Fermentation of Korean red ginseng by Lactobacillus plantarum M-2 and its immunological activities

Bong Gwan Kim, Kwang Soon Shin, Taek Joon Yoon, Kwang Won Yu, Kyung Soo Ra, Jin Man Kim, Sun Young Kim, Hyung Joo Suh

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    24 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We investigated ginsenoside transformation by fermentation of red ginseng with Lactobacillus plantarum M-2. We also examined the anti-metastasis and immune-stimulating activities of EtOH extracts of fermented red ginseng (FRG-E) in animal and human subjects. Total sugar decreased from 85.5 mg mL -1 to 44.1 mg mL -1 with increasing culture time during the fermentation with L. plantarum M-2. Uronic acid content reached a maximum level (534.3 μg mL -1) at 3 days of fermentation and decreased thereafter. Ginsenoside metabolites increased from 4,637.0 to 7,581.1 μg mL -1 after 4 days. The prophylactic intraperitoneal injection of FRG-E (500 μg mouse -1) inhibited lung metastasis about 81.1%, while the inhibitory effect against tumor metastasis by treatment of EtOH extract from non-fermented red ginseng (NFRG-E) was 66.9%. Immunoglobulin A (IgA) and G (IgG) levels in the serum of healthy subjects were higher after FRG-E administration than at baseline, whereas NFRG-E induced reductions of these variables related to immunity. At 1 week, the change in IgA level by FRG-E (5.14 mg mL -1) was significantly higher than that by NFRG-E (-14.50 mg mL -1; p<0.05). It was concluded that the immunological activities of FRG-E were higher than those of NFRG-E, indicating that fermentation helped enhance the immunological activities of red ginseng.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1107-1119
    Number of pages13
    JournalApplied Biochemistry and Biotechnology
    Volume165
    Issue number5-6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011 Nov

    Keywords

    • Fermentation
    • Immunological activity
    • Korean red ginseng
    • Lactobacillus plantarum

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biotechnology
    • Bioengineering
    • Biochemistry
    • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
    • Molecular Biology

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