Regioselectivity of ferulic acid polymerization catalyzed by oxidases

Enzymatic oxidation of ferulic acid catalyzed by oxidases (laccase and peroxidase) was carried out. Ferulic acid was shown to be subjected to oxidative processes leading to the formation of oligomeric and polymeric structures. The polymer formation takes place due to the formation of C_Ar-C_Ar- and C_Ar-O-C_Ar-bonds, as well as due to reactions of opening of the propane chain double bond. Different dynamic conditions of the enzymatic reactions were used to study the effects of conditions on the biosynthesis in vitro of some dehydropolymers: the method of dropwise mixing (endwise polymers) and a single addition (bulk polymers). The chemical structures of the resulting compounds were examined by the methods of IR, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Differences in the quantitative ratio of structural fragments in a polymer cause changes in its thermal characteristics.     

Enzymatic release of ferulic acid fromIpomoea batatas L. (sweet potato) stem

Ferulic acid is a phenolic compound that serves as a major biosynthetic precursor of vanillin in higher plants. We investigated the ability of the 3 commercial enzymes—Ultraflo L, Viscozyme L, and α-Amylase—to induce the release ferulic acid from theIpomoea batatas L. (sweet potato) stem. The rate of release for ferulic acid was optimal when Ultraflo L (1.0%) was used compared with the other enzymes, whereas Viscozyme L was most effective for the release of vanillic acid and vanillin. Thus, these enzymes may be useful for the large-scale production of ferulic acid and other phenolic compounds from sweet potato stem.     

节杆菌(Arthrobacter sp.)降解阿魏酸的效能

[背景]蓄积在土壤中的阿魏酸类化感自毒物质对农作物生长产生危害,利用有益微生物分解该类物质是一项有效的治理措施.[目的]从自然界土壤分离获得能高效降解阿魏酸的菌株,并评估典型环境因子对降解效能的影响,以期为该菌在阿魏酸类自毒物质降解领域中的应用提供理论依据.[方法]采用一次性投加高浓度化合物的驯化方法分离筛选得到能有效...     

Absorption of ferulic acid from low-alcohol beer

Flavonoids and monophenolic compounds have been well-described over recent years for their properties as antioxidants and scavengers of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. A number of epidemiological studies implicate a role for flavonoids in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease. In particular, the focus has been on flavonol-rich fruit and vegetables and flavonoid-rich beverages, especially tea and red wine. Mechanisms of protection are unclear since the absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of dietary phenolics have not yet been extensively investigated. Here we report the bioavailability of ferulic acid, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-cinnamic acid, the major hydroxycinnamate in beer. Studies of the pharmacokinetics of urinary excretion of ferulic acid from low alcohol beer consumption in humans have been undertaken. The results show that ferulic acid is absorbed with a peak time for maximal excretion of ca. 8 h and the mean cumulative amount excreted is 5.8±3.2 mg. These findings are consistent with the uptake of ferulic acid from dietary sources, such as tomatoes, and suggest that ferulic acid is more bioavailable than individual dietary flavonoids and phenolics so far studied.     

嗜热细菌Clostridium thermocellum阿魏酸酯酶基因的克隆、异源表达及酶学特性分析

【目的】阐明嗜热细菌Clostridium thermocellum Xyn Z蛋白的阿魏酸酯酶催化域的酶学特性,为其在生物质能源及其它发酵工业中的应用奠定基础。【方法】分别构建了C.thermocellum Xyn Z的阿魏酸酯酶催化域(FAE)及该阿魏酸酯酶催化域和碳水化合物结合域(FAE-CBM6)编码基因的原核表达载体,并在大肠杆菌菌株BL21(DE3)中异源表达,在此基础上分析比较了温度、pH、底物、金属离子及CBM6结合域对阿魏酸酯酶活性的影响。【结果】重组FAE酶及FAE-CBM6酶发挥催化活性的适宜pH值为5.0-9.0,适宜温度为50-70°C,它们对不同金属离子的响应有差异。【结论】在同一反应条件下,FAE-CBM6酶的酶活均比FAE高,说明CBM6结合域的存在对于阿魏酸酯酶活性有促进作用。     

