JP2010047605A - Agent for improving bowel movement containing powder of young blade of wheat or the like as active ingredient - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an agent for improving bowel movement. <P>SOLUTION: The agent for improving bowel movement contains a water-insoluble ingredient originating from blades of wheat or the like as the active ingredient. Preferably, the agent for improving bowel movement contains a water-insoluble ingredient originating from young blades of wheat or the like as the active ingredient. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a bowel movement improving agent.

  In recent years, an increasing number of people are suffering from constipation due to changes in eating habits, bias in the content of meals, stress, and the like. Constipation causes stool to stay for a long time in the intestine, causing an increase in harmful bacteria in the intestine or an increase in the absorption of harmful substances, which also causes colon cancer.

  In order to improve such constipation, various compounds or materials having a bowel movement improving action have been proposed. For example, dietary fibers such as wheat bran and polydextrose, oligosaccharides such as xylo-oligosaccharides and fructooligosaccharides, etc. are known as materials for improving bowel movement (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 and Non-Patent Document 1). However, even these substances do not cause diarrhea or have a sufficient effect on improving bowel movement, and a new material for improving bowel movement has been demanded.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-60487 JP-A-6-13538

Kunio Nakagawa, Japanese health functional food Tokuho "specific functional food", Bookman, 1st edition, pages 56-59

  An object of the present invention is to provide a novel bowel movement improving agent.

  The inventors of the present invention focused on water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves and have made extensive studies. As a result, when water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves are ingested, it promotes excretion from the intestine (ie, shortens the intestinal transit time), increases the amount of stool, and increases the amount of water in the stool ( It was found that a water retention effect in feces) was obtained, and an intestinal bacterial flora improving effect was obtained. Furthermore, the water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves is superior to the water-insoluble component derived from other plants (for example, wheat bran), and is excellent in water retention in feces and in the intestinal transit time. As a result, the present invention has been completed.

  The bowel movement improving agent of the present invention comprises a wheat young leaf powder containing 30% by mass or more of a water-insoluble component as an active ingredient.

  The food for improving bowel movements of the present invention contains the aforementioned bowel movement improving agent.

  The fecal improvement agent comprising the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaf of the present invention as an active ingredient has an action of promoting excretion from the intestine (that is, an action of shortening the intestinal transit time), an action of increasing the amount of feces, and an amount of water in the feces Has an action to increase (water retention action in feces), and further has an action to improve intestinal flora. Among these, in particular, compared with water-insoluble components derived from other plants (for example, wheat bran), the intestinal transit time shortening action and the faecal water-retaining action are excellent.

(Preparation method of water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves)
The active ingredient of the bowel movement improving agent of the present invention is a water-insoluble ingredient derived from wheat leaves. As the raw material wheat leaves, barley leaves such as barley, wheat, oats and rye are used. Particularly suitable are young wheat leaves, especially barley young leaves, which are harvested before the wheat matures, that is, from the beginning of the splitting to the early stage of heading (the height is about 20 to 40 cm). This wheat leaf is usually washed with water (preferably cold water of 25 ° C. or less) after harvesting, washed away mud, drained, and then cut into an appropriate length (for example, 5 cm to 10 cm). Used.

  The wheat leaves may be preliminarily subjected to blanching treatment such as hot water treatment or steam heat treatment for the purpose of deactivating enzymes involved in discoloration or alteration of nutrient components. The temperature and time of the blanching treatment may be appropriately determined according to the amount of wheat leaves to be treated and the pH of hot water. In addition, when the blanching process is performed, it is preferable to immediately cool using, for example, water at 30 ° C. or lower, preferably water at 20 ° C. or lower. The lower the temperature of the cold water, the brighter the green color of the young wheat leaves.

  A water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves used in the present invention is prepared using the prepared wheat leaves. Examples of water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves include crushed wheat leaf obtained by crushing treatment, dried wheat leaf obtained by drying treatment, or wheat obtained by further crushing the dried product. Processed wheat leaves such as dry powder of leaves. Preferred is a dried wheat leaf product or a dried wheat leaf powder.

  The wheat leaf crushed material, which is a kind of the processed wheat leaf product, can be obtained, for example, by crushing the wheat leaf using mascolloider, slicer, dicer, comitolol, or the like.

