Sugars
from Tequila Cactus Said to Counteract Diabetes, Cancer
MEXICO CITY – Sugars
from the agave cactus – the source of tequila – counteracts
several illnesses in rats such as diabetes, colon cancer, osteoporosis
and obesity, Mexico’s Center for Research and Advanced Studies,
or Cinvestav, said Monday.
“Though there are
already powdered food supplements on the market that contain fructans
(indigestible sugar molecules) under the name Inulin, their full benefits
are as yet little known or studied,” the prestigious institution
said in a statement.
Mercedes Guadalupe Lopez,
of Cinvestav’s Biotechnology and Biochemistry Department, said
that blood glucose levels can be controlled by ingesting fructans.
“They also favor
production of the hormone known as GLP1, responsible for producing
insulin, which means they can help regulate diabetes,” she said.
As yet Cinvestav research
has only been done on laboratory rats, but has given “very positive”
results, she said.
Lopez said that consuming
agave fructans also has a beneficial effect on colon cancer, mainly
because during fermentation they generate butyric acid in the large
intestine, which keeps colon cells protected from the adhesion of
pathogenic bacteria, thus diminishing or avoiding the development
of this kind of cancer.
She also said that consuming
from 10 to 15 grams of agave fructans per day, dissolved in a glass
of water, helps increase the regulatory levels of the appetite, generating
the satisfied feeling of having eaten enough, and as a result the
user eats less food.
As for osteoporosis, the
scientist said that fructans, being indigestible carbohydrates, go
straight to the large intestine and are there converted into acids,
which diminishes the pH, which in turn favors the absorption of minerals
like calcium and magnesium into the bones.
Besides finding
fructans in food supplements, they are also present in some cereals,
honey and powdered milk, and can be consumed by anyone since they
have no contraindications, Lopez said. EFE
International
Society for Horticultural Science
PREBIOTIC
EFFECT OF FRUCTANS FROM AGAVE, DASYLIRION AND NOPAL
Abstract:
Inulins are a type of fructan that possess mainly (2-1) linkage
that escape to the action of digestive enzymes, therefore they
reach the large bowel and serve as fermentative substrates to
the colonic microflora. Previous reports indicate that fructans
selectively stimulate the growth and activity of Bifidobacteria
and Lactobacilli in the gut, and therefore, inhibit the growth
of pathogenic bacteria. Based on the well-known inulin health
related benefits, there is a great interest on the health properties
of other type of fructans such agavins from Agave, Dasylirion
and Nopal. The objective of the present work was to evaluate
the effect of fructans from Agaves, Dasylirion and Nopal on
the growth of Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus
casei in MRS broth; many commercial inulins were used as
control. Absorbance at 595 nm and pH were determined. On the
other hand, the short chain fatty acids (SCFA's) generated from
their metabolic action were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled
to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). From these measurements, we observe
that most fructans from Agave species and Dasylirion stimulated
the growth of both bacteria more efficiently than Nopal fructans
and commercial inulins. The quantitative levels of acetic, propionic
and butyric acids observed by GC-MS as a result of fructan fermentation
are probably closely related to the degree of polymerization
(DP) differences among fructans from Agave, Dasylirion and Nopal.
The bifidogenic effect of Agave, Dasylirion and Nopal fructans
has been proved in this investigation. |
Tequila Raw Ingredient Being
Developed Into Drug-Carrier That Targets Colon Diseases
Source: American Chemical Society
Compounds derived from the blue agave, a
fruit used to make tequila, shows promise in early laboratory studies
as a natural, more effective way to deliver drugs to the colon than
conventional drug-carriers, according to chemists at the University
of Guadalajara in Mexico. The development could lead to improved treatments
for ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, cancer, Crohn's
disease and other colon diseases, they say.
Drug delivery to the colon is an ongoing challenge to physicians.
Many drugs are destroyed by stomach acids before they've had a chance
to reach the intestine, where they usually are absorbed. Researchers
have tried to circumvent this problem by inserting the drugs into
carrier molecules that resist breakdown in the stomach but have had
difficulty finding a suitable carrier compound.
The tequila compounds, a class of polysaccharides
known as fructans, were developed by the scientists in Mexico into
tiny microspheres that are capable of carrying existing drugs that
are used to treat colon diseases. Because the compounds resist destruction
in the stomach, they could allow more of the drugs to reach the colon
intact and improve their effectiveness, the researchers say. Their
study was presented today at the 233rd national meeting of the American
Chemical Society.
"This study shows that the agave fruit is
good for more than just tequila. It also has medicinal value," says
study leader Guillermo Toriz, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the
university. "Agave fructan is the ideal natural carrier of drugs for
the colon."
Researchers have known for some time that
fructans, which are polymers of fructose, are resistant to acid degradation
and theorized that they might be a useful drug delivery vehicle. But
only a few plant sources, such as agave, contain fructans in large
amounts. The agave fruit is 80 percent fructans by weight when ripe,
the researchers say.
Toriz and his associates extracted fructans
from the blue agave, the base ingredient of tequila. They chemically
modified the fructan compound to allow drugs to be encapsulated, making
the drugs resistant to degradation in the digestive system.
The researchers then prepared microspheres
of the compounds and filled them with ibuprofen as a model of drug
delivery to the colon. In laboratory tests, the ibuprofen-filled microspheres
were exposed to hydrochloric acid for an hour and appeared physically
intact upon subsequent microscopic examination, the scientists say.
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