Yuzu-based fragrance with anti-stress properties

Abstract

To provide a Citrus junos-blended perfume having anti-stress action.SOLUTION: A Citrus junos-blended perfume contains following components: (1) cis-3-Hexenyl formate, (2) (+)-Camphene, (3) trans-2-Hexenal, (4) Hexanal, and (5) Terpinen-4-ol.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an inexpensive and stable yuzu blend fragrance having an anti-stress effect. [Background technology]

[0002] Fragrance components are known to have various effects on human physiology and psychological states. Examples include increased feelings of relaxation and elation, sedative effects, promotion of restful sleep and sleep induction, and stress relief. In today's social environment, there are many factors that cause mental stress, leading to an increase in stress-related illnesses. Patent Document 1 proposes a fragrance composition that relieves physical tension and has a strong relaxing effect, as part of a study into stress relief using fragrance components. This fragrance composition contains bornyl acetate and an essential oil selected from the group consisting of cypress essential oil, yuzu essential oil, hiba essential oil, and a mixture of two or more of these.

[0003] Because natural fragrances are expensive and have unstable fragrance notes, there is hope for the use of inexpensive compound fragrances that have a stable fragrance note over a long period of time. Compound fragrances are used in everyday products such as detergents, air fresheners, and fabric softeners, as well as in food and beverage products such as beverages and sweets. With stress and an aging population now becoming social issues, there are hopes that fragrances will help create a healthy society. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-5405 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In recent years, the number of people suffering from depression has been increasing, becoming a social problem. In response to this problem, the scent of citrus fruits is known to have a mental stress-relieving effect. Natural yuzu essential oil contains a natural and distinctive scent, so if a more stable and inexpensive compound fragrance can be developed, the anti-stress effects of the yuzu scent can be expected.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a yuzu blend fragrance having an anti-stress effect. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The inventors investigated the effects of yuzu compound fragrances on mental stress, and in the course of their research aimed at finding a stress-relieving material that has a stable fragrance note over the long term and can be supplied at low cost, they extracted yuzu essential oil using cold pressure and steam distillation methods, analyzed the components, and based on the results, investigated the stress-relieving effect of compounded fragrances using ethological techniques. As a result, they found that the extraction method caused differences in the stress-relieving effect, and discovered that this difference depended on the presence of specific components, leading to the completion of this invention.

[0008] The yuzu compound fragrance of the present invention is characterized by containing the following components: (1) cis-3-hexenyl formate, (2) (+)-camphene, (3) trans-2-hexenal, (4) hexanal, and (5) terpinen-4-ol. According to this invention, the yuzu compound fragrance containing each of the components (1) to (5) exhibited an anti-stress effect.

[0009] In the yuzu blend fragrance of the present invention, the above-mentioned components are contained in a fragrance blended based on the results of component analysis of natural yuzu essential oil extracted by steam distillation. According to this invention, it has been found that the above-mentioned components are not contained in cold-pressed blend fragrances that do not exhibit anti-stress effects, but are contained in steam-distilled blend fragrances that exhibit anti-stress effects. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, a yuzu blended fragrance having an anti-stress effect can be provided. It has been found that the above-mentioned components (1) to (5) are not contained in the cold-pressed blended fragrance, which does not exhibit an anti-stress effect, but are contained in the steam-distilled blended fragrance, which exhibits an anti-stress effect. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The yuzu blend fragrance according to the present invention will be described below.

[0012] (Yuzu) Yuzu (Citrus junos) is a citrus fruit in the genus Mandarin, also known as Honyuzu. It has a strong sour taste and is classified as an aromatic citrus fruit that is not suitable for eating raw. Yuzu is cultivated in areas between 34 degrees north latitude (Kochi, Tokushima, Ehime, etc.) and 36 degrees north latitude (Ogose, Utsunomiya, Motegi, etc.).

[0013] (Production of yuzu-based flavoring) The fragrances used in the experiment were two types: a cold-pressed blended fragrance prepared based on the results of component analysis of yuzu essential oil from Tochigi Prefecture extracted using the cold-pressing method, and a steam-distilled blended fragrance prepared based on the results of component analysis of yuzu essential oil from Tochigi Prefecture extracted using the steam distillation extraction method.

[0014] The cold-pressing method involves bending the outer rind of yuzu to release the essential oil, which is then collected in a test tube containing saturated salt water cooled with ice water. This method, characterized by its low temperature, non-heating, and solvent-free nature, allows for the production of an essential oil with a composition close to that of the natural product. Steam distillation is a commonly used method for extracting plant essential oils. This method involves generating heated steam from the bottom of a distillation furnace containing raw materials, vaporizing the aromatic components along with the steam, and then cooling the resulting liquid to collect the essential oil. Natural yuzu essential oils extracted by the cold-pressing and steam distillation methods were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). 59 components were detected in the natural essential oil extracted by the cold-pressing method, and 58 components were detected in the natural essential oil extracted by the steam distillation method. These components were narrowed down to 20 commonly available components (see Table 1) with the aim of creating a stable and affordable blended fragrance. A yuzu blended fragrance with a yuzu-like aroma was then created. The synthetic fragrances used in the blending were 15 types (including solvents) extracted from the 20 types by the cold-pressed method for the cold-pressed blended fragrance, and 16 types (including solvents) extracted from the 20 types by the steam-distilled blended fragrance using the steam-distilled extraction method for the steam-distilled blended fragrance. Each blended fragrance (cold-pressed blended fragrance, steam-distilled blended fragrance) was blended with these ingredients. Table 1 lists the 15 ingredients contained in the cold-pressed blended fragrance and the 16 ingredients contained in the steam-distilled blended fragrance. The content percentages in Table 1 are examples of the content percentages of the cold-pressed blended fragrance and steam-distilled blended fragrance used in the fragrance administration described below. Note that the content of the remaining ingredients not included in the narrowed-down 20 types was small, so this was compensated for with solvent to make the total 100% by volume. However, the content percentage of each ingredient (excluding solvents) in the blended fragrance shown in Table 1 is the same as the content percentage of the extracted essential oil ingredients.