Oxidative dimerization of ferulic acid by extracts from Sorghum

Extracts from leaves and first internodes of Sorghum bicolor catalyze the conversion of ferulic acid to a β-β-coupled dimer, the dilactone dimer of ferulic acid. The dilactone is then hydrolyzed, probably non-enzymatically, to a blue fluorescing compound, tentatively identified as a β-β-coupled dimer with at least one lactone ring opened to form a carboxylic acid. Both the initial enzymatic and the subsequent non-enzymatic steps are greater at pH 8 than pH 6. The most active preparation is a crude particulate fraction from leaves obtained by centrifugation at 37000 g; white light increases the amount of dimer formed.     

Ferulic Acid: An Antioxidant Found Naturally in Plant Cell Walls and Feruloyl Esterases Involved in its Release and Their Applications

ABSTRACT

Ferulic acid is the most abundant hydroxycinnamic acid in the plant world and maize bran with 3.1% (w/w) ferulic acid is one of the most promising sources of this antioxidant. The dehydrodimers of ferulic acid are important structural components in the plant cell wall and serve to enhance its rigidity and strength. Feruloyl esterases are a subclass of the carboxylic acid esterases that hydrolyze the ester bond between hydroxycinnamic acids and sugars present in plant cell walls and they have been isolated from a wide range of microorganisms, when grown on complex substrates such as cereal brans, sugar beet pulp, pectin and xylan. These enzymes perform a function similar to alkali in the deesterification of plant cell wall and differ in their specificities towards the methyl esters of cinnamic acids and ferulolylated oligosaccharides. They act synergistically with xylanases and pectinases and facilitate the access of hydrolases to the backbone of cell wall polymers. The applications of ferulic acid and feruloyl esterase enzymes are many and varied. Ferulic acid obtained from agricultural byproducts is a potential precursor for the production of natural vanillin, due to the lower production cost.     

Biotransformation of ferulic acid to acetovanillone using Rhizopus oryzae

Microbial transformation of ferulic acid to acetovanillone was studied using growing cells of Rhizopus oryzae. Ferulic acid was added to the growing medium (0.5 g L^?1) and incubated for 12 days. The progress of formation of metabolites was monitored by GC and GC-MS after extraction with ethyl acetate. The major metabolite was acetovanillone with minor metabolites formed, such as dihydroferulic acid, coniferyl alcohol and dihydroconiferyl alcohol. Traces of metabolites (≤1–3%), such as vanillin, vanillyl alcohol, vanillic acid and phenyl ethyl alcohol, were also produced. Formation of 4-vinyl guaiacol increased from day 1 (12.4%), reaching a maximum on day 4 (31.7%), and reducing to a minimum on day 12 (3.1%). The formation of acetovanillone increased only from day 2 onward, and reached a maximum (49.2%) on day 12. The optimum concentration of ferulic acid to be added into the medium was found to be only 0.5 g L^?1, as any increase in concentration (0.75 and 1.0 g L^?1) precipitated the precursor, resulting in no further degradation.     

Biotransformation of ferulic acid to acetovanillone using Rhizopus oryzae

Microbial transformation of ferulic acid to acetovanillone was studied using growing cells of Rhizopus oryzae. Ferulic acid was added to the growing medium (0.5 g L^-1) and incubated for 12 days. The progress of formation of metabolites was monitored by GC and GC-MS after extraction with ethyl acetate. The major metabolite was acetovanillone with minor metabolites formed, such as dihydroferulic acid, coniferyl alcohol and dihydroconiferyl alcohol. Traces of metabolites (≤1-3%), such as vanillin, vanillyl alcohol, vanillic acid and phenyl ethyl alcohol, were also produced. Formation of 4-vinyl guaiacol increased from day 1 (12.4%), reaching a maximum on day 4 (31.7%), and reducing to a minimum on day 12 (3.1%). The formation of acetovanillone increased only from day 2 onward, and reached a maximum (49.2%) on day 12. The optimum concentration of ferulic acid to be added into the medium was found to be only 0.5 g L^-1, as any increase in concentration (0.75 and 1.0 g L^-1) precipitated the precursor, resulting in no further degradation.     

