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Plant extracts including secondary metabolites have anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity activities. This study was conducted to investigate the anti-obesity properties of fermented Artemisia annua (AW) and Salicornia herbacea (GW) in vitro and in mice. The metabolite profiling of AW and GW extracts was performed using UHPLC−LTQ−Orbitrap–MS/MS, and gene expression was analyzed using real-time PCR for adipocyte difference factors. The anti-obesity effects in mice were measured using serum AST, ALT, glucose, TG, and cholesterol levels. Metabolites of the plant extracts after fermentation showed distinct differences with increasing anti-obesity active substances. The efficacy of inhibitory differentiation adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 adipocytes was better for GW than AW in a concentration-dependent manner. RT-PCR showed that the GW extract significantly reduced the expression of genes involved in adipocyte differentiation and fat accumulation (C/EBPα, PPARγ, and Fas). In C57BL/6 mice fed the HFD, the group supplemented with AW and GW showed reduced liver weight, NAS value, and fatty liver by suppressing liver fat accumulation. The GW group significantly reduced ALT, blood glucose, TG, total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol. This study displayed significant metabolite changes through biotransformation in vitro and the increasing anti-obesity effects of GW and AW in mice. GW may be applicable as functional additives for the prevention and treatment of obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) alters metabolism during the gastric carcinogenesis process. This study aimed to determine the metabolites in the gastric mucosa according to the status of the H. pylori infection. Patients who visited the outpatient clinic for a gastroscopy and H. pylori tests were included. Gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) analysis was performed using gastric biopsied specimens from the corpus. Twenty-eight discriminative metabolites were found in the gastric mucosa of 10 patients with current H. pylori infection, in 15 with past infection, and in five with no infection history. The relative abundances (RAs) of amino acids and sugars/sugar alcohols were higher in patients with no infection history than in patients with current or past infection. The current infection group showed higher RAs of organic acids and lower RAs of fatty acids and lipids compared with the other groups. The RA of inosine was highest in the past infection group. Based on GC-TOF-MS analysis findings, metabolites differed not only between the infected and non-infected patients, but also between those with and without infection history. Amino acid and sugars/sugar alcohol metabolites decreased in patients with current or past infection, whereas fatty acid and lipid metabolites decreased only during current infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apoptosis has been suggested as the first step in the process of conversion of muscle into meat. While a potential role of apoptosis in postmortem proteolysis has been proposed, the underlying mechanisms by which metabolome changes in muscles would influence apoptotic and proteolytic process, leading to meat quality variation, has not been determined. Here, apoptotic and proteolytic attributes and metabolomics profiling of longissimus dorsi (LD) and psoas major (PM) muscles in pigs from two different production cycles (July–Jan vs. Apr–Sep) were evaluated. PM showed higher mitochondrial membrane permeability (MMP), concurrent with less extent of calpain-1 autolysis and troponin T degradation and higher abundance of HSP27 and αβ-crystallin compared to LD (P < 0.05). Apr–Sep muscles showed concurrence of extended apoptosis (indicated by higher MMP), calpain-1 autolysis and troponin T degradation, regardless of muscle effects (P < 0.05). Metabolomics profiling showed Apr–Sep muscles to increase in oxidative stress-related macronutrients, including 6-carbon sugars, some branched-chain AA, and free fatty acids. Antioxidant AA (His and Asp) and ascorbic acid were higher in July–Jan (P < 0.05). The results of the present study suggest that early postmortem apoptosis might be positively associated with pro-oxidant macronutrients and negatively associated with antioxidant metabolites, consequently affecting meat quality attributes in a muscle-specific manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In fungi, contactless interactions are mediated via the exchange of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). As these pair-wise interactions are fundamental to complex ecosystem, we examined the effects of inter-species VOCs trade-offs in Aspergillus flavus development. First, we exposed A. flavus to the A. oryzae volatilome (Treatment-1) with highest relative abundance of 1-Octen-3-ol (~ 4.53 folds) among the C-8 VOCs. Further, we examined the effects of gradient titers of 1-Octen-3-ol (Treatment-2: 100–400 ppm/day) in a range that elicits natural interactions. On 7-day, VOC-treated A. flavus displayed significantly reduced growth and sclerotial counts (p < 0.01) coupled with higher conidial density (T2100-200 ppm/day, p < 0.01) and α-amylase secretion (T2200 ppm/day, p < 0.01), compared to the untreated sets. Similar phenotypic trends except for α-amylases were evident for 9-day incubated A. flavus in T2. The corresponding metabolomics data displayed a clustered pattern of secondary metabolite profiles for VOC-treated A. flavus (PC1-18.03%; PC2-10.67%). Notably, a higher relative abundance of aflatoxin B1 with lower levels of most anthraquinones, indole-terpenoids, and oxylipins was evident in VOC-treated A. flavus. The observed correlations among the VOC-treatments, phenotypes, and altered metabolomes altogether suggest that the distant exposure to the gradient titers of 1-Octen-3-ol elicits an attenuated developmental response in A. flavus characterized by heightened virulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stochasticity of Aspergillus oryzae (Trivially: the koji mold) pan-metabolomes commensurate with its ubiquitously distributed landscapes, i.e. growth matrices have been seemed uncharted since its food fermentative systems are mostly being investigated. In this review, we explicitly have discussed the likely tendencies of A. oryzae metabolomes pertaining to its growth milieu formulated with substrate matrices of varying nature, composition, texture, and associated physicochemical parameters. We envisaged typical food matrices, namely, meju, koji, and moromi as the semi-natural cultivation models toward delineating the metabolomic patterns of the koji mold, which synergistically influences the organoleptic and functional properties of the end products. Further, we highlighted how tailored conditions in sub-natural growth matrices, i.e. synthetic cultivation media blends, inducers, and growth surfaces, may influence A. oryzae metabolomes and targeted phenotypes. In general, the sequential or synchronous growth of A. oryzae on formulated matrices results in a number of metabolic tradeoffs with its immediate microenvironment influencing its adaptive and regulatory metabolomes. In broader context, evaluating the metabolic plasticity of A. oryzae relative to the tractable variables in formulated growth matrices might help approximate its growth and metabolism in the more complex natural matrices and environs. These approaches may considerably help in the design and manipulation of hybrid cultivation systems towards the efficient harnessing of commercial molds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Streptomyces is the best-known source of therapeutic secondary metabolites, especially antibiotics with pharmaceutical applications. Here, we performed a comparative study based on the time-resolved metabolic disparity in S. coelicolor A3(2) subjected to fermentative cultivation in two different types of media (R2YE and RSM3) in order to investigate secondary metabolite production pathways. The relative abundance of secondary metabolites, such as prodiginines, indoles, germicidins, and selected diketopiperazines, was increased in S. coelicolor A3(2) cultivated in R2YE medium compared to that in RSM3 medium, variably at the late-log and stationary phases of fermentative growth. Correlation analysis indicated that “antibiotic prodiginines” contributed maximally to the absorption maxima (A530) of culture supernatants, indicating their optimal production at 96 hours in R2YE medium. A higher abundance of -proline (48–72 hours) followed by prodiginines (96 hours) was evident, substantiating the intertwined links between precursor and activated prodiginines pathway. Similarly, the higher abundance of indoles was concurrent with tryptophan levels in the shikimate pathway, whereas diketopiperazines were synchronously abundant along with the levels of phenylalanine, leucine, and proline. Additionally, acetyl-CoA induced the acetate pathway, resulting in the production of germicidins. Thus, our results demonstrate that S. coelicolor A3(2) produces specific secondary metabolites by enhancing the dedicated metabolic pathway responsible for their production. In conclusion, our results from this study provide insight into the metabolic pathways of S. coelicolor A3(2), and can be applied to further optimize the production of prodiginines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants are an important and inexhaustible source of bioactive molecules in food, medicine, agriculture, and industry. In this study, we performed systematic liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based metabolic profiling coupled with antioxidant assays for indigenous plant family extracts. Partial least-squares discriminant analysis of LC-MS datasets for the extracts of 34 plant species belonging to the families Aceraceae, Asteraceae, and Rosaceae showed that these species were clustered according to their respective phylogenies. In particular, seven Aceraceae species were clearly demarcated with higher average antioxidant activities, rationalizing their application for bioconversion studies. On the basis of further evaluation of the interspecies variability of metabolic profiles and antioxidant activities among Aceraceae family plants, we found that Acer tataricum (TA) extracts were clearly distinguished from those of other species, with a higher relative abundance of tannin