Anti-allergic Effects of Castanea crenata Leaf Tea

밤나무 잎차(茶)의 항알레르기 효과

Regarding the characterstics of allergic diseases, preventive and continuous treatment is desirable, and tea would be the one of the best functional food formula for it. Here we report the development of tea processing method for the leaves of Castnaea crenata. Two forms of Castnaea crenata leaf tea were prepared, non-fermented steaming tea and semi-fermented rolling tea. Anti-allergic actions of Castanea crenata leaf tea were asessed by testing their effects on the degranulation of mast cells. For this, hexosaminidase release (degranulation marker) from RBL-2H3 cells (mast cell line) was used. At the concentration of $300\;{\mu}g/mL$ of the water extract, the degranulation of RBL-2H3 cells were inhibited 50.4% and 35.4% by non-fermented steaming tea and semi-fermented rolling tea, respectively. These results suggest that the tea processing method we developed could provide a valuable resource for the treatment of allergic diseases.

밤나무 잎을 이용하여 차(茶)로 제조한 다음, 제조된 차에서 항알레르기 효과를 실험하였다. 밤나무 잎 차는 대표적인 차의 형태인 불발효차와 반발효차의 제조공정을 이용하여 증제차와 유념차로 제조하였으며, 항알레르기 효과는 제조된 증제차와 유념차의 각각의 물추출물을 RBL-2H3 세포로부터 hexosaminidase의 방출 억제 정도를 측정하는 enzyme assay를 이용하여 실시한 결과, 물추출물의 $300\;{\mu}/mL$의 수준에서 증제차는 50.4%의 저해효과를 나타냈으며, 유념차는 35.4%의 저해효과를 나타내어 항알레르기 효과가 있음을 확인하였다.