Revealing the Structure Types of Glycosylated Quercetins and Their Derivatives From Rutin Under High-Temperature...

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Nutritional Biochemistry
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Rutin, found in plants, is linked to reduced chronic disease risk.
• Rutin content decreases during food processing, especially at high temperatures.
• Quercetin was previously thought to be rutin's sole degradation product.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify rutin degradation products after high-temperature treatment.
• To investigate the impact of thermal processing on rutin's solubility and bioavailability.
• To understand the chemical transformations of rutin during functional food preparation.

Main Methods:

• High-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) was used for identification.
• Rutin was subjected to heat treatment at 180°C for 20 minutes.
• Apparent solubility of retained rutin was measured.

Main Results:

• 57 new types of glycosylated quercetin derivatives were identified as rutin degradation products.
• Approximately 24% of rutin degraded into these novel compounds.
• The retained rutin showed a 46.7-fold increase in apparent solubility, suggesting enhanced bioavailability.

Conclusions:

• High-temperature processing generates previously unknown rutin degradation products.
• Thermal processing may unexpectedly improve the solubility and bioavailability of rutin.
• Findings offer insights into rutin's behavior during functional food preparation.