Intestinal Metabolism of Two A-type Procyanidins Using the Pig Cecum Model: Detailed Structure Elucidation of Unknown Catabolites with Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry (FTMS)

Procyanidins, as important secondary plant metabolites in fruits, berries, and beverages such as cacao and tea, are supposed have positive health impacts, although their bioavailability is yet not clear. One important aspect for bioavailability is intestinal metabolism. The investigation of the microbial catabolism of A-type procyanidins is of great importance due to their more complex structurein comparison to B-type procyanidins. A-type procyanidins exhibit an additional ether linkage between the flvian monomeric. In this study two A-type procyanidins, procyanidin A2 and cinnamtannin B1, were incubated in the, qo mimic the degradation caused by the microbiota. Both A-type procyanidins were degraded by the as a dirtier was degraded by about 80% and cinnamtannin B1 as a trimer by about 40% within 8 h of microbiota phenolic compounds were quantified as degradation products. In addition, two yet unknown catabolites were identified, and the structures were elucidated by Fourier transform mass spectrometry.