derivatives. Further, we detected a strong positive correlation between most tannin derivatives and the observed higher antioxidant activities. Following Aspergillus oryzae-mediated fermentative bioconversion of Acer plant extracts, we observed a time-correlated (0–8 days) linear increase in antioxidant phenotypes for all species, with TA having the highest activity. Temporal analysis of the MS data revealed tannin bioconversion mechanisms with a relatively higher abundance of gallic acid (m/z 169) accumulated at the end of 8 days, particularly in TA. Similarly, quercetin precursor (glycoside) metabolites were also transformed to quercetin aglycones (m/z 301) in most Acer plant extracts. The present study underscores the efficacy of fermentative bioconversion strategies aimed at enhancing the quality and availability of bioactive metabolites from plant extracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attenuating effects of green tea supplements (GTS) against the ultraviolet (UV) radiation induced skin damages are distinguished. However, the concomitant effects of GTS on the large intestinal microbiomes and associated metabolomes are largely unclear. Herein, we performed an integrated microbiome-metabolome analysis to uncover the esoteric links between gut microbiome and exo/endogenous metabolome maneuvered in the large intestine of UVB-exposed mice subjected to dietary GTS. In UVB-exposed mice groups (UVB), class Bacilli and order Bifidobacteriales were observed as discriminant taxa with decreased lysophospholipid levels compared to the unexposed mice groups subjected to normal diet (NOR). Conversely, in GTS fed UVB-exposed mice (U+GTS), the gut-microbiome diversity was greatly enhanced with enrichment in the classes, Clostridia and Erysipelotrichia, as well as genera, Allobaculum and Lachnoclostridium. Additionally, the gut endogenous metabolomes changed with an increase in amino acids, fatty acids, lipids, and bile acids contents coupled with a decrease in nucleobases and carbohydrate levels. The altered metabolomes exhibited high correlations with GTS enriched intestinal microflora. Intriguingly, the various conjugates of green tea catechins viz., sulfated, glucuronided, and methylated ones including their exogenous derivatives were detected from large intestinal contents and liver samples. Hence, we conjecture that the metabolic conversions for the molecular components in GTS strongly influenced the gut micro-environment in UVB-exposed mice groups, ergo modulate their gut-microbiome as well as exo/endogenous metabolomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Penicillium spp. are known to harbor a wide array of secondary metabolites with cryptic bioactivities. However, the metabolomics of these species is not well-understood in terms of different fermentation models and conditions. The present study involved metabolomics profiling and transcriptomic analysis of Penicillium expansum 40815 under solid-state fermentation (SSF) and submerged fermentation (SmF). Metabolite profiling was carried out using ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry with multivariate analysis, followed by transcriptomic analyses of differentially expressed genes. In principal component analysis, the metabolite profiling data was studied under different experimental sets, including SSF and SmF. The significantly different metabolites such as polyketide metabolites (agonodepside B, rotiorin, verrucosidin, and ochrephilone) and corresponding gene transcripts (polyketide synthase, aromatic prenyltransferase, and terpenoid synthase) were primarily detected under SmF conditions. In contrast, the meroterpenoid compounds (andrastin A and C) and their genes transcripts were exclusively detected under SSF conditions. We demonstrated that the metabolite production and its corresponding gene expression levels in P. expansum 40815 were significantly influenced by the varying growth parameters and the immediate environment. This study further provides a foundation to produce specific metabolites by regulating fermentation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used ultra-performance-liquid-chromatography with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry to study the changes in metabolites in the mixture of Cudrania tricuspidata, Lonicera caerulea, and soybean (CLM) during fermentation. Additionally, the antiobesity effects of CLM and fermented-CLM (FCLM) were studied based on the analysis of plasma from high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. The levels of cyanidin and the glycosides of luteolin, quercetin, and cyanidin derived from L. caerulea were decreased, whereas the levels of luteolin and quercetin were increased during fermentation. Isoflavone glycosides and soyasaponins originating from the soybean were decreased, whereas their aglycones such as daidzein, glycitein, and genistein were increased. As for prenylated flavonoids from C. tricuspidata, these metabolites were decreased at the early stage of fermentation, and were increased at end of the fermentation. In terms of the functional food product, various metabolites derived from diverse natural products in CLM had complementary effects and demonstrated higher antioxidant and pancreatic lipase