Abstract:The liquid multistage fermentation of a traditional Chinese medicine prescription (JGZF) was carried out with multiple strains. The changes of trace elements, antioxidant activity in vitro, antibacterial activity and other effective components of JGZF were investigated under three treatment methods (direct boiling, natural fermentation and artificial fermentation). The trace elements were detected by atomic absorption spectrometry, and the antioxidant activities in vitro were detected by ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer, including the superoxide dismutase(SOD) activity, DPPH radical scavenging capacity, hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity and the total polyphenol content. The antibacterial activity was determined by Oxford cup method and evaluated based on the diameter size of bacteriostatic ring. The pharmacodynamic components of JGZF were detected by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS non-target metabonomics detection. The results showed that the contents of trace elements including Zn, Cu, Fe and Ca in JGZF after the natural fermentation and artificial fermentation were significantly increased compared with those of direct boiling. The antioxidant activity in vitro of JGZF was significantly improved by artificial fermentation, in which SOD activity was increased by 1.5 times, DPPH radical scavenging capacity was increased by 2.2 times, hydroxyl radical scavenging ability was increased by 4.2 times, and the content of total polyphenols increased by 2.2 times. The antibacterial activity of JGZF against Salmonella and Escherichia coli was stronger, however, the antibacterial activity against Shigella and Staphylococcus aureus unchanged or slightly decreased. After the artificial fermentation of JGZF, the content of liquid components increased or decreased, including the essential amino acid L-phenylalanine, anti-inflammatory substances such as baicalein increased by hundreds of millions of times, while the contents of huoxuetong schisandrin B, 7-hydroxycoumarin and pesticide residue were significantly decreased.