Enhanced Lipid-Lowering Activity of Sea Buckthorn Juice by Sequential Fermentation with Compound Probiotics and its Inhibitory Mechanism against Cholesterol Esterase
摘要
Sea buckthorn polyphenols demonstrate significant lipid-lowering potential. Although probiotic fermentation has been shown to enhance the bioactivity of food matrices, its effect on the lipid-lowering function of sea buckthorn juice—particularly regarding the cholesterol esterase inhibition mechanism—remains unclear. Optimized fermentation increased total phenolic and total flavonoid contents to 0.531 mg/g and 0.926 mg/g, respectively, while enhancing antioxidant activity (hydroxyl radical scavenging activity reached 90.13%, metal ion-chelating activity of 69.82%), and increased the inhibition rates against lipase (from 87.13% to 98.13%) and cholesterol esterase (from 94.13% to 98.13%). Among polyphenolic components, conjugated phenols exhibited the strongest inhibitory activity (84.1%). Enzyme inhibition and kinetic studies demonstrated that conjugated phenols effectively inhibit cholesterol esterase. Fermented conjugated phenols exhibited competitive inhibition, whereas unfermented conjugated phenols demonstrated mixed inhibition. Fluorescence quenching experiments confirmed that fermentation-derived conjugated phenols form more stable complexes with cholesterol esterase through dynamic quenching, indicating higher binding affinity. In summary, sequential fermentation serves as an effective bioprocessing strategy. By generating competitive inhibitors of cholesterol esterase, it enhances the lipid-lowering activity of sea buckthorn juice, providing a theoretical basis for developing fermented functional beverages to manage hyperlipidemia.
Graphical Abstract