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Green tea can influence the gut microbiota by either stimulating the growth of specific species or by hindering the development of detrimental ones. At the same time, gut bacteria can metabolize green tea compounds and produce smaller bioactive molecules. Accordingly, green tea benefits could be due to beneficial bacteria or to microbial bioactive metabolites. Therefore, the gut microbiota is likely to act as middle man for, at least, some of the green tea benefits on health. Many health promoting effects of green tea seems to be related to the inter-relation between green tea and gut microbiota. Green tea has proven to be able to correct the microbial dysbiosis that appears during several conditions such as obesity or cancer. On the other hand, tea compounds influence the growth of bacterial species involved in inflammatory processes such as the release of LPS or the modulation of IL production; thus, influencing the development of different chronic diseases. There are many studies trying to link either green tea or green tea phenolic compounds to health benefits via gut microbiota. In this review, we tried to summarize the most recent research in the area. Yes

The European Commission funded project Stance4Health (S4H) aims to develop a complete personalised nutrition service. In order to succeed, sources of information on nutritional composition and other characteristics of foods need to be as comprehensive as possible. Food composition tables or databases (FCT/FCDB) are the most commonly used tools for this purpose. The aim of this study is to describe the harmonisation efforts carried out to obtain the Stance4Health FCDB. A total of 10 FCT/FCDB were selected from different countries and organizations. Data were classified using FoodEx2 and INFOODS tagnames to harmonise the information. Hazard analysis and critical control points analysis was applied as the quality control method. Data were processed by spreadsheets and MySQL. S4H’s FCDB is composed of 880 elements, including nutrients and bioactive compounds. A total of 2648 unified foods were used to complete the missing values of the national FCDB used. Recipes and dishes were estimated following EuroFIR standards via linked tables. S4H’s FCDB will be part of the smartphone app developed in the framework of the Stance4Health European project, which will be used in different personalized nutrition intervention studies. S4H FCDB has great perspectives, being one of the most complete in terms of number of harmonized foods, nutrients and bioactive compounds included., European Research Commission (Research Executive Agency) under the research project Stance4Health (Grant Contract No. 816303), “Plan propio de Investigación y Transferencia” of the University of Granada under the programs “Intensificación de la Investigación, modalidad B”

The main objective of this work was to evaluate the effect that several plant extracts (currently sold as functional ingredients) have on gut microbiota community structure and functionality. Plant extracts were submitted to an in vitro digestion and fecal fermentation. Overall, plant extracts showed a marked inhibitory activity when compared to basal conditions. However, they also favored the growth of some bacteria such as Coprococcus and Butyricimonas, two butyrate producers. Especially interesting was tea extract which inhibited the growth of the genus Escherichia/Shigella, known to involve species related with gastrointestinal disorders. Additionally, tea extract increased the growth of Faecalibacterium, a known butyrate producer. Regarding short chain fatty acids production, while plant extracts reduced acetate production, butyrate was increased for most samples, especially tea extract. Propionate production was less affected in comparison with basal conditions. Fermentation by gut microbiota also modified the antioxidant capacity (assessed via DPPH, FRAP and Folin-Ciocalteu methods)., Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness AGL2014-53895-R, European Union (EU)

The human body is exposed to oxidative damage to cells and though it has some endogenous antioxidant systems, we still need to take antioxidants from our diet. The main dietary source of antioxidants is vegetables due to their content of different bioactive molecules. However, there are usually other components of the diet, such as foods of animal origin, that are not often linked to antioxidant capacity. Still, these foods are bound to exert some antioxidant capacity thanks to molecules released during gastrointestinal digestion and gut microbial fermentation. In this work, the antioxidant capacity of 11 foods of animal origin has been studied, submitted to different culinary techniques and to an in vitro digestion and gut microbial fermentation. Results have shown how dairy products potentially provide the highest antioxidant capacity, contributing to 60% of the daily antioxidant capacity intake. On the other hand, most of the antioxidant capacity was released during gut microbial fermentation (90–98% of the total antioxidant capacity). Finally, it was found that the antioxidant capacity of the studied foods was much higher than that reported by other authors. A possible explanation is that digestion–fermentation pretreatment allows for a higher extraction of antioxidant compounds and their transformation by the gut microbiota. Therefore, although foods of animal origin cannot be compared to vegetables in the concentration of antioxidant molecules, the processes of digestion and fermentation can provide some, giving animal origin food some qualities that could have been previously unappreciated., European Research Commission (Research Executive Agency) - Research project Stance4Health (Grant contract Nº 816303), Plan propio de Investigación y Transferencia of the University of Granada under the program “Intensificación de la Investigación, modalidad B”.

The antioxidant capacity of foods is essential to complement the body’s own endogenous antioxidant systems. The main antioxidant foods in the regular diet are those of plant origin. Although every kind of food has a di erent antioxidant capacity, thermal processing or cooking methods also play a role. In this work, the antioxidant capacity of 42 foods of vegetable origin was evaluated after in vitro digestion and fermentation. All foods were studied both raw and after di erent thermal processing methods, such as boiling, grilling roasting, frying, toasting and brewing. The cooking methods had an impact on the antioxidant capacity of the digested and fermented fractions, allowing the release and transformation of antioxidant compounds. In general, the fermented fraction accounted for up to 80–98% of the total antioxidant capacity. The most antioxidant foods were cocoa and legumes, which contributed to 20% of the daily antioxidant capacity intake. Finally, it was found that the antioxidant capacity of the studied foods was much higher than those reported by other authors since digestion–fermentation pretreatment allows for a higher extraction of antioxidant compounds and their transformation by the gut microbiota., European Research Commission (Research Executive Agency) under the research project Stance4Health 816303