Isolation and Identification of Quercetin Degrading Bacteria from Human Fecal Microbes

Quercetin has a wide range of biological properties. The gut microflora can often modulate its biological activity and their potential health effects. There still is a lack of information about gut bacteria involving in this process. The strains of gut microbes from human feces that can transform quercetin were isolated and identified by in vitro fermentation. The results showed that Escherichia coli, Stretococcus lutetiensis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Weissella confusa, Enterococcus gilvus, Clostridium perfringens and Bacteroides fragilis have the various ability of degrading quercetin. Among them, C. perfringens and B. fragilis were discovered to have the strongest ability of degrading quercetin. Additionally, quercetin can't inhibit the growth of C. perfringens. In conclusion, many species of gut microbiota can degrade quercetin, but their ability are different.