Jaboticaba peel bioactive compounds and their respective metabolites throughout digestion

Abstract

Jaboticaba, also known as the 'Brazilian berry', is a small round fruit that belongs to the Myrtaceae family and is native from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Jaboticaba is consumed fresh or designated to the production of foodstuff, having its seeds and peels discarded, which leads to environmental issues. Jaboticaba peel is rich in anthocyanins (cyanidin and delphinidin) and phenolic acids (ellagic and gallic acids) and has been extensively reported for its beneficial effects to human health. Despite the broad ingestion of polyphenols through diet, only a small portion is really absorbed by the organism. Consequently, a considerable part of phenolic compounds reaches the colon and are metabolized by the intestinal microbiota through biotransformation involving a series of reactions that can improve the bioavailability degree of these molecules. Given bioaccessibility importance and the ethical and sampling issues in in-vivo experiments, in-vitro simulations that can mimetize the microbiological composition and activity in different regions of the human intestine, offer unique advantages to the study of bioactive compounds biotransformation. The Simulator of Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (SHIME) is an in-vitro dynamic intestinal model capable to mimetize environment changes and physicochemical parameters throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Because the fate of (poly)phenols is very much dependent upon any structural changes that occur before absorption and disposition in target tissues and cells, the identification and quantification of its metabolites are of extreme importance in the context of overall bioavailability and potential health benefits of dietary phenolics and flavonoids. The aim of this project is to analyze the phenolic profile of jaboticaba peel bioactive compounds and their respective metabolites throughout digestion.