Simultaneous preparation of naturally abundant and rare catechins by tannase-mediated biotransformation combining high speed counter current chromatography

Potentialities of Tannase-Treated Green Tea Extract in Nutraceutical and Therapeutic Applications

Green tea has garnered widespread interest in the past decades due to its content of health-beneficial polyphenols and catechins, besides reportedly exhibiting activities for the prevention, and possibly treatment, of many modern-life-associated afflictions. Hence, the functional food potential of health-beneficial beverages such as green tea is widely and commercially promoted. Biotransformation of green tea extract using enzymes such as tannase ostensibly enhances its beneficial well-being properties and disease-preventing functionalities. The tannase-treated green tea catechins may exhibit enhanced, amongst others, antioxidant, anti-tumour, anti-wrinkle, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity and anti-sarcopenia properties compared to native green tea extract. Nonetheless, the health benefits and therapeutic and toxicological effects associated with these compounds, before and after tannase treatment, present a scientific gap for detailed studies. Accordingly, the review surveys the literature from the late twentieth century until the year 2023 related to the aforementioned important aspects.

Natural Rubber/Hexagonal Mesoporous Silica Nanocomposites as Efficient Adsorbents for the Selective Adsorption of (-)-Epigallocatechin Gallate and Caffeine from Green Tea

(-)-Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a bioactive component of green tea that provides many health benefits. However, excessive intake of green tea may cause adverse effects of caffeine (CAF) since green tea (30-50 mg) has half the CAF content of coffee (80-100 mg). In this work, for enhancing the health benefits of green tea, natural rubber/hexagonal mesoporous silica (NR/HMS) nanocomposites with tunable textural properties were synthesized using different amine template sizes and applied as selective adsorbents to separate EGCG and CAF from green tea. The resulting adsorbents exhibited a wormhole-like silica framework, high specific surface area (528-578 m2 g-1), large pore volume (0.76-1.45 cm3 g-1), and hydrophobicity. The NR/HMS materials adsorbed EGCG more than CAF; the selectivity coefficient of EGCG adsorption was 3.6 times that of CAF adsorption. The EGCG adsorption capacity of the NR/HMS series was correlated with their pore size and surface hydrophobicity. Adsorption behavior was well described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating that adsorption involved H-bonding interactions between the silanol groups of the mesoporous silica surfaces and the hydroxyl groups of EGCG and the carbonyl group of CAF. As for desorption, EGCG was more easily removed than CAF from the NR/HMS surface using an aqueous solution of ethanol. Moreover, the NR/HMS materials could be reused for EGCG adsorption at least three times. The results suggest the potential use of NR/HMS nanocomposites as selective adsorbents for the enrichment of EGCG in green tea. In addition, it could be applied as an adsorbent in the filter to reduce the CAF content in green tea by up to 81.92%.

Therapeutic potential of flavonoids in cancer: ROS-mediated mechanisms

Cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality around the globe. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play contradicting roles in cancer incidence and progression. Antioxidants have attracted attention as emerging therapeutic agents. Among these are flavonoids, which are natural polyphenols with established anticancer and antioxidant capacities. Increasing evidence shows that flavonoids can inhibit carcinogenesis via suppressing ROS levels. Surprisingly, flavonoids can also trigger excessive oxidative stress, but this can also induce death of malignant cells. In this review, we explore the inherent characteristics that contribute to the antioxidant capacity of flavonoids, and we dissect the scenarios in which they play the contrasting role as pro-oxidants. Furthermore, we elaborate on the pathways that link flavonoid-mediated modulation of ROS to the prevention and treatment of cancer. Special attention is given to the ROS-mediated anticancer functions that (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), hesperetin, naringenin, quercetin, luteolin, and apigenin evoke in various cancers. We also delve into the structure-function relations that make flavonoids potent antioxidants. This review provides a detailed perspective that can be utilized in future experiments or trials that aim at utilizing flavonoids or verifying their efficacy for developing new pharmacologic agents. We support the argument that flavonoids are attractive candidates for cancer therapy.

Status of the application of exogenous enzyme technology for the development of natural plant resources

Exogenous enzymes are extraneous enzymes that are not intrinsic to the subject. The exogenous enzyme industry has been rapidly developing recently. Successful application of recombinant DNA amplification, high-efficiency expression, and immobilization technology to genetically engineered bacteria provides a rich source of enzymes. Amylase, cellulase, protease, pectinase, glycosidase, tannase, and polyphenol oxidase are among the most widely used such enzymes. Currently, the application of exogenous enzyme technology in the development of natural plant resources mainly focuses on improving the taste and flavor of the product, enriching the active ingredient contents, deriving and transforming the structure of a chosen compound, and enhancing the biological activity and utilization of the functional ingredient. In this review, we discuss the application status of exogenous enzyme technology for the development of natural plant resources using typical natural active ingredients from plant, such as resveratrol, steviosides, catechins, mogrosides, and ginsenosides, as examples, to provide basis for further exploitation and utilization of exogenous enzyme technology.

