Health function of stachyose

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Health function of stachyose

People may get many health benefits if they take stachyose daily. More health benefits as following:

1. to prevent dental caries

Caries is caused by the fermentation of sugars by streptococcus mutans in oral microorganisms and producing acid/breeding&eroding teeth. The streptococcus mutans can not break down the α-1,6 glycosidic bonds in stachyose,  so it can not use the nutrients in stachyose, nor cause dental caries.

2. to proliferate bifidobacteria, and regulate intestinal flora

Stachyose can not be decomposed by gastrointestinal digestive fluid but can be directly utilized by gut microflora. Bifidobacteria would preferentially use and break down non-digestion

Oligosaccharides in the intestine; if a variety of available oligosaccharides are present at the same time, stachyose consumption will be a priority , so stachyose can work more directly on bifidobacteria.

The Reseacher Huang Xiaochun in China finds that only using stachyose could make  bifidobacteria number increase by 40-fold and the effective amount is only 1/5 of Fructo-oligosaccharider.  Through stachyose granule experiments on human body, the researchers found that stachyose can effectively promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the human intestine, inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, and regulate the intestinal body

environment, and improve the stability of the intestinal microecology.

3. Laxative effects

Many Studies found that rehmannia Stachyose had obvious laxative effects, as there are many hydroxyl groups in the molecular structure of stachyose, which could well absorb water from the intestines and increase water content of stool. Through clinical observation in patients with constipation, they found that stachyose can effectively promote the proliferation of intestinal beneficial bacteria, reduce intestinal pH, and promote intestinal peristalsis. And also shows that

stachyose can increase the frequency of bowel movements in patients with constipation and improve intestinal function.

4. To lower blood lipids and blood pressure

Through the dietary intervention on 42 patients with hyperlipidemia, the researchers found that the concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and total cholesterol in the blood of patients who took stachyose capsules for 8 weeks were reduced, without adverse effects.

It was also found that bifidobacteria break down stachyose and produce organic acids, which will lower pH value in the intestine, and cause a chain reaction on inhibiting cholesterol synthesis;

 

And studies also show that some probiotics in the intestinal tract can reduce cholesterol to steroid substances and excrete them, and reduce/interfere with gut response to cholesterol re-absorption, thereby to reduce the level of blood cholesterol in the human body and exert the function of improving lipid metabolism disorders.

 

The researcher Zheng Jianxian found that the diastolic blood pressure of the human body has an obviously negative correlation with the proportion of bifidobacteria in stool. Stachyose can effectively proliferate bifidobacteria in the intestines, and help bifidobacteria to form a large number of bacteria in the intestines to build advantage amount gut Microbiota and stabilize blood pressure.  Studies have shown that taking 10 g of stachyose per day for 6 weeks will reduce the average diastolic blood pressure of patients by 799.7 Pa, indicating that stachyose has the effect of lowering blood pressure.

 

5. To improve immunity

Overseas studies have confirmed that the α-glycosidic bond structure participates in immune processes on the basis of the molecular mechanism of the sympathetic response of the ligand receptor, so that stachyose has the function of preventing pathogens and regulating the immune system. The immune active factors in the human body can activate immune cells and promote the body's defense against external pathogens.

Stachyose is decomposed into mannotriose/raffinose and other immune factors by bifidobacteria in the intestinal tract, so stachyose is very helpful for improving human immunity.

 

It has also been found by Chinese researchers that stachyose can inhibit foot swelling, be anti-inflammatory and relieve pain, which can significantly reduce the content of inflammatory factors in serum and the index of immune organs; also found that stachyose, a traditional Chinese medicine extract, has a therapeutic effect on stress-induced intestinal dysfunction; and found that adding a small amount of stachyose to poultry feed can maintain the immune function of poultry.

 

6. To protect the liver and detoxify

Stachyose can promote intestinal peristalsis, proliferate beneficial bacteria, reduce the stagnation time of toxins in the intestinal tract, accelerate the discharge of toxic and harmful substances, and reduce the burden on the liver. Stachyose affects certain enzymes, reduces the activity of harmful enzymes in the intestines, and reduces products such as methyl phenols in the intestines.

 

Experiments have found that stachyose can reduce the IL-6 content in rats with liver cirrhosis, improve the intestinal environment of rats with liver cirrhosis, reduce the endotoxin content in plasma and alleviate pathological liver damage.

 

 Other experiments found that stachyose has a good preventive effect on clinical hepatic encephalopathy. After observing 30 patients, it was found that after treatment with stachyose, the latency of BAEP III and V waves and VEP1000 latency were significantly shortened compared with those before treatment, proving that stachyose can effectively treat sub-clinical hepatic encephalopathy. 

 

7. Anti-tumor

The anti-tumor activity screening method in vivo and in vitro proved that stachyose (content 26.45%) had obvious inhibitory effect on human liver cancer HepG-2 cells and human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells, and also significantly strengthen anticancer effect of cyclophosphamide (P < 0.05). Stachyose can inhibit the proliferation of colon cancer cells Caco-2, reduce the gene expression of oncogene B-cell lymphoma/leukemia-2, and increase the expression of X protein and cytochrome C, thereby increase the apoptosis proteases caspase 3 and caspase 9 expression, to achieve anti-colon cancer effect.

 

 

Stachyose in food& beverage applications

The application of stachyose in food is extremely extensive. It was firstly used in beverage product. Its physicochemical properties are stable, and its thermal stability under acidic conditions is good. Moderate sweetness and refreshing taste make it ideal for use in beverage products and replace part of sucrose. Stachyose is more effective than other functional oligosaccharides. Its effective amount is less, only 0.5~3.0 g per day can achieve better health care results.

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