Assessment of potential bioavailability of major phenolic compounds in Lavandula stoechas L. ssp. stoechas

Despite the countless number of studies on phenolic compounds from herbal resources and their related bioactivities, their bioavailability factors are generally disregarded. The present study was performed in order to assess the potential bioavailability of major phenolics found in the aerial parts of Lavandula stoechas L. ssp. stoechas. To that end, a simulated human digestion method consisting of both gastric and intestinal phases was conducted. The total phenolic, phenolic acid and flavonoid contents were appraised together with high performance thin layer chromatography analysis of the two phenolic acids (rosmarinic acid and chlorogenic acid) and two flavone glycosides (apigenin 7-glucoside and luteolin-7-O-β-glucoside). On the other hand, antioxidant potentials of the samples were investigated using assays with different mechanisms such as free radical scavenging tests and metal-related activity tests. According to the results, flavone glycosides had lower bioavailability than phenolic acids, and antioxidant activities were altered due to in vitro gastrointestinal digestion.