The effect of plant sterol-enriched turkey meat on cholesterol bio-accessibility during in vitro digestion and Caco-2 cell uptake

Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of a plant sterol-enriched turkey product on cholesterol bio-accessibility during in vitro digestion and cholesterol uptake by Caco-2 monolayers. Turkey products, one plant sterol-enriched (PS) and one plant sterol-free (C), were produced in an industrial pilot plant. Before simulated digestion, matrices were spiked with cholesterol (1:5 weight ratio of cholesterol to plant sterol). Plant sterols were included at a concentration equivalent to the minimum daily intake recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for cholesterol lowering. After simulated digestion, the percentage of cholesterol micellarization and uptake by Caco-2 cells in the presence of PS meat were measured. Compared to C meat, PS meat significantly inhibited cholesterol micellarization on average by 24% and Caco-2 cell accumulation by 10%. This study suggests that plant sterols in meat can reduce cholesterol uptake by intestinal epithelia and it encourages efforts to make new PS-based functional foods.

Keywords:

• In vitro digestion
• plant sterols
• Caco-2 cells
• turkey meat
• cholesterol
• bio-accessibility

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Food Institutional Research Measure of the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under Grant 11/F/035. The authors would also like to thank Fiona McGillicuddy and Kevin McMahon for their support on Caco-2 cells.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Food Institutional Research Measure of the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under Grant 11/F/035.