Monica Barone

Introduction Gut microbiota plays an important role in maintaining intestinal homeostasis. Among a huge variety of gut colonizing bacteria, Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) deserves special attention. A. muciniphila is a non-motile gram-negative mucin-degrading bacterium of the phylum Verrucomicrobiota first isolated from human faeces by Derrien et al. (1, 2). A strict anaerobe, A.

1. Introduction Cereal whole grains are part of the family Poaceae (also known as Gramineae), and their seeds are consumed as food. Wholegrains are a rich source of fibre and phenolic acids (PAs), and their consumption may be beneficial for the prevention of chronic illnesses, but this is subject to the bioaccessibility in the gastrointestinal tract and the subsequent bioavailability of their phenolic compounds [1].

Abstract Background Dietary lignans belong to the group of phytoestrogens together with coumestans, stilbenes and isoflavones, and themselves do not exhibit oestrogen-like properties. Nonetheless, the gut microbiota converts them into enterolignans, which show chemical similarity to the human oestrogen molecule. One of the richest dietary sources of lignans are oilseeds, including flaxseed.