{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]],"date-time":"2026-06-12T14:06:18Z","timestamp":1781273178853,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]],"date-time":"2026-06-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781222400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Ligusticum chuanxiong<\/jats:italic>\n                    hydrosol, a low-value distillation by-product, is usually discarded because of its offensive medicinal odor and pronounced bitterness. To overcome these sensory defects, this study employed\n                    <jats:italic>Eurotium cristatum<\/jats:italic>\n                    , a \u201cgolden flower\u201d fungus renowned for flavor remodeling in traditional fermentation, to valorize this underexplored aqueous matrix. This represents the first systematic application of\n                    <jats:italic>E. cristatum<\/jats:italic>\n                    for hydrosol biotransformation. Under optimized conditions (39\u00b0C, pH 6.7, 7% inoculum), total phenolics reached 71.25 mg\/L. Electronic nose and tongue analyses indicated changes in the aroma profile and a reduction in bitterness intensity from 8.0 to 4.0. GC-MS and GC-O revealed flavor remodeling through the elimination of 2,4-dimethylphenol and enrichment of pleasant aroma compounds, including \u03b1-terpineol, D-limonene, and citral. Fermentation also enhanced hypoglycemic potential, with \u03b1-amylase and \u03b1-glucosidase inhibition reaching 80 and 79%, respectively. In addition, the fermented hydrosol showed increased radical-scavenging activity (83% DPPH and 84% ABTS) and improved cellular protection by reducing intracellular ROS, increasing superoxide dismutase activity, and, at 1% inclusion, attenuating IL-6, IL-1\u03b1, and TNF-\u03b1. Overall,\n                    <jats:italic>E. cristatum<\/jats:italic>\n                    effectively upcycled botanical by-products into high-value functional ingredients, offering a sustainable, green strategy for simultaneously improving the sensory quality and nutritional value of plant-based foods.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1852271","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]],"date-time":"2026-06-12T13:55:26Z","timestamp":1781272526000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Valorization of Ligusticum chuanxiong hydrosol via Eurotium cristatum biotransformation: mechanistic insights into flavor remodeling and functional enhancement"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Shuo","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Flavour Fragrance and Cosmetics, Shanghai Institute of Technology","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zixuan","family":"Su","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Flavour Fragrance and Cosmetics, Shanghai Institute of Technology","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhuliang","family":"Duan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Flavour Fragrance and Cosmetics, Shanghai Institute of Technology","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lening","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Flavour Fragrance and Cosmetics, Shanghai Institute of Technology","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peng","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Boton (Shanghai) Biotechnology Co., Ltd.","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhidi","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Boton (Shanghai) Biotechnology Co., Ltd.","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lin","family":"Ye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Flavour Fragrance and Cosmetics, Shanghai Institute of Technology","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaobo","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Flavour Fragrance and Cosmetics, Shanghai Institute of Technology","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuyuan","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Flavour Fragrance and Cosmetics, Shanghai Institute of Technology","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shaojie","family":"Zeng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Flavour Fragrance and Cosmetics, Shanghai Institute of Technology","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yifei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Flavour Fragrance and Cosmetics, Shanghai Institute of Technology","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","first-page":"289","article-title":"Steaming flowers for medicinal dew: the dissemination of western essential oil knowledge and distillation technique in China.","volume":"3","author":"Sun","year":"2022","journal-title":"Stud History Nat Sci."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1661","DOI":"10.1007\/s11101-022-09803-6","article-title":"Hydrolates: a review on their volatiles composition, biological properties and potential uses.","volume":"21","author":"Tavares","year":"2022","journal-title":"Phytochem Rev."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"309","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fct.2018.02.050","article-title":"systematic review on the rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. 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