Bioaccessibility and bioavailability of soluble polyphenols from Capparis zeylanica fruit according to drying method

Abstract

Capparis zeylanica fruits are excellent source of phytochemicals with numerous health benefits and used in several Ayurvedic preparations. But there are no studies to determine which phytochemical is responsible for those health benefits. Thus, in the present study, we evaluated the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of polyphenols from processed Capparis zeylanica fruits. The fruits were dried by shade drying (SH) and hot air drying (HD) conditions and extracted the polyphenols. The Bioaccessibility studies revealed that gallic acid was highly accessible in SH and HD with varying percentages. Gallic acid percentages in SH were 97.95% ± 4.90 in oral, 64.03% ± 3.20 in gastric and 44.76% ± 2.24 in intestinal phases followed by epicatechin (87.95% ± 4.40, 53.39% ± 2.66 and 31.0% ± 1.55 in oral, gastric, and intestinal phases, respectively) whereas, in HD, gallic acid was more bioaccessibile (97.61% ± 4.88, 57.2% ± 2.86 and 31.68% ± 1.58) followed by epicatechin (82.59% ± 4.13, 54.56% ± 2.72, and 30.47% ± 1.52) and syringic acid (5.21% ± 0.26, 12.96% ± 0.65, and 5.52% ± 0.27) in oral, gastric, and intestinal phases, respectively. Interestingly, the results were comparable with bioavailability study, performed with C57BL/6 mice showed the Tmax value of both gallic acid in SH and epicatechin in HD at two hours with a Cmax value of 31.28 µg/mL and 30.08 µg/mL of plasma, respectively. The study revealed that the processed and dehydrated Capparis zeylanica fruits were stable in in vivo system and can be used for the development of novel value-added products.