Alternative Sweeteners Modify the Urinary Excretion of Flavanones Metabolites Ingested through a New Maqui-Berry Beverage.

Vicente Agulló,Cristina García-Viguera,Pilar Zafrilla,Raúl Domínguez-Perles,Diego A Moreno

doi:10.3390/foods9010041

Abstract

Dietary sugar has been largely related to the onset of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and obesity, among others. The growing awareness on the close relationship between the dietary habits and this health disturbance has encouraged the development of new beverages using alternative sweeteners that could contribute to combat the above referred pathophysiological disorders. To gain further insight into this issue, the present work, upon an acute dietary intervention, evaluated the urinary excretion of flavanones ingested through polyphenols-rich beverages composed of maqui berry and citrus, with the aim of establishing the highest urinary excretion rate and metabolite profiles. The functional beverages evaluated were supplemented with a range of sweeteners including sucrose (natural and high caloric), stevia (natural and non-caloric), and sucralose (artificial and non-caloric) as an approach that would allow reducing the intake of sugars and provide bioactive phenolics (flavanones). The juices developed were ingested by volunteers (n = 20) and the resulting flavanones and their phase II metabolites in urine were analyzed by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography ElectroSpray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS). A total of 16 metabolites were detected: eriodyctiol, naringenin, and homoeriodyctiol derivatives, where peak concentrations were attained 3.5 h after beverage intake. Sucralose and stevia were the sweeteners that provided the highest urinary excretion for most compounds. Sucrose did not provide a remarkable higher elimination through urine of any compounds in comparison with sucralose or stevia. These results propose two alternative sweeteners to sucrose (sucralose and stevia), an overused, high caloric sweetener that promotes some metabolic diseases.

Highlights

Scientific evidence has shown that sugar intake stimulates brain reward pathways [1,2,3,4], the basis for the consumers choosing the types of foods and beverages that use sweeteners such as sucrose, glucose, and saccharine liquid, among others
In order to establish the rate of urinary elimination of flavanones present in the maqui-citrus juices manufactured using three separate sweeteners, their flavanones profile and concentration in juices were measured
The results of the present work evidence that processing in respect to the selection of sweeteners does not seem to have any effect on flavanone concentration

Summary

Introduction

Scientific evidence has shown that sugar intake stimulates brain reward pathways [1,2,3,4], the basis for the consumers choosing the types of foods and beverages that use sweeteners such as sucrose, glucose, and saccharine liquid, among others. This consumption pattern has been related with the rising incidence of metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, by promoting obesity and insulin resistance [5,6,7]. In connection with this strategy, a number of studies have suggested the consumption of bioactive molecules (phytochemical compounds, such as flavanones) which have a vasodilator activity that contributes with the improvement of endothelial function, and can help prevent the deleterious effects associated with sugar [10]

Methods

Results

Conclusion