Abstract
Young barley leaf extract (YBL) contains beneficial substances such as fructans, minerals, and vitamins. The effects of YBL administration on the human colonic microbiota and its production of metabolites were evaluated using an in vitro model culture system. Fermentations were started by inoculating fecal samples from nine healthy subjects, with or without 1.5% YBL. Bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing results confirmed that YBL administration significantly increased the relative abundances of bacteria related to the genus Bifidobacterium (p = 0.001, paired t-test) and those of the genera Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, Unclassified Ruminococcaceae, and Lachnospira (p = 0.013, p = 0.019, p = 0.028, and p = 0.034, respectively, paired t-test). Increased abundances of the latter genera corresponded to increased butyrate production in human colonic microbiota models following fermentation with 1.5% YBL, when compared to fermentation without 1.5% YBL (p = 0.006, Dunnett’s test). In addition, YBL administration significantly increased the production levels of amino acids such as lysine, glutamate, serine, threonine, alanine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, and phenylalanine. Therefore, our results showed the health-promoting bifidogenic and butyrogenic effects of YBL.
Highlights
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a cereal crop that it widely distributed throughout the world, and barley grass is rich in functional ingredients (Zeng et al 2018)
Whole DNA was extracted from the original fecal samples and corresponding culture broths from the Kobe University Human Intestinal Microbiota Model (KUHIMM), with and without Young barley leaf extract (YBL), after 48 h of fermentation
In terms of the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) numbers and the Shannon–Wiener indexes of species diversity, no significant differences were observed between the fecal sample (FEC), control culture without added YBL (CUL), and YBL samples (p > 0.05, Kruskal–Wallis test; Fig. 1b– d)
Summary
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a cereal crop that it widely distributed throughout the world, and barley grass is rich in functional ingredients (Zeng et al 2018). Young barley leaf extract (YBL) is a natural source of vitamins and minerals, and supplementation with YBL decreased plasma cholesterol levels in hyperlipidemic patients (Yu. Recently, we developed an in vitro human colonic microbiota model using a batch fermentation system and human fecal inocula (named as the Kobe University Human Intestinal Microbiota Model [KUHIMM]), which maintained the diversity and overall number of bacterial species in fecal samples (Sasaki et al 2018). The aim of this study was to assess the impact of YBL administration on the human colonic microbiota composition using the KUHIMM. To this end, we performed high-throughput, next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and compared the KUHIMM results obtained with or without YBL supplementation
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