June 16/Murcia, Spain/Food & Farm Week -- "Orange juice is a very rich source of dietary flavanones. The effect of flavanone concentration and solubility of orange beverages on their bioavailability has been studied in a crossover study with 10 healthy volunteers," scientists in Murcia, Spain, report.
"Five different beverages with different flavanone concentrations were evaluated. Commercial orange juices (29.2-70.3mg of flavanones/100mL) were compared with experimental orange beverages in which the flavanone concentration was enhanced (110.2mg/100mL). Hesperetin and naringenin glucuronides and sulfates were detected and quantified in plasma and urine. The study shows that the solubility of the flavanones, and particularly that of hesperidin, in the juice is a key factor for the bioavailability as flavanone excretion and the Cm, in plasma correlate well with the soluble flavanone concentration in the juice, whereas it has no correlation with the total flavanone intake," wrote F. Vallejo and colleagues.