On May 29, 2019, the National Health Commission released the announcement (No. 2 of 2019) on 24 “Three New Foods” including Lactobacillus curvatus, formally approving Lactobacillus curvatus, Akira leaves, and loquat flowers as new food ingredients. It also explained the basic information, recommended serving size, and other information about the leaves.

Introduction

Akari leaves (English name: Ashitaba; Latin name: Angelica keiskei; Japanese name: Ashitaba), originated in Japan’s Hachijo Island, is a herb belonging to the genus Angelica in the family Umbelliferae, a perennial herb.

Tomorrow leaf vitality, today picked leaves, tomorrow will be able to sprout new leaves, so it is also known as tomorrow grass. Other names for the leaf include overnight grass, salty grass, alkali grass, return to the sun grass, spring grass, Zhenli grass, eight zhang grass, longevity grass, strong sperm grass, heavenly grass, eight zhang ginseng grass, Haifeng ginseng grass, and so on.

The plant is 80-120 centimeters tall, with yellow sap in the stem and leaves, and an erect, well-branched stem. According to the appearance of the plant, it can be divided into three varieties: green-stemmed species, red-stemmed species and mixed species. Basal leaves are tufted, long-petiolate, base expanded to embrace the stem, leaves large 1~2 times pinnately 3 out of compound leaves, lobed or parted, pinnules ovate or broadly ovate, 4~8 centimeters wide, apex pointed, serrulate rim, both surfaces smooth and glabrous; leaves on the stem are gradually smaller. Compound apiaceous inflorescences, covered with short hairs; ebracteolate, bracteoles several, broadly linear; florets numerous, creamy yellow; petals 5-parted, inwardly curved; stamens 5; ovary inferior. Fruit long ellipsoid, slightly flattened. Fruit long ellipsoid, slightly flattened. Fruiting period September to December.

Nutritional Value of Akari Leaves

The nutritional value of Akari leaves is extremely comprehensive and balanced. It is a natural treasure trove of nutrients and does not require the intake of different nutrients from different foods. It can provide rich chlorophyll, vitamins, dietary fiber, protein, 16 kinds of amino acids and more than 20 kinds of minerals and special substances needed by the human body. The nutritional value is outstanding compared to other common vegetables.

Health benefits of Akari leaves

The various functional components contained in the leaves of the morning glory determine that it has many health benefits.

A large number of studies have shown that the leaves have a series of health effects, such as antioxidant, anti-tumor, blood pressure, blood fat, sleep, immunity, etc., and can prevent and treat more than 20 kinds of human diseases [4].

Summarized, the health effects of the leaves can be summarized as “five antioxidant”, “four lowering”, “three improvement”, “two prevention “and “one improvement”.

Product Development of Mingri Leaf

Health Tea

Drinking tea is a living habit and social etiquette in China since ancient times, and the difference between health care tea and ordinary tea is that the former focuses more on the health care efficacy of tea. As an all-natural plant with medicinal and food properties, it can be processed into a variety of health teas.

Zhang Zhinian will be the young shoots of the Mingzhi leaves using steam-killing treatment, dehydration, lactic acid bacteria fermentation, low-temperature drying, kneading, drying and other processes made of Mingzhi leaf tea, clear and transparent tea, mellow taste, fragrance, have a better health effects. Zhang Zhinian also developed a Ming day leaf ginkgo tea, that is, according to a certain formula proportion of Ming day leaf tea and ginkgo biloba tea blending, mixing, packaging made of tea and beverage new products to help Ming day leaf and ginkgo biloba efficacy complement each other.

Wang Yun et al. established a low-temperature roasting, adding jasmine, high-temperature aroma roasting Mingri leaves tea technology method, the preparation process is simple, reduces the Mingri leaves tea in the loss of chalcone and VC, to ensure that the product’s nutritional and health care effects.

In addition, Feng Binkui and others developed a kind of Mingri leaf composite bag tea, which consists of 6 kinds of raw materials, including Mingri leaf, sea buckthorn leaf, perilla leaf, white orchid, loquat flower and peach blossom, and the raw materials are washed and removed, and then after ultra-low-temperature freezing and crushing and vacuum freeze-drying, they are mixed and blended in accordance with the formula proportion, and then sterilized by ultra-high-pressure sterilization, and then the finished products are produced by sealing and packaging, and the nutritional value and functional composition of Mingri leaf and other plant raw materials are greatly preserved. This product greatly retains the nutritional value and functional components of the Mingri leaves and other plants, and has the efficacy of enhancing immunity, lowering blood pressure and removing fat, clearing heat and removing toxins, moistening the lungs and relieving cough.

Health Wine

Health wine is mainly used to regulate the physiological function of human body, with the purpose of nourishment, health care and health maintenance to satisfy the consumer’s hobbies.

Su Liuhua will be crushed Mingri leaves added to white wine immersed in 1 ~ 3 h, and then microwave heating 10 ~ 20 min, filtering and filling that is the Mingri leaves health wine, the wine fully maintains the medicinal value of the Mingri leaves, with antihypertensive, analgesic and other efficacy.

Others added the root of the leaf into white wine, and soaked it for 10-20 d at room temperature with light shielding to produce the flavonoids health wine of the leaf.

