Table 4.

Metabolites excreted in urine (from 0 to 24 h) by healthy volunteers after consumption of the conventional soluble cocoa product (CC) containing 19.80 mg of flavanols.

	Metabolite	Basal (µmol)	0–4 h (µmol)	4–8 h (µmol)	8–12 h (µmol)	12–24 h (µmol)	Total (µmol)
Intestinal Absorption	Epicatechin-3′-glucuronide	N.D.	0.355 ± 0.071	0.267 ± 0.059	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.622 ± 0.130 *
	Epicatechin-3′-methoxy-glucuronide	N.D.	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	N.D.	N.D.	<L.Q. *
	Epicatechin-3′-sulfate	N.D.	1.323 ± 0.236	1.018 ± 0.178	0.076 ± 0.025	<L.Q.	2.417 ± 0.439 *
	Epicatechin-methoxy-sulfate (isomer 1)	N.D.	2.717 ± 0.457	1.300 ± 0.197	0.154 ± 0.031	0.257 ± 0.114	4.428 ± 0.800 *
	Epicatechin-methoxy-sulfate (isomer 2)	N.D.	0.181 ± 0.032	0.247 ± 0.030	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.428 ± 0.062 *
	Epicatechin-methoxy-sulfate (isomer 3)	N.D.	0.473 ± 0.089	0.285 ± 0.036	<L.Q.	N.D.	0.758 ± 0.125 *
	Total—intestinal absorption	N.D.	5.049 ± 0.885	3.117 ± 0.500	0.230 ± 0.056	0.257 ± 0.114	8.653 ± 1.556 *
Colonic Absorption	DHPVL	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.146 ± 0.032	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.146 ± 0.032 *
	HPVL	N.D.	N.D.	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	<L.Q. *
	HDHPVA	N.D.	N.D.	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	<L.Q.
	HPVL-4′-glucuronide	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.111 ± 0.049	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.111 ± 0.049 *
	HPVL-3′-glucuronide	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.497 ± 0.204	0.103 ± 0.028	<L.Q.	0.600 ± 0.232 *
	HPVL-sulfate	0.143 ± 0.064	0.456 ± 0.193	5.638 ± 1.922	1.945 ± 0.647	1.744 ± 0.374	9.926 ± 3.200 *
	PVL-methoxy-glucuronide	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.111 ± 0.039	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.111 ± 0.039 *
	PVL-methoxy-sulfate	<L.Q.	N.D.	0.085 ± 0.031	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.085 ± 0.031 *
	PVL-3′glucuronide	N.D.	<L.Q.	0.233 ± 0.155	0.126 ± 0.078	0.079 ± 0.022	0.438 ± 0.255
	PVL-3′-sulfate	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.860 ± 0.385	0.456 ± 0.284	0.375 ± 0.133	1.691 ± 0.802 *
	HHPVA-glucuronide	N.D.	N.D.	N.D.	N.D.	N.D.	N.D. *
	HHPVA-sulfate	0.089 ± 0.055	0.076 ± 0.055	1.112 ± 0.397	0.565 ± 0.171	0.503 ± 0.152	2.345 ± 0.830 *
	Total—colonic absorption	0.232 ± 0.119	0.532 ± 0.248	8.793 ± 3.214	3.195 ± 1.208	2.701 ± 0.681	15.453 ± 5.470 *
Other microbial metabolites	3,4-Dihydroxyphenylpropionic acid	0.117 ± 0.024	0.217 ± 0.051	0.243 ± 0.039	0.074 ± 0.017	0.215 ± 0.016	0.866 ± 0.148
	3-Methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylpropionic acid	0.104 ± 0.027	0.144 ± 0.044	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.248 ± 0.071
	Hydroxyphenylpropionic acid	0.118 ± 0.023	0.226 ± 0.046	0.259 ± 0.043	0.077 ± 0.018	0.203 ± 0.025	0.883 ± 0.154
	3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid	0.094 ± 0.032	0.648 ± 0.505	0.556 ± 0.379	0.094 ± 0.033	0.133 ± 0.020	1.525 ± 0.974
	3-Methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid	0.103 ± 0.014	0.099 ± 0.054	0.093 ± 0.028	<L.Q.	0.103 ± 0.022	0.398 ± 0.118
	Hydroxyphenylacetic acid	0.369 ± 0.077	0.408 ± 0.084	0.605 ± 0.092	0.225 ± 0.052	0.600 ± 0.100	2.208 ± 0.328
	Ferulic acid	<L.Q.	<L.Q.	0.094 ± 0.009	0.099 ± 0.059	N.D.	0.193 ± 0.068
	Isoferulic acid	0.170 ± 0.137	0.086 ± 0.028	0.096 ± 0.040	0.088 ± 0.069	0.082 ± 0.016	0.522 ± 0.290
	Protocatechuic acid	0.161 ± 0.071	0.227 ± 0.142	0.373 ± 0.237	0.094 ± 0.047	0.104 ± 0.044	0.959 ± 0.217 *
	Hydroxyhippuric acid	0.821 ± 0.251	0.864 ± 0.154	1.171 ± 0.387	0.242 ± 0.067	0.995 ± 0.316	4.093 ± 1.175
	Hydroxyhippuric acid	0.075 ± 0.031	0.085 ± 0.043	0.082 ± 0.055	0.075 ± 0.031	0.077 ± 0.046	0.394 ± 0.206
	Hidroxybenzoic acid	0.188 ± 0.041	0.145 ± 0.027	0.200 ± 0.051	0.070 ± 0.018	0.195 ± 0.025	0.798 ± 0.162
	Total other microbial metabolites	2.320 ± 0.728	3.149 ± 1.178	3.772 ± 1.360	1.138 ± 0.411	2.707 ± 0.630	13.086 ± 3.911
	INTESTINAL + COLONIC METABOLITES	0.232 ± 0.119	5.581 ± 1.133	11.910 ± 3.714	3.425 ± 1.264	2.958 ± 0.795	24.106 ± 7.026

HDHPVA: 4-hydroxy-5-(3′,4′-dihydroxyphenyl)valeric acid; DHPVL: 5-(3′,4′-dihydroxyphenyl)-γ-valerolactone; HPVL: 5-(3′-hydroxyphenyl)-γ-valerolactone; PVL: 5-phenyl-γ-valerolactone. * Significant differences respect to CC-PP intervention was observed based on non-parametric Wilcoxon test at p < 0.05. Values represent mean ± standard deviation (n = 13). N.D.: not detected; <L.Q. lower than quantification limit.