No abstract

We extracted the protein fraction (QP) from quinoa seeds. Mice were fed on *./ῌ cholesterol diet, containing *ῌ, ,./ῌ and /.*ῌ of QP (control, QP ,./ῌ and QP /.*ῌ, respectively) for . weeks. Neither supplemental QP diet produced a di#erence in food intake and body weight gain. The QP supplementation significantly prevented the increase in plasma and liver total cholesterol levels. Fecal weight and excretion of bile acids in the QP groups was significantly higher than in the control group. QP showed bile acid-binding activity in vitro. Expression of mRNA of --hydroxy---methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase in the liver, a key enzyme for cholesterol biosynthesis, was suppressed by the QP diet, whereas the expression of cholesterol-1a-hydroxylase, a cholesterol catabolic enzyme, was found to be stimulated. These results suggest that the prevention of increases in plasma and liver cholesterol levels in mice fed the QP diet can be ascribed to the inhibition of the re-absorption of bile acids in the small intestine and control of cholesterol synthesis and catabolism.

Tempeh is a traditional fermented soyfood native to Central Java, Indonesia; tempeh is prepared by salt-free aerobic fermentation using Rhizopus. Similar to miso, tempeh is also reported to be antioxygenic. In this study, we used a tempeh-like fermented soybean. First, soybean was incubated aerobically and then successively incubated anaerobically. Because the gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) content was increased remarkably, we named this tempeh GABA-tempeh. The contents of other free amino acids and peptides were significantly higher in GABA-tempeh than in conventional tempeh. In this study, we compared the antioxidant activity of the water-soluble fraction in GABA-tempeh with that of soybean and conventional tempeh. The order of the antioxidant activity was shown as follows: GABA-tempeh > conventional tempeh > soybean. The components responsible for the antioxidant activity of GABA-tempeh were isoflavone aglycones, free amino acids, and peptides, which increased during aerobic and anaerobic fermentations.

No abstract

Tempeh, a traditional soy fermented food prepared by salt-free fermentation with Rhizopus microsporus, was originally developed in Central Java, Indonesia (1). Tempeh is rich in not only isoflavones and vitamin B that are originally present in soybean but also in free amino acids such as glycine and alanine and peptides that are produced during the fermentation (1, 2). In this study, we used a tempeh-like fermented soybean [gamino butyric acid (GABA)-tempeh] that was first fermented aerobically similar to the conventional tempeh preparation and then fermented anaerobically. In GABA-tempeh, the levels of free amino acids and oligopeptides, particularly that of GABA, are increased during anaerobic fermentation (3). Free amino acids and oligopeptides have many physiological functions. For example, GABA depresses the elevation of systolic blood pressure (4) and improves discrimination learning (5). Moreover, there exist many functional peptides such as those having antioxidant activity (6) or antihypertensive effect (7). Therefore, we expected that GABA-tempeh might have some favourable nutritional functions other than its already demonstrated antihyper-391 JOS