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AbstractThe essential oil from fresh rhizomes of Acorus tatarinowiiSchott was obtained using the EP-SFM method (an enzymatic pretreatment and solvent-free microwave-assisted method) and characterized. The optimal conditions for essential oil extraction have been obtained experimentally through experiments on single-factor and response surface-based optimization. The highest essential oil content (1.48%, w/w) was obtained under the optimal conditions by SEM, TGA, FTIR, GC-MS and acetylcholinesterase inhibition activity analysis in vitroassay. The EP-SFM method was found to be effective in improving the extraction rate of essential oils and reducing extraction time, as indicated by the results. More importantly, this method greatly increased the active component content of β-asarone (65.87%), and the content of β-asarone was increased by 18.06% compared with the conventional steam distillation method (SD). The acetylcholinesterase inhibiting activity of EP-SFM essential oil was evaluated as well, which had the best acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity and was closest to the positive control group.

AbstractA novel beer-spoilage bacterium, Lactobacillus acetotolerans, has frequently been encountered in south China beer breweries, imparting an undesirable and unpalatable “buttery” taste and oily mouthfeel to beer. Understanding the genetic basis of spoilage bacterial adaptability to the beer microenvironment is crucial for the proper control of bacteria such as L. acetotoleransCN247 at an industrial scale. In this study, the complete genome of L. acetotoleransCN247 was sequenced using the PacBio and Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing technologies, and the relationship between genetic and physicochemical properties was analyzed. The genome size of L. acetotoleransCN247 was found to be 1.677 Mb, with a GC content of 37.55%. A total of 1,636 protein-coding genes were predicted, accounting for 88.96% of the genome. The average length of coding sequences was 912 bp. The L. acetotoleransCN247 strain was tolerant to high concentrations of acetic acid (6%) and showed varying degrees of preference for different beer components (i.e., sugars such as maltose, ribose, cellobiose, and mannitol). This strain also had a high tolerance for ethanol (14%) in the beer and was resistant to streptomycin, at a minimum inhibitory concentration of 256 μg/mL. Finally, genes associated with viable but non-culturable (VBNC) bacteria were found in the genome of L. acetotoleransCN247. This is the first study reporting the complete genome sequence of L. acetotoleransas a beer spoilage bacteria. These findings will contribute to the understanding of this bacterium’s life cycle and help in the improvement of industrial contamination prevention practices.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/03610470.2021.1997280 .

High content of citric acid in red raspberry juice leads to poor sensory experience. This study developed a feasible method to degrade citric acid in red raspberry juice using a novel characterized Issatchenkia terricolaWJL-G4 isolated from red raspberry fruits. I. terricolaWJL-G4 exhibited a potent capability of reducing the citric acid contents from (22.8 ± 0.08) g/L to (6.2 ± 0.02) g/L within 36h fermentation, then completely depleted after 48h. Furthermore, the contents of phenolic compound, including neochlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid, raspberry ketone, and rutin significantly increased after 36h fermentation. Fermentation increased total flavonoid contents in red raspberry juice, compared to that in control group. Volatile profiles exhibited to be enriched after fermentation, which contributed to the improvement of the juice taste. Our findings showed that Issatchenkia terricolaWJL-G4 can be applied in deacidification, enrichment of flavonoid compounds and volatile profiles in fermented red raspberry juice.

Salicylic acid (SA), as an endogenous plant growth regulator, plays a crucial role in growth and development of plants. This study investigated the influence of varying concentrations of exogenous SA on the physiological and biochemical properties, antioxidant capacity, carotenoid content, and gene expression levels of germinated maize kernels. The results showed that the highest total phenolic and vitamin C contents were found with 0.10 mmol/L of SA, while the highest soluble protein, free amino acid and proline contents were found with 0.50 mmol/L of SA. The content of lutein and zeaxanthin reached the highest under 0.05 mmol/L of SA treatment, which were 18% and 22% higher than that of the control group, respectively. Meanwhile, the expression of seven key genes involved in carotenoid synthesis exhibited different degrees of up-regulation or down-regulation, which may be the reason for promoting carotenoid enrichment in germinated maize kernels. In addition, the antioxidant enzyme activities and antioxidant capacity in germinated maize kernels reached the highest value under the 0.1 mmol/L of SA treatment. Moreover, the correlation analysis results showed the transcription levels of some carotenogenic genes were significantly correlated with carotenoid content or antioxidant capacity. In summary, exogenous SA increased the content of bioactive components, especially carotenoids, and enhanced the antioxidant activity of germinated maize. Therefore, exogenous SA treatment may be used as an efficient germination method to improve the quality of germinated maize.

