Bioaccessibility\nof Cafestol from Coffee Brew: A Metabolic\nStudy Employing an <i>In Vitro</i> Digestion Model and LC-HRMS

Cafestol is an <i>ent</i>-kaurene skeleton\nditerpene\nthat is present in coffee beans and brews. Although several biological\nactivities have been described in the literature for cafestol, such\nas hypercholesterolemic, anti-inflammatory, anticerous, and antidiabetic\neffects, its metabolism within the human body remains poorly understood.\nTherefore, this study aimed to quantify cafestol in boiled coffee\nbrew, assess its bioaccessibility using a static <i>in vitro</i> digestion model, and investigate the metabolites formed during the\ndigestion process using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution\nmass spectrometry. Cafestol content in the boiled coffee brew ranged\nfrom 127.47 to 132.65 mg L<sup>–1</sup>. The bioaccessibility\nof cafestol from boiled coffee brew using the <i>in vitro</i> digestion model was 93.65%; additionally, in the intestinal phase,\ncafestol was mainly found in its alcohol form. Additionally, a novel\ncarboxylic acid derivative metabolite from cafestol with <i>m</i>/<i>z</i> 331.1909 [M + H]<sup>+</sup> formed in the oral\ndigestion phase is proposed. This metabolite was also detected in\nother digestion phases. Thus, this is the first article to investigate\nthe metabolism of cafestol during digestion using an <i>in vitro</i> digestion model. The results indicate that cafestol is bioaccessible,\nis available to absorption, in its alcohol form, and suffers an oxidation\nreaction during the oral phase of digestion.