Abstract
The traditional vegetable “Kakinomoto”, found in Niigata, is a type of edible chrysanthemum flower, Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. forma esculentum Makino. This study examined the effect of this edible chrysanthemum on gastrointestinal transit, digestion and absorption. A hot water extract of the edible chrysanthemum flower petals was added to a mixture of olive oil and sucrose solution at 10% by weight, and administered orally to mice. The edible chrysanthemum extract showed remarkable enhancement of gastrointestinal transit, reduction of the blood triglyceride level, and inhibition of blood glucose level elevation. The edible chrysanthemum extract also showed strong inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase derived from rat small intestine. The 50% inhibitory concentrations for sucrase and maltase were 34.6 and 20.0 mg/mL, respectively. In the 50-g sucrose tolerance test in 11 human volunteers, lyophilized powder of the edible chrysanthemum added to sucrose solution at 10% by weight significantly decreased the rise in the blood glucose level at 15 min and 30 min after sucrose loading, and reduced the integrated value of the area under the curve (ΔAUC) of the blood glucose level for 60 min after sucrose loading. These results suggest that the edible chrysanthemum “Kakinomoto” has promise as a functional food material with a suppressive effect on postprandial blood glucose level elevation.
