National Announcement

On May 31, 2017, the National Health and Family Planning Commission issued the Announcement on 10 New Food Ingredients Including Shea Butter (No. 7 of 2017), formally approving Shea Butter, (3R,3’R)-Dihydroxy-beta-carotene, Pau d’Arco Powder, N-Acetyl Neuraminic Acid, Water Extract of Broccoli Seeds, cis-15-Eicosadecadienoic Acid, Rice Bran Aliphatic Alcohol, Gamma- Linolenic acid oil and fat (from Acanthospora minor graminicola), calcium β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate, and wood ginger leaf kernel are new food ingredients, and the following descriptions are provided for their basic information, processes, recommended serving sizes, quality requirements, and so on:

Introduction

As early as 1957, Blix isolated sialic acid (SA) from the mucin of bovine submandibular gland, SA is the general name of nine-carbon sugar neuraminic acid, also known as bird’s nest acid, chemically known as N-Acetyl Neuraminic Acid (NANA), which is found in bird’s nests and dairy products (including breast milk, cow’s milk, goat’s milk, and cheese), with breast milk having the highest level of SA, which is about 1.5 g/L. SA is also an important indicator of the quality of bird’s nests, and is a major component in the structure and function of brain gangliosides and glycoproteins.

Meanwhile, SA is also an important indicator of the quality of bird’s nests, with high quality bird’s nests containing around 10% SA. SA is a major structural and functional component of brain gangliosides and glycoproteins, and the high content of SA in the brain is an essential nutrient for the cognitive development of the human brain.

Effects of N-Acetyl Neuraminic Acid

1.Whitening

From the biological mechanism, melanosomes in melanocytes are catalyzed by tyrosinase to form melanin thus leading to darkening of skin color.

When the concentration of salivary acid is about 0.7%, the inhibition rate of tyrosine hydroxylase activity reaches the maximum; when the concentration of salivary acid is about 0.5%, the inhibition rate of dopa hydroxylase activity reaches the maximum; therefore, when the usage amount is 0.5%~0.7%, it can ensure a good whitening effect.

2.Moisturizing

The chemical nature of salivary acid belongs to sugar, so it has the natural property of moisturizing. As one of its effects, in the usual cosmetic use cycle, 0.5% content of salivary acid 24 hours moisturizing rate than pure water is about 20% higher. Of course, salivary acid alone can not be compared to hyaluronic acid moisturizing performance.

3. Anti-aging

According to the existing molecular biology research literature shows that the newborn cells in the salivary acid content is significantly higher than the aging cells. Further experiments have found that cells treated with salivary acid glycosidase (note: degraded part of the salivary acid) will die within a few hours after injection into the body, while the normal cell life expectancy is 120 days, which suggests that salivary acid is involved in the regulation of the cell life cycle.

4. Anti-inflammatory

It has been found that salivary acid can inhibit leukocyte adhesion, and can fight inflammation and play an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory role. Salivary acid not only interacts with bacteria, but may also interact with viruses to exert antiviral functions.

5. Promote the development of memory and intelligence

Salivary acid is an important component of the brain gangliosides, nerve cell membrane of the salivary acid content is 20 times that of other cells, due to the brain information transfer and nerve impulse conduction must be realized through the synapses, and the salivary acid is the role of the brain cell membrane and synapses of the brain nutrients that can promote the development of memory and intelligence.

6. Promote intestinal absorption

Salivary acid with a strong negative charge, according to the principle of opposites attract, into the intestinal tract with a positive charge of minerals and some vitamins are easy to with a strong negative charge of salivary acid combined together. Therefore, salivary acid can improve the intestinal absorption of minerals and vitamins.

N-Acetyl Neuraminic Acid in Foods

Since the liver of newborns is still immature and the rapid growth and development of the brain requires salivary acid, it is necessary to supplement salivary acid to meet the needs of growth and development of infants and young children. It has been found that dietary supplementation of exogenous salivary acid can increase brain salivary acid content, which predicts that salivary acid can be added to infant formula to effectively promote the development of their nervous system and brain while influencing their intellectual development.

Salivary acid and salivary acid derivatives are added to the beverage to make functional drinks, long-term consumption of drinks can not only other prevention of colds and flu, but also improve the intestinal absorption of vitamins and minerals, improve the brain’s ability to learn, and help to improve the quality of the body.

References:

[1] Bioactivity of salivary acids and their distribution in dairy products[J]. CHENG Jia-Li,WANG Zhu,LIU Ting-Ting,SHEN Jie,YANG Yue-Xin. Food Research and Development. 2016(04)

[2] Physiological functions, applications of salivary acids and their production methods[J]. LI Hongyue,LIU Pengfu,SHI Jiping,TIAN Jing. Food Industry Science and Technology. 2014(03)

[3] Research progress on biological activities of salivary acids and their applications[J]. WEI Dongxu, JIANG Lianzhou, WANG Chen, WANG Zhongjiang. China Food and Nutrition. 2011, 17(7): 64-68