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) 0À48h and C max values for quercetin and hesperetin were similar, whereas the AUC 0À48h 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. ( To compare the impact of dietary important flavonoids, it is necessary to study them in the same food matrix and at similar realistic doses. The present study investigates the bioavailability and urinary excretion of the flavonoids, quercetin, hesperetin and naringenin, in a 48-h intervention study with a single dose (6.3 ml/kg b.w.) of 'juice mix' containing the three flavonoids.
European Journal of Clinical NutritionComplete urine and plasma samples were obtained from 10 healthy men, aged 21-28 years. The study was approved by the ethics committee of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg municipality (J.No.(KF)01-161/01). The 'juice mix' was provided to fasting individuals in the morning, along with a standardized flavonoid-free diet (0-24 h), after which the individuals maintained a flavonoid-free diet (24-48 h). Blood and urine samples were collected as described previously (Nielsen et al., 2006). Flavonoid aglycones were quantified in the 'juice mix' (30 mg/l quercetin, 28 mg/l naringenin and 32 mg/l hesperetin) and flavonoid glycosides in the 'juice mix' were identified according to Breinholt et al. (2003).Flavonoids in plasma were completely hydrolysed as described in Nielsen et al. (2006). Plasma samples were added 25 ml aqueous ascorbic acid (20 mg/ml) and 0.5% formic acid to pH ¼ 4 and applied to Evolute ABN columns (25 mg, Mikrolab, Aarhus, Denmark). The eluted flavonoid aglycones were evaporated to dryness and re-dissolved in 200 ml 0.5% formic acid and 10% methanol, and 250 ng 13 C-daidzein was added as external standard.Determination of flavonoids in urine is essentially described elsewhere (Nielsen et al., 2006), except for the inclusion of solid-phase extraction (Isolute SPE 100, Mikrolab) before injection into the liquid chromatographymass spectrometry system. Statistical analyses were performed using Wilcoxon matched pair tests (SPSS version 14.0). The relative