ABSTRACT
While the flowers of Matricaria recutita L., German chamomile, are widely used for medicinal and cosmetic purposes, little is known about its roots, which are used in complementary medicine for the preparation of aqueous fermented extracts for the treatment of cramps and anxiety. To broaden the understanding of the active principles involved, a model fermentation approach was developed and fermentates were compared to commercially manufactured tinctures. Coumarins and hydroxycinnamates were among the major secondary metabolites characterized using HPLC-MSn. After six months of fermentation and storage, low-molecular organic acids were detected by GC-MS. Fermentation contributed to the stabilization of antioxidant and radical scavenging activities, which were in a range of about 8-10â mg gallic acid equivalents/g dry weight and 20-24â mg trolox equivalents/g dry weight, determined by Folin-Ciocalteu and DPPH assays, respectively. In addition, antibacterial activities of the extracts against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria increased during the first week of fermentation. Fermentates were neither cytotoxic nor pro- or anti-inflammatory. Thus, fermentation of chamomile roots is a suitable method for the safe production of biofunctional aqueous chamomile root extracts that remain stable without the addition of synthetic preservatives.
Subject(s)
Antioxidants , Fermentation , Matricaria , Phytochemicals , Plant Extracts , Plant Roots , Plant Roots/chemistry , Plant Roots/metabolism , Matricaria/chemistry , Matricaria/metabolism , Plant Extracts/chemistry , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plant Extracts/isolation & purification , Antioxidants/pharmacology , Antioxidants/chemistry , Antioxidants/isolation & purification , Antioxidants/metabolism , Phytochemicals/chemistry , Phytochemicals/pharmacology , Phytochemicals/isolation & purification , Phytochemicals/metabolism , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Anti-Bacterial Agents/chemistry , Anti-Bacterial Agents/isolation & purification , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Gram-Negative Bacteria/drug effects , Gram-Positive Bacteria/drug effects , Humans , Water/chemistry , Animals , Picrates/antagonists & inhibitors , Biphenyl Compounds/antagonists & inhibitors , Cell Survival/drug effectsABSTRACT
One of the main reasons for consumer rejection of plant-based meat alternatives is the lack of meaty flavor after cooking. In this study, a platform was developed to generate meaty flavors solely from Allium substrates (chives, leeks, ramsons, and onions) using basidiomycete-mediated submerged fermentations. Polyporus umbellatus-mediated fermentation of onions resulted in an intense meaty and liver sausage-like flavor under proper fermentation parameters. Using multisolvent and solvent-free aroma extractions coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry, 5 odorants with high assigned flavor dilution (FD) factors (≥ 256) were identified in the fermented sample that have been reported in the literature as important aroma compounds of meat products: methyl palmitate, bis(2-methyl-furyl) disulfide, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, γ-nonalactone, and eugenol. Using selected ion monitoring, the presence of bis(2-methyl-furyl) disulfide (meaty, savory, FD 256) after fermentation was confirmed. It was proposed that P. umbellatus enzymatically forms bis(2-methyl-furyl) disulfide from intermediates derived from the thermal degradation of thiamine.
