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Effect of Purification and Cellulase Treatment on the Hypocholesterolemic Activity of Crude Konjac Mannan

Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Tokushima University, 3 Kuramoto, Tokushima, Japan

This paper presents a series of experiments to identify the hypocholesterolemic principle in crude konjac mannan (CKM) prepared from tubers of Amorphophallus konjac K. Koch (Araceae). Extensively purified konjac mannan (HPKM) showed hypocholesterolemic activity comparable to or rather higher than that of CKM or partially purified konjac mannan (PPKM). Therefore, various low molecular contaminants do not appear to contribute to the activity of CKM. Hydrolysis with fungus cellulase completely canceled the activity of CKM, PPKM or HPKM even after a short 30-minute hydrolysis. Also, concurrent addition of intact cellulase and konjac mannan preparations could not depress the plasma cholesterol level which is elevated by dietary cholesterol plus bile salts. It was concluded that konjac mannan itself is an active principle and that both the essential properties in konjac mannan itself (macromolecular and water-soluble) must be simultaneously satisfied for the actualization of hypocholesterolemic activity as suggested previously.

KEY WORDS: • konjac mannan • hypocholesterolemic activity

¹ Present address: Laboratory of Nutritional Biochemistry, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya, Japan.

Manuscript received 15 May 1972.