Technical Field The present invention relates to a functional alcoholic beverage which comprises polyphenols and a spirituous liquor.

Background Art Liquor (alcoholic beverage) is a beverage containing ethyl alcohol. According to the Liquor Tax Law of Korea, it means a beverage having an alcohol content of 1 % or higher, and is classified into brewage, spirituous liquor, and blended liquor. Brewage (fermented liquor) is produced by conducting alcoholic fermentation of carbohydrates, spirituous liquor is produced by distilling brewage, and blended liquor is produced by blending fermented liquor or the spirituous liquor with other substances. Even though the spirituous liquor, which is classified into soju, whiskey, brandy, rum, vodka, and gin, has a high alcohol content of 20 - 50 %, since many harmful substances, such as methanol or ester compounds, which are contained in the fermented liquor (alcohol content: 20 % or less), are removed from it during a distillation process, it has fewer ill effects, such as headaches or muscle pains, for the same amount of alcohol. Furthermore, spirituous liquor has a relatively low content of functional components in comparison with fermented liquor, such as beer or wine, because the functional components which are good for health are removed therefrom during the distillation process. Classified as fermented liquor, beer contains 140 - 170 mg of polyphenols per liter thereof, which is a functional material derived from malt and hops, and wine contains 0.5 - 5 g of anthocyanins and tannins per liter thereof, which originate from seeds or rinds of grapes. Particularly, it is known that polyphenols in wine promote health and play an important role in forming desirable colors and tastes. Polyphenols are extensively distributed in plants, and a representative function of polyphenols is antioxidation for eliminating free radicals (Frei B, Higdon JV., J iVw#-.;133(10):3275S-84S, 2003). It is known that the free radicals are generated by factors, such as sunlight, air pollution, stress, drugs, smoking, drinking, or exposure to radioactive rays, and directly or indirectly pertain to induction of various adult diseases, such as a cancer, aging, and cardiovascular diseases. Accordingly, it is known that antioxidative substances eliminating the free radicals are capable of preventing the above-mentioned diseases. Additionally, it is known that polyphenols have an antihypertensive function (Negishi H, et al., JJV«*r.;134(l):38-42, 2004) and an anticancer function (Lin JK et al., Biochem Pharmacol, 15;58(6):911-915, 1999). Polyphenols are contained in green tea or grapes in a large amount, and green tea contains various substances, such as polyphenols, caffeine, free amino acids, vitamins (A, Bl, B2, C, E), and free sugar. Recently, various beverages including green tea have been developed, and green tea soju, in which a green tea extract is added to soju, has been developed. Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-72024 discloses a method of producing a spirituous liquor which contains a green tea extract and cyclodextrin. In the method, the spirituous liquor contains extracts which are produced by conducting a post- treatment step to remove polyphenols and colors from the green tea extract. With respect to this, the present inventor has developed a functional alcoholic beverage which is produced by adding a high concentration of a highly pure polyphenols component, obtained through extraction, purification, and concentration processes, to a spirituous liquor so that spirituous liquor, having few functional components, has improved functionality, such as antioxidative, anticancer, antihypertensive, and hangover curing functions, due to the polyphenols, thereby accomplishing the present invention.

Disclosure of the Invention Technical Solution The present invention aims to provide a functional alcoholic beverage which comprises polyphenols and a spirituous liquor.

