Phytochemical Composition and Cytotoxic Effects on Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells of Different Berries Following a Simulated In Vitro Gastrointestinal Digestion

Francesca Giampieri, Sadia Afrin, Derek Stewart, Gordon J. McDougall, Rex Brennan, Lesley Blyth, Massimiliano Gasparrini, Luca Mazzoni, Franco Capocasa, Josè Miguel Alvarez-Suarez, Stefano Bompadre, Pedro Nogueira Brás de Oliveira, Claudia N. Santos, Manuel Masias, Pablo Agudo, Jorge Crespo, Bruno Mezzetti, Tamara Y. Forbes-Hernández, Maurizio Battino

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)
54 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Berry fruits are rich in nutrients and polyphenols, providing potential health benefits. Understanding the factors that affect their bioavailability is becoming of utmost importance for evaluating their biological significance and efficacy as functional food. In this study, the phytochemical composition and the total antioxidant capacity of different varieties of five berries (blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry) were evaluated after an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion process. The cultivar of each berry that showed the higher content of total phenols and flavonoids was selected to study its cytotoxic effect on human hepatoma cells. Digestion resulted in a high reduction (p ˂ 0.05) of total phenolic, flavonoid and anthocyanin contents and total antioxidant capacity, in the "IN" samples compared to the "OUT" extracts, which represent the "serum-available" and the "colon-available" fractions, respectively. Incubation of the digested fraction for 24 h didn't exert any effect on cellular viability, while a dose- and time-dependent cytotoxicity was observed after 48 h and 72 h of incubation for all the berries analyzed. Our results suggest that the approach proposed in this work may represent a rapid tool for evaluating and identifying new berries with increased phytochemical bioavailability, highlighting their antiproliferative agents after an in vitro digestion.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1918
JournalMolecules
Volume23
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2018

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