Identification and Quantification of Phenolic Compounds and Bioactive Properties of Sorghum-cowpea-based Food Subjected to an In vitro Digestion Model

This work identified and quantified some phenolics compound in sorghum-cowpea porridge after subjection to in vitro digestion. Flours, porridge and digested porridge were analysed for total phenolics, total flavonoids, ABTS-radical scavenging capacity and specific phenolic acids and flavonoids. Total phenolics and flavonoid content of the gastric (346.1 µg CE/g; 35.2 µg CE/g) and intestinal phase digest (1389.8 µg CE/g; 142.6 µg CE/g) were lower than the composite flour (2720.1 µg CE/g; 220.9 µg CE/g) and while its porridge were (1218.4 µg CE/g; 173.8 µg CE/g). The ABTS-radical scavenging capacity of all samples ranged from 21.0 – 507.3 µg TE/g. The gastric phase and intestinal phase digests maintained 4.7% and 58.3% of the radical scavenging capacity of the porridge. Catechin and gallic acid were lower in the intestinal digest (2760.0 µg/g; 226.7 µg/g) than the undigested porridge (4188.3 µg/g; 193.9 µg/g). Sorghum-cowpea composite porridge contains phenolic antioxidants even after gastric and intestinal digestion with potential to significantly impact human health.