Analysis of metabolomic profile of fermented Orostachys japonicus A. Berger by capillary electrophoresis time of flight mass spectrometry

PLoS One. 2017 Jul 13;12(7):e0181280. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181280. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Microbial cell performance in food biotechnological processes has become an important concern for improving human health worldwide. Lactobacillus plantarum, which is widely distributed in nature, is a lactic acid bacterium with many industrial applications for fermented foods or functional foods (e.g., probiotics). In the present study, using capillary electrophoresis time of flight mass spectrometry, the metabolomic profile of dried Orostachys japonicus A. Berger, a perennial medicinal herb with L. plantarum was compared with that of O. japonicus fermented with L. plantarum to elucidate the metabolomic changes induced by the fermentation process. The levels of several metabolites were changed by the fermentation process, indicating their involvement in microbial performance. For example, glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, the TCA cycle, the urea cycle-related metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, and lipid and amino acid metabolism were altered significantly by the fermentation process. Although the fermented metabolites were not tested using in vivo studies to increase human health benefits, our findings provide an insight into the alteration of metabolites induced by fermentation, and indicated that the metabolomic analysis for the process should be accompanied by fermenting strains and conditions.

MeSH terms

  • Crassulaceae / chemistry*
  • Crassulaceae / metabolism
  • Crassulaceae / microbiology
  • Electrophoresis, Capillary
  • Fermentation
  • Food Microbiology / methods*
  • Humans
  • Lactic Acid / metabolism
  • Lactobacillus plantarum / physiology
  • Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Metabolome*
  • Metabolomics / methods
  • Plants, Medicinal / chemistry*
  • Plants, Medicinal / metabolism
  • Plants, Medicinal / microbiology
  • Probiotics / chemistry
  • Probiotics / metabolism

Substances

  • Lactic Acid

Grants and funding

This research was conducted under the industrial infrastructure program for fundamental technologies (N0000885), which was funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE, Korea). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.