Enhancement of Antioxidant Activity in O/W Emulsion and Cholesterol-Reducing Capacity of Epigallocatechin by Derivatization with Representative Phytosterols

In this study, derivatization of epigallocatechin (EGC) by representative phytosterols (stigmasterol and β-sitosterol) was performed employing Steglich esterification. The structural identity and purity of epigallocatechin β-sitosterol (ESi) and epigallocatechin stigmasterol (ESt) were confirmed by NMR, FT-IR, and HPLC-MS. Further evaluation of ESi and ESt revealed their extraordinary antioxidant activities in O/W emulsion. Two different radical sources in oil or aqueous phase were applied to explore the antioxidant behavior in O/W emulsion. The mechanism was further investigated by fluorescent microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Furthermore, incorporation of EGC with stigmasterol and β-sitosterol notably enhanced the cholesterol-reducing activity. TEM studies suggested the hydrogen bonding of EGC strengthened the aggregation network of ESi and ESt in the bile salt micelle. The exceptional properties of ESi and ESt signified their intriguing utilization in the food industry.

Novel Catechin-Tiopronin Conjugates Derived from Grape Seed Proanthocyanidin Degradation: Process Optimization, High-Speed Counter-Current Chromatography Preparation, as Well as Antibacterial Activity

Tiopronin, as a novel thiol-containing nucleophile, was introduced for depolymerizing polymeric proanthocyanidins from grape seed into catechins and three new proanthocyanidin-tiopronin degradation products: (+)-catechin-4β-S-tiopronin methyl ester (CT), (-)-epicatechin-4β-S-tiopronin methyl ester (ECT), and (-)-epicatechin gallate-4β-S-tiopronin methyl ester (ECGT). A Box-Behnken design was employed to optimize degradation conditions based on single-factor experiments to obtain target products. Each of the new degradation compounds was isolated by the high-speed counter-current chromatography combined with semipreparative high performance liquid chromatography in large amounts, and then, their structures were identified by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, 2D-NMR, as well as mass spectrometry analysis. The absolute configurations were further confirmed by comparison between the calculated electronic circular dichroism and experimental spectra. Further evaluation of antibacterial activities of these compounds showed that CT and ECT possessed more inhibiting capacity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli than parent compound catechin and epicatechin. However, ECGT has no bacteriostatic capacity against these two bacteria.

Tannase-mediated biotransformation assisted separation and purification of theaflavin and epigallocatechin by high speed counter current chromatography and preparative high performance liquid chromatography: A comparative study

A large scale isolation and purification of theaflavin (TF) and epigallocatechin (EGC) has been successfully developed by tannase-mediated biotransformation combining high-speed countercurrent chromatography. After tannase hydrolysis of a commercially available theaflavins extract (TE), the content of TF and EGC in tannase-mediated biotransformation product (TBP) achieved approximately 3 times enrichment. SEM studies revealed smooth tannase biotransformation and the possibility of recovery of the tannase. A single 1.5 hours' HSCCC separation for TF and EGC employing a two-phase solvent system could simultaneously produce 180.8 mg of 97.3% purity TF and 87.5 mg of 97.3% purity EGC. However, a preparative HPLC separation of maximum injection volume containing 120 mg TBP prepared 11.2 mg TF of 94.9% purity and 7.7 mg EGC of 89.9% purity. HSCCC separation demonstrated significant advantages over Prep HPLC in terms of sample loading size, separation time, environmental friendly solvent systems, and the production.

Ionic Liquid-Based Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction of Forsythosides from the Leaf of Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl and Subsequent Separation and Purification by High-Speed Counter-Current Chromatography

An ionic liquid-based ultrasonic-assisted extraction (ILUAE) method was developed for the extraction of the two forsythosides, namely forsythosides I and A from the leaf of Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl. Three kinds of l-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium ionic liquids with different alkyl chain and anion were investigated. The results indicated that ionic liquids showed remarkable effects on the extraction yields of forsythosides. In addition, several ILUAE ultrasonic parameters, such as the solvent concentration, solvent to solid ratio and extraction time have been optimized. Under these optimal conditions (e.g., with 0.6 M [C6MIM]Br, solvent to solid ratio of 15 mL/g and extraction time of 10 min), this approach gained the highest extraction yields of forsythoside I (0.89%) and forsythoside A (10.74%). Meanwhile, forsythosides in the ILUAE extract were separated and purified successfully through the high-speed counter-current chromatography with a two-phase solvent system consisting of ethyl acetate-ethanol-acetic acid-water (4 : 1 : 0.25 : 6, v/v). 5.4 mg of forsythoside I and 59.7 mg of forsythoside A were obtained from 120 mg of the prepurified sample in one-step separation, with the purity of 96.1 and 97.9%, respectively, as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Their structures were identified by (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and (13)C NMR.

