Researchers at the ibs.GRANADA show that the microbiota involved in digestion can increase the antioxidant capacity of food
The antioxidant capacity of food depends on the type of cooking and the changes that the food may undergo during the digestive process
The ibs.GRANADA research group on environmental health and childhood has carried out a study that has evaluated the changes in the antioxidant capacity of 42 foods of plant origin, taking into account the type of cooking (boiled, roasted, grilled, fried and toasted ) with respect to crude oil and the digestion and fermentation process vitro with intestinal microbiota from healthy adults.
The human body has endogenous antioxidant systems to protect itself from free radicals produced by oxidative stress, which are supplemented by exogenous antioxidant sources, such as food intake, being those of plant origin those that provide the greatest antioxidant capacity.
The novelty of this research has been to determine how different heat treatments affect the antioxidant capacity of foods of plant origin. To do this, the research group has recreated conditions as similar as possible to physiological processes during digestion in humans.
One of the main findings of this study is that some culinary techniques such as frying or roasting increased or decreased the antioxidant capacity of raw foods, suggesting that different antioxidant compounds are generated after thermal processing. But the most relevant and of vital importance are the processes of digestion and fermentation vitroAfter analyzing the samples, the antioxidant capacity of the food was considerably increased after colonic fermentation, representing up to 80-98% of the total antioxidant capacity. The highest antioxidant capacity was found in cocoa, due to the large amount of phenolic compounds it presents, which have highly antioxidant properties.
These results reinforce the concept that plant-based foods are an excellent source of antioxidants for humans. Based on these findings, it becomes clear how in recent decades the role of thermal processing and the gastrointestinal system in the release of antioxidant compounds has been underestimated. The authors emphasize that future work should include these approaches, in order to test the importance of the thermal and physiological transformation of foods and to more accurately calculate the total antioxidant capacity from daily food consumption.
This work, recently published in the journal "Antioxidants", has been led by Professor José Ángel Rufián Henares, researcher in the environmental health and childhood research group at ibs.GRANADA and belonging to the Center for Biomedical Research, Department of Nutrition and Bromatology , Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INYTA) of the University of Granada. It is part of the European Project “Smart Technologies for personAlised Nutrition and Consumer Engagement” (https://www.stance4health.com), funded by the European Commission within the Horizon 2020 program.
About the Research Group
Group E07 of research in environmental health and childhood of the ibs.GRANADA integrated in the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), dedicated to research in environmental, nutritional and occupational health (biomonitoring of environmental chemical pollutants, exposure to toxins and effects on health), molecular and genetic epidemiology, as well as aspects related to the promotion and protection of children's health.
His lines of research are the early origin of health and disease, environmental epigenetics, reproductive health and child development, human exposure to environmental chemical pollutants, analysis of predictors of exposure and health effects, and the promotion and protection of children's health.
Bibliographic reference.
Navajas-Porras, Beatriz; Perez-Burillo, Sergio; Valverde-Moya, Álvaro J.; Hinojosa-Nogueira, Daniel; Pastoriza, Silvia; Rufián-Henares, José Á. 2020. “Effect of Cooking Methods on the Antioxidant Capacity of Plant Foods Submitted to In Vitro Digestion-Fermentation” Antioxidants 9, no. 12:1312. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox9121312