A.TUBEROSUM ROTTL. EXTRACT HAVING AN ACTIVITY OF ACTIVATING CHOLINE ACETYLTRANSFERASE IN BRAIN NERVE CELLS

摘要

An extract of Allium tuberosum is provided to activate choline acetyltransferase(ChAT) in brain nerve cells by comprising 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid(ferulic acid), thereby being usefully used as a functional food or a medicine for treating and preventing brain nerve diseases. A composition for activating ChAT in brain nerve cells comprises 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid(ferulic acid) represented by a formula(1) or an extract of Allium tuberosum as an effective ingredient. A method for purifying the 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid from the extract of Allium tuberosum comprises the steps of: (a) after drying and pulverizing the Allium tuberosum, extracting it with ethanol; (b) fractionating the ethanol extract of the Allium tuberosum with hexane, chloroform and ethylacetate in sequence; (c) subjecting the chloroform fraction to a first and a second open silica gel columns in sequence to obtain an active fraction; and (d) subjecting the obtained active fraction to high pressure liquid chromatography to isolate the active fraction.