Affiliations: Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima
University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8528, Japan | Department of Food Science, Tokyo University of
Agriculture, Abashiri, Hokkaido 099-2493, Japan | Toyama National College of Maritime Technology,
Shin-minato 933-0239, Japan | Faculty of Agriculture, Miyazaki University, Miyazaki
889-2192, Japan | Department of Chemistry, Mie University, Tsu 514-8507,
Japan | Koriyama Women's University, Koriyama 963-8503,
Japan
Abstract: Some dietary fibers originated from insects such as silkworm
(Sericin) and others along with constituents of several representative seaweeds
such as wakame Undaria pinnatifida; hijiki Hizikia fusifome; and kombu
Laminaria japonica, were found to have fairly large reaction rates determined
by quenching experiments of emission spectra in the near-infrared region
λ:_{max}1270 nm for singlet oxygen
^{1}O_{2}, Cypridina luminescence method
for superoxide, and peroxide value (POV) for autoxidation. The determined
reaction rates are between 10^{3} –
10^{5} (g/L)^{-1}
s^{-1} for the insect and the plant dietary fibers; the
larger ones are as large as that of ascorbic acid, 1.93 ×
10^{4} (g/L)^{-1}
s^{-1} for singlet oxygen. Most of these seaweed
constituents also showed antioxidative activity against autoxidation and
superoxide as well as their immunological enhancing activity. These results
suggest a possibility that dietary fibers that are supposed to prevent the
large-intestine cancer by their physical properties may prevent the cancer, at
least in parts, by their chemical, antioxidative activity.
Keywords: antioxidative activity, dietary fibers, singlet oxygen, superoxide, autoxidation
Journal: BioFactors, vol. 21, no. 1-4, pp. 329-333, 2004
