Background: Microbial fermentation significantly affects the flavor and efficacy of tea. It is generally believed that fermented tea is more effective in lowering lipids, while unfermented tea can more effectively inhibit inflammation. However, there is not sufficient evidence to support this claim. To systematically compare the hypolipidemic, anti‐inflammatory, and anti‐atherosclerotic effects of tea before and after microbial fermentation, hyperlipidemic rats and inflammatory injury cells were treated with Monascus purpureus‐fermented pu‐erh tea water extract (MPT) and sun‐dried green tea water extract (SGT), respectively.Results: MPT, with higher levels of theabrownins, flavonoids, gallic acid (GA), and lovastatin, was more effective in reducing serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C), and inflammatory cytokines (TNF‐α, IL‐1β, and IL‐6), while SGT, with higher levels of tea polyphenols, amino acids, (‐)‐epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and theaflavins, was more effective in increasing serum high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) in hyperlipidemic rats. The foam cells on the arterial wall of the rats in the MPT group were visibly less, and the thrombosis time was longer than that in the SGT group. Cell experiments showed that MPT was more effective in protecting endothelial cells from damage than SGT.Conclusion: Surprisingly, Monascus purpureus‐fermented pu‐erh tea not only had better hypolipidemic and anti‐atherosclerotic effects than its raw material (sun‐dried green tea), but also was superior in anti‐inflammatory effects to the latter, which was possibly attributable to the great changes in functional ingredients during microbial fermentation.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a common metabolic disorder characterized by obesity, insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease and gut microbiota dysbiosis. Pu-erh tea and its ingredient theabrownin have known functions on the reduction of body weight gain and fat accumulation. However, few studies systematicly analyze the different contributions and mechanisms of their anti-metabolic syndrome functions through multi-omics combination analysis. Here, we used metagenomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics technology to investigate the anti-metabolic syndrome mechanism of Pu-erh tea and theabrownin in MS mice. Our results suggested that Pu-erh tea and theabrownin interventions could improve the physiological functions of liver, jejunum and adipose tissues in MS mice. Hepatic transcriptome revealed that both interventions could regulate the circadian rhythm pathway. Glycerophospholipid and linoleic acid metabolism were also modulated by both interventions through serum and brain metabolome analysis. Faecal metagenome demonstrated that both interventions could increase the relative abundance of Clostridiales bacterium 42_27, Blautia coccoides and Firmicutes bacterium ASF500, but decrease the relative abundance of Brevundimonas vesicularis. Otherwise, compared with Pu-erh tea, theabrownin markedly upregulated the levels of hepatic antioxidants (i.e., SOD, GSH), prominently downregulated hepatic inflammatory factors (i.e., IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α) and malondialdehyde oxidant, but modestly reduced obesity-associated short-chain fatty acids in faeces in MS mice. Taken together, our data provided insights into the homogeneous and heterogeneous natural biological functions of theabrownin and Pu-erh tea in the treatment of metabolic syndrome.

Introduction: Microorganisms play an important role in the multifunctionality of soil ecosystems. Soil microbial diversity and functions have a great impact on plant growth and development. The interactions between tea trees and soil microbiota can be linked with planting patterns and management strategies, whose effects on soil microbial community structure and metabolites are still unclear.Methods: Here we used amplicon sequencing and metabolomic analysis to investigate the differences in soil microbial composition and metabolites among three tea production systems: organic, non-organic, and intercropping.Results: We detected significant differences among the three systems and found that Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota and Chloroflexi were the main bacteria in the three soil groups, although they varied in relative abundance. Acidobacteria bacterium increased significantly in the organic and intercropping groups. For fungi, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the main differential fungal phyla. Fungi alpha-diversity in the non-organic group was significantly higher than that in the other two groups, and was correlated with multiple soil physical and chemical factors. Moreover, network analysis showed that bacteria and fungi were strongly correlated. The changes in soil microorganisms caused by management and planting patterns may affect soil quality through corresponding changes in metabolites. Metabolomic analysis showed differences in metabolite composition among different groups. It was also found that the arachidonic acid metabolic pathway was affected by changes in soil microorganisms, and may further affect soil quality in an essential manner.Discussion: Planting patterns and management strategies may significantly affect soil microorganisms and therefore metabolites. Changes in soil microorganisms, especially in fungi, may alter soil quality by affecting soil physicochemical properties and metabolites. This study will provide new insights into soil quality monitoring from a microbiological perspective.

Pu‐erh tea is very popular in Southwestern China and South Asian countries and is now becoming increasingly popular in Europe due to its well‐documented beneficial effects on human health. Pu‐erh tea aqueous extracts can maintain intestinal homeostasis. However, the mechanism of its beneficial effects on intestinal flora disorder is not clear. In this study, we focused on the effects of ripe Pu‐erh tea aqueous extracts on the intestinal microbiota in an intestinal flora disorder mouse model. Physiological indexes and the tissue section staining results showed that feeding Pu‐erh tea extract could help mice regain weight and alleviate intestinal inflammation. Further assessment of the intestinal microflora found that Pu‐erh tea extract could promote the growth of intestinal probiotics and inhibit pathogenic bacteria, thereby achieving a treatment effect for enteritis. This study provides new evidence for the therapeutic effect of Pu‐erh tea.