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Abstract Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) is widely used in several functional foods at present. Ginsenosides, is the most crucial bioactive constituents in ginseng whose antitumor activity have been widely reported. In this study, the effect of ginseng glucosyl oleanolate (GGO) produced from ginsenoside Ro through enzymatic transformation, on cervical cancer was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. GGO significantly inhibited the viability and colony forming ability of HeLa cells, and blocked the cell cycle in G0/G1 phase, which showed its ability to inhibit the proliferation of HeLa cells. GGO exhibited anti-angiogenesis effect in HUVECs, chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) and Matrigel plugs model. These effects were related to interference with the paracrine axis of VEGF/VEGFR2 and blockage of the downstream PI3K/AKT/HIF-1α signaling pathway of the autocrine axis. The dual inhibitory effects of GGO were also exhibited in immunocompromised mice undergoing heterograft and suppressed tumor growth without any side effects. These findings provide a theoretical basis for further development of GGO as a functional food with anti-tumor properties.

Trehalose (TRE) was used to improve the gastrointestinal tolerance of Lactobacillus plantarum embedded with whey protein concentrate/pullulan (WPC/PUL) hydrogel and the embedded L. plantarum was applied to juice. The study indicated that 5% TRE significantly increased the viable counts of L. plantarum embedded in WPC/PUL hydrogel from (8.83 ± 0.03) to (9.14 ± 0.04) (lg (CFU/g)) in simulated gastric juice (SGJ) and from (9.13 ± 0.04) to (9.38 ± 0.04) (lg (CFU/g)) in simulated intestinal juice, respectively. The addition of TRE improved the glass transition temperature of WPC/PUL hydrogel and decreased the hardness and its solubility in SGJ, which may be responsible for the improved protection of WPC/PUL hydrogels on L. plantarum. In addition, TRE increased the viable counts of L. plantarum in WPC/PUL probiotic microcapsule juice at low pH and high temperature during storage.

Abstract Immune disorders have become one of the public health problems and imposes a serious economic and social burden worldwide. Ginsenosides, the main active constituents of ginseng, are regarded as a novel supplementary strategy for preventing and improving immune disorders and related diseases. This review summarized the recent research progress of ginsenosides in immunomodulation and proposed future directions to promote the development and application of ginsenosides. After critically reviewing the immunomodulatory potential of ginsenosides both in vitro and in vivo and even in clinical data of humans, we provided a perspective that ginsenosides regulated the immune system through activation of immune cells, cytokines, and signaling pathways such as MAPK, PI3K/Akt, STAT, and AMPK, as well as positively affected immune organs, gut flora structure, and systemic inflammatory responses. However, the evidence for the safety and efficacy of ginsenosides is insufficient, and the immune pathways of ginsenosides remain incompletely characterized. We believe that this review will provide a valuable reference for further research on ginsenosides as dietary supplements with immunomodulatory effects.

This study evaluated the effect of heat treatment on the conversion of ginsenoside and the ameliorative effect of heat-treated total ginsenoside (HG) from fresh ginseng on cyclophosphamide (CTX)-induced liver injury. LC-MS analysis revealed that the content of rare ginsenosides increased markedly after heat treatment. HG significantly attenuated CTX-induced hepatic histopathological injury in mice. Western blotting analysis showed that untreated total ginsenoside (UG) and HG regulated the Nrf2/HO-1 and TLR4/MAPK pathways. Importantly, these results may be relevant to the modulation of the intestinal flora. UG and HG significantly increased the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)-producing bacteria Lactobacillus and reduced the LPS-producing bacteria Bacteroides and Parabacteroides. These changes in intestinal flora affected the levels of TNF-α, LPS and SCFAs. In short, UG and HG alleviated CTX-induced liver injury by regulating the intestinal flora and the LPS-TLR4-MAPK pathway, and HG was more effective. HG has the potential to be a functional food that can alleviate chemical liver injury.

Ginseng is an important food and medicine homologous plant, which has various physiological functions of antitumor, antiinflammatory, antifatigue and improving immunity. Ginsenosides are the most important active components in ginseng, in vivo and in vitro experiments have confirmed that ginsenosides have significant antitumor activity, among which ginsenoside Rg3 has been used as a monomer drug for adjuvant therapy of tumor patients. Studies have shown that the anti-tumor activity of ginsenosides is achieved through different pathways, including inhibiting tumor cell proliferation, inducing tumor cell apoptosis, inhibiting tumor cell invasion and metastasis, blocking tumor angiogenesis, enhancing organism immune system, and resisting oxidation stress, and synergizing with chemotherapy drugs. This article reviews the antitumor action pathways of ginsenosides, provides a theoretical basis for the development of ginseng antitumor functional foods.

Terpenoids such as ginsenosides are the most important phytochemicals and functional components in ginseng. Commercial sterilizing with high temperature and high pressure is also one of the common methods of ginseng food processing. However, the changes of terpenoids in fresh ginsengs commercially sterilized are unclear. In this study, fresh ginseng pulp (FGP) was commercially sterilized at 121℃ for 30 min, and terpenoid compounds were analyzed by widely targeted metabolomics based on UPLC-ESI-MS/MS system. The commercial sterilization induced the changes of 88 terpenoid compounds including 30 types of ginsenosides, and many minor ginsenoside Rh4, Rg6, Rk2, F4, Rs3, Rk3, Rk1, Rg5, Rg3, Rg4 were remarkably increased in fresh ginseng pulp. Importantly, the ginsenoside ST3 was detected and F4, Rg3, and Rg5 were also found in fresh ginseng pulp. Commercial sterilizing at 121℃ for 30 min will remarkably affect the species and number of ginsenosides in ginseng food.