Inhibition of Key Digestive Enzymes by Cocoa Extracts 1 and Procyanidins

We determined the in vitro inhibitory effects of cocoa extracts and procyanidins against pancreatic α-amylase (PA), pancreatic lipase (PL) and secreted phospholipase A 2 (PLA 2 ), and characterized the kinetics of such inhibition. Lavado, regular and Dutch-processed cocoa extracts as well as cocoa procyanidins (degree of polymerization (DP) = 2 to 10) were examined. Cocoa extracts and procyanidins dose-dependently inhibited PA, PL and PLA 2 . Lavado cocoa extract was the most potent inhibitor (IC 50 = 8.5 – 47 μg/mL). An inverse correlation between Log IC 50 and DP (R 2 > 0.93) was observed. Kinetic analysis suggested that regular cocoa extract, the pentamer and decamer inhibited PL activity in a mixed mode. The pentamer and decamer non-competitively inhibited PLA 2 activity, whereas regular cocoa extract inhibited PLA 2 competitively. Our study demonstrates that cocoa polyphenols can inhibit digestive enzymes in vitro , and may, in conjunction with a low calorie diet, play a role in body weight management.