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Cited by 192Date Palm Research StudiesGut microbiota and healthProbiotics and Fermented Foods

The impact of date palm fruits and their component polyphenols, on gut microbial ecology, bacterial metabolites and colon cancer cell proliferation

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Eid, Noura, Enani, Sumia, Walton, Gemma, Corona, Giulia, Costabile, Adele, Gibson, Glenn, Rowland, Ian, Spencer, Jeremy P. E.·2014·Journal of Nutritional Science
DOI 10.1017/jns.2014.16PMC PMC4473134
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Abstract

The fruit of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a rich source of dietary fibre and polyphenols. We have investigated gut bacterial changes induced by the whole date fruit extract (digested date extract; DDE) and its polyphenol-rich extract (date polyphenol extract; DPE) using faecal, pH-controlled, mixed batch cultures mimicking the distal part of the human large intestine, and utilising an array of microbial group-specific 16S rRNA oligonucleotide probes. Fluorescence microscopic enumeration indicated that there was a significant increase in the growth of bifidobacteria in response to both treatments, whilst whole dates also increased bacteroides at 24 h and the total bacterial counts at later fermentation time points when compared with DPE alone. Bacterial metabolism of whole date fruit led to the production of SCFA, with acetate significantly increasing following bacterial incubation with DDE. In addition, the production of flavonoid aglycones (myricetin, luteolin, quercetin and apigenin) and the anthocyanidin petunidin in less than 1 h was also observed. Lastly, the potential of DDE, DPE and metabolites to inhibit Caco-2 cell growth was investigated, indicating that both were capable of potentially acting as antiproliferative agents in vitro, following a 48 h exposure. This potential to inhibit growth was reduced following fermentation. Together these data suggest that consumption of date fruits may enhance colon health by increasing beneficial bacterial growth and inhibiting the proliferation of colon cancer cells. This is an early suggestion that date intake by humans may aid in the maintenance of bowel health and even the reduction of colorectal cancer development.

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  • A diet rich in glucose, fructose, and sucrose can significantly increase the abundance of Bifidobacterium with a significant reduction in Bacteroides.

    “A diet rich in glucose, fructose, and sucrose can significantly increase the abundance of Bifidobacterium with a significant reduction in Bacteroides (Eid et al., 2014).”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Eid et al., 2014

    The Results (page not provided) report that both date extracts significantly increased bifidobacteria, and that the polyphenol extract decreased Bacteroides at 48 hours. But this was a faecal batch-culture experiment, not a study of a diet rich in glucose, fructose and sucrose. The Discussion also reports that the whole-date extract increased, rather than reduced, Bacteroides. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Eid, N., Enani, S., Walton, G., Corona, G., Costabile, A., Gibson, G., Rowland, I., & Spencer, J. P. E.
Affiliations
University of Reading (GB)
Corresponding author
Spencer, Jeremy P. E.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Nutritional Science
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2014
Volume
3
Pages
e46-e46
ISSN
2048-6790 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1017/jns.2014.16
PMC
PMC4473134
OpenAlex
W2111147697
Cited by
192
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 24 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 3
FWCI
6.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Nutritional Science (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CentAUR (University of Reading) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • University of Cambridge
  • University of Reading
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Date Palm Research Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
Keywords
dates, date palm, polyphenols, gut microbiota, Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides, short-chain fatty acids, acetate, flavonoid aglycones, anthocyanidins, petunidin, Caco-2 cells, colon cancer cell proliferation, antiproliferative activity, dietary fiber, colorectal cancer prevention

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