Changes in phytochemical content, bioaccesibility and antioxidant capacity of corn tortillas during simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion

Mariela Menchaca-Armenta, María José Frutos, Benjamín Ramírez-Wong*, Estefanía Valero-Cases, Raquel Muelas-Domingo, Armando Quintero-Ramos, Patricia Isabel Torres-Chávez, Ángel A. Carbonell-Barrachina, Ana Irene Ledesma-Osuna, Olga Nydia Campas-Baypoli

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

There is a little information about the effect of corn process conditions on the bioactive compounds of tortillas during gastrointestinal digestion. Tortillas elaborated with traditional and extrusion nixtamalization process were subjected to in vitro digestion. Extracts recovered from digestion were employed to determine the changes in phytochemicals, bioaccesibility and antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ABTS and FRAP). Digestion contributed to a greater solubilization of phenolic compounds in raw corn and tortillas, especially in the intestinal phase (311.4–583.2 mg GAE/100 g). With bioaccessibility indexes of 162.83 to 960.7 %. Intestinal phase affected the content of anthocyanins, reaching a lower bioaccessibility value than the found in undigested samples (17.90–29.91 %). Even though the traditional white tortilla showed the highest bioaccessibility values, blue tortilla showed a higher antioxidant activity in different phases of digestion. Both tortillas could function as prebiotic agents in the large intestine. Corn-based products are valuable as part of a healthy diet.

Original languageEnglish
Article number134223
JournalFood Chemistry
Volume405
DOIs
StatePublished - 30 Mar 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Mariela Menchaca-Armenta is grateful to CONACyT for the provided doctoral scholarship. Thank you Dr. Jesús Enrique Chan Higuera for your assistance with the graphic design.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022

Keywords

  • Corn tortilla
  • Extrusion
  • Gut health
  • In vitro digestion
  • Nixtamalization
  • Non-extractable phenolics

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