Sensitive and Rapid UHPLC-MS/MS for the Analysis of Tomato Phenolics in Human Biological Samples

Miriam Martinez-Huelamo (1, 2) , Sara Tulipani (3) , Olga Jauregui (4) , Palmira Valderas-Martinez (2, 5) , Anna Vallverdu Queralt (6, 2) , Ramón Estruch (2, 5) , Xavier Torrado (1) , Rosa M. Lamuela-Raventos (1, 2)

1 Department of Nutrition and Food Science-XARTA-INSA, School of Pharmacy
2 Carlos III Health Institute
3 Biomedical Research Institute (IBIMA), Service of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, Teatinos Campus
4 CCiTUB - Scientific and Technological Centers of the University of Barcelona
5 Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Clinic, Institute of Biomedical Investigation August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS)
6 SPO - Sciences Pour l'Oenologie

An UHPLC-MS/MS method for the quantification of tomato phenolic metabolites in human fluids was optimized and validated, and then applied in a pilot dietary intervention study with healthy volunteers. A 5-fold gain in speed (3.5 min of total run); 7-fold increase in MS sensitivity and 2-fold greater efficiency (50% peak width reduction) were observed when comparing the proposed method with the reference-quality HPLC-MS/MS system, whose assay performance has been previously documented. The UHPLC-MS/MS method led to an overall improvement in the limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) for all the phenolic compounds studied. The recoveries ranged between 68% and 100% in urine and 61% and 100% in plasma. The accuracy; intra- and interday precision; and stability met with the acceptance criteria of the AOAC International norms. Due to the improvements in the analytical method; the total phenolic metabolites detected in plasma and urine in the pilot intervention study were 3 times higher than those detected by HPLC-MS/MS. Comparing with traditional methods; which require longer time of analysis; the methodology described is suitable for the analysis of phenolic compounds in a large number of plasma and urine samples in a reduced time frame.

Mots clés: blood; metabolites; biosamples; polyphenol metabolites; validation; tomato; sauce; microbiota; urine

Domaines: Alimentation et Nutrition

Miriam Martinez-Huelamo, Sara Tulipani, Olga Jauregui, Palmira Valderas-Martinez, Anna Vallverdu Queralt, et al.. Sensitive and Rapid UHPLC-MS/MS for the Analysis of Tomato Phenolics in Human Biological Samples. Molecules, 2015, 20 (11), pp.20409-20425. ⟨10.3390/molecules201119702⟩. ⟨hal-01284658⟩