  The dried wheat leaf product, which is a kind of the processed wheat leaf product, is obtained, for example, by drying so that the water content in the wheat leaf is 5% by mass or less. As a drying method, for example, a drying method usually used by those skilled in the art, such as hot air drying, high-pressure steam drying, electromagnetic wave drying, freeze-drying, or the like is employed.

  A dry powder of wheat leaves, which is a kind of the processed wheat leaf product, can be obtained, for example, by pulverizing the dried product. Depending on the size of the target powder, coarse pulverization or fine pulverization can be performed. From the viewpoint of increasing the pulverization efficiency such as uniform particle size and shortening of the pulverization time, it is preferable to carry out a combination of coarse pulverization and fine pulverization.

  In the coarse pulverization step, for example, the major diameter of the wheat leaf is about 20 mm or less, preferably about about 20 mm or less using any coarse pulverization machine or tool commonly used by those skilled in the art, such as a cutter, a slicer, and a dicer. Crush to 0.1 to 10 mm. In the pulverization step, the wheat leaves are pulverized so that 90% by mass or more passes through the 200 mesh section. The pulverization is performed using any machine or tool normally used by those skilled in the art, such as, for example, a crusher, a mill, a blender, and a stone mill.

  The wheat leaf processed product thus obtained contains abundant water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves, and can be suitably used as a water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves used in the present invention. Preferably, a processed wheat leaf product (especially wheat leaf powder) containing 30% by mass or more, more preferably 50 to 90% by mass of a water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves is used. Furthermore, the water-insoluble component preferably contains insoluble dietary fiber in an amount of 40% by mass or more, more preferably 40 to 80% by mass in terms of dry mass.

  The processed wheat leaf product is preferably used after removing the water-soluble component contained therein. Examples of such a method include a method of adding a solvent such as water to the processed wheat leaf product, removing the liquid phase by solid-liquid separation to obtain a solid phase, and drying the solid phase. By the above method, water-soluble components are removed, and water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves are further purified. The hydration is preferably performed by adding 200 to 3000 parts by mass of water (or a solvent-containing aqueous solution such as ethanol) with respect to 100 parts by mass of the processed wheat leaves. The immersion time is not particularly limited, but is preferably 6 hours to 48 hours. Solid-liquid separation is performed by a separation method commonly used by those skilled in the art, such as centrifugation and filtration. The drying is preferably performed so that the water content of the solid phase is 5% by mass.

  The amount of the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaves used in the present invention is, for example, after adding water to the wheat young leaf powder and sufficiently contacting it, solid-liquid separation to remove the liquid phase, and then drying, It can be calculated by measuring the dry weight. The amount of insoluble dietary fiber can be obtained by a measurement method used by those skilled in the art, such as an enzyme-weight method.

  You may grind | pulverize the water-insoluble component derived from the obtained wheat leaf suitably as needed. The pulverization can be carried out alone or in combination according to the target size. By finely pulverizing, the texture of the dry powder of wheat leaves is improved.

Furthermore, before the coarsely pulverized wheat leaf is finely pulverized, heat treatment may be performed from the viewpoint of improving the flavor of the wheat leaf and performing efficient sterilization. The heat treatment is performed at 110 ° C. or higher. For example, high pressure sterilization, heat sterilization, pressurized steam sterilization, or the like is employed. Preferred is autoclave sterilization. For example, in the case of heat treatment by pressurized steam sterilization, coarsely pulverized wheat leaves are heat-treated with saturated steam at 110 to 200 ° C. for 2 to 10 seconds under a pressure of 0.5 to 10 kg / cm ² , for example. The If necessary, moisture contained during heating with saturated steam is further dried. In particular, the texture is further improved by sequentially performing the steps of coarse pulverization, heat treatment, and fine pulverization.

  The water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves used in the present invention is specifically obtained as follows. First, 1 kg of wheat leaves are dried at 60 ° C. and then pulverized using a hammer mill. Next, 1 kg of water is added to the powder, shaken and stirred for 12 hours, and centrifuged to remove the supernatant. Further, the above shaking / stirring step and the step of removing the supernatant are repeated 2 to 5 times for the resulting precipitate. The obtained precipitate can be dried to obtain about 800 g of water-insoluble components. The water-insoluble component is rich in insoluble dietary fibers such as hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin.

