Effective utilization of tomato leaves as a new food material

本研究旨在利用番茄叶作为一种新的食品材料。番茄果实含有γ-氨基丁酸（GABA），对降低血压有效。因此，首先对番茄叶片中GABA含量进行了测定，考察了不同采收时间和加工方法对GABA含量的影响。研究了番茄叶对大鼠血压的降低作用。番茄叶片中GABA含量为470mg/100g鲜叶，经脱氧处理后GABA含量有所增加。番茄叶提取物可降低自发性高血压大鼠血压。如果能从番茄叶中提取生物碱番茄素，番茄叶将成为一种具有降血压功能的新型食品材料。

This study was intended to use tomato leaves as a new food material. Tomato fruit contains γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is effective on the reduction of blood pressure. So, the content of GABA in tomato leaves was examined first, as changingharvesting time, and processing method. The effect of tomato leaves on the reduction of blood pressure of rats was also examined. The content of GABA in tomato leaves was 470mg/100g of fresh leaves, and it increased by de-oxygen process. The extract of tomato leaves reduced the blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats. If tomatine, an alkaloid, can be removed from tomato leaves, the leaves will be a new food material, which has an ability of blood pressure reduction.