Effects of peanut meal extracts fermented by Bacillus natto on the growth performance, learning and memory skills and gut microbiota modulation in mice

• Published in: British journal of nutrition Vol. 123; no. 4; pp. 383 - 393
• Main Authors: Jiang, Xiaoyang, Ding, Haoyue, Liu, Qing, Wei, Yuxi, Zhang, Yuanjie, Wang, Yanping, Lu, Yaqian, Ma, Aiguo, Li, Zichao, Hu, Yingfen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Cambridge University Press 28.02.2020
• Subjects: Amino acids; Animal cognition; Antibiotics; Antioxidants; Bacillus; Bacteria; Cognitive ability; Digestive system; Dysbacteriosis; Fermentation; Fermented food; Flavonoids; Food; Free radicals; Gastrointestinal tract; Heat resistance; Homeostasis; Human growth; Intestinal microflora; Intestine; Latency; Learning; Maze learning; Memory; Methods; Microbiota; Nutrition; Organic chemistry; Peanuts; Phenols; Probiotics; Proteins; rRNA 16S; Skills; Gut microbiota; Peanut meal; Learning: Memory; Bacillus natto; Growth performance
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114519002988

Recent studies have demonstrated that the nutritional properties of peanut meal (PM) can be improved after being fermented. The assessment of fermented PM has been reported to be limited to various physical and chemical evaluations in vitro. In the present study, PM was fermented by Bacillus natto to explore the effects of fermented PM extract (FE) on growth performance, learning and memory ability and intestinal microflora in mice. Ninety newly weaned male Kunming (KM) mice were randomly divided into seven groups: normal group (n 20), low-dose FE group (n 10), middle-dose FE group (MFE) (n 10), high-dose FE group (HFE) (n 20), unfermented extraction group (n 10), model group (10) and natural recovery group (10). Learning and memory skills were performed by the Morris water maze (MWM) test, and the variation in gut microbiota (GM) composition was assessed by 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing. The results show that HFE remarkably improved the growth performance in mice. In the MWM test, escape latency was shortened in both MFE and HFE groups, while the percentage of time, distance in target quadrant and the number crossing over the platform were significantly increased in the HFE group. Moreover, the FE played a preventive role in the dysbacteriosis of mice induced by antibiotic and increased the richness and species evenness of GM in mice.