JP2007045750A - Anti-fatigue agent - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an agent or a food and a beverage capable of effectively carrying out prophylaxis and recovery of various kinds of fatigues, e.g. physical fatigues after exercise or after labor and fatigue caused by mental stress. <P>SOLUTION: The anti-fatigue agent comprises, as an active ingredient, a composition obtained from asparagus obtained by finely cutting asparagus with a blender, mixing the finely cut asparagus with water and carrying out heat treatment of the mixture for 1 hr at 100°C in an autoclave, cooling the heat-treated material to a room temperature, mixing the material with an enzyme (protease), carrying out shaking treatment of the mixture for 6 hrs at 37°C by using a shaking type incubator, filtering the resultant treated liquid and concentrating the resultant pale-brown extract under reduced pressure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an anti-fatigue agent or a food or drink containing the same.

  Fatigue is a disease with various symptoms such as sleep disorder and decreased motivation due to mental stress, although fatigue and fatigue are generally the main symptoms. Fatigue and fatigue are one of the important alarm signals that inform you of abnormalities in your body, and you can be aware of such things as intense exercise at normal times, long working hours, and excessive stress. It becomes like this. Such physiological fatigue is usually restored to normal by resting and does not last long. However, modern people are often placed in long working hours and excessive stress, and it is often difficult to recover from fatigue and fatigue because it is difficult to get enough rest. When the fatigue research team of the Ministry of Health and Welfare conducted a survey on the actual state of fatigue, 60% of the citizens now feel fatigue, and the feeling of fatigue that lasts more than 6 months rises to 37% (Non-Patent Document 1). About 60% of these causes are unknown, but the development of anti-fatigue agents that assist in the recovery and improvement of daily fatigue is strongly desired.

  Conventionally useful for recovery from fatigue include vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, vitamin C, nicotinic acid, pantetonic acid, γ-oryzanol, taurine and amino acids. However, these conventional products are not always satisfactory in terms of effect or price. Under such circumstances, it has been desired to develop a drug or a food or drink that can assist recovery and improvement of fatigue by daily intake.

  On the other hand, asparagus is considered to be a vegetable that can be expected to have a fatigue recovery effect because it contains a large amount of aspartic acid that promotes metabolism and promotes protein metabolism. However, it is not known that γ-aminobutyric acid (hereinafter abbreviated as GABA) is contained in asparagus, and the treatment for enriching the GABA content may increase the fatigue recovery effect. It was not known. In addition, the present inventors discovered for the first time that GABA is contained abundantly in asparagus (Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-301557).

GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter present in the brain and spinal cord of mammals, and it has been confirmed in many mammals that blood pressure is lowered by ingestion. This blood pressure lowering effect is effective only for those who have developed hypertension, and does not lower blood pressure for healthy individuals and does not cause hypotension. In addition to the brain and spinal cord of mammals, GABA is also contained in plants such as germinated brown rice and tea leaves, and fermented foods such as kimchi and takuan. However, there are no reports of side effects due to GABA intake.
History of Medicine (2003), 204 (5), 381-386

  An object of the present invention is to provide an anti-fatigue agent which is obtained from an inexpensive material and has an excellent fatigue recovery effect when taken daily.

  As a result of intensive studies on the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have found that the extract obtained from asparagus is more excellent in fatigue recovery effect than the same amount of aspartic acid alone as the aspartic acid contained in the extract, and further heating The inventors have found that the effect is enhanced by applying the treatment, and have reached the present invention.

  That is, the first of the present invention is a gist of an anti-fatigue agent characterized by comprising a composition obtained from asparagus as an active ingredient. Preferably, the composition obtained from asparagus is an asparagus. The gas is enriched to increase the GABA content.

  The second aspect of the present invention is a food or drink characterized by containing the anti-fatigue agent.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to effectively prevent and recover various types of fatigue such as fatigue caused by mental stress in addition to physical fatigue after exercise and after work.

