Black tea benefits short‐chain fatty acid producers but inhibits genus Lactobacillus in the gut of healthy Sprague–Dawley rats

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The gut microbiota plays important roles in physiological and pathological processes of the host. The effect of black tea on the gut microbiota of healthy individuals remains unclear. RESULTS: Healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were given black tea for 4 weeks, and cecum content, serum, intestinal, and hepatic samples were collected. The results showed that black tea increased ⊍-diversity and modulated ⊎-diversity of the gut microbiota. Additionally, black tea enriched several short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) producers but suppressed genus Lactobacillus. Further tests revealed that the enrichment of SCFA producers was associated with a decrease in the oxidative stress of cecum content caused by black tea, and related to increased luminal butyric acid levels and enhanced intestinal barrier function. The suppression of genus Lactobacillus was related to the increase in luminal total bile acids caused by black tea. In vitro tests showed that bile acids rather than black tea directly inhibited Lactobacillus strains. The reduction in genus Lactobacillus did not affect the effects of black tea on intestinal barrier function and lipid levels. CONCLUSION: Our results imply that the effects of black tea on gut microbiota in healthy individuals are complex and provide a new perspective on the associations among black tea, gut microbiota, and health.

Comprehensive Analysis of Bacterial Community Structure and Diversity in Sichuan Dark Tea (Camellia sinensis)

“…For example, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus was higher (13.74%) at the final stage, W4, and it helps in digestion, is beneficial for human and animal intestines, and is being widely used in the biosynthesis of yogurt and sausage (Cavalheiro et al, 2019). Lactobacillus present in black tea is also beneficial for intestinal flora and the health of mice (Arellano et al, 2020;Gao et al, 2020). The share of Saccharopolyspora was 2.85% at the W4 stage, which is an antitumor agent (Liu et al, 2005); therefore, it can be used in food processing to increase the health benefits of dark tea.…”

Microbial Diversity in Sichuan Dark Tea during Pile-Fermentation

“…Many Aspergillus species produce and secrete various enzymes, such as α-amylase, glucoamylase, cellulase, pectinase, xylanase, hemicellulase, and protease, which are applied on an industrial scale to improve the taste of food items by breaking down proteins or lipids and developing unique flavors [33]. Additionally, Aspergillus cristatum is widely used in making crimson soup from dark tea, and lovastatin, a chemical secreted by this genus, is a statin that lowers cholesterol levels [34,35]. Further studies are needed to explore the probiotic properties of individual fungal species and their role in nutrition enhancement.…”

“…For example, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus was higher (13.74%) at final stage W4, which help in digestion, beneficial for human and animal intestine, and is being widely used biosynthesis of yogurt and sausage [32]. Lactobacillus is also beneficial for intestinal flora and health of mice present in black tea [33,34]. The share of www.videleaf.com Saccharopolyspora was 2.85% at W4 stage, which is an antitumor agent [35], therefore, it can be used in food processing to increase health benefits of dark tea.…”

Gut microbiota, bile acids, and nature compounds

“…In view of the importance of gut microbiota metabolites, a large number of studies about these metabolites have been carried out in recent decades and have found out that these metabolites belong to short‐chain fatty acids (SCFAs) (Morrison & Preston, 2016), BAs (Sayin et al, 2013), vitamin K (Karl et al, 2017), branched‐chain amino acids (Yue et al, 2019), tryptophan (Gao, Mu, Farzi, & Zhu, 2020, Gao, Xu, & Yin, 2020), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (Di Lorenzo, De Castro, Silipo, & Molinaro, 2019), trimethylamine (TMA) (Rath, Heidrich, Pieper, & Vital, 2017), and so on. Based on the origin of these metabolites, gut microbiota metabolites are classified into three types (Postler & Ghosh, 2017).…”