Effect of boiling time on the stability of the phenolic compounds in wedang uwuh after gastric digestion

Abstract Plant-based products are an excellent source of dietary phenolic compounds, such as herbal drinks, juices, dried fruits, etc. Wedang uwuh is one of the herbal drinks that is made from a mixture of herbal plants. In previous studies, it has been reported that the boiling time affects the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of wedang uwuh. However, there has been no research on the effects of digestion on the stability of the phenolic components in wedang uwuh. This study aims to evaluate the stability of phenolic compounds of wedang uwuh after gastric digestion simulation with different boiling times of 5, 10, and 15 minutes. This research used total phenolic content assay, and DPPH• radical scavenging capacity to determine the stability of phenolic compounds after gastric digestion simulation. We found that the boiling time affected the amount of extractable and stability of the phenolic compounds in wedang uwuh during gastric digestion. There was a degraded capacity of DPPH radical scavenging after gastric digestion. The total phenolic and antioxidant capacity before consumption did not indicate the quantity of bioaccessible. Further research using intestinal digestion simulation is needed to obtain the bioaccessibility of wedang uwuh.