Influence of Diet on the Bioavailability of Active Components from Zingiber officinale Using an In Vitro Digestion Model

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) is a plant known all over the world that is used as a spice and as an ingredient in drinks, dietary supplements, and cosmetics. The growing availability of its fresh rhizomes makes it even more likely to be used in the diet, mainly due to its beneficial health properties and high content of polyphenols (gingerols and shogaols). The main goal and motivation of the authors was to assess the bioavailability of active substances contained in the extract from ginger rhizomes in the presence of various types of diets using the in vitro digestion method, enabling simulation of the processes occurring during the digestion and absorption of metabolites in the small intestine. For the qualitative and quantitative analyses, the HPLC-MS (High Performance Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry) and HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) techniques were used, respectively. Based on the obtained results, it was found that the best bioavailability of the selected ginger polyphenols (6-gingerol, 8-gingerdione, 8-shogaol, and 10-gingerdione) was estimated for a high-fiber diet, while the weakest results were obtained for standard and basic diets. In the case of the high-fiber diet, the bioavailability of the mentioned compounds was estimated as 33.3, 21.4, 6.73, and 21.0%, while for the basic diet, it was only 21.3, 5.3, 2.0, and 1.0%, respectively.