A combination of transcriptome and metabolome analyses was applied to understand the utilization and metabolism of Xylo‐oligosaccharide (XOS) in Bifidobacterium adolescentis 15703 as well as identifying the key regulatory‐related genes and metabolites. Samples of cultures grown on either XOS or xylose were collected. The transcript and metabolite profiles were obtained from high‐throughput RNA‐sequencing data analysis and UHPLC system. Compared with xylose, XOS highly promoted the growth of B. adolescentis 15703 and resulted in a growth yield about 1.5‐fold greater than xylose. The transcriptome analysis showed that XOS could enhance genes, including ABC transporters, galactosidase, xylosidase, glucosidase, and amylase, which were involved in transport and metabolism of carbohydrate compared with xylose. Furthermore, the expression profile of 16 candidate genes using qRT‐PCR has validated the accuracy of the RNA‐seq data. Also, the metabolomic analyses, particularly those related to metabolic biomarkers of fatty acids, amino acids, and sugars showed a similar trend of result and approved the advantages of XOS as growth medium for B. adolescentis 15703 compared with xylose. The expression and abundance of specific genes and metabolites highlighted the complex regulatory mechanisms involved in utilization of XOS by B. adolescentis 15703. These results are useful in the understanding of the metabolic pathway of XOS in B. adolescentis 15703 and contribute to the optimization of XOS probiotic effects as a food additive.

Buckwheat has beneficial effects on human intestinal health, which is often compounded with wheat to make food. Therefore, the effect of cereals mixture via in vitro fermentation on gut microbes and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were investigated in this study. The mixture of wheat and tartary buckwheat (WT) produced more lactate and acetate, and the mixture of wheat and sweet buckwheat (WE) produced more propionate and butyrate. Compared with wheat (WA), the relative abundance of some beneficial bacteria significantly increased, such as Sutterella in WT and Faecalibacterium in WE. Cereals mixture also affected the expression of functional genes, involved in metabolic pathways and carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) that modulated SCFAs generation. This study provides new insights into the effects of sweet and tartary buckwheat on intestinal function, which is beneficial to applying both types of buckwheat in practical.

The diversity and succession of microbial community and antioxidant activity present during the preparation of red raspberry Enzymes with and without starter cultures were investigated by high‐throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA and ITS1 genes and correlation analysis of the microbial diversity and antioxidant activity. The results showed that the sample inoculated with mixed fermentation had higher antioxidant activity than the sample without inoculated fermentation. The antioxidant capacity of red raspberry Enzymes increased significantly as the fermentation time increased. Firmicutes and Ascomycota were the predominant phyla of bacteria and fungi in all samples. At the genus level, Rhodococcus and Lactobacillus were the predominating bacteria throughout the fermentation process. The genus Kodamaea dominated the fungal community of early‐fermentation samples with microbial inoculated fermentation. Candida spp. grew rapidly in the late stage of fermentation in the samples with spontaneous fermentation. Unweighted pair‐group and PCA analysis revealed that the microbiota structures differed between the two groups. RDA and CCA showed that Rhodococcus and Kodamaea had positive effects on the DPPH scavenging ability and other antioxidant indicators, and the total phenol content had a significant and positive correlation coefficient with Gluconobacter. The results indicated that the fermentation by microorganisms significantly improves the oxidation resistance and helps to improve the quality of the red raspberry Enzymes.