Effects of In Vitro Digestion on the Content and Biological Activity of Polyphenols from Acacia mearnsii Bark

Fei Wang,Lingxiao He,Yu Zhang,Xiao Chen,Xun Li,Liping Zhang,Jia Xiong

doi:10.3390/molecules23071804

Fei Wang, Lingxiao He

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23071804

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Abstract

The stability and bioaccessibility of polyphenol from Acacia mearnsii bark were measured at various stages during in vitro simulated digestion. Subsequently, the changes in the total polyphenol content (TPC) and biological activity were studied. The results showed that the phenolic compounds from A. mearnsii remained stable, and TPC underwent few changes during gastric digestion. Nonetheless, intestinal digestion led to the degradation of proanthocyanidins (PAs) and a significant decrease in TPC (26%). Degradation was determined by normal-phase HPLC and gel permeation chromatography. Only monomers, dimers, and trimers of flavan-3-ols were identified in the serum-accessible fraction for characterization of their bioaccessibility. The results also indicated the obvious antioxidant capacity of PAs from A. mearnsii bark, and ~53% of the α-glucosidase–inhibitory effect was preserved. All these findings show that PAs from A. mearnsii bark as a native plant source may be particularly beneficial for human health as a natural nutritional supplement.

Highlights

Proanthocyanidins (PAs), known as condensed tannins, are oligomers or polymers of flavan-3-ols linked through interflavan bonds and are commonly found in fruits, nuts, cereals, seeds, wine, bark, and chocolate [1,2]
We observed that A. mearnsii bark extract has a strong antioxidant activity and certain antitumor properties and shows good bioavailability in vitro
total polyphenol content (TPC) decreased by 10% from 6.08 to

Summary

Introduction

Proanthocyanidins (PAs), known as condensed tannins, are oligomers or polymers of flavan-3-ols linked through interflavan bonds and are commonly found in fruits, nuts, cereals, seeds, wine, bark, and chocolate [1,2]. PAs are well-known for their antioxidant properties and other physiological actions that reduce risk factors of certain types of diseases [3]. An important renewable industrial raw material, has traditionally been used in leather tanning and adhesive processing [7,8] and is recognized to have strong physiological effects, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and enzyme-inhibitory activities [9,10,11]. We observed that A. mearnsii bark extract has a strong antioxidant activity and certain antitumor properties and shows good bioavailability in vitro. A. mearnsii bark extract has an antidiabetic effect in vitro [10]. Based on their preferable biological activities and a considerable potential to serve as a food-grade bioactive component (“nutraceutical”)

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