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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Little Rock, Arkansas » Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #213783
Title: Phenolic Acids in the Gastrointestinal (GI) Tract of Pigs Fed Black Raspberry

Author
item WU, XIANLI - ACNC/UAMS
item HAGER, TIFFANY - UNIV OF AR/FAYETTVILLE
item PITTMAN, HOY - ACNC
item HAGER, AARON - ACNC
item HOWARD, LUKE - UNIV OF AR/FAYETTVILLE
item Prior, Ronald

Submitted to: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/15/2007
Publication Date: 4/28/2007
Citation: Wu, X., Hager, T., Pittman, H.E., Hager, A., Howard, L., Prior, R.L. 2007. Phenolic acids in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of pigs fed black raspberry [abstract]. The FASEB Journal. 21(6):A119.

Interpretive Summary: Berries are highly concentrated in anthocyanins, the components that give berries their deep blue/red colors. Black raspberries (BRB) contain high levels of anthocyanins and have been demonstrated to be chemopreventative against colon cancer. Anthocyanins can be metabolized by microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract to simpler phenolic acid metabolites. In this study, pigs were fed freeze-dried BRB powder, and three segments of the gastrointestinal tract (small intestine, cecum and colon; 4 hours after feeding) were collected for analysis of phenolic acids. Two phenolic acids were identified that appeared to be produced in the gastrointestinal tract from BRB. In addition to the phenolic acids in BRB, six other phenolic acids were detected in the cecum or colon. Data from these studies better define which of the diverse phenolic acids may contribute in part to the chemopreventative and other effects of BRB in the colon.

Technical Abstract: Black raspberries (BRB) contain high levels of anthocyanins and have been demonstrated to be chemopreventative against colon cancer. In this study, pigs were fed freeze-dried BRB powder and three segments of the GI tract (small intestine, cecum and colon; 4 hours after feeding) were collected for analysis of phenolic acids. Protocatechuic acid was found to be the major phenolic acid (83.5 micro g/g) in BRB, followed by p-coumaric acid (16.3 micro g/g), caffeic acid (13.4 micro g/g), ferulic acid (2.4 micro g/g), and 3-hydroxybenzoic acid (2.0 micro g/g). Recoveries of these five phenolic acids in the whole GI tract were 199.9 +/- 54%, 7.0 +/- 3.0%, 37.0 +/- 9.7%, 56.6 +/- 31.3% and 916.8 +/- 642.2% (mean +/- SEM, n=5), respectively, which indicated that at least two of them were generated from multiple sources within the GI tract. Amounts of these phenolic acids in whole GI tract ranged from 25.7 +/- 13.0 micro g (ferulic acid) to 3642.3 +/- 1037.9 micro g (protocatechuic acid) (mean +/- SEM, n=5). In addition to the phenolic acids in BRB, six other phenolic acids were detected in the cecum or colon. Their contents in the GI tract ranged from 33.1 +/- 33.1 micro g (homovanillic acid) to 1426.1 +/- 724.1 micro g (homoprotocatechuic acid). Total phenolic acids in the whole GI tract was calculated to be 7925.4 +/- 2599.2 micro g (mean +/- SEM, n=5). Diverse phenolic acids may contribute in part to the chemopreventative and other effects of BRB in the colon.