The association analysis among the biological effects of food ingredients, their physicochemical properties and kinetics, for the development of functional foods with high quality

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17H04724
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Eating habits
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Nagano Kazuya 大阪大学, 薬学研究科, 准教授 (40548301)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 機能性食品 / 品質

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we evaluated the usefulness of the association analysis among the biological effects of food ingredients, their physicochemical properties and kinetics, for the development of functional foods with high quality.
Amorphous curcumin developed by our original formulation as a model showed that the curcumin was highly distributed in various kinds of tissues (especially in the liver), compared to the commercial formulations. In the liver, amorphous curcumin lowered triglycerides by activating PPARα and enhancing β-oxidation.In conclusion, this study demonstrates that it is important to analyze biological responses based on the kinetics. In the future, we hope that many functional foods with high quality will be developed by utilizing this approach.

Free Research Field

薬学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

特定保険用食品の市場は、制度設定以来、右肩あがりに拡大してきたものの、エコナ問題による安全性への懸念から、市場が20％まで落ち込み、しばらく横ばい傾向が続くこととなった。このように、日常、口にする食品の安全性への懸念は、大きな社会問題となることが多い。このような観点から、今後さらに機能性食品の活用が増すことが予想される本邦においては、品質の担保が必要不可欠である。そのため、本研究の成果は、クルクミンの生理活性の理解に加え、将来的に、高品質な機能性食品を開発するうえで考慮すべき指針を与えうる点で、社会的意義も大きい。