The effect of processing techniques on the antiproliferative activity of blueberry phenolics before and after in vitro digestion

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of various processing techniques on the antiproliferative activity of blueberry phenolics against the human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MDA-MB-321) before and after simulated a two-phase digestion process (stomach and duodenum) based on human digestive juices. Because of the highest content of phenols (TPC), the undigested (122 mg GAE/100 g) and digested freeze-dried blueberry (303.36 mg GAE/100 g) was then tested for its antiproliferative activity against three carcinoma cell lines: cervical cancer cells (HeLa), human colon cancer cells (HCT116), and human osteosarcoma cells (U2OS). The obtained results showed that high-intensity ultrasound treatment and freeze-drying had a better effect (52.67% and 43.41%, respectively) on the cytotoxic activity of blueberry against breast cancer cells than thermal processing (32.31%). Gastric digestion did not decrease the cytotoxic activity in all cancer cell lines, while this activity decreased significantly after the digestion phase in the duodenum. Novelty impact statement High-intensity ultrasound treatment and freeze-drying have a good effect on the cytotoxic activity of blueberries against human breast cancer cells. Gastric digestion did not decrease phenolics amount and the cytotoxic activity against human breast cancer cells. Significant decrease of phenolic compounds and cytotoxic activity after duodenal digestion.