The relationship between phenolic compounds from diet and microbiota: impact on human health

Abstract

The human intestinal tract is home to a complex microbial community called microbiota. This gut microbiota, whilst playing essential roles in the maintenance of the health of the host, is exposed to the impact of external factors such as the use of medication or dietary patterns. Alterations in the composition and/or function of the microbiota have been described in several disease states, underlining the role of the gut microbiota in keeping the health status. Among the different dietary compounds, polyphenols constitute a very interesting group as some of them have been found to possess important biological activities, including antioxidant, anticarcinogenic or antimicrobial activities. The term polyphenol comprises thousands of molecules presenting a phenol ring and are widely distributed in plant foods. The bioactivity of these compounds is highly dependent on their intestinal absorption and often they are ingested as non-absorbable precursors that are transformed into bioactive forms by specific microorganisms in the intestine. Some of these microorganisms have been identified and the enzymatic steps involved have been elucidated. However, little is known about the impact of these ingested polyphenols upon the human gut microbiota. The heterogeneity of the polyphenol compounds and their food sources, as well as their coexistence with other bioactive compounds within a normal diet, together with the complexity of the human gut microbiota make difficult the understanding of the interactions between dietary polyphenols and gut microbes. This is, however, an important area of research which promises to expand our knowledge on the food functionality area through understanding the microbiota-food component interaction.

Effect of tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) seed on antioxidant activity, phytocompounds, physicochemical characteristics, and sensory acceptability of enriched cookies and mango juice

“…Antioxidant activity is very important in human health mainly because of its free‐radical scavenging activity and protection against oxidative stress (Haghju and Almasi ; Valdes et al. ) and thus prevents development of diseases such as heart disease and cancer (González‐Vallinas et al. ; Farias et al.…”

The Impact of Long‐Term Intake of Phenolic Compounds‐Rich Grape Pomace on Rat Gut Microbiota

“…These reported age‐related differences include a reduction in species diversity, shifts in the dominant species, decline in beneficial microorganisms, and increase in pathogenic bacteria (Salazar and others ). Although the intake of PC exerts significant effect on the gut resident community (Valdes and others ), the effect of dietary PC on the GM within age remains poorly defined. The aim of this work is to evaluate the impact on the rat microbiota of long‐term feeding with PC‐rich grape pomace extracts.…”

Potential Role of Seaweed Polyphenols in Cardiovascular-Associated Disorders

“…To simplify, and according to the chemical structure of the aglycones, polyphenols can be categorized into phenolic acids, flavonoids, stilbenes, lignans and others phenolic compounds. Among them, flavonoids are the most widely distributed and can be divided into six major subclasses: flavonols, flavanols, flavanones, flavones, isoflavones, and anthocyanins (Figure 1) [7]. Epidemiological, clinical and nutritional studies strongly support the evidence that dietary polyphenols play important roles in human health.…”

“…Indeed, for a long time, their bioactivity has simply been attributed to their direct antioxidant, radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory properties. However, nowadays, many other mechanisms are considered, including the modulation of intracellular signalling cascades and gene expression, and interaction with gut microbiota [7,28]. …”