inhibition activities after fermentation; these activities were closely related to flavonoid aglycones including genistein, daidzein, glycitein, luteolin, and quercetin. In an in vivo experiment, several clinical parameters affected by HFD were improved by the administration of either CLM or FCLM, but there was a difference in the antiobesity effects. The levels of lysoPCs with C20:4, C16:0, and C22:6 were significantly attenuated by CLM administration, while the attenuated levels of lysoPCs with C20:4 and C18:2 were significantly restored by FCLM administration. These metabolites may explain the above-mentioned differences in antiobesity effects. Although only the changes in plasma lysophospholipids could not fully explain antiobesity effects between non-fermented and fermented plant mixtures from our results, we suggest that metabolomics approach could provide a way to reveal the metabolite alterations in the complex fermentation process and understand the differences or changes in bioactivity according to fermentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many studies have been performed on the effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the skin, only a limited number of reports have investigated these effects on non-skin tissue. This study aimed to describe the metabolite changes in the liver of hairless mice following chronic exposure to UVB radiation. We did not observe significant macroscopic changes or alterations in hepatic cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the liver of UVB-irradiated mice, compared with those for normal mice. In this study, we detected hepatic metabolite changes by UVB exposure and identified several amino acids, fatty acids, nucleosides, carbohydrates, phospholipids, lysophospholipids, and taurine-conjugated cholic acids as candidate biomarkers in response to UVB radiation in the mouse liver by using various mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolite profiling including ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight (TOF)-MS, gas chromatography-TOF-MS and nanomate LTQ-MS. Glutamine exhibited the most dramatic change with a 5-fold increase in quantity. The results from altering several types of metabolites suggest that chronic UVB irradiation may impact significantly on major hepatic metabolism processes, despite the fact that the liver is not directly exposed to UVB radiation. MS-based metabolomic approach for determining regulatory hepatic metabolites following UV irradiation will provide a better understanding of the relationship between internal organs and UV light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Korean black raspberry (Rubus coreanus Miquel, KB) on ripening is usually consumed as fresh fruit, whereas the unripe KB has been widely used as a source of traditional herbal medicine. Such a stage specific utilization of KB has been assumed due to the changing metabolite profile during fruit ripening process, but so far molecular and biochemical changes during its fruit maturation are poorly understood. To analyze biochemical changes during fruit ripening process at molecular level, firstly, we have sequenced, assembled, and annotated the transcriptome of KB fruits. Over 4.86 Gb of normalized cDNA prepared from fruits was sequenced using Illumina HiSeq™ 2000, and assembled into 43,723 unigenes. Secondly, we have reported that alterations in anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins are the major factors facilitating variations in these stages of fruits. In addition, up-regulation of F3′H1, DFR4 and LDOX1 resulted in the accumulation of cyanidin derivatives during the ripening process of KB, indicating the positive relationship between the expression of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes and the anthocyanin accumulation. Furthermore, the ability of RcMCHI2 (R. coreanus Miquel chalcone flavanone isomerase 2) gene to complement Arabidopsis transparent testa 5 mutant supported the feasibility of our transcriptome library to provide the gene resources for improving plant nutrition and pigmentation. Taken together, these datasets obtained from transcriptome library and metabolic profiling would be helpful to define the gene-metabolite relationships in this non-model plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many indigenous Korean plants have been used in medicinal preparations and health-promoting foods. These plant species contain beneficial metabolites with various bioactivities, such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Herein, we suggest a new screening strategy using metabolomics to explore the bioactive compounds in 50 Korean plants. Secondary metabolites were analyzed using UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS/MS. The plant extracts were subjected to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory assays. We identified metabolites that contributed to bioactivities according to the results of bioassays and multivariate analyses. Using Pearson's correlation, phenolics (e.g., casuarictin, 3-O-methylellagic acid) showed positive correlation with antioxidant activity, while biflavonoids (e.g., amentoflavone, rosbustaflavone) were correlated with nitric oxide (NO) inhibition