Production of Liquiritigenin with Cell-based Biotransformation and Its Anti-Aging Activity

Abstract

In this study, an efficient whole cell-based biotransformation for the production of liquiritigenin was developed using Laetiporus sulphureus CS0218 as biocatalyst and aqueous extracts of Glycyrrhiza uralensis as co-substrate, respectively. In order to determine the efficacy of this method, the optimal bioconversion conditions including mycelial growth, three important enzyme activities (β-glucosidase, α-rhamnosidase and β-xylosidase), and apparent viscosity of culture broth were monitored. After optimization, aqueous extracts of G. uralensis were added to the culture medium to directly produce algycone liquiritigenin. By applying this strategy, 67.5% of liquiritin was converted to liquiritigenin at pH 3.0 after 9 days of incubation and finally liquiritigenin was purified from the reaction mixture. And then, their biological activities including anti-oxidant and superoxide dismutase were observed. In fact, purified liquiritigenin was capable of bi-directional functions (i.e., either up-regulation or down-regulation of SIRT1 which is associated with aging). The results indicate that this strategy would be beneficial to produce biologically active liquiritigenin and could be used in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food applications.

Development of an Improved Menopausal Symptom-Alleviating Licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis) by Biotransformation Using Monascus albidulus

“…However, the mean content of liquiritigenin, an ERβ marker compound, in G. uralensis, is very low [21,39]. Hwang et al (2015) reported the bioconversion of liquiritin into liquiritigenin using Laetiporus sulphureus to increase liquiritigenin content in licorice; however, their study focused on liquiritin and liquiritigenin contents, but not on the bioconversion of associated compounds, such as liquiritin apioside and isoliquiritin [16].…”