ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of medicinal plants application as an edible functional food resource. We carried out to develop a traditional functional beverage by using hot-water extraction of 4 medicinal plants (Polygonatun sibiricum, Ophiopogonis radix, Lycii fructus, Schizandriae frutcus) and we examined the effects of drink on physiological response during exercise and recovery phase. The subjects were male baseball players, and exercise protocol was performed with 45 minutes treadmill running and 85% VO2 max intensity. Brix, pH and titratable acidity of developed drink were 9.5%, 3.3 and 0.22%. The approximate nutritional composition of beverage was carbohydrate, 5.98%, total dietary fiber, 0.42%, crude protein, 0.70%, crude fat, 0.20% and crude ash, 0.20%. Developed. traditional functional beverage contained K (4.00 mg%), Na (3.68 mg%), Ca (2.54 mg%), Mg (1.60 mg%) and Fe (0.29 mg%). Developed beverage drinking group showed a lowest heart rate during exercise and recovery phase than the other two group (water group and ion beverage group). In the change of blood lactate concentration, developed beverage intake group showed a significant lowest values during exercise and recovery phase. And blood hematocrit values and osmolarity were lowest in the developed beverage intake group. In these results, exercise performance capacity was expected to improve most highly with the developed drink from composition with medicinal plants. Also developed beverage was effective in recovery of exercise-induced fatigue. Thus developed drink with medicinal plants can be used as a functional material improving decrease fatigue effects in beverage industry.