Gastrointestinal bioaccessibility and bioactivity of phenolic compounds from araçá-boi fruit

Abstract In this study, we evaluated for the first time the bioaccessibility and bioactivity of phenolic compounds present in fractions of araca-boi submitted to the in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. For this, were determined the content of phenolics and total flavonoids, antioxidant capacity, as well as heatmap analysis to evaluate the relative intensity of the phenolic compounds identified by ESI-LTQ-XL-MS/MS, before and after digestive process. It was observed that the seed had the highest amount of total phenolic compounds, and that this content was reduced after digestion, mainly in the intestinal phase (22.0%), while the flavonoid content increased in the edible fraction (92.8%). From the ESI-LTQXL-MS/MS analysis, it was possible to identify 9 flavonoids and 8 phenolic acids in the edible fraction, while in the seed 10 flavonoids and 7 phenolic acids were identified. Heatmap analysis demonstrated that after intestinal digestion, phenolic acids reduced and flavonoids increased their relative intensity, suggesting that these compounds increased their content after this process. The seed showed the highest antioxidant capacity and in general this potential increased after digestion. Thus, the bioaccessibility and bioactivity of the phenolic compounds of araca-boi can be influenced by the fraction and digestive phase evaluated.