Untargeted Intracellular Metabolomic Profiling of Saccharomyces boulardii Using LC–MS

Abstract Saccharomyces boulardii (S. boulardii) is a promising probiotic microorganism with diverse health benefits. In the present study, 1 × 106 cells of this organism were inoculated in PDB and incubated at 30°C for 24 h in a rotatory shaker (120 rpm) to ensure optimal temperature and metabolite production. Secondary metabolite extraction was carried out, followed by nLC-MS analysis to identify the bioactive compounds. The files generated were analyzed using Compound Discoverer (CD) 3.3, and a ChemSpider database search was conducted to annotate the metabolites. The dataset was matched using the PubChem identifier utility. A total of 331 metabolites were identified. The metabolite spectrum analysis revealed that these bioactive metabolites possessed antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activities. The metabolites were functionally characterized using existing literature; 25, 10, 5, and 4 of the bioactive compounds exhibited antimicrobial, anticancerous, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity, respectively. This metabolomic study supports the need for further exploration of S. boulardii metabolites, as those with currently unknown activities may also possess valuable pharmacological properties.