Abstract
Pu‐erh tea is very popular in Southwestern China and South Asian countries and is now becoming increasingly popular in Europe due to its well‐documented beneficial effects on human health. Pu‐erh tea aqueous extracts can maintain intestinal homeostasis. However, the mechanism of its beneficial effects on intestinal flora disorder is not clear. In this study, we focused on the effects of ripe Pu‐erh tea aqueous extracts on the intestinal microbiota in an intestinal flora disorder mouse model. Physiological indexes and the tissue section staining results showed that feeding Pu‐erh tea extract could help mice regain weight and alleviate intestinal inflammation. Further assessment of the intestinal microflora found that Pu‐erh tea extract could promote the growth of intestinal probiotics and inhibit pathogenic bacteria, thereby achieving a treatment effect for enteritis. This study provides new evidence for the therapeutic effect of Pu‐erh tea.
Highlights
Pu-erh tea is a traditional Chinese tea that is popular in Southwestern China and South Asian countries (Roda et al, 2019)
An in vitro experiment confirmed that the tea extracts have an antimicrobial effect, and their impact on the microbial community was verified
Several studies in animals stated that tea extracts increase probiotics in the gut, such as Lactobacillus spp. and Akkermansia muciniphila (Hara et al, 1995; Xia et al, 2019), which may help maintain intestinal homeostasis (Sun & Jia, 2018)
Summary
Pu-erh tea is a traditional Chinese tea that is popular in Southwestern China and South Asian countries (Roda et al, 2019). Pu- erh tea includes two varieties known as ripe Pu-erh tea and raw Pu- erh tea (Syu et al, 2008) Both varieties have been proved to decrease the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides (Hou et al, 2009), prevent lipid-derived disorders (Cai et al, 2017), and alleviate obesity (Xia et al, 2019). The therapeutic effects of Pu-erh tea are attributable to its bioactive components such as polyphenols, flavonoids, thearubigins, and caffeine content (Hou et al, 2009; Roda et al, 2019; Tu et al, 2016). After consumption, these components undergo microbial breakdown in the small intestine in the gastrointestinal tract and form new metabolites. It was found that Pu-erh tea extract could promote the growth of probiotics in the intestinal tract of mice and inhibit pathogenic bacteria
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