紅麴發酵產品中 citrinin 安全性評估研究

Abstract

紅麴菌是中國已使用數千年之食品發酵菌種，中國古籍中早有記載其特殊功效及在食品上的應用。在中國及日本，紅麴菌被視為傳統的自然食品呈色劑，用於許多食品中，而紅麴菌的次級代謝產物 monacolin K、γ-胺基丁酸 (γ-amino buytric acid，GABA) 及 dimerumic acid 經證實具有降低膽固醇、降低血壓及抗氧化的功效。目前紅麴之醫療保健功效在歐美醫學界亦為備受重視的課題，在臺灣也獲得健康食品認證之產品上市，但國內對紅麴製品中 citrinin 含量仍未定出最低含量標準，因此本研究目的即於建立紅麴製品中 citrinin 含量之安全限量標準，作為未來研發紅麴相關產品安全標準之參考。本研究利用含不同濃度citrinin (1、2、10、20、200 ppm) 之紅麴米進行 90 天動物試驗以評估各濃度之安全性，以建立紅麴產品之 citrinin 最低安全容許濃度。動物試驗中各組肝臟與腎臟血清生化値均顯示 citrinin 未具有肝腎毒性之現象；在肝腎組織病理切片結果，各組肝臟與腎臟之病理組織學檢查皆未見任何顯著有意義之組織。細胞試驗顯示，人類腎細胞 (HEK293) 與人類肝細胞 (HepG2) 於 20

Monascus, one of the traditional fermentation fungi in China, has been used for thousands of years and recorded in ancient literature for its special functions and food applications. For instance, Monascus has been widely used as a natural coloring agent for many kinds of food in China and Japan. The metabolites of Monascus species, specially, monakolin K, γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) and dimerumic acid, have been proven to have cholesterol-lowering effects, blood pressure-lowing effect and antioxidant effects. Recently, the health functions of Monascus have become the focus of many studies in European and American medical profession, and many products of Monascus with health food certificate have been launched in Taiwan. However, the officinal standard limit to citrinin concentration in Monascus products in Taiwan has not been assured yet. Various of citrinin concentrations (1, 2, 10, 20 and 200 ppm) in the red mold rice were respectively estimated for the safety experiment using animal toxicity test. According to the result of serum biochemistry assay of liver and kidney in each group, it did not reveal nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity to rats. Furthermore, the results of histopathological slices of liver and kidney in each group did not show any significant difference from histopathological finding. The cell tests also showed that there were no cytotoxic effect on HEK 293 and Hep G2 after treating with 20