Autonomic nervous function improver

Abstract

To provide a novel autonomic nervous function improver comprising a naturally sourced component as an active ingredient.SOLUTION: The present inventors have found that a heat-treated ginger extract has a function to improve autonomic nervous function, thereby completing the present invention.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an autonomic nerve function improver containing a component derived from a natural product as an active ingredient.

Background Art

[0002] The autonomic nerve consists of the sympathetic nerve and the parasympathetic nerve, and these act antagonistically to arbitrarily control each internal organ in the body. A decrease in autonomic nerve function may cause physical symptoms such as chronic fatigue, dizziness, and palpitations, and mental symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and listlessness. Since such symptoms are disadvantageous both personally and socially, a material that enhances autonomic nerve function is required. In particular, it is desirable that foods that can be ingested daily can enhance autonomic nerve function, and many studies have been conducted.

[0003] For example, an autonomic nerve function improver (Patent Document 1) containing γ-oryzanol and one or more central nerve stimulating components selected from the pungent components of ginger, the pungent components of chili peppers, and caffeine as active ingredients is known.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The present invention provides a new autonomic nerve function improver containing a component derived from a natural product as an active ingredient.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The inventors found that the heated ginger extract has an effect of improving autonomic nerve function, and completed the present invention.

[0007] That is, the present invention relates to the following aspects [1] to [2]. [1] An autonomic nerve function improving agent containing a heated ginger extract as an active ingredient. [2] The autonomic nerve function improving agent according to [1], wherein the heated ginger extract contains more shogaol than gingerol.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] The present invention can provide a safe autonomic nerve function improving agent containing a natural product-derived component as an active ingredient. By ingesting it, an autonomic nerve function improving effect can be obtained, and it can be used by including it in various foods and drinks, pharmaceuticals, quasi-drugs, etc.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] The autonomic nerve function improving agent of the present invention contains a heated ginger extract as an active ingredient and exhibits an autonomic nerve function improving effect by ingestion. Further, the autonomic nerve function improving agent can be used for adjusting the autonomic nerves.

[0011] The heated ginger extract used in the present invention is an extract obtained by heating a Zingiberaceae plant before and after extraction. Examples of the extraction method include supercritical extraction, steam distillation, solvent extraction, etc. The solid-liquid separated ginger extract may be heat-treated by filtration using non-woven fabric, mesh, etc., centrifugation, etc., or after heat treatment, extraction or solid-liquid separation may be performed to recover the liquid part. Concentrated and / or dried products, such as concentrated products and dried products, are preferred. Drying can be carried out by drum drying, air drying, spray drying, vacuum drying and / or freeze drying, etc., to form a powder, and general excipients can be used. Specifically, the heated ginger extract is preferably a powder product obtained by adding an emulsifier to enhance dispersibility, then blending an excipient such as dextrin, and spray drying. For example, Ginger Extract Powder S, H, E or NE (manufactured by Ikeda Sugar Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) can be used. It is known that in raw plants or unheated ginger extracts, the gingerol content is much less than the paradol content. However, in the present invention, treatments such as heating are performed before and after extraction to increase the paradol content. The heated ginger extract preferably contains more paradol than gingerol, more preferably contains 1.5 times or more of paradol than gingerol, still more preferably 2 times or more, particularly preferably 3 times or more. The upper limit is not particularly limited, but preferably 15 times or less, more preferably 10 times or less. Although not particularly limited as long as the paradol content is increased, for example, by heating at 100 to 300 °C, preferably 120 to 250 °C, a heated ginger extract with a high paradol content can be produced. The paradol content in the heated ginger extract is preferably 0.1 to 20% by weight, more preferably 0.2 to 15% by weight, still more preferably 0.5 to 10% by weight.

[0012] The emulsifier is not particularly limited as long as it is a component having emulsifying ability. For example, polysaccharides such as acacia gum, ghatti gum, xanthan gum, and sodium octenyl succinate starch, proteins or protein hydrolysates such as casein and soy protein, lecithin, enzyme-treated lecithin, polyglycerol fatty acid ester, sucrose fatty acid ester, and the like can be mentioned. The emulsification treatment can be carried out by a general emulsification method. Specifically, it can be carried out using an emulsifying device, and examples thereof include a high-pressure homogenizer, a colloid mill, an ultrasonic emulsifier, a homomixer, a homodisper, etc., and two or more types of devices may be combined.

