Beverages Based on Second Quality Citrus Fruits and Maqui Berry, a Source of Bioactive (Poly)phenols: Sorting Out Urine Metabolites upon a Longitudinal Study

Abstract

The intake of sugar-sweetened beverages has been associated with an augmented prevalence of metabolic diseases, namely, obesity, type II diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. On the other hand, nowadays, it is broadly accepted that foods and beverages rich in (poly)phenols could contribute to reducing the incidence of these pathologies. In this sense, the objective of the work was to revalue second quality citrus fruits for the development of new beverages, rich in anthocyanins and flavanones (maqui berry and second qualities citrus-based), and evaluate the influence of alternative sweeteners (sucralose, sucrose, or stevia), regarding the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of these bioactive compounds in the frame of a chronic (longitudinal) intervention. To fulfill this objective, a longitudinal study of the urinary excretion of anthocyanins and flavanones, after 2-months of ingestion of the developed maqui-citrus beverage, by 138 volunteers (n = 46 per beverage) and the analysis of the resulting phenolic metabolites by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-QqQ-MS/MS) was carried out. As major results, the bioavailable metabolites of caffeic acid (CA), catechol (CAT), 3,4-di-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (DHPAA), eriodictyol (E), homoeriodictyol (HE), hippuric acid (HA), naringenin (N), trans-ferulic acid (TFA), 2,4,6-tri-hydroxybenzaldehyde (THBA), trans-isoferulic acid (TIFA), and vanillic acid (VA) were detected. Accordingly, significantly different bioavailability was dependent on the sweetener used, allowing proposing stevia and, to a lower extent, sucralose, as valuable alternatives to sucrose.

Synergistic Interaction in the Analgesic-Like Effects of Maqui Berry and Citrus Is Antagonized by Sweeteners

“…We cannot discard that these effects might be associated with pharmacodynamic mechanisms, but also with a pharmacokinetic influence since sucralose provided the greatest absorption value in humans for most of the maqui berry metabolites, followed by stevia and with a minor influence of sucrose after the ingestion of a new maqui-citrus-based beverage supplemented with these sweeteners. These results suggest that non-caloric sweeteners are better alternatives than a high caloric sweetener to avoid the augmented risk of several metabolic disorders [7,34] (Reference [35] is cited in the Supplementary Materials), but also as an alternative to painful effects as was observed in this preclinical study.…”

Complementarity of clinical trials, model systems, and metabolomic workflow to unravel the healthy effects of foods: BEBESANO vs MODELSANO: A case study

“…Besides, the results obtained reinforced the findings described resorting to the acute interventions described in the previous section, with the identification of stevia as the sweetener providing the highest bioavailability for most metabolites. Moreover, these results evidenced that after 2-months of ingestion of the beverage, the amount of the different metabolites increases, and more metabolites are detected in comparison with the acute intake of the maqui-citrus beverage that would indicate, to some extent, accumulative effects might occur, even though the bioavailability of these metabolites was similar regardless the sweetened-drink ingested [21].…”

“…According to these premises, in the frame of the BEBESANO project, to move forward from the results obtained from the acute intervention study, as well as to explore possible accumulative effects of the (poly) phenols present in the maqui-citrus beverages, a longitudinal intervention was developed [21]. This research also monitored the effect of the long-term ingestion (2 months) of the developed beverages on peripheral-blood plasma and urine concentrations of the target bioactive (poly) phenols.…”

“…Again, the absence of parental anthocyanin and hesperidin aglycones after the longterm intake of the beverage was observed, further suggesting the rapid metabolism of these molecules by phase II reactions. Moreover, it was observed that the metabolites identified were persistent over time [21]. Urine samples assessed exhibited the following molecules: caffeic acid, catechol, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, eriodictyol, homoeriodictyol, hippuric acid, naringenin, trans-ferulic acid, 2,4,6-trihydroxybenzaldehyde, trans-isoferulic acid, and vanillic acid derivates [21].…”

“…Moreover, it was observed that the metabolites identified were persistent over time [21]. Urine samples assessed exhibited the following molecules: caffeic acid, catechol, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, eriodictyol, homoeriodictyol, hippuric acid, naringenin, trans-ferulic acid, 2,4,6-trihydroxybenzaldehyde, trans-isoferulic acid, and vanillic acid derivates [21]. Regarding plasma samples, caffeic acid, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, eriodictyol, homoeriodictyol, hippuric acid, naringenin, 2,4,6-trihydroxybenzaldehyde, and vanillic acid derivates were detected.…”