Integrated Metabolomics and Metagenomics Unveiled Biomarkers of Antioxidant Potential in Fermented Brewer's Grains

• Published in: Antioxidants 2024-07, Vol.13 (7), p.872
• Main Authors: Qamar, Hammad, Li, Yuanfei, He, Rong, Waqas, Muhammad, Song, Min, Deng, Dun, Cui, Yiyan, Yang, Pan, Liu, Zhichang, Qammar, Bilal, Asnan, Muhammad, Xie, Xiangxue, Yu, Miao, Ma, Xianyong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino acids; antioxidant activity; antioxidant biomarkers; Antioxidants; aucubin; biosynthesis; Biotechnology industry; brewing industry; Cellulase; Cellulose; Correlation analysis; culture media; Enzymes; esterases; Fatty acids; feed composition; Fermentation; Fermented food; Flavonoids; Food; food composition; Food consumption; Food industry; food supply chain; functional foods; Functional foods & nutraceuticals; glycosidases; Glycoside hydrolase; Grain; humans; Lactobacillus; Metabolites; Metabolomics; Metagenomics; nutrient content; Nutrients; peptides; polyphenols; Probiotics; spent grains; transferases
• ISSN: 2076-3921; 2076-3921
• DOI: 10.3390/antiox13070872

About one-third of the global food supply is wasted. Brewers' spent grain (BSG), being produced in enormous amounts by the brewery industry, possesses an eminence nutritional profile, yet its recycling is often neglected for multiple reasons. We employed integrated metagenomics and metabolomics techniques to assess the effects of enzyme treatments and fermentation on the antioxidant capacity of BSG. The biotreated BSG revealed improved antioxidant capability, as evidenced by significantly increased ( < 0.05) radical scavenging activity and flavonoid and polyphenol content. Untargeted metabolomics revealed that fermentation led to the prominent synthesis ( < 0.05) of 15 novel antioxidant peptides, as well as significantly higher ( < 0.05) enrichment of isoflavonoid and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathways. The correlation analysis demonstrated that exhibited strong correlation ( < 0.05) with aucubin and carbohydrate-active enzymes, namely, glycoside hydrolases 25, glycosyl transferases 5, and carbohydrate esterases 9. The fermented BSG has potential applications in the food industry as a culture medium, a functional food component for human consumption, and a bioactive feed ingredient for animals.