Wolffia globosa–Mankai Plant-Based Protein Contains Bioactive Vitamin B12 and Is Well Absorbed in Humans

Sela, Ilan; Yaskolka Meir, Anat; Brandis, Alexander; Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa; Zeibich, Lydia; Chang, Debbie; Dirks, Blake; Tsaban, Gal; Kaplan, Alon; Rinott, Ehud; Zelicha, Hila; Arinos, Shira; Ceglarek, Uta; Isermann, Berend; Lapidot, Miri; Green, Ralph; Shai, Iris

doi:10.3390/nu12103067

Open AccessArticle

Wolffia globosa–Mankai Plant-Based Protein Contains Bioactive Vitamin B₁₂ and Is Well Absorbed in Humans

by

Ilan Sela

^1,†,

Anat Yaskolka Meir

^2,†

,

Alexander Brandis

³

,

Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown

⁴,

Lydia Zeibich

⁵,

Debbie Chang

⁵,

Blake Dirks

⁵,

Gal Tsaban

²

,

Alon Kaplan

²,

Ehud Rinott

²,

Hila Zelicha

²,

Shira Arinos

¹,

Uta Ceglarek

⁶,

Berend Isermann

⁶

,

Miri Lapidot

¹,

Ralph Green

^7,*

and

Iris Shai

^2,8,*

¹

Research and Development Department, Hinoman Ltd., Rishon Lezion 7546302, Israel

²

Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel

³

Targeted Metabolomics Unit, Life Sciences Core Facilities Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel

⁴

School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA

⁵

Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA

⁶

Institute for Laboratory Medicine, University of Leipzig Medical Center, 04103 Leipzig, Germany

⁷

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA

⁸

Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Nutrients 2020, 12(10), 3067; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12103067

Submission received: 13 September 2020 / Revised: 2 October 2020 / Accepted: 4 October 2020 / Published: 8 October 2020

(This article belongs to the Section Nutritional Epidemiology)

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Abstract

Background: Rare plants that contain corrinoid compounds mostly comprise cobalamin analogues, which may compete with cobalamin (vitamin B₁₂ (B₁₂)) metabolism. We examined the presence of B₁₂ in a cultivated strain of an aquatic plant: Wolffia globosa (Mankai), and predicted functional pathways using gut-bioreactor, and the effects of long-term Mankai consumption as a partial meat substitute, on serum B₁₂ concentrations. Methods: We used microbiological assay, liquid-chromatography/electrospray-ionization-tandem-mass-spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and anoxic bioreactors for the B₁₂ experiments. We explored the effect of a green Mediterranean/low-meat diet, containing 100 g of frozen Mankai shake/day, on serum B₁₂ levels during the 18-month DIRECT-PLUS (ID:NCT03020186) weight-loss trial, compared with control and Mediterranean diet groups. Results: The B₁₂ content of Mankai was consistent at different seasons (p = 0.76). Several cobalamin congeners (Hydroxocobalamin(OH-B₁₂); 5-deoxyadenosylcobalamin(Ado-B₁₂); methylcobalamin(Me-B₁₂); cyanocobalamin(CN-B₁₂)) were identified in Mankai extracts, whereas no pseudo B₁₂ was detected. A higher abundance of 16S-rRNA gene amplicon sequences associated with a genome containing a KEGG ortholog involved in microbial B₁₂ metabolism were observed, compared with control bioreactors that lacked Mankai. Following the DIRECT-PLUS intervention (n = 294 participants; retention-rate = 89%; baseline B₁₂ = 420.5 ± 187.8 pg/mL), serum B₁₂ increased by 5.2% in control, 9.9% in Mediterranean, and 15.4% in Mankai-containing green Mediterranean/low-meat diets (p = 0.025 between extreme groups). Conclusions: Mankai plant contains bioactive B₁₂ compounds and could serve as a B₁₂ plant-based food source.

Keywords: Wolffia globosa; vitamin B₁₂; plant-based nutrition; flexitarians; weight loss; sustainability

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sela, I.; Yaskolka Meir, A.; Brandis, A.; Krajmalnik-Brown, R.; Zeibich, L.; Chang, D.; Dirks, B.; Tsaban, G.; Kaplan, A.; Rinott, E.; et al. Wolffia globosa–Mankai Plant-Based Protein Contains Bioactive Vitamin B₁₂ and Is Well Absorbed in Humans. Nutrients 2020, 12, 3067. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12103067

AMA Style

Sela I, Yaskolka Meir A, Brandis A, Krajmalnik-Brown R, Zeibich L, Chang D, Dirks B, Tsaban G, Kaplan A, Rinott E, et al. Wolffia globosa–Mankai Plant-Based Protein Contains Bioactive Vitamin B₁₂ and Is Well Absorbed in Humans. Nutrients. 2020; 12(10):3067. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12103067

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sela, Ilan, Anat Yaskolka Meir, Alexander Brandis, Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, Lydia Zeibich, Debbie Chang, Blake Dirks, Gal Tsaban, Alon Kaplan, Ehud Rinott, and et al. 2020. "Wolffia globosa–Mankai Plant-Based Protein Contains Bioactive Vitamin B₁₂ and Is Well Absorbed in Humans" Nutrients 12, no. 10: 3067. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12103067

APA Style

Sela, I., Yaskolka Meir, A., Brandis, A., Krajmalnik-Brown, R., Zeibich, L., Chang, D., Dirks, B., Tsaban, G., Kaplan, A., Rinott, E., Zelicha, H., Arinos, S., Ceglarek, U., Isermann, B., Lapidot, M., Green, R., & Shai, I. (2020). Wolffia globosa–Mankai Plant-Based Protein Contains Bioactive Vitamin B₁₂ and Is Well Absorbed in Humans. Nutrients, 12(10), 3067. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12103067

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Wolffia globosa–Mankai Plant-Based Protein Contains Bioactive Vitamin B₁₂ and Is Well Absorbed in Humans

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