Glycosylated flavonoids from tomato puree are bioavailable in humans

The intake of dietary flavonoids is inversely associated with several diseases such as cardiovascular risk, atherosclerosis, and cancer, but the evidence regarding the bioavailability of flavonoids in humans are limited to few foodstuff such as onions and apples. The aim of this study was to evaluate flavonoid aglycones and glycosides in plasma samples after the intake of a tomato product. Twelve healthy volunteers consumed 25 g of tomato puree per day for 14 days, corresponding to about 2.7 mg flavonoids per day, together with 5 g of olive oil. At the end of the experiment, mean plasma concentration of rutin, after the tomato consumption, was about 0.10 μmol/L with large interindividual variation (0.08-0.30 μmol/L) and was absent in 4 subjects. Quercetin, luteolin, and isorhamnetin were detected at low concentration in 4 volunteers. These results are particularly interesting because they prove the bioavailability of flavonoid glycosides from low amounts of common foods such as tomatoes.