Polyphenol compounds have previously been shown to have many health benefits including anticancer activity. However, the role of colonic microbiota in degrading dietary polyphenols is attracting great interest due to the potential health benefits associated with the bioactive catabolites (substances produced during destructive metabolism) absorbed into the circulatory system.
In this work, Alan Crozier and colleagues from Glasgow, UK, have investigated the aromatic compounds that result from colonic catabolism of Concord grape juice using an in vitro model of colonic fermentation. After consuming the grape juice substantial quantities of (poly)phenolic compounds reach the large intestine, where they are degraded to bioactive phenolic acids and aromatic compounds, which pass through the circulatory system before being excreted in the urine. The in vivo fate of these catabolites following absorption in the colon was also investigated by GC-MS. It was found that 40% of ingested (poly)phenolic compounds in Concord grape juice pass from the small to the large intestine and contributes to the increased bioavailabilty of the Concord grape polyphenolics.
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Colonic catabolism of dietary phenolic and polyphenolic compounds from Concord grape juice, Angelique Stalmach, Christine A. Edwards, Jo Lynne D. Wightman and Alan Crozier, Food Funct., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2fo30151b
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