Behavior of Phenolic Compounds During In Vitro Digestion of an Isotonic Beverage Enriched with Microencapsulated Habanero Pepper Leaf Extracts

Imagine your sports drink quietly protecting its antioxidants through your digestive system—this study shows how microencapsulation makes that possible, boosting phenolic content by 39%.

Habanero pepper leaves, often discarded as agricultural waste, hide a treasure trove of polyphenols. Researchers used ultrasound-assisted extraction with natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) to pull out these bioactive compounds, then locked them into microscopic capsules using maltodextrin, guar gum, and modified starch. These capsules were added to an isotonic beverage, turning a simple drink into a functional one.

To test how well the polyphenols survived digestion, the team simulated both fasting and postprandial conditions in vitro. Under fasting, the enriched beverage showed significantly higher total phenolic content—6.98 mg GAE/100 mL compared to 5.02 mg in the control, a 39% boost. Even after digestion, rutin and quercetin remained detectable, with final concentrations of 1.24 and 1.10 mg/100 mL under postprandial conditions.

The encapsulation matrix did its job, protecting the compounds from harsh digestive conditions. This work not only highlights NADES as a green extraction method but also paves the way for turning pepper leaf waste into functional beverage ingredients. The result? A smarter, more sustainable way to deliver health benefits in every sip.

Key Points

• Microencapsulation boosts phenolic content by 39% in isotonic beverage.
• NADES enable sustainable extraction from Habanero pepper leaf waste.
• Rutin and quercetin survive digestion, confirming protective effect.