Best for the Invention The present invention provides a functional alcoholic beverage which comprises polyphenols and a spirituous liquor. Polyphenols used in the present invention may be polyphenols which are extracted, separated, or purified from green tea, grapes, or onions. Preferably, polyphenols may be one or more selected from the group consisting of green tea polyphenols, such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechine (EGC), epicatechin(EC), and epicatechine gallate (ECG), grape polyphenols, such as anthocyanin, proanthocyanin, and tannin, and onion polyphenols, such as quercetin and gaUotannin. Furthermore, the functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention contains 0.01 - 10.0 wt% polyphenols based on the total weight. In the functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention, a spirituous liquor has an alcohol concentration of 1.0 - 90.0 %, and preferably 1.0 — 50.0 %, and the beverage contains 50.00 - 99.99 wt% of spirituous liquor based on the total weight of the beverage. The functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention contains spirituous liquor so that the final alcohol concentration is 1.0 - 50.0 %. Polyphenols which is extracted from green tea may be used in the present invention. For example, it may be extracted and purified according to a method of producing a green tea extract, which is disclosed in Korean Patent Registration Publication No. 10-377313, and the method is as follows. 5 -20 wt% water or alcohol are added to 1.0 wt% green tea powder which is hot air dried, heated for 15 min - 24 hours, and shaken at 1 - 110°C for 15 min - 24 hours. Subsequently, the green tea powder is removed, cooling is conducted, and precipitates are removed. An extract solution is heated and then cooled to remove the precipitates, and is dried to produce the resulting extract. It is preferable that a heating temperature be 60 - 110°C, and drying be conducted using spray drying. The resulting extract contains 50.0 — 90.0 wt% polyphenols. It is preferable that the green tea extract containing polyphenols be powder. The method may further comprise removing caffeine or increasing the concentration of polyphenols, if necessary. The functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention may be produced by adding polyphenols, produced through the above-mentioned method, to the spirituous liquor having the alcohol concentration of 1.0 - 90.0 %, and preferably spirituous liquor having an ethyl alcohol concentration of 1.0 - 50.0 %. For example, spirituous liquor having a high alcohol concentration of 40.0 - 90.0 % is diluted, and polyphenols are added thereto to produce the functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention. Alternatively, polyphenols may be directly added to the spirituous liquor having the alcohol concentration of 1.0 - 50.0 % to produce the beverage. Furthermore, polyphenols which is produced through the above-mentioned method lias a bitter taste that is still weaker than that of other types of polyphenols, thus it maybe added to the functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention in an amount of 0.01 - 10.0 wt% based on the total weight, and then mixed therewith. Li connection with this, addition of polyphenols does not increase the bitter taste of the alcoholic beverage but make the color of spirituous liquor brown, thereby improving the sense of color. If the amount added is less than 0.01 wt% based on the total weight of the beverage, it is difficult to realize a function of reducing a blood alcohol concentration and an antioxidation function of polyphenols. If the amount added is more than 10.0 wt% based on the total weight of the beverage, the bitter taste of polyphenols is sensed, thus it is difficult to assure an intrinsic flavor of the alcoholic beverage. The functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention comprises spirituous liquor so that the final alcohol concentration is 1.0 - 50.0 %. If the final alcohol concentration is more than 50.0 %, it is difficult to assure the functions of reducing the blood alcohol concentration and antioxidation of the polyphenols because of the very high alcohol concentration, and it is difficult to drink because of the bitter taste of alcohol. The beverage of the present invention may further comprise other effective components having functions that are identical or similar to those of the above-mentioned components. Essential components of the functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention are not limited as long as they are liquid, and, like other typical beverages, the beverage may further comprise various additives, such as spices or natural carbohydrates, as an additional component if necessary. Examples of the above-mentioned natural carbohydrates include typical saccharides, such as monosaccharide, for example glucose or fructose, disaccharide, for example maltose or sucrose, or polysaccharide, for example dextrin or cyclodextrin; or sugar alcohols, such as xylitol, sorbitol, or erythritol. Additionally, natural spices (thaumatin, or stevia extracts, such as stevioside, rebaudioside A, glycyrrhizin, and the like) and synthetic spices (saccharin, aspartame, and the like) may be advantageously used. The amount of natural carbohydrates is typically about 0.01 - 2 g, and preferably about 0.05 - 1 g per 100 m& of functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention. The functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention may further comprise minerals, such as various nutrient substances, amino acids, vitamins, copper, calcium, manganese, magnesium, potassium, or zinc, flavorings, such as synthetic flavorings or natural flavorings, coloring agents, pectic acid and salts thereof, alginic acid and salts thereof, organic acids, or carbonating agents used in carbonated beverages. These components may be used alone or in combination. The content of additives is not very important, but is typically selected from a range from 0.01 to 2 wt% per 100 parts by weight of beverage according to the present invention. The functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention may be immediately drunk, or maybe drunk after aging using an appropriate method. Since the functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention comprises polyphenols, a blood alcohol concentration is relatively low and oxidative damage to the liver resulting from drinking is reduced, thus the beverage contributes to the prevention of hangovers and damage to the liver due to drinking of alcohol, oxidative damage to cells due to free radicals, and the occurrence of a cancer. A better understanding of the present invention may be obtained through the following examples which are set forth to illustrate, but are not to be construed as the limit of the present invention.

