NMR-based metabolomics approach on optimization of malolactic fermentation of sea buckthorn juice with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum

Exploiting tropical fruit processing coproducts as circular resources to promote the growth and maintain the culturability and functionality of probiotic lactobacilli

This study evaluated the use of acerola (Malpighia glabra L., CACE), cashew (Anacardium occidentale L., CCAS), and guava (Psidium guayaba L., CGUA) fruit processing coproducts as substrates to promote the growth, metabolite production, and maintenance of the viability/metabolic activity of the probiotics Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-05 and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei L-10 during cultivation, freeze-drying, storage, and exposure to simulated gastrointestinal digestion. Probiotic lactobacilli presented high viable counts (≥8.8 log colony-forming units (CFU)/mL) and a short lag phase during 24 h of cultivation in CACE, CCAS, and CGUA. Cultivation of probiotic lactobacilli in fruit coproducts promoted sugar consumption, medium acidification, and production of organic acids over time, besides increasing the of several phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity. Probiotic lactobacilli cultivated in fruit coproducts had increased survival percentages after freeze-drying and during 120 days of refrigerated storage. Moreover, probiotic lactobacilli cultivated and freeze-dried in fruit coproducts had larger subpopulations of live and metabolically active cells when exposed to simulated gastrointestinal digestion. The results showed that fruit coproducts not only improved the growth and helped to maintain the viability and metabolic activity of probiotic strains but also enriched the final fermented products with bioactive compounds, being an innovative circular strategy for producing high-quality probiotic cultures.

Optimization of α-L-arabinofuranosidase CcABF on clarification and beneficial active substances in fermented ginkgo kernel juice by artificial neural network and genetic algorithm

This study aimed at using α-L-arabinofuranosidase CcABF to improve the clarity and active substances in fermented ginkgo kernel juice by artificial neural network (ANN) modeling and genetic algorithm (GA) optimization. A credible three-layer feedforward ANN model was established to predict the optimal parameters for CcABF clarification. The experiments proved the highest transmittance of 89.40% for fermented ginkgo kernel juice with this understanding, which exhibited a 25.56% increase over the unclarified group. With the clarification of CcABF, the antioxidant capacity in juice was enhanced with the increase of total phenolic and flavone contents, and the maximum DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging rates were increased by 89.71% and 26.65%, respectively. The contents of toxic ginkgolic acids declined markedly, while the active ingredients of ginkgetin and ginkgolide B showed a modest increase. Moreover, changes in free amino acids and volatile compounds improved the nutritive value and flavor of clarified fermented ginkgo kernel juice.

Probiotic-fermented edible herbs as functional foods: A review of current status, challenges, and strategies

Recently, consumers have become increasingly interested in natural, health-promoting, and chronic disease-preventing medicine and food homology (MFH). There has been accumulating evidence that many herbal medicines, including MFH, are biologically active due to their biotransformation through the intestinal microbiota. The emphasis of scientific investigation has moved from the functionally active role of MFH to the more subtle role of biotransformation of the active ingredients in probiotic-fermented MFH and their health benefits. This review provides an overview of the current status of research on probiotic-fermented MFH. Probiotics degrade toxins and anti-nutritional factors in MFH, improve the flavor of MFH, and increase its bioactive components through their transformative effects. Moreover, MFH can provide a material base for the growth of probiotics and promote the production of their metabolites. In addition, the health benefits of probiotic-fermented MFH in recent years, including antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-neurodegenerative, skin-protective, and gut microbiome-modulating effects, are summarized, and the health risks associated with them are also described. Finally, the future development of probiotic-fermented MFH is prospected in combination with modern development technologies, such as high-throughput screening technology, synthetic biology technology, and database construction technology. Overall, probiotic-fermented MFH has the potential to be used in functional food for preventing and improving people's health. In the future, personalized functional foods can be expected based on synthetic biology technology and a database on the functional role of probiotic-fermented MFH.

Effects of Probiotic Lactiplantibacillus plantarum HJLP-1 on Growth Performance, Selected Antioxidant Capacity, Immune Function Indices in the Serum, and Cecal Microbiota in Broiler Chicken

