Dietary Carotenoids and their modulation of Intestinal Microbiota

Helena R. Rocha, Marta Coelho, Ana Maria Gomes, Manuela E. Pintado*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to conferencePosterpeer-review

Abstract

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) cause 41 million deaths per year and can be associated with unhealthy dietary behaviours, the reason why several nutrition and health organizations recommend the regular consumption of fruits and vegetables. Being the most common lipid-soluble phytochemicals in the human diet, carotenoids and their metabolites have been connected to these advantageous health effects.
The carotenoids’ efficiency can be affected by several factors, highlighting the important influence of the intestinal microbiota (IM) on the absorption and metabolism of carotenoids. Also, diet is one of the most important regulators of IM since a change in its composition can enhance or inhibit the reproduction of some microbial species, which can have defensive or damaging effects. Besides that, IM can synthesise and release a variety of metabolites that are absorbed and transferred into the circulating system, can regulate the composition and function of the host’s IM and play important roles in the development and progression of some pathologies.
To better understand the possible interaction between carotenoids and the IM, three carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein and lycopene), a mix of these pigments and the algae Osmundea pinnatifida were subjected to an in vitro simulation of the gastrointestinal digestion. After characterising how this technique affected each sample, the digested samples were tested on human faeces model to see how it affected the gut microbiota's population dynamics and metabolic activity.
At the phylum level, the intestinal microbiota in each tested group was generally composed of Bacteroidota, Bacillota, Pseudomonadota, and Actinomycetota, consistent with the results obtained in previous studies and sustained by all types of analysis. In a general way, carotenoids stimulated the growth of bacteria from the Lachnospiraceae family and the decreased of Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, Streptococcus and Bifidobacterium bacteria. The intestinal microbiota used glucose as a carbon source and these bacteria induced the production of organic acids such as succinic, acetic, butyric, propionic, and malic acids. In terms of functional properties, all groups presented i) antioxidant and anti-diabetic activity, being higher for lutein and the mMix groups, respectively, ii) the absence of mutagenicity in all the concentrations tested for all samples, iii) an anti-mutagenicity effect and iv) non-cytoxicity with the samples of these carotenoids with lower concentrations.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2023
EventCongress of Microbiology and Biotechnology 2023 - Covilhã, Portugal
Duration: 7 Dec 20239 Dec 2023
https://microbiotec23.organideia.com/

Conference

ConferenceCongress of Microbiology and Biotechnology 2023
Abbreviated titleMICROBIOTEC 23
Country/TerritoryPortugal
Period7/12/239/12/23
Internet address

Keywords

  • carotenoids
  • intestinal microbiota
  • modulation
  • metabolites
  • absorption

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