Turning agro-food waste into resources: Exploring the antioxidant effects of bioactive compounds bioaccessibility from digested jabuticaba tree leaf extract

The jabuticaba tree leaf, considered an agro-food by-product or waste, was evaluated as a potential unconventional ingredient of bioactive compounds. Its hydroalcoholic extracts were assessed for the phenolic chemical profile by LC-QQQ-MS and antioxidant capacity pre- and post-gastrointestinal digestion (i.e., bioaccessibility), along with determining cytotoxicity effects on cell culture, antihaemolytic and cellular antioxidant activity. A total of 9 phenolic compounds, including ellagic acid and flavonoids (hesperidin) were identified in both crude and digested samples. The bioaccessibility of these compounds was increased after digestion process, which was reflected in the erythrocytes' antioxidant activities, reducing the haemolysis, lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by more than 50 %. Furthermore, the in vitro digestion diminished the cytotoxicity effect, increasing the cell viability by 71 %. These findings underscore the potential of jabuticaba tree leaf extract as a rich source of antioxidant phenolics, emphasizing their potential and promising applications as a new functional ingredient.