Probiotic properties of lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditionally fermented Xinjiang cheese

Six lactic acid bacterial （LAB） strains were isolated from traditionally fermented Xinjiang cheese and evaluated for functional and probiotic properties and potentials as starter cultures. The isolated six LAB strains com- prised Lactobacillus rhamnosus （one strain）, Lactobacillus helveticus （one strain）, and Enterococcus hirae （four strains）. All of the six strains were tolerant to acidic and bile salt conditions. Among which, the L. rhamnosus R4 strain showed more desirable antimicrobial, auto-aggregation, and hydrophobic activity. In addition, the strain L. rhamnosus R4 exhibited the highest level of free radical scavenging activity （53.78% of 1,1-dipheny1-2-picrylhydrazyl （DPPH） free radicals and 45.79% of hydroxyl radicals）. L. rhamnosus R4 also demonstrated cholesterol and triglyceride degrada- tion by 50.97% and 28.92%, respectively. To further examine the health-promoting effects of these LAB strains on host lifespan, Caenorhabditis elegans was used as an in vivo model. Worms fed LAB as a food source had significant differences in lifespan compared to those fed Escherichia coil OP50 （as a negative control）. Feeding of L. rhamnosus R4 extended the mean lifespan of C. elegans by up to 36.1% compared to that of the control. The results suggest that the strains isolated from Xinjiang fermented dairy products have high potential as starter cultures in the cheese industry.

Assessment of anti-diabetic activity of peanut shell polyphenol extracts

The present study aimed to evaluate the anti-diabetic property of peanut shell polyphenol extracts （PSPEs）. Diabetic rats were oral-administrated with PSPE at doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg body weight （BW） per day for 28 consecutive days, with metformin （Met） as a positive control. The results showed that, similar to the Met treatment, administration of PSPE caused significant decreases in food intake, water intake, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and methane dicarboxylic aldehyde in serum, and significant increases in BW, insulin level, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, superoxide dismutase, glutathione, and liver gly- cogen. Further, glucose tolerance was markedly improved in the PSPE-treated diabetic groups. Histopathological results showed that PSPE improved cellular structural and pathological changes in liver, kidney, and pancreatic islets. Collectively, the results indicated that the hypoglycemic effects of PSPE on high-fat diet/streptozotocin （HFD/STZ）induced diabetes are comparable to Met, though their exact mechanism actions are still under investigation. Therefore, the current study suggests that PSPE could be a potential health-care food supplement in the management of diabetes.