Occurrence of Hydroxytyrosol, Tyrosol and Their Metabolites in Italian Cheese
- PMID: 37687033
- PMCID: PMC10488946
- DOI: 10.3390/molecules28176204
Occurrence of Hydroxytyrosol, Tyrosol and Their Metabolites in Italian Cheese
Abstract
Tyrosol (T) and hydroxytyrosol (HT) are phenyl alcohol polyphenols with well-recognized health-promoting properties. They are widely diffused in several vegetables, especially in olive products (leaves, fruits and oil). Therefore, they could be present in food produced from herbivorous animals such as in milk and cheese. In this study, an analytical method to determine T, HT and some of their phase II metabolites (sulphates and glucuronides) in cheese was developed and validated. Samples were extracted with an acidic mixture of MeOH/water 80/20 (v/v) and, after a low temperature clean-up, the extracts were evaporated and injected in a liquid-chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-Q-Orbitrap). A validation study demonstrated satisfactory method performance characteristics (selectivity, linearity, precision, recovery factors, detection and quantification limits). The developed protocol was then applied to analyze 36 Italian cheeses made from ewe, goat and cow milk. The sum of detected compounds (T, tyrosol sulfate, hydroxytyrosol-3-O-sulfate and hydroxytyrosol-4-O-sulfate) reached as high as 2300 µg kg-1 on a dry weight basis, although in about 45% of cow cheeses it did not exceed 50 µg kg-1. Ewe cheeses were significantly richer of polyphenols (sum) as well as HT sulfate metabolites than cow cheeses. In conclusion, results shows that cheese cannot be considered an important dietary source of these valuable compounds.
Keywords: LC-Q-Orbitrap; cheese; glucuronate metabolites; hydroxytyrosol; sulphated metabolites; tyrosol.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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References
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- Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 of 16 May 2012. Establishing a List of Permitted Health Claims Made on Foods, Other than Those Referring to the Reduction of Disease Risk and to Children’s Development and Health. [(accessed on 8 August 2023)]. Available online: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/432/oj.
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