Depolymerisation optimisation of cranberry procyanidins and transport of resultant oligomers on monolayers of human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells

Procyanidins in cranberries are predominantly polymers (>85%). The objective of this study was to optimise the depolymerisation of polymers and to investigate the absorption of resultant oligomers on Caco-2 cell monolayers. Depolymerisation conditions were optimised using response surface methodology. Depolymerisation, with or without added epicatechin, yielded 644 μg and 202 μg of oligomers (monomer through tetramers) per mg of partially purified polymers (PP), respectively. Oligomers (yielded from both methods) were transported through Caco-2 cell monolayer despite absorption rates being low. With the aid of response surface methodology, the optimum depolymerisation conditions were determined to be 60 °C, 0.1 M HCl in methanol and 3 h without added epicatechin. The predicted maximum yield was 364 μg oligomers per mg of PP. The optimum depolymerisation condition with added epicatechin shared the same temperature, acid concentration and reaction time, in addition to an epicatechin/PP mass ratio of 2.19. Its predicted maximum oligomer yield was 1089 μg/mg. The predicted yields were verified by experimental data.