  The water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves used in the present invention has an excellent bowel movement improving action. For example, ingestion of water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves activates the peristaltic movement of the intestines compared to plants (wheat bran) that contain a high amount of water-insoluble components (especially insoluble dietary fiber). It can shorten the transit time and promote excretion from the intestine. Furthermore, when a water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves is ingested, the amount of feces increases. In general, ingestion of water-insoluble components derived from other plants such as wheat bran (for example, insoluble dietary fiber) tends to result in stool with a low water content, which may make it difficult to defecate, especially when constipation tends to occur. is there. On the other hand, the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaves used in the present invention increases the water content in the stool to form a stool shape suitable for defecation (water retention effect), and is also seen by those who tend to have constipation. Can reduce the decreased peristaltic movement of the intestine. These things can enable not only a defecation effect that simply increases the amount of stool but also a smoother defecation for those who tend to have constipation. The water retaining action is also particularly effective for preventing wrinkles, for example.

(Food bowel improving agent or food containing a bowel movement improving agent)
As described above, the bowel movement improving agent of the present invention contains a water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves as an active ingredient. The content of the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaf in the bowel movement improving agent is not particularly limited, but is preferably 30% by mass or more, more preferably 30 to 95% by mass, and further preferably 30 to 85% in terms of dry mass. % By mass, most preferably 30 to 60% by mass. The fecal improvement agent of the present invention preferably further contains insoluble dietary fiber derived from wheat leaves. The content of the insoluble dietary fiber derived from the wheat leaves is preferably 20% by mass or more, more preferably 20 to 90% by mass, and further preferably 20 to 80% by mass in terms of dry mass, in the fecal improvement agent. Most preferably, it is 20-50 mass%. The water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves preferably contains 40% by mass of insoluble dietary fiber derived from wheat leaves, more preferably contains 40-80% by mass, and contains 70-80% by mass. More preferably. The food of the present invention contains such a bowel movement improving agent. That is, the above bowel movement improving agent containing a water-insoluble component (or insoluble dietary fiber) derived from wheat leaves as an active ingredient can be used as a food for improving bowel movement. The food of the present invention may preferably contain a bowel movement improving agent so that the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaf is 2% by mass or more, more preferably 3% by mass or more in terms of dry mass, and the wheat leaf The insoluble dietary fiber derived from can contain a bowel movement improving agent so that the amount is preferably 1% by mass or more, more preferably 1.5% by mass or more, and further preferably 10% by mass or more in terms of dry mass.

  The intake of the bowel movement improving agent or food containing the bowel movement improving agent of the present invention is not particularly limited. From the viewpoint of effectively obtaining the bowel movement improving action, preferably, the water insoluble component derived from wheat leaves contained in the bowel movement improving agent or food containing the bowel movement improving agent is 1 g or more per day per adult, more preferably 1 It is preferable to ingest so that it may become 0.3g-95g, More preferably, it is 1.3g-50g, Most preferably, it is 1.3g-19g. Ingestion of more than 95 g of water-insoluble component per day may cause diarrhea due to softening of the stool because the effect of improving bowel movement is too strong.

  Such water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves can be used for food and drink as they are, or, if necessary, mixed with various food raw materials, pharmaceutical raw materials, seasonings, additives, etc. It can be a medicine. Additives include excipients, extenders, binders, thickeners, emulsifiers, colorants, fragrances and the like. As the seasoning, for example, a sugar solution, a sugar alcohol solution, or the like is used for adjusting the sweetness. Examples of food ingredients that can be mixed include royal jelly, propolis, vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin B group, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, folic acid, pantothenic acid, biotin, derivatives thereof, etc.), minerals (Compounds containing metals such as iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc), selenium compounds, chitin / chitosan, lecithin, polyphenols (flavonoids, derivatives thereof, etc.), carotenoids (lycopene, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, lutein, etc.), xanthine derivatives (Such as caffeine), fatty acids, proteins (such as collagen and elastin), mucopolysaccharides (such as hyaluronic acid, chondroitin, dermatan, heparan, heparin, ketalan, and salts thereof), amino sugars (glucosamine, acetyl group) Cosamine, galactosamine, acetylgalactosamine, neuraminic acid, acetylneuraminic acid, hexosamine, salts thereof, oligosaccharide (isomaltooligosaccharide, cyclic oligosaccharide, etc.), phospholipid (phosphatidylcholine), sphingolipid and its derivatives (Such as sphingomyelin and ceramide), sulfur-containing compounds (such as alliin, sepaene, taurine, glutathione and methylsulfonylmethane), sugar alcohols, lignans (such as sesamin), animal and plant extracts containing these, root vegetables (turmeric, ginger) Etc.), cruciferous plants such as kale used as a green juice material, green leaves such as sweet potato stalks and leaves, ashitaba and mulberry leaves. In addition, in terms of reducing side effects caused by insoluble dietary fiber such as diarrhea, insoluble dietary fiber is used for ingredients other than water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves, such as food ingredients, pharmaceutical ingredients, seasonings, and additives. Is preferably not contained.

