Elderberry anthocyanins broken down differently by three gut bacteria
What it found
In lab tests, three gut bacteria broke down elderberry anthocyanins in different ways, producing different amounts and types of breakdown products.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
All strains degraded anthocyanins
All three bacterial strains broke down the elderberry anthocyanins, but they used different metabolic pathways.
Different metabolites produced
The kinds and amounts of phenolic metabolites produced varied widely among the three strains. Some metabolites were common to all, but many differed.
Bifidobacterium dentium
B. dentium caused a large drop in anthocyanin levels and produced more monohydroxylated phenolics and C6-C3 backbones over the 4 days.
Dorea longicatena
D. longicatena mildly degraded anthocyanins but produced high amounts of dihydroxylated phenolic acids like protocatechuic acid and caffeic acid.
Enterobacter cancerogenous
E. cancerogenous produced pyrogallol and broke down catechol, unlike the other strains.
Other findings
Peonidin glycosides confirmed
The elderberry extract contained peonidin glycosides, which made up about 1% of the anthocyanins. This was confirmed with a targeted MS3 experiment.
What the authors conclude
- They say the study shows considerable variability in the type and concentration of anthocyanin breakdown products among the three gut bacterial strains.
- They suggest that the presence of certain strains and competition among them are key factors behind individual differences in anthocyanin bioavailability.
- They call for further studies to fully explain the degradation pathways of the most common bacterial species and how they relate to different gut microbiome compositions.
How it was done
The authors wanted to understand how different gut bacteria break down elderberry anthocyanins, which are poorly absorbed and mostly transformed in the colon. This could help explain why people produce different metabolites.
They incubated an anthocyanin-rich elderberry extract with three single gut bacterial strains (Enterobacter cancerogenous, Bifidobacterium dentium, and Dorea longicatena) for up to 4 days and measured the phenolic compounds produced.
What it can’t tell you
- These are lab tests with single bacterial strains, so they cannot show what happens in people with complex gut communities.
- The study cannot prove that these differences cause different health effects in humans.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States; Phytochemistry and Healthy Food Laboratory, Spain; University of Parma, Italy
The paper
- Title
- Differential Catabolism of an Anthocyanin-Rich Elderberry Extract by Three Gut Microbiota Bacterial Species
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Bresciani L, Angelino D, Vivas EI, et al (2020). Differential Catabolism of an Anthocyanin-Rich Elderberry Extract by Three Gut Microbiota Bacterial Species. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.9b00247Free full textPubMed 30969770DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error