Abstract
The eubiotic state of the gut microbiota is primarily brought about by various probiotic species that colonize the gut. It is becoming very clear that the probiotic-metabolite mixtures in the gut luminal milieu is central in establishing cross-kingdom signalling networks to maintain gut-multi-organ axes health. Culturally, different fermented foods and beverages have been regional staples since ancient times, and are known to be enriched with probiotics. However, regional variations including the environment, the staple food source (prebiotics), and fermentation methods, among other factors, influence the fermenting probiotic species. Fermented rice water (FRW), an economical, easy to make, simple beverage is a rich source of synbiotics. Therefore, consumption of fermented rice water allows for the intake of a variety of region-specific live probiotics. The secondary metabolites (postbiotics) present in such symbiotic mixtures may also contribute toward maintaining normal intestinal cellular functions. In this study, we highlight that regional staples such as rice consumed in their fermented form may hold promise in alleviating gut-related diseases. Our results show that simple overnight fermentation of cooked edible rice enables the growth of probiotic bacterial species belonging to the Lactic Acid Bacteria group (Leuconostoc lactis, Weisella confusa, Weisella cibacria, Lactococcus lactis, lactococcus taiwanensis, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus nagelii, and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. indicus). Metabolomic analysis of the overnight fermented and over two-nights fermented rice water identified more than 200 postbiotic metabolites. Our results show that postbiotics contributing to energy metabolism, gut-multiorgan axes, and microbial paraprobiotics are enriched in the overnight (~10 h) fermented rice water as compared to the over two-nights fermented rice water. Functional analysis via gene expression studies for nutrient absorption (mct-1 and mct-2) and barrier integrity (occludin and zo-1) reveals significant upregulation of these genes upon FRW treatment of HT29 colon cells. This study is a first-of-its-kind to demonstrate the proof-of-principle that postbiotics of naturally fermented rice water positively modulates colonocyte health.