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Plasma kinetics in man of epicatechin from black chocolate
M Richelle1, I Tavazzi, M Enslen
1Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Objective:
To evaluate the plasma kinetics in man of epicatechin from black chocolate.
Design:
An intervention study with 8 volunteers. Each served as his own control. Theobromine was used as control marker of the chocolate intake.
Setting:
Metabolic Unit, Nestle Research Center, Vers-chez-les-Blanc, Switzerland.
Subjects:
Eight healthy male volunteers (4 smokers and 4 non-smokers) were enrolled in this study. They abstained from foods rich in polyphenols (coffee, tea, wine, fruit juice, cocoa products) for 24 h prior to the test until its completion.
Intervention:
Volunteers ate 40 g and 80 g of black chocolate (Nestle Noir) together with bread with a one-week interval. Blood samples were drawn every hour during the first 4h and a last one at 8 h after chocolate consumption. Plasma samples were analysed for epicatechin and theobromine content by HPLC.
Results:
Plasma concentrations of epicatechin and theobromine increased markedly after chocolate consumption (P = 0.002 and P= 0.001, respectively), reaching a maximum between 2 and 3 h. The maximal concentration and area under the curve of plasma kinetics of both substrates correlated very well with the dose of chocolate.
Conclusions:
Epicatechin is absorbed from chocolate and is rapidly eliminated from plasma. Attainable plasma values are 0.7 micromol/l from 80g of black chocolate.