Ｒesearch Status And Product Development Of Probiotic Fermentation Of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Sep 10, 2024
Abstract: Traditional Chinese medicine fermentation technology is an important method with a long history. With the improvement of national health awareness, the usage of probiotics in fermented traditional Chinese medicine has become a hot spot in scientific research. At the same time, probiotics have been widely used in dual－use traditional Chinese medicine. A series of healthy products developed by traditional Chinese medicine fermentation technology are favored by consumers and have broad market prospects. Traditional Chinese medicine fermented by probiotics has the advantages of improving efficacy, easier absorption by the human body, and reducing toxic and side effects. This article described the research status of traditional Chinese medicine fermented by probiotics from two aspects: Single strain fermentation and multi-strain mixed fermentation. Probiotic fermented edible traditional Chinese medicine development of related products was reviewed. It provided a reference for further research and development in this field.
Keywords: traditional Chinese medicine; probiotics; fermentation; functional products
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China has rich resources of traditional Chinese medicine, with many varieties and large production. Traditional Chinese medicine has a series of advantages such as low toxicity and side effects, long-lasting efficacy, low resistance to drugs, and improved immunity [1]. Different types of traditional Chinese medicine need to be processed according to their characteristics before they can be used as medicine. Traditional processing methods include decocting, boiling, boiling, refining, and frying. Due to insufficient processing depth, effective substances are often difficult to fully absorb and utilize. To improve the extraction rate and utilization rate, enhance efficacy, and reduce toxicity and side effects, people began to explore a new processing method-traditional Chinese medicine fermentation. It refers to the fermentation of drugs by microorganisms using their own growth metabolism and life activities under appropriate temperature, moisture, and other conditions [2]. Probiotics are active microorganisms that are beneficial to the host. They exist in the human intestine and reproductive system. Probiotics and Chinese herbal medicines have a synergistic effect in many aspects [3]. Using probiotics to ferment traditional Chinese medicine can not only save traditional Chinese medicine resources, but also promote the dissolution of effective ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine, decompose macromolecules, and reduce the toxicity and side effects of traditional Chinese medicine. Purposeful fermentation of Chinese medicine using probiotics has become a current research hotspot
1 Chinese medicine fermentation technology
1.1 Traditional Chinese medicine fermentation technology
According to the records of Compendium of Materia Medica, Compendium of Materia Medica, and Chinese Pharmacopoeia, the production and development of fermented Chinese medicine in China has a history of thousands of years. The earliest fermented Chinese medicine was qu-type Chinese medicine, including red yeast rice, Liushenqu, Jianqu, Banxiaqu, etc. [4]. Traditional Chinese medicine fermentation is not a targeted fermentation of Chinese medicine, but a fermentation process using wild microorganisms in the environment without accurate control of ambient temperature and humidity. This process has many disadvantages, such as low purity of strains, simple fermentation conditions, and lack of standardized models. Therefore, the stability of quality is difficult to guarantee. This technical limitation has led to the slow development of fermented Chinese medicine [5-6].
1.2 Modern Chinese Medicine Fermentation Technology
Modern Chinese medicine fermentation is a new process that combines modern processes such as fermentation engineering with traditional Chinese medicine fermentation. The fermentation process mainly involves adding one or more beneficial bacteria to Chinese medicinal materials and using the enzymes produced during the growth and metabolism of microorganisms to react with the complex active ingredients in Chinese medicine. This can not only increase the content of active ingredients but also accelerate the completion of the reaction by using the catalytic effect of enzymes7].
2 Probiotic fermentation of Chinese medicine
2.1 Concept and classification of probiotics
In 1965, the term "probiotics" was first used to describe a substance secreted by a microorganism that promotes the growth of other microorganisms［8-9］. There are many types of probiotics. So far, researchers have roughly divided the discovered probiotics into three categories: Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Gram-positive cocci. The US Food and Drug Administration considers 40 types of probiotics safe. Currently, the probiotics commonly used in China include bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, enterococci, bacillus subtilis, bacillus cereus, bacillus licheniformis, and yeast [10].
2.2 Mechanism of action of probiotic fermented Chinese medicine
The action of probiotic fermented Chinese medicine is mutual. By analyzing the metabolic process of intestinal flora and Chinese medicine, it can be found that: On the one hand, most Chinese medicines are currently taken orally, and the absorption, distribution, transformation, and excretion of drugs in the digestive tract must be carried out through fat-soluble diffusion [11-12]. Most glycosides in Chinese medicinal materials exist in a bound form with low lipophilicity and are not easily transported to the target site. The intestinal flora secretes corresponding enzymes that can hydrolyze such substances to remove the glycosylation and convert them into free aglycones, increasing their fat solubility, and thereby achieving absorption in the digestive tract. The aglycones obtained after hydrolysis are absorbed into the blood circulation system through the small intestine, thereby exerting their efficacy locally or systemically.
On the other hand, the sugar groups removed from glycosides during the hydrolysis process can serve as carbon sources for bacterial growth. Chinese medicine can also provide nutrients for bacterial growth and metabolism [13-14]. In the early 1990s, Kyoichi Kobashi proposed that aloin and sennoside in rhubarb and senna leaves, which have a laxative effect, cannot be decomposed by gastric acid, bile, and digestive enzymes. They can only be converted into corresponding aglycones under the action of intestinal bacterial decomposition enzymes in the lower part of the digestive tract to exert a laxative effect [15]. The metabolic process of senna leaf A and aloin is shown in Figures 1 and 2. On this basis, Zhang Shengjie et al. [16] and Guo Na et al. [17] have conducted corresponding follow-up studies, and the results all support this argument and clearly explain the pharmacokinetic mechanism of this type of compound in the body.
