Effects of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and colonic fermentation on a rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L) extract rich in rosmarinic acid

The potential phytochemical losses occurring throughout the sequential steps of in-vitro gastrointestinal digestion and colonic fermentation of a rosemary aqueous extract were investigated. Crude (CE), digested (DE) and fermented (FE) extracts were characterized in terms of their phenolic profile and biological activities. Rosmarinic acid was the phytochemical that underwent the most significate transformation during digestion and fermentation, which amounted to 60% compared to the 26% degradation of the total phenolics. Overall, the simulated digestion step decreased the antioxidant activity estimated by DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, ORAC and TBARS assays. Both CE and DE did not present antiproliferative potential, however, FE exhibited a pronounced cytotoxic activity (GI50 = 116 µg/mL) against HeLa cells. CE and DE showed to be moderate inhibitors of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), S. aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, whilst the FE acted as a moderate inhibitor of MRSA and MSSA.

Untargeted metabolite profiling and phytochemical analysis of Micromeria fruticosa L. (Lamiaceae) leaves

Micromeria fruticosa is an important crop, is widely used in the Mediterranean basin as food and in folk medicine, owing to its health-promoting properties, partially due to the secondary metabolite composition. However, complete information on the phyto-metabolites in M. fruticosa is still lacking. Plant leaves were extracted in methanol (80%), then the phyto-metabolites were separated on C18 column and an extensive characterization using UHPLC-DAD-ESI-QTOF-MS² method in two ionization modes was established. A total of 215 phenolics and other compounds were tentatively identified, offering the first comprehensive study available on the phytochemicals from M. fruticosa. Over 180 phytochemicals (87 flavonoids, 41 phenolic acids, 16 terpenoids, 8 sulfate derivatives, 7 iridoids, and others) are reported in Micromeria for the first time. M. fruticosa can be a promising source of functional ingredients and has use in the food, pharma and nutraceutical industries.