Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Chemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem Bioaccessibility and potential bioavailability of phenolic compounds from achenes as a new target for strawberry breeding programs María Teresa Ariza a, ⁎ , Patricia Reboredo-Rodríguez b,c , Lucía Cervantes a , Carmen Soria a , Elsa Martínez-Ferri a , Carmen González-Barreiro b , Beatriz Cancho-Grande b , Maurizio Battino c , Jesús Simal-Gándara b, ⁎ a Instituto Andaluz de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera (IFAPA), Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca y Desarrollo Rural, Junta de Andalucía, IFAPA Centro de Churriana, Cortijo de la Cruz s/n, 29140 Churriana, Málaga, Spain b Nutrition and Bromatology Group, Department of Analytical and Food Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Vigo, Ourense Campus, E-32004 Ourense, Spain c Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Specialistiche ed Odontostomatologiche (DISCO)-Sez. Biochimica, Facoltà di Medicina, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Berry Dry fruit Antioxidants In vitro digestion Health ABSTRACT Strawberry is a major natural source of bioactive compounds. Botanically, strawberry is an aggregate fruit consisting of a fleshy floral receptacle that bears a cluster of real dry fruits (achenes). Existing knowledge on the phenolic composition of achenes and its contribution to that of the whole fruit is limited. Also, the gastric and intestinal bioavailability of phenols is poorly known. In this work, a combination of spectrophotometric and HPLC–DAD methods was used to analyse the phenolic composition of whole fruits and achenes before and after in vitro digestion. Five different phenol families were identified. Also, achenes were found to contribute a sizeable fraction of phenolic acids and hydrolysable tannins in the whole fruit. Because the mere presence of phenolic compounds in a food matrix does not ensure their ready absorption and bioavailability, polyphenol potential bioavailability could be an effective selection criterion for strawberry breeding programs aimed at im- proving dietary healthiness. 1. Introduction Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa, Duch.) is among the most widely consumed fruits in the world (Martínez-Ferri et al., 2014). Botanically, strawberry is an aggregate fruit consisting of a swollen, fleshy floral receptacle that bears a cluster of real dry fruits (achenes) containing the seed (Hancock, 1999). The natural antioxidants present in strawberry make it an important natural source of bioactive compounds such as vitamins and phenolic compounds (Forbes-Hernández et al., 2016). The phenolic compounds in strawberry are mainly anthocyanins —which give the fruit its attractive red colour—, flavonols, flavanols, and hy- droxycinnamic and ellagic acid derivatives (Aaby, Wrolstad, Ekeberg, & Skrede, 2007). In fact, strawberries contain substantial amounts of el- lagic acid derivatives including ellagic acid, ellagic acid glycosides and ellagitannins (Aaby et al., 2007). Also, their high content in phenolic compounds has been associated to the prevention of several diseases by effect of their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, anti- mutagenic, antibacterial or antiviral activity (Atmani et al., 2009). Phenolics in strawberry achenes and flesh have been found to differ markedly (Aaby et al., 2007); thus, the antioxidant capacity and phe- nolic content of achenes can rise up to 10 higher (Ariza et al., 2016), which makes them a potentially attractive source of bioactive com- pounds for improved human health (Ariza et al., 2016). In recent years, strawberry breeding programs (Shaw & Larson, 2008; Soria et al., 2010) have focused on the production of new vari- eties with a high yield, precocity, optimal fruit weight and good ap- pearance (viz., adequate, uniform colour and few misshapen fruits) (Ariza, Soria, Medina-Mínguez, & Martínez-Ferri, 2012). Some pro- grams, however, use strawberry selection criteria based on functional compounds (Mezzetti et al., 2016). The beneficial effects of polyphenols in food are determined by their bioavailability (i.e., the ease with which they can be assimilated by the body and have a positive effect on health) and also by their metabolic fate. However, no selection criteria based on the bioavailability of the antioxidants in strawberry appear to have been reported to date. Bioaccessibility can be defined in terms of “the fraction of a food constituent that is released from a food matrix in the gastrointestinal tract and becomes available for absorption” (Carbonell-Capella, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.11.105 Received 28 June 2017; Received in revised form 4 October 2017; Accepted 28 November 2017 ⁎ Corresponding authors. E-mail addresses: mariat.ariza@juntadeandalucia.es (M.T. Ariza), jsimal@uvigo.es (J. Simal-Gándara). Food Chemistry 248 (2018) 155–165 Available online 29 November 2017 0308-8146/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T