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FUJI OIL HOLDINGS

Soy β-conglycinin

2007.6.15

Soy β-conglycinin fractionated from soy protein.
Health function component shows promise against metabolic syndrome.

Soy β-conglycinin is identified as functioning to reduce neutral fat.


It was reported in 1995 that soy protein functions to lower neutral fat and bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol. The health function of soy protein was confirmed in 1999 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and in 2002 by the U.K. Joint Health Claims Initiative, and the labeling of such products is allowed.
In Japan, Fuji Oil, the leading soy protein company, and Makoto Kito, professor emeritus at Kyoto University, are advancing joint research to further differentiate soy proteins and have conducted numerous investigations that identified health functions.
Their results have shown that soy β-conglycinin, which makes up about 5% of soybean content, has the property of reducing neutral fat. According to the research, consumption of 5g of soy β-conglycinin per day improves the value for neutral fat in serum, and visceral fat is reportedly reduced. This has drawn attention as a health function protein that can have a good effect on metabolic syndrome (visceral adiposity) which has become a great concern in society.

Potential for preventing metabolic syndrome Soy β-conglycinin produced from specific technology.


In order to take 5g of β-conglycinin daily through ordinary soybean foods, it would require the consumption of 1 liter of soy milk, two and a half cakes of tofu or 250g of boiled soybeans. It would be difficult to eat this quantity every day, and would result in over-consumption of other nutrients. For this reason, technology to extract soy β-conglycinin of high purity is necessary, and Fuji Oil established a soy protein fractionalizing technique for soy β-conglycinin in 2003 which can produce material that is over 90% soy β-conglycinin. Food products fortified with soy β-conglycinin using this material are now anticipated in the market against metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome:
Metabolic syndrome (visceral adiposity) is a condition that makes one susceptible to a variety of diseases due to a type of obesity in which fat accumulates around the abdominal organs. As visceral fat increases, the risk of lifestyle-related diseases such as high blood sugar, high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia increase. The diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome are a waist measurement of 85cm or more for men and 90cm or more for women, and two or more among blood pressure, blood sugar, neutral fat etc. that exceed the reference value.