Analysis of Healthy Beneficial Nutritional Components from Fructus Mume and the Response of Intestinal Flora in Mice

Japanese apricot, a deciduous tree belonging to the Rosaceae family, has a plantation history of more than 3000 years in China. Fructus mume, dried from immature Prunus mume fruit, has been used as a constituent of many medicinal formulas and functional foods since ancient China for its beneficial health effects. This study aimed to determine the types and contents of organic acids and mineral elements that played important roles in Fructus mume and to explore the functions of the gut microbiota, liver, and kidneys of mice. Ultra-performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC), Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES), and Inductively Coupled Plasma Source Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) were used to analyze the types and contents of organic acid and mineral elements of Fructus mume. 16S rRNA sequencing was performed to assess the impact of the Fructus mume on the intestinal flora of mice. The coefficients of the liver and kidney were tested to evaluate the effect of Fructus mume on the liver and kidney of mice. The results indicated that the main organic acid in Fructus mume was citric acid, and the main mineral element was potassium. We further found that Fructus mume could modulate the Firmicutes to Bacteroides ratio, optimize the composition of intestinal microbiota, enhance the proliferation of beneficial bacteria, improve intestinal flora function based on 16s RNA sequencing data and provide a certain degree of protection to the liver and kidney in mice.