p-Coumaric acid (4-hydroxycinnamic acid) is a phenolic acid that has low toxicity in mice (LD50 = 2850 mg kg(-1) body weight), serves as a precursor of other phenolic compounds, and exists either in free or conjugated form in plants. Conjugates of p-coumaric acid have been extensively studied in recent years due to their bioactivities. In this review, the occurrence, bioavailability and bioaccessibility of p-coumaric acid and its conjugates with mono-, oligo- and polysaccharides, alkyl alcohols, organic acids, amine and lignin are discussed. Their biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-cancer, antimicrobial, antivirus, anti-inflammatory, antiplatelet aggregation, anxiolytic, antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-arthritis activities, and their mitigatory effects against diabetes, obesity, hyperlipaemia and gout are compared. Cumulative evidence from multiple studies indicates that conjugation of p-coumaric acid greatly strengthens its biological activities; however, the high biological activity but low absorption of its conjugates remains a puzzle. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

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Summary This work aimed to investigate the reactivity of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) with selected amino acids, to identify the produced adducts and to clarify whether or not the adducts release HMF after their digestion under gastric conditions. Results showed that cysteine, glycine and lysine can deplete the added HMF, and their reactivity increased with increasing pH and temperature. Cysteine (25 μmol mL−1) depleted 91.0% of the added HMF (315.3 μg mL−1) at 40 °C in 15 min, lysine did not eliminate HMF until 80 °C, and glycine started to eliminate HMF at 100 °C. Four adducts for cysteine, three adducts for lysine and only one adduct for glycine were identified through HPLC–MS–MS after they reacted with HMF. The adducts formed from the reaction mixture of cysteine, lysine and glycine with HMF only released 1.7%, 2.6% and 10.5% of eliminated HMF, respectively, after their digestion in simulated gastric conditions.

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