Abstract
Cocoa is continuously drawing attention due to growing scientific evidence suggesting its effects on health. Flavanols and methylxanthines are some of the most important bioactive compounds present in cocoa. Other important bioactives, such as phenolic acids and lactones, are derived from microbial metabolism. The identification of the metabolites produced after cocoa intake is a first step to understand the overall effect on human health. In general, after cocoa intake, methylxanthines show high absorption and elimination efficiencies. Catechins are transformed mainly into sulfate and glucuronide conjugates. Metabolism of procyanidins is highly influenced by the polymerization degree, which hinders their absorption. The polymerization degree over three units leads to biotransformation by the colonic microbiota, resulting in valerolactones and phenolic acids, with higher excretion times. Long term intervention studies, as well as untargeted metabolomic approaches, are scarce. Contradictory results have been reported concerning matrix effects and health impact, and there are still scientific gaps that have to be addresed to understand the influence of cocoa intake on health. This review addresses different cocoa clinical studies, summarizes the different methodologies employed as well as the metabolites that have been identified in plasma and urine after cocoa intake.
Highlights
IntroductionCocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is a tree from the Malvaceae family
One study [81] showed that unmetabolized theobromine in urine was close to 1.5 times higher when consuming methylxanthine enriched powder compared to the non-enriched cocoa powder, which indicates that renal clearance could vary in function of exposure
A diversity of metabolites has been identified in urine and plasma after consumption of cocoa or cocoa derived products
Summary
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is a tree from the Malvaceae family. Its seeds are covered by a sweet and sour mucilage which contains approximately 11% of sugars, mainly sucrose, and an acidic environment with a pH of about 3.5–3.8. Citric acid is the main organic acid present in the pulp. Others such as oxalic, phosphoric, malic and tartaric acid are present [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Fat is the main component of cocoa beans: it accounts to almost 50% of the cotyledon dry weight, where 98% corresponds to neutral lipids, and 2% to polar lipids, mainly phospholipids and glycolipids
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