  The asparagus used in the present invention may be any as long as it does not impair the effects of the present invention. Asparagus is green asparagus cultivated in the sun, white asparagus cultivated while shading with soil, etc. Among them, green asparagus and murasakia paragas rich in nutrient components such as amino acids and rutin are preferable, and green asparagus is more preferable because of its low cost.

  The production area of asparagus is not particularly limited, and it may be domestically produced or imported from overseas. The part to be used is not particularly limited, and young stems, above-ground stems, and storage roots can be used. Among these, young stems are preferable. The young stem may be the root portion or the tip portion, but the root portion cut when aligning the length of the asparagus as the product is most preferable because it can be obtained at low cost. Asparagus may be used as it is, or may be used after processing such as crushing, cutting, freeze-drying and dehydration.

  The composition obtained from asparagus in the present invention refers to a composition containing GABA obtained from asparagus. For example, asparagus is directly crushed, shredded, dehydrated, freeze-dried, vacuum dried, spray dried, etc. It can obtain by processing any 1 of these well-known techniques, or combining 2 or more.

  Crushing / chopping is a method of physically crushing asparagus finely, crushing by impact, and crushing by cutting. Grinding and shredding may be performed manually using a mortar, kitchen knife, cutter knife, scissors, or the like, but an apparatus is used when a large amount of asparagus is to be processed in a short time. Examples of such an apparatus include a mill, a hammer type pulverizer, a mixer, a blender, and the like, and a vegetable shredding machine may be used. The size of the crushed and shredded asparagus is not particularly limited, but is preferably 2 cm or less, and more preferably 5 mm or less.

  Dehydration is an operation for removing moisture in asparagus, and examples thereof include squeezing, filtration, separation of a precipitate by standing, centrifugation, heat evaporation, freeze drying, vacuum drying, spray drying, and the like. Of these, freeze-drying is preferred in that the possibility of component loss, decomposition, and alteration is low.

  Freeze drying and vacuum drying are methods in which the atmospheric pressure is lowered to lower the boiling point and vaporize water. Spray drying is an operation that enables drying in a short time by atomizing the solution and bringing it into contact with hot air.

  In the present invention, in addition to the above treatment, it is preferable to incorporate a heating operation in order to remove glutathione. In this heating operation, the temperature is preferably 70 ° C to 100 ° C, and more preferably 80 ° C to 90 ° C. If the temperature is lower than 70 ° C., the decomposition of glutathione becomes insufficient, and if it is higher than 100 ° C., other active ingredients may be decomposed. Further, the heating time is preferably 5 minutes to 30 minutes, more preferably 10 to 15 minutes. If the heating time is shorter than 5 minutes, the decomposition of glutathione becomes insufficient, and if it is longer than 30 minutes, other active ingredients may be decomposed. This heating operation also serves as sterilization.

  As a preferable example of the combination of the above treatments, it is preferable to heat-treat asparagus, freeze-dry, and then pulverize with a mill or the like.

  In addition, the composition obtained from asparagus in the present invention is known from the above treatments such as water extraction, solvent extraction, pressing, enzymatic decomposition, supercritical extraction, concentration, dilution, solid-liquid separation, purification, etc. These techniques may be obtained singly or in combination. Hereinafter, these operations will be described. Also in this case, it is preferable to incorporate a heating operation similar to the above when the above heating operation is not performed.

  Water extraction is a method in which water is added to elute components. The amount of water to be added is not particularly limited, but is preferably 0.01 to 100 times, more preferably 0.5 to 5 times the amount of asparagus. When the amount of water is less than 0.01 times, the extraction efficiency is lowered, and when it is more than 100 times, only a thin extract can be obtained and a concentration operation may be required later. Moreover, 0 to 100 degreeC is preferable and the temperature of the water to be used has more preferable 10 to 80 degreeC. When the temperature of water is lower than 0 ° C., the extraction efficiency tends to decrease, and when the extraction temperature is higher than 100 ° C., active ingredients other than GABA may be decomposed.

