Isolation of strain for the preparation of the fermented antler and its physiological activities

This study was conducted to isolate strain for the preparation of fermented antler (Cervus cornu parvum) and evaluate its physiological activities. The growth degrees of twenty-one samples from Bacillus sp., Lactobacillius sp. and mushroom strain on antler extract agar were evaluated in this study, and Bacillus subtilis KH-15, SCB-3, Cordyceps militaris, Phellinus linteus, Inonotus obliquus 26136, and Inonotus obliquus 26147 were selected. The fermented antler extract by C. militaris had relatively higher contents of total sugar (1619.3 μg/mL), uronic acid (302.0 μg/mL), sulfated-glycosaminoglycan (S-GAGs) (119.9 μg/mL) and sialic acid (21.6 μg/mL) than any other extracts. The anti-complementary activities of all fermented antler extracts were higher than non-fermented antler extract, and among these samples, fermented antler extract by C. militaris showed the highest anti-complementary activity (inhibition of 50% total complement hemolysis, ITCH₅₀; 50.1% at 1,000 μg/mL). The ability of fermented antler extract by B. subtilis KH-15 to scavenge 2,2-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical (IC₅₀; 4.97 mg/mL) was significantly the highest (p<0.05), whereas the extract from I. obliquus exerted significantly (p<0.05) high 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity (IC₅₀; 16.98 mg/mL) among all samples. The results of this study suggest that physiological effects including immuno-modulating and antioxidant activities of the antler may be increased through fermentation process.