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Relative bioavailability of the flavonoids quercetin, hesperetin and naringenin given simultaneously through diet

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 64, pages 432–435 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

The bioavailability and urinary excretion of three dietary flavonoids, quercetin, hesperetin and naringenin, were investigated. Ten healthy men were asked to consume a ‘juice mix’ containing equal amounts of the three flavonoids, and their urine and plasma samples were collected. The resulting mean plasma area under the curve (AUC)0−48h and Cmax values for quercetin and hesperetin were similar, whereas the AUC0−48h of naringenin and, thus, the relative bioavailability were higher after consumption of the same dose. The study consolidates a significantly lower urinary excretion of quercetin (1.5±1%) compared with hesperetin (14.2±9.1%) and naringenin (22.6±11.5%) and shows that this is not due to a lower bioavailability of quercetin, but rather reflects different clearance mechanisms.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Anni Schou and Leif Søren Jacobsen for their skilful technical assistance. This work was supported by a grant from the Research Centre for Environmental Health (ISMF), the Danish Technical Research Council (FELFO) and the Hede Nielsen Family Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Søborg, Denmark

    K S Krogholm, L Bredsdorff & P Knuthsen

  2. Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    J Haraldsdóttir

  3. Diabetes Research Unit, Novo Nordisk A/S, Novo Nordisk Park, Måløv, Denmark

    S E Rasmussen

Authors
  1. K S Krogholm
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  2. L Bredsdorff
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  3. P Knuthsen
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  4. J Haraldsdóttir
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  5. S E Rasmussen
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Correspondence to K S Krogholm.

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Contributors: KSK contributed to the study design and is responsible for conducting the experiment, for LC-MS analysis of urine, plasma and juice, for data interpretation, and for writing the paper; LB contributed to the LC-MS analysis of plasma and juice, to data interpretation and to the editing of the paper; PK is responsible for the LC-MS analysis of the diet, and contributed to the LC-MS analysis of the ‘juice mix’ and to the editing of the paper; JH contributed to the study design, to conducting the experiment and to the editing of the paper; SER is responsible for the study design, and contributed to the LC-MS analysis of urine, plasma and juice, to the data interpretation, and to the editing of the paper.

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Krogholm, K., Bredsdorff, L., Knuthsen, P. et al. Relative bioavailability of the flavonoids quercetin, hesperetin and naringenin given simultaneously through diet. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 432–435 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.6

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