Resumen
- Tropical highland blackberries are a rich source of ellagitannins (ETs), which are metabolized by gut microbiotatoyield urolithin, a potentially bioactive compound excreted in urine up to 7 days after ingestion. Following the ingestion of 250 mL of tropical highland blackberry juice, a spotofurine from 26 volunteers collected at 51 ± 4 h was analyzed forurolithin A and B main derivatives (aglycones and glucuronated forms).Three main groups,“no or low urolithin excreters,” “predominantly UA derivatives excreters” and “predominantly UB derivatives ex-creters,” were observed. These categories were also unambiguously observed from 9 individuals following thetotalexcretion of ETs' main metabolites over a 4-dayperiod after ingesting one shot of blackberry juice. Although relatively high inter- and intra-individual variabilities were observed, individuals preserved their status during different intervention periods with different amounts of ETs ingested. Accurate UPLC-DAD/ESI-Q-TOF/MS2allowed the tentative assignment of an identity to 15 other ET metabolites in urine, but proling did not allow the discrimination of any other compounds aside from UA or UB derivatives. The results highlight the importance of the interaction of gut microbiota composition and the host endogenous excretery system, which may play amajor role in the observed inter-individual variability.