Host: Japanese Sciety for Food Science and Technology
Name : The 72nd Annual Meeting of JSFST
Number : 72
Location : [in Japanese]
Date : August 27, 2025 - August 29, 2025
Purpose, We discovered that high molecular weight polyphenols contained in black tea and oolong tea increase the mitochondrial membrane potential and established a purification method (Fujihara et al. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 71(3). 71(3). 711-719, 2007). MAF is known to activate the electron-transfer system, and we have named it mitochondria activation factor (MAF). MAF, in combination with exercise, enhanced muscle endurance and muscle hypertrophy in mice. 40 CURVES Japan members aged 55 to 69 years took MAF (1 g/day) for 80 days, and their life fitness age became 1.5 years younger than that of their counterparts in Japan. Recently, we reviewed the quantification and rapid preparation method of MAF in order to clarify the substance of MAF. "Methods," The thearubigin fraction was fractionated from a 60% ethanol extract of black tea leaves by HPLC using a Cosmosil 5C18-ARII column. We compared the thearubigin fraction and purified MAF by HPLC using a Cosmosil 5C18-ARII column. Next, the thearubigin fraction corresponding to MAF was fractionated and compared with purified MAF by nuclear magnetic resonance 13C NMR spectroscopy. "Results," The hydrophobic fraction of thearubigin was identified as MAF by (1) comparison of elution patterns by HPLC using a Cosmosil 5C18-ARII column and (2) comparison of nuclear magnetic resonance 13C NMR spectra. We were the first in the world to discover that thearubigin, an enigmatic substance, activates mitochondria and functions as the “motility-enhancing component of black tea.
