Enhanced antihypertensive potential of fermented pomegranate juice: The contribution of phenolic compounds biotransformation and the resultant angiotensin-I-converting enzyme inhibition mechanism

Current research on plant food-derived phenolic compounds as angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors has been well documented. Pomegranate juice (PJ) has been reported positively contributed to ACE inhibition. Microbial fermentation is a preferable technique to regulate the biotransformation of phenolic compounds and their bioaccessibility, therefore promoting the ACE inhibitory activity in plant food with antihypertension potential. In this study, the remarkable improvements of ACE inhibitory activity and antioxidant capacity in Lactobacillus plantarum fermented PJ were observed. A consecutive study of phenolic compounds biotransformation, ACE inhibition kinetics and structure-activity relationship were performed. This study firstly highlights the relationship between the enhanced ACE inhibitory activity in fermented PJ and the biotransformation of phenolic compounds, providing a new way to reinforce plant food ACE inhibition potential by microbial fermentation.