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 po-tential. 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 biotransfor-mation, 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.