The aim of this work is to evaluate the impact on the rat microbiota of long-term feeding with phenolic compounds (PC) rich grape pomace extracts. Thirty, 2-mo-old rats, were divided into 5 groups. Four groups were treated with different concentrations of PC (2.5, 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg/d diluted in 0.1% DMSO), and 1 group received 0.1% Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) alone (control group). The daily treatment lasted 14 mo. Major phenolic compounds constituents were characterized by the high-performance liquid chromatography and free radical scavenging capacity was measured by means of the DPPH assay. Fecal samples from young rats (2-mo old), and rats daily fed with PC or DMSO were collected at 6 and 14 mo posttreatment. The gut microbiota composition was analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Bifidobacterium was significantly higher in the groups PC 2.5 and PC 5 than in control and young rats. Lactobacillus decreased with time in all treated and untreated groups. Bacteroides, Clostridium leptum subgroup (Clostridium cluster IV), and Enterococcus were not significantly changed by PC at any concentration when compared to control; nevertheless, after 14 mo of treatment all concentrations of PC abolished the increase of Clostridium sensu stricto (cluster I) (Clostridium Cluster I) observed in the control group when compared to young rats. PC do modulate selectively rat gut microbiome to a healthier phenotype in long-term feeding rats, and could counteract the adverse outcomes of aging on gut bacterial population.Keywords: aging, gut microbiota, phenolic compoundsPractical Application: This research shows that phenolic-rich grape pomace extracts exhibiting a high antioxidant activity, selectively modulate rat gut microbiota to a healthier phenotype within age in a long-term feeding rats.

This work optimized the β-cyclodextrin (β-CD)-assisted extraction process of polyphenols from vine shoots. The efficiency of β-CD was compared to that of ethanol in terms of the quantity and antioxidant capacity (AC) of the extracted polyphenols. Response surface methodology permitted the optimization of the β-CD concentration, time, and temperature. The optimal polyphenol content (PC) [5.8 mg of gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g of dry matter (DM)] and AC [3146 micromolar trolox equivalent per milliliter (μMTE)] were initially obtained with Syrah cultivar after an extraction of 48 h at 66.6 °C with a 37.7 mg/mL aqueous β-CD solvent. The same PC (5.8 mg of GAE/g of DM) was reached with 50% ethanol/water solvent after 1.65 h. However, a lower AC was found with ethanol (2000 μMTE) compared to β-CD. A comparison of the PC and AC of four different vine shoot cultivars was realized. Our results clearly show the capacity of β-CD to amplify polyphenol extraction from vine shoots.

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