The impact of in vitro digestion on bioaccessibility of polyphenols from potatoes and sweet potatoes and their influence on iron absorption by human intestinal cells.

The composition of potatoes as determined by chemical extraction has been described extensively. It is thus quite well known that, among other compounds, potato is rich in polyphenols, vitamins and in some minerals. This paper underlines the important role of simulated gastro-intestinal in vitro digestion in the bioaccessibility of polyphenols (chlorogenic acid and derivatives, and rutin) from potatoes and sweet potatoes and their impact on iron uptake. Concentrations of polyphenols in the flesh of two potato cultivars (Nicola, white potato, and Vitelotte, purple potato) and sweet potato were measured by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography after boiling and after in vitro digestion. Chemical extraction underestimates polyphenol amounts that can be released during digestion and that are actually bioaccessible. Iron uptake, as evaluated by a ferritin assay, by intestinal human cells was decreased after incubation with the intestinal phase of in vitro digestion, presumably due to the presence of polyphenols.