Now, new research[2]published in the Food Chemistryjournal has looked into blackberries and how these could affect human gut microbiota. In the study a blackberry homogenate mixture was placed into a test tube and underwent what resembled digestion and gut fermentation. Components produced during these processes were then analysed.
It was found that blackberry anthocyanins degraded during the digestion processes. Subsequently gut metabolites appeared to have potent antioxidant and antidiabetic activity, possibly as a result of this. Scientists also found that the overall biological activity of the blackberry appeared to increase after digestion and fermentation.
Dr Emma Derbyshire, Public Health Nutritionist and adviser to British Berry Growers commented: “These are insightful findings highlighting that berries could now too have benefits for our gut health. Clearly more research taking the form of human trials is needed. These first findings though look promising indicating that the health benefits of berries may get even stronger when they reach our gut and their anthocyanins are degraded”.
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[1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29410981
[2]Gowd et al.(2018) Antioxidant and antidiabetic activity of blackberry after gastrointestinal digestion and human gut microbiota fermentation. Food Chemistry 269:618-627. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814618311543?via%3Dihub