Effects of odor components of spices on the digestive muscle activities

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26350147
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Eating habits
• Research Institution: Nagasaki University
• Principal Investigator: NIHEI Zenro 長崎大学, 医歯薬学総合研究科(歯学系), 客員研究員 (00189341)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 香辛料 / 山椒 / 嗅覚 / 回腸 / 平滑筋運動 / 性差 / ラット

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It is well known that some spices have potential effects on the regulation of digestive system. For example, these are critical components in Kampo medicine. Previous studies were concentrated on the direct effects of these spices, few studies exist on the odor components effects on the digestive movements. We investigated effects of odor components of the spices (ginger,wasabi,sansho) on the ileal smooth muscle activities in Wistar rats. During inhalation of sansho odor, spontaneous ileal activities were not changed,however,amplitudes of the electrical evoked muscle contraction (5V,5Hz,5s) were clearly increased. There were no effects on the ileal muscle activities during inhalation of the other spices. Sex differences were also observed in sansho effects. In female rats,the sansho-induced effects were greater than those in male rats. It is suggested that odor effect of the spices is useful to modulate digestive activities, although it is weaker rather than direct one.

Free Research Field

消化器外科学