Investigations of medicinal properties of "Shinkiku", a fermented herbal drug

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K02374
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 08030:Family and consumer sciences, and culture and living-related
• Research Institution: Kagoshima University
• Principal Investigator: Kambe Kayu (奥津果優) 鹿児島大学, 農学部, 特任助教 (60578433)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 安宅 弘司 神戸薬科大学, 薬学部, 特任助教 (30563358) ; 神戸 悠輝 鹿児島大学, 医歯学域医学系, 講師 (60549913)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 神麹 / Aspergillus oryzae / Rhizopus oryzae

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Massa medicata fermentata (MMF) is a traditional crude drug used in Japanese medical Kampo preparations. The quality of MMF varied greatly depending on the manufacturers. To stabilize the quality of MMF, it is necessary to control the quality of MMF using its medicinal properties as an indicator. Thus, I investigated the medicinal components of MMF, focused on the microbial fermentation and herb addition in MMF. As result, the digestive enzyme activities of MMF increased remarkably and the volatiles also changed significantly during microbial fermentation. Furthermore, it was found that the herb addition increased the amount of sesquiterpenes and flavonoids, which have several physiological activities.

Free Research Field

発酵科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

神麹は医薬品として利用されているにも関わらず，現在のところ品質管理の指標となる成分等がなく，偽品鑑別ができない深刻な状況である．本研究では微生物発酵並びに植物添加によって神麹中で生成・増加する成分を明らかにしたが，これらは微生物発酵や植物添加といった神麹の特徴的な工程を経ている証明となる成分である．よって本研究成果により得られた知見は，今後神麹の品質管理にすぐにでも応用することができ，神麹の品質安定化の一助となると考えられる．