Microbial production of 4-vinylguaiacol from ferulic acid by Bacillus cereus SAS-3006

Abstract

Ferulic acid is an abundant cinnamic acid derivative found in the plant kingdom. It is a commercially available substrate utilized to produce flavor compounds such as 4-vinylguaiacol (4-VG), vanillin, and vanillic acid. The isolate Bacillus cereus SAS-3006 was screened and selected based on its ability to produce 4-VG upon ferulic acid biotransformation. It was identified based on morphological and physiochemical characteristics and its 16S ribosomal DNA sequence (GenBank accession number: KF699134). A maximum amount (79.4 mg/L) of 4-VG accumulation was observed on the 5th day of incubation when the culture was grown on 2.5 mM ferulic acid as sole carbon source. Further conversion of 4-VG to other intermediates such as vanillin, vanillic acid, protocatechuic acid, acetovanillone, and vanillyl alcohol was not observed. In-vitro conversion of ferulic acid to 4-VG was also studied with cell extracts of B. cereus SAS-3006. The present study provides the first evidence for production of 4-VG as the sole product using B. cereus SAS-3006.     

Spectroscopic analysis on the interaction of ferulic acid and tetramethylpyrazine with trypsin

The interaction of trypsin with tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) and ferulic acid (FA) was studied using fluorescence, synchronous fluorescence, UV–vis absorption, circular dichroism (CD) and three‐dimensional (3D) fluorescence spectra techniques. Using fluorescence quenching calculations, the bimolecular quenching constant (k_q), apparent quenching constant (K_SV), effective binding constant (K_a) and binding site number (n) were obtained. The distance r between donor and acceptor was found to be 2.049 and 1.281 nm for TMP–trypsin and FA–trypsin complexes. TMP and FA can quench the fluorescence intensity of trypsin by a static quenching procedure. Thermodynamic parameters calculated on the basis of different temperatures revealed that the binding of trypsin to TMP/FA mainly depended on van der Waals' forces and hydrogen bonds. The effect of TMP and FA on the conformation of trypsin was analyzed using synchronous fluorescence, CD, 3D fluorescence spectra and molecular docking studies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

阿魏酸和肉桂酸对杉木种子发芽的效应

杉木〔Ｃｕｎｎｉｎｇｈａｍｉａｌａｎｃｅｏｌａｔａ (Ｌａｍｂ .)Ｈｏｏｋ .〕连栽导致地力衰退问题 ,国内大多从提高土壤肥力和完善栽培制度方面进行研究[1 ] ,对化感自毒物质的毒害作用却注意不够。据报道杉木根桩与周围土壤酚类物质对杉木存在自毒作用[2 ] ,但除酚剂 (乙烯吡咯啉酮Ｋ30 0 )能降低杉木及其林下土壤的这种自毒作用[3 ] ,这暗示杉木叶、根等器官中含有酚类化感物质 ;香草醛 (ｖａｎｉｌｌｉｎ)对杉木幼苗生长也具有毒害作用[4] 。阿魏酸 (ｆｅｒｕｌｉｃａｃｉｄ)、肉桂酸 (ｃｉｎｎａｍｉｃａｃｉｄ)和香草醛同属于化感…     

A complete enzymatic recovery of ferulic acid from corn residues with extracellular enzymes from Neosartorya spinosa NRRL185

An economic ferulic acid recovery from biomass via biological methods is of interest for a number of reasons. Ferulic acid is a precursor to vanillin synthesis. It is also a known antioxidant with potential food and medical applications. Despite its universal presence in all plant cell wall material, the complex structure of the plant cell wall makes ferulic acid recovery from biomass a challenging bioprocess. Previously, without pretreatment, very low (3-13%) recovery of ferulic acid from corn residues was achieved. We report here the discovery of a filamentous fungus Neosartorya spinosa NRRL185 capable of producing a full complement of enzymes to release ferulic acid and the development of an enzymatic process for a complete recovery of ferulic acid from corn bran and corn fibers. A partial characterization of the extracellular proteome of the microbe revealed the presence of at least seven cellulases and hemicellulases activities, including multiple iso-forms of xylanase and ferulic acid esterase. The recovered ferulic acid was bio-converted to vanillin, demonstrating its potential application in natural vanillin synthesis. The enzymatic ferulic acid recovery accompanied a significant release of reducing sugars (76-100%), suggesting much broader applications of the enzymes and enzyme mixtures from this organism.     

