Bamboo dietary cellulose emulsified camellia oil: Potential synergistic regulation of human gut microbiota in vitro

Abstract

The medical applications of camellia oil are limited due to the instability of its active ingredients throughout the digestive tract. Pickering emulsion is one of the promising strategies to address this issue, yet the synergistic effect of oil and emulsifier phases on modulation of human gut microbiota is still unclear. Herein, high crystallinity rod-like bamboo nanocellulose (BNC) with a major diameter of 100–170 nm was prepared. BNC served as emulsifier to stabilize camellia oil emulsion and allowed for a stable storage period of more than 70 days at 4 °C. The BNC loading and ratio of water/oil attributed important effects on emulsion stability. During the investigations interrogating fermentation by gut microbiota in vitro, the concentrations of SCFAs (n-valeric, i-butyric, and i-valeric acids) were elevated in the emulsion treated groups. Additionally, proliferation of Dorea and Phascolarctobacterium, and inhibition of Desulfovibrio and Bacteroides were the key features through the emulsion intervention. Functional metabolic pathway analysis demonstrated the significant enhancement in carbohydrate metabolism and membrane transport. These findings suggested that insoluble BNC-stabilized camellia oil emulsion could be used as a dietary collocation for potential applications involving medical delivery system and synergistic modulation of gut microbiota.