Bioavailability Assessment of Yarrow Phenolic Compounds Using an In Vitro Digestion/Caco-2 Cell Model: Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Basolateral Fraction

In this study, a combined in vitro digestion/Caco-2 model was performed with the aim to determine the phenolic compounds bioavailability of two yarrow extracts. HPLC-PAD characterisation indicated that the main components in both extracts were 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (DCQA) and luteolin-7-O-glucoside. Analyses after the simulated digestion process revealed that phenolic composition was not affected during the oral phase, whereas gastric and intestinal phases represented critical steps for some individual phenolics, especially intestinal step. The transition from gastric medium to intestinal environment caused an important degradation of 3,5-DCQA (63–67% loss), whereas 3,4-DCQA and 4,5-DCQA increased significantly, suggesting an isomeric transformation within these caffeic acid derivatives. However, an approx. 90% of luteolin-7-O-glucoside was recovered after intestinal step. At the end of Caco-2 absorption experiments, casticin, diosmetin and centaureidin represented the most abundant compounds in the basolateral fraction. Moreover, this fraction presented anti-inflammatory activity since was able to inhibit the secretion of IL-1β and IL-6 pro-inflammatory cytokines. Thus, the presence in the basolateral fraction of flavonoid-aglycones from yarrow, could be related with the observed anti-inflammatory activity from yarrow extract.