activity. To compensate for the limitation of this new strategy, we further validated these by investigating three parts (branches, fruits, leaves) of Platycladus orientalis which showed high activities on both bioassays. Unlike the above observation, we identified significantly different metabolites from different parts, which was not the results of bioassays. In these validation steps, interestingly, biflavonoids (e.g., robustaflavone, sciadopitysin) contributed to both activities in P. orientalis. The findings of this work suggest that new strategy could be more beneficial in the identification of bioactive plant species as well as that of their corresponding bioactive compounds that impart the bioactivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ginseng berry pomace (GBP) is a byproduct of ginseng berry processing and is rich in numerous bioactive components, including ginsenosides and their derivatives. The application of GBP as a beneficial biomaterial is currently limited. In this study, we aimed to evaluate their potential as a promising source of bioactive compounds using metabolite profiling. The GBP obtained after different ultra-high-pressure (UHP) treatments was analyzed by GC-TOF-MS and UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS/MS. In multivariate analyses, we observed a clear demarcation between the control and UHP-treated groups. The results demonstrated that the relative abundance of primary metabolites and a few ginsenosides was higher in the control, whereas UHP treatment contained higher levels of fatty acids and sugars. Furthermore, GBPs were fractionated using different solvents, followed by UHPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS/MS analyses. The heatmap revealed that phenolics (e.g., quercetin, kaempferol) and fewer polar ginsenosides (e.g., F4, Rh2) were abundant in the ethyl acetate fraction, whereas the levels of lignans (e.g., 7-hydroxysecoisolariciresinol, syringaresinol) and fatty acids (e.g., trihydroxy-octadecenoic acid, oxo-dihydroxy-octadecenoic acid) were high in chloroform. Correlation analysis showed that phenolics, less polar ginsenosides, and fatty acids were positively correlated with the antioxidant activity of GBP. Our study highlights GBP as a functional ingredient for the development of high-quality ginseng berry products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultraviolet B (UV-B) light, as a physical elicitor, can promote the secondary metabolites biosynthesis in plants. We investigated effects of different energy levels of UV-B radiation on growth and bioactive compounds of Crepidiastrum denticulatum. Three-week-old seedlings were grown in a plant factory for 5 weeks. Plants were subjected to different levels of UV-B (0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.25 W m−2), 6 h a day for 6 days. All UV-B treatments had no negative effect on the shoot dry weight; however, relatively high energy treatments (1.0 and 1.25 W m−2) inhibited the shoot fresh weight. UV-B light of 0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 W m−2 did not affect total chlorophyll and H2O2 contents; however, they increased total carotenoid content. On 4 days, 0.25 W m−2 treatment increased antioxidant capacity, total hydroxycinnamic acids (HCAs) content, and several sesquiterpenes. Treatments with 1.0 and 1.25 W m−2 increased total carotenoid, total HCAs, and H2O2 contents, and destroyed chlorophyll pigments, reducing maximum quantum yield of photosystem II and causing visible damage to leaves. Partial least squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) showed that secondary metabolites were distinguishably changed according to energy levels of UV-B. The potential of 0.25 W m−2 UV-B for the efficient production of bioactive compounds without growth inhibition in C. denticulatum was identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Untargeted metabolomics unraveled the effects of varying substrates (soybean, wheat, and rice) and inocula ( Aspergillus oryzae and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens ) on metabolite compositions of koji , a starter ingredient in various Asian fermented foods. Multivariate analyses of the hyphenated mass spectrometry datasets for different koji extracts highlighted 61 significantly discriminant primary metabolites (sugars and sugar alcohols, organic acids, amino acids, fatty acids, nucleosides, phenolic acids, and vitamins) according to varying substrates and inocula combinations. However, 59 significantly discriminant secondary metabolites were evident for koji -types with varying substrates only, viz. , soybean (flavonoids, soyasaponins, and lysophospholipids), wheat (flavones and lysophospholipids), and rice (flavonoids, fatty acids derivatives, and lysophospholipids). Independently, the substrates influenced primary metabolite compositions in koji (soybean > wheat, rice). The inocula choice of A. oryzae engendered higher carbohydrates, organic acids, and lipid derivative levels commensurate with high α -amylase and β -glucosidase activities, while B. amyloliquefaciens affected higher amino acids levels, in respective koji types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A time-resolved non-targeted metabolomic study