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Research aids understanding of how cocoa flavanols work

Posted by admin on January 25th, 2012 | No Comments »

MCLEAN, VA. (Jan. 25, 2012) — A comprehensive investigation of flavanol absorption and metabolism has provided a critical step forward in our understanding of how cocoa flavanols work in the body to exert their circulatory and cardiovascular benefits. Through the development of improved analytical methods, this recent work provides detailed insights into the extensive metabolism of flavanols, which calls into question the reliability of in vitro studies using un-metabolized materials. This collaborative research was conducted by an international team of scientists from Mars, Incorporated, the University of California, Davis (US) and the University of Reading (UK).

Increasing scientific evidence indicates that (−)-epicatechin, the main flavanol in cocoa, can have a positive impact on the circulatory and cardiovascular systems. Absorption and metabolism, however, play a key role in determining the exact effect food constituents and nutrients such as (−)-epicatechin have in the body. Following absorption, nutrients are metabolized – transforming them into new compounds that are different from those originally present in food. As metabolic transformation has a significant impact on how nutrients support healthy functions, investigating this process is critical to furthering our understanding of exactly how cocoa flavanols are linked to health benefits.

While the metabolism of flavanols has been established in previous studies, the development and validation of improved analytical methods in this research enabled a far more detailed assessment than previously possible. As a result, this study was able to clearly and reliably demonstrate the extensive metabolism of (−)-epicatechin following consumption of a flavanol-containing cocoa drink. As in vitro studies using un-metabolized cocoa flavanols do not take this metabolism into account, they are not able to accurately reflect what is happening in the body. For example, early findings looking at flavanols in a test tube suggested that they exerted their benefits through an antioxidant mechanism. However, this latest research adds to a growing body of evidence challenging this notion and indicating that – when examined in the body – flavanols’ cardiovascular benefits are in fact independent of any antioxidant properties.

Commenting on the impact of this work for future research in the field, Dr. Hagen Schroeter – study author and director of fundamental health and nutrition research at Mars, Incorporated – stated: “By significantly advancing our understanding of the absorption and metabolism of cocoa flavanols, this research helps to address existing disagreement in this area and sets a new standard in flavanol analytics that will improve the scientific tools available. Furthermore, this work again calls into question the validity of in vitro research that does not take into account the extensive metabolism of compounds like (−)-epicatechin.”

“The study provides a critical step towards a more complete understanding of flavanols and their benefits and, ultimately, towards the translation of this knowledge into innovative flavanol-rich food products and concrete health recommendations,” added Dr. Schroeter.

The research has been published in the international journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine .

Source: Eurekalert

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Hershey scientists improve methods for analysis of healthful cocoa compounds

Posted by admin on February 14th, 2011 | No Comments »

Two scientific publications report on improved methods for determining the amounts of flavanol antioxidants in cocoa and chocolate. The research, sponsored by The Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition, was a collaboration between scientists at The Hershey Company and other scientific laboratories.

Scientists at Planta Analytica (Danbury, CT) isolated and separated cocoa flavanol antioxidants on a large scale. The Hershey scientists and collaborating scientists at the Pennsylvania State University-M.S. Hershey Medical Center (Hershey, PA) teamed up to determine the purity of these flavanols by HPLC and by Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectroscopy. The isolated compounds were then used as standards in the determination of flavanol cocoa antioxidants in a cocoa powder and a dark chocolate.

“We believe this represents the first large scale purification of standards for flavanol antioxidant determination” said Dr. Jeffrey Hurst of the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition. “Prior to this, only dimers were commercially available. With a full series of standards, our flavanol determinations are not only more accurate, but the values are much higher, between 40% to 100% higher, than previously published methods using proprietary standards.” This also means that standards are commercially available to various laboratories. This collaborative work was published in the online journal

In other research published in the Journal Association of Official Analytical Chemists, scientists from The Hershey Company and Brunswick Laboratories (Newton, MA) reported on the development of a new method for determining total procyanidins. This method is a colorimetric test based on the specific reaction of dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (DMAC) with flavanols. The method measures flavanol monomers, including EGCG, as well as higher flavanol polymers. The method which is standardized using a commercially available flavanol dimer, was validated at two Brunswick Laboratories facilities and at Hershey with all three laboratories providing comparable results at the 95% confidence level. “The specific reaction of DMAC with the flavanols has been known since the 1950s. This method is a simple and quick way to measure total procyanidins in cocoa and chocolate” said Dr. Mark Payne of the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition. “Compared to the HPLC method, which separates individual compounds, this method gives one number, which importantly includes polymers of flavanols beyond ten.”

“These reports are part of an ongoing series of publications, by Hershey and its collaborators, designed to improve upon the methods to determine flavanol antioxidants from cocoa and chocolate,” said Dr. David Stuart, of the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition. “We want to make these methods generally available to the chocolate industry initially, with the intent of having uniformly agreed upon methods of determining the level of these important molecules.”

These new methods can be used in research and other applications involving dietary intake of cocoa and chocolate, clinical interventions and food standardization”.

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