Red ginseng has been reported to elicit various therapeutic effects relevant to cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and inflammatory diseases. However, the effect of red ginseng on exercise endurance and skeletal muscle function remains unclear. Herein, we sought to investigate whether red ginseng could affect exercise endurance and examined its molecular mechanism. Mice were fed with red ginseng extract (RG) and undertook swimming exercises to determine the time to exhaustion. Animals fed with RG had significantly longer swimming endurance. RG treatment was also observed to enhance ATP production levels in myoblasts. RG increased mRNA expressions of mitochondrial biogenesis regulators, NRF-1, TFAM, and PGC-1α, which was accompanied by an elevation in mitochondrial DNA, suggesting an enhancement in mitochondrial energy-generating capacity. Importantly, RG treatment induced phosphorylation of p38 and AMPK and upregulated PGC1α expression in both myoblasts and in vivo muscle tissue. In addition, RG treatment also stimulated C2C12 myogenic differentiation. Our findings show that red ginseng improves exercise endurance, suggesting that it may have applications in supporting skeletal muscle function and exercise performance.
The results in this study improved our understanding of immunostimulating activity of PE-EPS and supported its potential treatment option as a natural immunostimulant.
BackgroundIn this study, the fermentation of ginseng seeds was hypothesized to produce useful physiologically-active substances, similar to that observed for fermented ginseng root. Ginseng seed was fermented using Bacillus, Pediococcus, and Lactobacillus strains to extract ginseng seed oil, and the extraction yield, color, and quantity of phenolic compounds, fatty acids, and phytosterol were then analyzed.MethodsThe ginseng seed was fermented inoculating 1% of each strain on sterilized ginseng seeds and incubating the seeds at 30°C for 24 h. Oil was extracted from the fermented ginseng seeds using compression extraction, solvent extraction, and supercritical fluid extraction.Results and ConclusionThe color of the fermented ginseng seed oil did not differ greatly according to the fermentation or extraction method. The highest phenolic compound content recovered with the use of supercritical fluid extraction combined with fermentation using the Bacillus subtilis Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI) 1127 strain. The fatty acid composition did not differ greatly according to fermentation strain and extraction method. The phytosterol content of ginseng seed oil fermented with Bacillus subtilis KFRI 1127 and extracted using the supercritical fluid method was highest at 983.58 mg/100 g. Therefore, our results suggested that the ginseng seed oil fermented with Bacillus subtilis KFRI 1127 and extracted using the supercritical fluid method can yield a higher content of bioactive ingredients, such as phenolics, and phytosterols, without impacting the color or fatty acid composition of the product.
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