| 摘要 |
[PROBLEMS] Although fucoxanthin extracted from wakame (Undaria pinnatifida) is efficacious as an agent having an antiobesity activity, fucoxanthin is contained in only a small amount in a matured brown alga body and, therefore, it takes a long time and a large cost to obtain a practically usable amount of fucoxanthin. Moreover, it has been required to develop an agent having an enhanced antiobesity activity. Thus, it is intended to specify a carotenoid having a stronger antiobesity activity than fucoxanthin and provide an agent having an antiobesity activity and a method of inhibiting obesity by using the same. [MEANS FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS] As the results of intensive studies for finding a carotenoid having a stronger antiobesity activity than fucoxanthin and a material for economically obtaining the same, it is found out that these problems can be solved by using ascidian. Ascidian is a general name involving marine animals belonging to the phylum Chordata, the subphylum Urochordata, and the class Ascidiacea and these animals widely occur throughout the country. Fucoxanthinol is extracted from, in particular, the internal organs and shell of ascidian and it is clarified that this substance has a strong antiobesity activity.
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