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Impact of thearubigins on the estimation of total dietary flavonoids in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 67, pages 779–782 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Thearubigins (TR) are polymeric flavanol-derived compounds formed during the fermentation of tea leaves. Comprising ∼70% of total polyphenols in black tea, TR may contribute majorly to its beneficial effects on health. To date, there is no appropriate food composition data on TR, although several studies have used data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) database to estimate TR intakes. We aimed to estimate dietary TR in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort and assess the impact of including TR or not in the calculation of the total dietary flavonoid intake. Dietary data were collected using a single standardized 24-h dietary recall interviewer-administered to 36 037 subjects aged 35–74 years. TR intakes were calculated using the USDA database. TR intakes ranged from 0.9 mg/day in men from Navarra and San Sebastian in Spain to 532.5 mg/day in men from UK general population. TR contributed <5% to the total flavonoid intake in Greece, Spain and Italy, whereas in the UK general population, TR comprised 48% of the total flavonoids. High heterogeneity in TR intake across the EPIC countries was observed. This study shows that total flavonoid intake may be greatly influenced by TR, particularly in high black tea-consuming countries. Further research on identification and quantification of TR is needed to get more accurate dietary TR estimations.

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out with the financial support of the European Commission: Public Health and Consumer Protection Directorate 1993–2004; Research Directorate-General 2005; French League against Cancer, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale(INSERM), Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale, Institut Gustave Roussy (France); German Cancer Aid; German Cancer Research Center; German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; Danish Cancer Society; the Spanish Ministry of Health (ISCIII RETICC RD06/0020/0091); Spanish Regional Governments of Andalusia, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia (No 6236) and Navarra and the Catalan Institute of Oncology; Cancer Research UK and the Medical Research Council (United Kingdom); the Stroke Association, UK; British Heart Foundation; Department of Health, UK; Food Standards Agency, UK; the Wellcome Trust, UK; the Hellenic Health Foundation and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation; Italian Association for Research on Cancer; Compagnia San Paolo, Italy; Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports; Dutch Ministry of Health; Dutch Prevention Funds; LK Research Funds; Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland); World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF); Statistics Netherlands (The Netherlands); Swedish Cancer Society; Swedish Scientific Council; Regional Government of Skane, Sweden; Nordforsk—Center of Excellence programme; Some authors are partners of ECNIS, a network of excellence of the 6FP of the EC. RZR is thankful for a postdoctoral ‘Sara Borrell’ program (CD09/00133) from the MEC and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. We also thank Raul M García for developing an application to link the FCDB and the 24-HDR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Nutrition, Environment and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO-IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain

    R Zamora-Ros & C A González

  2. Section of Nutrition and Metabolism, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France

    V Knaze, I Romieu, A Scalbert & N Slimani

  3. INSERM U1018, Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health (CESP), Villejuif, France

    F Clavel-Chapelon, M Touillaud & F Perquier

  4. Paris South University, UMRS 1018, F-94805, Villejuif, France

    F Clavel-Chapelon

  5. Department of Community Medicine, Univeristy of Tromso, Tromso, Norway

    G Skeie, D Engeset & E Weiderpass

  6. Department of Odontology/Cariology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    I Johansson

  7. Department of Food Science, BioCenter, Swedish University of Agriculture Science, Uppsala, Sweden

    R Landberg

  8. National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands

    H B Bueno-de-Mesquita

  9. Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    H B Bueno-de-Mesquita

  10. Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

    S Sieri

  11. Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Cancer Research and Prevention Institute—ISPO, Florence, Italy

    G Masala

  12. Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    P H M Peeters

  13. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health, Imperial College, London, UK

    P H M Peeters & E Riboli

  14. Department of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany

    V Grote

  15. Department of Epidemiology, Murcia Regional Health Council, Murcia, Spain

    J M Huerta

  16. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Granada, Spain

    J M Huerta, A Barricarte, P Amiano & E Molina-Montes

  17. Navarra Public Health Institute, Pamplona, Spain

    A Barricarte

  18. Public Health Division of Gipuzkoa, Department of Health of the Regional Government of the Basque Country, BIODonostia Research Institute, San Sebastian, Spain

    P Amiano

  19. Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    F L Crowe

  20. Andalusian School of Public Health, Granada, Spain

    E Molina-Montes

  21. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, UK

    K-T Khaw

  22. Public Health Directorate, Asturias, Spain

    M V Argüelles

  23. Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark

    A Tjønneland & J Halkjær

  24. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Federico II University, Naples, Italy

    M S de Magistris

  25. Human Genetics Foundation (HUGEF), Turin, Italy

    F Ricceri

  26. Cancer Registry and Histopathology Unit, Civile MP Arezzo Hospital, Ragusa, Italy

    R Tumino

  27. Department of Clinical Sciences, Nutrition Epidemiology, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden

    E Wirfält

  28. Department of Clinical Sciences, Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease, Genetic Epidemiology, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden

    U Ericson

  29. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    K Overvad

  30. Department of Hygiene, WHO Collaborating Center for Food and Nutrition Policies, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece

    A Trichopoulou

  31. Hellenic Health Foundation, Athens, Greece

    A Trichopoulou, V Dilis & P Vidalis

  32. Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Nuthetal, Germany

    H Boeing & J Förster

Authors
  1. R Zamora-Ros
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  2. V Knaze
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  3. I Romieu
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  4. A Scalbert
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  5. N Slimani
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  6. F Clavel-Chapelon
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  7. M Touillaud
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  8. F Perquier
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  9. G Skeie
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  10. D Engeset
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  11. E Weiderpass
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  14. H B Bueno-de-Mesquita
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  15. S Sieri
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  16. G Masala
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  17. P H M Peeters
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  18. V Grote
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  19. J M Huerta
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  20. A Barricarte
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  21. P Amiano
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  22. F L Crowe
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  23. E Molina-Montes
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  24. K-T Khaw
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  25. M V Argüelles
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  26. A Tjønneland
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  27. J Halkjær
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  28. M S de Magistris
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  29. F Ricceri
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  30. R Tumino
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  31. E Wirfält
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  32. U Ericson
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  33. K Overvad
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  34. A Trichopoulou
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  35. V Dilis
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  36. P Vidalis
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  37. H Boeing
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  38. J Förster
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  39. E Riboli
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  40. C A González
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R Zamora-Ros.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Contributors: RZ-R and CAG designed the research; RZ-R and VK conducted the research; RZ-R performed the statistical analysis; RZ-R wrote the manuscript; all authors read, critically reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

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Zamora-Ros, R., Knaze, V., Romieu, I. et al. Impact of thearubigins on the estimation of total dietary flavonoids in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Eur J Clin Nutr 67, 779–782 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.89

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.89

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