Digestionderived

Digestionderived is a term used to describe substances, metabolites, or products that originate from or are produced during the digestive process. In nutrition science, pharmacology, and microbiology, it refers to compounds generated by enzymatic breakdown, microbial action, or chemical changes as food passes through the gastrointestinal tract.

The scope includes nutrients released from food matrices during digestion, host-derived metabolites produced by endogenous enzymes, and microbiota-derived compounds formed by fermentation or biotransformation. Examples include short-chain fatty acids such as acetate, propionate, and butyrate; free amino acids and small peptides released from protein hydrolysis; minerals liberated from food matrices; and lipid digestion products.

Mechanisms involve enzymatic hydrolysis by salivary, gastric, pancreatic, and intestinal enzymes; microbial fermentation in the colon; and chemical reactions in the stomach and small intestine that can transform compounds into more soluble or bioactive forms.

Applications include assessing nutrient bioaccessibility, digestibility, and the release of functional compounds in foods; evaluating drug delivery and nutrient absorption; and using in vitro digestion models, such as simulated mouth-stomach-intestine systems, to study digestion-derived compounds.

Limitations arise from individual variation in anatomy, enzyme activity, and gut microbiota; discrepancies between in vitro models and in vivo digestion; and the challenge of linking digestion-derived compounds to specific health outcomes.

See also: digestion, bioavailability, gut microbiota, digestion products.