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Microbial fermentation of blue honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea L.) polyphenol promotes insulin secretion and intervenes in obesity by promoting short-chain fatty acids production

Fangyi Peia,b, Xinbo Caoa, Yanxin Rena, Liangyang Maoa, Yueyi Liua, Jingping Gea(), Wenxiang Pinga()
Engineering Research Center of Agricultural Microbiology Technology, Ministry of Education & Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ecological Restoration and Resource Utilization for Cold Region & Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Genetic Engineering and Biological Fermentation Engineering for Cold Region & Key Laboratory of Microbiology, College of Heilongjiang Province & School of Life Sciences, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China
Office of Academic Research, Qiqihar Medical University, Qiqihar 161006, China

Peer review under responsibility of Beijing Academy of Food Sciences.

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Highlights

• Blue honeysuckle (BH) polyphenol content increased by 2.63 times after fermentation.

• Seven different polyphenols in FP and UP were significantly promoted SCFAs generation.

• FP and UP on the biosynthesis pathway of SCFAs were different.

• SCFAs had a positive effect on glycolipid metabolism, but LPS had a negative effect.

• FP of BH promoted cells secretion of CCK, GLP-1 and INS, inhibited IL-6 generation.

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Abstract

During obesity treatment, clinicians have been burdened by the ever-increasing number of patients and the side effects of drug treatment. Finding new plant-derived active ingredients as an intervention for obesity has become a research focus. In this study, Plackett-Burman and Central Composite Design experiments, plant-wide target metabolomics technology, simulated human colon fermentation test, and cell experiment in vitro were successively used to investigate the effects of fermented and unfermented polyphenols (FP and UP, respectively) of blue honeysuckle on obesity. After the optimization of the response surface method, polyphenol content ((1878.08 ± 14.53) mg/100 g) increased by 2.63 times after Lactobacillus rhamnosus 6224 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae W5 mixed fermentation. There were 23 significantly different metabolites were observed in FP and UP. Of them, 7 different metabolites were significantly and positively correlated with short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), whereas negatively correlated with lipopolysaccharides (LPS). The contents of these 7 metabolites were significantly increased in FP. Furthermore, the effects of FP and UP on the SCFA biosynthesis pathway were different. Cell experiments revealed that polyphenols can significantly promote the secretion of gastrointestinal endogenous hormones and insulin and inhibit interleukin-6 levels. Linear regression analysis revealed SCFAs had a positive regulatory effect on glycolipid metabolism, whereas LPS had a negative effect. Overall, these crucial findings provide an economical and simple method for obtaining blue honeysuckle polyphenols and laying a theoretical foundation for its application in the therapeutic intervention against obesity.

Keywords

ObesityBlue honeysucklePolyphenolShort-chain fatty acidsIn vitro fecal fermentation

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Food Science and Human Wellness
Volume 14 Issue 4,
April 2025
Article number: 9250091
DOI: 10.26599/FSHW.2024.9250091
Cite this article:
Pei F, Cao X, Ren Y, et al. Microbial fermentation of blue honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea L.) polyphenol promotes insulin secretion and intervenes in obesity by promoting short-chain fatty acids production. Food Science and Human Wellness, 2025, 14(4): 9250091. https://doi.org/10.26599/FSHW.2024.9250091
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