Japanese Traditional Miso and Koji Making.

Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning paste produced by fermenting soybeans using the power of koji mold. A recent Japanese cohort study has shown that increased consumption of fermented soybean products is associated with a reduced risk of death in both men and women. In this review, we briefly explain what miso means in the Japanese culture and food industry, varieties of miso available today, and steps involved in miso making. Then, we review early and latest scientific researches in koji mold species, their safety, and beneficial enzymes they produce during fermentation and maturation processes, which play a major part in determining the quality and sensory profile of miso.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a primary tumor suppressive omega-3 fatty acid, inhibits growth of colorectal cancer independent of p53 mutational status.

Human colon carcinoma COLO 205, carrying wild type p53, grown subcutaneously in athymic mice was inhibited 80% by a high fat menhaden oil diet containing a mixture of omega-3 fatty acids compared to the low fat corn oil diet containing omega-6 fatty acids. Feeding a high fat diet of golden algae oil containing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as the sole long chain omega-3 fatty acid resulted in 93% growth inhibition. Similar findings were previously reported for WiDr colon carcinoma containing mutated p53 (His237). In vitro, 125 muM DHA inhibited COLO 205 growth by 81%, WiDr by 42%, while eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) marginally inhibited growth of both lines by approximately 30%. DHA inhibited cell proliferation by 41% in WiDr but did not significantly inhibit proliferation in COLO 205. Cell cycle analysis revealed that DHA arrested cell cycle at Resting/Gap 1 (G0/G1 phase) in WiDr and at Gap 2/Mitosis (G2/M) phase in COLO 205. DHA induced apoptosis in COLO 205 but not in WiDr, and EPA did not induce apoptosis in either line. Taken together, these findings suggest DHA is the primary tumor suppressive omega-3 fatty acid in vivo and in vitro and inhibits cancer growth by p53 dependent and independent pathways, while the marginal inhibition by EPA is p53 independent.

Influence of omega-3 fatty acids on the growth of human colon carcinoma in nude mice.

The present study investigated the influence of dietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on the growth of human colon carcinoma xenograft in athymic nude mice. Four diets were fed to evaluate the effect of levels and types of fat on colon tumor growth. Animals were maintained on a standard diet modified by addition of fats containing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids to represent high and low fat intakes for 53 days. The final mean estimated tumor weight for the high fat corn oil (24%) fed group was 2,302 mg, whereas the low fat (8% corn oil) group was 1,681 mg. The final mean tumor weight of the high fat menhaden oil fed group was 782 mg representing a 66% decrease in growth compared to the high fat corn oil group and a decrease of 54% compared to the low corn oil fed group. The high fat golden algae oil fed group resulted in a mean final tumor weight of 223 mg representing a 90% inhibition of tumor growth relative to the high fat corn oil fed group and 87% inhibition of growth compared to the low fat corn oil fed group. These findings indicate that dietary omega-3 fatty acids possess significant tumor suppressing properties and that the primary tumor suppressing fatty acid is docosahexaenoic acid. Histopathologic examination of control and treated tumors and expression array analyses (human cytokine and apoptosis arrays) support the tumor growth inhibition data and provide evidence for discussion of possible mechanisms for the observed growth inhibition.