Abstract
Oxidative stress is a major pathological factor in chronic diseases, driving the need for safe and sustainable natural antioxidants. Although Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. is widely utilized for its roots, its leaves (GL) remain underexploited despite being rich in polysaccharides and polyphenols. The dense and highly ordered cell wall structure of GL restricts the release and bioaccessibility of these bioactive constituents. This study aimed to evaluate whether a green high-temperature steam treatment could induce structural and metabolic remodeling in GL to enhance the release and antioxidant efficacy of its functional components. Multi-scale structural analyses revealed that steam treatment significantly disrupted the cell wall, reduced crystallinity, and decreased thermal stability, resulting in a more porous leaf matrix. Monosaccharide profiling and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy revealed selective redistribution of monosaccharides, enrichment of uronic acids and arabinose, and attenuation of hydrogen-bonding networks without destruction of the polysaccharide backbone. Untargeted metabolomics identified 637 differentially expressed metabolites, with significant remodeling of flavonoids, phenolic acids, and glycosylated compounds, indicating coordinated secondary metabolic reprogramming. Functionally, polysaccharides from high-temperature steam-treated GL (HGL) exhibited markedly enhanced antioxidant activity, including improved 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical scavenging, as well as increased reducing power. In vivo, HGL supplementation in an AAPH-induced zebrafish embryo oxidative stress model significantly improved survival and hatching rates, supported embryonic growth, normalized yolk sac utilization, and alleviated oxidative stress-related developmental issues in a dose-dependent manner. High-temperature steam treatment integrates structural disruption and compositional remodeling to enhance the antioxidant efficacy of GL. This approach offers a sustainable strategy for utilizing GL and emphasizes the potential of green physical processing to unlock the functional benefits of underused plant tissues.
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Claims 15
Claim · model-written summary
Steam treatment significantly disrupted the leaf cell wall.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.
Glycyrrhiza uralensist0 - Treatment
- steam treatmente0
- Outcome
- cell walle0
- Direction
- disruptede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“steam treatment significantly disrupted the cell wall”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam treatment reduced leaf crystallinity.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Treatment
- steam treatmente0
- Outcome
- crystallinitye0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“steam treatment significantly disrupted the cell wall, reduced crystallinity”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam treatment decreased leaf thermal stability.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Treatment
- steam treatmente0
- Outcome
- thermal stabilitye0
- Direction
- decreasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“steam treatment significantly disrupted the cell wall, reduced crystallinity, and decreased thermal stability”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam treatment produced a more porous leaf matrix.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Outcome
- porous leaf matrixe0
- Direction
- moree0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“resulting in a more porous leaf matrix”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam treatment redistributed leaf monosaccharides.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Outcome
- monosaccharidese0
Not reportedTreatmentComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“revealed selective redistribution of monosaccharides”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam treatment enriched leaf uronic acids and arabinose.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Outcome
- uronic acids and arabinosee0
- Direction
- enrichmente0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“enrichment of uronic acids and arabinose”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam treatment attenuated hydrogen-bonding networks without destroying the polysaccharide backbone.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Outcome
- hydrogen-bonding networkse0
- Direction
- attenuatione0
- Qualifier
- without destruction of the polysaccharide backbonee0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“attenuation of hydrogen-bonding networks without destruction of the polysaccharide backbone”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Untargeted metabolomics identified 637 differentially expressed metabolites.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Outcome
- differentially expressed metabolitese0
- Value
- 637e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Untargeted metabolomics identified 637 differentially expressed metabolites”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam treatment remodeled leaf flavonoids, phenolic acids and glycosylated compounds.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Outcome
- flavonoids, phenolic acids, and glycosylated compoundse0
Not reportedTreatmentComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“significant remodeling of flavonoids, phenolic acids, and glycosylated compounds”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Polysaccharides from steam-treated leaves showed enhanced antioxidant activity.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Treatment
- high-temperature steam-treated GLe0
- Outcome
- antioxidant activitye0
- Direction
- enhancede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“polysaccharides from high-temperature steam-treated GL (HGL) exhibited markedly enhanced antioxidant activity”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam-treated leaf polysaccharides improved DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Outcome
- 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical scavenginge0
- Direction
- improvede0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“improved 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical scavenging”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam-treated leaf polysaccharides increased reducing power.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Outcome
- reducing powere0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increased reducing power”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam-treated leaf supplementation improved survival and hatching in stressed zebrafish embryos.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Treatment
- HGL supplementatione0
- Outcome
- survival and hatching ratese0
- Direction
- improvede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“HGL supplementation in an AAPH-induced zebrafish embryo oxidative stress model significantly improved survival and hatching rates”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam-treated leaf supplementation supported growth and normalized yolk sac utilization in stressed zebrafish embryos.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Outcome
- embryonic growth, normalized yolk sac utilizatione0
Not reportedTreatmentComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“supported embryonic growth, normalized yolk sac utilization”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”
Claim · model-written summary
Steam-treated leaf supplementation alleviated developmental issues in stressed zebrafish embryos in a dose-dependent manner.
- Taxon
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.Glycyrrhiza uralensist0
- Outcome
- oxidative stress-related developmental issuese0
- Direction
- alleviatede0
- Qualifier
- in a dose-dependent mannere0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“alleviated oxidative stress-related developmental issues in a dose-dependent manner”
t0“Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.”