Hyperlipidemia is a crucial risk factor in inducing fatty liver, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and cerebrovascular diseases. Currently, functional food has become a research hotspot in the hypolipidemic. Lonicera caeruleais a potential raw material that has various bioactive compounds. This study aimed to investigate the effects of single and compound strains on the fermentation of Lonicera caerulea. Meanwhile, the effect on the hypolipidemic of fermented products was detected. The results showed that L. paracaseiand S. thermophilushad lower metabolic levels in Lonicera caeruleajuice among all six tested strains. Then, the fermented product co-fermented with B. bifidumand L. caseiexhibits the highest lipid-lowering activity compared to other combinations and single strains. The pancreatic lipase inhibition rate and the bile salt binding capacity were higher at 65.39% and 2.93 mg/mL when the compound probiotic was compounded as a ratio of 2:1. And with the extension of fermentation time, the content of flavonoids in the system also increased. In addition, the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and the activities of aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in HepG2 cells were decreased by the treatment of fermented juice. The fermented Lonicera caeruleaplays a positive role in regulating cell lipid metabolism. In conclusion, Fermentation is a feasible way to develop Lonicera caerulearesources. And the fermentation of complex lactic acid bacteria is a promising processing to enhance the lipid-lowering activity of Lonicera caerulea.

In China, Mori Follum, Portulaca oleraceaL., and Lycium barbarumL. are traditional Chinese medicine and food used in treating osteoporosis. However, the active compounds, targets, and specific molecular mechanisms of the triangular herb composed of "Mori Follum, Portulaca oleracea L., and Lycium barbarum L." (MPL) have not been fully elucidated. In this study, the chemical components of MPL were first identified by LC-MS. Next, network pharmacology was used to identify the core targets and key pathways of MPL in anti-osteoporosis. And molecular docking simulations were conducted. The prediction results were validated by in vitroexperiments using MC3T3-E1 cells. This study screened 22 active compounds from MPL, with a total of 59 targets involved in the treatment of osteoporosis. IL6, TNF, PTGS2, AKT1, ESR1, TP53, HIF1A, PPARG, PRKACA are core targets, and PI3K/AKT is a key pathway. Molecular docking showed that Wongnin, Hirsutine, and Cryptotanshinone strongly bind with AKT1 and ESR1. MPL could promoted MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation and differentiation and regulated the expression of key proteins in the PI3K/AKT/Runx2 signaling pathway. Further, MPL was used as a prebiotic-assisted fermentation to obtain functional yogurt with osteogenic activity. Moreover, MPL1 could improve the fermentation rate, exhibiting better ideal physicochemical properties and sensory quality of yogurt. This study provides a foundation for developing MPL as an anti-osteoporosis functional food.

Six typical Chinese maize varieties (Hetian4, Zhengdan958, Yinongyu10, Demeiya1, Dahua1146, Suyu29) have been investigated for carotenoid content, total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant enzyme activity, and antioxidant capacity during germination. Results showed that the content of the main phytochemicals in germinated maize was higher than that in raw seeds. Hetian4 had the highest total carotenoid content, Zhengdan958 had the highest TPC, and Dahua1146 had the weakest antioxidant capacity after 3-d germination. Zhengdan958 had the highest transcript levels of ZmPSYand ZmLCYEon the 3-day of maize germination. In addition, correlation analysis revealed that the scavenging of oxygen free radical capacity of germinated maize depends on the accumulation of carotenoids, TPC, and antioxidant enzymes. Moreover, the key genes in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway are closely related to different accumulation of carotenoids. Principal component analysis underlined the effect of the germination, the antioxidant activity, and the carotenoid on the nutritional properties of maize.