Ultrasonic-promoted enzymatic preparation, identification and multi-active studies of nature-identical phenolic acid glycerol derivatives

Authors: SUN, TENG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; ZHANG, HAIPING - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; DONG, ZHE - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; Liu, Zengshe - Kevin; ZHENG, MINGMING - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences

Submitted to: RSC Advances
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/4/2020
Publication Date: 3/16/2020
Citation: Sun, T., Zhang, H., Dong, Z., Liu, Z., Zheng, M. 2020. Ultrasonic-promoted enzymatic preparation, identification and multi-active studies of nature-identical phenolic acid glycerol derivatives. RSC Advances. 10:11139-11147. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA09830E.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA09830E

Interpretive Summary: In this research, we discovered that potato skins contain compounds (phenolic acids) in very small amounts that have antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral activities (all good things). However, phenolic acids are not very soluble (how well they dissolve) and thus do not work that well in most applications. Therefore, a new technique was developed to transform these compounds into different materials (phenolic acid glycerols) to make them more soluble and more useful. With the improved solubility, these materials are now useful in both the food and pharmaceutical industries. In one example, these materials have been shown to lower the amount of low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol in blood. These new techniques will allow other scientists and researchers the ability to develop a host of other new products.

Technical Abstract: Phenolic acid glycerols (PAGs) are a group of rare phytochemicals found from potato periderm, which shows great potential for use in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. In this study, seven PAGs were enzymatic synthesized via transesterification of ethyl phenates (EPs) with glycerol by ultrasonic promotion. The conversions of 88.1%-98.5% could be obtained in 1-9 h. Compared with the conventional stirring methods, the catalytic efficiency significantly increased 11.0-44.0-fold by ultrasound assistance. The lipid peroxidation inhibition activity increased 8.1-fold and 14.4-fold more than the parent phenolic acids (PAs). Furthermore, caffeoyl glycerol and feruloyl glycerol exhibited excellent antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli than corresponding PAs with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) decreasing 4-16-fold. The PAGs can also absorb a much wider and higher amount of the harmful UV-B rays than the corresponding PAs. The present strategy for facile synthesis of multifunctional PAGs paves the way for the development and application of natural phytochemicals and novel ingredients.