  Solvent extraction is a method of extraction using an organic solvent such as alcohols, hydrocarbons and lipids, and the organic solvent used is not particularly limited as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired, and may be used alone. In addition, it may be used by mixing with other solvents, or may be used by mixing with water. Examples of preferred organic solvents include ethanol, methanol, propanol, butanol, hexane, acetone, glycerin, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, propylene glycol fatty acid ester, polyethylene glycol fatty acid ester, ethyl ether, methyl ethyl ketone, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO ), N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF), N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMAC), and more preferably ethanol, hexane, acetone, DMSO, and glycerin. The amount of the organic solvent to be added is not particularly limited by the type of the organic solvent, but is preferably 0.01 to 100 times, more preferably 0.5 to 5 times the amount of asparagus. When the amount of the organic solvent is less than 0.01 times, the extraction efficiency is lowered, and when it is more than 100 times, only a thin extract can be obtained and a concentration operation may be required later. Moreover, the temperature of the organic solvent to be used is preferably -20 ° C to 200 ° C, more preferably 0 ° C to 120 ° C. When the temperature of the organic solvent is lower than −20 ° C., the extraction efficiency tends to decrease, and when the extraction temperature is higher than 200 ° C., the active ingredient may be decomposed.

  Squeezing is a method in which physical pressure is applied to asparagus to squeeze the liquid and transfer GABA to the juice. The pressure may be applied only in one direction, may be applied from two or more directions, and may be accompanied by a shearing force. Although the operation of pressing is easy if a commercially available pressing machine is used, it may be performed by a method that does not use a machine such as hand pressing or stepping. At this time, water or hot water may be added to asparagus and squeezed.

  Enzymatic decomposition is a method in which an enzyme is allowed to act on asparagus and then separated into solid and liquid to transfer GABA to a filtrate. Here, the enzyme is not particularly limited as long as the effect of the present invention is not impaired, but an enzyme that can be used for food is preferable in consideration of use for food. The type of enzyme is not particularly limited, but cellulase, hemicellulase, pectinase, xylanase, arabinase, arabanase, amylase, glucanase, etc. in order to decompose GABA, pectin, polysaccharides, etc. In order for dextranase to degrade proteins and recover many free amino acids, protease, peptidase, etc. to convert glutamic acid to GABA, glutamic acid decarboxylase, etc. to convert glutamine to glutamic acid Glutaminase and the like can be used. In the enzymatic degradation in the present invention, only one kind of the above-described enzymes may be used, or two or more kinds may be used simultaneously or successively.

  In supercritical extraction, carbon dioxide or water is brought to a pressure and temperature above the gas-liquid critical point to make it a supercritical fluid with active molecular motion, and this is used as an extraction solvent. In the present invention, the supercritical fluid is preferably carbon dioxide. The temperature during supercritical extraction is preferably 31 ° C to 150 ° C, more preferably 31 ° C to 100 ° C. When the temperature is higher than this range, there is a possibility that useful components may be decomposed. Moreover, the pressure at the time of performing supercritical extraction is preferably 7 MPa to 50 MPa, and more preferably 7 MPa to 30 MPa. When the pressure is higher than this range, there is a problem in decomposition of useful components, high cost, and safety, and when the pressure is lower than this range, the extraction efficiency tends to decrease.

  Concentration is an operation to reduce the amount of water without reducing other components, and may be performed by any method such as vacuum concentration, heat concentration, concentration using a filtration membrane, but in the range of 20 ° C to 60 ° C. It is preferable to carry out concentration under reduced pressure.

  Solid-liquid separation is a method that separates the solvent and components dissolved in it from insoluble solids. For example, any method such as filter filtration, squeeze filtration, centrifugation, or decantation can be used. it can. When obtaining a clear GABA-containing composition, it is preferable to perform filter filtration using a filter aid such as diatomaceous earth. Moreover, when obtaining a clearer liquid or removing microorganisms, it is preferable to further filter this with a membrane filter having a pore diameter of less than 1 μm.

