The structure and function of phenoyl oligosaccharides in baijiu distillers' grains (BDGs) have not been identified and investigated yet. This study aimed to elucidate the major phenolic oligosaccharides present in BDGs, optimize their extraction process via a central composite design, and assess their anti-inflammatory properties utilizing the LPS-induced RAW264.7 inflammation model. The main results are as follows: feruloylated oligosaccharides (FOs) were identified as the main phenoyl oligosaccharides in BDGs with a structure of ferulic acid esterified on arabinooligosaccharide xylose. Then, the preparation process of FOs was optimized using the following conditions: pH 5, temperature 55 °C, time 12 h, xylanase addition amount 7 g/L, BDG concentration 120 g/L. Furthermore, the acquired FOs demonstrated notable scavenging activity against DPPH and ABTS free radicals, with Trolox equivalent values of 366.8 ± 10.38 and 0.35 ± 0.01 mM Trolox/mg sample, respectively. However, their efficacy was comparatively lower than that of ferulic acid. Finally, the obtained FOs could effectively inhibit the LPS-induced secretion of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β and promote the secretion of IL-10 in RAW264.7 cells. Based on the above results, FOs from BDGs were determined to have certain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.
Keywords: anti-inflammatory; antioxidant; extraction; feruloylated oligosaccharides; structure.