Production of Minor Ginsenosides from Panax notoginseng Flowers by Cladosporium xylophilum

Abstract

Panax notoginseng flowers have the highest content of saponins compared to the other parts of Panax notoginseng, but minor ginsenosides have higher pharmacological activity than the main natural ginsenosides. Therefore, this study focused on the transformation of the main ginsenosides in Panax notoginseng flowers to minor ginsenosides using the fungus of Cladosporium xylophilum isolated from soil. The main ginsenosides Rb1, Rb2, Rb3, and Rc and the notoginsenoside Fa in Panax notoginseng flowers were transformed into the ginsenosides F2 and Rd2, the notoginsenosides Fd and Fe, and the ginsenoside R7; the conversion rates were 100, 100, 100, 88.5, and 100%, respectively. The transformation products were studied by TLC, HPLC, and MS analyses, and the biotransformation pathways of the major ginsenosides were proposed. In addition, the purified enzyme of the fungus was prepared with the molecular weight of 66.4 kDa. The transformation of the monomer ginsenosides by the crude enzyme is consistent with that by the fungus. Additionally, three saponins were isolated from the transformation products and identified as the ginsenoside Rd2 and the notoginsenosides Fe and Fd by NMR and MS analyses. This study provided a unique and powerful microbial strain for efficiently transformating major ginsenosides in P. notoginseng flowers to minor ginsenosides, which will help raise the functional and economic value of the P. notoginseng flower.

Endophytic fungi of Panax sokpayensis produce bioactive ginsenoside Compound K in flask fermentation

“…mostly focus on the diversity, biotransformation of ginsenosides and changes in the activity of ginsenosides 34 – 37 . These include fungi namely Phoma , Fusarium, Trichoderma, and Setophoma in P. ginseng 38 ; Trichoderma, Chaetomium, Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Drechmeria, Emericella, Myrothecium and Preussia in P. notoginseng 18 , 39 – 41 ; and Cladosporium in P. quinquefolius 42 with different bioactivities 43 – 45 . All these previous reports underscore the difference in the pattern of dominance of the fungal species, indicating the specificity of the distribution of endophytes depends on different geographical locations, environmental conditions as well as plant species 46 .…”

Microbial Transformation of Total Saponins from Panax notoginseng Flower by the Fungus<em> Talaromyces flavus</em>

“…In recent years, biotransformation and enzymatic catalysis have become popular methods for preparing minor ginsenosides, and many studies used these two methods to transform the main ginsenosides for the preparation of minor ginsenosides [22][23][24].…”

Enhancing the inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis in H22 hepatoma cells through biotransformation of notoginsenoside R1 by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum S165 into 20(S/R)-notoginsenoside R2

“…Solution OD 600 was tested at 600 nm with the SpectraMax ABS Plus microplate reader (Molecular Devices, Shanghai, China), pH was detected by pH meter and viable bacteria by plate counting every 4 h. To determine β-glucosidase activity according to reference by Li et al , pNP-β- d -glucopyranoside (pNPG) was used as a substrate to detect the activity of β-glucosidase. 26 Detection was performed within 48 h of the beginning of biotransformation and at the moment before the end of biotransformation.…”