Changes of Ginsenoside Content by Mushroom Mycelial Fermentation in Red Ginseng Extract

To obtain microorganisms for the microbial conversion of ginsenosides in red ginseng extract (RGE), mushroom mycelia were used for the fermentation of RGE. After fermentation, total sugar contents and polyohenol contents of the RGEs fermented with various mushrooms were not a significant increase between RGE and the ferments. But uronic acid content was relatively higher in the fermented RGEs cultured with Lentus edodes (2155.6 μg/mL), Phelllinus linteus (1690.9 μg/mL) and Inonotus obliquus 26137 and 26147 (1549.5 and 1670.7 μg/mL) compared to the RGE (1307.1 μg/mL). The RGEs fermented by Ph. linteus, Cordyceps militaris, and Grifola frondosa showed particularly high levels of total ginsenosides (20018.1, 17501.6, and 16267.0 μg/mL, respectively). The ferments with C. militaris (6974.2 μg/mL), Ph. linteus (9109.2 μg/mL), and G. frondosa (7023.0 μg/mL) also showed high levels of metabolites (sum of compound K, Rh(1), Rg(5), Rk(1), Rg(3), and Rg(2)) compared to RGE (3615.9 μg/mL). Among four different RGE concentrations examined, a 20 brix concentration of RGE was favorable for the fermentation of Ph. linteus. Maximum biotransformation of ginsneoside metabolites (9395.5 μg/mL) was obtained after 5 days fermentation with Ph. linteus. Maximum mycelial growth of 2.6 mg/mL was achieved at 9 days, in which growth was not significantly different during 5 to 9 days fermentation. During fermentation of RGE by Ph. linteus in a 7 L fermenter, Rg(3), Rg(5), and Rk(1) contents showed maximum concentrations after 5 days similar to flask fermentation. These results confirm that fermentation with Ph. linteus is very useful for preparing minor ginsenoside metabolites while being safe for foods.