Bao Yang

• Personal Website: http://210.76.211.71/~yangbao?language=en
• Professor (Full) at Chinese Academy of Sciences

Due to their impressive pharmaceutical activities and safety, prenylated flavonoids have a high potent to be applied as medicines and nutraceuticals. Biocatalysis is an effective technique to synthesize prenylated flavonoids. The major concern of this technique is that the microbe-derived prenyltransferases usually have poor regiospecificity and ge...

Litchi leaf is a good resource of phenolics, which are good candidates for medicines. In this work, three phenolics were isolated from litchi leaf by column chromatography. Their structures were identified by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonnance (NMR) spectroscopy as secoisolariciresinol 9'-O-β-D-xylosi...

Longan is a delicious subtropical fruit with great health-beneficial effects. It has been utilised for disease prevention and health care since ancient age. To explore the chemicals responsible for the health benefits, water-soluble polysaccharides were extracted from longan flesh in this work. A pure polysaccharide (LPS1) was obtained through colu...

Flavonoids have been documented to have good antioxidant activities in vitro. However, reports on the cellular antioxidant activities of flavonoid C-glycosides are very limited. In this work, an apigenin C-glycoside was purified from Artocarpus heterophyllus by column chromatography and was identified to be 2’’-O-β-D-xylosylvitexin by nuclear magne...

BACKGROUND Prenylated flavonoids are widely distributed in plants, including fruits and vegetables in the Moraceae and Fabaceae families. These chemicals are potential functional food ingredients owing to their attractive biological activities. However, natural prenylated flavonoids are rare, which limits their application. RESULTS Here, we report...

Phytic acid, a naturally occurring compound predominantly found in cereals and legumes, is the focus of this review. This review investigates its distribution across various food sources, elucidating its dual roles in foods. It also provides new insights into the change in phytic acid level during food storage and the evolving trends in phytic acid...

BACKGROUND Walnut protein (WP) is recognized as a valuable plant protein. However, the poor solubility and functional properties limit its application in the food industry. It is a great requirement to improve the physicochemical properties of WP. RESULTS Following a 90 min restricted enzymatic hydrolysis period, the solubility of WP significantly...

Pea proteins has been widely used in food industry due to its functionality and health benefits. Pea peptides derived from pea proteins are considered as promising source of novel functional food. However, the chemical structure of pea peptides with immunomodulatory activity remains unclear. In this work, 46 pea peptides with molecular weight from...

2-C-Prenyl resveratrol was successfully produced by reconstructing the MVA pathway, resveratrol synthesis pathway and metabolic flux engineering to accumulate acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA.

BACKGROUND Fig (Ficus carica L.) fruit is consumed worldwide as a functional food. It contains phytochemicals that have been related to health benefits. However, the characteristic chemicals remain unclear. In this work, phytochemicals were prepared from figus by ultrasound‐assisted extraction under optimized conditions. The chemical composition of...

Flavonoids are significant natural nutraceuticals and a key component of dietary supplements. Given that flavonoid glycosides are more plentiful in nature and less beneficial to human health than their aglycone counterparts, they serve as potential precursors for flavonoid production. Glycosidases have shown substantial potential within the food in...

Prenylated flavonoids are promising nutraceuticals with diverse bioactivities. However, publications on the mechanism of action and structure–activity relationship of prenylated flavonoids are limited. In the present work, six novel prenylated flavonoids (C8–C13) with diversity structure were prepared. Their estrogen receptor (ER) modulator activit...

Aurones are a subclass of active flavonoids characterized with a scaffold of 2-benzylidene-3(2H)-benzofuranone. This type of chemicals are widely distributed in fruit, vegetable and flower, and contribute to human health. In this review, we summarize the natural aurones isolated from dietary plants. Their positive effects on immunomodulation, antio...

Pectin can improve the bioaccessibility of icaritin as a nanocarrier, and ultrasound can modify the pectin structure. However, the interaction between ultrasound-modified pectin (UMP) and icaritin remains unclearly. In this work, the effects of UMP on the physiochemical properties of icaritin/pectin micelles (IPMs) were investigated. The IPMs prepa...

Yam (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) is an important functional food in Asia. Yam starch usually has a low glycemic index. What is the structure requirement of starch to obtain a low glycemic index remains unknown. In order to understand the structure-glycemic index relationship, six yam starches from various regions with apparent structure difference w...

Auxin signaling is essential for the whole plant life cycle and the core components of auxin signaling include the auxin receptor TIR/AFB, corepressor Aux/IAA, and transcription factor ARF. They jointly modulate a variety of biological processes through regulating the expression of auxin-responsive genes. In the past decades, microRNAs (miRNAs) hav...