[0015] [Table 1]

[0016] (Laboratory animals, fragrance administration) The experimental animals were male ddy mice (Japan SLC Co., Ltd.) aged 5 weeks and weighing 24-26g at the start of the experiment. They were kept in a room at 22±1°C with a 12-hour cycle (light period 7:00-19:00) for at least 4 days before use in the experiment.

[0017] Seven mice were placed in a box (18cm long x 25cm wide x 18cm high) containing a cold-pressured blended fragrance and a steam-distilled blended fragrance, adjusted to a concentration of 0.4% by volume using triethyl citrate (CAS No. 77-93-0) as a diluent, as well as a triethyl citrate solution as a control, and administered the compounds via nasal and oral inhalation once a day for 30 minutes. This procedure was repeated for three days in each box, and on the third day, immediately after inhalation administration, a forced swimming test was conducted in the box (15cm long x 15cm wide x 22cm high) containing each sample.

[0018] (Forced swimming test) The forced swimming test (FST), developed by Porsolt et al. (1977), is an ethological technique for eliciting depressive-like behavior and evaluating the efficacy of antidepressants. In this method, a mouse is placed in a cylindrical container filled with water. The mouse is then placed in a state where it cannot escape. Initially, the mouse attempts to swim around in an attempt to escape, but this behavior gradually decreases, and the mouse remains motionless while remaining on the surface (referred to as "immobility"). The duration of this immobility is called "immobility time." It has been reported that administration of antidepressants shortens the immobility time. A longer immobility time is considered to indicate a depressive-like state (excessive stress), while a shorter immobility time is considered to indicate antidepressant activity (anti-stress activity).

[0019] In this experiment, a cylindrical container 10 cm in diameter and 19 cm in height was used, filled with tap water (25 ± 1°C) to a depth of 10 cm. Mice were placed in the cylindrical container and their behavior was recorded with a video camera from the start of the behavioral test. The immobility time of the mice was measured from 0 to 6 minutes after the start of the behavioral test, and depressive-like behavior (stress behavior) was evaluated.

[0020] [Table 2]

[0021] (result) Table 2 shows the experimental results. The steam-distilled fragrance compound group showed a significant decrease in immobility time compared to the triethyl citrate group (control) and the cold-pressured fragrance compound group. These experimental results demonstrated that the steam-distilled fragrance compound is an effective material for alleviating depression symptoms, exhibiting antidepressant-like effects.

[0022] The present inventors conducted a GC-MS component analysis of the steam-distilled blended fragrance group to examine differences between the group administered with triethyl citrate (control) and the group administered with the cold-pressured blended fragrance. An example of the results is shown in Table 1 above. The components contained only in the steam-distilled blended fragrance are components (1) to (5): (1) cis-3-Hexenyl formate, (2) (+)-Camphene, (3) trans-2-Hexenal, (4) Hexanal, and (5) Terpinen-4-ol. It can be said that the inclusion of these components is what caused the anti-stress effect.

[0023] As shown in Table 1, the content of these components was 0.001% by volume for (1) "cis-3-Hexenyl formate" (CAS No. 33467-73-1), 0.010% by volume for (2) "(+)-Camphene" (CAS No. 79-92-5), 0.020% by volume for (3) "trans-2-Hexenal" (CAS No. 6728-26-3), 0.040% by volume for (4) "Hexanal" (CAS No. 66-25-1), and 0.200% by volume for (5) "Terpinen-4-ol" (CAS No. 562-74-3). However, the range of each component that can exert an anti-stress effect is as follows: (1) cis-3-Hexenyl formate Formate, the content is 0.0001 to 0.010 volume%, preferably 0.0005 to 0.002 volume%, (2) (+)-camphene, 0.001 to 0.100 volume%, preferably 0.005 to 0.020 volume%, (3) trans-2-hexenal, 0.002 to 0.200 volume%, preferably 0.010 to 0.040 volume%, (4) hexanal, 0.004 to 0.400 volume%, preferably 0.020 to 0.080 volume%, and (5) terpinen-4-ol, 0.020 to 2.000 volume%, preferably 0.100 to 0.400 volume%. The anti-stress effects can be achieved by keeping the content of each component within the above ranges. The preferred ranges are those in which the respective components can be obtained relatively stably.

[0024] Component analysis by GC-MS was performed using an Agilent 7890B+5977B column. The column used was an Agilent DB-HeavyWAX (30+10 m guard column, 0.25 mm internal diameter, 0.25 μm film thickness). Headspace analysis was performed, and 0.5 mL of each sample was injected into an Agilent PAL3 autosampler in split mode (1:10). The injector temperature was 250 °C, and the carrier helium gas flow rate was 1.2 mL / min. The oven temperature was held at 50 °C for 1 min, then increased to 260 °C at 8 °C / min, and held at the final temperature of 260 °C for 1 min.

Claims

[Claim 1] A yuzu blend fragrance characterized by containing a blend of the following components: (1) 0.0001 to 0.010% by volume of cis-3-hexenyl formate, (2) 0.001 to 0.100% by volume of (+)-camphene, (3) 0.002 to 0.200% by volume of trans-2-hexenal, (4) 0.004 to 0.400% by volume of hexanal, and (5) 0.020 to 2.000% by volume of terpinen-4-ol.

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