Bioavailability and metabolism of selected cocoa bioactive compounds: A comprehensive review

Cocoa beans and their co-products are a rich source of beneficial compounds for health promotion, including polyphenols and methylxanthines. Knowledge of bioavailability and in vivo bioactivity of these phytochemicals is crucial to understand their role and function in human health. Therefore, many...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical reviews in food science and nutrition 2020-07, Vol.60 (12), p.1947-1985
Main Authors: Oracz, Joanna, Nebesny, Ewa, Zyzelewicz, Dorota, Budryn, Grazyna, Luzak, Boguslawa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
absorption
Amino acids
Animal models
Anthocyanins
Bioactive compounds
Bioavailability
Biological activity
Cocoa
Cocoa beans
cocoa metabolites
colonic catabolism
Flavonols
Food matrix
Gastrointestinal tract
Intestinal microflora
Intestine
Metabolic pathways
Metabolism
methylxanthines
Microbiota
Phenolic acids
Polyphenols
Procyanidins
Theobroma cacao L
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Summary:Cocoa beans and their co-products are a rich source of beneficial compounds for health promotion, including polyphenols and methylxanthines. Knowledge of bioavailability and in vivo bioactivity of these phytochemicals is crucial to understand their role and function in human health. Therefore, many studies concerning bioavailability and bioactivity of cocoa bioactive compound have been done in both in vivo animal models and in humans. This critical review comprehensively summarizes the existing knowledge about the bioavailability and the major metabolic pathways of selected cocoa bioactive compounds (i.e. monomeric flavan-3-ols, procyanidins, anthocyanins, flavonols, phenolic acids, N-phenylpropenoyl-L-amino acids, stilbenes, and methylxanthines). The compiled results indicated that many of these compounds undergo extensive metabolism prior to absorption. Different factors have been suggested to influence the bioavailability of polyphenols and methylxanthines among them the role of gut microbiota, structure of these compounds, food matrix and occurrence of other substances were the most often considered. Aforementioned factors decided about the site where these bioactive compounds are digested and absorbed from the alimentary tract, as well as the pathway by which they are metabolized. These factors also determine of the type of transport through the intestine barrier (passive, involving specific enzymes or mediated by specific transporters) and their metabolic path and profile.
ISSN:1040-8398
1549-7852
DOI:10.1080/10408398.2019.1619160