Effect of Food Processing and Gastrointestinal Digestion on the Antioxidant Potential of a Chia Flour: a Cellular Model Study

LUCINI MAS, AGUSTÍN; SABATINO, MARÍA EUGENIA; THEUMER, MARTIN GUSTAVO; WUNDERLIN, DANIEL ALBERTO; BARONI, MARÍA VERÓNICA

Punta del Este

Congreso; Society for Redox Biology & Medicine Conference 2023; 2023

The processing of vegetal ingredients during food manufacturing and gastrointestinal digestion can change the composition of the different bioactive and influence their biological activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effects of polyphenols extracted from: i) defatted chia flour (ChF), ii) cookies supplemented with ChF (ChC), and iii) their digested fractions, on isolated cells exposed to H2O2. HepG2 cells were treated for 24h with 1 µg/mL of polyphenols extracted from ChF and ChC. In addition, gastrointestinal digested fraction and colonic fermentation fraction ChC (GDF-ChC and CFF-ChC, respectively), obtained through INFOGEST standardized method, were also tested in the same concentration. Additionally, a control cookie (CC) made with wheat flour and its digested fractions were tested to evaluate the effect of the food matrix. Polyphenol profile of each fraction was measured by HPLC-MS. Cells were exposed to H2O2 10 mM for 1h to induce oxidative stress. Oxidants levels, antioxidant enzymes activities, and contents of protein carbonyls and reduced glutathione (GSH) were measured. ChF and ChC showed protective effects against the oxidative conditions as it decreased oxidants (44% and 25% respectively), and protein carbonyl levels (36% and 46%, respectively), and increased GSH (37% and 53% respectively) compared to H2O2 exposed cells with no polyphenol treatment. GDF-ChC and CFF-ChC showed a significantly lower protective effect in terms of GSH and protein carbonyl contents, maintaining only the effect of reducing the oxidant levels (30% and 25% respectively). GDF-ChC and CFF-ChC showed a decrease the ratio between salviaflaside (glucoside of rosmarinic acid) and rosmarinic acid (the most abundant polyphenols present in the samples) respect to the original ChC from 5:1 to 1:3. In conclusion, these results suggest that changes occurring during gastrointestinal digestion and colonic fermentation, alter the ChC protection capacity against oxidative stress, associated with changes in the polyphenol profile.