In vitro Monitoring of the Probiotic Activity of Tea Catechins on Human Intestinal Flora
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Abstract:
Recently, tea catechins have been reported to have certain regulatory effect on intestinal microecology. In this study, high purity (>98%) of EGCG, EGCG3’’Me, ECG and ECG3’’Me were prepared from Guangdong Oolong tea by puri?cation procedures of macroporous resins. Then, the regulation effects of EGCG, EGCG3’’Me, ECG and ECG3’’Me on intestinal microecology in vitro were evaluated by monitoring the bacterial populations and analyzing the concentrations of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) at different fermentation times (0, 6, 12 and 24 h). The results showed that tea catechins had significant proliferate effect (P<0.05) on beneficial bacteria (Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus/Enterococcus spp.), significant inhibitory effect (P<0.05) on Bacteroids-Prevotella group and Clostridium histolyticum group, while they did not affect the population of total bacteria (P>0.05). The total SCFA concentrations in cultures with tea catechins were significant higher (P<0.05) than that of the control in each fermentation time point. Moreover, the metabolites of tea catechins during the fermentation were also identified. Together, these results suggest that tea catechins, including methylated tea catechins have potential prebiotic-like activity by modulating intestinal microbiota and generating SCFA, contributing to the improvements of host health.