In the composite health care wine development, Dang Qingfeng to the Mingzhi leaf juice and honey as raw materials, the use of pretreatment, juice production, clarification, composition adjustment, the main fermentation, post-fermentation, aging, clarification and sterilization, filling sterilization and other series of processes made a honey Mingzhi leaf health care wine, the finished product is light green in color, with the sweet aroma of honey and the pure and light wine aroma, the taste is mellow and refreshing, in line with the typical flavor of health care wines.

Lu Juan cleaned fresh grapes and controlled them dry, beat them into grape pulp, and put them into containers for fermentation. After fermentation for 2~3 d, add Akari leaf material and white sugar, mix well to form mixed pulp, and continue fermentation for 30~40 d to get Akari leaf wine pulp, and then make Akari leaf wine after filtration and sedimentation, which has the beneficial effect of making full use of the nutrients of Akari leaf and grapes.

Health Drinks

Health drinks, also known as functional drinks, are drinks that adapt to the nutritional needs of certain special groups of people by adjusting the composition, content and proportion of natural nutrients in the drinks. With the improvement of people’s consumption consciousness and living standards, health drinks are gradually being emphasized.

Deng Xiuling took apple and Mingzhi leaf as the main material, extracted the rich medicinal nutrients from them, and made Mingzhi leaf apple health drink, which has good health effect while relieving the fishy flavor of Mingzhi leaf grass and ensuring the taste.

Xuan Guida from dozens of hypoglycemic effect of “dual-use” Chinese medicine materials, after repeated research and processing of a Mingzhi leaf hypoglycemic beverage, the beverage color and lustre, high clarity, unique aroma, rich in Mingzhi leaf chalcone.

Wu Jinhong et al. developed a Mingzhi leaf composite beverage, the raw material contains Mingzhi leaf, chrysanthemum, licorice, bitter melon, xylitol, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, xanthan gum, sodium copper chlorophyll and the right amount of water, this Mingzhi leaf composite of other natural plant water extracts of health beverages, in the chemical composition of a certain degree of compatibility in terms of nutrients and health care functions, there are better synergistic effect. Some people also use fresh Akari leaves as raw materials, through the juice, ingredients, spray drying method to produce a unique flavor of the Akari leaf solid beverage.

Health capsule

Health capsule is a kind of capsule agent made of solid or liquid active substance sealed in soft capsule material after treatment.

Zhang Zhinian has developed a kind of capsule of Minzhi Ye, which is a mixture of Minzhi Ye ultrafine powder (1,600-2,000 mesh) and L-arabinose, and is made by granulation, drying, granulation, uniform dispensing and packaging, and the product is easy to take and the quality is stable.

Wang Zhengwu et al. will Mingri leaves powder, wall-broken ganoderma lucidum spore powder and seedless prickly plow powder mixed with 120 mesh sieve, after conventional sterilization and wheat germ oil and beeswax mixture, and then high-pressure homogenization of the mixture, according to the conventional roller mold pressing method to obtain the Mingri leaves mixture of softgel capsules, the use of this product and the active ingredients of the Mingri leaves wall-broken ganoderma lucidum spore powder, seedless prickly plow powder synergistic effect, with blood pressure and lipid lowering, antidisease and anticancer, delay aging and other functions. This product utilizes the active ingredients of Mingri leaves and wall-broken Ganoderma lucidum spore powder to synergize, which has the functions of lowering blood pressure and lipid, antidisease and anti-cancer, and delaying aging.

Liu Fangxu et al. used Mingri leaves, Scutellaria baicalensis, Pueraria lobata, Ginkgo biloba and other components of the composite, after crushing, extraction, mixing, capsule making, sterilization, packaging and preparation of traditional Chinese medicine health care capsule, which can effectively reduce cholesterol, improve vascular circulation, prevent thrombosis, and is very beneficial to patients with Alzheimer’s disease, hypertension and so on.

Other Products

Mingri Leaf Health Chewable Tablet: Its components include Mingri Leaf Powder, starch, sucralose, stevia, VC, Ganoderma Lucidum Spore Powder, lactose and magnesium stearate, the chewable tablets have a good flavor, high purity, comprehensive nutrition, sweet and sour taste, easy to consume and easy to carry.

Tomorrow Leaf Nutritional Flour: It is composed of flour, purple rice, tomorrow leaf, red bean powder, nutritional additives and appropriate amount of water, etc. The combination of tomorrow leaf and other ingredients added in the flour not only improves the taste of the product, but also increases the health care efficacy.

Mingri Leaf Job’s Tears Nutritional Health Biscuit: The product is made of Mingri Leaf, Job’s Tears and flour, and xylitol is added to replace sucrose, which is non-glycosylated, hypoglycemic, and prevents dental caries.

Mingzhi leaf health care noodles: add Mingzhi leaf powder in wheat flour, then go through the process of mixing, ripening, calendering, cutting, drying, cutting and so on to get Mingzhi leaf noodles, the finished product tastes fresh and fragrant, sinewy, and long-term consumption can prevent high blood sugar, which is a good food for diabetic patients.

Tomorrow Leaf Compound Health Black Tomato Sauce: It is prepared from the main ingredient of black tomato pulp, seedless prickly pear pulp, tomorrow leaf juice, and the ingredients of sugar, salt, vinegar, and thickening agent, and the quality of the product reaches the ideal through the complementation of different nutrients and the flavor of the product.