  Purification is an operation that separates the target component from other components. Methods include electrophoretic separation, density gradient centrifugation, membrane separation such as reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration and dialysis, gel filtration, ion exchange, Examples include affinity chromatography. Any purification method may be used as long as it does not impair the effects of the present invention. For purification to increase the GABA content, chromatography using a strongly acidic cation exchange resin is high in yield and simple. Most desirable from.

  Examples of the form of the composition obtained from the asparagus in the present invention obtained by the treatment as described above include aqueous solutions, creams, suspensions, gels, powders, tablets, capsules and the like. As an example, it is obtained by adding 1 to 2 times the amount of water to the bottom of the stem of asparagus, performing extraction at 70 to 90 ° C. for 30 to 60 minutes, and then performing filter filtration using a filter aid such as diatomaceous earth. The obtained clarified filtrate or a powder obtained by drying the clarified filtrate is preferred.

  The composition obtained from asparagus in the present invention includes GABA, other amino acids, polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, monosaccharides such as D-glucose, D-fructose, and D-galactose, proteins, peptides, and saponins. And polyphenols. As amino acids, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, alanine, serine, proline and the like are relatively contained.

  The weight percent of GABA contained in the composition obtained from the asparagus obtained as described above is preferably 0.01 wt% to 99.5 wt%, more preferably 0.1 wt% to 95 wt%. %, More preferably 1% by weight to 90% by weight. If the GABA weight% is less than 0.01% by weight, it is necessary to ingest a large amount in order to exert the effect, and if it exceeds 99.5%, the content of the substance that has a synergistic additive effect on the GABA. Is not preferable.

  Further, the composition obtained from asparagus is preferably obtained by enriching asparagus in order to increase the GABA content. As this enrichment treatment, a method using a known refining technique, a commercially available GABA pure product (for example, “Kyowa Hakko Co., Ltd.“ GABA Kyowa ””) or a GABA-containing composition (for example, “Olisa Gabba Extract HC- 90 ", Pharma Foods Research Institute" Pharmaca GABA "), a method using GABA-producing bacteria, a method using an asparagus endogenous enzyme, and the like. Among these, the method using an asparagus endogenous enzyme is most preferable in that a component exhibiting a synergistic / additive effect with GABA is not removed and the cost is low.

  The method using an asparagus endogenous enzyme is a method of treating asparagus and / or an asparagus extract under an environment of 10 ° C. to 50 ° C., glutamic acid, glutamate, pyridoxallin in the asparagus and / or asparagus extract. Examples include a method of adding at least one selected from acid salts and pyridoxine hydrochloride and treating in an environment of 10 ° C to 50 ° C.

  By performing such an enrichment treatment, the proportion of GABA in the components increases in the composition, and the added components are also included.

  The anti-fatigue agent of the present invention contains the composition obtained as described above as it is or together with other components. In the anti-fatigue agent of the present invention, the composition obtained from asparagus is 0.1 wt% to 100 wt%, more preferably 1 wt% to 95 wt%, still more preferably, depending on its GABA content. It is good to contain 10 to 90 weight%. If the content of the composition obtained from asparagus is less than 0.1% by weight, it is not preferable because a large amount needs to be taken in order to exert the effect.

Examples of other components that can be included in the anti-fatigue agent of the present invention include various vitamins and minerals, and other active components having anti-fatigue activity. Specific examples include vitamin B ₁ or a derivative thereof or a salt thereof. Vitamin C or a derivative thereof or a salt thereof, biotin, taurine, carnitines (acetyl L-carnitine and the like), caffeine, γ-oryzanol and the like can be mentioned.

  The coexisting weight ratio of the composition obtained from GABA contained in the anti-fatigue agent of the present invention and asparagus other than GABA is (GABA) :( composition obtained from asparagus other than GABA) is 1: 0.005. ˜1: 100 is preferable, more preferably 1: 0.05 to 1:40, and still more preferably 1: 0.1 to 1:10. If the ratio of the composition obtained from asparagus other than GABA to GABA is less than 0.005, an additive synergistic effect is hardly obtained, and if it exceeds 100, it is ingested in a large amount to exert the effect of GABA. Necessity arises.

