Antioxidant and antiproliferative activity of chokeberry juice phenolics during in vitro simulated digestion in the presence of food matrix

Chokeberry juice was subjected to in vitro gastric digestion in the presence of food matrix in order to determine the changes in polyphenol content and antioxidant activity. Addition of food matrix immediately decreased the total phenolic content, anthocyanin content, DPPH scavenging activity as well as total reducing power by 36%, 90%, 45% and 44%, respectively. After in vitro digestion, total phenolic content, anthocyanin content and reducing power are slightly elevated, but they are still lower than in initial non-digested juice. The effect of digested juice on Caco-2 cells proliferation was also studied, and the reduction of proliferative rate by approximately 25% was determined. Our results suggested that although a large proportion of chokeberry phenolics undergo transformation during digestion they are still potent as antioxidant and antiproliferative agents.