Work

Reciprocal modulation between beef protein and wine phenolics during in vitro co-digestion: a proposed ternary complex-mediated mechanism modulated by cooking technique

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Background: Beef and red wine form a classic dietary combination, yet how their components reciprocally influence each other during digestion remains unclear. Methods: digestion model, combined with molecular docking, to investigate bidirectional modulation between beef proteins and wine phenolics. Results: Wine co-digestion suppressed gastric carbonyl formation by 21.5%-30.8% and preserved free sulfhydryl groups by 27.7%-50.5% across cooking methods. Two-way analysis of variance indicated significant cooking × wine interactions for protein oxidation and amino acid release. The largest improvement occurred in grilled beef, whose gastric digestibility and intestinal amino acid content increased by 20.9% and 67.2%, respectively. Docking simulations predicted that selected phenolics bound to myosin heavy chain and pepsin through hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions, supporting a proposed phenolics-pepsin-myosin ternary complex that may strengthen enzyme-substrate association. Reciprocally, the beef matrix enhanced ABTS antioxidant activity by 24.9% (gastric) and 125.3% (intestinal) relative to wine alone, and was associated with selective phenolic regulation: gastric gallic acid increased by up to 135.7%, whereas intestinal epicatechin and resveratrol rose up to 3.5- and 11.6-fold, respectively. Conclusion: These findings support the proposed ternary complex as a plausible molecular hub governing protein-phenolic reciprocity, providing a proposed mechanistic basis for optimizing cooking methods and meat-wine pairing strategies in mixed meals.

Source: Frontiers in Nutrition

DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2026.1967708