  Further, the coexisting weight ratio of GABA and aspartic acid contained in the anti-fatigue agent of the present invention is preferably (GABA) :( aspartic acid) of 1: 0.001-1: 100, more preferably 1: 0. 05 to 1:20, more preferably 1: 0.1 to 1:10. Even if it falls below or exceeds this range, a sufficient fatigue recovery effect cannot be obtained.

  The anti-fatigue agent of the present invention can be formulated into various dosage forms together with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier as long as the effect is not impaired.

  Examples of the dosage form include oral solid preparations such as tablets, granules, fine granules, powders, capsules and pills, and oral liquid preparations such as solutions, suspensions and emulsions.

  When preparing an oral solid preparation, it is sufficient to use those conventionally used, such as excipients, binders, disintegrants, lubricants, flavoring agents, and coloring agents. For example, lactose, sucrose, glucose, mannitol, sorbit, dextrin, starch, crystalline cellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxypropylcellulose, dextran, pullulan, anhydrous silicic acid, calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate etc. Crystalline cellulose, sucrose, mannitol, dextrin, hydroxypropylcellulose, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, gum arabic, dextran, pullulan, water, ethanol etc. as binders, starch, carboxymethylcellulose, hydride as disintegrants Xylpropylcellulose, dextrin, crystalline cellulose, etc., as a lubricant, stearic acid and its metal salts, talc, boric acid, fatty acid sodium salt, sodium lauryl sulfate, magnesium lauryl sulfate, silicic acid anhydride, etc. as flavoring agents Can be exemplified by sucrose, orange peel, citric acid, tartaric acid and the like.

  When preparing a liquid preparation for oral use, it is sufficient to use a buffer, a stabilizer, a flavoring agent, or the like used in a conventional manner. As a buffer, citrate, succinate, etc. Examples of the agent include lecithin, gum arabic, gelatin, and methylcellulose, and examples of the flavoring agent include those described above.

  When the anti-fatigue agent of the present invention is used, the amount of GABA contained therein may be adjusted to 50 mg to 2000 mg / day / person, particularly preferably 300 mg to 1000 mg / day / person. If it is within this range, a sufficient fatigue recovery effect can be obtained.

  The 2nd food / beverage products of this invention contain the above-mentioned 1st anti-fatigue agent of this invention, and can be obtained by including in the anti-fatigue agent itself or the existing drink or foodstuff.

  When the anti-fatigue agent itself of the present invention is used as a food or drink, for example, after adding the above-described carrier, etc., in a conventional manner, granules, granules, tablets, capsules, gels, pastes, milks, suspensions What is necessary is just to shape | mold in the form suitable for foods, such as a shape, liquid, and a drink. In addition, sugars, sugar alcohols, salts, fats and oils, amino acids, organic acids, fruit juices, vegetable juices, fragrances, alcohols, glycerin, etc. are added to improve the quality of the taste as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired. can do.

  When the anti-fatigue agent of the present invention is included in an existing beverage or food, it is not particularly limited as a base beverage or food, for example, processed noodles such as udon and pasta, processed meat foods such as ham and sausage, Seafood processed foods such as kamaboko and chikuwa, processed milk products such as butter, milk powder and fermented milk, desserts such as jelly and ice cream, processed foods such as breads, confectionery, seasonings, and soft drinks, Alcoholic beverages, fruit juice beverages, vegetable juice beverages, milk beverages, carbonated beverages, coffee beverages, alcohols and the like are preferred.

  The content of the anti-fatigue agent obtained from asparagus in the food and drink of the present invention is not particularly limited, but in terms of GABA, it is 50 mg to 2000 mg / day / person, particularly preferably 300 mg to 1000 mg / day / person. Just adjust. If it exists in this range, the fatigue recovery effect can fully be acquired and it is excellent also in economical efficiency.

