A comparative study on chemical composition of total saponins extracted from fermented and white ginseng under the effect of macrophage phagocytotic function

Abstract

In this study, white ginseng was used as the raw material, which was fermented with Paecilomyces hepiali through solid culture medium, to produce ginsenosides with modified chemical composition. The characteristic chemical markers of the products thus produced were investigated using rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (RRLC–QTOF–MS). Chemical profiling data were obtained, which were then subjected to multivariate statistical analysis for the systematic comparison of active ingredients in white ginseng and fermented ginseng to understand the beneficial properties of ginsenoside metabolites. In addition, the effects of these components on biological activity were investigated to understand the improvements in the phagocytic function of macrophages in zebrafish. According to the established RRLC–QTOF–MS chemical profiling, the contents in ginsenosides of high molecular weight, especially malonylated protopanaxadiol ginsenosides, were slightly reduced due to the fermentation, which were hydrolyzed into rare and minor ginsenosides. Moreover, the facilitation of macrophage phagocytic function in zebrafish following treatment with different ginseng extracts confirmed that the fermented ginseng is superior to white ginseng. Our results prove that there is a profound change in chemical constituents of ginsenosides during the fermentation process, which has a significant effect on the biological activity of these compounds.

Simultaneous determination and difference evaluation of 14 ginsenosides in Panax ginseng roots cultivated in different areas and ages by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometer in the multiple reaction–monitoring mode combined with multivariate statistical analysis

“…Ginsenoside 20(S)-Rg3 of trace amount is naturally present in P. ginseng and is generally thought to be the major thermal decomposition product [5], [16], [26]. To clarify the origination of the detected 20(S)-Rg3, a raw ginseng sample was extracted simultaneously by the ultrasonic extraction method and the reflux extraction method as ultrasonic vibration could avoid the decomposition of thermal-sensitive ginsenosides [3].…”

“…Our previous report indicated that the individual content of five major ginsenosides differed significantly with the ginseng samples, which were collected from three different cultivation regions [14]. In addition, commercial ginseng products such as red ginseng and black ginseng are normally pharmacologically superior to their original forms due to the rich content of rare ginsenosides [12], [13], [15], [16]. However, rare ginsenosides are scarcely naturally occurring in cultivated ginseng and can be obtained only by the transformation of major ones [17].…”

“…Multivariable statistical analysis techniques, including unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA) and supervised partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) associating with hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and analysis of variance (ANOVA), were employed to evaluate the differences in the contents contributed by the cultivation area and age and to discover the differentially accumulated ginsenoside markers. Although there are several reports describing the analysis of ginsenosides [5], [6], [7], [8], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [23], [24], the work combining the absolute quantification and the statistical analysis of 14 ginsenosides in 3- to 5-yr-old cultivated ginseng was rarely reported, especially for the ginseng that was cultivated in the four major cultivation areas of Northeast China. Moreover, compared with the difference between cultivated, forest, and American ginseng, the difference within cultivated ginseng may be more difficult to distinguish.…”

A Combination of Korean Red Ginseng Extract and Glycyrrhiza glabra L. Extract Enhances Their Individual Anti-Obesity Properties in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes and C57BL/6J Obese Mice

“…27 The fermented Korean red ginseng not only increases the ginsenoside content inherent in Korean ginseng but also produces special ginsenosides such as Rg 2 and Rg 3 . 28,29 The saponin fraction of ginseng is composed of various ginsenosides. 30 We enriched ginsenosides by fractionating saponins from red ginseng extract and removing sugar and protein.…”

The Difference between White and Red Ginseng: Variations in Ginsenosides and Immunomodulation

“…Potentially different mechanisms might be involved, and other indicators of inflammation, such as the expression of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory genes, level of protein and lipid mediators of inflammation, and post-translation modification of key enzymes, have yet to be studied. The potential phagocytic function of macrophages of ginseng extracts has been evaluated recently using a different zebrafish model [108].…”