No abstract

Various secondary plant metabolites or phytochemicals, including polyphenols and carotenoids, have been associated with a variety of health benefits, such as reduced incidence of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and several types of cancer, most likely due to their involvement in ameliorating inflammation and oxidative stress. However, discrepancies exist between their putative effects when comparing observational and intervention studies, especially when using pure compounds. These discrepancies may in part be explained by differences in intake levels and their bioavailability. Prior to exerting their bioactivity, these compounds must be made bioavailable, and considerable differences may arise due to their matrix release, changes during digestion, uptake, metabolism, and biodistribution, even before considering dose‐ and host‐related factors. Though many insights have been gained on factors affecting secondary plant metabolite bioavailability, many gaps still exist in our knowledge. In this position paper, we highlight several major gaps in our understanding of phytochemical bioavailability, including effects of food processing, changes during digestion, involvement of cellular transporters in influx/efflux through the gastrointestinal epithelium, changes during colonic fermentation, and their phase I and phase II metabolism following absorption.

No abstract

No abstract

Grape pomace, and insoluble and soluble dietary fiber (DF) fractions, obtained by enzymatic-gravimetric methods, were analyzed for neutral sugars, uranic acids, Klason lignin and amino acids. DF constituted 80% of dry matter, IDF was the major fraction. The main neutral sugar constituent of IDF was glucose. The major part was cellulose and the remainder, along with xylose, was a xyloglucan, which also contained fucose. Uranic acids accounted for 64% of SDF and a high amount of arabinose, galactose and mamtose were also included in that fraction. Proteins were not well solubilized by the assay enzymes. During the isolation of DF fractions a considerable solubilization of polyphenols was observed. These compounds were associated with Klason lignin in the starting material. Composition of DF fractions enables grape pomace to be considered a useful fiber-rich food ingredient.