Lipolysis and sterol stability and bioaccessibility of wholemeal rye bread enriched with plant sterols subjected to adult and elderly digestion conditions

This study evaluated the impact of different digestion conditions (adult and senior) on lipolysis and bioaccessibility of plant sterols (PS) and phytosterol oxidation products (POPs) in PS-enriched wholemeal rye bread. Under adult digestion conditions, the addition of gastric lipase (GL) reduced lipolysis products (by 6.1% for free fatty acids and 11.7% for monoacylglycerols) and the bioaccessibility of PS by 6.7%, compared to the control. In the digestion with both GL and cholesterol esterase (CE), these reductions were 12.9%, 20.1%, and 11.3%, respectively. Both modifications (GL and GL+CE) increased the bioaccessibility of POPs by 4.5-4.0%. When simulating the elderly digestion, the modified gastric and intestinal phases did not alter PS bioaccessibility, but decreased POPs bioaccessibility by 21.8% compared to control, along with reduced lipolysis. Incorporating GL and CE thus approached physiological conditions and influenced lipid digestion. Elderly simulated digestion conditions resulted in a positive outcome by maintaining the PS bioaccessibility while reducing potentially harmful POPs.