Antioxidant and hepatoprotective effect of aqueous extract of germinated and fermented mung bean on ethanol-mediated liver damage

Abstract

Mung bean is a hepatoprotective agent in dietary supplements. Fermentation and germination processes are well recognized to enhance the nutritional values especially the concentration of active compounds such as amino acids and GABA of various foods. In this study, antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects of freeze-dried mung bean and amino-acid- and GABA-enriched germinated and fermented mung bean aqueous extracts were compared. Liver superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), nitric oxide (NO) levels, and serum biochemical profile such as aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), triglycerides (TG), and cholesterol and histopathological changes were examined for the antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects of these treatments. Germinated and fermented mung bean have recorded an increase of 27.9 and 7.3 times of GABA and 8.7 and 13.2 times of amino acid improvement, respectively, as compared to normal mung bean. Besides, improvement of antioxidant levels, serum markers, and NO level associated with better histopathological evaluation indicated that these extracts could promote effective recovery from hepatocyte damage. These results suggested that freeze-dried, germinated, and fermented mung bean aqueous extracts enriched with amino acids and GABA possessed better hepatoprotective effect as compared to normal mung bean.

Figure 1

The photomicrographs (40 × 10) of liver section taken from mice. Normal group (a) received saline as a normal control group, shows a normal structure of central vein surrounded by hepatic cells, (b) received saline after being induced with 50% ethanol as a ethanol control group, shows a steatosis and hepatocyte necrosis; (c) received Silybin (50 mg/kg body wt.) after being induced with 50% ethanol; (d) received mung bean (200 mg/kg body wt.) after being induced with 50% ethanol; (e) received mung bean (1000 mg/kg body wt.) after being induced with 50% ethanol; (f) received germinated mung bean (200 mg/kg body wt.) after being induced with 50% ethanol; (g) received germinated mung bean (1000 mg/kg body wt.) after being induced with 50% ethanol; (h) received fermented mung bean (200 mg/kg body wt.) after being induced with 50% ethanol; (i) received fermented mung bean (1000 mg/kg body wt.) after being induced with 50% ethanol. Significant hepatoprotective effects are seen in extracts-treated particularly germinated and fermented mung bean. Arrow indicates a condition of microvesicular steatosis in liver injury, which mainly occurs in ethanol-induced group. Circle indicates hepatocytes necrosis. Centrilobular vein (CV).