Antioxidant Acitivity and Bioactive Compound Contents before and after in vitro Digestion of New Tomato Hybrids

BACKGROUND: The antioxidant properties and bioactive compound contents of fresh new tomato hybrids before and after in vitro digestion was investigated. To this aim the antioxidant activities of lipophilic, hydrophilic, and polyphenolic extracts of tomato hybrids were determined by ABTS [2,20-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)], DMPD (N,N-dimethyl-pphenylenediamine dihydrochloride), and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) methods, respectively, while the bioactive compound contents were estimated by means of Folin-Ciocalteu (polyphenols), pH differential (anthocyanins) and HPLC (lycopene and ?-carotene) methods. RESULTS: After the digestion process a remarkable loss (ranging from 37% to 77%) of antioxidant capacity linked to the hydrophilic fraction was observed. On the contrary, the lipophilic and methanolic fractions showed an increased antioxidant activity (ranging from 9% to 40%) after the gastric digestion, and a quick decrease was observed after the total digestion. Moreover, the presence of anthocyanins and carotenoids after the simulated digestion was a notable result.