Simulated digestion of proanthocyanidins in grape skin and seed extracts and the effects of digestion on the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity

This study investigated the effect of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion on the stability and composition of flavan-3-ols from red grape skin and seed extracts (raw and purified, which are high in proanthocyanidins (PAs)). In addition, the effects of digestion on the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activities of these extracts were evaluated. The extracts were digested with a mixture of pepsin-HCl for 2 h, followed by a 2 h incubation with pancreatin and bile salts including a cellulose dialysis tubing (molecular weight cut-off 12 kDa) at 37 degrees C with shaking in the dark and under N-2. Under gastric conditions, the mean degree of polymerisation (mDP) of seed extracts, raw (mDP approximate to 6, p < 0.05), and purified (mDP approximate to 10, p < 0.05) was stable. The mDP of the raw skin extracts increased from 19 to 25 towards the end of the digestion. The PAs were significantly degraded (up to 80%) during the pancreatic digestion, yielding low-molecular-weight compounds that diffused into the serum-available fraction (mDP approximate to 2). The overall mass transfer coefficient (K) of the seed extracts was 10(-7) m(2)/s. After simulated gastrointestinal digestion, over 80% of ACE inhibition by raw seed and skin extracts was preserved. However, the purified seed and skin extracts lost their ability to inhibit ACE after intestinal digestion. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.