To obtain a sweetener, a bacterial infection-inhibitory agent, an intestinal function-controlling agent or the like, not showing a bitter taste peculiar to mannose, improving its sweetness and having a propagation-accelerating function of the Bifidus bacteria by using a hetero oligosaccharide as an active ingredient.
This sweetener, etc., contains a mannose-containing hetero oligosaccharide having a structure of the formula: (Glc)n-Man [Glc means a glucose residue; Man is a mannose residue; (n) is 1-3], such as a glucosylmannose having an α-1,4 bond, etc., as an active ingredient. Further, it is preferable to prepare a sweetener containing the mannose-containing hetero oligosaccharide as the active ingredient having one kind or two or more kinds of activities including a pathogenic bacterial infection inhibitory activity, the intestinal function-controlling activity or the aging inhibitory activity of starch, and produce a food, beverage, medicine or feed by using the above sweetener.
OKAMOTO KATSUYUKI
MITSUYOSHI SHINSUKE
