Measuring the health effects of food by metabolomics.

Metabolomics of human biological fluids or tissues is used to discover markers for diseases by comparing the metabolome of the patients against healthy individuals. Ultimately, these markers can be used in drug discovery to determine how medications normalize (at least in part) the human metabolome at specific disease stages to homeostatic. Likewise, the health effects of food can be studied. Even metabolomics of the food can be combined with metabolomics of the treated patients to correlate compounds from food with measurable health effects from clinical studies. Various chemometric analyses of these metabolomics data are used to identify markers for diseases and to obtain evidence for health effects. This review discusses recent researches (published from 2013 to 2021) on whether specific dietary intervention to humans suffering from metabolic disorders may improve their pathological status. The scope is limited to those associated with major lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases, for which food is thought may have detrimental as well as beneficial effects on human health. It includes metabolites characterization of different biological samples such as the human serum/plasma, urine, saliva, feces, or ileal fluid. Whether the study results supported the claimed health benefits and whether the research was conducted with appropriate study design, was criticized.

Changes in volatiles and aroma profile of andaliman (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC.) upon various drying techniques.

Andaliman is a highly perishable Indonesian spice that could be preserved by drying. As the drying influence on andaliman volatiles and aroma profile has not been reported, this study aimed to determine the impact of five drying processes on them and the critical volatiles correlated with favorable aroma attributes. Limonene, geranial, α-pinene, sabinene, ß-myrcene, (E)-2-hexenal tended to decrease while geranyl acetate, citronellal, neral tended to increase upon drying. Limonene, andaliman major volatiles, was lost considerably from 28093 µg/g solids (fresh) to 19299-21857 µg/g solids (dried). Drying significantly altered citrus, orange peel, green, warm, and lime leaf aroma. Citronellal, limonene, (Z)-ß-ocimene, (E)-ß-ocimene, ß-citronellol, sabinene, and geranial, played substantial roles in andaliman sensory acceptability due to significant correlation to the favorable aroma attributes (citrus, orange peel, acidic). Oven drying was proposed as the ideal drying method because of its short duration, low water activity, superior overall liking, and high volatile content.

In Vitro Characterization of Lactic Acid Bacteria from Indonesian Kefir Grains as Probiotics with Cholesterol-Lowering Effect.

Indonesian kefir grains are potential sources of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that may act as probiotics with specific functional properties. In this study we explored the potential of the probiotic and cholesterol-lowering effect of LAB isolated from Indonesian kefir grains obtained from Bogor, Bandung, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta. The results revealed that 10 isolates showed considerable survivability at low pH and bile salt with total cell reduction of ~3 log colony-forming units per milliliter after exposure to pH 2.5 and 0.5% (w/v) bile salt for 1 and 3 h, respectively. All strains exhibited strong antimicrobial activities against pathogenic bacteria and were sensitive to a wide spectrum of antibiotics but exhibited weak bile salt hydrolase activity. Identification based on 16S RNA suggested that nine isolates were Lactobacillus kefiri and one was Lactobacillus rhamnosus. The ability of the isolates to reduce cholesterol from the media varied, ranging from 22.08% to 68.75% with the highest reduction shown by L. kefiri JK17. The ability to remove cholesterol from the media decreased greatly in resting and dead cells, ranging from 14.58% to 22.08% in resting cells and from 7.89% to 18.17% in dead cells. It can be concluded that Indonesian kefir grains contain LAB potentially acting as probiotics capable of reducing cholesterol. The cholesterol-lowering effect especially occurs when the cells are metabolically active.

The effect of tea fermentation on rosmarinic acid and antioxidant properties using selected in vitro sprout culture of Orthosiphon aristatus as a model study.

Orthosiphon aristatus, an Indonesian medicinal plant, is normally used as a traditional herbal tea. Recently, this plant has begun to attract attention due to its antioxidant properties. However, little is known about tea fermentation effect on antioxidant properties of this plant. Thus, to extend the tea fermentation study, in vitro sprout culture of this plant was established as a new feature model. This model plant was selected based on three reasons. Firstly, as a native tropical plant, to grow this plant in sub-tropic area is considered difficult. Secondly, the in vitro sprout culture is more genetically stable compared to other types of in vitro cultures. Thirdly, results showed that this in vitro sprout culture grew faster and produced higher biomass than in vitro tissue culture. Both characteristics are important in producing tea leaves. Accordingly, the aim of the current study was twofold. First was to establish high rosmarinic acid line of in vitro sprout culture of Orthosiphon aristatus by elicitation. Second was to evaluate the effect of tea fermentation on antioxidant properties of this plant. Results showed that yeast extract (5 g/L) elicitation resulted in the highest production of rosmarinic acid. This elicited plant was subjected to partial and full tea fermentation. Results revealed that both tea fermentations decreased the level of rosmarinic acid, total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and flavonols. These decreases were concomitant with reduced antioxidant activities as measured by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), and Superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity assays. HPLC results showed that the longer the tea fermentation was, the greater reduction rosmarinic acid was found. High correlation value of 0.922 between rosmarinic acid and antioxidant activities was also observed. These results indicated that rosmarinic acid is the major contributor to the antioxidant activities of Orthosiphon aristatus. These results may provide useful information, in particular, for the food and pharmaceutical industries in the development of functional foods desiring maximum potential health benefits from Orthosiphon aristatus.

The Effect of Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 and Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM Fermentation on Antioxidant Properties of Selected in Vitro Sprout Culture of Orthosiphon aristatus (Java Tea) as a Model Study.

High rosmarinic acid (RA) productivity has been achieved by applying jasmonic acid and yeast extract elicitors to the in vitro sprout culture of Orthosiphon aritatus (IOSC). The highest RA accumulation from three solvents was detected in IOSC after treatment with yeast extract (5 g/L). HPLC analysis clearly confirmed a drastic increase in RA subjected to yeast extract elicitation. Therefore, this yeast extract elicited IOSC was chosen for a lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation study as a model system. This selected IOSC was subjected to different types of LAB fermentations (Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 and Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM) for different periods of time 24, 48 and 72 h. The LAB fermentations consisted of solid state fermentations (SSF) and liquid state fermentations (LSF) in a Digital Control Unit (DCU) fermenter system. The aim was to determine the effect of fermentation on the antioxidant properties of the plant extract. Results indicated that all types of LAB fermentation decreased the level of RA and total phenolics, however, a slight increase in total flavonoids and flavonols was observed in SSF samples. HPLC results confirmed that the longer the fermentation, the greater the reduction in RA content. The highest reduction was obtained in the sample of LSF inoculated with L. plantarum for a period of 72 h. The temperature of fermentation (37 °C) was predicted as contributing to the declining level in RA content. The loss in RA was concomitant with a loss of total antioxidant activity (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC), and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD)-like activity). These results indicate that RA is the major contributor to the antioxidant activity of this plant.