Ultrasound is effective to fabricate nanocomplex. Soymilk is a natural nanocarrier with good compatibility. However, information about soymilk-nutraceuticals nanocomplex is limited. In this work, soymilk was used to encapsulate icariin, a well known nutraceutical with poor bioavailability. The effect of ultrasound on the quality of icariin-soymilk...

Rare flavonoids, a special subclass of naturally occurring flavonoids with diverse structures including pterocarpans, aurones, neoflavonoids, homoisoflavones, diphenylpropanes, rotenoids and 2-phenylethyl-chromones. They are mainly found in legumes with numerous health benefits. Rare flavonoids are regarded as minor flavonoids due to their very lim...

Water-soluble polysaccharides (WSP) were extracted from the pulp of litchi. Its main component was identified as arabinogalactan. The dominant monosaccharide constituents were arabinose and galactose. Galactose and mannose accumulated at the end of storage. ATP, ADP and AMP levels declined with increasing pulp breakdown index. WSP depolymerized whi...

Peptides are good food stabilizers and thickeners. They also present good bioactivities. The structure characteristics of peptides are related to the health benefits. In this study, immunoregulatory peptides were produced by Alcalase® and neutrase hydrolysis of soybean proteins. UHPLC-MS/MS was applied for structure identification. The immumoregula...

Prenylated stilbenoids are a unique class of natural phenolic compounds consisting of C6-C2-C6 skeleton with prenyl substitution. They are potential nutraceuticals and dietary supplements presented in some edible plants. Prenylated stilbenoids demonstrate promising health benefits, including antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbi...

Biotransformation is an effective technique to modify the structure and physicochemical properties of carbohydrates. In this work, Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) starch was fermented by lactobacteria. The effect of fermentation time (6, 12, 30, 42 and 72 h) on structure and physicochemical properties of Chinese yam starch were investigated...

Walnut peptides are widely accepted as nutraceuticals with multiple health benefits. However, information about the structure and biological activity of walnut peptides is limited. In this work, walnut protein hydrolysate (WPH) was prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis. The total and free amino acids compositions in WPH were determined. The peptides seq...

Dietary prenylated stilbenoids present in many food resources, and have good bioactivities. However, their structure-activity relationships are rarely reported. In this work, eighteen C- and O-prenylated stilbenoids were chemically semisynthesized using one-step approach. They all could inhibit sugar digestive enzymes, including α-glucosidase and α...

Icaritin is a bioactive compound with low stability and poor bioavailability. Development of icaritin/polysaccharide complex can improve them. However, the structure information of this complex remains unclear. In this study, icaritin-loaded pectin micelles (IPMs) with high encapsulation efficiency (>93%) and loading capacity (>18%) were constructe...

Soybean peptides serve as functional foods with impressive health benefits. The structure characteristics of peptides are highly related to the health benefits. The structure-activity relationship and mechanism underlined are important scientific questions in this field. To answer these questions, soybean peptides were produced by combinatory enzym...

Soluble dietary fibers are widely used in functional food. In this work, the effects of γ-irradiation on molecular weight, structure, physicochemical properties and bioactivities of soluble dietary fiber in navel orange peel (OSDF) were investigated. Γ-irradiation enhanced the extraction yield of OSDF. The molar ratio of glucose and galacturonic ac...

Prenylated stilbenoids are good candidates of nutraceuticals presented in food resources. The levels of natural prenylated stilbenoids are usually low. Biotransformation is a promising synthesis strategy to produce novel bioactive compounds. However, information regarding biosynthesis of prenylated stilbenoids is rare. In this work, prenyltransfera...

Astragalus membranaceus is a valuable medicinal plant species widely distributed in Asia. Its root is the main medicinal tissue rich in methoxylated flavonoids. Origin can highly influence the chemical composition and bioactivity. To characterize the principal chemicals influenced by origin and provide more information about their antioxidant profi...

Ganoderma lucidum spore serves as a well-known immunomodulatory functional food in Asia. The polysaccharides in G. lucidum spore are responsible for the claimed immunomodulatory activity. However, the structural information of polysaccharides remains unclear. In this work, the leading water-soluble polysaccharide in G. lucidum spore (GLSP-I) with a...

Ganoderma lucidum spore is widely accepted as functional food. Polysaccharides are the predominant bioactive components in G. lucidum spore and contribute much to its health benefits. However, their structural characteristics remain unclear. In this work, water-soluble polysaccharides (GLSP) were obtained by hot water extraction. Three monosacchari...