Rapid Separation of Three Proanthocyanidin Dimers from Iris lactea Pall. var. Chinensis (Fisch.) Koidz by High-Speed Counter-Current Chromatography With Continuous Sample Load and Double-Pump Balancing Mode

INTRODUCTION

The dried seeds of Iris lactea have been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Previous studies have been focused on irisquinones while other chemical components are rarely reported.

OBJECTIVE

To establish an efficient high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) separation method with continuous sample load (CSL) and double-pump balancing (DPB) mode to isolate proanthocyanidins from I. lactea.

METHODS

Firstly, an ethyl acetate extract of I. lactea was pre-fractionated by silica column chromatography for the enrichment of proanthocyanidins. Secondly, the enriched proanthocyanidins sample (EPS) was further fractionated by HSCCC with a two-phase solvent system ethyl acetate:n-butanol:water (9:1:10, v/v/v) using DPB mode. The flow rate of the two phases was 2.2 mL/min, the revolution speed was 900 rpm, the separation temperature was 30 °C and the detection wavelength was 280 nm. Finally, the structures of the three isolated proanthocyanidins were elucidated by spectroscopic methods and compared with published data.

RESULTS

Under the optimized conditions, 600 mg of the EPS with six continuous injections (100 mg/time) was fractionated, yielding 57 mg of prodelphinidin B3, 198 mg of procyanidin B3, and 162 mg of procyanidin B1, at purities of 97.2%, 98.1% and 97.3%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The HSCCC separation method with CSL and DPB proved to be rapid, convenient and economical, constituting an efficient strategy for the isolation of proanthocyanidins.

Separation and purification of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) from green tea using combined macroporous resin and polyamide column chromatography

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a major bioactive ingredient of green tea that produces beneficial neuroprotective effects. In this paper, to optimize the EGCG enrichment, thirteen macroporous resins with different chemical and physical properties were systemically evaluated. Among the thirteen tested resins, the H-bond resin HPD826 exhibited best adsorption/desorption capabilities and desorption ratio, as well as weakest affinity for caffeine. The absorption of EGCG on the HPD826 resin followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm model. The separation parameters of EGCG were optimized by dynamic adsorption/desorption experiments with the HPD826 resin column. Under the optimal condition, the content of EGCG in the 30% ethanol eluent increased by 5.8-fold from 7.7% to 44.6%, with the recovery yield of 72.1%. After further purification on a polyamide column, EGCG with 74.8% purity was obtained in the 40-50% ethanol fraction with a recovery rate of 88.4%. In addition, EGCG with 95.1% purity could be easily obtained after one-step crystallization in distilled water. Our study suggests that the combined macroporous resin and polyamide column chromatography is a simple method for large-scale separation and purification of EGCG from natural plants for food and pharmaceutical applications.

Preparative HSCCC isolation of phloroglucinolysis products from grape seed polymeric proanthocyanidins as new powerful antioxidants

Polymeric proanthocyanidins isolated from a grape seed phenolic extract were hydrolysed in the presence of phloroglucinol into monomer catechins and their nucleophile derivatives. Each of the phloroglucinolysis products was successfully separated and isolated in large amount by semi-preparative HSCCC technique under the optimized conditions based on a selection of suitable solvent system. The optimized solvent system consisted of n-hexane-ethyl acetate-water (1:80:80, v/v/v) with a combination of head-tail and tail-head elution modes. By only one-step HSCCC separation, the purity of each obtained phloroglucinolysis product, including monomer catechins and their nucleophile derivatives was above 76%, verified by UPLC. The structures of these products were tentatively identified by UPLC based on their retention time and further confirmed by MS and (1)H NMR analysis. Furthermore, by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays, it was verified that all these phloroglucinolysis products possessed strong antioxidant activities, being catechin-nucleophile derivatives more powerful than free catechins.

Separation and purification of four oligostilbenes from Iris lactea Pall. var. chinensis (Fisch.) Koidz by high-speed counter-current chromatography

A method of using high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) for preparative isolation and purification of oligostilbenes from the ethanol extracts of seed kernel of Iris lactea Pall. var. chinensis (Fisch.) Koidz was established in this study. Four oligostilbenes were successfully separated and purified by HSCCC with two sets of two-phase solvent system, n-hexane-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (3:6:4.2:5.5, v/v/v/v) in the head-to-tail elution mode for the first separation to mainly isolate vitisin A (58 mg), ɛ-viniferin (76 mg) and peak II (43 mg) from 300 mg of the crude ethanol extracts, and then light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (5:5:3:6, v/v/v/v) in the tail-to-head elution mode for the second separation to isolate vitisin B (52 mg) and vitisin C (11 mg) from 100mg of peak II. The purities of the isolated four oligostilbenes were all over 95.0% as determined by HPLC. Vitisin A, vitisin B and vitisin C, resveratrol tetramers, were isolated from Iris lactea for the first time. The preparation of crude sample was simple and the HSCCC method for the isolation and purification of four oligostilbenes was rapid, efficient and economical.