Evaluation of Bioaccessibility of Vitamin C from Four Different Commercial Amla Products Using a Modified In Vitro Digestion Model

Abstract

The present study aims to evaluate the bioaccessibility of vitamin C from 4 different Amla-based products compared with the Raw Amla using a modified dynamic customized in vitro digestion model. We chose 4 different amla products including amla juice, honey amla, dry amla, and amla powder for our study for the estimation of vitamin C. The results indicated that before in vitro digestion, the quantity of vitamin C is higher (45 mg/g) compared with other formulations. This may be due to the degradation of the amla matrix during powder making. Then, we carried out a dynamic in vitro digestion process sequentially from the mouth phase into the intestinal phase. Briefly, equal volumes of amla product and salivary enzymes were mixed thoroughly for 5 minutes, transferred to the stomach phase by mixing with porcine gastric juice, and made a pH of 3 for 2 hours. Finally, the digested foodstuffs were transferred and mixed with porcine intestinal juice for 2 hours. Once the intestinal digestion is finished, the overall digest is filtered using 0.3-micron filter paper for collecting micellar phase from the supernatant for vitamin C quantification. The results indicated that the amount of vitamin C entered the micellar is higher in the case of amla powder compared with other formulations (25 mg/g). Therefore, among the different amla products, dry amla (57.8 %) and amla juice (56.8%) exhibited better sources of vitamin C to facilitate bioactivity and also ameliorate vitamin C deficiency disorders.