Using wheat bran and soybean meal as solid state fermentation substances for the production of Xylaria nigripes with bioactivities

•First report about production of Xylaria nigripes (XN) filaments by solid-state fermentation.•XN-fermented substrates increased the protection effect against H2O2 induced damage in neuro cells (PC12 cells).•Phenolic and flavonoid compounds provided inhibitory activities against lipid peroxidation, nitric oxide, COX-2 enzyme.

Different combinations of wheat bran (WB) and soy meal (SM) were used as solid state fermentation substrates for the growth of functional Xylaria nigripes (XN, Wu Ling Shen, in Chinese). Hot water as well as ethanol (70%) were used to extract active compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. In general, ethanol was a more effective solvent than hot water to extract active compounds. When WB was used as the sole fermentation substrate, the ethanol extract of XN-fermented substances obtained the highest antioxidant activities, especially DPPH radical scavenging and reducing activities; anti-inflammation, as measured by the inhibition of COX-2 activity, was used as an active index. Fermentation substrates containing equal amounts of WB and SM increased the protective effects against H2O2-induced damage in neuronal cells (PC12 cells) for 70% ethanol-extracted XN. Both XN and residues of fermentation substrates may have contributed to the biological activities of XN-fermented substances.

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