Persimmon Fiber-Rich ingredients promote anti-inflammatory responses and the growth of beneficial anti-inflammatory firmicutes species from the human colon

Abstract

Persimmon fruit processing-derived waste and by-products, such as peels and pomace, are important sources of dietary fiber and phytochemicals. Revalorizing these by-products could help promote circular nutrition and agricultural sustainability while tackling dietary deficiencies and chronic diseases. In this study, fiber-rich fractions were prepared from the by-products of Sharoni and Brilliant Red persimmon varieties. These fractions were quantified for their phenolic composition and assessed for their ability to promote the growth of beneficial human colonic Firmicutes species and for their in vitro anti-inflammatory potential. Gallic and protocatechuic acids, delphinidin, and cyanidin were the main phenolics identified. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii strains showed significantly higher growth rates in the presence of the Brilliant Red fraction, generating more than double butyrate as a proportion of the total short-chain fatty acids (39.5% vs. 17.8%) when compared to glucose. The fiber-rich fractions significantly decreased the inflammatory effect of interleukin-1β in Caco-2 cells, and the fermented fractions (both from Sharoni and Brilliant Red) significantly decreased the inflammatory effect of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α in the RAW264.7 cells. Therefore, fiber-rich fractions from persimmon by-products could be part of nutritional therapies as they reduce systemic inflammation, promote the growth of beneficial human gut bacteria, and increase the production of beneficial microbial metabolites such as butyrate.

This research was funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) Strategic Research Programme (grant number RI-B6-1) and the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grant number PID2020-116731RB-C21 to F.M.). JS-B was a recipient of a predoctoral fellowship from Miguel Hernández University (Ayudas a la contratación de personal investigador en formación 2022), Spain. BM-C was a recipient of the Mobility Scholarship from Santander Open Access (Movilidad Internacional UMH 2023—2da convocatoria; 02706/2023), Spain. LL-B was a recipient of an FPU contract (FPU19/04497) from the Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional (Spain). LL-B’s stay at The Rowett Institute was supported by a mobility fellowship from the Training Program of the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas (CIBERDEM), which is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain).