The Himalayan ethnic beverage tongba with therapeutic properties in high-altitude illnesses and metabolomic similarities to Japanese sake

Abstract

Tongba, a millet-based fermented ethnic drink of the Limbu and other Nepalese-Tibetan communities, is consumed in the highlands of Singalila Ridge of the Himalayas and the adjoining high-altitude places of Nepal, the northern and north-eastern parts of India, and the Tibetan Plateau and is valued for its ethnomedicinal properties. In this research, the GCMS-based metabolite profiling of an authentic sample of tongba was carried out, identifying various bioactive metabolites. Several biologically active components, such as glycoside, amino acids, fatty acids, and other long-chain hydrocarbon derivatives, terpenoids and phenol, were detected in tongba, which have therapeutic properties against various high-altitude illnesses. Probable biosynthesis routes of those compounds in tongba’s broth were also studied, where many similarities were noticed with the Japanese beverage sake. The key finding of this metabolomic investigation was the detection of bioactive ethyl-α-D-glucopyranoside and cyclo(L-Leu-L-Pro) with abundant peak areas, which confirmed tongba’s therapeutic importance in high-altitude illnesses and its metabolomic similarities with sake.

In Silico Insights into the Efficacy of Darjeeling Himalaya’s Traditional Fermented Beverages To Combat Various High-Altitude Sicknesses

“…Traditional beverages such as tongba (TNB), chhyang (CHN) and nigar (NGR) and kodo ko raksi or finger-millet raksi supplemented with khokim (KKR) and chimphing (CKR) collected from different villages of Singalila Ridge (Indo-Nepal high-altitude region) were previously analyzed within the context of biochemical analysis and metabolite profiling by GC-MS analysis (Majumder et al, 2021;Majumder et al, 2022;Majumder et al, 2024). In this follow-up in silico research work, seven different metabolites (major compounds with abundant peak area) of five different traditional beverages were considered.…”

“…Earlier, people from ethnic communities living in Singalila Ridge of the Himalayas and others who healed themselves from altitude illnesses by means of traditional medicines acclaimed therapeutic properties of these traditional drinks (Majumder et al, 2021;Majumder et al, 2023). Previously, our research group analysed volatile profiles of raksi and tongba and discovered their medicinal properties that highlighted Himalayan ethnic beverages as preventatives of altitude sicknesses (Majumder et al, 2021;Majumder et al, 2022). In this research, computational biochemistry protocols were applied to predict binding affinity of abundant metabolites detected in high-altitude's ethnic beverages towards proteins targeting six distinct categories of HAS.…”