Persistence of anticancer activity in berry extracts after simulated gastrointestinal digestion and colonic fermentation.

Brown, E. M., McDougall, G. J., Stewart, D., Pereira-Caro, G., González-Barrio, R., Allsopp, P., Magee, P., Crozier, A., Rowland, I. and Gill, C. I. R. (2012) Persistence of anticancer activity in berry extracts after simulated gastrointestinal digestion and colonic fermentation. PLoS ONE, 7 (11). e49740. ISSN 1932-6203 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049740

Abstract/Summary

Fruit and vegetable consumption is associated at the population level with a protective effect against colorectal cancer. Phenolic compounds, especially abundant in berries, are of interest due to their putative anticancer activity. After consumption, however, phenolic compounds are subject to digestive conditions within the gastrointestinal tract that alter their structures and potentially their function. However, the majority of phenolic compounds are not efficiently absorbed in the small intestine and a substantial portion pass into the colon. We characterized berry extracts (raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants) produced by in vitro-simulated upper intestinal tract digestion and subsequent fecal fermentation. These extracts and selected individual colonic metabolites were then evaluated for their putative anticancer activities using in vitro models of colorectal cancer, representing the key stages of initiation, promotion and invasion. Over a physiologically-relevant dose range (0-50 µg/ml gallic acid equivalents), the digested and fermented extracts demonstrated significant anti-genotoxic, anti-mutagenic and anti-invasive activity on colonocytes. This work indicates that phenolic compounds from berries undergo considerable structural modifications during their passage through the gastrointestinal tract but their breakdown products and metabolites retain biological activity and can modulate cellular processes associated with colon cancer.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/30240
Identification Number/DOI	10.1371/journal.pone.0049740
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences > Human Nutrition Research Group
Publisher	Public Library of Science
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