the present invention provides a novel inhibitive agent against the activity of α - amylase , of which tea is the effective ingredient . the tea polyphenol compounds as the principal effective ingredients in the inventive inhibitive agent against the activity of α - amylase include the tea catechin compounds represented by the general formula ( i ) given below and the theaflavin compounds represented by the general formula ( ii ) given below : ## str1 ## in which r 1 is a hydrogen atom or a hydroxy group and r 2 is a hydrogen atom or a 3 , 4 , 5 - trihydroxy benzoyl group ; and ## str2 ## in which r 3 and r 4 are , each independently from the other , a hydrogen atom or a 3 , 4 , 5 - trihydroxy benzoyl group . particular examples of the tea catechin compounds represented by the general formula ( i ) include : (-) epicatechin , which is a compound of the formula ( i ) with r 1 = h and r 2 = h ; (-) epigallocatechin , which is a compound of the formula ( i ) with r 1 = oh and r 2 = h ; (-) epicatechin gallate , which is a compound of the formula ( i ) with r 1 = h and r 2 = 3 , 4 , 5 - trihydroxy benzoyl group ; and (-) epigallocatechin gallate , which is a compound of the formula ( i ) with r 1 = oh and r 2 = 3 , 4 , 5 - trihydroxy benzoyl group . particular examples of the theaflavin compounds include : free theaflavin , which is a compound of the formula ( ii ) and r 3 = h and r 4 = h ; theaflavin monogallate a , which is a compound of the formula ( ii ) with r 3 = 3 , 4 , 5 - trihydroxy benzoyl group and r 4 = h ; theaflavin monogallate b , which is a compound of the formula ( ii ) with r 3 = h and r 4 = 3 , 4 , 5 - trihydroxy benzoyl group ; and theaflavin digallate , which is a compound of the formula ( ii ) with r 3 = 3 , 4 , 5 - trihydroxy benzoyl group and r 4 = 3 , 4 , 5 - trihydroxy benzoyl group . the above described tea polyphenol compounds can be prepared from tea leaves as the starting material and a method for the preparation thereof and a typical example of the product composition are described , for example , in japanese patent kokai 59 - 219384 , 60 - 13780 and 61 - 130285 and elsewhere . when the inventive inhibitive agent against the activity of α - amylase is to be processed into a medicament form or as an additive for food etc ., the above described tea polyphenol as the effective ingredient as such is admixed with the base without or with dilution with water or alcohol . in this case , the concentration thereof in the digestive tract is preferably in the range from 0 . 1 μm to 5 mm or , more preferably , form 0 . 5 μm to 1 mm . the above described inhibitive agent against activity of α - amylase comprises , as the effective ingredient , a natural product which is in a drinkable form taken in daily life in a considerably large volume so that it is absolutely free from the problem of undesirable side effects against the human body , not only when it is used as a medicine but also when it is used as an additive of food . moreover , the effectiveness thereof is so high that the activity of α - amylase can be effectively inhibited by the addition thereof even in a very low concentration to provide a means for inhibiting the activity of α - amylase . in the following , examples are given to illustrate the invention in more detail . the enzyme used here was a product of α - amylase prepared from human saliva and supplied by sigma co . a 150 μl of the enzyme solution ( 0 . 44 u / ml in a buffer solution ) was added to 1230 μl of the sample solution and the mixture was incubated at 37 ° c . for 10 minutes . thereafter , the sample solution was admixed with 120 μl of a solution of soluble starch as the substrate so as to have a final concentration of the substrate of 2 . 0 mg / ml to effect the reaction at 37 ° c . a 200 μl of the solution was taken in every 3 minutes from the solution under proceeding reaction and the reducing sugar produced therein was determined by the measurement of the absorbance at a wavelength of 540 nm according to the method of bernfeld described in meth . enzymol ., volume 1 , page 49 ( 1959 ) by p . bernfeld . the value of the absorbance was converted by calculation into the amount of maltose from which the reaction velocity was calculated according to the conventional procedure . the concentration of the solution for 50 % inhibition of the activity of α - amylase was determined with each sample assuming that the activity of α - amylase was 100 % when the reaction velocity was equal to that in the control in which the same volume of the buffer solution was added in place of the sample solution . the results are shown in table 1 below . table 1______________________________________ concentration forsample 50 % inhibition______________________________________gallic acid & gt ;& gt ; 1 mmepicatechin & gt ;& gt ; 1 mmisomer of epicatechin & gt ;& gt ; 1 mmepigallocatechin & gt ;& gt ; 1 mmisomer of epigallocatechin & gt ;& gt ; 1 mmepicatechin gallate 130 μmisomer of epicatechin gallate 20 μmepigallocatechin gallate 260 μmisomer of epigallocatechin gallate 55 μmfree theaflavin 18 μmtheaflavin monogallate a 1 . 