  The form of the bowel movement improving agent or the food containing a bowel movement improving agent of the present invention is not particularly limited. If necessary, form capsules such as hard capsules, soft capsules, tablets, pills, etc., or form powders, granules, teas, tea bags, bowls, etc. can do. Depending on their shape or preference, they may be eaten as they are, or they may be dissolved in water, hot water, milk or the like. Furthermore, as a beverage, for example, it can be used for plant fermented juice, vegetable juice (for example, carrot juice), plant extract, fruit juice, etc., and it improves palatability by containing water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves. Not only can it be a functional or nutritious beverage. From the viewpoint of ensuring sufficient daily intake, a beverage or granular form is preferred.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated in detail based on an Example, this Example does not intend limiting this invention.

(Example 1: Preparation of water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves)
Using 5 kg of wheat young leaf powder (manufactured by Toyo Shinyaku Co., Ltd.) containing 56% by mass as insoluble dietary fiber, it is divided into a water-insoluble component (referred to as WI) and a water-soluble component (referred to as WS) as follows. It was. Furthermore, the water-soluble component (WS) was divided into an ethanol-insoluble component (referred to as EI) and an ethanol-soluble component (referred to as ES).

  First, 50 kg of water was added to 5 kg of wheat leaf and stirred for 12 hours, and then separated into a precipitate and a supernatant (water-soluble component) by centrifugation. The operation of adding 50 kg of water to the precipitate and separating the precipitate and the supernatant as described above was further repeated three times. When the resulting precipitate was dried with hot air, 4.1 kg of a water-insoluble component (WI) was obtained (2.5 kg of insoluble dietary fiber out of this WI).

  On the other hand, the obtained supernatant was collected, and 4-fold volume of ethanol was added to the supernatant and allowed to stand overnight at room temperature (25 ° C.). Thereafter, centrifugation was performed to separate the ethanol precipitate and the supernatant. The ethanol precipitate and the supernatant were each concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 0.31 kg of an ethanol-insoluble component (EI) and 0.67 kg of an ethanol-soluble component (ES).

(Example 2: Preparation of feed)
Feed prepared by mixing the WI obtained in Example 1 (consisting of water-insoluble components (ie, 100% by mass) and containing 61% by mass of insoluble dietary fiber) and the components shown in Table 1 in the proportions shown in Table 1. Was obtained (feed 1). The feed 1 contains 1.7% by mass of insoluble dietary fiber.

(Example 3: Preparation of feed)
Mixture obtained by mixing WI, EI, and ES obtained in Example 1 in a mass ratio of 0.1: 0.22: 0.47 (containing 22% by mass of water-insoluble components and 13 insoluble dietary fibers) (Containing 2% by mass) and the ingredients listed in Table 1 were mixed at the ratios listed in Table 1 to obtain a feed (referred to as Feed 2). The feed 2 contains 0.06% by mass of insoluble dietary fiber.

(Comparative Examples 1-4)
Example 2 and Example 2 except that EI or ES obtained in Example 1 or wheat bran (containing 80% by mass of water-insoluble component and 38% by mass of insoluble dietary fiber) obtained in Example 1 was used instead of WI. Similarly, feed was obtained by mixing at the ratios shown in Table 1 (feeds 3 to 5). Moreover, except not using WI, it mixed in the ratio of Table 1 similarly to Example 2, and obtained the feed (feed 6). The feed 5 contains 2.0% by mass of insoluble dietary fiber. In feed 3, 4 and 6, insoluble dietary fiber is not contained.

