Phenolic Biotransformations in Wheatgrass Juice after Primary and Secondary Fermentation
Baljinder Kaur, Balvir Kumar, Geetika Sirhindi, Nidhi Guleria, Jashandeep Kaur · 2023 · 8 citationsRead the paper
Fermented wheatgrass juice was prepared using a two-stage fermentation process by employing Saccharomyces cerevisiae and recombinant Pediococcus acidilactici BD16 (alaD+). During fermentation, a reddish-brown hue appeared in wheatgrass juice due to production of different types of red pigments. The fermented wheatgrass juice has considerably higher content of anthocyanins, total phenols and beta-carotenes as compared to unfermented wheatgrass juice. It has low ethanol content, which might be ascribed to the presence of certain phytolignans in wheatgrass juice. Several yeast-mediated phenolic transformations (such as bioconversion of coumaric acid, hydroxybenzoic acid, hydroxycinnamic acid and quinic acid into respective derivatives; glycosylation and prenylation of flavonoids; glycosylation of lignans; sulphonation of phenols; synthesis of carotenoids, diarylnonanoids, flavanones, stilbenes, steroids, quinolones, di- and tri-terpenoids and tannin) were identified in fermented wheatgrass juice using an untargeted liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS)-matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-time-of-flight (TOF)/time-of-flight (TOF) technique. The recombinant P. acidilactici BD16 (alaD+) also supported flavonoid and lignin glycosylation; benzoic acid, hydroxycoumaric acid and quinic acid derivatization; and synthesis of anthraquinones, sterols and triterpenes with therapeutic benefits. The information presented in this manuscript may be utilized to elucidate the importance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and P. acidilactici BD16 (alaD+) mediated phenolic biotransformations in developing functional food supplements such as fermented wheatgrass juice.
What the full text shows
Working prototype- Total phenol content increased significantly after fermentation. — 1.36 mg GAE/mL vs. 0.41 mg GAE/mL in unfermented juice (Two-stage fermentation (S. cerevisiae and P. acidilactici BD16))
- Total anthocyanin content increased successively through both fermentation stages. — 4.53 mg Cy3G/L vs. 0.97 mg Cy3G/L in unfermented juice (Two-stage fermentation (S. cerevisiae and P. acidilactici BD16))
- Total carotenoid content increased after two-phase fermentation. — 0.31 mg/mL vs. 0.25 mg/mL in unfermented juice (Two-stage fermentation (S. cerevisiae and P. acidilactici BD16))
- Total soluble solids (TSS) decreased during the process. — 6.2 °Brix vs. 23 °Brix initial (Two-stage fermentation (S. cerevisiae and P. acidilactici BD16))
- Ethanol content remained low compared to standard fruit wines. — 3.7% v/v vs. 14-15% in standard wines (Two-stage fermentation of wheatgrass juice)
- Total flavonoid content decreased after primary fermentation and remained stable. — 0.169 mg QE/mL vs. 0.39 mg QE/mL in unfermented juice (Two-stage fermentation (S. cerevisiae and P. acidilactici BD16))
- Setup
- 1 liter of wheatgrass juice extracted from 2 kg of wheatgrass, adjusted to 23 °Brix and pH 4.5.
- How
- Two-stage fermentation was performed using Saccharomyces cerevisiae (primary) followed by recombinant Pediococcus acidilactici BD16 (secondary). Metabolomic analysis was conducted using untargeted LC-MS-MALDI-TOF/TOF and biochemical assays for phenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanins.
- Limitations
- Lack of in vitro and in vivo validation of therapeutic benefits · Small-scale laboratory preparation (1-2 L flasks)
Summarized by Gemma 4 from the open-access full text · 15 Oct 2026. Read it