1992 Volume 39 Issue 9 Pages 790-795
To elucidate the hypotensive effect of beni-koji, the interrelationship between this effect of beni-koji and mycelial weight was examined. Mycelial was estimated from the content of glucosamine in koji's cell wall. Male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were fed on one of the semipurified diets containing 1% sodium chloride with beni-kojis, of which glucosamine contents were different. High concentration of glucosamine had a tendency of stronger hypotensive effects. In another line of experiment, several beni-kojis containing same amounts of glucosamine fermented with different koji-material showed almost same hypotensive effects in SHR. These feeding experiments indicated that the hypotensive effect of beni-koji was almost in proportion to its glucosamine content. Heat-treatment at 90°C for 20 min had no effects on this activity of Beni-hoji, but enhanced hypocholesterolemic activity.
