AUTHOR=Wang Qishan , Yang Kai , Wei Xinyue , Qiao Weicang , Chen Lijun 

TITLE=Untargeted metabolomics analysis reveals dynamic changes in co-fermentation with human milk-derived probiotics and Poria cocos

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1032870

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.1032870

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>To develop functional foods with traditional medicines and homologous food ingredients as well as human milk-derived probiotics, the co-fermentation process of two probiotics, <italic>Lactobacillus plantarum</italic> R9 and <italic>Lactobacillus gasseri</italic> B1-27, isolated from the human milk of healthy parturients and the traditional medicine and food homologous ingredient <italic>Poria cocos,</italic> were separately investigated.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The <italic>Poria cocos</italic> fermentation broth at 2.5% significantly enhanced the total number of <italic>L. plantarum</italic> R9 (<italic>p</italic> = 0.001) and <italic>L. gasseri</italic> B1-27 (<italic>p</italic> = 0.013) after 20 h of fermentation, and Non-targeted metabolomics assays conducted before and after fermentation of the human milk-derived <italic>L. plantarum</italic> R9 and <italic>L. gasseri</italic> B1-27 using the 2.5% <italic>Poria cocos</italic> fermentation broth revealed 35 and 45 differential metabolites, respectively. A variety of active substances with physiological functions, such as L-proline, L-serine, beta-alanine, taurine, retinol, luteolin, and serotonin, were found to be significantly increased. Mannitol, a natural sweetener with a low glycemic index, was also identified. The most significantly altered metabolic pathways were pyrimidine metabolism, pentose phosphate, yeast meiosis, ABC transporter, insulin signaling, and mineral absorption, suggesting that co-fermentation of human milk-derived probiotics and <italic>Poria cocos</italic> may affect the metabolism of trace minerals, sugars, organic acids, and amino acids.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>Overall, we determined that the optimal concentration of <italic>Poria cocos</italic> to be used in co-fermentation was 2.5% and identified more than 35 differentially expressed metabolites in each probiotic bacteria after co-fermentation. Moreover, several beneficial metabolites were significantly elevated as a result of the co-fermentation process indicating the valuable role of <italic>Poria cocos</italic> as a functional food.</p></sec>