  The form of the anti-fatigue agent obtained from asparagus to be included in the food and drink of the present invention is not particularly limited, and liquids are used for beverages, gummi, candy, etc., and powders are used for tablets, granules, capsules, etc. Can be used.

EXAMPLES The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. In the examples, the contents of GABA and amino acids are values obtained by the following method. That is, it measured on the following conditions by the high performance liquid chromatography method (HPLC method), and detected using the fluorescence detector.
HPLC: Shimadzu Corporation LC-9A
Column: Shim-pack ISC-07 / S1504
Mobile phase: 0.2 N sodium citrate buffer (pH 2.2)
Flow rate: 0.3 ml / min Temperature: 55 ° C
Reaction solution: ortho-phthalaldehyde Detection wavelength: excitation wavelength 348 nm, fluorescence wavelength 450 nm

Production Example 1
1 kg of asparagus (produced by Akita) was shredded to 5 mm or less with a blender, 2 L of water was introduced, and heat treatment was performed in an autoclave at 100 ° C. for 1 hour. After cooling to room temperature, 1 g of Sumiteam LPL (protease activity 500,000 units / g) manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Co., Ltd. was mixed and shaken at 37 ° C. for 6 hours using a shaking incubator. The obtained treatment liquid was subjected to suction filtration using filter paper (ADVANTEC Toyo No. 5C) using diatomaceous earth as a filter aid to obtain a light brown extract. This was heated in boiling water for 10 minutes to deactivate the enzyme, and suction filtered again using diatomaceous earth. The obtained filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure 10 times by a desktop evaporator (manufactured by EYELA). By this operation, 280 ml of a GABA-containing composition was obtained. The contents of amino acids and GABA were as shown in Table 1.

Production Example 2
1 kg of asparagus stalk (from Akita) was crushed with a mixer, and 2 L of water was introduced. Thereto, 50 g of sodium glutamate was added and dissolved by stirring well. This was shaken at 25 ° C. for 24 hours using a shaking incubator, and GABA enrichment treatment was performed. Further, 1 g of Sumiteam LPL (protease activity 500,000 units / g) manufactured by Shin Nippon Chemical Co., Ltd. was mixed and shaken at 37 ° C. for 6 hours using a shaking incubator. The obtained treatment liquid was filtered by suction using filter paper (ADVANTEC Toyo No. 5C) using diatomaceous earth as a filter aid, and the obtained filtrate was concentrated under reduced pressure 10 times by a desktop evaporator (manufactured by EYELA). . By this operation, 270 ml of a yellow-green GABA-containing composition was obtained. The GABA and amino acid contents were as shown in Table 1.

Example 1 [Evaluation in forced swimming experiment]
Experimental animal: SD rat (male) (Japan SLC, approx. 310 g), 9 weeks old, 40 normal samples: Lab MR stock (Nippon Agricultural Industry)

Method: Rats were housed under conditions of room temperature 25 ° C. ± 1 ° C., humidity 60% ± 5%, 12 hours light period 12 hours dark period (light period 7 o'clock to 19 o'clock). Prior to sample administration, a normal feed was given for one week, and physiological saline was administered once a day at 5 ml / kg with a gastric sonde for acclimation. A 100-liter plastic bucket (bottom diameter 40 cm, top diameter 50 cm, height 60 cm) is filled with water at a temperature of 25 ° C. ± 1 ° C. up to a height of 25 cm, and then divided into 8 groups of 5 rats and forced swimming for 30 minutes. (Preload). Immediately thereafter, samples A to E in Table 2 were administered with a 5 ml / kg gastric sonde. One hour after sample administration, each animal is placed in a cylindrical vinyl chloride container (diameter 30 cm, height 45 cm) filled with water at a temperature of 25 ° C ± 1 ° C up to a height of 25 cm. (Seconds) was measured. The immobility time (seconds) is a measurement of the time when the rat gave up swimming due to fatigue and stopped moving, and means that the shorter the immobility time, the less accumulated fatigue. Significant differences were tested at a significance level of 5% by Dunnett's multiple test. The results are shown in Table 3. The results are shown as mean ± standard deviation.

