- 著者
- Tomoe Yamada-Kato Saori Momoi Isao Okunishi Motoyasu Minami Yuichi Oishi Toshihiko Osawa Michitaka Naito
- 出版者
- Japanese Society for Food Science and Technology
- 雑誌
- Food Science and Technology Research (ISSN:13446606)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.22, no.5, pp.665-671, 2016 (Released:2016-10-31)
- 参考文献数
- 39
- 被引用文献数
- 5 7
Wasabi is a plant of Japanese origin belonging to the Brassicaceae family. Although the wasabi rhizome is a popular condiment in Japan, the leaf is typically discarded. For utilization of the wasabi leaf, we investigated its anti-obesity effect on Wistar rats fed a high-fat diet containing wasabi leaf extract (WLE) prepared with 50% ethanol. At the experimental endpoint, WLE had significantly decreased the body weight of rats and upregulated the mRNA expression of the β3-adrenergic receptor (Adrb3) in the interscapular brown adipose tissue (BAT). WLE may have promoted lipid absorption from the dietary fat, as the fecal lipid content was considerably lower in the WLE group. These results suggest that WLE suppressed obesity in rats fed a high-fat diet, which was related to the upregulation of Adrb3 mRNA expression in the interscapular BAT without increased fecal lipid excretion. Thus, wasabi leaves may be used as a functional food material for the suppression of obesity.
- 著者
- Taichi Fujii Kaoru Ueno Motoyasu Minami
- 出版者
- Association of Wildlife and Human Society
- 雑誌
- 野生生物と社会 (ISSN:24240877)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.6, no.2, pp.13-18, 2019 (Released:2019-06-12)
- 参考文献数
- 21
Identification of food plants in the diet of Japanese ptarmigan Lagopus mutus japonicus was conducted in the Northern Alps of Toyama Prefecture, Japan during August 2015. Thirty-three fecal samples were collected from a covey comprising a mother and five chicks. Partial sequences of the chloroplast rbcL gene were amplified by PCR using DNA extracted from feces to identify food plants. We identified a total of 22 plant taxa; 13 to species, five to genus, and four to family level. Rarefaction and extrapolated sampling curves revealed that this survey covered approximately 89% of food plant taxa present in the study area. Of the 14 plant families identified from the collected fecal samples, Ericaceae (78.8% of all 33 fecal samples), Apiaceae (24.2%) and Poaceae (24.2%) were dominant. The most dominant family was Ericaceae with seven taxa. The most frequently encountered plant species were Empetrum nigrum (63.6%), Tilingia ajanensis (24.2%) and Vaccinium ovalifolium (21.2%). Thus, the combination of DNA barcoding using fecal DNA and the rarefaction and extrapolation sampling curves are considered to be well suited for estimating the dominant food plants in the diet of the Japanese ptarmigan.