Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology 56 (2024) 103045 Available online 30 January 2024 1878-8181/© 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/bab Augmenting the antioxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-carcinogenic potential of Terminalia chebula and Terminalia bellirica after tannin acyl hydrolase mediated biotransformation Rippin Sehgal a , Anil K. Sharma b, * , Bikram Jit Singh c , Reena V. Saini d , Adesh K. Saini d , Vikas Beniwal e, ** a Department of Biotechnology, Ambala College of Engineering and Applied Research, Devsthali, Ambala-133101, Haryana, India b Department of Biotechnology, Sector-82-A, IT City Road, Amity University Punjab, Mohali, 140306, India c Department of Mechanical Engineering, MM Engineering College, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to Be University), Mullana-133207, Ambala, Haryana, India d Central Research Laboratory and Department of Bio-sciences and Technology, MMEC, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to Be University), Mullana, Ambala, Haryana, India e Department of Microbiology, Central University of Haryana, Mahendragarh, Haryana, India ARTICLE INFO Handling Editor: Dr. Ching Hou Keywords: Tannins Hydrolysable tannins Antioxidant activity Anti-microbial activity Biotransformation Tannin acyl hydrolase: MTT cytotoxicity assay Gallic acid derivatives ABSTRACT Tannins, the fourth most abundant plant compounds, comprise condensed and hydrolysable types. Proanthocyanidins are flavan-3-ol polymers, while hydrolysable tannins, categorized as gallotannins and ellagitannins, form esters of gallic/ellagic acid and poly-ol. Tannin acyl hydro- lase catalyzes hydrolysable tannin breakdown, yielding gallic acid derivatives with antibacterial, anti-hyperglycemic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic properties. In this study, we explored hydrolysable tannins in extracts from Terminalia chebula and Terminalia bellirica, fo- cusing on their phenolic and tannin content, as well as enzymatic and biological activities. Quan- titative assessments for Total Phenol Content (TPC), Tannic Acid Content (TAC), and Hy- drolysable Tannin Content (HTC) were carried out with Terminalia chebula displaying maximum amount of all three i.e. 291.9mg GAE/g DW TPC, 266.7 mgTAE/g DW TAC and 246.6 mg TAE/g DW HTC. LCMS-MS analysis revealed 8 and 13 gallic acid derivatives from T. bellirica and T. chebula, respectively after enzymatic hydrolysis. Following enzymatic treatment, the IC 50 values for T. bellirica were slightly higher than T. chebula. The tannase hydrolysed T. chebula demon- strated the highest zone of inhibition against E. coli whereas the un-hydrolysed T. chebula showed minimal inhibition across all four bacterial cultures under study. The hydrolysed extract of T. chebula exhibited significant cytotoxicity after a 20-min hydrolysis, demonstrating a substantial effect with a minimal IC 50 value of 83.56 μg/ml against HCT-116 cell line. Our study quantita- tively highlights the enhanced bioactive properties conferred by enzymatic hydrolysis of hy- drolysable tannins and considerable health benefits associated with these compounds. * Corresponding author. ** Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: anibiotech18@gmail.com (A.K. Sharma), beniwalvikash@gmail.com (V. Beniwal). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcab.2024.103045 Received 7 November 2023; Received in revised form 4 January 2024; Accepted 23 January 2024