Red Quinoa Bran Extract Prevented Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease via Increasing Antioxidative System and Repressing Fatty Acid Synthesis Factors in Mice Fed Alcohol Liquid Diet.

Alcohol is metabolized in liver. Chronic alcohol abuse results in alcohol-induced fatty liver and liver injury. Red quinoa (Chenopodium formosanum) was a traditional staple food for Taiwanese aborigines. Red quinoa bran (RQB) included strong anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory polyphenolic compounds, but it was usually regarded as the agricultural waste. Therefore, this study is to investigate the effect of water and ethanol extraction products of RQB on the prevention of liquid alcoholic diet-induced acute liver injury in mice. The mice were given whole grain powder of red quinoa (RQ-P), RQB ethanol extract (RQB-E), RQB water extract (RQB-W), and rutin orally for 6 weeks, respectively. The results indicated that RQB-E, RQB-W, and rutin decreased alcoholic diet-induced activities of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, and the levels of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, and hepatic triglyceride. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of liver tissues showed that RQB-E and RQB-W reduced lipid droplet accumulation and liver injury. However, ethanol extraction process can gain high rutin and antioxidative agents contents from red quinoa, that showed strong effects in preventing alcoholic fatty liver disease and liver injury via increasing superoxide dismutase/catalase antioxidative system and repressing the expressions of fatty acid synthesis enzyme acetyl-CoA carboxylase.

Using submerged fermentation to fast increase N6-(2-hydroxyethyl)-adenosine, adenosine and polysaccharide productions of Cordyceps cicadae NTTU 868.

Cordyceps cicadae is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine for treating palpitations and eye diseases. It contains several bioactive compounds such as adenosine, N6-(2-hydroxyethyl)-adenosine (HEA), and polysaccharide. Those bioactive compounds have been reported to perform anti-oxidation and anti-inflammatory properties and provide renal protection. In this study, we researched different fermentation conditions in order to enhance the biomass, adenosine, HEA, and polysaccharide productions of C. cicadae NTTU 868. Solid fermentation was carried out with different grain substrates (barley, oat, rice and wheat). Various submerged fermentation scales were used to produce the C. cicadae NTTU 868 mycelium. The results of solid fermentation revealed that C. cicadae NTTU 868 produced higher adenosine and HEA concentrations in oat rather than in other substrates. C. cicadae NTTU 868 mycelium had obtained the highest concentrations of adenosine and HEA on Day 2 as using the small-scale submerged fermentation. Furthermore, potato dextrose broth with extra 0.2% of yeast extract was able to result in higher HEA concentration. In conclusion, using submerged fermentation to culture C. cicadae NTTU 868 resulted in more efficient adenosine, HEA, and polysaccharide productions than using solid-fermentation, especially when 0.2% of yeast extract was used in the PDB. Importantly, this can be easily scaled-up in the fermentation industry.

Red Quinoa Bran Extracts Protects against Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Liver Injury and Fibrosis in Mice via Activation of Antioxidative Enzyme Systems and Blocking TGF-ß1 Pathway.

The late stages of liver fibrosis are considered to be irreversible. Red quinoa (Chenopodium formosanum Koidz), a traditional food for Taiwanese aborigines, was gradually developed as a novel supplemental food due to high dietary fibre and polyphenolic compounds. Its bran was usually regarded as the agricultural waste, but it contained a high concentration of rutin known as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. This study is to explore the effect of red quinoa bran extracts on the prevention of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver fibrosis. BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally injected CCl4 to induce liver fibrosis and treated with red quinoa whole seed powder, bran ethanol extracts, bran water extracts, and rutin. In the results, red quinoa powder provided more protection than rutin against CCl4-induced oxidative stress, pro-inflammatory factor expression and fibrosis development. However, the bran ethanol extract with high rutin content provided the most liver protection and anti-fibrosis effect via blocking the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)/interleukin 6 (IL-6) pathway and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-ß1) pathway.