山桑子可防止動脈硬化，增加心臟健康

一個法國新的研究指出，山桑子萃出物可以預防血管硬塊的生成，進一步的預防血管硬化及提升心臟健康。發酵的山桑子萃出物具有與標準萃出物一樣的活性，因此法國研究學者建議酵母發酵品會產生對心臟有保健功效的化合物。

在16周動物實驗上，餵食由山桑子萃出的花青素的老鼠，在與血管硬化有關係的血栓形成上有很明顯的改善。

山桑子跟北美藍莓很相似，但是山桑子含有一種獨特的花青素。相對的山桑子萃取物也比較貴。而在市面上有比較便宜的萃取物，被質疑是由桑葚或黑豆皮或是含氮的染料(azo-dye)所混製而成的。這是起因於去年澳洲的科學家發現到市面上有產品使用含氮的染料以仿製山桑子的顏色，更甚的是桑葚或黑豆皮被用在萃出物中以增加花青素的含量。花青素的含量是山桑子成份定量的一個依據，光譜分析法則分析了山桑子含有25%的花青素成份。然而，根據一些無法證實的報導指出有些山桑子原料是攙雜了低價的桑葚(有22-24%)或黑豆皮(20%)。

Bilberries may prevent artery hardening, boost heart health

Extracts from bilberry may prevent the build up of plaques in the arteries, preventing hardening of the blood vessels and boosting overall heart health, says a new study from France

A fermented bilberry extract out-performed a standard extract, leasing the French researchers to suggest that yeast fermentation produces new bioactive compounds with heart health effects.

The research team was led by Aurelie Mauray, now with France’s Institut National de la Research Agronomique (INRA), but formerly with Ferlux, which also sponsored the research. The study used the company's Extracyn bilberry extract.

The team used apolipoprotein-E-deficient mice, putting the animals at an increased risk of heart disease. Apolipoprotein-E (Apo-E) is essential for the normal breakdown of triglyceride-rich lipoprotein constituents.

“The yeast-fermented bilberries extract exerts more effective antiatherogenic activity in vivo than the anthocyanin-rich bilberry extract, suggesting that fermentation generates some newcompoundswith improved health-promoting properties as compared to the anthocyaninrich standardized extract,” report the researchers in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

However, being a study in animals the researchers stressed that more studies are necessary to “identify the compounds responsible for these effects and to investigate possible mechanisms underlying such effects”.

Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), which causes almost 50 per cent of deaths in Europe, and is reported to cost the EU economy about €169bn ($202bn) per year.

Study details

Mauray and her co-workers divided the mice into three groups. All groups were fed the standard control diet, but two groups received one of two bilberry extracts: One rich in anthocyanins extracted from untreated bilberries, and a second one extracted from yeast-fermented bilberries at a level of 0.02 per cent. Such an intake corresponds to about 30 mg of anthocyanidins per day in humans, said the researchers.

At the end of 16 weeks of study, significant inhibition of the development of plaques associated with atherosclerosis was observed in both bilberry groups.

“The lesion area was decreased by 15 per cent in the [untreated bilberry extract] group and by 36 per cent in the yeast-fermented bilberry-extract group compared to the control group,” report the researchers. “Additionally, mice fed the yeast-fermented bilberry-extract supplemented diet showed a 25 per cent higher reduction of the lesion area compared to the [untreated bilberry extract] group,” they added.

Mauray and her co-workers note that the active compounds in the fermented extract have yet to be identified, but suggested they may be anthocyanin-derived polymeric pigments.

Bilberry info

Bilberries are closely related to the North American blueberry but contain a very distinct anthocyanin profile. Bilberry extracts are relatively expensive. Concerns are rife within the industry of lower-price extracts reported to be mixed with mulberry or black bean skins or azo-dyes.

Concerns were raised last year when Australian scientists discovered that azo dyes were used to mimic the colour of bilberries in a commercial product (J. Agric. Food Chem 2006, Vol. 54, Issue 19, pp. 7378 -7382). This has since expanded to reports of mulberry or black bean skins being used to increase the anthocyanin content of the extracts. The anthocyanins content is used as the standard for bilberry, and UV spectrometry is needed to verify the 25 per cent anthocyanins. However, according to unconfirmed reports, this has led to extracts masquerading as bilberry but actually containing mulberry (22-24 per cent), or black bean skin (20 per cent).

資料來源：Source: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1021/jf9035468
“ Atheroprotective Effects of Bilberry Extracts in Apo E-Deficient Mice”
Authors: Aurelie Mauray, D. Milenkovic, C. Besson, N. Caccia, C. Morand, F. Michel, A. Mazur, A. Scalbert, C. Felgines