Effect of milk addition and processing on the antioxidant capacity and phenolic bioaccessibility of coffee by using an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model

An in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model was used to investigate the effects of milk matrix: skimmed milk (Sm), whole milk (Wm) and processing methods: pH adjustment, high pressure homogenization processing (HPHP), thermal treatment (TT) on the antioxidant capacity, phenolics bioaccessibility of coffee. Our findings showed that the antioxidant capacity of all the samples decreased or unchanged after in vitro digestion. The total phenolic bioaccessibility of coffee (C), coffee with whole milk (Cwm), and coffee with skimmed milk (Csm) decreased by 29.2%, 28.5%, 21.1% from the HPHP treatment and by 14.7%, 34.2%, and 33.8% from TT, respectively. pH adjustment had little effect on the total phenolic bioaccessibility of Cwm and Csm but significantly decreased that of C. Wm showed better protective effect on the phenolic bioaccessibility than Sm. These results may contribute to the optimization of formulations and processing methods in coffee beverage production, thereby increasing the health benefits of coffee.