This research study aimed to investigate the effects of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) on growth performance, oxidation resistance, immunity, and cecal microbiota in broilers. This work classed three hundred and sixty 1-day-old male broilers into three groups randomly, including a control group (CON, basal diet) and antibiotic (ANT, 75 mg kg-1 chlortetracycline added into basal diet) and probiotic groups (LP, 5 × 108 CFU kg-1Lactiplantibacillus plantarum HJLP-1 contained within basal diet). Animals were then fed for 42 days, and each group comprised eight replicates with 15 broilers. Compared with CON, L. plantarum supplementation significantly improved the average daily weight gain (AWDG) (p < 0.05) while reducing the feed-gain ratio over the entire supplemental period (p < 0.05). Birds fed L. plantarum had markedly lower serum ammonia and xanthine oxidase levels (p < 0.05) than those in the ANT and CON groups. Significant improvements (p < 0.05) in superoxide dismutase, catalase, and serum IgM and IgY contents in broilers fed L. plantarum were also observed when compared with those in the CON and ANT groups. Both L. plantarum and antibiotics decreased pro-inflammatory factor IL-1β levels significantly (p < 0.05), while only L. plantarum promoted anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 levels in the serum (p < 0.05) compared with CON. L. plantarum (p < 0.05) increased acetic acid and butyric acid concentrations in cecal contents when compared to those in CON and ANT. Among the differences revealed via 16S rRNA analysis, L. plantarum markedly improved the community richness of the cecal microbiota. At the genus level, the butyric acid-producing bacteria Ruminococcus and Lachnospiraceae were found in higher relative abundance in samples of L. plantarum-treated birds. In conclusion, dietary L. plantarum supplementation promoted the growth and health of broilers, likely by inducing a shift in broiler gut microbiota toward short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria. Therefore, L. plantarum has potential as an alternative to antibiotics in poultry breeding.

The Systematics, Reproductive Biology, Biochemistry, and Breeding of Sea Buckthorn-A Review

Both the fruit flesh and seeds of sea buckthorn have multiple uses for medicinal and culinary purposes, including the valuable market for supplementary health foods. Bioactive compounds, such as essential amino acids, vitamins B, C, and E, carotenoids, polyphenols, ursolic acid, unsaturated fatty acids, and other active substances, are now being analyzed in detail for their medicinal properties. Domestication with commercial orchards and processing plants is undertaken in many countries, but there is a large need for improved plant material with high yield, tolerance to environmental stress, diseases, and pests, suitability for efficient harvesting methods, and high contents of compounds that have medicinal and/or culinary values. Applied breeding is based mainly on directed crosses between different subspecies of Hippophae rhamnoides. DNA markers have been applied to analyses of systematics and population genetics as well as for the discrimination of cultivars, but very few DNA markers have as yet been developed for use in selection and breeding. Several key genes in important metabolic pathways have, however, been identified, and four genomes have recently been sequenced.

Exploring the effects of the fermentation method on the quality of Lycium barbarum and Polygonatum cyrtonema compound wine based on LC-MS metabolomics

This study aimed to examine the effect of fermentation methods on the quality of Lycium barbarum and Polygonatum cyrtonema compound wine (LPW) by combining non-targeted metabolomic approaches with chemometrics and path profiling to determine the chemical and metabolic properties of LPW. The results demonstrated that SRA had higher leaching rates of total phenols and flavonoids, reaching 4.20 ± 0.10 v/v ethanol concentration. According to LC-MS non-targeting genomics, the metabolic profiles of LPW prepared by different mixtures of fermentation methods (Saccharomyces cerevisiae RW; Debaryomyces hansenii AS2.45) of yeast differed significantly. Amino acids, phenylpropanoids, flavonols, etc., were identified as the differential metabolites between different comparison groups. The pathways of tyrosine metabolism, biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids, and metabolism of 2-oxocarboxylic acids enriched 17 distinct metabolites. SRA stimulated the production of tyrosine and imparted a distinctive saucy aroma to the wine samples, providing a novel research concept for the microbial fermentation-based production of tyrosine.

NMR-Based Metabolomic Study on Phaseolus vulgaris Flour Fermented by Lactic Acid Bacteria and Yeasts

In recent years, fermented foods have attracted increasing attention due to their important role in the human diet, since they supply beneficial health effects, providing important sources of nutrients. In this respect, a comprehensive characterization of the metabolite content in fermented foods is required to achieve a complete vision of physiological, microbiological, and functional traits. In the present preliminary study, the NMR-based metabolomic approach combined with chemometrics has been applied, for the first time, to investigate the metabolite content of Phaseolus vulgaris flour fermented by different lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeasts. A differentiation of microorganisms (LAB and yeasts), LAB metabolism (homo- and heterofermentative hexose fermentation), LAB genus (Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and Pediococcus), and novel genera (Lacticaseibacillus, Lactiplantibacillus, and Lentilactobacillus) was achieved. Moreover, our findings showed an increase of free amino acids and bioactive molecules, such as GABA, and a degradation of anti-nutritional compounds, such as raffinose and stachyose, confirming the beneficial effects of fermentation processes and the potential use of fermented flours in the production of healthy baking foods. Finally, among all microorganisms considered, the Lactiplantibacillus plantarum species was found to be the most effective in fermenting bean flour, as a larger amount of free amino acids were assessed in their analysis, denoting more intensive proteolytic activity.

