Gut microbiota influence on oral bioaccessibility and intestinal transport of pesticides in Chaenomeles speciosa

Abstract

There is limited research focusing on the effects of human gut microbiota on the oral bioaccessibility and intestinal absorption of pesticide residues in food. In the present study, we use a modified setup of the Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem for the determination of pesticide residue bioaccessibility in Chaenomeles speciosa, and a Caco-2 cell model of human intestinal absorption. Results showed that gut microbiota played a dual role based their effects on contaminant release and metabolism in the bioaccessibility assay, and Lactobacillus plantarum was one of key bacterial species in the gut microbiota that influenced pesticide stability significantly. The addition of L. plantarum to the system reduced the relative amounts (by 11.40–86.51%) of six pesticides. The interaction between the food matrix and human gut microbiota led to different absorption rates, and the barrier effects increased with an increase in incubation time.