EXAMPLE 1: Production of a functional alcoholic beverage according to the present invention 1-1) Production of polyphenols and ethanol Green tea polyphenol powder and ethanol were prepared as described below to produce a functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention. The green tea polyphenol powder which was contained in the beverage of the present invention was extracted, separated, and purified according to a method of producing a green tea extract disclosed in Korean Patent Registration Publication No. 10-377313. A component analysis for the extract was conducted as described below in order to confirm whether a lot of green tea polyphenols was contained in the purified extract. Polyphenols and caffeine were measured using a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and total polyphenol was measured through a spectrophotonietric redox assay using a Prussian blue method. As a result, it was confirmed that the green tea polyphenol powder obtained in the present example had 83 % or higher polyphenols. The purity as described above corresponded to a level sufficient to realize physical and chemical properties of pure polyphenols. 25 % ethanol which was used in examples and comparative examples of the present invention was produced by diluting a commercial product (ethanol, 96 % Cat. No 100971), which was manufactured by Merck Co. in Germany, using distilled water so that a concentration of ethanol was 25 % (25 % V/V ethanol/distilled water). 1-2) Production of the functional alcoholic beverage containing polyphenols according to the present invention 1 g and 2 g of green tea polyphenol powders were dissolved in 400 ΪΆI of 25 % ethanol prepared according to the above example 1-1). Subsequently, insoluble precipitates were filtered out to produce the functional alcoholic beverages having polyphenols concentrations of 0.25 % and 0.5 % according to the present invention. • EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 1: Effect of a functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention on the blood alcohol concentration To evaluate the effect of the functional alcoholic beverage containing polyphenols according to the present invention on the blood alcohol concentration, the blood alcohol concentration was measured as described below. A test was conducted using white Sprague-Dawley rats (male, weight: 220 - 250 g). The white rats were divided into a group to which distilled water was administered (control group), a group to which ethanol containing no polyphenols was administered (ethanol group), a group to which ethanol containing 0.25 % polyphenols was administered (0.25%polyphenols+ethanol group), and a group to which ethanol containing 0.5 % polyphenols was administered (0.5%polyphenols+ethanol group), with five rats per group. After the white rats for the test went without food for 12 hours, 2.5 ml of distilled water were orally administered to the rats of the control group, 2.5 ml of 25 % ethanol were orally administered to the rats of the ethanol group, 2.5 ml of 25 % ethanol containing 0.25 % polyphenols were orally administered to the rats of the 0.25%polyphenols+ethanol group, and 2.5 ml of 25 % ethanol containing 0.5 % polyphenols were orally administered to the rats of the 0.5%polyphenols+ethanol group three times at six hour intervals. The white rats were killed six hours after the final samples were administered, blood was collected, and sera were separated therefrom to measure the blood alcohol concentration. Measurement of the blood alcohol concentration was conducted using a method of Kovar et al. (Kovar J, Schneider J, Skursky L, Dubsky H.: A new photometric assay for blood alcohol. Anal. Biochem. 137:74-9. 1984).

TABLE 1 : Effect of polyphenols on blood alcohol concentration of white rats to which alcohol was administered

As shown in Table 1, the blood alcohol concentration was increased by 200 % in the ethanol group in comparison with the control group. The blood alcohol concentration of the 0.25%polyphenols+ethanol group was decreased to 53 % of that of the ethanol group, and, the blood alcohol concentration of the 0.5%polyphenols+ethanol group was decreased to 45 % of that of the ethanol group. The blood alcohol concentration, which is used to indirectly measure the rate of alcohol metabolism, was decreased by the administration of polyphenols, thus it was confirmed that the functional alcoholic beverage containing polyphenols according to the present invention forced the metabolism of ethanol to be more rapidly conducted, thereby reducing blood ethanol concentration.

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE 2: Effect of the functional alcoholic beverage according to the present invention on oxidative damage to the liver To evaluate the effect of the functional alcoholic beverage containing polyphenols according to the present invention on oxidative damage to the liver, a liver tissue was analyzed using a TBARS analytic method. The amounts of lipid peroxides of livers of the Sprague-Dawley rats test groups, into which alcohol and the functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention were administered in experimental example 1, were measured by measuring the amount of a TBA reactive substance (Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance) which is a marker of oxidative stress (XA. Buege and S.D. Aust, Microsomal lipid peroxidation. Methods Enzymol. 52: 302- 310. 1978). In other words, 0.5 g of liver of each white rat were extracted, 9.5 mi of cooled buffer solution (0.15M KCl, 5mM Tris-malate, pH 7.4) were added thereto, and the resulting mixture was homogenized. 0.2 ml of homogenized solution were sampled, and 2.0 ml of 0.01 % butylated hydroxytoluene and a TBA agent (0.375 % thibarbituric acid solution) were added thereto and then mixed well. The resulting mixture was heated at 98 °C for 15 min, cooled, and centriiiiged at 1000 x g for 15 min to separate a supernatant. The absorptivity (A535 nm) of the supernatant was measured using an absorption spectrophotometer. The amount of TBA reactive substance was calculated based on absorptivity, 1.56 X 102/mM/Cm, of malondialdehyde (MDA).

TABLE 2: Effect of polyphenols on the TBA reactive substance amount of the liver of white rats to which alcohol was administered

As shown in Table 2, the TBA reactive substance amount of the liver in the ethanol group was increased by 23 % in comparison with the control group. The TBA reactive substance amount was decreased by 15 % in the 0.25%polyphenols+ethanol group in comparison with the ethanol group, and, in the 0.5%polyphenols+ethanol group, the TBA reactive substance amount was decreased by 17 % in comparison with the ethanol group. Measurement of the TBA reactive substance amount is a representative method for measuring lipid peroxide, and an increase in lipid peroxide of the liver due to ethanol means an increase in oxidative damage to the liver due to ethanol. Furthermore, when alcohol containing polyphenols was administered, the amount of TBA reactive substance of the liver was reduced in comparison with the group to which ethanol was administered. The reason is presumed to be that polyphenols suppress oxidative damage to the liver resulting from ethanol. Hence, it was confirmed that the functional alcoholic beverage which comprises polyphenols according to the present invention prevents oxidative damage to the liver caused by ethanol.

Industrial Applicability A functional alcoholic beverage of the present invention comprises polyphenols, thus reducing blood alcohol concentration, and preventing hangovers, damage to the liver, oxidative damage to cells due to free radicals, and the occurrence of cancer, when it is drunk.