The relationships between chemical constituents and microbial diversity in shinkiku, a fermented crude drug used in Kampo medicine

Shinkiku is a traditional crude drug used for treating anorexia and dyspepsia of elder patients in east Asia. Shinkiku is prepared by the microbial fermentation of wheat and some herbs, however, microbial characteristics and their relationships with the chemical constituents of shinkiku are not clear. Thus, we aimed to clarify the chemical constituents and microbial community structure in shinkiku. Microbial communities in commercial 15 shinkiku were profiled by barcoded ITS region of rDNA or V3/V4 region of 16SrDNA gene amplicon sequencing. Chemical constituents such as digestive enzyme activities, beneficial organic acid, and volatile compounds in shinkiku were also investigated.