Purple maize arabinoxylan could protect antioxidant compounds during digestion.

Purple maize is a pigmented variety rich in antioxidants. Arabinoxylans (AX) are prebiotic compounds also found in the grain wall that can form gels. Recently, antioxidants have extensively been studied for their beneficial effects. However, these bioactive compounds do not easily reach the intestine in a stable form. These gels can protect certain compounds during digestion. This work aimed to extract the AX and simultaneously obtain the antioxidant compounds present in the external walls of the purple maize grain to produce gels with 2% and 4% AX to apply an digestion method. Popcorn maize (unpigmented) was used as a control. The amount of ferulic acid, polyphenols, and anthocyanins, and their antioxidative activity, were measured at digestion of the gels. This work highlights the ability of AX gels to enhance the potential bioavailability of antioxidant compounds including anthocyanins from purple maize after digestion.