or drink containing the same as an active ingredient, a process for producing them, and advantages thereof will be described, provided that the present invention be not limited thereto.

[0027]Although myrsinoic acid A, myrsinoic acid B, myrsinoic acid C, myrsinoic acid E and myrsinoic acid F (the respective chemical formulas (I) to (V) being shown below) to be used in the present invention can be obtained by synthesis, but are preferably obtained from an extract of the whole, or a leaf, flower, twig, root or fruit part of a plant belonging to the family Myrsinaceae, genus Myrsine. Examples of the plant belonging to the family Myrsinaceae include genus Myrsine containing the myrsinoic acids, taimin-tachibana that is a shrub native in middle to southern Japan and a tropical zone. Taimin-tachibana also referred to as hichinoki or sogeki has scientific names Myrsine seguinii and Rapanaea neriifolia. Since the fruit of Myrsine seguinii has been traditionally eaten, there is no concern about its safety. As especially preferable parts for extraction, leaf and fruit may be named, because their production masses are large and the extraction rates can be high.

[0028]Myrsinoic acids have very high inhibitory activity, and among them myrsinoic acid B can be exemplified as an especially preferable type due to its strong methioninase inhibitory activity and a high content in the extract.

[0029]Although there is no particular restriction on a preparation method for the plant extraction according to the present invention and a conventionally known method can be applicable, the plant is generally first crushed by an appropriate means. Then extraction is conducted according to a conventional extraction method using a mixed solvent of one or more of water, lower alcohols, such as methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, and n-butanol, organic solvents, such as ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, glycerin and propylene glycol. However, since the present invention is directed to a medicament, an oral composition and a food or drink, as an extraction solvent a combination of water and ethanol is preferable in view of the safety. Although extraction any of at a higher temperature, at room temperature and a lower temperature is possible, preferable extraction conditions are approximately at 50 to 80° C. and for 1 to 5 hours.

[0030]The thus obtained extract may be filtered, concentrated under a reduced pressure or freeze-dried before use. The extract may be separated and purified to obtain myrsinoic acids by a publicly known means for separation and purification, such as adsorption chromatography, partition chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography and thin-layer chromatography. More specifically, the extract is subjected to a liquid-liquid extraction, to silica gel column chromatography with an ethyl acetate / hexane mixed solvent, and further to octadecyl silylated column chromatography with a methanol / water (85%) mixed solvent containing additionally 0.1% acetic acid to obtain high purity myrsinoic acids by elution, fraction, concentration and drying.

Problems solved by technology

Volatile sulfur compounds such as methyl mercaptan are known to have adverse effects, such as inhibition of intraoral synthesis of proteins, inhibition of collagen synthesis, inhibition of growth and division of endothelial cells, and increase of permeability of intraoral mucosa.

However, the use of a disinfectant might have an adverse effect by disturbing a balance of an intraoral bacterial flora, and the odor eliminating by chemical conversion or masking does not inhibit generation of the odor itself and the effect does not last long.

However, none of them are satisfactory in terms of sustainability of the activity and the like.

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