Fermentation of red ginseng extract using lactic acid bacteria for fortified health functional food

Red ginseng is a very popular health functional food containing over 30 kinds of ginsenosides such as Rb1, Rc, Rd, Rg3, Re, Rg1, Rg2, Rh1 etc. Total red ginseng processed products had 46% market share of the total health functional foods market in Korea, which was estimated to be worth 566 million US dollars in 2012 (KFDA). Several researchers have stated their intention to biotransform major ginsenosides using microorganisms and recombinant enzymes in order to produce deglycosylated ginsenosides with one or two sugar moieties [i.e. Rg3, Rh2, F2, C-K, Rh1, F1] which are known as minor ginsenosides owing to its smaller quantity in ginseng and would be preferred for better absorption ability and enhanced pharmaceutical activities. Thus, this study focuses on the fermentation of red ginseng extract to produce customized processed products containing fortified minor ginsenosides. After screening out four lactobacillus strains capable of converting major ginsenosides into minor ginsenosides, fermentation conditions were optimized to produce minor ginsenosides Rg3(S), Rh2(S), F2 and C-K, respectively. Furthermore, the ginsenoside converting enzymes of each strains were surveyed from genome sequences information and characterized. As a result, production of defined deglycosylated ginsenosides [F2, Rh2, and C-K] which were rare amount in red ginseng from red ginseng extract were successfully developed by fermentation technology using single or combinative usage of lactobacillus strains in series. This technology would create a new market share for health supplements or pharmaceutical drugs because deglycosylated minor ginsenosides [Rg3(S), Rh2(S), F2 and C-K] possessed the high activity toward anti-cancer, anti-diabetes, immune-modulation.