As is apparent from Table 3, the asparagus extract shortened the immobility time, that is, had an anti-fatigue effect. Moreover, it turned out that an asparagus extract has a high anti-fatigue effect compared with the amino acid of the same amount as the amino acid except GABA contained in an extract.

Example 2 [Influence of GABA enrichment treatment]
Experimental animals, normal samples, and methods followed Example 1. However, the administration sample after preload is shown in Table 4.

Results: Table 5 shows the results. The results are shown as mean ± standard deviation.

As is apparent from Table 5, the anti-fatigue effect of the asparagus extract was increased by the GABA enrichment treatment.

Example 3 [Effect in overworked state]
Experimental animal: SD rat (male) (Japan SLC, approx. 310 g), 9 weeks old, 30 normal samples: Lab MR stock (Nippon Agricultural Industry)

Method: Rats were housed under conditions of room temperature 25 ° C. ± 1 ° C., humidity 60% ± 5%, 12 hours light period 12 hours dark period (light period 7 o'clock to 19 o'clock). Prior to sample administration, normal feed was given for one week, and physiological saline was administered once a day at 5 ml / kg with a gastric sonde for habituation. Next, the cage was moved into a water bath having a water depth of 1.5 cm (water temperature: 25 ° C. ± 1 ° C.) and placed in an environment in which rats could not obtain sufficient rest. From the start of water-breeding breeding, 10 animals per group were divided into 3 groups, and the samples shown in Table 6 were administered once a day at 5 ml / kg with a stomach tube. On the 5th day from the start of water-breeding, a cylindrical vinyl chloride container (diameter 30 cm, high) with water at a temperature of 25 ° C ± 1 ° C up to a height of 25 cm, each with a weight of 8% weight The time until the nose is submerged for 10 seconds or more was measured. In addition, in this model, when it is submerged for two days or more, swimming against the weight cannot be sufficiently performed, and the swimming is abandoned in a shorter time. In addition, when acute stress is applied, the serotonin nervous system in the brain is activated and feels tired, and the dopamine nervous system is activated and becomes involved in maintaining physical vitality under fatigue. . However, when submerged for 2 days or more, neither the serotonin nervous system nor the dopamine nervous system is activated, and the nerve balance in the brain is abnormal, which is thought to be loaded with mental stress. The test results were obtained as the anti-fatigue effect by determining the ratio of the swimming time of each group when the swimming time of Group A was 100 (%).
Results: The results are shown in Table 7. The results are shown as mean ± standard deviation.

As apparent from Table 7, it was confirmed that the GABA-enriched asparagus extract has an effect of reducing overwork.

Example 4
The GABA-enriched asparagus extract produced in Production Example 2 was freeze-dried and then pulverized. The obtained powder was mixed and granulated well in the following blending ratio, and then tableted with 500 mg per tablet to produce a tablet. In addition,% shows the mass%.

Raw material GABA-enriched asparagus extract 50%
15% crystalline cellulose
Reduced maltose 30%
Sucrose fatty acid ester 5%

Example 5
Production Example 2 and the produced GABA-enriched asparagus extract were freeze-dried and then pulverized. 100 g of the obtained powder was mixed with 900 g of “Oolong tea extract powder” manufactured by Nippon Powder Chemical Co., Ltd. to produce a GABA-containing liver dysfunction prevention / improved oolong tea powder. 5 g of this GABA-containing oolong tea powder was dissolved in 500 ml of water to produce a GABA-containing anti-fatigue oolong tea.

Claims (3)

An anti-fatigue agent comprising a composition obtained from asparagus as an active ingredient. The anti-fatigue agent according to claim 1, wherein the composition obtained from asparagus is obtained by subjecting asparagus to an enrichment treatment for increasing the content of γ-aminobutyric acid. A food or drink comprising the anti-fatigue agent according to claim 1 or 2.