Digestion and bioaccessibility of a CLnA-rich oil by in vitro approaches

Details

Supervisors

Debier, Cathy

Faculty

Faculté des bioingénieurs

Degree label

Master [120] : bioingénieur en sciences agronomiques, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

In today's world, the global population is experiencing a rise in non-communicable diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and obesity, largely due to our dietary habits. As a result, there is a urgent need to raise awareness among the population regarding healthier habits and a more mindful approach to nutrition. Concurrently, there has been a surge in scientific research focusing on nutrients and their impact on health. In fact, over the past three decades, numerous studies have been conducted on nutrients known for their health benefits, such as conjugated fatty acids, including conjugated linolenic acids (CLnA) which have shown various beneficial effects on health (Yuan et al., 2014). These CLnA are polyunsaturated fatty acids with at least two conjugated double bonds and are present in many plant seeds such as pomegranate seeds, which contain punicic acid (PunA, C18:3c9t11c13). Many studies have been conducted on the health effects of CLnA, however, their digestion and bioaccessibility remain unclear. This master’s thesis aims at studying the digestion and bioaccessibility of a CLnA rich oil by developing a method using an in vitro digestion protocol called INFOGEST followed by a detailed lipid fractionation protocol using a solid phase extraction and providing a comprehensive overview of various lipid fractions including the absorbable fraction (free fatty acids and monoglycerides). The INFOGEST protocol, developed through an international consensus among 150 multidisciplinary scientists, is widely recognized and considered a reliable method for studying human digestion. The first set of experiments were conducted in the purpose of calibrating this method to ensure its suitability for lipid analysis, achieving comprehensive digestion and determine the exact absorbable fraction. Ultimately, the adapted protocol was used to (i) address the bioaccessibility of PunA contained in pomegranate seed oil in comparison with an olive oil containing oleic acid (OA) as a control and (ii) determine the impact of the presence of proteins on the bioaccessibility of both PunA and OA.