Fermentation-Engineered Sea Buckthorn and Monk Fruit Beverage Exhibiting Antioxidative Potential and Cytotoxic Activity Against HepG2 Cancer Cells.

Functional foods have gained significant attention due to their potential health advantages. Sea buckthorn and monk fruit are recognized for their medicinal properties. In this study, a Sea buckthorn-monk beverage was produced via lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation, and its phytochemicals, structural characteristics, and antioxidative potential and cytotoxic activity against hepatoblastoma cell line (HepG2) were examined. This beverage was fermented using Lactobacillus plantarum (LP), Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA), and Lactobacillus paracasei (LPC) as mono and co-cultures. Compared to the control, all fermented samples exhibited a notable improvement in the beverage's bioactive content functional quality, with co-culture fermentation exhibiting the best results. The highest total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids, total flavonols, proanthocyanidins, β-carotene, and β-glucan were observed in LP + LPC (1447.78 ± 1.61 mg/100 g), LA (718.14 ± 1.23 mg/100 g), LP + LA (130.44 ± 0.26 mg/100 g), LPC + LA (1844.49 ± 5.07 mg/100 g), LPC (16.68 ± 0.02 mg/100 g), LP + LPC (54.38 ± 0.16 mg/100 g) respectively. FTIR data showed the presence of high carotenoid esters, flavonoids, and the power of hydrogen bonding and boosted intermolecular covalent crosslinking, which explains the improvement in the fermented beverage. Antioxidative capacity also increased primarily in the co-culture fermented samples as opposed to monoculture. Cytotoxicity of fermented beverages against HepG2 is noticeably high as compared to control. This shows anticancer potential of LAB fermented beverage against hepatocellular carcinoma. This research is kind of its own to combine fermentation technology with monk fruit enrichment to develop Sea buckthorn-monk beverage characterized by enhanced bioactive content and therapeutic potential.