The effect of simulated digestion on the composition of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities in lychee pulp of different cultivars

Simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and intestinal fluid (SIF) digestion were used to evaluate the effects of digestion on the composition of phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacities of the pulp of six lychee cultivars. Caffeic acid, ferulic acid, procyanidin B2, epicatechin, A-type procyanidin trimer, procyanidin A2, quercetin-3-rutinose-7-rhamnoside, rutin and isoquercitrin were quantified using HPLC-DAD. Lychee pulp had high concentrations of procyanidin B2 (0.30~15.53 mg g⁻¹), procyanidin A2 (0.29~0.52 mg g⁻¹) and quercetin-3-rutinose-7-rhamnoside (0.16~0.45 mg g⁻¹). SGF and SIF Digestion, which significantly decreased the concentration of procyanidin B2, epicatechin and quercetin-3-rutinose-7-rhamnoside. But observably increased the concentration of procyanidin A2. Compared with deionized water treatment (DW), the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) of different lychee pulps significantly increased after SGF and SIF digestion. After SGF digestion, the ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) of lychee pulps increased while the ABTS+ free radical scavenging ability (ABTS) had a slight decline. This shows that simulated digestion improves the bioactive component and antioxidant activity of different varieties of lychee pulp.