Combinations of traditional kombucha tea with medicinal plant extracts for enhancement of beneficial substances and activation of apoptosis signaling pathways in colorectal cancer cells

Abstract

Traditional kombucha tea was prepared by black tea leaves before fermentation with symbiotic microorganisms for 15 days. In this study, kombucha was prepared through a combination with medicinal plant extracts of T. catappa (KT) and A. marmelos (KA) to enhance a number of beneficial aspects. The results revealed that the phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidants and six organic acids, namely glucuronic, gluconic, D-saccharic acid 1,4-lactone (DSL), acetic, ascorbic, and succinic acids, in kombucha combined with the medicinal plant extracts resulted in the production of substances with greater beneficial properties than traditional kombucha tea. The viability of colorectal cancer cells (Caco-2) after treatment with KT and KA was suppressed in a dose-dependent manner, while DNA fragmentation in Caco-2 cells was induced via the apoptosis mechanism. This process involved the apoptosis pathways related to the intrinsic apoptosis pathway, which was activated by KT and KA through the mitochondrial-dependent pathways including cytochrome c release and Bcl-2 suppression, and activation of caspases-9 and caspases-3. The findings of this study support the enhanced beneficial properties of traditional kombucha tea through a combination with medicinal plants. This outcome would also support the consideration of natural supplementary kombucha beverages as medicinal food products in the prevention of colorectal cancer.

Naturally Occurring Functional Ingredient from Filamentous Thermophilic Cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya sp. KC45: Phytochemical Characterizations and Their Multiple Bioactivities

“…After treating cancer cells with the extract at different concentrations for 48 h, treated cells lost their ability to adhere to one another, shrank, and rounded off when compared with untreated cells ( Figure 5 ). The increasing concentration of the extract also proved the presence of apoptosis-related phenomena in the apoptotic cells, such as cell shrinkage, membrane blebbing condensation, margination of nuclear chromatin, apoptotic bodies, and engulfment by neighboring cells ( Figure 5 ), which corroborates the findings of Kaewkod et al [ 31 ]. In addition, the activation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragmentation was studied in order to validate the apoptosis process.…”

“…The DNA ladder assay was used to detect the DNA fragmentation of the cells after treatment with the extract [ 31 ]. Briefly, the cancer cells at a concentration of 2 × 10 5 cells/mL were cultured in 24-well plates, and then incubated at 37 °C in 5% CO 2 for 24 h. The cells were treated with the extract and further incubated at 37 °C in 5% CO 2 for 48 h. After having been rinsed three times with phosphate buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.4) and trypsinized with a solution containing 0.05% trypsin-EDTA, the pellet cells were harvested and lysed by adding 30 µL of lysis solution (containing 10 mM Tris-HCl, 2.5 mM EDTA, 100 mM NaCl, and 1% SDS, with a pH of 8.0).…”

“…The TUNEL assay (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase and fluorescein-labeled dUTP, DNA Fragmentation Imaging Kit, Merck, Germany) was used as the standard method for detecting DNA fragmentation caused by apoptosis [ 31 ]. Briefly, the cancer cells, at a concentration of 2 × 10 5 cells/mL, were exposed to the extract for 48 h. A total of three rounds of phosphate buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.4) washes were performed after cell harvesting.…”

Comprehensive characterization in different types of tartary buckwheat tea based on intelligent sensory technology

“…Future work should focus on the effects of adding other raw materials to meet the needs of different types of consumer and on establishing buckwheat cultivars (e.g. easily dehulled) suitable for processing into tea, and strengthen the comprehensive utilization capacity of whole plant (Kaewkod et al, 2022).…”

Fermented Foods: The Pharmacological and Anticancer Therapeutic Potential

“…Kombucha is a kind of black tea fermented together by using Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY). This special type of black tea has antioxidant as well as antimicrobial properties (Chakravorty et al, 2016;Kaewkod et al, 2022) and also helpful to reduce gastric ulcers, diabetes risk and cholesterol because this drink contains polyphenols and organic acid all of which could affects digestion (Banerjee et al, 2010;Aloulou et al, 2012). This could be easily made at home by keepinf 7 to 10 days for fermentation and then it is served.…”