The peel of Citrus reticulate ‘Chachiennsis’ (Chachi) is a well-known functional food with multiple health benefits in Asia. There is an old saying “the longer time Chachi is stored, the better health benefits it has”. Is it convincible? What are the critical bioactive compounds in Chachi? To answer these questions, gas chromatography-mass spectrom...

Background : Neurodegenerative diseases are becoming increasingly prevalent over the world. Therefore, drug development in this field is urgently required. Neuron impairment leads to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, while amelioration of oxidative stress can inhibit the impairment. As a traditional Chinese medicine, mulberry leaf exh...

The peel of Citrus reticulate ‘Chachiennsis’ (Chachi) is widely accepted as a functional food. It is generally recognized that its health benefits are dependent on storage time. However, the chemicals responsible for this phenomonon remain unclear. As bioactive polysaccharides are dominant in Chachi, Chachi polysaccharides with various storage time...

Mycotoxins are increasingly considered as micropollutants in the environment. Fumonisins, as one of the most important mycotoxins, cause potential health threats to humans and animals due to their ubiquitous contamination on cereals, fruit, vegetables and other environmental samples around the world. However, the contribution of fumonisins to the i...

Meat soup is an important diet with desirable taste and abundant nutrients. Unveiling the chemical composition of soup will help to understand the health effects. In this work, pork ribs and Silkie chicken were used to prepare soups by boiling, steaming and four-stage stewing, respectively. The chemical composition and sensory qualities of these so...

Sour orange (Citrus aurantium) is a popular fruit with health benefits. Phenolics are the dominant bioactive compounds in this fruit. However, the full phenolics composition remains unclear. In this work, UHPLC-MS/MS was used to qualify and quantify the phenolics in sour orange fruits of cv. Morocco (MSO) and United (USO). Fifty-eight phenolics, in...

Soybean peptides are functional food with good health benefits. The health benefits presented are highly dependent on the peptide structure. In this work, soybean peptides were prepared by alkaline protease hydrolysis of soybean proteins. The peptide structure was identified by UPLC-MS/MS. The full peptide composition was revealed. The sequences of...

Functional foods play an important role in health care and chronic diseases prevention, particularly cancer. Prenylated flavonoids are presented in many food resources. They are recognized as neutraceuticals due to their diverse health benefits. Up to now, more than 1000 prenylated flavonoids have been identified in plants. Their food resources are...

Background Prenylated phenolics, a type of important bioactive compounds, present with prenyl group on the phenolic skeleton. Prenylated flavonoids, stilbenoids, courmarins and xanthones are representive subclasses of prenylated phenolics with impressive bioactivities. These bioactive chemicals are presented in food sources and afford them great he...

Chinese yam has been widely used in food products. The growth stage significantly influences the qualities of Chinese yam. In this work, the physicochemical properties and microstructure of Chinese yam flours from expansion stage (ES-FF) and dormant stage (DS-FF) were investigated. The amylose content of DS-FF was lower than ES-FF, while the fat co...

Lemon is a fruit with delicious taste and attractive flavor, which has been widely accepted by people over the world. Dry lemon slice is a classical processed product of lemon. It is readily to be browning during storage. Which chemicals are responsible for the browning behavior remains unclear. Therefore, in this work, nuclear magnetic resonance s...

As a subtropical fruit with high commercial values, litchi is also a source of methylenecyclcopropylglycine (MCPG) and hypoglycin A (HGA), which could cause hypoglycemia and fatal encephalopathy in human. In this work, a quantitative method was developed well to detect MCPG and HGA present in litchi aril of different cultivars. Method validation wa...

Prenylated flavonoids are good drug candidates due to multiple biological activities and health benefits. Prenyltransferase is an important enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of prenylated flavonoids. In this work, a flavonoid prenyltransferase (AhPT1) from Artocarpus heterophyllus showed an unexpectedly metal ion-induced specificity to flavonoid...

The physicochemical properties of starch in Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) are highly dependent on the growth stage. However, relevant information available is limited. In this work, native starch and resistant starch (RS) were prepared from Chinese yam tuber at expansion stage and dormant stage, respectively. Their structural and physicoc...

Glycyrrhizae radix has been widely accepted as a functional food in Asia. Isoliquiritigenin is a characteristic bioactive chemical in this medicinal plant. In this work, the neuroprotective effect of isoliquiritigenin and the possible mechanisms were investigated. The results revealed that isoliquiritigenin exhibited better neuroprotective and anti...

