The impact of cooking and digestion on the phenolic acid content of selected Nigerian and UK grown wholegrains

Wholegrains are a good source of phenolic acids (PAs), which can significantly contribute to their beneficial health properties. [...]their bioactivity will depend on their bioaccessibility and bioavailability, which in turn can be significantly affected by cooking and digestion processes. Grains were cooked by boiling and subsequently oral, gastric and small intestinal phases of digestion were simulated in vitro under pH and temperature-controlled environments(3). In vitro digestion led to a significant increase of bound PAs in red millet compared to raw (1414.0 ± 229.9ng/mg to 2527.8 ± 247.6ng/mg; P < 0.05), whereas it led to a significant decrease in soluble PAs in all grains (0.1 ± 0.03 to 2.4 ± 3.2; P < 0.05) Overall, our results highlight that cooking and simulated gastrointestinal digestion can significantly affect the levels of PAs in the wholegrains studied, having an opposite impact in the levels of bound and soluble forms.