In vitro bioaccessibility of carotenoids and phenolic compounds from Byrsonima crassifolia in food mimic systems: evaluation of the chemical compounds formed and influence on the scavenging capacity against reactive species

Abstract

The golden spoon (Byrsonima crassifolia) is a fruit native from the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, which is appreciated by the local population due to its rancid cheese-like aroma. The properties of the bioactive compounds of golden spoon fruits were poorly explored, since most of the researches were conducted using leaves and bark. The estimative of nutrient and bioactive compound contents is carried out using the food itself, and do not consider the changes occurred in the gastrointestinal tract. So, the content of bioactive compounds present in the food, as well as its antioxidant capacity, could be overestimated in comparison to the bioaccessible fraction. Besides the fact that many studies on carotenoid and phenolic compound bioaccessibility in food and model systems are found in literature, just a few comprise the identification of the compounds formed after digestion and the changes in the antioxidant capacity of the digested fraction. It is worth noting that the methods used to determine the antioxidant capacity using non biological radical, such as ABTS, are predominant over the methods determining the antioxidant capacity against reactive species of biological relevance. In addition, no bioaccessibility study on the possible synergistic relationship among carotenoids and phenolic compounds in model system was found in the literature. In this sense, the aim of the present work is to study the in vitro bioaccessibility of carotenoids and phenolic compounds of lyophilized golden spoon and of emulsions containing golden spoon extracts, as well as to identify the compounds formed after in vitro digestion of these emulsions and to evaluate the influence of in vitro digestion on the capacity to scavenge reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, such as peroxyl radical, hydroxyl radical, hypochlorous acid, hydrogen peroxide and peroxynitrite anion. Also, an experiment design for mixtures simplex centroid with four components will be carried out using emulsions containing standards of carotenoids (²-carotene and lutein) and phenolic compounds (quercetin and gallic acid) to study the possible synergism/antagonism among these compounds in the in vitro bioaccessibility and in the antioxidant capacity, aiming the development of a functional food ingredient.