In Vitro Bioaccessibility and Functional Properties of Phenolic Compounds from Enriched Beverages Based on Cocoa Bean Shell.

Carolina Cantele,Letricia Barbosa-Pereira,Giuseppe Zeppa,Marta Bertolino,Olga Rojo-Poveda,Vladimiro Cardenia,Daniela Ghirardello

doi:10.3390/foods9060715

Carolina Cantele, Letricia Barbosa-Pereira + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9060715

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Abstract

The cocoa bean shell (CBS), a cocoa by-product, contains a significant number of bioactive compounds with functional properties, such as polyphenols and methylxanthines, and is used as an ingredient in beverages and foods. In this work, the bioaccessibility of polyphenols and methylxanthines after In Vitro digestion was evaluated in new flavoured beverages for at-home consumption (capsules and tea bags). In addition, the polyphenolic composition, functional properties (antiradical and α-glucosidase inhibition capacities) and consumer acceptability of these beverages were evaluated. In both capsule and tea bag beverages, the bioaccessibility of methylxanthines was 100% while that of total polyphenols exceeded 50%. The main polyphenols determined using reverse-phase liquid chromatography were type B procyanidins and epicatechin. The antiradical activity in capsule and tea bag beverages was 1.75 and 1.88 mM of Trolox equivalents, respectively, of which 59.50% and 57.09% were recovered after simulated digestion. The percentage of α-glucosidase inhibition before In Vitro digestion (51.64% and 53.82% for capsules and tea bags, respectively) was comparable to that of acarbose at 0.5 mM. All the beverages obtained a high consumer acceptability. Therefore, these results highlight that CBSs can be used as a valid source of bioactive compounds in the preparation of beverages with homemade techniques.

Highlights

The chocolate industry generates large amounts of by-products, as the cocoa bean (CB) represents one-third of the total weight of the fruit while the remaining 67% is made up of the pod husk, placenta, shell, and germ [1]
A comparison test was carried out in order to select the best quantity of each aromatic ingredient for the capsules and tea bags
The present study highlights the potential for cocoa bean shell (CBS) to be used as a functional ingredient in the preparation of hot beverages obtained using two homemade extraction techniques: capsules and tea bags

Summary

Introduction

The chocolate industry generates large amounts of by-products, as the cocoa bean (CB) represents one-third of the total weight of the fruit while the remaining 67% is made up of the pod husk, placenta, shell, and germ [1]. The CBS represents 10–17% of the bean and, considering 4.7 million tons of cocoa beans are processed worldwide each year, its annual production amount is approximately 700,000 tons that are generally intended to be used as fuel, feed, or fertilizer [3]. The CBS has an interesting nutritional profile with more than 50% (w/w) of dietary fibre [2], almost three times higher than the CB. It has a low fat content with physical and chemical characteristics. The CBS contains a high number of polyphenols with a total phenolic content that ranges from 3.12–94.95 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g of dried

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