Bioaccessibility of Polyphenols from Seabuckthorn Berries Juice using Simulated Gut Model

Abstract

The regular consumption of polyphenol rich diet is reported to exert valuable heath benefits to human hosts. The diet rich in these reduces the chances of chronic diseases, like cardiovascular problems, particular cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. However, these health benefits depend on the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of these polyphenols from the dietary food components. The Himachal Pradesh, a province of North-Western Himalayas is known as fruit bowl of India producing a large variety of fruits rich in polyphenols, however, there are scanty reports on the polyphenolic content and associated antioxidant activities and metabolism of these polyphenols in the fruits available in this region. Therefore, the aim of the present research work was to evaluate fruits available in this region for their polyphenolic contents, antioxidant activities and to develop five stage simulated gut model to evaluate the bioaccessibility of polyphenolic compounds from selected Seabuckthorn berries juice (SBJ). The effect of SBJ on gut microbial ecology was also evaluated using colonic batch as well as continuous fermentation model. In the first objective of study, different fruit juices were evaluated in terms of polyphenolic content and antioxidant capacity under simulated gastric and small intestine (SI) digestion. Among the tested juices, the polyphenols content and associated antioxidant activity of SBJ were the highest under each phase of digestion as compared to other twelve fruit juices. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images depicted that juice matrix was uniform, regular and crystallized before digestion and changed to irregular structure and increased intercellular spaces after digestive phases. The digestion of SBJ resulted in 1.6- 2.2 folds enhancement in Total phenolic content (TPC) with 4.8- 9.6 folds increase in Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) during these digestion phases. The digestion also resulted in increased levels of quercetin, rutin, chlorogenic acid and caffiec acid.