Various factors can influence the polyphenol content and the antioxidant capacity of ciders,
such as the apple variety, its degree of maturity, apple farming and storage conditions, and the
cider-fermentation method, all of which explains why ciders of different origin present different
values. In addition, digestive processes could have some effects on the properties of cider. Hence,
the objective of this study is to characterize Spanish ciders in terms of their polyphenol content
and antioxidant capacity and to ascertain whether those same properties differ in digested ciders.
In total, 19 ciders were studied from three different zones within Spain: Asturias (A) (10), the
Basque Country (BC) (6), and Castile-and-Leon (CL) (3). A range of assays was used to determine
the total polyphenol content and the antioxidant capacity of the ciders. In addition, a digestive
process was simulated in vitro, assessing whether the use of amylase might influence the recovery of
bioactive compounds after digestion. The Basque Country ciders presented higher total polyphenol
contents (830 ± 179 GAE/L) and higher antioxidant capacities (DPPH: 5.4 ± 1.6 mmol TE/L; ABTS:
6.5 ± 2.0 mmol TE/L; FRAP: 6.9 ± 1.6 mmol TE/L) than the other ciders that were studied. The
in vitro digestion process, regardless of the use of amylase, implied a loss of phenolic compounds
(598 ± 239 mg GAE/L undigested samples; 466 ± 146 mg GAE/L digested without amylase samples;
420 ± 115 mg GAE/L digested with amylase samples), although the variation in antioxidant activity
depended on the assay chosen for its determination.
