Dihydrodaidzein production from soybean hypocotyl extract by human intestinal bacterium MRG-1

Phytoestrogenic S-equol production in human gut exclusively depends on the biotransformation of daidzein to dihydrodaidzein (DHD). With a growing demand for the DHD enriched biomaterials, the commercial soybean hypocotyl extract (SHE) was chosen as a substrate for the microbial DHD production by human gut bacterium MRG-1, anaerobic DHD producer. To optimize the production of DHD, anaerobic fermentation conditions, including sterilization time, growth stage of inoculum, and growth media, were investigated. Maximum DHD production (1.2 g/L) was achieved after 48 h incubation when 1% (w/v) of SHE in the 20-min-sterilized Gifu Anaeboic Medium media was inoculated with OD₆₀₀ 0.3-0.4 of MRG-1. This is the first report that crude soy biomaterial, instead of pure compounds, such as daidzin and daidzein, is utilized for the production of the DHD enriched biomaterial.