Leuconostoc mesenteroides-produced EPS in fermented foods.

For fermented food studies, 6-week-old C57BL/6J female mice were placed on AIN-76A diet (Research Diets, New Brunswick, NJ, USA) or modified AIN-76A diet for 2 weeks (n = 8). The compositions of the diets are provided in Supplementary Table 1. Japanese pickles are made from cucumbers including Leuconostoc mesenteroides or not by fermentation containing mixture of bonito flacks, soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, salt with or without sugar at 30 °C for 48 h under aerobic condition. Fermented food-derived EPS was extracted and purified following a modified protocol as previously described42. After incubation, these pickles are dried and powdered.