Mulberry leaf is a vegetable used in daily diet. It can bring delicious taste and multiple health benefits. However, the chemicals responsible for these health benefits remain unveiled. In this work, two novel prenylated flavonoids were isolated from mulberry leaf. Their structures were identified and named as morachalcone D and morachalcone E. The...

Banana is a tropical fruit with good palatability and multiple health benefits. However, the fruit quality is readily deteriorated during postharvest storage. In this work, icariin was used to treat banana to maintain the fruit quality. NMR spectroscopy was applied to analyze the effect of icariin on the metabolite profiles of banana. It was found...

Mulberry leaf is a newly accepted vegetable for daily diet. It tastes good and has multiple health benefits, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. However, the chemicals responsible for these health benefits remain unveiled. Prenylated phenolics are characteristic bioactive compounds in mulberry leaf, which are recognized as good...

Banana is a delicious fruit with potent immunomodulatory function. In this study, α-d-(1→6)-glucan was purified from banana pulp. It could significantly promote pinocytic activity and production of nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). The mRNA expression of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), IL-6 and TNF-α was in...

The degradation of cell wall polysaccharides is highly associated with the softening process of banana. In this work, banana was treated by morin to delay softening during storage. Water-soluble polysaccharides were extracted from banana pulp at four storage stages. Their levels increased when the banana was green, but decreased when turned to yell...

Estrogen receptors (ERs) are transcription factors highly involved in physiological development and metabolism in the human body. They also play important roles in the treatment of cancer and metabolic diseases. Chemicals that interact with ERs can be used to treat diseases and maintain health. Phytoestrogens are natural chemicals that have been do...

Banana is a fruit widely accepted by people over the world. Besides having delicious taste, it shows multiple health benefits. In this work, the major polysaccharide was isolated from banana and purified. It was identified to be α-(1 → 6)-D-glucan. The in vivo immunomodulatory activity assay indicated that α-(1 → 6)-D-glucan could improve the immun...

Banana is a climacteric fruit with desirable palatability and high nutritional value. It ripens rapidly accompanied with metabolite changes during postharvest storage. In this work, morin was applied to treat banana to delay senescence. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to monitor the changes of metabolite composition and level...

Unlike common orange fruit, Citrus reticulata Blanco ‘Chachiensis’ (CRB) is usually served as traditional herbal medicine and function food. It is an abundant source of bioactive polysaccharides which contribute to the health benefits of CRB. However, the structure information of polysaccharides still remains unknown. In this work, the leading poly...

Effect of NaCl concentration (0–500 mM) on the oil/water interfacial and emulsifying properties of walnut protein-xanthan gum complex (WP-XG) was investigated. In solution system, NaCl at 150–500 mM promoted the aggregation of WP-XG with a maximum hydrodynamic diameter of 553.1 nm. Compared with pure mixture, WP-XG solutions at 150–500 mM NaCl show...

Okra were stored for 19 days at 25 °C and nuclear magnetic resonnance spectroscopy was used to monitor the changes of metabolite levels. Seventeen metabolites were identified and their relative levels were analysed by principal component analysis. The first principal components were isoleucine, fatty acids, γ-aminobutyrate, glutamine, asparagine, u...

Prenylated flavonols are known as phytoestrogen and have good bioactivties. However, their abundances in nature are pretty low. It is required to find an efficient synthesis technique. Icariin is a prenylated flavonol glycoside with low cost. It can be used to synthesize different prenylated flavonols. A combination of cellulase and trifluoacetic a...

Okra is a widely accepted vegetable in subtropical and tropical regions due to the good palatability. However, the polysaccharide compositions remain unclear. In this work, the water extract of okra pod was prepared and the leading polysaccharide fraction was purified. The precise structural characteristics were identified. It was a polysaccharide...

Cakes are important confectionery and are enjoyed socially within groups. Eggs are important components of cakes, providing emulsification, flavour, colour, and many other properties. However, because of various health concerns and religious beliefs, some consumers cannot enjoy traditional cakes made with eggs. In the current study, isolated pea pr...

Methylated flavonoids are an important type of natural flavonoid derivative with potentially multiple health benefits; among other things, they have improved bioavailability compared with flavonoid precursors. Flavonoids have been documented to have broad bioactivities, such as anticancer, immunomodulation, and antioxidant activities, that can be e...

The effects of vacuum impregnation (VI) with 2% calcium lactate treatment on the VI properties (obtained from hydrodynamic mechanism and deformation-relaxation phenomena models), firmness, and pectin of Kyoho grapes were investigated. Fruit pectin was analysed by atomic force mi-croscopy (AFM). VI was applied for 10-35 min at 25-45°C and 5 kPa. The...