(Example 4: bowel movement improving action 1)
The intestinal transit time, the amount of stool, and the amount of water in the stool were measured as follows when the feeds 1 to 6 obtained in Examples 2 to 3 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4 were fed to rats. . First, 25 male 5-week-old SD rats (Nippon Charles River Co., Ltd.) were fed standard diet (MF feed, Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd.) and acclimatized for 1 week, and then the average weight values of each group were almost uniform. The group was divided into 6 groups of 5 animals per group.

  Then, a group of rats were allowed to freely ingest the diet 1 and water of Example 2 for 28 days, starting on day 0 of feeding. As a control, a group in which feed 6 (WI-free feed) was freely taken instead of feed 1 (WI-containing feed) was provided.

  On the 18th day of feeding, the SD rats were fasted for 9 hours, and then freely consumed for 1 hour with a colored feed prepared by mixing starch-containing feed and carmine (Revision Croma) at a mass ratio of 99.5: 0.5. I let you. Thereafter, the amount of fecal carmine obtained every hour was measured, and the average time between the first time and the last time when carmine was detected was calculated as the intestinal transit time. The results are shown in Table 2.

  In addition, feces were collected on the 26th, 27th, and 28th days of feeding, and the wet weight (feces amount) was measured. The results are also shown in Table 2.

  Intestinal transit time and stool volume were measured in the same manner as described above except that feeds 2 to 5 were fed into the remaining 4 groups of rats instead of feed 1. The results are also shown in Table 2.

  From the results shown in Table 2, it can be seen that the group ingesting feed 1 and feed 2 containing water-insoluble components (WI) derived from wheat leaves has a short intestinal transit time and a large amount of feces. These facts show that water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves have an intestinal transit time shortening action and an intestinal peristaltic movement activation action, and excellent excretion improvement that promotes excretion from the intestine by these actions It shows that the effect is obtained. From the above, the water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves is expected as a peristaltic exercise activator or a bowel movement improving agent. Among these, in particular, the feed 1 containing a water-insoluble component derived from wheat leaves (consisting only of a water-insoluble component and containing 61% by mass of insoluble dietary fiber) has a shortening action on intestinal transit time and peristaltic movement of the intestine. The effect of activating and increasing the amount of feces was excellent, and these effects were significant as compared with the action of the feed 6 (control) not containing water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves.

  On the other hand, the group ingesting the feed 3 containing only the water-soluble component (ethanol-insoluble component: EI) without the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaves takes time for the feed to pass through the intestines. The amount of stool was low. The group ingesting feed 4 containing only water-soluble components (ethanol-soluble components: ES) and not containing water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves had a small amount of feces. And the group which ingested the feed (feed 5) which contained the water insoluble component (insoluble dietary fiber) of wheat bran in large quantities took time for the feed to pass through the intestines.

(Examples 5 to 7: Preparation of a bowel movement improving agent)
Wheat young leaf powder and maltodextrin (manufactured by Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) used in Example 1 were mixed at the blending amounts shown in Table 3 to prepare a bowel movement improving agent (food) (fecal bowel improving agents 1-3 and To do).

(Example 8: bowel movement improving action 2)
About the bowel movement improving agents 1-3 obtained in Examples 5-7, the bowel movement improving action was evaluated as follows. First, 37 subjects whose number of defecations per week was 6 or less were divided into 3 groups of 10 people each and 4 groups of 7 people and 1 group. Next, 10 groups of 3 subjects were asked to count the number of defecations during one week (observation period). Let A be the number of defecations during this observation period. After the observation period, 3 groups of subjects were ingested with 3 g of stool improver 1 to 3 at a rate of 3 sachets per day for 3 weeks, and counted the number of defecations during 1 week (test period) of the 3rd week. I was asked to. Let B be the number of defecations during this test period. The difference (BA) in the number of defecations between the obtained test period and the previous observation period was determined. The results are shown in Table 3. The remaining 7 subjects per group had the same number of bowel movements as above except that 3 g of maltodextrin (control food) was taken instead of the bowel movement improving agents 1 to 3. Counting was performed, and the difference (BA) in the number of defecations between the test period and the previous observation period was obtained. The results are shown in Table 3.