Carbohydrate esters of ferulic acid as components of cell-walls of Lolium multiflorum

Carbohydrate esters of ferulic acid were released from grass cell-walls by cellulase action as a mixture of at least four H₂O-soluble compounds in which the carboxylic group of the acid was bound to carbohydrate by ester bonds. The MW of these esters varied from a few hundred to over 50 000. Hydrolysis of one of the carbohydrate moieties showed that it contained xylose, arabinose and glucose units. The linkage of the carbohydrate esters of ferulic acid to other cell-wall constituents is discussed.     

Lipase-catalyzed preparation of mono- and diesters of ferulic acid

Lipophilic and stable derivatives of ferulic acid are required to improve its efficacy in fatty foods and to optimize its use in cosmetic and pharmaceutical preparations. We report an improved synthesis of ferulic acid monoesters (ethyl ferulate and lauryl ferulate) using immobilized lipase from Candida antarctica B (CALB) in diisopropyl ether (DIPE). Maximum yields were 89% and 85% in 200 h for ethyl and lauryl ferulate, respectively. Ethyl ferulate was further acylated with vinyl esters to form ferulate diesters. 4-Acetoxy-ethyl ferulate was obtained with the immobilized lipase from Alcaligenes sp. (QLG) with 59% yield in 72 h, whereas 4-dodecanoyloxy-ethyl ferulate (a new compound) was synthesized with 52% yield in 72 h using CALB. DIPE was the best solvent for the transesterifications. Finally, the anti-inflammatory activity of the synthesized derivatives was evaluated in vitro; the compounds bearing a dodecyl chain showed improved anti-inflammatory activity compared with short-chain esters.     

In vitro and in vivo antithrombotic and cytotoxicity effects of ferulic acid

We discovered recently in vitro and in vivo antithrombotic and cytotoxicity effects of ferulic acid. The cytotoxicity assays showed that ferulic acid (～300 μg/mL) did not cause any significant toxicity on three cell lines, platelets, leukocytes, and erythrocytes. In vitro assays showed inhibitory effects of ferulic acid on thrombin (THR)‐ or collagen/epinephrine‐stimulated platelet activation by inhibiting platelet aggregation, and decreasing clot retraction activity. The in vitro effect of ferulic acid on THR‐stimulated platelet activation was proved by the decrease in the secretion of serotonin from the platelets. The anticoagulant effects of ferulic acid were confirmed by the prolongation of the intrinsic or/and extrinsic pathways and the delay of recalcification time in plasma coagulation. Ferulic acid had antithrombotic effect in acute thromboembolism model in vivo, and decreased the expression of α_IIbβ₃/FIB and phosphorylation of AKT in THR‐stimulated platelet activation in vivo, and their antithrombotic efficacies hold promise for therapeutic targeting in our ongoing studies.     

Radiation protection of DNA by ferulic acid under in vitro and in vivo conditions