Banana is one of the most important fruits over the world. The chemical composition is critical for the organoleptic properties and health benefits. As one of the leading bioactive components in banana pulp, the polysaccharides may contribute to the beneficial health effects. However, their precise structure information remains unknown. A leading a...

To evaluate the feasibility of substituting eggs in yellow cake by a mixture of soybean proteins, plant polysaccharides, and emulsifiers, the batter properties, including specific gravity and viscosity; cake properties, including specific volume, texture, colour, moisture, microstructures, and structural properties of starch and glutens of the repl...

Fruit wastes constituting up to half of total fruit weight represent a large pool of untapped resources for isolation of starch with diverse applications. In this work, the possibility of isolating starch from tropical fruit wastes and its extended application as a natural coagulant was elucidated. Amongst the 12 various parts of fruit wastes selec...

Cakes are important confectionery and are enjoyed socially within groups. Eggs are important components of cakes, providing emulsification, flavour, colour, and many other properties. However, because of various health concerns and religious beliefs, some consumers cannot enjoy traditional cakes made with eggs. In the current study, isolated pea pr...

Banana is a tropical fruit widely accepted by people over the world. Its chemical composition is critical for its organoleptic properties and nutritional value. In this work, the metabolite changes during postharvest senescence were investigated using NMR spectroscopy. The 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic information revealed the primary and secondary m...

Condensed tannin is a ubiquitous polyphenol in plants that possesses substantial antioxidant capacity. In this study, we have investigated the polyphenol extraction recovery and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity of the extracted polyphenol after litchi pericarp is treated with Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus sojae or Aspergi...

Fusarium proliferatum as a common fungus pathogen in foods can produce toxic fumonisins, which can cause animal diseases and increase risks of human cancers. On contrary, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) as a synthetic antioxidant offers a clue for preventing growth of fungal species and inhibiting production of mycotoxins. Unfortunately, information...

Pyranoflavonoids are mainly distributed in Leguminosae, Moraceae. As a potent drug candidate, pyranoflavonoids have attracted much attention in late years due to their impressive pharmaceutical activities. The structure characteristics, plant resources and pharmaceutical activities of pyranoflavonoids are reviewed in this paper. The fragmentation i...

Biological significance: To better understand the inhibitory mechanism of F. proliferatum by butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) treatment, a comprehensive proteomic analysis of the secreted proteins of F. proliferatum was firstly conducted. Among the 66 identified spots, 34 and 32 proteins were down- and up-accumulated significantly by BHA treatment,...

Litchi is a non-climacteric subtropical fruit of high commercial value. The shelf life of litchi fruit under ambient conditions (AC) is approximately 4–6 days. Post-harvest cold storage prolongs the life of litchi fruit for up to 30 days with few changes in pericarp browning and total soluble solids. However, the shelf life of litchi fruits at ambi...

The water-soluble bioactive polysaccharides can contribute to the health benefits of Lycium barbarium fruit. However, the structure characteristics of these polysaccharides remain unclear yet. An important polysaccharide (LBPA) was isolated and purified from L. barbarium in this work. It was identified by chemical and spectroscopic methods as arabi...

Polygala tenuifolia root is used as a functional food due to its attractive health benefits. In this study, ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were utilized to characterize the bioactive compounds in P. tenuifolia root. The UPLC-MS/MS information reveale...

Defatted walnut (Juglans Sigillata Dode) meal (DWM) is the main by-product after oil extraction of walnut seed, which contains 40–45% proteins with abundant essential amino acids. In this research, the protein of defatted walnut meal was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis by pancreatin. The hydrolysate was found to possess excellent antioxidant capa...

Organic tofu using organic compatible coagulants of magnesium chloride and three polysaccharides including carrageenan, guar gum and gum Arabic were generated. For MgCl 2 coagulated tofu, carrageenan significantly increased the hardness from 969.5 g to 1210.5 g whereas guar gum (0.6 g) decreased the hardness to 505.5 g. Interestingly, gypsum and gu...

The effect of sucrose ester (SE) concentration on interfacial tension and surface dilatational modulus of SE and sodium caseinate (NaCas)-SE solutions were investigated. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of SE was presumed to be 0.05% by measuring interfacial tension of SE solution. The interfacial tension of NaCas-SE solution decreased with...

BACKGROUNDA lot of interesting research has been undertaken to enhance the yield of exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The objective of this study was to determine the influence of casein hydrolysates (CH) with molecular weight less than 3 kDa on cell viability, EPS synthesis and the enzyme activity involved in EPS syn...