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Food Science and Human Wellness 2022, 11(1): 58-67 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2021.07.007
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 11 September 2021

Chinese Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii seed oil affects obesity through accumulation of sciadonic acid and altering the composition of gut microbiota

Show Author's Information Huan Wanga,b,  Ye Lia,c( ),  Rui Wanga,b,  Huaifei Jia,b,  Chenyang Lua,c,  Xiurong Sua,c
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
Collage of Food and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China
Collage of Marine Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China

Peer review under responsibility of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

Keywords:
Gut microbiota, Obesity, Lipid metabolism, Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii seed oil
Cite this article:
Wang H, Li Y, Wang R, et al. Chinese Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii seed oil affects obesity through accumulation of sciadonic acid and altering the composition of gut microbiota. Food Science and Human Wellness, 2022, 11(1): 58-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2021.07.007
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Abstract Full text About this article

Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii (Taxace, Torreya) is mainly distributed across the hilly areas of subtropical China and is well known for its nutritional value. In this study, the ameliorative effects of T. grandis seed oil on lipid metabolism were investigated, and the underlying mechanism was explored from the perspective of gut microbiota. Mice experiments showed that the rate of body mass gain in the group where the mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) and supplemented with 550 mg/(kg·day) T. grandis seed oil (HFD + TO550 group) was 42.27%, while it was 62.25% in the HFD group. Compared with the HFD group, the liver and fat indices, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were reduced in the oil-supplement groups. Moreover, the oil supplement significantly changed the fatty acid composition and alleviated pathological damage to the liver caused by the high-fat diet. Additionally, the distinct clustering of bacteria in the composition of gut microbiota was observed in the oil treatment group compared with that in the HFD group. T. grandis seed oil significantly increased the abundance of the beneficial bacteria and short-chain fatty acid producers, including Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Faecalibaculum and Allobaculum. Our results suggest that the supplements of T. grandis seed oil could alleviate hyperlipidemia caused by HFD. These positive effects are considered to be related with sciadonic acid (SCA) and are partially mediated by alterations in gut microbiota composition and functionality.


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About this article

Chinese Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii seed oil affects obesity through accumulation of sciadonic acid and altering the composition of gut microbiota

Show Author's information Huan Wanga,b, Ye Lia,c( ), Rui Wanga,b, Huaifei Jia,b, Chenyang Lua,c, Xiurong Sua,c
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
Collage of Food and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China
Collage of Marine Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China

Peer review under responsibility of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

Abstract

Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii (Taxace, Torreya) is mainly distributed across the hilly areas of subtropical China and is well known for its nutritional value. In this study, the ameliorative effects of T. grandis seed oil on lipid metabolism were investigated, and the underlying mechanism was explored from the perspective of gut microbiota. Mice experiments showed that the rate of body mass gain in the group where the mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) and supplemented with 550 mg/(kg·day) T. grandis seed oil (HFD + TO550 group) was 42.27%, while it was 62.25% in the HFD group. Compared with the HFD group, the liver and fat indices, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were reduced in the oil-supplement groups. Moreover, the oil supplement significantly changed the fatty acid composition and alleviated pathological damage to the liver caused by the high-fat diet. Additionally, the distinct clustering of bacteria in the composition of gut microbiota was observed in the oil treatment group compared with that in the HFD group. T. grandis seed oil significantly increased the abundance of the beneficial bacteria and short-chain fatty acid producers, including Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Faecalibaculum and Allobaculum. Our results suggest that the supplements of T. grandis seed oil could alleviate hyperlipidemia caused by HFD. These positive effects are considered to be related with sciadonic acid (SCA) and are partially mediated by alterations in gut microbiota composition and functionality.

Keywords: Gut microbiota, Obesity, Lipid metabolism, Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii seed oil

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Publication history

Received: 26 March 2020
Revised: 30 September 2020
Accepted: 10 December 2020
Published: 11 September 2021
Issue date: January 2022

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© 2021 Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to HeWang Torreya Company Inc. (Zhejiang, China) for providing Chinese Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii seed oil. This work was supported by the Regional Demonstration Project of Marine Economic Innovation and Development (2013 and 2016), and the K. C. Wong Magna Fund offered by the Ningbo University.

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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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