0 μmtheaflavin monogallate b 1 . 7 μmtheaflavin digallate 0 . 6 μm______________________________________ a conclusion could be derived from the above given results that , among the catechin compounds shown in the table , epicatechin , epigallocatechin and isomers thereof have almost no power for the inhibition of the activity of α - amylase , but the other catechin compounds and theaflavin compounds have a strong power for the inhibition of the activity of α - amylase . each of 12 - week old male rats of the wistar strain , divided into a test group and a control group , was fed a high - carbohydrate diet either with or without , respectively , of 1 % by weight of polyphenon 100 which was a crude mixture of catechin compounds in a proportion shown in table 2 below . table 2______________________________________ polyphenon 100 relativecatechin compound content , % content , % ______________________________________gallocatechin 1 . 44 1 . 6epigallocatechin 17 . 57 19 . 3catechin -- -- epicatechin 5 . 81 6 . 4epigallocatechin gallate 53 . 90 59 . 1epicatechin gallate 12 . 51 13 . 7total 91 . 23 100______________________________________ the formulation of the high - carbohydrate diet given to the control animals was as shown below in table 3 . in the diet given to the test animals , the formulation was modified by decreasing the amount of the starch powder to 70 . 0 % and addition of 1 . 0 % of polyphenon 100 instead . table 3______________________________________ content in high - content in the carbohydrate diet diet being addedconstituent ( control ), % polyphenon 100 , % ______________________________________casein 22 . 0 22 . 0salt mix 4 . 0 4 . 0corn oil 2 . 0 2 . 0vitamin complex 1 . 0 1 . 0starch powder 71 . 0 70 . 0polyphenone 100 -- 1 . 0total 100 100______________________________________ after 7 days of feeding in this manner , the feces discharged from each animal was collected for one day and weighed to examine the change in the amount thereof caused by the addition of polyphenon 100 to the diet . the results were that the amount in the control animals was 1 . 01 g per day per animal while the amount in the test animals was 1 . 78 g per day per animal to support the conclusion that the addition of the catechin compounds to the diet was effective to increase the amount of feces discharge . this result means that the catechin compounds act in a similar manner to dietary fibers in promoting the evacuating performance of the intestines by decreasing absorption of the carbohydrates as a consequence of the power to inhibit the activity of amylase . when the inventive inhibitive agent against the activity of α - amylase is administrated to the human body , the dose to be taken orally is 0 . 1 to 10 g per day or , preferably , 2 to 5 g per day . the form of the medicament is not particularly limitative and it can be taken as such or in the form of a powder , tablet , capsule and the like , optionally , with admixture of an extending agent . when the inventive agent is used as an additive in food , it is added to various kinds of processed food and confectionery such as breads , noodles , cakes , biscuits , cookies and the like in an amount of 0 . 2 to 1 . 0 % by weight . an animal test was conducted by using icr mice as the test animals to examine the acute toxicity of the inventive inhibitive agent against the activity of α - amylase . the values of ld 50 calculated according to the van der waerdrn method within the confidence limit were : 2412 mg / kg in the oral administration of the same crude mixture of catechin compounds as used in example 2 ; 55 . 2 mg / kg in the intraperitoneal administration of a crude mixture of theaflavin compounds of the composition shown in table 5 below ; and 150 mg / kg in the intraperitoneal administration of epigallocatechin gallate . table 5______________________________________ content , %, in the crude mixture ofcompound theaflavin compounds______________________________________free theaflavin 10 . 0theaflavin monogallate a 22 . 3theaflavin monogallate b 19 . 5theaflavin digallate 32 . 5 (+) catechin 0 . 3 (-) epicatechin 1 . 8 (-) epigallocatechin gallate 4 . 7isomer of (-) epigallocatechin gallate 1 . 0 (-) epicatechin gallate 3 . 9others ( isomers of theaflavin , etc .) 4 . 0______________________________________
the effective ingredient in the inventive inhibitive agent against activity of a α - amylase is tea , e . g ., black tea , or a tea polyphenol as a constituent of tea including epigallocatechin gallate , epicatechin gallate , epigallocatechin , epicatechin , catechin and the isomer thereof , free theaflavin , theaflavin monogallates a and b and theaflavin digallate .