[0013] As a method for ingesting the autonomic nerve function improver of the present invention, the heated ginger extract may be orally ingested, and it is not particularly limited as long as it is an ingestion amount at which the effect of the present invention is recognized. However, the ingestion amount of the heated ginger extract per person per day is preferably 5 to 2,000 mg, more preferably 10 to 1,000 mg, still more preferably 20 to 500 mg, and the ingestion amount of 6-gingerol contained in the heated ginger extract per person per day is preferably 0.1 to 50 mg, more preferably 0.2 to 40 mg, still more preferably 0.4 to 20 mg, and particularly preferably 0.5 to 15 mg. In order to ingest the said ingestion amount, the composition of the present invention may be ingested once a day or divided into several times.

[0014] Since the active ingredient of the autonomic nerve function improver of the present invention is derived from a natural product and is easy to manufacture, it can be widely used, can be added to various products, and may be added in a liquid form or a dried product. The food and drink etc. to which it is added are not particularly limited, but in addition to various food and drink such as beverages, foods, seasonings, functional foods, supplements, etc., it can also be used for pharmaceuticals, quasi-drugs, feeds, etc. The content of the heated ginger extract in various products is not particularly limited as long as the effect of the present invention is recognized by ingestion, but is preferably 0.001 to 80% by weight, more preferably 0.005 to 60% by weight, and still more preferably 0.01 to 50% by weight.

Examples

[0015] Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples. In the present invention, % is all by weight unless otherwise specified.

[0016] [Example 1] (Autonomic nerve function evaluation test) For the purpose of extracting people with low autonomic nerve function, a screening was conducted to measure the autonomic nerve function of 51 adults, and 3 extracted subjects were made to ingest capsules containing heated ginger extract once a day, one capsule each time, for 4 consecutive weeks.

[0017] A heart rhythm scanner (manufactured by BIOCOM) was used to measure the autonomic nerve function. The autonomic nerve function was evaluated using the value of TP (Total Power (ms2 / Hz): the intensity of the autonomic nerve function combining sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves) measured by the heart rhythm scanner as an index.

[0018] The internal composition of the capsule was obtained by adding acacia gum (instant gum, manufactured by Nexira Co., Ltd.) as an emulsifier to the heated ginger extract, emulsifying it, adding dextrin (Sun-Dek (registered trademark) #300, manufactured by Sanwa Starch Industry Co., Ltd.) as an excipient, and spray-drying. It was composed of 100 mg (40%) of the heated ginger extract powder (Ginger Extract Powder E, manufactured by Ikeda Sugar Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.), 147 mg (58.8%) of dextrin (Pine-Dex (registered trademark) #100, manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.), and 3 mg (1.2%) of calcium stearate (total 250 mg).

[0019] The contents of 6-gingerol, 6-shogaol, and 6-paradol contained in Ginger Extract Powder E are shown in Table 1.

[0020]

Table 1

[0021] The TP (ms2 / Hz) before ingestion (at the time of screening) and after 4 weeks are shown in Figure 1, and the increase rate (times) of TP after 4 weeks for each subject is shown in Table 2.

[0022]

Table 2

[0023] As shown in Figure 1, by ingesting the heated ginger extract for 4 weeks, the strength of the autonomic nerve function was improved in each subject, and the TP of the subjects increased 1.8 to 5.7 times compared to before ingestion (Table 2).

[0024] From the above, it was found that by ingesting 100 mg (2 mg as 6-gingerol) of the heated ginger extract every day for 4 weeks, the effect of improving the autonomic nerve function was revealed, and it is useful as an agent for improving the autonomic nerve function containing the heated ginger extract as an active ingredient.

Claims

1. A autonomic nerve function improver containing a heat-treated ginger extract as an active ingredient.

2. The autonomic nerve function improver according to Claim 1, wherein the heat-treated ginger extract contains more shogaol than gingerol.

Images