Colon Bioaccessibility under In Vitro Gastrointestinal Digestion of Different Coffee Brews Chemically Profiled through UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS

Luigi Castaldo,Yelko Rodríguez-Carrasco,Luana Izzo,Alfonso Narváez,Alberto Ritieni,Michela Grosso

doi:10.3390/foods10010179

Abstract

Coffee represents one of the most traditionally consumed beverages worldwide, containing a broad range of human health–related compounds. According to previous studies, regular coffee consumption may display protective effects against colorectal cancer and other chronic diseases. The main goal of this research was to evaluate the bioaccessibility of phenolic content and variation in antioxidant capacity of three different types of coffee brews after simulated gastrointestinal digestion. This would allow to elucidate how antioxidant compounds present in coffee may exert their effect on the human body, especially in the colonic stage. Moreover, the content of bioactive compounds namely chlorogenic acids (CGAs, n = 11) and caffeine was also assessed throughout ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography followed by high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS). The three main isomers of caffeoylquinic acid constituted the highest fraction of CGAs present in the samples, accounting for 66.0% to 70.9% of total CGAs. The bioaccessibility of coffee polyphenols significantly increased in digested samples from 45.9% to 62.9% at the end of the colonic passage, compared to the non-digested samples. These results point to the colonic stage as the major biological site of action of the active antioxidant coffee compounds.

Highlights

Coffee represents one of the most traditionally consumed beverages worldwide, so its preparation method and consumption vary according to consumer’s preferences, traditions, and social behavior, among other factors [1]
The results showed that coffee polyphenol bioaccessibility and the antioxidant capacity significantly increased after the colonic stage in all analyzed coffee brews
This study provided useful information on the predominant active molecules including chlorogenic acids (CGAs) (n = 11) and caffeine in three different types of coffee brews through UHPLCQ-Orbitrap spectrometry measurement

Summary

Introduction

Coffee represents one of the most traditionally consumed beverages worldwide, so its preparation method and consumption vary according to consumer’s preferences, traditions, and social behavior, among other factors [1]. A large number of studies have supported the apparent beneficial properties of habitual coffee consumption for human health [2]. Several studies concluded that coffee contains high concentrations of bioactive compounds that may display a positive influence on human health, including polyphenols, alkaloids, fibers, and dark-colored compounds formed during the roasting process, namely melanoidins [3,4]. The most abundant polyphenolic compounds are represented by chlorogenic acids (CGAs). These important compounds are known to have a strong antioxidant property, able to promote benefits to human health [7]. CGAs consist of a skeleton of quinic acid esterified with a hydroxycinnamic acid such as p-coumaric, caffeic, cinnamic, or ferulic acids, with caffeoylquinic (CQA) and feruloylquinic (FQA) being the most relevant CGA fractions in coffee

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