  From the results shown in Table 3, it can be seen that the groups ingesting the bowel movement improving agents 1 to 3 showed an increase in the number of defecations and the effect of improving bowel movement as compared to the group ingested the control food. In particular, bowel movement improving agent 2 (taken 4.5 g of wheat young leaf powder per day, 3.7 g taken as WI) or feces improvement agent 3 (taken 6 g wheat wheat leaf powder per day, taken 4.9 g as WI) The ingested group was excellent in the effect of improving bowel movement.

(Example 9: Preparation of a bowel movement improving agent)
2 parts by weight of wheat wakaba powder (made by Toyo Shinyaku Co., Ltd.) containing 50% by weight of water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves and 36% by weight of insoluble dietary fiber, and 1 part by weight of maltodextrin (made by Matsutani Chemical Co., Ltd.) 3 g per granule (containing 2 g of wheat young leaf powder, ie containing 33% by mass of water-insoluble component and 24% by mass of insoluble dietary fiber) per granule (Granule 1 And).

(Example 10: Intestinal bacterial flora improving action)
The amount of stool and intestinal bacteria in the stool when the subject ingested the granule 1 obtained in Example 9 was measured as follows. First, 8 subjects were allowed to take granule 2 (control product; containing no wheat young powder) containing only 3 g of maltodextrin per pack for a week at a rate of 5 packs per day, and defecation during the intake period. The amount of wet weight (total amount for one week) was measured.

  Further, stool was collected on the last day of the intake period, and whether or not Bifidobacterium and Lectinase (+) Clostridium, which are intestinal bacteria, were detected in this stool, was measured using Mitsubishi Chemical BSC Corporation. The ratio of the number of detected persons in 8 subjects was calculated as the detection rate (%).

  Next, one week after the end of intake of the control product (granule 2), the amount of stool and the detection rate of enteric bacteria (%) were the same as above except that the subject took granule 1 instead of granule 2 Was measured. Table 4 shows the results when the control product was ingested and the granule 1 was ingested. The presence or absence of a significant difference in Table 4 was confirmed by the Wilcoxon sign rank test.

  From the results of Table 4, it can be seen that the granule 1 containing a water-insoluble component derived from young wheat leaves has an excellent effect of increasing the amount of feces, and this effect is significant compared to the control product (granule 2). As for enterobacteria, the detection rate of Bifidobacterium, so-called good bacteria, was 100% for both Granule 1 and Granule 2. On the other hand, the detection rate of Lactinase (+) Clostridium, so-called bad bacteria, was 38% in the group ingested Granule 1 (5 out of 8 were below the detection limit), and the control product (Granule 2) The value was lower than that of the ingested group (100%). This shows that the granule 1 containing a water-insoluble component derived from young wheat leaves has an action of improving the intestinal bacterial flora. From the above, the bowel movement improving agent comprising the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaf of the present invention as an active ingredient has not only an excellent bowel movement improving action but also an intestinal bacterial flora improving action. It can be used as.

(Example 11: swelling action)
5 g of wheat leaf powder used in Example 9 was placed in a medium bottle (200 mL), and then 50 mL of pure water was added and stirred. Further, the mixture was deaerated using an aspirator until air bubbles disappeared, and water was infiltrated into the wheat young leaf powder. After deaeration, the mixture was further allowed to stand at room temperature for 24 hours. The volume of the swollen wheat leaf powder was measured, and the volume per 1 g of wheat leaf powder was calculated. The volume of wheat bran was measured in the same manner as described above except that the wheat bran used in Comparative Example 3 was used instead of the wheat bran powder. The results are shown in Table 5.

  From the results shown in Table 5, the wheat leaf powder containing water-insoluble components derived from wheat leaves has a larger volume than the wheat bran containing water-insoluble components derived from parts other than wheat leaves, and has a swelling effect. It turns out that it is excellent. This indicates that the bowel movement improving agent containing the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaf of the present invention as an active ingredient can act as a stool bulking agent.

