Ferulic acid is a phenolic acid, ubiquitous in the plant kingdom, which can be absorbed by the small intestine and excreted through the urine. Ferulic acid is extensively reported to have preventive effects against several diseases. It can increase the ratio of HDL to VLDL+LDL cholesterol, and bioavailability of vitamin E and decrease total cholesterol in rats. It also increases vitality of sperm and is a potential medicine for male infertility. Ferulic acid shows strong antioxidant, free radical-scavenging and anti-inflammatory activity, it increases the resistance of LDL to peroxidation, protects LDL cholesterol from oxidation and prevents the oxidative modification of LDL; it is a good topical protective agent against UV radiation-induced skin damage. The most remarkable function of ferulic acid is its anti-tumor and anti-cancer effect. Several reports have suggested that ferulic acid is chemopreventive on oral cancer and that proved that ferulic acid is a potential chemopreventive component for colon cancer.

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In recent year, it has suggested that Japanese young women have increasingly been suffering from constipation.Thiis study was performed to clarify the consumption behavior for Foods for Specified Health Use (FOSHU), health foods and nutritional supplements, and the effects of wheat bran cereal on bowel movement in female students . A survey in consumptions of FOSHU and others was conducted on 578 students who were divided into two groups, non-constipating group (one time per day in defecation) and constipating tendency group (less than one time per 2 days and irregular). Half of the students have known the name of FOSHU, while more than 90% have known the health foods and nutritional supplements. In FOSHU, foods for control of bowel function have been consumed by 15% of subjects, especially highly by constipating tendency group. On the other hand, foods for lean body and beauty in thehealth foods and vitamins or minerals in the nutritional supplements were frequently used. Female students learning in dietetics courses have used FOSHU and others to understand their characteristics . In next experiment, we have determined the improvement in constipation by being fed the wheat bran cereal to 52 subjects selected from the students. The subjects were divided into the non-constipating group and the constipating group and were given the wheat bran cereal or placebo cereal for a week in a cross-over manner. The fecal volume, the frequency of defecation and feeling after defecation were significantly improved by feeding the bran cereal in all subjects and constipating group, while only the frequency of defecation was improved in non-constipating group. Although significant difference in dietary fiber intake was observed between the wheat-bran cereal period and the placebo cereal period, no significant difference in other nutrient intakes. These results showed that the ingestion of wheat bran effectively supplemented dietary fiber and improved the bowel habits in female students.

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In the present study, we investigated the effect of draft classified barley flour, which is known to have a protective effect against development of stress ulcer, on the gastric juice secretion during ulcerogenesis induced by water immersion stress. The results were as follows: 1) no significant difference was observed in rat body weight gain and food intake in both the control diet group and the barley (10%) diet groups, 2) a highly suppressive effect against stress ulcer was observed in the barley (10%) diet group compared with the control diet group, 3) the acidity of gastric juice increased in the both groups at 2-h after the water immersion stress, but the barley (10%) diet group showed a significantly decreased acidity at 4-h, 4) the barley (10%) diet group showed a significant decrease in the serum gastrin concentration, but this was not directly responsible for the decrease in acidity, 5) the pepsin activity showed a tendency to increase in the control diet group at 2-h after starting of the stress experiment, while a significantly decreased activity was observed in the barley (10%) diet group, indicating suppression of the pepsin activity by the barley. These results indicate that suppression of the water immersion induced stress ulcer is partially caused by decrease in the attacking factors such as acid and pepsin. However, the involvement of protective factors can not be excluded as the decrease in the attacking factors took place for a short duration.

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The effect of barley bran on incidence of colon carcinoma was investigated in comparison with wheat bran . A total of 80 rats of the Fischer 344 strain were divided into four groups: (1) saline-barley bran (2)1, 2-dimethylhydrazinebarley bran (3) saline-wheat bran and (4) 1, 2-dimethylhydrazine-wheat bran. The rats fed the normal diet were pre-treated by subcutaneous injection of 1, 2-dimethylhydrazine or physiological saline twice a week for four weeks. Then the rats were fed the high fat diet containing barley bran or wheat bran for 33 weeks. The incidence of colon carcinoma was almost the same between the barley bran (53.5% ) and wheat bran (50.0%) groups. Also, the rats with carcinoma had same numbers of the tumor per rat in the two groups. There was no relationship between the incidence of colon carcinoma and cecal pH or short chain fatty acid concentration.

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