towards evaluating the effects of three rice substrate types viz. , white rice (WR), giant embryo rice (GER), and brown rice (BR), on Koji fermentation was performed. Notwithstanding the relatively higher proportions of metabolites in unfermented BR (BR 0 > WR 0, GER 0), the relative levels of metabolic repertoire in BR Koji were marginally enhanced during 36 h fermentation except those for phenolic acids, fatty acids, and vitamins. The WR Koji showed higher levels of lysophospholipids (LysoPC’s) and protease-released amino acids (WR 36 > GER 36 > BR 36). The higher β -glucosidase activity in GER Koji effected the increased levels of sugars and flavonoid aglycons complementing its higher antioxidant activity (GER Koji > BR Koji ∼ WR Koji ). The present study holistically underpins the dynamic metabolomes and enzymatic states during rice Koji fermentation with varying substrate types. The present study finds applications in optimization of commercial Koji production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabolite profiles of four different maturity stages (immature, pre-mature, fully-mature, and over-mature) of Cudrania tricuspidata fruit (Moraceae) were analyzed by gas chromatography–time-of-flight-mass spectrometry and ultra-performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole/time-of-flight-mass spectrometry combined with multivariate analysis. Principal component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis showed distinct patterns based on the maturity stages. Primary metabolites such as amino acids, organic acids, sugars, and sugar alcohols were identified as discriminant metabolites that are dependent on four different maturity stages. Secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, lysophosphatidylcholines, and anthocyanins were major metabolites separated according to the different maturity stages. The highest antioxidant activity and relatively high levels of total phenolic contents (TPC) and total flavonoid contents (TFC) were shown at the fully mature stage. In particular, relatively high contents of prenylflavonoids such as artocarpesin (1), 6-isopentenylgenistein (2), alpinumisoflavone (3), 6,8-diprenylgenistein (4), and 4′- O -methylalpinumisoflavone (5), which were reported as antioxidants, were observed and shown to be positively correlated with antioxidant activities, and TPC and TFC. These results suggest that prenylflavonoid, TPC, and TFC were associated with antioxidant activity of the fully mature stage of C. tricuspidata fruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Metabolomic differences between green tea (GT) and Aspergillus oryzae-fermented green tea (FGT) were investigated using Liquid Chromatography–Electrospray Ionization-Ion Trap–Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-ESI-IT-MS/MS). To identify the metabolomic differences, principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA) of GT and FGT were performed. A total of 17 metabolites differed between GT and FGT. The major flavonoid compounds of GT, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and epicatechin gallate (ECG), decreased during fermentation, while the levels of phenolic compounds, such as gallic acid, 3-p-coumaroylquinic acid, and other flavonoid metabolites like gallocatechin, epicatechin, and epigallocatechin, increased significantly during fermentation. Notably, caffeine degradation was also observed during fermentation of GT by A. oryzae. Although the total flavonoid content of FGT decreased, the antioxidant activity of FGT increased significantly due to increased levels of other identified and unidentified metabolites. These results show that fermentation-dependent metabolomic changes have the potential to increase the bioactivity of GT. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Three sections of Aspergillus (five species, 21 strains) were classified according to culture medium-dependent and time-dependent secondary metabolite profile-based chemotaxonomy. Secondary metabolites were analysed by liquid chromatography–electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI-MS–MS) and multivariate statistical methods. From the Aspergillus sections that were cultured on malt extract agar (MEA) and Czapek yeast extract agar (CYA) for 7, 12, and 16 d, Aspergillus sections Fumigati (A. fumigatus), Nigri (A. niger), and Flavi (A. flavus, A. oryzae, and A. sojae) clustered separately on the basis of the results of the secondary metabolite analyses at 16 d regardless of culture medium. Based on orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminant analysis by partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), we identified the secondary metabolites that helped differentiate sections between A. fumigatus and Aspergillus section Flavi to be gliotoxin G, fumigatin oxide, fumigatin, pseurotin A or D, fumiquinazoline D, fumagillin, helvolic acid, 1,2-dihydrohelvolic acid, and 5,8-dihydroxy-9,12-octadecadienoic acid (5,8-diHODE). Among these compounds, fumagillin, helvolic acid, and 1,2-dihydrohelvolic acid of A. fumigatus showed antifungal activities against Malassezia furfur, which is lipophilic yeast that causes epidermal skin disorders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]