(Example 12: Water retention effect)
1 g of wheat leaf powder used in Example 9 was placed in a plastic container, and then 50 mL of pure water was added and stirred. Further, the mixture was deaerated using an aspirator until air bubbles disappeared, and water was infiltrated into the wheat young leaf powder. The mouth of this plastic container was covered with 5B filter paper that had been impregnated with pure water in advance, and the mass of these was measured (this mass is designated as A). Next, filtration by natural dropping was performed with the mouth of the plastic container facing downward. When no water droplet was seen, the mass of the plastic container was measured again (this mass is designated as B). The difference between the obtained mass A and mass B was calculated and used as the water retention amount per gram of wheat young leaf powder. The water retention amount of the wheat bran was calculated in the same manner as above except that the wheat bran used in Comparative Example 3 was used instead of the wheat bran powder. The results are shown in Table 6.

  From the result of Table 6, the wheat young leaf end containing the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaf has excellent water retention capacity compared to the wheat bran containing the water-insoluble component derived from a portion other than the wheat leaf. I understand. This shows that the fecal improvement agent which uses the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaf of this invention as an active ingredient can act as a water retention agent which raises the water content of feces.

(Example 13: Preparation of bowel movement improving agent (powder))
Wheat young leaf powder (produced by Toyo Shinyaku Co., Ltd.) containing 32% by mass of insoluble dietary fiber and each component shown in Table 7 were mixed in the proportions shown in Table 7 to give 5 g of powder (wheat young leaf powder) Containing powder).

(Comparative Example 5)
Each component described in Table 7 was mixed at a ratio described in Table 7 to prepare 5 g of powder (referred to as non-wheat leaf powder containing powder) per package.

(Example 14: bowel movement improving action 3)
Using the young wheat powder containing powder obtained in Example 13 and the young wheat powder not containing powder obtained in Comparative Example 5, the effect of improving bowel movement was evaluated as follows. First, for 60 subjects whose number of defecations per week is 6 or less, a period of not taking powder is set for 2 weeks (observation period I), the amount of defecation per time during this period, the number of defecations per day, And the number of days of defecation per week was recorded. In addition, about the amount of defecations, the number was converted by using the size of M-sized eggs as a guide. Next, the wheat powder containing powder of Example 13 was ingested at a rate of 1 package (ie, 3 packages per day) after meal for 2 weeks (wheat powder containing powder powder intake period, intake period I), and the same as above. In addition, the amount of defecation per time, the number of defecations per day, and the number of days of defecation per week were recorded. Furthermore, an observation period of 2 weeks (observation period II), an intake period of 2 weeks (intake period II) in which the powder of non-wheat leaf powder of Comparative Example 5 is ingested in the same manner as in the case of the powder of powdered wheat powder containing comparative wheat, and 1 A weekly observation period (observation period III) was sequentially provided, and the amount of defecation per time, the number of defecations per day, and the number of days of defecation per week were recorded. The results are shown in Table 8. The presence or absence of a significant difference in Table 8 was confirmed by the Wilcoxon sign rank test.

  From the results of Table 8, it can be seen that the amount of defecation, the number of defecations, and the number of days of defecation are significantly increased by ingesting the powder containing wheat leaf powder. These increases were also significant compared to the case of taking non-wheat leaf powder. These things show that the bowel movement improving agent containing the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaf of the present invention has an excellent bowel movement improving effect.

  The fecal improvement agent comprising the water-insoluble component derived from the wheat leaf of the present invention as an active ingredient has an action for shortening the intestinal transit time, an action for increasing the amount of stool, and a water retention action in the stool. It also has an improving effect. In particular, compared with water-insoluble components derived from other plants (for example, wheat bran), the intestinal transit time is remarkably shortened, the amount of feces is increased, and the amount of water in feces is increased. Therefore, it is particularly useful for a person with a tendency to constipation because it avoids the difficulty of defecation due to hard stool with a small amount of water and side effects (for example, wrinkles) associated with the difficulty and enables smooth defecation. The bowel movement improving agent of the present invention is used as food, pharmaceuticals and the like.

Claims (2)

  A bowel movement improving agent comprising, as an active ingredient, a wheat leaf powder containing 30% by mass or more of a water-insoluble component.   A food for improving bowel movement comprising the bowel movement improving agent according to claim 1.