Since ancient times, plants have been the main source of medicine for human beings. my country is one of the countries with the most abundant plant resources in the world. There are about 30,000 species of higher plants, second only to Brazil and Colombia, especially medicinal plants, with more than 11,146 species. Its long history and rich experience in resource utilization, as well as the unique efficacy of the compound are rare in the world. Such a huge treasure trove of resources needs to be excavated, sorted and improved, and the development of plant extraction technology provides a richer raw material basis for the development of botanical medicine, health food, veterinary medicine, and cosmetics.
This article mainly introduces the application of plant extracts in the research and development of health food. Definition and function of health food. The development trend of health food processing.
In recent years, plant extracts have been widely used in the development and production of health food. Plant extracts include polysaccharides, flavonoids, glycosides, acids and other compounds, which are the health food base materials needed in the research and development process of health food. Common ones are chlorogenic acid extracted from honeysuckle, forsythin extracted from forsythia, and yam polysaccharide extracted from yam. Widely used in the production of health food.
Definition and function of health food
Health food refers to food that has specific functions and is suitable for consumption by specific groups of people, has the ability to regulate body functions, and is not for the purpose of treating diseases. In addition to the nutrition and sensory functions of ordinary food, health food has two functions. There is also the third major function of regulating physiological activities, that is, its important role in promoting body health, breaking through sub-health, and eliminating diseases. Health products play a role in promoting health in more than 20 aspects as follows: improve immunity; anti-aging; improve learning and memory, enhance intelligence; promote growth and development; anti-fatigue; weight loss; Blood lipids; improve sexual function; regulate blood sugar; improve gastrointestinal function; help sleep; improve business anemia; protect chemical liver damage; promote milk secretion; improve vision; promote lead excretion; regulate blood pressure; beauty; improve osteoporosis; Strengthens the kidney; clears the throat and moistens the throat; protects the hair. There is a strict distinction between health food and pharmaceuticals, and it must not be considered that health food is an intermediate product or a medicated product between food and medicine.
Development Trend of Health Food Processing
The development trend of health food processing mainly has the following two aspects.
1. Strengthen the research and promotion of basic theoretical research and applied technology of nutritional health food, and organically combine theories and technologies of food science, physiology, nutrition, medicine, pharmacy and other disciplines, and conduct in-depth research on plant extraction used in health food. The active ingredients and their mechanisms of regulating physiological functions and the dose-response relationship, etc. According to the different needs of different groups of people, different physiological conditions, as well as the principles of nutritional diet and physiological function regulation, food formulas with different nutritional and health care functions have been designed in a targeted manner, and a large number of experiments have been carried out to confirm that these different formulas are made. Foods do have their respective required functional properties. It is also emphasized here that we should inherit and carry forward the valuable experience in the treasure house of Chinese medicine, and use advanced science and technology to scientifically verify it, clarify the reason, provide its functional principle, and develop health food with Chinese characteristics.
2. Plant extracts use modern separation, extraction, purification, culture and manufacturing technologies to separate and extract the active ingredients from plants and maximize their biological activity, and then use plant extracts as raw materials according to the needs of different groups of people. Through scientific preparation, through reasonable processing technology, a series of truly scientific health food can be produced, and the pace of developing the second and third generation health food in my country will be accelerated. The second-generation health food refers to the food that must be proved to have some physiological regulation functions through animal and human experiments. The third-generation health food refers to the food that should have clear active ingredients, measurable content, mechanism of action, and positive clinical effect. With the development of health food, new technology and new technology of various food production. New processes and extraction technologies for plant extracts are also being continuously applied.
In a word, the research of functional food is a comprehensive research topic of multi-science, which involves food science, nutrition, Chinese medicine, Chinese pharmacy, extraction and separation and other disciplines. Therefore, the professional knowledge structure of researchers must be reasonably matched. Since the 1980s, there have been nearly 1,000 health food factories in my country, and 2,000 kinds of health functional foods have come out, with a total sales of 2.5 billion yuan. Therefore, the research and development of functional food is very promising. The raw material plant extract industry should also increase its development efforts. Provide a solid backing for the development of health food.
Reference: "Phytochemistry" Science Press 2012 Second Edition
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