creator Wei, Hequn advisor Edirisinghe, Indika Strawberries represent a rich source of polyphenolic compounds that are purported to be important for human health. However, data on their bioavailability are limited. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to assess the absorption and metabolism of strawberry polyphenols in the postprandial phase using LC-MS/MS. Plasma was collected from humans (n=17) every 30-60 min over 6 h after ingestion of a 650 kcal standard meal accompanied with a beverage containing 0, 10, 20 or 40 g freeze dried strawberry powder. Pelargonidin-O-glucuronide (PG) was the most abundant strawberry metabolite in plasma. Maximum concentrations (Cmax) of PG were achieved at 188 ± 44 min and the levels were significantly different among beverages containing 0, 10, 20, 40 g strawberry powder: 0, 66.0±4.15, 113.64±10.11 and 202.1±15.18 nmol/L, respectively (P<0.05). Area under the concentration curve (AUC) over 6 h also increased with increasing doses (P<0.05); Cmax and AUC of PG was reduced as a percent of pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside (P3G) delivered in the 4 strawberry beverages (P<0.05). The 3 major anthocyanin polyphenols (PG, Pelagonidin-3-Glucoside (P3G) and Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (CG)) found in plasma increased significantly after consumption of all strawberry-containing beverages compared to placebo (p<0,05). Bioavailability of PG from P3G among beverages containing 10, 20, 40 g strawberry powder were 1.76%, 1.40%, 1.30%, respectively. While higher concentrations of key strawberry compounds and metabolites were achieved with consumption of more strawberry powder, adjusting for dose suggested possible saturation of absorptive capacity of pelargonidin-based anthocyanins. These data provide the basis for understanding the relationship between dose, kinetic profile and efficacy outcomes for making recommendations to deliver optimal health benefits of strawberries; and moreover, serve as a model of the type of data required for understanding the relationship between dietary phytochemical intake and their biological effects. Submitted by Liana Khananashvili (khananashvili@iit.edu) on 2014-10-27T18:38:48Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Hequn Wei's thesis writing.pdf: 1545255 bytes, checksum: be370f6e3837b36d825abc0887703133 (MD5) the signed title page.pdf: 1009026 bytes, checksum: 3871e85313dab28aff99f82b877cb4f1 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-27T18:38:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Hequn Wei's thesis writing.pdf: 1545255 bytes, checksum: be370f6e3837b36d825abc0887703133 (MD5) the signed title page.pdf: 1009026 bytes, checksum: 3871e85313dab28aff99f82b877cb4f1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-05 M.S. in Food Processing Engineering, May 2014 2014 2014-05 http://hdl.handle.net/10560/3320 en Thesis born digital application/pdf In Copyright http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/ Restricted Access NCFST / National Center for Food Safety and Technology Illinois Institute of Technology Affiliated department