A novel approach to Lactiplantibacillus plantarum: From probiotic properties to the omics insights

Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (previously known as Lactobacillus plantarum) strains are one of the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) commonly used in fermentation and their probiotic and functional properties along with their health-promoting roles come to the fore. Food-derived L. plantarum strains have shown good resistance and adhesion in the gastrointestinal tract (GI) and excellent antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Furthermore, many strains of L. plantarum can produce bacteriocins with interesting antimicrobial activity. This probiotic properties of L. plantarum and existing in different niches give a great potential to have beneficial effects on health. It is also has been shown that L. plantarum can regulate the intestinal microbiota composition in a good way. Recently, omics approaches such as metabolomics, secretomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and genomics try to understand the roles and mechanisms of L. plantarum that are related to its functional characteristics. This review provides an overview of the probiotic properties, including the specific interactions between microbiota and host, and omics insights of L. plantarum.

Optimization of strains for fermentation of kiwifruit juice and effects of mono- and mixed culture fermentation on its sensory and aroma profiles

In this study, a quality evaluation model of fermented kiwifruit juice (KJ) based on strain growth characteristics, sensory quality and functional characteristics was established by PCA, and the effects of mono- and mixed culture fermentation on the sensory and aroma profiles of KJ were comparatively studied. Experiments determined that L. brevis (LB) was the optimal strain for monoculture fermentation, and L. plantarum (LP2):LB = 1:2 was the optimum ratio for mixed fermentation. The results showed that lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation significantly reduced the pH, soluble solid content and lightness, and improved its functional characteristics and viscosity. Mixed culture fermentation was superior to monoculture fermentation in terms of colony counts, sensory quality and viscosity. In general, after LAB fermentation, the concentrations of esters, ketones, alcohols and terpenoids in KJ increased significantly, while the concentrations of aldehydes decreased significantly. The production of esters and terpenoids was more strongly promoted by monoculture fermentation, while mixed culture fermentation promoted the production of more ketones and alcohols. 2,5-octanedione and 1-octen-3-ol could be the characteristic aroma compounds of mixed fermented KJ.

Application progress of intelligent flavor sensing system in the production process of fermented foods based on the flavor properties

Fermented foods are sensitive to the production conditions because of microbial and enzymatic activities, which requires intelligent flavor sensing system (IFSS) to monitor and optimize the production process based on the flavor properties. As the simulation system of human olfaction and gustation, IFSS has been widely used in the field of food with the characteristics of nondestructive, pollution-free, and real-time detection. This paper reviews the application of IFSS in the control of fermentation, ripening, and shelf life, and the potential in the identification of quality differences and flavor-producing microbes in fermented foods. The survey found that electronic nose (tongue) is suitable to monitor fermentation process and identify food authenticity in real time based on the changes of flavor profile. Gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance technology can be used to analyze the flavor metabolism of fermented foods at various production stages and explore the correlation between flavor substances and microorganisms.

Effect of Coix Seed Extracts on Growth and Metabolism of Limosilactobacillus reuteri

Coix seed (Coix lachryma-jobi L.) is an important nourishing food and traditional Chinese medicine. The role of their bioactive constituents in physiology and pharmacology has received considerable scientific attention. However, very little is known about the role of coix seed bioactive components in the growth of Limosilactobacillus reuteri (L. reuteri). This study aimed to evaluate the effects of coix seed extract (CSE) on the growth, acidifying activity, and metabolism of L. reuteri. The results showed that CSE can increase the growth and acidifying activity of L. reuteri compared with the control group. During the stationary phase, the viable bacteria in the medium supplemented with coix seed oil (CSO, 13.72 Log₁₀ CFU/mL), coix polysaccharide (CPO, 12.24 Log₁₀ CFU/mL), and coix protein (CPR, 11.91 Log₁₀ CFU/mL) were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the control group (MRS, 9.16 Log₁₀ CFU/mL). CSE also enhanced the biosynthesis of lactic acid and acetic acid of L. reuteri. Untargeted metabolomics results indicated that the carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and nucleotide metabolism activities of L. reuteri were increased after adding CSE. Furthermore, CSE increased the accumulation of bioactive metabolites, such as phenyl lactic acid, vitamins, and biotin. Overall, CSE may have prebiotic potential and can be used to culture L. reuteri with high viable bacteria.