The effect of ferulic acid was studied on γ-radiation-induced relaxation of plasmid pBR322 DNA and induction of DNA strand breaks in peripheral blood leukocytes and bone marrow cells of mice exposed to whole body γ-radiation. Presence of 0.5 mM ferulic acid significantly inhibited the disappearance of supercoiled (ccc) plasmid pBR322 with a dose modifying factor (DMF) of 2.0. Intraperitoneal administration of different amounts (50, 75 and 100 mg/kg body weight) of ferulic acid 1 h prior to 4 Gy γ-radiation exposure showed dose-dependent decrease in the yield of DNA strands breaks in murine peripheral blood leukocytes and bone marrow cells as evidenced from comet assay. The dose-dependent protection was more pronounced in bone marrow cells than in the blood leukocytes. It was observed that there was a time-dependent disappearance of radiation induced strand breaks in blood leukocytes (as evidenced from comet parameters) following whole body radiation exposure commensuration with DNA repair. Administration of 50 mg/kg body weight of ferulic acid after whole body irradiation of mice resulted disappearance of DNA strand breaks at a faster rate compared to irradiated controls, suggesting enhanced DNA repair in ferulic acid treated animals. (Mol Cell Biochem xxx: 209–217, 2005)     

Oxygen fixation in the biosynthesis of ferulic acid by green Zea mays

The results of experiments in which seedlings of Zea mays were grown in the light in an atmosphere enriched with oxygen-18 indicate that the hydroxyl and methoxyl oxygen atoms in ferulic acid are derived from molecular oxygen.     

阿魏酸对糖尿病小鼠心肌病变的影响及其机制

目的：研究阿魏酸对高脂饮食结合小剂量链脲佐菌素（STZ）诱导的2型糖尿病小鼠心肌病变的影响,探讨其可能的作用机制。方法：雄性ICR小鼠20只,高糖高脂饮食连续6周,STZ （30 mg/kg）腹腔注射连续5d后,隔9d测空腹血糖（FBG）,超过11.1 mmol/L视为糖尿病造模成功。将此20只小鼠随机分为模型组、阿魏酸组（200 mg/kg,i.g.）,每组10只;另取10只正常小鼠为对照组;连续给药8周。末次给药后,测定FBG、称体重、全心重和左心室重,计算心脏质量指数（HMI）和左室质量指数（LVMI）;测定超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）活力、丙二醛（MDA）含量;Masson染色观察左心室纤维增生情况;免疫组化法测定心肌组织转化生长因子-β1（TGF-β1）、Ⅲ型胶原蛋白表达。结果：与模型组小鼠比较,阿魏酸组小鼠HMI、LVMI减小（（P<0.01,P<0.05）,心肌组织SOD活力升高、MDA含量下降（P<0.05）;心肌胶原纤维沉积减少,间质纤维化改善;免疫组化显示心肌组织TGF-β1和Ⅲ型胶原蛋白表达减少（P<0.01,P<0.05）。结论：阿魏酸对糖尿病小鼠心肌病变具有保护作用,可能与抗氧化及抑制TGF-β1蛋白表达,减少Ⅲ型胶原蛋白沉积有关。     

阿魏酸、对羟基苯甲酸及其混合液对土壤氮及相关微生物的影响

通过室内培养法,研究了不同浓度的阿魏酸、对羟基苯甲酸及其混合液对土壤氮素、与氮素转化相关的微生物和酶的影响。结果表明,10^-4mol/L阿魏酸和对羟基苯甲酸使土壤铵态氮降低了11.18%和10.87%,硝态氮降低了6.33%和3.95%;10^-3mol/L阿魏酸、对羟基苯甲酸及其混合液分别使可溶性有机氮降低了6.59%、10.16%和10.39%。阿魏酸、对羟基苯甲酸及其混合液抑制了氨化细菌、硝化细菌和反硝化细菌的生长,削弱了土壤脲酶与蛋白酶的活性。与对照相比,10^-4mol/L混合液降低了26.04%的氨化细菌、30.79%的硝化细菌和16.74%的反硝化细菌。10^-3mol/L阿魏酸减少了3.33%的土壤脲酶和20.87%的蛋白酶活性;10^-3mol/L对羟基苯甲酸降低了土壤脲酶6.63%,蛋白酶22.94%;10^-3mol/L混合液减少了土壤脲酶7.47%和蛋白酶23.79%。混合液对土壤氮素转化的抑制作用最强,表明阿魏酸和对羟基苯甲酸存在协同作用。阿魏酸和对羟基苯甲酸等酚酸类化合物通过抑制土壤氮素转化微生物及其酶活性,从而影响土壤氮素转化。