Malondialdehyde levels and bioaccessibility in healthy diet bars: A gastrointestinal digestion model

Malondialdehyde (MDA), which is composed when n-6 and n-3 PUFAs are peroxidized, has been utilized as an indicator of lipid peroxidation and has been considered neurotoxic, cytotoxic, and mutagenic. This study aimed to determine the bioaccessibility level of MDA in diet bars sold as healthy snacks in the market using in vitro gastrointestinal digestive model. In our study, 28 different diet bar samples were bought from markets in Istanbul. MDA contents of the products were determined by the HPLC-FLD method. The investigation showed that diet bars had an average MDA concentration of 116.25 μg/100 g before digestion, while the average MDA concentration was 90.50 μg/100 g after in vitro digestion. In line with these data, the average MDA bioaccessibility of 28 diet bar samples was calculated as 77.3%. For this reason, more studies are needed to understand the relationship between both the MDA content and the reaction and nutritional components.