Abstract
Hericium erinaceus (HE) is a well-known edible and medicinal fungus widely grown in Asian countries. Polysaccharides from the Hericium erinaceus (HEP) are major biological macromolecules. It has been reported that HEP has multiple biological activities, such as antioxidant activity, immunomodulatory effects, anti-inflammatory effect, anti-chronic gastritis activity, and so on. In the current study, we investigated the biological property of HEP during gastrointestinal digestion. The results indicated that both simulated gastric and small intestinal digesta of HEP has better stimulation of probiotics growth than HEP alone, especially for Lactobacillus plantarum BG112. The prebiotic activity was the strongest when HEP was treated by simulated gastric juice for 2 h and by simulated small intestinal juice for 4 h. The molecular weight (Mw) of HEP decreased from 1.68 × 106 Da and 2.32 × 104 Da to 529.3 ± 7.2 Da, as digestion time increased. Meanwhile, the reducing sugar content was significantly increased from 0.610 ± 0.007 to 22.698 ± 0.752 mg/ml, suggesting that the decrease of Mw was likely due to the breakdown of glycosidic bonds. Considerable mannose and galactopyranose were released throughout the gastrointestinal digestion period, indicating that the gastrointestinal digestion resulted in production of free monosaccharides. After fermentation of L. plantarum BG112, the Mw of HEP was decreased and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) including acetic acid, isovaleric acid, lactic acid, and butyric acid were produced. We speculated that the release of free monosaccharides during gastrointestinal digestion and utilization of HEP, by the probiotics, contributed to the prebiotic activity of HEP’s gastric and intestinal digesta. These results unveiled some mechanisms on the close relationship between the structure and bioactivity of polysaccharides, during digestion.
Highlights
Hericium erinaceus, commonly called Lion’s Mane Mushroom, is an edible and medicinal fungus belonging to the family Hericiaceae in the order Russulales [1]
The H. erinaceus polysaccharides (HEP) consisted of fucose, xylose, rhamnose, galactose, and glucose, in a molar ratio of 5.97:10.63:3.66:26.76:44.12
The content of glucose was the highest among monosaccharides, which was consistent with previous reports [18,19]
Summary
Commonly called Lion’s Mane Mushroom, is an edible and medicinal fungus belonging to the family Hericiaceae in the order Russulales [1]. We intended to investigate the prebiotic property of simulated gastric and small intestinal digesta of HEP, and further evaluate the molecular changes of HEP, under simulated gastrointestinal conditions and during fermentation, in vitro. This may provide information on the important role of gastrointestinal digestion for the bioactivity of HEP and on the mechanism on the relationship between the structure and bioactivity of polysaccharides
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.