A survey of consumer' opinion about consumption and health benefits of fermented plant beverages in Thailand

Fermented beverages are widely used all over the country. Fermented plant beverages (FPB) are prevalent in Thailand and FPBs are believed to cure and prevent many health oriented problems. The people of Thailand produce many varieties of FPBs in small scale or large scale and consume them in their daily lives. This study is a survey conducted among the representative consumers of FPBs in Thailand to know the consumer's opinion on FPBs, effects and benefits of FPBs, and real status of consumer satisfaction in Thailand. This study revealed that the rationale for the consumption of respective FPBs was to treat their health issues and for the betterment of their health. Most of the consumers of FPBs benefited in case of improving their physical and mental health. The current survey revealed the opinion of the FPBs consumers in Thailand. This study concluded that FPBs are health promoting drink that is affordable in the daily life of Thai people. The FPBs prepared in Thailand did not report any massive adverse effects in Thailand. Till now the preparation and consumption of FPBs are followed in Thailand and not influenced by adverse effects; FPBs are considered safe for human consumption.

Extraction of β-glucan from Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Comparison of different extraction methods and in vivo assessment of immunomodulatory effect in mice

Abstract Beta-glucan (BG) is a conserved cell wall components of bacteria, fungi, and yeast. BG is an immunomodulator and stimulates the host immune system. This study was performed to screen Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain with high BG, extraction of BG using different chemical extraction methods, composition analysis of BG, and evaluation of the immunomodulatory effect of high-quality BG using mice model. Ten yeast strains were screened for high BG content using total glucan extraction kit and were subjected to FT-IR analysis. The kit based extraction revealed that HII31 showed a high content of total glucan and BG. HII31 cells were subjected to four different acid/base extractions, which indicated that combination of a strong base (NaOH) and weak acid (CH3COOH) extraction recovered high BG and a high ratio of polysaccharide, protein, and lipid. Further, the immunomodulatory effect of the selected BG was evaluated using mice, which suggested that low dose of HII31-BG induces the expression of selected pro-inflammatory (IL-17, IFN-γ) and anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) significantly, whereas relatively high dose was required to alter the IL-6 and TGF-β expression. Overall, the present study revealed that BG extracted from HII31 cells alters the expression of studied cytokines, which can be used as a potent immunomodulator in pharmaceutical products.

Lactic acid bacteria mediated fermented soybean as a potent nutraceutical candidate

Objective: To study some soybean cultivars commonly used in Northern Thailand that exhibit high nutritional profile and to investigate the changes in bioactive principles and antioxidant capacity of the fermented soy broth that was prepared using the selected soybean cultivar and Lactobacillus paracasei HII02 mediated fermentation process. Methods: The best soybean cultivar was subjected to fermentation, and then analyzed the phytochemical, antioxidant and nutritional changes by high performance liquid chromatography and spectrophotometric analysis. Results: Sor Jor 2 soybean cultivar showed rich nutritional profile and was subjected to fermentation process.Lactobacillus paracasei HII02 mediated fermentation of Sor Jor 2 soybean exhibited stable physical and chemical characteristics. Lactic acid bacteria mediated fermentation also increased the aglycone forms of isoflavone content,exhibited antioxidant capacity and thereby enhanced the quality of the fermented soy broth.It also prevented the growth of coliforms in fermented soybean. Conclusions: The study results suggest that fermented soybean is rich in nutrition and considered to be safe for consumption for the improvement of health and to treat the malnutrition.

Screening and characterization of β-glucosidase production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Beta-Glucosidases (BGS) are the group of hydrolase enzymes, involved in the degradation processes and many biological processes. Due to demand, intensive screening of BGS is required to explore the natural microbial source of BGS. The current study deals with isolation and identification of BGS producing S. cerevisiae from Thai fruits & beverages and assessment of impact of pH, temperature, and salt concentration on BGS production. About 34 samples were collected. Yeast cells were isolated by plate method and characterized. About ten different strains were isolated and identified. The strain has been confirmed as S. cerevisiae through ribosomal sequencing. The optimization of BGS production was achieved by Box-Behnken design and Response Surface Methodology and confirmed that pH 4.0, temperature at 40 C, and 0.5% of NaCl are optimum conditions. The kinetic analysis suggested that 24 h of incubation achieve the maximum yield. The reported S. cerevisiae strain could be the safer source for BGS. Further studies on enzyme recovery and purification will unbolt the way to attain high-quality microbial enzyme.

Impact of different pre-treatment strategies on the quality of fatty acid composition, tocols content and metabolic syndrome related activities of Perilla frutescens seed oil.

Perilla frutescens (Nga-Mon) is an annual herbaceous plant, reported for its antioxidant, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. The current study was conducted to compare the different pre-treatment techniques followed by hexane extraction for perilla seed oil and its pharmaceutical values. There are no significant differences in the yield of seed oil after pre-treatments except sonication. All the pre-treatments diminish the endogenous lipase activity, peroxidation and degradation of the oil. Fatty acid content analysis revealed that the nutrient quality, with respect to fatty acid content, of perilla seed was not compromised with any of the pre-treatments of current study. The results of α- amylase, α- glucosidase and protein glycation inhibition assays suggested that tested perilla seed oils are pharmaceutical candidate for the treatment of carbohydrate related diseases, especially for diabetes. Selection of appropriate pre-treatment strategies will helps to extract the perilla seed oil without any compromise in its quality. The current study suggested that moist heat with pressure can be an appropriate pre-treatment method for perilla seed oil extraction.